Chapter 19
CHAPTER NINETEEN
The others were still singing as we ascended the stairs, but their energy was flagging. I could feel them growing tired.
“They aren’t going to last much longer.” I turned to Penn. “Are you ready?”
She nodded. “Are you?”
“Yeah. Lazenti?”
“I’ve got your backs,” he said.
We were at the top of the stairs, and the next moment, we burst through the door, with me at the front, then Penn, then Lazenti.
The others were still in their circle, but one look told me they were almost out of steam.
The revenant was caught on the physical plane. It was in the corner, unable to move, but I could sense that it was starting to break free. The creature, on our plane, appeared as a massive octopus, capable of using its tentacles to move around. It was white, with pale pink splotches. But, was this another illusion?
The circle of crystals and the constant chanting seemed to be holding it fast, but the strands of energy were growing thin. Visible, they wavered, bands of red restricting the revenant’s movements. But the moment those strands began to break, the revenant would be free, and it would come after us.
Penn pulled out her wand, and I drew my dagger. As long as we kept the creature on the physical plane, it was vulnerable to attack—both physical and magical.
Lazenti skirted the room, edging toward the creature on the left.
I turned to the group, and beckoned with my fingers for them to keep going. Just a little longer , I thought. Just keep going. Don’t stop. But I didn’t say it aloud because anything we did to distract them would hurt, not help.
Penn took a step forward. She held up her wand, and with her other hand, she pulled out a bottle of the magical spray she had made. She began spraying the air as she walked toward it.
The revenant turned its attention to her. It strained against the spell, and the muscles of the tentacles struggled, barely constrained.
I caught my breath, coming at it from the right. I glanced at Penn and she gave me a quick nod. She raised her wand, aimed directly at it, and said:
“Two roads meet and cross, Great Hecate raise your hand,
You who hold my heart, you who rule the land.
I call upon your moonlit power,
over my foe, let me tower,
Untangle the webs, unweave the spell,
Unknit the bond, send this creature to hell.”
A brilliant lavender light began to emanate from the tip of the wand, forming into an energetic sword. As it aimed toward the revenant, Dante began to cough, disrupting the chant. The circle broke, and the revenant surged forward toward us as Sophia let out a scream.
The creature drove itself toward Penn as her magical sword pierced it, but the creature dodged enough to deflect the core of the attack. Two of its tentacles sizzled and vaporized, but it swung a tentacle at her, knocking her off her feet.
Penn stumbled back from the force of the blow, slipping and landing on her ass as the charred scent of clothing filled the air. Lazenti immediately raced toward her, throwing himself on top of her as flames began to lick the air. He rolled her over, extinguishing the fire.
The second I realized she wasn’t going to burst into flames, I lunged toward the revenant, stabbing with the dagger Penn had loaned to me.
The enchantment of the blade bit deep, sliding through the thick skin like a hot knife through butter. The revenant shrieked, writhing, flailing at me. It hit my shoulder, and even through my jacket, I could feel the white-hot burn of its touch.
Orik had dropped his crystal, and now he charged at the creature, body slamming it away from me. The revenant rolled, coming up again, rising into the air. The damned thing was huge and slippery. It gazed at Orik, and out of its eyes a ghostly warrior appeared, grappling the Viking. Orik froze as if paralyzed, and the warrior began to siphon off what energy he had left.
Penn was up again, and—as Lazenti raced toward the revenant—she once more raised her wand. This time, her eyes were glowing as a violet mist rose around her. When she spoke, her voice dropped at least an octave, into what sounded like a growl.
“ Do not toy with me, creature of the void! ”
I suddenly realized that it wasn’t Penn speaking. Someone was coming through her—someone with immense power. The wand glowed too hot to touch as she raised it, and in fact, I thought I could smell her hand burning as she held it out. I began to back away and motioned for Lazenti and Orik to get back.
“Darkest blood and moonless night,
Unclean host and nameless fright,
Begone I say, to the Void unending,
Banished forever from the Living.”
