“Where do you want me?” Jack asked, his voice quivering. He was still unsure of the difference between vampires and humans, and the battle was growing larger and more intense around them.
“Stay alive. Kill vampires—they’re the pale, cold ones. Stay away from the humans because they have magic.” Cham entered the fray, leaving Jack behind a large tractor.
Lial, still suffering from a concussion, lunged a vampire and pummeled its face and chest until the creature lay still. The Wizard Guard summoned a stake, plunged it through the heart of the demon, jumped off as the vampire burst into flames, and moved on to the next one.
Spencer jinxed a beefy vampire with a neck as thick as a tree. The demon jerked as Spencer cast successive jinxes. With each hit, he knocked the demon backward, weakening him; it fell to its knees. The Guard lunged forward and pushed a stake through its heart before it regained its balance. Rolling away from the flames, Spencer kicked his legs out and knocked over a new vampire before staking him.
Shiff and Brite cornered what Jack thought was a human; their stakes remained hidden in their back pockets. They leveled one hex after another until the man fell to his knees and raised his arms in surrender. As they pulled him up and bound his arms and legs, two more Wizard Guards hauled three other men to the back wall where they tied them together.
*
Rathbone scampered across the tin building, threw open a door in the corner, and slammed it shut behind him. Annie slipped around one of his employees and followed through the door, assuming it led outside. The door banged shut behind her, plunging her in the darkness of the stairwell leading to the basement.
The handle didn’t budge—it was locked. Turning her wrist and shooting a spell didn’t help. Trying again yielded the same result. Annie was trapped with a madman. Resting her head against the steel door, she felt the loud and chaotic commotion vibrate against her skin. No one would hear her if she pounded the door.
Maybe someone will notice I’m gone.
In the total blackness, her fingers grazed the door until she found the jamb, the wall and the corner. Past the corner, the rough wall scratched the tip of her fingers. Annie moved her hand downwards, looking for the railing. The metal was cool against her sweaty palms. Gripping it tightly, she shuffled her feet against the floor until reaching the edge, where she took a step down. The stairs were normal height so she finally found her groove, taking each step at a normal pace until she reached the basement floor
Following along the wall with her hand, Annie found an opening to her right that took her under the building. Listening intently, she heard nothing.
Where are you hiding, Rathbone?
Annie summoned a crystal and tapped it with a spell, turning on its natural light and illuminating only a square foot in front of her. Assaulted with the smell of mold and mildew, she held her crystal above her head examining the four-walled room she found herself in.
A large, black spot roughly a foot long covered the corner; water dripped to the floor below. Striding across the room, Annie found three doors, all closed.
So where the hell did he run?
Annie moved her crystal over the cracks, the doorjamb, and the handle of the first door, searching for any traces of magic. The light from the crystal didn’t change, so she repeated the process on the second door. The dim light grew brighter, capturing the magic.
The handle was cold to the touch and didn’t open. She held her hand six feet from the door and turned her wrist, popping the lock with magic. Standing behind the door, she pulled it open and waited for something to pop out at her. When nothing did, she poked her head around the door and stared into a small closet.
“Okay Rathbone, how’d you get through here?”
Annie patted down the sides, the corners, and along the baseboards, searching for a latch or trigger to expose a hidden door. The back wall was spongy, not hard like drywall. When she pressed harder, her hand disappeared through the material. It was cold and felt like putting her hand through tofu or gelatin. Disliking the texture, she waved her palm across the wall, removing the enchantment and revealing the entrance.
Stepping through the closet, Annie emerged in a dimly lit warehouse. Hazy light streamed through a high window. Massive shelving units blocked her passage to the back of the space. Taking two steps forward, Annie came to a large wooden crate.
Illegal magical objects, I’m sure.
Dimming the crystal’s light even further, leaving just enough illumination to read, she scanned the packing slip attached to a box. The label listed the contents as cauldrons, an eighth of an inch thick, used for medicinal purposes. After careful examination, she noticed that the corner was coming loose. With a swipe of her wrist, the top label glided off; the real label revealed something entirely different.
