Off to the right of the throne sat a gigantic canopy bed also raised up from the floor. The sheets were ivory and most likely silk, although Dagan had never dared touch them. This is where the god let his
water
flow into many willing and some unwilling females.
On the left sat tables laden with every kind of seafood. The table cloths were iridescent and glowed as he approached them. Everything sparkled in Enki’s temple. Harps played in the background and the humid air carried the overwhelming smell of lobster and crab until it filled the large space.
“What brings you here, Dagan?”
The God of Wisdom sat patiently, studying his reaction to the question with a little too much intensity.
“My most recent encounter with Kur’s henchmen took me to the twenty-first century and the state of Colorado.” He didn’t miss Enki’s flinch when he’d mentioned Kur’s name. The god tensed, all casualness gone, and listened more intently to what he had to say.
“Go on.”
“They were after a young woman by the name of Reese Whittaker.”
“
Shakaah
!” Enki swore and slammed his hands down on the arms of the throne. The whole place shook. “Did they capture her?”
“No. I managed to get there first…barely.” Dagan moved closer, curious of the deity’s reaction. “I felt a strange energy signature while at her home. It’s not normal energy and pulses with a god’s magic.” He placed one booted foot on a sandstone step and crossed his arms over his knee. “I’d hoped you could shed light on this matter.”
Enki nodded. “After Kur killed so many and swore to seek revenge on us all, especially me, I went to Percilious, the wizard, and had him cast a powerful concealment ward around the homes of all my descendents to hide them from Kur. I boosted the spell with my magic.”
That must have taken a lot. Dagan stood and paced in front of the dais. “That would explain why they set off the explosion.”
Enki frowned, his elegant features twisted. “Explosion?”
Dagan continued his march and voicing his thoughts. “So that we would come out of the house; they must have followed us.”
“They cannot enter the house,” Enki said. “She is safe as long as she is inside.”
Dagan stopped and stared at Enki. “But she’s vulnerable when she is anywhere else.”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Enki rubbed his eyes. “I could not protect every one of them all the time. There are too many.”
Maybe if he’d quit spreading his seed so much, this wouldn’t be a problem. But that would be like asking the Sun to stop shining and the different races on his world to stop committing genocide.
“Thank you.” Dagan bowed before Enki. “That explains some things.” On that matter anyway. “I’ll take my leave.”
In a soft voice that echoed through the hall Enki said, “Can you protect her, Dagan?”
Dagan stopped and glanced back at the man he’d known all his life. “It’s my duty to protect her.” And he would do whatever it took to ensure she did not fall into Kur’s hands.
“Knowing how good you are at your job, I trust you will keep her safe.”
If she would let him. Dagan bowed again out of respect and found his way to the door.
The sun sank low on the horizon when Dagan shimmered to form in the tree-lined drive across from Reese’s house. Rufus stepped out from behind the bushes.
“She’s in for the night I’m guessing. I’ve seen her in the kitchen cooking and she’s wearing a short, silky-looking robe—”
Rufus’s words were cut off abruptly when Dagan’s hand encircled his throat and lifted him off his feet, pushing his back against the nearest tree. The
doghume
’s
legs dangled in mid-air, his hands clutching at Dagan’s wrist.
“You were to keep watch but not get close enough for her to see you,” Dagan said through clenched teeth.
“I have binoculars, Dagan, bin-o-cu-lars.” Rufus emphasized each syllable of the word to get his point across. His voice choked and raspy.
Dagan released him and he fell to the ground.
“Jeez, what’s the matter with you?” The other man got up rubbing his throat. “Your eyes turned real dark, like you were going to kill me or something.”
The roar of his anger and his blood were not lost on Dagan. The minute he’d thought another man had gotten anywhere near Reese, he lost control. That had never happened before. He hoped this would be over soon, but the thought of never seeing Reese again tore him apart inside.
Another anomaly
.
He held up a finger and Rufus instantly grew quiet. The night moved on the north side of Reese’s house. Though they could not sense her inside because of the concealment ward, they knew she resided there.
“Do you have weapons?”
“Always,” Rufus replied, still rubbing his throat.
“Good, they’re here. You come from the south side and work your way around the back. I’ll go to the north and meet them straight on.”
Rufus nodded and pulled out twin daggers. He started away when Dagan called out in a whisper, “Watch your back, human.”
Rufus saluted him and disappeared.
Reese stood at the porcelain sink washing some lettuce to make a salad when the hairs on her arms rose, as if she were surrounded by static electricity. Instinctively, she turned the water off and grabbed a large knife from the block to her right. All day her nerves had been on edge. She moved across the hardwood floor toward the back door but stopped long enough to grab the baseball bat out of her restaurant-sized pantry. She kept it there for protection. There were other items similarly placed throughout the house. For some reason she could not explain, she’d felt the need for such protection since she turned sixteen.
With the bat in one hand and the knife in the other, she slid her mules on, opened the back door with her fingertips and peered outside. The setting sun gave off enough twilight to show that no one stood on the small snow-covered porch or in the yard around the house. She reminded herself to shovel the porch off the next day. Relieved, she turned to go back inside, when a flash of movement caught the corner of her eye.
A young man with short brown hair seemed to be at war with smoke. The smoke or dark mist had arms and fought back.
Another delusion?
She started to yell out but decided it wasn’t the best course. In her flimsy robe, she crept across the deck. Laying the knife on the edge of the porch, she grabbed the bat with both hands, moved down the steps, and snuck closer to the pair. Punches were thrown and kicks were blocked as the fighters circled in a violent dance. One move had the man facing her and his attacker’s back in her line of sight. Swinging the bat like the best home run hitter, Reese nailed the whatever-it-was knocking it sideways to the ground. Stunned for only a moment, the young man smiled. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Duck!”