A brilliant flare of light burst forth, filling the room, lighting it up like fireworks. The light seared the revenant, and the creature began to fall apart. Smaller creatures began to emerge from it—looking like ghosts of nameless beings—and they vanished one by one. As it fell to pieces, it let out one final screech, and then…it was gone. The room went dark.
As we assessed the damage, the house fell silent. Clean and open, the heart of the house had taken on new life, no longer operating on memories of the past, but with a fresh, new wonder, as though it had woken from a nightmare.
Penn was hurt, burned in several places, though none were third degree burns. But she needed a doctor. Orik was also burned, but he would be fine. I had a couple burns and bruises as well, but they weren’t serious.
Orik, Dante, Sophia, and Carson were exhausted from keeping the revenant at bay for so long. They weren’t in any shape to drive. Lazenti was fine—if he had taken any damage, it didn’t show and he didn’t mention it.
I knelt by Penn. “I’ll call the doctor,” I said.
“I won’t be able to go with you to the hotel,” she said, grimacing. She hurt, that was obvious, but she was keeping the pain under as much control as she could.
“Of course.” I turned to the others. “We’re all exhausted. I can drive, and Lazenti, but the rest of you shouldn’t get behind a wheel.”
“I can drive them home, then come back for their cars. With my speed, I can be done in a couple of hours,” Lazenti said.
“You’ll do that?” I asked.
“Of course.” He shrugged. “We’ve all taken one for the team tonight, but I’m probably in better shape than most of you.”
“Thanks, dude,” Dante said. “We could use your help.”
“All right. I can set up the dampers at the hotel. I’m tired but my heritage gives me more strength than most of you.”
“I’ll come with you,” Dante said. “I came with Carson, so that will save Lazenti one trip.”
“Can you manage it?” I asked.
“I’m a shifter. I’m stronger than most of you, as well. Even you, big guy,” he said to Orik.
“Let’s get Penn to the ER—” I started to say, but she interrupted.
“I’ll call my high priestess. She’s a healer. She can meet me at our house.” Penn pulled out her phone, wincing. “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
We waited while she confirmed that her high priestess would meet her at our house in half an hour. I walked through Michael’s house. Everything was calm and silent.
“All right, Lazenti, can you carry Penn to my car? I’m going to lock up and we can check tomorrow to make certain everything went off all right.”
And with that, we headed out of the house, and for once I didn’t feel like we were being watched.
Dante and I entered the hotel room at midnight in the morning.
Penn was safe, her high priestess had been waiting for us and was busy treating her even before we left. Lazenti texted me to tell me that he’d made sure the others got home first, and he was delivering Orik’s car—the last one left.
“Okay, Penn told me how to set these up. Then, tomorrow morning, I call Jet and let him know where to come, and we catch him. Penn will hand him over to the high priestess, who will deliver him to Hecate. Choku-yi are notorious escape artists from human jails. So, if we handed him to the police, he’d be back at it somewhere else in no time.” I yawned. “I’m so tired.”
“Don’t you think we should take a nap, then set these up after we’ve had a rest? We want to make certain that we don’t screw it up,” Dante said.
“All right. We can do that.” I eyed the beds. “They do look tempting, don’t they?”
Before we could change our minds, Dante and I each took one of the queen-sized beds. I texted Penn not to wait up, and we fell asleep to the sounds of gentle ocean waves, coming from my phone.
We slept right through the alarms. In fact, I woke to the sound of Penn calling me.
“Are you all right?” she asked, her voice worried.
“Yeah, we decided to take a nap and didn’t even hear the alarm. We’re getting everything set up. I’m glad I rented this room for two nights.” I paused as my What-The-App sounded. “Hold on.” I glanced at it to find half a dozen texts from Jet. I didn’t like the way they made me feel. “His majesty demands to know why I haven’t texted him. I’m glad we’re putting a stop to this. So, will your high priestess be able to come over when we catch him?”
