“Wait!” she yelled to Jolene as she rolled on the floor with Jason, trying to pin him down. She didn’t want Jolene to hurt him. He was only trying to help his kid, and she knew a way they could both get what they wanted.
Celeste broke free and sprang to her feet. Jason was on his feet just as quickly.
Celeste held her hand up. “Wait. We can help you.”
Jason snorted. “That’s what Stanley said. Said we’d split the treasure. I led him to all the spots I’d researched. Then he dug up a cache of gold coins and took off, leaving me with nothing but a child that was getting weaker and weaker.”
“But we’re not after the treasure like you think. Not for money. We’re only after this one gem.” Celeste pointed to the relic still lying in the dirt. “This is an old energy-infused relic. It has special properties. It can ward off negative energy. But that’s of no use to most people, and we can get you more money than what you could sell this gem for. We can help your son get the treatment he needs.”
“You think I’m going to fall for some stupid story about an energy-infused gemstone? Why should I trust you? I trusted Stanley, and he screwed me over. You’ll probably do it too.”
“No, we won’t. I swear.” Jolene inched toward the relic. She sidestepped toward it, bending her knees and leaning down.
Jason crouched too, holding the sword high. Celeste could see he was poised to lunge after Jolene. She didn’t know what he planned to do with the sword, but she did know that he’d have a hard time wielding the weapon and grabbing the relic at the same time.
Celeste readied herself to tackle Jason. As soon as Jolene had the relic in her hand, she would shout for her to run, tackle Jason, and hopefully put him out of commission while Jolene got away with the relic.
“Grab that gem, and I’ll have to take it by force. You’ll never—”
The heavy thudding of boots running down the tunnel toward them stopped him midsentence.
They turned to see two bearded guys standing in the entrance, waving bazooka-like energy guns even larger than the one Buzz had found earlier. Bly’s guys.
“Hand over the relic, or we’ll turn you all to ashes.”
Chapter Fifteen
The two men blocked the exit. One of them was tall and lanky, the other a little shorter but broader in the shoulders. Both of them had big guns pointed menacingly at Celeste, Jolene, and Jason. Celeste noticed the shorter one had a bandana wrapped around his hand. He must have been the one that had been holding the gun Buzz found, and sustained the injury when the rocks fused together, leaving the gun on the outside. If she had to fight them, she’d aim for that hand. An injury was always a weak spot. Why hadn’t they taken the time to figure out how to work that gun? Maybe they could have used it to fight these guys.
Jolene jumped in front of Celeste. “You guys know you’re no match for me.”
The tall one’s bushy left eyebrow quirked up. “Seriously? We have these big guns. They shoot negative energy. Deadly negative energy. Just hand it over, and no one will get hurt.” His eyes narrowed as they shifted from Jolene to Celeste and then to Jason. Apparently, he was trying to figure out which one of them had the relic, not realizing it was lying in the dirt right behind them.
“Right. I wasn’t born yesterday. You’re not getting the relic without a fight.” Jolene shifted subtly so that she was in front of the relic, blocking them from seeing it on the ground.
The tall thug shrugged. “Have it your way.”
He aimed his gun at Jolene while at the same time she thrust her palms out toward him. A dark-brown stream of energy flew from his gun. A light-purple stream of light flew from Jolene’s hand. The energy streams met in the middle in a blinding flash and…
Kaboom!
The ground shook, and rocks rained down from the top of the cavern. Celeste’s heart knocked against her rib cage as she fought to stay upright despite the shaking ground. Would the whole tunnel cave in?
The shaking stopped, and everyone scurried to regain their balance.
Celeste glanced nervously at Belladonna, trying to telepath for the cat to take her chance to escape. The men didn’t seem to be paying any attention to her, and she didn’t want her to get hurt. Knowing the cat, she might jump up and try to claw one of the men, and Celeste shuddered to think what would happen to Belladonna if they turned their energy guns on her. Too bad the cat couldn’t read minds. She could pick the relic up in her mouth and trot off. But Belladonna sat tight, watching the five of them with anxious blue eyes.
