by Milly Taiden
“Hamel? Still there?”
He shook his head to clear his thoughts. “Yeah, here; sorry. Just thinking . . .” About my mate. But didn’t say. He didn’t want the boss thinking he wasn’t doing his job.
Tumbel laughed heartily. “Goddamn, Hamel. Get your ass out of your mate’s bed. Is she coming back with you?”
“Well, I, uh . . .”
Tumbel chuckled again. Hamel was starting to hate the sound. “Let me guess. You haven’t told her yet.”
He grumbled. “I’m working on it. You have to be gentle with this kind of thing.”
Tumbel hooted and laughed on his side of the phone line. “Shit, Hamel, you crack me up. If you need to, take her to your home. Get her settled in, then call me. We’ll see what’s next. May be time to bring in a new recruit.”
Hamel was speechless. He’d been on the ALFA team for so long, he didn’t remember what civilian life was like. He’d saved enough money to retire with a cushy life, but he never really thought the day would come. It was sorta like dying. You knew it would happen, but didn’t think about it.
“All right, sounds good,” he finally said. “I’ll work on getting us a flight out in a day or two.”
Tumbel laughed again. “Better make it three or four days since you haven’t told her that her life is about to totally change. I hope she’s easygoing, for your sake, Hamel. Keep me updated.” Call ended flashed on the screen.
Melinda was as far from easygoing as one could get. She was a research scientist with process and procedures drilled into her skull. He bet she hated change. He was so fucked. Living in Uganda wasn’t a bad idea. The weather was great.
“I’m out of the shower, Hamel,” Melinda hollered. “It’s yours. I’ll start breakfast.”
“Sounds great. Thanks.” He hopped into the small shower, still thinking about how he was going to break the news to his mate. Maybe he could do it the human way. Go out on a date a couple times, get engaged for a week, then married. That didn’t seem bad. He could handle a week and a half. Two at the longest. But what would she do when she saw him shift into his cat? That was the question of the century.
A strange sound came from the other room. He stuck his head out of the shower. “Melinda? Everything okay?” When he didn’t get an answer, he turned off the water and grabbed the towel she’d left out for him. “Melinda?”
As soon as he stepped out of the bathroom, the scent of fear bombarded him. She wasn’t in the room. The balcony doors had been pushed apart. Melinda always had them fully opened or closed. He hurried through them. “Melinda!” His cat senses picked up her smell downwind and caught movement in the woods, not far off.
He leapt off the balcony, sliding down the hill to the flatter ground. With his first step, he was in jaguar form. He’d never changed that quickly in his life. And now was the time he needed it. Whoever was in front of him was fast. Faster than a human could move. That didn’t sit well in his stomach.
His jag gained enough ground to hear Melinda fighting back. Yes, that’s it, baby. Fight as hard as you can. The cat’s nose scented blood, but not Mel’s. Hopefully she could hold her own until he got there.
So much for thinking the threat was over. Who was this second person? Where did he come from? Why hadn’t he or his animal picked up on a partner earlier?
He realized this other person had no scent. Was he using block also? How many people knew a shifter was there? Getting closer, he saw two people break from the trees into an open field. A man had Melinda over his shoulder, her fists pummeling his back, nails scratching at his skin. Even his tighty–whities had been pulled way up in the back.
Hamel shot out from the trees, sights set on taking down the douchebag without hurting his love. He’d have to go for the knees. Sideswipe.
Ahead of them, large stones resembling Stonehenge, but not as dramatic, sat barren with an altar in the middle. This guy was heading for that. Good; he’d pounce and rip the fucker’s head off his body. Nobody touched his mate and lived.
The man didn’t slow, still moving faster than a normal human. Hamel watched as Melinda’s kidnapper leapt onto the altar, then turned and jumped off the back. But they never landed. Instead they disappeared. Gone. His mate was gone!