“She’ll be on her way over the moment you let us know. But why don’t you have her come early, so she can be there when you subdue him? Why take chances on him getting away?”
“Good idea, if she doesn’t mind. Tell her we’re setting up now, and I’ll be texting Jet right after that.” I paused, then asked, “How are the cats? I missed them last night, when I was sleeping.”
“Murdoch has been looking all over for you. Jangles spent the night on your bed, every now and then meowing. But I assured them you’re all right.”
“How are you doing?”
Penn hesitated for a moment, then said, “Magical burns are painful. But Laleilee gave me something for the pain. I can’t drive though, which is why she said she’d come in my place. I’m a little too doped up to be safe on the roads, or safe wielding magic. In fact, I’ll admit, I’m drained.” She sounded tired.
“Penn, who was talking through you last night? That wasn’t you, at the end. At least, I don’t think it was.” I wasn’t sure I wanted to know, but it was better that I found out rather than be surprised at some future time.
“That was Hecate. That’s the reason the revenant couldn’t hurt me as much as it wanted to. She was shielding me, and she sent that final blast at it.” Penn paused. Then, in a low voice, she added, “That’s the only time she’s ever jumped me, Kyann. It scared the hell out of me but I learned a lot about myself. And I bonded me to her. She’s incredibly powerful. I learned another thing: I’ll never go back on my oath to her. I’m hers, until death.”
I felt like I was standing on the outskirts of a strange land that Penn had entered. A land that I could touch the edges of, but never walk through the gate. It made me feel oddly lonely, like she now belonged to a realm I couldn’t enter. Yet, I was happy for her.
Crossroads …they were there when you least expected them.
“Okay, give us the rundown on how to install these dampening devices—I think I remember, but I want to make certain.”
With Penn’s advice, we pushed through, setting them up in the other room. When we were done, she gave me Laleilee’s number, to expedite matters.
“She’ll be waiting for your text. I wish I could be there to help, but…”
“But nothing . You did more than your share last night. Without you, we would have failed to clear the house. I’ll see you this afternoon.” As I hung up, all I could think of was that I wanted to get this over and done with.
“I’m going to text Jet.” I turned to Dante, who was frowning at his phone. “What’s wrong?”
“Altogether, it looks like Jet managed to steal eighty thousand dollars worth of jewelry and cash from the safe. He couldn’t cash the check, at least, but I hope we can recover Aunt Tilly’s gems. Some of those have great sentimental value.”
“We’ll do our best. We have his address. I’ll text him now.” I opened my phone.
my love. i’m so sorry i couldn’t answer. i was in a meditation retreat. i have our room booked—and i’m so looking forward to meeting you, in person. my heart is pounding and i can barely believe this is real. i have the cash for those fees of yours. can you come right away?
I didn’t have to wait long before he responded.
my queen, i, too, can’t believe we finally get to meet. tell me where to come, and i will be there. i can’t wait to hold you in my arms, to cover you with kisses, to feed you grapes and chocolates, to feel my body pressed against yours.
I grimaced. Trying to cut the sweet nothings short, I texted the address. hurry, my sweet. i’m here, waiting for you. i’ll order champagne and strawberries. fly to me, my love.
I sent the text and he replied that he was on the way.
“All we have to do, is wait,” I said.
Dante had ordered breakfast for us. The waffles were crisp, covered with berries and syrup. The sausage was spicy enough, and the eggs were scrambled to perfection. We ate in the suite, waiting till Jet arrived. I’d decided to text him to come in, that I was in the bath. Dante would hide outside the room like I’d planned to, and between the two of us, hopefully we could subdue him until Laleilee got here.
Jet texted that he was on his way up and we got into position. I texted Laleilee to head over. There would be no toying with him—he’d know I wasn’t Estelle the moment he looked at me. So I wouldn’t have to play any games or any roles.
The night’s sleep had helped a lot, and breakfast had, as well. I wasn’t sure how strong he’d be, though the choku-yi were supposed to be formidable. But Dante and I were far from slouches. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
A few moments later, I heard a gentle knock, then the door began to open. I was hiding behind it, so I could cut him off from running after he entered the room.
