Read Between the Realms Online
Authors: Elle Casey
Tags: #Fiction, #Fantasy, #Urban, #Contemporary, #Humorous, #Paranormal, #Action & Adventure
Between the Realms
Clash of the Otherworlds
Book Two
Between the Realms
Elle Casey
Other Books by Elle Casey
*Coming soon
Dedication
To Susan Macias,
gifted artist and devoted fan.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2012 Elle Casey, all rights reserved, worldwide.
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Elle Casey thanks you deeply for your understanding and support.
CHAPTER ONE
EVERYONE STOOD AROUND BEN'S ROOM looking a little shell shocked.
Then Tim spoke up.
"Did she just say she'd see you on the other side, or did my child warp my hearing stuffing polly balls in my ears?"
He tilted his head to the right and smacked the left side of it a few times.
"Your child probably
did
stuff polly balls in your ears, but you still heard right," I said.
"They want us to go into the Gray."
I looked around at the others.
"Right?
That's what she meant?"
"I believe she meant more than that, actually," said Dardennes, shaking his head.
Céline was frowning and looking at me like a worried mother hen.
"Well, don't keep us in suspense.
What's the plan?" I asked, looking from one silver elf to the other.
"I think before we discuss that, we first need to address the issue sitting on our doorstep."
Dardennes went to the entrance of Ben's room and turned around, his hand resting on the door handle.
"Those of you who feel you can be of service to the community right now by repelling this advance against us, please follow me.
The rest of you, do what you can to assist us from inside the compound.
I assume there will be some wounded at the very least.
Please ready the medical teams."
And with that, he stepped out into the hallway.
I took one look at Ben and strode over to the door.
Tim flew up from the table and landed on my shoulder as I went.
Jared and Niles were already on their way out of the room ahead of me.
"Onward, brave mule!" yelled Tim, sounding way too enthusiastic for a pixie about to meet some nasty Underworld creatures.
"Let's go fry us some vampire butts!"
"I'm not even sure how much vampire butt I'm capable of frying with this thing," I mumbled, pulling Blackie out of its sheath and holding it in front of me.
I looked back at Céline and Red.
"Are you guys going out or staying in?"
"We will work from within," said Céline.
"Be careful, Jayne."
"I'll do the best I can," I said, just before leaving the room and breaking into a jog down the hallway behind Dardennes.
He sure could move fast for an old dude.
I was soon short of breath.
Ben came up beside me a few moments later, a weapon strapped to his leg that looked suspiciously like mine, only it wasn't black; it was more amber-brown than anything.
He had no problem keeping up and wasn't even breathing hard.
"Nice firepower," I said, glancing down at his leg and then ahead again, back to focusing on not tripping over the uneven ground.
His feet made soft padding sounds on the stone, while mine made more of a slapping noise.
No way would I ever be able to sneak up on anyone in a hurry.
It was frustrating to think that Ben was better than me at this, too.
"Family heirloom," was all he said.
I frowned, knowing it was Garrett who'd killed the dragon that Ben's weapon had probably belonged to back when it was functioning as a fang.
And there was no mistaking Ben's and Garrett's resemblance.
One of these days when I wasn't busy bailing my ass out of trouble, I was going to have to ask Ben about that.
Or maybe Garrett.
Something told me I'd get straighter answers out of him.
Dardennes stopped at a door I hadn't seen before and motioned for Jared and Niles to continue on.
"You two take the other main entrances.
We'll start here."
Jared and Niles wasted no time, running off into the darkness of the long hallway.
I was tempted to laugh at Niles, his tiny legs were moving so fast they were nearly a blur, but I couldn't quite work up the response knowing there was grave danger waiting for all of us on the other side of the doors.
Niles might be small, but he was a brave little cuss.
Dardennes rested his hand on the wood and closed his eyes, breathing in deeply once and then exhaling.
I waited quietly wondering what the hell he was doing.
Ben reached down and squeezed my hand once before letting it go, also remaining completely silent.
Dardennes opened his eyes after about ten seconds.
"Okay.
There are vampires, orcs, and at least one demon outside.
The demon could be in any form, so don't let your guard down.
And as you know from seeing Garrett, vampires also look like regular fae."
"What do you mean by 'any form'?
Can the demon look like someone we know?
Or be another kind of monster?" I asked.
"Anyone.
Anything.
Go with your gut.
A demon shifter will always seem a little off to you.
Whatever you do, don't ignore your inner compass."
And with that he opened the door, immediately bringing the sounds of battle crashing into our ears.
CHAPTER TWO
TIM IMMEDIATELY BUZZED OFF TO go pixie the hell out of someone, I don't know who.
I lost sight of him in seconds.
I wasted no time wading into the fray myself, pulling The Green up into me just in case I might need it and holding my fang out in front as a deterrent to keep the monsters at bay.
I didn't put a shield around me since it would have made it impossible for me to get at anyone.
Blackie and I had work to do.
The threat of my weapon held out like a sword worked to keep the creatures back for the most part.
The smart ones anyway.
One not-very-bright orc came at me, ignoring my open threat, and soon realized his stupidity when he got too close.
I used Blackie to slice a clean burn across his stomach and then sank it almost to the end into his shoulder.
It went through him like butter, burning dragonfire the entire way.
His roars of pain were sickening to me, and the sound of his body being burned into ash was just plain disgusting.
I expected to feel only satisfaction, but bringing pain to someone made me feel guilty, even if he was an evil beast.
The smell of his death was like a noxious gas, irritating my nostrils and making me wish there were some polly balls up there.
I jerked the hand holding the weapon away from him as fast as I could, eager to put some distance between us.
The beast's black acid-blood drained out of him, sizzling as it hit the ground.
He fell to his knees first and then onto his face, no longer moving except for an occasional twitch.
I smiled without humor at my fairly easily-won victory, proud that I'd come in and whooped butt without even using my elements, but sick that I'd been forced into doing it.
I wanted to kick his lifeless body and yell, "
Why can't you just leave us alone!"
But I didn't bother because I knew the answer would make no sense to me.
My victory was unfortunately short-lived.
I didn't realize that there was someone behind me until it was too late.
I was grabbed into a not totally unpleasant embrace, someone's face coming down by my ear.
My captor whispered, "Well, well, well, who do we have here?"
The sounds of battle faded a little for me as I considered who it was.
I would have jabbed this force-hugger backhand-style with Blackie if I hadn't recognized his voice.
My hand froze in mid-stab.
I couldn't very well kill the guy who was not only on my side but was also pretty damn cute
and
had worked wonders on the dark spots that had cropped up on my soul not that long ago.
I kind of owed him a non-stabbing at this point, even if he was pretty stupid for grabbing me in the middle of a battle.