He came to a sliding stop, panting, not understanding what he saw. The cat smelled for their mate. She wasn’t there. Her scent had completely vanished. How could that be? Anger and fear ripped through him. Shifting back into human form, he roared and systematically tore the rock structure to pieces. When he finished, only small boulders and rubble remained.
Bent over with hands on his knees, he sucked in breaths. Everything in him hurt. Not from breaking rock with his hands, but from his mate being gone. He couldn’t feel her anymore. That could only happen if her soul was gone, if she were dead.
He fell to his knees and roared to the sky. Why did they take her from him?
Behind him a twig snapped. He turned to see the old man from the medical clinic. The one who was supposedly a witch doctor. Without thinking it through, he sprang to his feet and dove at the human. Death to all humans.
The witch doctor put his hand out and a lightning bolt came from his palm and connected with Hamel’s forehead. Next, he found himself staring at the sky from flat on his back. The old man leaned into his sight. “You done?”
“Yeah,” was all Hamel could think to say. His brain must’ve been fried with the strike. The man walked away. Hamel got to his feet and shook his head. That was intense. How did he do that? He jogged to catch up with the witch doctor.
“Wait up. I need your help. Do you know what happened back there, to my mate and whoever took her?”
The witch doctor nodded. “I do. And you’re leaving to get her back.”
Chapter Twenty-eight
Emotions beat the shit out of Hamel. He felt like a pregnant lady—laughing and crying at the same time. The witch doctor kept a step ahead of him.
“Sefu,” he said. “My name is Sefu, if you’ve forgotten. It means ‘sword.’”
Okay, nice to know. “I’m—”
“I know who you are, transformer. I see the cat in you. Glad you survived the venom. That woman of yours saved you. You know that, right? She’s one of the reasons I’m doing this. Mates should never be separated.”
“I totally agree. What’s the second reason and what are you doing?”
“I will essentially kill you so you can bring her back. The second reason is what she carries should never get into the hands of the demon king.”
Hamel grabbed his arm. “Whoa, wait a second. Listen, I will gladly die to bring her back, if that’s what it takes. But this demon shit—” The conversation with his boss this morning flashed through his head. “I don’t believe in it.”
The witch doctor stepped into his face. Even though Hamel was six inches taller, he felt looked-down upon. “You listen to me, you little punk. I don’t give a flying fuck what you believe. Just because you can’t see or touch it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Can you grab and hold on to the wind? Can you put it in your evidence bag and carry it home? Yet it exists.
“Those magic tricks you see on TV, do you really think magic made the car disappear? No, you just couldn’t see how they did it. Yet it’s done. The eye is never fooled, huh? How do you ever expect her to believe that you are a transformer? That a cat lives in you and shares your spirit, when you doubt.” He turned and continued walking.
Hamel thought about that as he followed. What the old man said was right. He couldn’t touch the wind or see the sleight of hand of how magic tricks were done. And he needed Melinda to trust that he wasn’t crazy when he explained he was a shifter. But still. He shouldn’t believe everything people say.
Sefu growled as if he had an animal inside. “Child, I’m not telling you to believe everything you hear. There are many folks out there who lie and steal when they
can. Don’t get mixed up with them.”
He curled his hands at his sides, trying to control his frustration. “How am I to know the difference between those who lie and those who don’t?”
“Listen to your heart and brain. They will tell you true.”
Right. Not good enough. He huffed out a curse. “But what if they’re wrong?”
“Then you’ve been swindled out of some money.”
“That’s a lot of help.” Hamel wanted to strangle the guy. “Tell me why they took Melinda. Why her?”
The old man walked quickly for someone his age.
“Today is the Day of the Dead, child. The veil is at its thinnest. That is why all the ghost and monster stories exist. This one day and night, they are able to move between realms with relative ease. The portal your mate disappeared into led directly into their realm.”
“Their realm, meaning demons’ realm.” Fuck. He didn’t want to believe in this shit. But if that was what it took to get Melinda back, he’d believe.
