Demon Wolf

by Bonnie Vanak

  “I know a lot.” Keira grimaced and set down the pointer. “The only good thing about being stuck in a dark cell next to Jimali was she liked to talk, and she gave me a lot of information. She was with the Centurions since the time when they inhabited a small village in Nicaragua.”

  “Why were they in Nicaragua?” Shay asked.

  “They were summoned during the Contra war in 1988. The fighting was pretty fierce and Miguel, leader of a small faction of Contra guerillas, was desperate. He had a last resort, a dark book of spells found in a Mayan temple in Honduras. So Miguel selected six of his most loyal and strongest fighters for a ritual to summon the spirit of ancient Roman warriors. He called upon the Centurions to come forth from the afterlife and possess his men with the strength to kill the enemy.”

  Keira took a deep breath. “The blood rite, combined with the violence from the fighting, opened a bolt-hole into the netherworld and conjured the spirits of the Centurion demons, who possessed Miguel’s men. When they discovered they were human, they fled to the village where they began drinking and womanizing. Miguel discovered they deserted the guerilla camp and came after them with a spell to force the demons out. Antony, the strongest Centurion, killed Miguel and confiscated the Book of Spells.

  “But the Mage’s curse affected them and they began to grow weaker. One by one, they were forced out of their owner’s bodies. Before it happened to Antony, he read through the book for a dark spell to become corporeal. By stealing the courage and strength of warriors, they could manifest their original human forms. The demons killed the people they had possessed and stole their courage. They became corporeal for only a few days. But they had more sources.”

  “An entire army of fighters to sustain them,” Dale said.

  “They went through both the Contra and Sandinista factions fighting in that area like a buzz saw, stealing their courage and strength until the men started dropping dead. But it still wasn’t enough. The bolt-hole into the netherworld began to close, shutting out their opportunity to release more demons and use them to become more powerful. They killed a faction of both Contra and Sandinistas, cursing them to fight forever, the ensuing violence leaving enough of a crack in the bolt-hole for the Centurions to summon other demons from hell. Once the violence builds to a certain level, it becomes a window for the Centurions to use. Only the Centurions can control the bolt-hole.”

  “But they still needed to be corporeal,” Renegade said. “So did they start on the villagers?”

  “The weary villagers had no fighting spirit left to siphon. And the war ended. The Centurions were becoming ghosts when my pack came to the village to help the village recover, to plant crops with methods we used from bonding with the earth to replenish soil bloodied by violence. Antony used a slave armband given to him by his lover and empowered it with dark magick to compel me to fight for him, to torture and terrorize brave souls so he and the others could steal their strength.”

  Dale rubbed a hand over his strong jaw, his gray eyes intense. “Let me take a wild guess. This Jimali was his lover in the village, who teamed with him to do his dirty work.”

  “In exchange for power and money.” Keira sighed. “Antony is the strongest, the commander of the Centurions. He is the first to regenerate and the one who forces me to do his dirty work. He endowed Jimali with special powers to do physical tasks they could not perform when they were not in flesh.”

  “We know they can be killed in flesh. But how do we kill them as ghosts?” asked Jammer, the SEAL with close-cropped brown hair.

  “In spirit form, they can be weakened by siphoning their dark energy.” Keira glanced at Dale. “Someone can absorb their essence into their body with the right spell, and hold them captive. And then the demons can be expunged with the right spell and sent straight back to hell. The bolt-hole must be sealed with light energy and white light.”

  “I’d hate to think what happens to the person who absorbs those demons,” Dakota said.

  “That’s what makes the spell so dangerous. It causes great harm to the person casting it. They become filled with darkness and devoid of white light. Right now they’re gathering forces, letting out other demons in exchange for favors. They’ve formed an effective and lethal alliance.”

  She glanced at Dale. “This is why I’m not so hot on teamwork. I’ve seen the results of what they can do.”

  “You haven’t seen the result of what my team can do.” Quiet, deadly, lethal force radiating from him, he nodded at his men.

