Authors: T. G. Ayer
I blinked, not trusting my eyes, not daring to believe who stood before me. Tears singed my eyes and I blinked them away. I couldn't allow myself to cry but somehow
, that was the only reaction that made sense. Before me — solid, healthy, real — stood Samuel.
He turned to the guard next to him. "Leave us."
The demon stared at him, shocked, "But the master—"
"I know what the master said. Give me five minutes and then you can return." Samuel's tone was hard.
The demon didn't move. "The master said she must be taken alive."
"Don't worry, I don't plan to harm her. I just have a few questions for her."
The demon looked at Samuel then turned his glare to me. He seemed confused by the unusual request, torn between his master's instructions and the more immediate danger of disobeying Samuel.
In the end
, Samuel won. The demon gave him a hard stare before turning on his heel and stalking out the room. He didn't bother to close or lock the door. A message to Samuel; he wasn't going to get complete privacy for his questions. But Samuel wasn't going to leave anything to chance. He followed the demon towards the doorway, grasped the metal handle on the rusted door and slowly pushed it shut. The only concession he gave was to refrain from locking the door.
He returned to me but I couldn't wait. I had to know. "So this is where you've been all this time." I was unable to hold back the hurt and the accusation from my tone.
"Yes, Mel." His eyes held a world of pain all of his own. "I'm sorry that I couldn't tell you where I'd gone, or even why. It happened so fast. And then I was here and I couldn't leave without abandoning her."
"How are you even here?" I asked, walking towards him. I placed a hand on his chest and a bolt of shock ran through me. He was a solid as I was. Solid and real. But I knew it was impossible. Samuel was still sitting in the chair in his room back home, barely sentient.
He smiled. The curve of his lips benevolent and slightly secretive. "Oh, don't worry. When I get back there is something interesting I have to teach you."
"You figured out a way to project and still be solid?" I asked, still slightly weak with shock. In all the time I'd been projecting
, I'd never even imagined the possibility of being able to project and be solid. It meant you had to physically be in two places at the same time, solid and real in two places. As far as I knew, that was impossible.
"Believe me when I say that it was not intentional. Like you, I never dreamed it would be possible
, but I suppose if one is determined enough then things become possible that would have never been so before."
I frowned. He was being so cryptic. "So what exactly are you doing here in Dastra? You do realize we've been worried about your health for so long. Dr. Harper was very concerned on his last visit. Your body isn't in its best condition
, you know."
Samuel shook his head. "I have to admit it is a concern but what I am doing here is far more important than the condition of my physical self." He sounded so haughty I wanted to hit him.
Instead, I folded my arms and glared at him. "That's a bit selfish, you know. People have been waiting and hoping you would come back for so long that very soon they will start giving up on you. Think about your family, Samuel." His face remained rigid. "What’s so god damned important that you need to be here anyway?" I asked, determined to get an answer.
But he just shook his head. "I can't tell you. Not right now." I opened my mouth to speak but he raised his hand. "Someday you will understand. In the meantime
, you just have to trust me."
I wanted to rail at him. Tell him he was being stupid. Stupid and reckless and irresponsible. But something in his tone made me stop. He had a reason for being here. A reason he was not prepared to share with me. A bubble of anger rose within me. But I knew that once Samuel said he wasn't ready to share
, he wouldn't. I'd be wasting my time demanding an answer. And he was right. I would just have to trust him. For now I needed to know more about Nathaniel's involvement.
"If you can't tell me what you're doing here, the least you can do is tell me what Nathaniel is up to. He's the one behind all the abductions, isn't he?" I tilted my chin, looking up at Samuel, daring him not to answer.
Samuel nodded. "Yes, the necromancer is the one responsible for the most recent abductions. He's been handpicking young people with particular powers that he thinks he can hold to serve his own purposes."
I frowned. "Samantha said that he had wanted her to attend a party, to listen to the thoughts of the guests. Do you know anything about
it?"
"Yes, it's a charity benefit with the mayor as the guest of honor. The target is the mayor. Nathaniel wants information he can use to coerce the mayor into doing what he wants."
"So you're telling me that Nathaniel has a political agenda." I scoffed, unable to believe the sorcerer would want to play such a dangerous game.
Samuel nodded, his face dark. "Political agenda and so much more."
"So why aren't you doing anything to stop him?" I asked, challenging him.
"Because that's not the reason that I'm here. I do what I can to thwart his plans, but I can't do anything that will jeopardize my position here."
Before I could ask him any more questions, I was distracted by the sound of boot steps filtering in from the passage outside. The door swung open, and slammed against the wall for the second time. I winced, as the noise hurt my ears as it echoed through the room. Too late to ask Samuel any more questions.
I glanced at him to say goodbye,
and the expression on his face stopped me. He whispered, "Don't worry now. I will stay as long as she needs me."
I frowned at Samuel. More cryptic. But I didn't have any more time left to ask him what he meant. The guards were almost onto us and if I want
ed to leave, I had to go now. I mouthed a silent goodbye to my old friend and jumped from the room.
I used Saleem's jump signature and followed it, almost all the way to his destination.
Before I ended up landing right where Saleem arrived, I turned and veered off, using my own power, my mind concentrating on the concrete high-rise that was more glass than any other substance.