“Yes, child.”
“But why her?” He growled.
“It is for what she knows, what she carries. It can never fall into demon hands. It would mean the end of our civilization as we know it.” Sefu said the words quickly. Impatience tinged his tone.
Christ, what was he talking about? “What does Melinda know or carry?”
The man stopped and turned to him. “She carries the virus with her. Only she knows how to make more serum.”
“Why the hell do demons want a virus that doesn’t kill people?” His jaguar wanted to leap out of his skin and roar at the old man for talking in riddles.
The old man smiled. “That’s for you to find out.”
“Wait a minute. How do you know about the virus?” He prepared to take down the senior citizen twice over if he said the wrong thing. Was this a fucking conspiracy?
“No, child. It’s a repeat of history because we didn’t learn the first time.”
Hamel froze in his tracks. “Ah, fuck! You were the other researcher with Mr. Kintu.” Sefu stopped and turned to him. His face seemed sad, regretful.
Sefu turned back and continued. “Yes, I was. I’ve missed my dear friend many times through the years.”
“But he works at the virus lab. He thinks you’re dead. Go see him.”
He shook his head. “No, child. That is not possible. It is best he think I am gone.”
Frustration curled around his heart once again. “Why? I don’t understand.”
“Of course you don’t, child. This happened before you were born.”
The jaguar pushed at the skin, ready to ignore everything and look for a new way to find his mate. This shit was taking too damn long. “What happened?”
The witch doctor sighed, shoulders slumped. “Did Kintu tell you everything he knew? He was gone during most of it.”
“He told us how you three worked together. One was killed by his grandfather. And you he never saw again.”
Sefu wiped at his brow. “Good. That’s all he needs to know. He’s lived with heavy guilt for not being there when this all happened. The guilt is not his to bear. It is mine.”
“Yours? What happened?” He scowled at the old man.
“Now is not the time or place to go into storytelling. Every second we hesitate is one lost before time runs out.” The old man gave him an impatient stare.
“What do you mean, time runs out?” Frustration built within him. Bigger. He wanted answers and the man wasn’t sharing. But if he had a limited period to find Melinda, then it would wait. The trees came to an end at a homesite with a beautiful log cabin and aluminum shed around back. One structure was large. They headed toward that one.
“Whoa, where are we? This is incredible.” He’d watched enough Amazing Cabins to know this deserved a spot on TV. “So what are we doing here?”
The man looked over his shoulder and smiled. “This is where I kill you.”
Chapter Twenty-nine
Hamel sat on the dirt floor of the small shed behind the log cabin. In front of him, a campfire roared, smoke escaping through a hole in the roof. Sefu walked through the door with a huge knife in hand.
“Hey there, man. I hate to admit it, but I assumed you meant to kill me figuratively.” Then Hamel saw a chicken in Sefu’s other hand. “Oh, man. You’re not gonna—” Sefu laid the chicken’s head on a log stump and hacked it off. “Oh, you are.” Wasn’t there some law against that? Where were those PETA people when you needed them? Oh, yeah. He was in the land of dark magic, where demons crossed over to steal people with viruses.
Hamel didn’t want to watch what the doctor did next, but the shack was so small he had little choice. He noticed Sefu had been chanting the whole time. Hamel understood his language, but these mumbles he didn’t recognize.
After setting a metal bowl of red liquid next to the fire, he spit several times into another bowl then dug up dirt from the floor and mixed it with the liquid into mud. If he needed water, he could’ve taken some from his sweat-drenched body. It was as hot as a sweat lodge. He was ready to die for Melinda, but that didn’t mean he was looking forward to the pain.
Sefu set the container next to the other by the fire. A third bowl appeared in his hands. From a narrow table along the wall, he snapped off the leaf of an aloe vera plant and squeezed out its contents. He crushed a flower in his fingers and mixed them together.
With all three bowls next to the fire, he chanted over them, waving his hands. “Come here, transformer.”
