A hand grabbed Haley’s arm and yanked her away. “I wouldn’t do that, my dear. It’ll take me some time to readjust. It’s important I get this setting just right.”
“Don’t do this, Tarik, please,” Haley cried as she tried to reach the panel again. Natesa’s shrieks cut through Haley, but she couldn’t move to help her. Her body was frozen in place. Tarik had his hand up in a stop gesture. He lowered his hand but she still couldn’t move.
“Since the last attack in my laboratory, I had to make a few adaptations in my system. I had to drain energy from Anartia, but it was worth it. If I can give Drones a variety of skills like shapeshifting, why not give myself a useful ability?”
Every muscle tensed as Haley struggled to move. Tears streamed down her face. “Natesa?” She was silent now and probably oblivious to anything that was going on. Haley was too late.
“One more adjustment and it’s done,” he stated.
Haley, now able to move, turned toward the three hanging crystals. Natesa cried out.
And vanished.
Chapter Twelve
Dante drove his truck along the highway back to the portal. Valdon had been quiet during the entire trip and the silence was making Dante uneasy. The Drone always had something to say, usually a critical comment or two. “What’s wrong with you?” Dante asked. “Got something on your mind? Spit it out.”
“It’s started. Can’t you feel it?”
Dante did sense something, like a change in air pressure just before a fierce thunderstorm. “What is it?”
“Tarik’s preliminary testing has started. There’s an opening between dimensions. Anartia has begun to move away.”
A wave of darkness reverberated through his bones as if a fissure opened into hell. He only hoped Anartia’s departure wouldn’t cause any harm to Earth.
The steering wheel yanked out of his grip as if invisible hands had taken over. The truck jerked to the right, then to the left, vibrating violently. “What’s going on?” Dante tightened his hold, barely keeping the vehicle on the road. Thankfully, there were no cars coming from the other direction because he’d crossed over the center line a couple times. “Fuck, I think I have a flat tire. I gotta pull over.” Dante slowed down and parked the truck on the side of the road. But even completely stopped, the truck continued to buck and jerk.
“It’s not the truck,” Valdon said in a monotone voice.
Dante realized the nausea and vibration he’d felt earlier wasn’t nervousness. He and Valdon jumped out and ran back toward the horse trailer and checked the hitch and tires. Everything was fine. “The ground’s shifting. Earthquake?”
“Anartia is doing this.” Valdon explained. He kicked the wheel on the trailer. “Why did you bother taking this thing when you don’t have the horse?”
“We told Tucker we’re going to Tucson to get D.A. Don’t need a suspicious mortal tracking us down before we leave.”
Another earthquake rumbled beneath them and Dante held onto the truck for balance.
“I’ll be glad to leave Earth and its storms and earthquakes,” Valdon said as he climbed into the truck.
“And Prygos has Gwyllain,” Dante added. Valdon shot him an annoyed look. They got back onto the highway. “Haley better be okay. I should’ve brought her with us.”
“Natesa’s with her.”
A thick bolt of lightning shot across the sky and hit the ground a few hundred yards away in an explosion of sparks. “Christ,” Dante said as he swung the truck onto the dirt trail leading to the hidden portal.
When they reached the portal, Dante hid the truck and trailer behind the stand of trees. “I left a note in the house with a spare set of keys for Tucker,” Dante said. “I know he’ll take care of Siren.”
Valdon groaned and rolled his eyes. “Why worry about these mortal details?” He grabbed the hay, marched into the portal and vanished.
Before Dante followed, he caught movement through the trees. Two men and a woman strode across the open desert. Strange. They were quite a distance away and he couldn’t see their faces. He wondered if they’d seen him or Valdon. Dante hoped they didn’t see him disappear.
He sensed something about these three. No one headed into the desert without at least a backpack. They had no motor vehicle, no bikes, no backpacks. Something wasn’t right. Stepping away from the swirling energy vortex, Dante shifted into his coyote form and darted toward them, moving low, along scrub brush and cacti.
When he got close enough to see their faces, he stopped crouching down to remain hidden.
Felicia, Gwyllain’s personal slave, and two Drones.
Felicia held up a hand and the two men stopped.
“What’s wrong?” one Drone asked, the taller and darker of the two.
Felicia slowly looked in all directions. “He’s here, I sense it.”