And then, he was there—looking around. As he continued further into the room, Dante slipped in, in his wolf form. He gave me a look, and I slowly shut the door.
“Estelle? I’m here,” Jet called, then froze. He slowly turned, his eyes widening.
“Welcome, you piece of filth,” I said, leaping toward him. He struggled under my weight as I took him down, but then he rolled, pinning me beneath him. He grabbed for my throat.
“Who the fuck are you?” he asked, but he didn’t give me a chance to answer. Instead, he tightened his grip. At that moment, Dante leapt, slamming against him. With one bite, he had Jet by the arm, and he bit deeper, drawing blood as he dragged the choku-yi off me.
Jet struggled to free himself, then he narrowed his eyes and I knew he was trying to shift away—to get back to the astral. But his eyes widened as he realized he was still here. I punched him in the stomach as Dante held him down.
Jet doubled over, grunting, and I brought out a pair of handcuffs. I slapped them on his wrists. Dante, now back in his human form, slammed him into a chair and tossed me a length of rope, holding him firm while I tied him tight.
“Who the fuck are you, why can’t I shift?” Jet gasped, wheezing from the sucker punch.
Dante leaned down. “Does the name Tilly mean anything to you?”
Jet’s eyes widened. “Oh,” he said, lowering his voice. “I’ll give everything back, let me go.”
“You can’t give back the life force you drained from her,” I said, pulling out the duct tape.
Jet closed his eyes and muttered something under his breath. A little spark of energy snapped, but nothing happened.
“Don’t even try it. None of your magic will work here,” I said, slapping a piece of tape over his mouth. “I don’t want to give him any chance,” I told Dante.
“Good, because the sound of his voice makes me want to beat the crap out of him,” he said. He turned back to Jet. “You hurt my aunt, and you’re going to pay.”
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
Dante answered. A woman stood there, tall, with skin the color of night. She wore a purple cloak over a lavender pantsuit.
“Laleilee?”
She nodded. “You’ll need to deactivate the magical dampers. Don’t worry about him. He can’t shift out of this realm without verbalizing his spell. I know these creatures. I’ve encountered a few during my lifetime. But, to make certain…”
She brought out a syringe and, none too gently, jabbed Jet in the arm. Five seconds later, he slumped forward, unconscious. I poked him a couple times to make certain, but he was down and out for the count.
“All right, take down the dampers.”
I motioned to Dante. We deactivated the devices, then returned to the other room.
“They’re down,” I said. “What will Hecate do to him?”
She stared at me, her face a blank slate. “He wears murder in his soul, and he’s harmed numerous women. Do you want to know?”
I thought for a moment. “No. I think I can do without the details.”
Laleilee cut his bonds, then lifted him as easily as I might lift a child. I raised my eyebrows, but said nothing. Now that the dampers were down, magic undulated around her in waves, filling the room, leaving no doubt of her status as a high priestess.
“I’ll be off. You’ll never have to worry about this one again,” she added.
Before either of us could speak, she faded from the room with Jet. I knew she told the truth. We’d never hear from him again, nor would anyone else.
Exhausted by the past twenty-four hours, I sat down on the bed. “Well, that’s that.”
“I took his wallet and keys from him while you tied him up. We can go ransack his house. Maybe some of my aunt’s jewelry is still there.” He paused. “Are you all right?”
I thought about it. We’d sent a man to his execution. But he’d killed others, and he would have killed Dante’s aunt.
“Yeah, I’m all right. At least I don’t have to ask Benny to keep hold of Jet for us. I’ll call him and let him know later today. Let’s go check out Jet’s place,” I said. “At least Tilly’s safe.”
“That might be true, but she and I are going to have a long talk about dating sites. And I’m going to check on whether the Elda-Care department of my Pack is doing anything about my anonymous tip.”
With that, we cleared the room of our things, and headed for Jet’s house.