Secrets of the Fog

by Jaye Shields

  Tera chose not to answer. “Just explain the gun.”

  “Earlier when we were on the island, we were ambushed by demons who tried to attack us through invisibility. The astral bullets rendered them visible, disabling them momentarily of all their abilities. This is how we control the various creatures traveling within the Portal Realm. We don’t usually kill unless we have to. Our bullets ready the victims for our wrath, whatever we choose it to be depending on the misdeed. The astral bullets are mystical; they can detect the true heart of the person they penetrate. If the heart is pure, under no circumstances can the bullet kill.”

  “Interesting.” Tera contorted her face so that it appeared she was only mildly impressed. “So long story short, I can’t use this thing?” She hung her head like a five year old.

  “You could bash something over the head with it.” He grinned. “And we both know that you’ve got a wicked right hook.”

  Tera’s mood lightened as Sabin teased her, and for a moment, she enjoyed the close proximity of the warrior’s hard body. “So much for target practice. I don’t see any vampires either. Usually I can come here and find some getting their drink on with locals stumbling home from bars on the Haight.”

  “We can spar if you like.” Sabin tucked his gun securely into the back of his tight leather pants. Anticipation flickered in his eyes.

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” She noted his hungry look with caution. The butterflies in her stomach argued otherwise.

  “Why? Because you vowed chastity to the Goddess Artemis? I’ll admit that I have intentions to sway you away from that before I leave.”

  “You shouldn’t admit that. It makes me more wary.”

  “Or gives you an intense anticipation, a curiosity to discover what kind of passion an immortal soldier such as myself could deliver. One who has been hungering for you since I first glimpsed you.”

  At nearly seven feet, he was a towering, sensual feast for the eyes. She tried not to go weak in the knees, for he did indeed look like he could deliver on his promise. Artemis had spoken only of how horrible men were, how they wanted only one thing and that they were selfish with pleasure. But the look in Sabin’s glittering, icy-blue eyes led Tera to believe that they were the determined kind, determined in an intensely pleasurable sort of way.

  After all, he couldn’t break her heart; she wasn’t in love with him. Perhaps she might take the Knight up on his offer. Tera’s skin prickled with awareness, and her instincts as a hunter told her that someone was approaching. A leaf crunched on the ground one hundred yards off and she turned in its direction. “Did you hear that?”

  Sabin turned his body in the same direction, placing his body in front of hers. “It can’t be.” The Knight’s voice was deep and disbelief laced his words. That could not be good.

  Chapter Nine

  Out of the darkness of the dense tree-filled park came the glittering silver stream of dust from an astral gun. Tera’s mouth dropped open as she ogled the beautiful comet-like trail.

  Sabin pushed Tera aside as the astral bullet lodged into his abdomen. Sinking to his knees in pain, Sabin gritted his teeth. The astral bullets could only come from a Knight of the Fog. His insides twisted as he watched his comrades step into the clearing. The pain in his stomach was immense, but pushing himself back to his feet to shield Tera from any more attacks, he knew that would only be temporary. A Knight of the Fog could only use the astral gun on another if a crime had been committed. His heart was pure from wrong-doing, and so the astral bullet would dissolve quickly rather than inflict maximum damage.

  It was clear from her state of shock that Tera had yet to realize Sabin had saved her. “Are you … ?” Her words dropped off as she followed to where Sabin’s furious gaze was focused. Out of the dense darkness of the trees stalked three large men, all leather clad and bare-chested. Their bodies were long and rippled with muscles and their eyes a frightening silvery-blue that matched the cold metal of the guns.

  Another bullet soared from one of the Knights’ guns and Sabin ushered her behind him once again as he prepared for impact. The Knights seemed stunned as they watched him take the second impact. This time, he couldn’t stop the groan that escaped him. To hell with this!

  But before he could act, Tera leapt up from the ground behind Sabin and disappeared from sight. He caught sight of her pulling herself up into the branches of the tree fifteen feet up, clearly at home in a forest. Her attackers obviously didn’t realize who they were messing with.

  The Knights marched closer to where Sabin stood, bleeding and clenching his fists as he fought to control the rage that bubbled from within. He was glad to have Tera out of the way. The last thing he wanted was for one of his friends to harm the beautiful, innocent woman he admired so much.