Rathbone’s secret exporting business—his real business—was clearly the purchasing and selling of illegal and dangerous objects. There wasn’t time to deal with actual products inside. She shut off her crystal and stowed it away, following the trail created by the shelving units. Turning the corner Annie met a flying jinx, close enough to singe her hair. She lunged behind a large box, patting the ember before it burned her scalp.
“You’re trapped here, Rathbone. Give it up!”
A disembodied cackle answered her from deep inside the basement. She shuddered as it reverberated against the hardness of the shelves and boxes. “Girl, you have no idea what you’ve walked into.”
Between two boxes, through a two-inch empty space, Annie viewed the center of the room where Rathbone hid from her. His shadow shifted.
“They’re burning your bodies and capturing your men. It’s over.” She retained a clear, strong voice, attempting to mask her dread.
“It’s not over as long as I breathe.”
He cast another jinx. Annie followed the spark as it left his hand; the spell hit the metal frame above her and rattled shelves.
“A little jinx doesn’t scare me.”
“Well it should, you stupid girl!”
Rathbone blew a hole in a box beside her. Wood splinters flew outward, and the contents of the box—crystals, pouches and tarot cards—spilled to the ground.
He had aimed the spell toward her voice, so Annie decided to no longer engage with him. Glancing in the space between the boxes, she approximated which box provided him protection. She scanned the room, choosing a path toward him that would allow her to remain out of his sightline. Touching the metal frame of the shelves, she settled on her plan.
*
Five members of the Wizard Guard secured the perimeter around the tin building, while the rest of the team systematically captured and tagged more of Rathbone’s men. Lial and Spencer guarded those already captured; Gibbs grabbed another around the collar before the man escaped the building.
Jack’s first vampire found him at the tractor. Without thinking, the FBI agent jumped the demon, holding the creature around its neck. An icy chill rubbed against Jack as he rode the creature’s back. It twisted and jerked beneath him, attempting to throw the human from his back. Jack squeezed tightly to keep from being tossed free.
The stronger, larger creature tossed Jack roughly until his grip slipped and he flew into the tractor, sliding down the wheel cover. The demon lunged at him. Jack turned and kicked out, smashing the creature in the shins. It fell into the tractor; a low steady growl trilled through his fangs.
The massive monster grabbed Jack as he rolled away. Panic, fear, terror filled Jack. Scrambling, he patted his pockets and grabbed the first vial tossing on the ground. After shattering, a fine mist drifted into the air, attached itself to vampire, and burned a hole into his clothing. The vampire roared and reached for Jack, who pulled a stake from the back of his pants and held it for the demon to see. The creature smirked and lunged for the wooden stake. Adrenaline coursed through Jack; he yelled, ran at the demon, and jammed the stake into its heart.
It didn’t penetrate the skin. He pushed harder, forcing the va
mpire against the tractor. Jack put all of his weight behind the stake. It broke through the skin; the vampire shrieked as his body erupted in fire. Jack let out a sigh of relief and a smile as the flames consumed the vampire. The fury in the scream reverberated through Jack as he watched the fire dance before his eyes. The body turned to ash.
“Nice job,” Cham said, patting him on the back. “Think you can help me with another?”
Jack smiled as he flipped the stake in the air. It hit his palm with a loud smack. “Yeah, I think I’m good”
Chapter 32
Cham surveyed the scene. He couldn’t find Annie. But he could see 150 bodies—mostly victims of vampire attacks but some stolen from graves, others from morgues— as they were carefully loaded into the animal carriers. Most of the bodies were rotted, their stench strong. The Vampire Attack Unit remained covered in work overalls and face masks as they cleaned up the building, preparing for the building to be overtaken by the members of the press, FBI and nonmagical police that would be here in three hours.