  “The bolt-hole is a doorway from this world to the netherworld, controlled by the Centurions. Just like a tollgate, they demand a price from demons who use it to access this world. The longer the Centurions remain flesh, the more power they’ll crave. They will return there to open the bolt-hole and allow more demons to infest this world, in exchange for power.”

  Keira’s gaze swept over the men sitting before her. “The worst kind of evil. Including pyrokinetic demons. They’ll do what they did to your friend Adam multiplied times ten thousand. No training in your firestorm chamber can stop them.”

  Blood drained from Dakota’s face. He quietly swore.

  “We’ll find a way to stop them,” Dale assured his men.

  “You don’t know the methods they’ll use to get their way.” Keira stared at the distant wall.

  Dale spoke. “I promise you, we will find and vanquish them. You’ll be free, Keira.”

  Oh, she wanted to believe him, wanted to trust again. She knew the only way to do this was using her.

  I don’t want to die. But I haven’t really been living, either.

  Not until she found Dale. And even with all that stood between him, he’d taught her the power of courage and strength.

  She didn’t know if she could trust him again. But he insisted his team could defeat them, and she had to try.

  “You won’t find them. Not without me. You need to use me as bait to lure them in.”

  Silence hovered for a moment. Then Dallas nodded. “Excellent idea. She knows what they look like....”

  “No fucking way.” Dale’s voice sliced the air.

  Her stomach twisted in knots. “The only way you’ll find those demons is by using me. Either you let me do this or I work alone.”

  “No.”

  “Their blood runs through my veins. Until they are destroyed, it will remain.”

  “We have defenses you can’t even match.”

  “I have my defenses, as well,” she said softly. “And mine overpower yours. My wolf is stronger and more powerful.”

  Dale studied her calmly. “I know. But we’re a team that can overcome you.”

  She hadn’t shifted into a wolf since the day he’d thrown her out. The change came upon her swiftly as bones lengthened and fur rippled along her spine. Keira snarled and leaped onto the desk at the room’s front, growling, her wolf barely controllable, itching to prove she was far more powerful.

  Dale said nothing. Between one breath and another, he shifted as well, into a large gray timber wolf, about half her size.

  Keira leaped at him, but in midair, collided with two other wolves as Dallas and Dakota both shifted at the same time. The two Draicon wolves pinned her down as she struggled.

  Then Dale, in wolf form, loped over to her. Opening her massive jaws, she struggled to keep her wolf in line, the demon blood surging through her with the compulsion to attack and hurt. But the large gray timber wolf that was Dale did not attack. He growled at the other two wolves, who climbed off her and withdrew.

  Dale the wolf tenderly nuzzled her throat, and licked her muzzle.

  It’s okay, he seemed to say. It’s me.

  Instinctively, her wolf recognized his touch and scent and submitted. She lay quiet and still, the beast at last no longer howling in anguished, emotional pain. This was a good man, a man who did not wish to hurt her.

  He eased away, shifted back and clothed himself as she lay panting on the floor. The two other SEALs did, as well.

&n
bsp; Suddenly overcome, she shifted into human form, lying naked on the floor. Dale looked at his men and snapped an order for them to leave the room.

  When they did, he pushed a hand through her long hair.

  “Teamwork has advantages. They were ready to protect me, but I would never let them hurt you. Ever,” he told her gently. “Now can you trust me? Just a little?”

  She nodded. “You keep telling me how important teamwork is, Dale. Now it’s time for you to show me exactly how important.”

  * * *

  For the rest of the afternoon, Keira stayed in Dale’s office, going over reports he’d compiled to search for any suspected Centurion activity. Dale had grimly informed her he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight. She was too important.

  Important. Worth protecting because she was the link in a chain they’d use to bring in the demons. But was she important to his life, his heart?

  Two hours later, Dale returned to the office with Renegade in tow. The younger SEAL held up the slave armband. Keira recoiled. Seeing it was like glimpsing a live cobra; she didn’t want it to bite her again.