***
I arrived at the entrance of Omega headquarters with the two demons close on my tail. The thought of their bright angry eyes and sharp flashing teeth sent shivers up and down my spine.
I bent forward slightly to regain my balance, my head spinning as if I'd lost a lot of blood. I frowned and pressed my temples. What the hell was wrong with me? Pain spiked through my head, and I bent over, almost losing my balance when fat drops of blood splattered the bright white marble tiles. I put a hand to my nose and gasped at the amount of blood that smeared it. Whatever was happening to me I didn't have the time to figure out. I gathered what energy I had left and ran to the armed guard at the reception desk. Tim Rogan knew me well enough that he hadn't taken me out the moment I appeared.
Rogan opened his mouth, probably to ask me what was wrong but then he glanced up behind me. His eyes widened and his hands went to his gun. I looked over my shoulder to see the pair of hideous demons appear and solidify a few feet from me. A heavy axe came zooming at me and I ducked, feeling my head spin again. No time for weakness. The guard beside me dodged a flying dagger and when I looked back at the demons, they seemed to be drawing more weapons out of thin air.
The thought that mere demons were now able to follow my jump signature was too terrifying to contemplate. Was Nathaniel teaching them? Or just lending his power to his guards
?
I drew my gun, aimed
, and fired. Rogan did the same. Bullets flew at the two demons and for a moment they seemed immune. Our ammunition seemed to bounce off them. Damn. They must have some kind of protective force around them. But protective fields like that never lasted very long. Not unless you were creating your own field. And very few demons possessed the power of magic. I continued firing and knew I would have to reload in a moment.
Just when I thought my luck was up
, the taller, redder and grosser of the two made a sound like he was punched in the gut. Good. I hoped I'd hit him. My demon gun was loaded with some pretty powerful bullets. They were filled with poison that would fell even the biggest demons, bullets fashioned to explode once they entered the flesh, spewing out their poisons faster and more efficiently, delivering death on a silver platter. The demon tilted forward and fell on his face so hard he smashed the tiles beneath him, the force sending ripples of cracks, and displaced tiles outward from his body.
My gun clicked, announcing the empty chamber but I didn't bother to reload. The second demon stiffened, the middle of his forehead blooming black where Rogan's bullet had entered. "Superb shot
," I said. He grinned and holstered his weapon. A rush of footsteps around us announced the entry of Omega’s onsite operatives but they'd missed the party.
Relieved, adrenalin dispersing from my veins, I felt my body weaken. The room spun and I sagged, and would have fallen had Rogan not caught me. He laid me on the floor, shucking out of his jacket. He rolled it up and placed it under my head, for which I was extremely grateful. My head wound was still throbbing like hell.
"Are you hit?" His eyes and voice exuded concern as he scanned my body for bullet wounds or bloodstains.
I struggled to get a word out, then just shook my head. It hurt but moving a body part was easier than speaking. Around me the noise level increased as agents shouted for assistance, cleanup, and whatever else was needed to fix the fact demons had entered Omega's super-protected facility. Darkness encroached at the edges of my vision and I almost succumbed when I heard a familiar voice.
"Mel. Mel, are you okay?" Saleem's sexy tones penetrated my haze and I blinked. I wanted to just relax and give myself over to the pull of sleep, but I wanted to see his face more.
I struggled to lift my lids, eventually managing to crack them open a little. He hovered close, his smile comforting, his dark hair grazing his cheek as he bent over me. I gave him a poor excuse for a smile. "Hey." I swallowed, the single word so hard to emit.
"Hey, yourself. Welcome back." The smile never left his lips but it didn't reach his eyes either. Worry shadowed his face as he gazed down at me.
"Was I out?"
"For a few moments. Never a dull moment with you around is there, Tracker?"
"Nope. I need to get back on my feet. Fulbright must be missing me."
Saleem snorted. "He sure is. About to blow a gasket so you better haul ass and annoy him some more."
I laughed but the sound came out more like a choked cough. Darkness threatened again but I held it back. "How's Samantha?"
"Safe."
"And the rest?"
"Also safe."
"Get Natasha to straighten the wards." I managed to get the words out
, although it seemed to be getting harder and harder.
"Already done."
Emotion welled inside me and hot tears singed my eyes. It felt so good to be taken care of. Especially by Saleem. "Be careful. I might decide to keep you around," I said, my voice husky.
"Fulbright might get jealous you
, know," he teased.
"He can suck it up."
Saleem laughed and began wiping the blood from my upper lip and nose. "Let's get you cleaned up and checked out. Drake was right, you never listen."
I wanted to respond, to laugh it off and say I knew what I was doing. But my head was spinning and my limbs were heavy and I was so
, so tired. I'd done what I needed to do. Samantha and the other kids were rescued. And the best part was I knew Samuel was safe and well.
Although I still wasn't sure who he was looking after in Dastra. When he'd had his moment of lucidity and said 'she needs me'
, I'd thought he was referring to Samantha. But clearly it wasn't the little girl, as she'd been rescued. So who could she be?
My heart tightened. Could Samuel be keeping an eye on Ari? But before I could think about it further
, the darkness encroached, thick and suffocating.
The last thing I heard was Samuel's words.
"Don't worry, Mel. I will stay as long as she needs me."
---THE END---
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