Ten of Rathbone’s employees had been loaded into another hauler, tied with magical rope to prevent their escape and their powers bound to keep them from using magic. They had been teleported to Tartarus Prison long before the real chaos would start.
The rest of the VAU cleaned the space that was covered in blood, sweat, and vampire ash. At the same time, they planted certain evidence to further the case against Rathbone should he be caught tonight. No one was certain where he was.
Jack leaned against a wall catching his breath. His first vampire fight had been an unfamiliar experience what with the extra strength of the demons, and he was exhausted.
“Jack, you see where Annie went?” Cham asked.
“She followed Rathbone to that corner. I never saw her come back,” he said through heavy breath.
“I’ll go, Cham. You have to deal with everything else,” Pete offered.
Without waiting for an answer, he jogged to the far corner, skirting through the chaos.
*
“Always the justice seeker. Just like your father. You’ll end up just like him!”
Rathbone’s voice grated on her. Annie cringed. Her father’s knife, attached to her leg, cooled her skin. She ran her fingers over the contour of the dragon handle.
Dad. Did you have this with you when you died?
“Jason Pearce didn’t know when to quit. Look where it got him.”
She closed her eyes; a single tear escaped, rolled down her cheek, and hung on her chin. Annie took several deep breaths, pushing the fear and anger back inside. She reached above her head and pulled herself standing on a shelf beside her. She inched her way along.
He’s waiting for me to make a mistake. I’m not going to give him the satisfaction.
Rathbone paced, his shoes smacking against the floor. Growing impatient, the wizard sent a jinx in her direction. The spell blew apart the box above Annie. She covered her head with her hands as packing peanuts and ceramic parts crashed down. A shard of ceramic sliced the back of her hand.
“Damn it!” she said under her breath. Hanging from the shelf, she shoved her hand inside the pocket to stem the bleeding and took another step.
“You’re not getting out of here alive!” the evil wizard taunted.
Annie rolled her eyes. But then again no one knows I’m confined with him down here.
Her pocket grew wet from the blood. The cut stung. Annie took another step along the shelf and slid between the wall and the crate. She could see his location from above the smaller box. He still paced.
“Your father meddled, so I took him out. I’m sure I’ll have no trouble disposing of you as well.”
He stopped pacing and peered through the boxes, his long nose poking out between them. He glanced to his left and stared in her direction. She stopped moving, held her breath, and tossed a spell above his head, exploding a box. Shards of wood rained on his head. Packing peanuts blew out and scattered across the floor.
“Fuck you, girl. You just cost me a fortune!”
His feet crunched through the shattered inventory. Annie took another step away from her location, inching her way closer to him.
*
Pete opened the door easily and headed down the stairs. The door slammed behind him with finality, blanketing him in complete darkness. He stopped, held out his hands to the side, and gripped the handrail. Summoning his crystal he turned it on and headed down the rest of the flight of stairs.
A loud blast rang through the space as he touched down on the basement floor. The walls shuddered around him. Somewhere in the darkness glass or metal clattered on the ground. Holding his crystal, he headed through the small room, hoping Annie could hold off Rathbone a little longer. Seeing the three doors, he entered the passage through. Before stepping into the warehouse, Pete shut off his dim crystal and entered undetected.
It took a moment for him to get his bearings. His eyes followed the outline of the shelves as they turned left and ended. To his right, he saw Annie climbing the backside of the shelves. Her silhouette was dark against the dim light. Unable to let her know he was there without giving away her position, he snuck to the end of the first row and investigated his surroundings. Heavy footsteps stomped against the cement floor as Rathbone’s shadow paced back and forth in the moonlight.
Annie slipped, banging herself into the shelves and revealing her location. Rathbone drew his arm back to cast a spell, but Pete ran around the corner and cast a spell, diverting his attention. Annie squeezed herself between two boxes out of Rathbone’s view.