Dante peered through the spiny bush, the thorns digging into his flesh. He recognized the Drones. They were Gwyllain’s bodyguards, Rylus and Joren. What were they doing on Earth?
“Who’s here?” Rylus asked as the dark-haired Drone stepped beside Felicia in a protective stance.
“Shhhh. Dante, I think. I smell his alternate coyote form.” The woman raised her head to the air sniffing like an animal.
Joren straightened his back and followed Rylus, flanking Felicia. With icy-blue eyes, he peered into the shrubs in Dante’s direction. “How close are we to Otera? We need to get her to safety. Gwyllain might’ve sent someone. Maybe she discovered Tarik’s plan.”
“We’re close but not there yet.” She gazed out in Dante’s direction, continuing to search for their unknown visitor.
Dante shifted into his human form and stepped out into the open. “Explain yourselves! All Drones should be on Anartia. Chi collections are completed.” He rubbed his forehead. What the fuck? This made no sense. “The demoness’s bodyguards and private slave have no reason to be on Earth.”
The three looked at Dante then at each other, obviously displeased as if they had been caught doing something illegal.
Rylus dragged a hand through his hair. “We’re not going back. It’s better that you don’t mention you saw us.”
“To Gwyllain or Tarik?” Dante glanced at their chests. They were wearing their nebula stones but not returning. “Why aren’t you coming back?”
“We’ll be free, no longer slaves to Gwyllain,” Joren answered then made a face as if he regretted saying anything.
“Something’s wrong. Tarik’s experiment will fail again won’t it?” His gut twisted in a solid knot at that horrible thought. Tarik nearly destroyed Anartia once with his errors.
“No, it’s working fine,” Felicia answered a little too quickly. “We’ve had enough of serving the demoness and her consort. We want an independent life.”
Dante gave a short grunt. “Badly enough to give up immortality? Once Anartia is gone, you’ll be mortal.”
They didn’t answer right away.
In the distance, Dante spotted movement, another figure, a woman moving toward them. “Is that Natesa?” Dante took several steps toward her. It was dark now, but Dante had good eyesight in the dark even if he wasn’t in Coyote form.
Joren blocked his path with a firm hand on his chest. “Go now.”
Dante tried maneuvering around Joren but the Drone stopped him with a forceful grip on his arm. “Leave!”
When he looked past Joren, the desert was empty. Natesa had vanished. How? There was nothing around her and she couldn’t move that fast. Fury rose inside his chest. Had this trio done something to ruin Anartia’s chances of returning. “Where’d she go? And what have you done?”
“Your woman is on Anartia,” Rylus stated. “Do you intend for her to make the journey to Prygos alone?”
“Have you sabotaged the project?” Dante demanded through clenched teeth. He’d drag them back through the portal if he had to, make them fix it.
“Stop it?” Felicia laughed. “No. We want to be as far away from Gwyllain as possible. Tarik wants the project to succeed.”
Dante let out his breath. Made sense. “All right.”
“You better hurry,” Rylus warned. “We were the last ones.”
“Was that Natesa I thought I saw?” Dante asked. “Is she staying behind too?”
“Yes,” Felicia said. She turned to the other Drones and pointed to spectral lights streaming out in rays like sunrays bursting from a cloud. “Otera. There it is.”
Dante couldn’t see what was causing the light show.
“But Tarik wouldn’t let Natesa go. He’s in love with her. Valdon is too. Does Valdon know?”
Felicia’s eyes widened in horror. “Don’t tell Valdon. He’s a dangerous Drone and a threat to you. He must remain on Anartia. Please, Dante. Don’t tell him about us or Natesa.”
Felicia touched her nebula stone and created a bright light. The flash blinded and disoriented Dante for a moment. When his vision cleared, the three Drones had gone. The colorful lights pulsed for a few moments, then they too vanished.
Dante circled the area, searching for any signs of them or the entrance to this Otera. He suspected it was another portal but to where? Another dimension? He could only sense residual energy, no portal.
What the hell? Darkness had settled onto the desert, muting the colors to dull grays, browns and reds.
Screw it.
He moved away then, shifted into his coyote form, and raced toward the portal. He paused one last time, breathing in the earthy scents of the desert and taking in the magnificent evening vista, feeling the heightened sensations, strengths and thoughts surged through his animal body. Then he shifted to his human form. He rubbed his face, and raised his head, gazing up at the star-blanketed sky. The weight of doubt and fear crushed down on him. What were those Drones up to? He knew Tarik was involved somehow.