  Dale’s steady gaze regarded her. “Keira, I need your permission to put this on you. It’s your choice.”

  Renegade held up the jewelry, the sparkling sapphire replaced with clear quartz. “I’ve analyzed the jewel, the source of the spell that controlled you, and removed it, replacing it with a clear quartz crystal. It’s embedded with a microchip that picks up negative psi impulses from up to ten klicks away. Acts like sonar. When the waves bounce off you, the transmitter picks up the beam and traces it back to the point of origin.”

  Dale’s expression shuttered.

  “And it also works in reverse,” she replied. “I’ll give out energy waves as well, positive ones the demons can pick up. It will help you find the demons, but first, they will find me.”

  Dale nodded tersely. “But someone will be watching over you at all times. You’re not going to be alone.”

  The armband pulsed with faint white light. Still, she felt uneasy. “It’s safe? It won’t compel me to commit evil acts?”

  “No, but with the quartz, it might compel you to do something noble and totally reckless, like suction demon souls. You’re fine as long as you don’t chant any incantations,” Renegade said.

  “Do it,” she told Dale.

  Holding out her arm to have her former lover slip on the armband took all her strength. Dale’s warm fingers brushed over her chilled skin as he slipped it into place, the metal settling against her skin like a handcuff.

  Would she ever be free of it?

  “How long will this take?” she asked.

  “Depends on how desperate they are to find you. If they’re running out of power, it’ll be sooner than we expect.”

  Dale parked a lean hip on the polished desktop. “Safest place for you right now is here. My men are warding the compound so the Centurions can’t get in.”

  Renegade left, closing the door behind him. Unease spiked her pulse, making her heart pound harder. “Guess I’m a sitting duck until then. How effective is this warding?”

  “It acts like a filter and will keep out the strongest demon.” He frowned. “But there’s a small chance minor demons can slip past.”

  “Like gnats slipping past mosquito netting?”

  “Sort of. I’ve stationed men around the compound, just in case. Food will be here soon.” He glanced at her empty water bottle. “You want anything else to drink?”

  “A shot of ginger ale, with a bottle of whiskey and a straw.”

  Heat licked through her at his slow, sexy grin—it was the Dale who’d loved her long into the night and held her close. “Afraid all I have is the ginger ale.”

  “Some bartender you are. I’ll take it.”

  At her nod, he left the desk and went to a cube-size refrigerator and bent down.

  Whoa, what a view. She craned her neck, admiring the way his trousers stretched over his oh-so-fine taut ass.

  Right, Keira. The man is off-limits. Then again, I’m not dead. Not yet.

  Dale fished out two ginger ales. He popped the tops on both and sat on the sofa, placing the cans on the table.

  Suspicion filled her. She joined him on the sofa, and took a long drink.

  “I talked with the admiral. Asked him, again, to tell me exactly what he’d seen in your mind that day when he melded with you. He said the images were a blur, but I should ask you about the family you lost in Nicaragua and the U.S. soldier you met in the jungle.”

  Stomach knotted tight, she set down her soda on the table. Talk about her family, the family she’d forced herself to forget? But if it helped Dale’s team find the bastard demons, then she’d do it. Keira cleared her throat.

  “We can shift when we’re a month old. My pack leader betrayed us to the Centurions for his life. Didn’t work. They killed him after finding our people. The Centurions began killing us...taking the young away from their mothers, who died bravely, defending them.”

  Keira’s throat closed. “Their courage gave the demons energy to become corporeal.... They siphoned off the white light in their auras, sucking it up like damn vacuum cleaners. I tried protecting Simon, my little brother. And I made a bargain with them... If they would let Simon live, I’d become their slave and do their bidding. Because I knew they would not stay in that form for long.”

  He said nothing, only moved closer, taking a drink from his soda before setting it back down. Condensation rolled off the aluminum can like teardrops. Then she felt the warmth of his palm settle over her clenched hands. Soothing and comforting.