Hamel snapped his head up, then scooted around to the bowls. Had he fallen asleep?
Sefu dipped two fingers into the chicken blood and smeared it down Hamel’s arms. “This sacrifice is to incite the favor of the gods who watch over this.” He smeared mud across his forehead. “This is for the earth, and as we began as dirt, we will return.”
The colorful aloe mixture went on his bare chest and heart. “May this be a reminder that time heals that which does not kill you. Your heart is strong, transformer. Let it guide you in your journey.”
The witch doctor continued painting his body with items in the bowls. “There are certain things you must know before you travel. First and most importantly, you must return before the setting of their sun. The veil to the other side closes then, and if you remain in their land after the sun sets, you will never be able to leave.
“Secondly, never fear possession of your soul. With your animal, they will not be strong enough to take it. Never let them trick you into volunteering your body. Then they will enter and control you.
“Last, tell your mate to always mind whose reality she’s in. Very important.” He fell into soft chanting. Smooth and hypnotic. Almost like a song. Hamel let out a sigh and relaxed his shoulders.
Awaken.
Hamel popped up his head to come to a sitting position. Where the fuck was he? Did someone drop him in the middle of Death Valley? He climbed to his feet and brushed off his pants, which happened to be worn buckskin. Where the hell did that come from? His shoes were ankle high and formed to his feet as if barefoot. He had no shirt on. His bare chest rippled in the sun.
All that was fine and dandy, until he felt something on his back. He reached over his head, grabbed what felt like a handle, and pulled up. A sword, long and narrow, rested in his hand. Holy fucking shit. Was this for real? He was Conan the Barbarian. If a dragon showed up, he’d be the Dragonslayer.
He gripped the sword with two hands and whipped it through the air. Great. Now he’d be able to kill some fucking demons and get his woman back. He lifted the sword above his head and tried to get it into the really narrow sheath. It was like putting thread through a needle. Fucking impossible.
Finally he gave up and decided just to carry the damn thing. Since he didn’t have a better weapon, he’d keep it. He could practice his grip and swinging. No telling what
he’d have to defend himself against. He wished he had a gun.
When he stepped, his foot kicked something. He looked down to see a handgun lying on the dirt. Where did that come from? He picked it up and checked the clip. Empty. Figured. He’d found his weapon, but with no ammo. He wished a full clip would’ve been included. Getting ready to toss the weapon, he glanced down and saw bullets shining in the sun. He couldn’t believe it. How did he not see them when he picked up the gun?
He loaded the gun and slipped it between his backside and waistband.
He looked around. “Should I go the desolate way”—he spun around—“or that barren, desolate way? How about the barren, desolate way?” He turned to face the sun. It looked like Earth’s sun. And it was fucking hotter than shit. He put the sun to his back and started his journey, as the witch doctor called it.
Then he remembered Sefu’s instructions: He gathered several rocks and made a pile large enough to see from a distance. Sefu told him he had to come to this very spot to get back to Earth’s side. With his sword, he drew a deep circle in the dirt indicating where to stand.
Breaking into a jog, sword still in hand, he focused on Melinda. He was here to save her or would die trying. He’d rather be dead if she wasn’t in his life.
After some time of not seeing anything but dirt and rocks, he questioned his choice of paths. Dammit. He wished he had a sign or something to guide him. That’d be nice.
He noticed movement far ahead of him. Far enough that it could’ve been a mirage tricking his eyes.
That dark mass ahead of him was getting closer, quickly. He stopped. His eyes and brain couldn’t make sense of what he saw. No mirage, that’s for sure.
With no warning, a shockwave of air almost pushed him to the ground. A black blob, floating six feet above the ground, headed directly toward him. Behind this mass was a solid line of the same creatures. Were those in the line chasing the first one? If it was a race, then one was definitely superior to the others. But that was not what his gut told him. His instincts told him to protect.