Jason hung back behind them and off to the side as the two men advanced, backing them against the wall of the cavern.
Jolene rubbed her hands together, a move that told Celeste she was summoning more fighting energy. “Better be careful in here. The energy ricochets off the rocks. You could end up hitting yourself. Maybe we can settle this without shooting a lot of energy around.”
“Sure. Hand over the relic, and it will be settled,” the shorter one said.
“That’s not exactly what I had in mind.” What did Jolene have in mind? Celeste figured she must be stalling, giving herself time to build up more energy. Too bad Celeste couldn’t help with that. The only thing she could do was use her karate skills to try to disarm one of the men. She tensed her muscles, ready to kick out if she saw the chance.
“I don’t see you have much choice here. Looks like your energy is not up to par. I don’t think it’s any match for our weapons.” The tall one shot a look at Jason. “Unless maybe your pirate friend here is going to make us walk the plank.”
The two men burst out laughing.
The distraction was Celeste’s chance! She kicked out toward the shorter one, aiming for the bandana-wrapped hand. His reflexes were quick. He spun and aimed his gun at her. His quick movement caused her foot to miss him, and she fell off balance as he shot directly at her.
She managed to grab her obsidian talisman just in the nick of time, shoving it in the way of the ugly negative-energy stream. The stream hit her talisman, heating it to scorching temperatures, then bounced off and headed toward the side of the cavern. A puff of smoke appeared as it drilled a small hole into the white quartz vein in the wall.
The tall guy wasted no time aiming his gun at Jolene, who was caught between sending more energy out and using her talisman to deflect the energy coming toward her. She opted for the talisman. The negative energy hit it and exploded into a million brown sparks that fell to the ground, twinkling like malevolent fireflies.
Celeste caught a movement behind the men. In the fighting, Jason had slipped behind them and was running down the tunnel. Her eyes jerked to the spot where the relic had fallen. It wasn’t there.
Jason had run off with the relic.
In a blur of white fur, Belladonna took off after him. Celeste felt a small measure of relief. At least the cat wouldn’t get hurt by any stray energy bouncing around.
“Hey, he took the relic!” Celeste pointed to the tunnel.
The tall guy smirked. “Right. We’re not going off on a wild goose chase. You guys would lie to protect it, and the boss said you girls would have it. He won’t have time to gather reinforcements. We’re ending this here and now.”
He shot again. Celeste held out the amulet, but its powers were growing weaker. It had absorbed too much energy already. Some of the energy oozed out and hit her shoulder. She lost the feeling in her arm. It fell limply to her side, the amulet dropping against her chest.
“Leave her alone!” Jolene threw a ball of red flaming energy at the tall guy and stepped in front of Celeste.
He dodged the energy ball, and it smacked against the wall of the tunnel, fell to the ground, and then rolled out of sight.
He aimed his gun at Jolene. She whipped out her pendant just as he shot, but like Celeste, it seemed that the stone’s ability to absorb energy was weakening. Only part of the energy was absorbed. The rest streamed over her, and she fell to the ground.
Celeste crouched next to her, ta
king her hand. “We’ll be more powerful together.”
The tall man laughed. “I see your amulets are doing you no good. You are both weak now and are no match for me. Hand over the relic now, and I might let you live.”
“I told you. We don’t have it.” Jolene flung her fingers out, and sparks of white-hot energy peppered the men, singeing their thick camouflage jackets.
They beat at their jackets with their hands, cursing Jolene and Celeste. Jolene tried frantically to raise more energy while they were distracted. Celeste shook her arm, regaining a little movement but not enough to be useful. She gripped Jolene’s fingers tight with her good hand and willed her extra energy into her sister.
Unfortunately, the energy sparks had only served to drain Jolene further while increasing the thugs’ anger. They both raised their guns, leveling them at the two girls. Brown energy shot toward them.
Celeste dropped Jolene’s hand and grabbed her amulet, holding it toward the stream. Jolene shoved hers out next to Celeste’s, the sides of the stones touching. Maybe the two amulets together would have increased power.