An ache and feeling of loss cut through his chest and soul at the realization he was leaving a world he loved to find happiness on a new world. In a short time, he’d obtained a ranch, horses and a woman to love, all the things he’d ever wanted in life. It had taken one hundred and fifty years. And now he was risking it all for immortality with an insane, power-hungry demoness. Who was the insane one?
He took hold of his nebula stone and stepped into the portal.
Maybe Bill was right. He didn’t deserve Haley. If he wasn’t careful, he’d lose her too. He’d make sure their journey would be safe. Once he found out Tarik’s plan and eliminated Reilly, he could secure their future. The man was dangerous to Tarik’s project and Tarik would see that and help him.
When he reached Anartia, Dante crashed into Valdon who was standing on the other side of the portal.
“What the hell took you so long?” Valdon asked as he grabbed him by the shoulders before Dante had a chance to step away from the cliff’s edge. The wind thrashed at the Drone’s long, blond hair.
Dante tried stepping around Valdon but the Drone blocked his way. “I noticed…hikers in the distance. I had to make sure they didn’t see me enter the portal.”
“Who were they?”
Dante wasn’t going to tell anyone beside Tarik what he’d just seen. He remembered Natesa’s warning. “I don’t know.” Dante tensed, sensing a change in Valdon’s attitude. “Where’s Haley? Is she okay?” Of course, he didn’t want to tell Valdon where he gotten his information.
“She’s fine.” Valdon gripped Dante’s shoulders harder. “We’re leaving in about twelve to eighteen hours.”
“Good. Plenty of time.” He swallowed and resisted the urge to antagonize the big Drone. “I’ll check in with Tarik. He might need help.”
Valdon’s eyes darkened and gave him a rueful smile. “No, he’s busy. He had a few Drones to reassimilate. Best not to disturb him.”
Dante shook his head. “All those loyal Drones. What a waste.” He doubted Tarik was killing these Drones after what he just saw. Tarik always had more compassion than Gwyllain. Compassion wasn’t in her vocabulary.
“Escaping was never an option to them. They believed they’d be the chosen ones to return.” Valdon glared at him. “But the demoness chose to save unfaithful Drones and let loyal ones die.” He looked at Dante accusingly as his fingers wrapped around Dante’s nebula stone.
Dante stomach coiled in a knot. Now he knew why Valdon stood on the edge of the cliff. The man was like a barrier as large as a marble column. His heart thundered in his chest. It wouldn’t take much for him to push Dante over the edge.
“What’s your problem? I need to find Haley.” Dante shoved at Valdon’s chest. Still he didn’t budge.
“Were the hikers wearing these?” Valdon tugged on the nebula stone.
If he yanked it off and tried pushing Dante over the cliff, Dante would make sure they’d both go over. He wasn’t going to tell Valdon who he saw. “I don’t know. I wasn’t that close.”
Valdon grunted. He scowled as he studied Dante, looking as if he didn’t believe him. “All those returning to Prygos should be here now.”
Dante’s skin crawled at the way Valdon toyed with his nebula stone. He might be less concerned if he hadn’t been standing inches from the ledge. If he fell backward with his stone, he’d only tumble back through the portal and end up on Earth. If he fell without the stone, his connection with Anartia would be broken and he probably would get lost between dimensions. If he was fortunate to make it through to Earth, he’d become mortal.
Shifting into coyote form wasn’t an option either. Valdon had a good grip on him and the nebula stone.
The ground rumbled beneath them and they had to shift their feet to remain standing. “Maybe we should get inside,” Dante suggested calmly.
Over Valdon’s shoulder a snow leopard charged down the slope toward them. “Haley?”
Valdon didn’t turn around. His eyes widened when the animal growled a few feet behind him. The leopard paced and snarled.
“Guess she doesn’t like us standing this close to the edge.” Dante raised his arm, pointing to the temple. “Shall we?”
Valdon didn’t move and the snow leopard moved closer, her mouth ready to clamp down on his leg. Dante imagined that Valdon could feel her warm breath because the Drone’s eyes widened with a flash of fear.
Valdon released his hold on the nebula stone, and slowly backed away. He turned to face the leopard. Even an immortal preferred not to fight with a beast. Valdon didn’t have an animal form shapeshifter skill. Instead, he could change his image to appear like any human.