A flash sprang from the evil wizard’s hands. Pete jumped out of the way and landed against the shelves, whipping another spell toward Rathbone. The jinx hit a box that had been hiding the dark wizard; the box exploded, leaving Rathbone exposed. Pete threw a jinx, clipping Rathbone in the shoulder and pushing him backwards. As Rathbone landed, he shot one last jinx in Pete’s direction, hitting him squarely in the chest and dropping him to the ground.
*
“NO!” Annie shrieked.
She climbed over a large crate and dropped from the top shelf, landing on Rathbone. Her fist made contact with his long, thin nose, and his head rocked backwards. With his free hand, he jinxed her, the spell thrusting her through the air.
“Ooof.” She careened into the shelves. The edge of the crate scraped her back.
Rathbone raised his palms against her for another spell, but Annie cast successive jinxes despite her weakness, hitting him in the head, the arm, and the leg. Unbalanced from the attack, his return spells missed her, crashing against the metal shelves instead. Several urns and a cauldron rained down on her; she shot them away with her palms.
While Annie remained distracted with falling debris, Rathbone rose; a large smirk crossed his lips as he positioned his palms forward and aimed at her. The movement caught her attention, and her eyes grew wide with fear.
Daddy.
“Say hello to your father for me.”
Blood raced through Annie as she faced her father’s murderer, who planned to bring her to the same end. Cham’s face flashed her in mind along with all that they’d been through. It was him that Annie thought of as she raised her palm. She and Rathbone cast their spells together. Two hot lights met in the middle, exploding upon contact.
The force sucked the air from the room; Annie felt faint and Rathbone gasped for air. With Pete’s lifeless body so close, she acted quickly and cast a final blow. Rathbone crashed to the ground. His head bounced off of the cement and blood spattered against the wall.
Annie lunged, grabbed a large chunk of Rathbone’s hair, and yanked his head off the floor. Summoning a vial of the binding potion and uncorking it, she poured the entire container of liquid down his throat and clamped his mouth shut. The wizard shook his head and tried to remove her hands, push her away, or perform magic. But Rathbone no longer had access to his power. He fell limp against the shelves. Annie raced around the shelves and stumbled to Pete’s body,
sinking beside him. As Pete clung to life, she offered him magical energy, resting her palms across his chest. White light glowed magnificent and bright, healing him.
“Did we… ”
“We got him,” she said to Pete as he closed his eyes.
*
The concussion rendered Rathbone confused and fearful. His limp hands no longer cast spells. Unable to protect himself or create damage, he inched away from the Wizard Guards, who now surrounded him in full force.
“It was Stonewell,” he groveled.
Annie’s body ached. Her hand no longer bled, though it burned, and the cut across her back stung. She limped to Rathbone, squatted low, and looked him in the eyes. Annie hissed, “You’re done, Rathbone.” She turned to Jack. “He’s all yours.”
Jack yanked Rathbone up by his arm. The wizard tripped, weak and unable to stand. Jack pulled Rathbone around and slapped handcuffs around his wrists.
”You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.” His voice trailed off as he led him from the room.
Chapter 33
“Well, this was a nice mess,” Graham Lightner said as his team finished restoring the building to its normal function.
“Sorry.” Annie smiled and stifled a yawn.
“Nice work.” He grabbed her shoulder. “We have a teleport ready to remove his employees. They’re waiting for us at Tartarus. They’ll be in Wing Two. Floors one and three.”
She wasn’t paying attention. She wanted to go home to bed. To Cham.
As Graham continued relaying the plans, Annie watched the bodies being loaded into the truck.
“Does that sound okay to you?” Graham said.
“Yeah. Sorry, Graham. I’m just a little preoccupied. I’m sure whatever you have will be great. I trust you.”
“No problem, Annie. I’ll let you get back to it.” He headed to the truck, poked his head in, counted, and ran back inside the building to oversee his team.
Annie headed to the black sedan that the VAU had teleported for Jack. A handcuffed Rathbone sat sullen and silent. Gibbs and a giant guarded the car.
The Day of First Sun (Annie Loves Cham Book 1) Page 32