But they didn’t. Paralyzing energy coursed through Celeste, zapping her like a high-voltage wire. She fell back on the ground, her breath coming in sharp rasps. Jolene lay next to her, her face twisted in pain, her body twitching.
“I’ll give you one last chance to produce the relic and hand it over nicely before we finish you off and take the relic from your dead bodies.” The short man aimed again.
“For the last time, we don’t have it. The pirate took it.”
The men exchanged a look.
“I don’t think we should believe them,” the tall guy said.
“What difference does it make? We should finish them off and search the bodies, and if they don’t have the relic, we’ll go after the pirate.”
“Good idea.” They raised their guns and fired.
Celeste screwed her eyes shut, holding her breath against the pain of the jolt of energy that would kill her.
Chapter Sixteen
Celeste waited for the painful energy zap, but instead she heard a scuffle and then, “No, you don’t!”
Her eyes flew open to see Jason standing in between her and the bad guys. He was holding the relic up like a shield as if to protect them from the bad-energy guns.
“So the pirate really did have the relic. How convenient of you to bring it to us.” The tall guy smirked at Jason. “I hope you don’t think that little thing is going to keep us from shooting you.”
Celeste struggled to her feet. Jason glanced over his shoulder at her and Jolene. “Are you guys okay?”
“They might be okay now, but in a few seconds, the three of you will be dead,” the short guy cut in. “Unless you want to just hand it over. Then we’ll let you go. The other two, I’m not sure about.”
Jason shook his head. “No way. I know what happens when you trust someone. You’ll take the jewel, but you won’t let me go.”
“Okay, then. Have it your way.” The short guy aimed right at Jason. “Full force!”
The men flicked a lever on their guns and then aimed and shot. Thick black tar-like jets of energy hurtled out of the guns, forming one big river of dark energy headed straight toward them. Jason stepped right in front of it, shoving the relic into the vile stream.
The energy hit the relic with a sharp crack.
A wet slapping sound filled the air. The tang of ozone stung Celeste’s nostrils.
The energy boomeranged straight back toward the two thugs.
The two thugs were covered in the black tar-like goo. A jolt of electricity illuminated their skeletons like an x-ray. A bright-blue flash followed, and the men turned a chalky shade of gray. They stood stock still, their faces frozen with shocked expressions of disbelief, and then they dissolved into fine gray ash that floated to the floor in two distinct piles.
“Holy heck.” Jason stared at the piles.
“You can say that again.” Jolene struggled to her feet.
“Wow, I guess that thing really is a super energy deflector.” Celeste pushed up from the floor and looked over Jason’s shoulder at the now-blackened gem still nestled inside Mirabella’s sash. “But why did you come back?”
“That cat kept getting in my way. Running in front of me in the tunnel. She tripped me a few times. Stopped me from leaving. Because of her, I didn’t make it very far down the tunnel and could hear you fighting with those guys.” Jason glanced uneasily at the piles of ashes. “I’m not sure what the heck is going on here with those weird guns and the… energy. I’d seen you using your amulets and thought you would be okay, but then when I was in the tunnel, it sounded like you were losing. I couldn’t just leave and let you get hurt. Then I remembered what you said about the gem being some sort of super energy absorber, and I took a chance and ran back.”
“Well, thanks. We’re glad you did,” Celeste said.
“Meow!” Belladonna trotted into the center of their circle, flicking her tail.
Jolene bent down and scratched the cat between the ears. “You too, Belladonna.”
“Yeah, well.” Jason drew in a breath and looked down at the gem, which now resembled a worthless piece of coal. “Too bad I ruined the treasure. This is worth nothing now. I may have saved you, but in doing so, I may also have ruined things for my son."
“I don’t think it’s ruined.” Jolene held her hand out for the relic, and Jason placed it in her palm. She wrapped the sash around it then cupped her other palm over it and closed her eyes. After a few seconds, she pulled her top hand away and pushed the sash aside. One tiny spot in the very center of the stone glowed with a faint pulse of rainbow-colored light for a second. “I think it just absorbed so much energy that it needs to be revitalized."