  Rowen was among the three Knights who approached. Despite the pain, anger and confusion simmering in his veins, Sabin knew he should do nothing to harm his friends. Rowen aimed his gun to take Sabin down to his knees once more, so Sabin stood, prepared to be captured. At least then he would find out what the hell plane was going on.

  But when Rowen was about forty yards away, Tera dropped down from the treetops, knocking the Knight and his gun to the ground. At the same time, two branches whipped out from the treetops and curled around Knight Sodor’s arms, holding him firmly in place. Knowing how deadly his comrades could be, fear propelled Sabin into action, determined to keep Tera safe as the remaining Knight, Zeth, descended on her. Rowen was on the ground, bleeding from three spots where Tera had sliced and diced with her silver knife. Zeth yanked Tera back by her hair, but the Dryad quickly aimed her pepper spray behind her, getting the Knight in the face. Sabin was relieved that Tera was kicking ass, and he got to the foursome just in time to free her from the burden of taking them all on at once.

  “Get back in the trees, Tera. I’ll take care of this.”

  Instead, her black boot collided in a powerful roundhouse kick with Zeth’s face. “I got it.”

  Although Sodor was bound by the flora that Tera had commanded, he was a fierce fighter, and eventually broke free. Sabin threw his fists back and forth between the two remaining Knights, keeping them both occupied.

  Tera’s Knight, Zeth, slowly got up from the ground, taunting, “You’re a naughty one. Do I need to punish you?” Zeth leered at Tera and Sabin saw red. He’d seen Zeth with enough women to know how rough and violent he was.

  She reached out and maced Zeth to shut him up. “Damn, I never realized how far a can of this baby could go,” she said as she flashed a wicked smile, and Sabin calmed as he realized she was more than capable of handling herself. Gods she was beautiful.

  Sabin took the opportunity to reach into his pocket and pull out a pair of handcuffs and slap them on Rowen. In an instant, Rowen disappeared. Sabin pulled another pair of handcuffs from his leather pants. Just as Zeth launched an attack on him, Sabin slapped the magical cuffs on him. Zeth too, disappeared.

  Turning to apprehend the third and last Knight, Sabin was just in time to see Tera duck to avoid a punch to the face. He grabbed Sodor by the fist and clinked on yet another set of handcuffs. “Traitor!” his friend hissed before that Knight too disappeared, leaving Sabin and Tera alone once again.

  “What the heck?” Tera’s chest still heaved from the excitement of the fight. Her hair tumbled down her shoulders, messy and disheveled from being pulled, a couple of leaves nestled deeply into the mahogany tresses.

  “Are you okay, Tera?” Sabin reached out and plucked a leaf from her hair, dropped it on the ground, and then trailed his hand down her arm. A pain stirred deep within his chest, but it wasn’t from the agony of the astral bullet wounds. Sabin realized it was leftover fear from seeing the Dryad so close to danger.

  • • •

  The concern weighing in the warrior’s eyes was enough to knock Tera on her butt. She had t
hought him a brute, and even a hero perhaps, but not actually one to be so concerned about her. “Me? You’re the one that was shot. Twice.” Tera glanced down at Sabin’s stomach, his new shirt soaked in crimson.

  Sabin pulled up his shirt revealing clean abs, not even a trace of blood on them. “I have done nothing against my duty, and so their bullets could not do as the Knights intended. Rowen seemed conflicted, but I swear the others meant to kill me. Something is not right. They are being controlled by another force because this violence is not the way of our order.”

  Tera stared in silence at Sabin’s clean, hard stomach.

  “You see, as an immortal, my body is self-healing, self-cleaning. Even the blood that was left on my skin has already dissipated. Did you not notice after our earlier battle that the blood on my face disappeared?”

  Feeling a bit foolish that she hadn’t noticed, Tera countered, “Well, maybe if you hadn’t been smothering me with your caveman-esque lust … ”

  Smiling, revealing brilliant white teeth that nearly matched his shoulder-length hair, he finally pulled his shirt back down. “I guess this is not inconspicuous anymore. Does this mean I get to take it off?”