  “What happened to your brother?” he asked, his voice gentle.

  Fingers clenched tight, she shook her head. “They found another demon to forge an ancient armband to enslave me...and then they killed Simon. I’m the only survivor.”

  Muscles contorted with the effort to keep grief at bay, she stared at the sodas, fighting the tears. No more. But he came closer, and then pulled her against his broad chest, holding her there, stroking her hair.

  Holding her tight, as if he wished to soothe away all her pain.

  “All this time, you’ve had no one to help you, no one to rescue you,” he murmured.

  A stray tear trickled out of her squeezed eyelids.

  “It helps to cry it out. Go on,” he whispered.

  How many times had she longed to feel the comfort of another while in her dark cell, grieving for the family she’d lost? How many nights had she cried, counting down the days and weeks and vowing not to let the darkness drag her under?

  Until she’d met Dale, no one else had held her like this. No one else had urged her to release the emotions she’d held at bay for years.

  The tears came in a torrent as she fisted her hands in his shirt and sobbed for all she’d lost. After a while, she finally raised her head and wiped at her face as he fetched a box of tissues from his private bathroom.

  “I made a mess of your shirt. Sorry. Didn’t mean to bawl on you.” Keira took a wad of tissues and blew her nose.

  “You had no one to help you, and you fought the demons on your own. How old were you? Eleven?”

  “There was a man, that soldier. My memories of him are a little fuzzy, probably because the Centurions messed with my mind. I’d gone mad with grief when I realized Simon was dead, shifted into wolf and went to attack the man. But he refused to hurt me.”

  He went very still.

  “Odd,” she mused. “It was as if we shared a moment of connection. He said he refused to return evil for the evil that had been done to me. There was something good and courageous and noble about him. I let him escape, and went back to charge the demons. But they caught me and forced me to wear the slave armband.”

  Dale quietly regarded her, but this time, his gaze sharpened. “Tell me about your brother. What did he look like in wolf form?”

  “About the size of a golden-retriever puppy, with a white streak down his muzzle.”

  He
cupped her face with his large, square hands. “Keira, he’s alive. And safe. Etienne, one of my SEALs, and a Draicon, snuck him back into the States.”

  Hope flared, then vanished like an extinguished candle. “No. It can’t be him, I saw him lying in the ditch with the others....”

  “He was playing dead, hiding, when we found him. I ordered Etienne to find him a new home.” Gaze steady, Dale looked at her. “Keira, I was that U.S. soldier you attacked that day in the jungle. My memory of that moment was fuzzy, until you mentioned it. I think the demons’ memory spell erased my recollection of first meeting you in wolf form.”

  She could not speak, for the rapid beating of her heart and the hope surging inside her. Keira stared at Dale as he caressed her still-damp cheeks with his thumbs.

  “Your little brother is alive. Etienne made sure to place him with a Draicon family. He checks up on him once a year and reports back to me how he’s doing.” Dale dropped a gentle kiss on the corner of her mouth. “He’s living with a large Cajun family near New Orleans, and he’s in college now, studying to be a physician.”

  If not for Dale, her brother would have died alone in the jungle. But his team had rescued Simon, who lived somewhere, safe, in the States.

  Teamwork did have advantages.

  “Thank you,” she whispered.

  Very gently, he pressed his mouth against hers. Then Dale drew back, his expression solemn. “I know you can’t forgive me now, for throwing you out of my house and my protection. I hope one day, perhaps, you can.”

  He sighed deeply. “I accused you of breaking my trust, but in truth, I broke yours. You trusted that I’d understand and I would be there for you. I wasn’t.”

  An odd pulling tingled in her stomach. She stared at him as he cupped her cheek, trailing a thumb lazily over her skin.

  “Dale?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Something’s wrong. I feel...”

  Jerking away, she stood up.

  Panic filled her as the tingling grew stronger. Suddenly an invisible hand lifted her into the air, leaving her feet dangling.