"Meow.” Belladonna rubbed her cheek against Jason's calf, and he bent down to pet her. "That’s great, but it still doesn't help my boy."
Celeste put an arm around him and started toward the exit. “Let’s get out of here and back to the camp. We need to call the others, but I don’t want you to worry about your boy. We really can help. In fact, I think our friends over at the cavern are digging up something that can help you right now."
Hope sparked on Jason’s face. "Really? Why would you guys help me?"
"We've been blessed with plenty for ourselves, and we like to give back. Right, Jolene?"
Jolene nodded. “Yep, we have more than enough for us.”
Jason hesitated, looking from Celeste to Jolene. “Wow, I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say a thing,” Jolene said.
“But I’ve got plenty to say,” a voice boomed behind them, and Celeste spun around to see a swirly mist solidifying into the large mass of a pirate. This time, Celeste knew she really was seeing a ghost.
Dubonnet was standing in the tunnel, brandishing a sword, and he did not look happy.
Chapter Seventeen
“Dubonnet,” Celeste said.
“One and the same.”
“But that can’t be. Am I seriously seeing a ghost?” Jason stared at the swirly apparition. “Then again, this might not be the strangest thing I’ve seen today.”
“That’s right!” The ghost brandished a long sword, swirling the carved-steel blade in the air and then poking it out toward Celeste, who jumped back instinctively. “This has been my domain for centuries. I’ve made sure no one steals my treasures. I laid claim to this island long ago, and any treasure you’ve found in these tunnels is mine. So hand it over.”
“I don’t think so, Dubonnet. This treasure belongs to Mirabella de Lafleur. You slaughtered Mirabella and her crew to steal her treasure.”
“Aye. That’s why I’m the better pirate. To the winner go the spoils!” Dubonnet laughed, an evil sound that echoed through the tunnels. He spun around, slashing his sword against the side of the tunnel with a metallic clang. Sparks flew where metal met rock. He spun back around and stepped closer to Celeste, Jason, and Jolene. “As you s
ee, my threat is real. I’ve made mincemeat of many and will do the same to you.”
“We’re not handing it over,” Jolene said.
Dubonnet stilled, his eyes narrowed on Jolene. “No? You are foolish. How would you fight me? You don’t even have weapons.”
Jolene flexed the hand that wasn’t holding the relic. “We have our ways.”
Celeste bit her bottom lip. Clearly, Jolene was planning to zap Dubonnet with some energy, but Celeste had no idea what would happen if she did. Ghosts were a different type of energy themselves, and she doubted the results would be the same as when they battled people. Then again, it didn’t look as though they had much choice.
“Meow!” Belladonna launched herself at Dubonnet. The attack must have taken him by surprise. He shrank back from the cat, his swirly mist breaking up where the cat sailed through him and landed behind him.
“Contain that beast!” He swiped the sword toward Belladonna, who leaped away. Her body twisted in the air, but she landed on all fours.
“Belladonna, look out!” Jolene shoved the relic into Celeste’s hands and unfurled her fist, sending blue energy toward Dubonnet’s sword.
The energy hit the tip of the sword, swathing it in blue light that ran up the length to Dubonnet’s hand.
“Arghh!” He cradled his hand but did not drop the sword. His body turned translucent for a second, as if he might evaporate, but then he steeled himself and turned even more solid, almost as if becoming flesh and blood.
He turned his fury on the three of them. “Now I will show no mercy!”
He slashed out toward Jason, catching him in the leg.
“Ack!” Jason fell to the ground, a slash of blood welling down the side of his calf where the blade had struck.
Dubonnet spun around, hitting Jolene in the hand, causing the energy ball she was working on to fall to the floor and roll down the tunnel. He kicked out at her ankles, and she fell with a thud.
Celeste leapt toward him, unfurling her leg in a kick aimed at his sword hand. But Dubonnet was neither flesh and blood nor ectoplasmic mist. He was something in between, and her foot connected with a slimy, soft substance, which threw her off balance. She landed flat on her back next to Jolene and Jason.
Fatal Fortune (Blackmoore Sisters Mystery Book 8) Page 11