  “Oh my goodness, we need to get you a trench coat or something.” She threw her hands up in the air. “All right, take it off. We’re not that far from the Red Victorian anyway.”

  Tera was seriously weak in the knees as the magnificent Knight took off his shirt once more. She could have sworn he was purposefully doing it in slow motion, carefully pinning a look of sheer sensual lust on her the entire time. Sabin tossed the cloth on the ground nearby.

  “Hey, no littering.” But as she went to pick up the blood-stained shirt, the Alcatraz souvenir dissipated into nothingness.

  “We leave no traces of our presence.”

  “Does that go for gum wrappers, too? Just remember, no trashing my town.”

  “I wouldn’t dream of it, Dryad.”

  Tera tried to avoid his gaze as they walked through the dark, tree-filled park. Geez, how does this guy walk without looking where the hell he is going? “So what’s with the magical leather pants?”

  For the first time, Sabin looked confused at her question.

  “You know, the never-ending supply of mystical handcuffs.”

  “As law enforcement officers, we have great use of those. After placing the handcuffs on the individual, they are transported to our jail.” He shook his head and his eyes grew dark, more gray than blue. “Rowen is a close comrade, and the other Knights and I are bound by the same code. Something dark is behind this, and I think the Nunanish might only be the beginning of a very intricate plan.”

  The ominous tone in Sabin’s deep voice hinted to an evil that she couldn’t even fathom. His words shook Tera to the core, and for the first time in many years, she was afraid.

  Chapter Ten

  Back in the Divination Room, Sparrow and her aunts had long since passed out and moonlight shimmered against the colorful stained glass window. But as Sparrow dreamed, there was no color, only darkness.

  The dark sky above San Francisco was a swirling mass of clouds. Through the dense nighttime fog, Alcatraz swarmed with violence. The city in the near-distance slept, completely unaware of the war being fought on the island. On the rocky ground near the vacant prison, gnarled, black demons, red-skinned beasts, and swarms of other nightmarish creatures collided together in reckless abandon. Towering warriors fought hand to hand with the monsters, and nearby, a vampire decapitated a winged demon.

  Amid the swarm of chaos, Sparrow saw her Aunt Melissandra’s hands, her fingers stiff and crooked as power coursed through her. The killing spell. The red-scaled, fanged gargoyle that leapt toward her aunt dropped to the ground, twitching as death seized its final breaths. From behind Melissandra, a demon of soaring height slashed a long talon across her back, sending the Wiccan to the ground. Sparrow screamed but she couldn’t escape the nightmare.

  The image of Morgana was no better, as she was thrust to the ground by a succubus demon. The pale-skinned, naked creature flicked a forked tongue down her aunt’s cheek before a large black jaguar pounced from the fray on top of the demon. The giant jungle cat sliced with large claws, and the demon hissed before turning to eat the jaguar. Still, the dream showed Sparrow no mercy. A haze of fog swirled endlessly above the blood-soaked ground until finally resting on an image. Sparrow lie on the ground, feathers and blood scattered ominously around her. Her frantic eyes were large, round and filled with fright. The glaze in her eyes reflected someone who had seen the worst kind of nightmares come true. As Sparrow’s limp form lie on the ground, she knew her body was too broken to move.

  Clutching her chest with long purple fingernails, Eris, the Goddess of Chaos laughed merrily. This Knight of the Fog was full of surprises indeed. The cheeky little Dryad, too, for that matter. Sabin was proving to be quite insightful, even suspecting interference when he was attacked by his own Knights. He had taken the astral bullets as he protected the Dryad, and Eris suspected that it was above his duty.

  “He is developing feelings for her. Damned Dryad whores.” Eris snarled as she took in her own appearance in the mirror. Coiffing the hair near her blood-soaked gold crown, she smiled once more. “It seems I am faced with a prime opportunity to spite Artemis. Filthy, dirt-worshipping wench.”

  Sure, Eris and Artemis had successfully comingled on many occasions in the realm of the Gods, but the Goddess of Chaos couldn’t pass up the opportunity to wreak havoc. She had long desired to get back at Artemis after her failed attempt in 1200. Now it was unfolding. Returning to her onyx mirror, Eris dipped her fingers into the Hedone Realm, the realm of pleasure creatures and demons. A smile crept upon her lips as Eris found her instrument. “Oh, this will be good.”