She fell to the frozen ground. The stranger pulled a bizarre-looking knife from its place on his belt and threw it at the shadow, hitting it dead center of the chest. The thing disintegrated before her eyes. Left in its place was a puddle of black dust.
The man bent down, gripped her arms and helped her up. “Are you okay?”
“Yes, but what was that?”
“A burglar, I guess.”
She arched a brow, letting him know she didn’t buy his unconvincing story.
“Out for my evening stroll, I saw him approach your window, so I came to investigate.” He flashed a white toothy grin. “That was awesome by the way. Where’d you learn to swing a bat like that?”
“Little League,” she responded dryly. The stranger had slyly managed to shift the conversation.
“Cool.”
Removing his jacket, he placed it around her shoulders and walked her toward the porch where she stopped to pick up her knife.
“You better get back inside now, miss. You must be freezing. I’ll clean up out here.”
“We need to call the police,” she said through chattering teeth.
“Yeah, I’ll take care of that.” He smiled again.
“But—”
Just over the man’s left shoulder, Reese saw another one of those things. “Look out,” she screamed.
The stranger swerved to the right. With shivering fingers, Reese threw the knife, lodging it in the creature’s throat. A gust of chilling wind blew its ashes into the night, leaving the cutlery to fall silently to the ground.
“Okay—” she faced the handsome stranger, “—you need to explain what the hell is going on, and don’t hand me that burglar crap again.” She grabbed the Louisville Slugger with both hands. “I still have my bat.”
The stranger eyed her and the grip she had on the smooth wood. “Well, umm…”
“It’s okay, Rufus,” someone said from behind her. “I’ll take it from here. Check the grounds.”
“Good. No problem. Nice to have met you, Ms. Whittaker.”
“How did you know my name?” she sputtered.
He retrieved her knife and handed it back to her on his way around the house. “Goodnight.” With a salute, he faded into the darkness.
“But…your coat.”
Heat filled the short space between her and the newcomer. Slowly, Reese turned to face the other man full ready to give him a piece of her mind before going inside to call the authorities.
Her breath caught.
Even in the twilight, she knew him. The handsome hero from her dreams, the one who made her sweat. Suddenly memories flooded her mind in a rushing wave—last night and this morning. Angrily, she slapped him.
“Bastard. You did something to me, didn’t you?” She slapped him again then spun around and marched toward the house. Dagan stormed after her.
“You remember?”
Anger, embarrassment came out in a bitter laugh. “Leave.” She stepped inside and tried to slam the door but he put his hand out to keep it from smashing into his face.
A bogie jumped on Dagan’s back with enough force to knock them both to the slippery wooden deck.
“Stay inside, Reese. Lock yourself in.” Dagan managed to yell the order before the demon struck him in the face with a vicious blow.
Reese wrapped her hand around the handle of a cast iron skillet sitting on the counter and raced outside to see two more rushing toward them. Scared to death, but unable to leave Dagan to do battle alone, she ran at the two new fiendish-looking creatures and whacked the first one in the head. It dropped to the ground like a stone. The second one turned on her and she swung at him but he deflected the blow. He laughed and produced what she thought was supposed to be a sneer, but it was hard to tell.
It grabbed at her, but she managed to hit it in the knee with her sturdy weapon. When it yowled and bent forward, she belted him on the back of the neck and he joined his cohort at her feet.
Searching the area with her eyes, she saw Dagan beat the one who had jumped him down, pull out his sword and cut off its head. A bright flash lit up the night turning it to what looked like black coal dust. Another one grabbed Dagan’s lapel and pulled him over the railing.
“Finish him. I’ll get the female,” the one she assumed was the leader said.
The taller demon came after her and she ran. Reese heard gunshots as she bashed one
galla
in the head and turned to come face to face with a human. At least that’s what she thought until he spoke.
“You’ve been a nasty piece of business, I must say,” he sneered. “Now we’re through and you’re coming with me.”
The vicious glint in his eyes sent a sliver of fear clattering through her. The stench from his mouth made her want to gag. “I don’t think so.”
Dagan leapt onto the porch. The smell of gunpowder and the loud report of the guns filled the night as he rapidly fired into the demon’s body. It dropped to its knees and glared at Dagan.
“Tell your boss I’ll be seeing him soon,” Dagan promised.
The evil being hissed and melted away. He could have given the Wicked Witch of the West a run for her money in the melting department.
Dagan retrieved his sword and sheathed it. He strode toward her wearing a deep frown. She stared at the blackened remnants on the porch, door and side of the house which were fading as night fell.
“The next time I tell you to run, run, dammit.”
Her gaze snapped to him. “You’re not my keeper.”
His intense stare locked on her. “You need a keeper.”
Reese straightened and glared at him, a fist of anger returning. “They deserved it.” She narrowed her eyes on him. “You deserved it too.”
“Come on.” Dagan grabbed her arm, pulled her inside, closed and locked the door.
She marched over to the pantry and pulled out a broom.
“What are you doing?”
Memories of what had just happened tap danced on her psyche, memories she shouldn’t have—no one should have. “I’m going to sweep that rubbish off my porch.” Her hands were shaking.
“Not tonight.”
“I don’t suppose you’d leave?”
Moving to her he said, “Not gonna happen.”
Instantly, Reese dropped the broom and started slapping at the front of her shirt. Her eyes grew wider. “My chest is burning.”