  • • •

  All the shops on Haight Street had long since been closed, so when Tera and Sabin walked into their Redwood Forest room, Sabin was still shirtless. “You’re immortal, so you don’t need sleep, I’m guessing.” Tera pointed to the chair in the corner of the small room as Sabin shut the door.

  “Only for pleasure. Just like bathing.”

  With that, Sabin slowly removed his pants, not the least bit discouraged by Tera’s jaw-drop, and sauntered toward the washroom.

  Commando, really? I couldn’t get stuck with a Knight of the Fog who wears boxers?

  Tera tried to regain her composure as she watched steel-cut buns disappear into the restroom. Sure, it wasn’t the first naked man she had seen. Sparrow’s aunt had quickly corrupted Tera with films showing a naked Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt. But this was different all together. Sabin’s body had been absolutely glorious. Hearing the shower come on, she realized she had to figure out just how to handle the situation. Well, she’d be sleeping in her clothes, that was for sure.

  Tera plopped down on the bed, mentally exhausted from the long, strange day. Reaching into the pocket of her leather jacket, she pulled out her cell phone, which had been powered off. With Sabin in the shower, it seemed like a good idea to update Sparrow on recent events.

  Inhaling deeply, she noticed an intoxicating scent wafting into the room. Surely the hotel shampoo couldn’t smell that good. The salty, rosy smell of gardenia was both masculine and feminine, and an utterly sensual scent. Since when do I label scents sensual?

  She rolled back onto the bed. Her head lolled back against the soft sheets, and the way the bed molded against her body felt sinfully good. Suddenly, she felt much too confined within her leather coat and slowly peeled it off as she lazed against the bed.

  Sabin walked into the room, but Tera only half noticed his presence; she was still focused on the bed’s perfect comfort and the sweet scent lingering in the air. Kneeling in front of the bed, Sabin ran his hands over her knees hanging over the edge. Pushing her legs apart, Sabin eased himself upon her. She must have been very sleepy beca
use as she looked down her body at the Sabin’s, it didn’t seem awkward at all for him to be naked, or on top of her. Running his hands roughly from her thighs, up her stomach, and over the soft fabric covering her breasts, Sabin’s face was only inches from her own. The scent became stronger and stronger and Tera became overwhelmed by the intoxicating seduction. Actually, if she didn’t know better, she would have thought she was drunk.

  Maybe she was drunk, because as Sabin’s eyes raked over her body, she could have sworn they looked red. In a flash of movement, Sabin took her lips captive and thrust his tongue inside her mouth. She tasted metal, but instead of refusing him, she became dizzy. The sound of tearing fabric rang in her ears. With her head sunk deep against the bed, she could only barely see Sabin tear her turtleneck down the middle revealing her lacy black bra. This isn’t right.

  When she finally gained the strength to look down her chest at Sabin to tell him no, she saw his eyes. They were fully red, and as he smiled, a forked tongue flicked out, tickling her lips. Tera screamed, and Sabin grabbed her arms, forcefully holding them to her sides as she bucked against him.

  The door to the bathroom crashed open and the real Sabin charged in, an image of fury. The sex demon smiled at him and turned to its true form. Tera recoiled. Blue skin stretched across long ropes of thick muscle and the demon’s eyes flickered a deeper and deeper shade of red. Long, crimson horns erupted from a mass of raven-colored hair. The incubus hissed against Tera’s bare stomach, “So Knight, what do you think I should do with my horns?”

  Tera’s eyes went wide in panic and Sabin was across the room in an instant, tackling the demon. The impact of the two men nearly crushed Tera before they collided off the bed and landed on the floor.

  “I hope you are watching.” Sabin said in a low, dangerous tone, so only the Goddess of Chaos could hear, his knees holding the demon down, his hands firmly grasping the incubus’ neck. “Do not ever seek to harm what is mine.” Without further warning, he decapitated the monster with savage speed. The horned head dropped on to the carpet of the quaint room, the forked tongue limp against the Berber carpet. And then, finally, the body dissipated, leaving only a goopy black mess on the floor near the bed.