Destiny Bewitched (4 page)

“As soon as you start
getting pink you’re going to put that back on,” Geo ordered,
gesturing to the shirt she was stuffing in her bag.

Pushy demon. “Do you
have a knife?”

“Of course. Why?”

“I want to cut my jeans
into shorts.”

He shook his head. “The
long pants will protect you from bugs and scorpions.”

“I’m going to lose half
my body mass in sweat!”

“Then I’ll have to keep
you hydrated.” He handed her the satchel and sword and opened his
pack. Several canteens that she guessed were full of water sat at
the top of the bag. “Leave the pants.”

With a sigh, she
nodded. He had pants on too. She’d suffer in company.

She caught Geo’s gaze
glued to her chest. “Eyes up, demon.”

He shot her a look so
heated she would’ve shivered if she hadn’t been standing in the
Desert of Death.

“What do the charms
mean?”

She looked down at her
four necklaces. Protection, luck, her birthstone, and her sister.
All of them were attempts to strengthen her powers with varying
degrees of success. “Um. It’s private.”

He arched a brow.

“A witch never tells
her secrets.”

“Fair enough. I just
hoped you had something to help us through the desert.”

She snorted. “No.
Sorry. I didn’t earn my camel-making charm yet.”

His lips twitched.
“Camel?”

“Yeah. Like in Egypt.
They ride camels through the desert.”

He grinned.

“What?”

“If I was to choose
hypothetical transportation, it would be an airplane or a dune
buggy. Not a camel.”

She rolled her eyes.
“Whatever. Maybe the sun is cooking my brain. Can we go?”

With a smirk, he bowed
and answered, “As you wish.” He walked forward and she trailed
behind. “Horses.”

“What?”

“Even horses would’ve
been better than camels.”

“Oh, shut up.”

He chuckled quietly and
she couldn’t hold back a small smile. Despite the teasing, Geo was
easy to be with. Even when he’d scolded her earlier, he’d done it
gently. The men in her life had left much to be desired – three
rowdy older brothers and a deadbeat dad. She’d learned early on to
keep her head down and make her own path. Once she saved Nikki,
she’d return to that path. She was already on step two of her
five-year plan. She wasn’t sure how Nikki fit into that plan but
there was no way she’d let her go back home. Even if she had to
take on the dirtiest, most foul jobs, she’d find a way to provide
for them both.

Her family’s betrayal
was unforgiveable. They didn’t want to help her get Nikki? Then
they didn’t deserve to see her anymore. It’d be tough to support
them both. She hadn’t even finished the mentoring witches were
encouraged to receive. She’d quit after a short time in order to
take jobs and earn money to pay her father’s debt, fearful of this
exact scenario. But she hadn’t made it in time. If she found Nikki
– no,
when
she found her – they’d make something work. If nothing else,
Samantha was resourceful.

The sun beat down like
a blanket of fire as they walked on, mile after mile. The forest
disappeared and they were enveloped wholly by desert – layers of
loose sand in some spots, compact dirt in others. How the hell did
the demon know where he was going? Sweat pooled between her breasts
and along her neck. Her lungs felt heavy with the thick, hot air.
Her limbs started to ache.

“Water?” With her gaze
on the ground, she almost barreled into him.

“Yes, please.” Her
voice sounded dry. How long had they been walking? She took a few
sips then gazed around the desert. Nothingness. Not a single living
thing within miles. Why did they ever think they would survive
this? Her heart sunk and determination gave way to hopelessness.
Even for her sister she doubted she could get through this. With a
sigh, she dropped to her knees, the canteen falling to the
ground.

“Sam?” Geo’s voice
sounded distant. “What are you doing? Stand up.”

She couldn’t stand up
if she wanted to, which she didn’t. This was the end. There was no
point to suffer further. A pair of hands reached for her.

She batted them away.
“It’s no use! We’ll never make it out of here.”

“Samantha, that’s not
you talking. It’s the desert. It makes people go mad. Get up.”

“No. I’m staying right
here.”

More forcefully he
said, “Get up, now.”

She shook her head.
Couldn’t he see how screwed they were? They might as well lie down
and die.

The pushy demon wrapped
his hand around her upper arm and hoisted her to stand. “Snap out
of it!” He shook her hard. “Your sister might be dying. We must
keep moving.”

Her sister? What
sister? No. Samantha had nobody. She was always alone. In the
desert. Dying. Someone shook her again.

“Samantha. Pay
attention only to my voice.” The voice was hypnotic and she
listened for more. “You will remember your purpose. You will defeat
this desert. You will not listen to its lies.”

Nikki. She gave her
head a shake. Yes, she had to find her sister. Pulling from Geo’s
grip she stepped back and rubbed her head. “Shit. I can’t believe I
–”

Geo slapped his hand
over her mouth. “Shh!” His whole body tensed as he scanned the
desert.

She narrowed her eyes
and looked for any sign of danger. All she could see was sand. Then
the ground rumbled beneath their feet, vibrating through her
body.

“What the –”

Geo grabbed her hand.
“Run!”

They fled. She pushed
to keep up with his pace but her body screamed in protest. The
ground shook all around them. Geo pulled her faster.

The sand exploded,
grinding them both to a halt. A hideous beast rose up from the
ground, raining yellow sand all around them. A giant, red
jelly-like worm soared over their heads and landed in the sand
behind them, burrowing until it disappeared. She gaped at the
building-sized crater it left behind.

Geo tugged on her hand.
“It’ll be back.”

They ran again,
steering around the hole in the ground. Sam followed blindly behind
Geo, trying to keep up. The ground vibrated beneath them. It felt
like they were standing on a subway tunnel. Geo veered to the
right. When it rumbled under their feet again, they turned the
other direction. Her heart raced and she could barely breathe. But
Geo dragged her straight toward an outcropping of solid rock.

He leapt over a
boulder, pulling Sam with him. But her shorter legs couldn’t clear
it. She fell forward, losing her grip on Geo’s hand. Her knees
collided with the rock and she cried out in pain landing, mouth
open, on the ground. She raised her head and spit out a mouthful of
sand. The small rocks at eye-level bounced up and down. The ground
vibrated stronger and stronger under her body.

Oh shit.

The worm burst out of
the dirt only a few feet from her, leaving another hole in its
wake. She looked up and saw Geo on the other side.

“Get up!” he
yelled.

Get up, get up, get up.
She jumped
to her feet, her knees trembling. Geo’s panicked gaze locked on
hers from across the crater.

A high pitched screech
echoed around them. Was that the worm? Geo looked down into the
hole then back to Sam. “Jump!”

“What?” It was hard to
hear between the thundering ground and the shrieking, but she’d
surely misheard him.

“We’re going down.”

Oh, hell no
. She shook her
head.

“There’s far worse
above us.”

She looked up and saw
them – ugly black birds as big as horses with long featherless
necks and red beaks that looked sharp enough to tear through a car.
Three of them screeched and circled above her. The Underworld’s
freaky as fuck version of vultures. Suddenly the worm tunnel didn’t
seem so bad.

“Trust me,” Geo yelled,
giving her a steady look. Then he jumped down into the hole and out
of sight.

With a whimper and a
prayer to whatever god could hear her, she steeled her courage and
followed him.

It was a short fall but
she landed hard on her feet and would’ve fallen on her ass but Geo
was there steadying her.

“Isn’t it –” She
coughed a few times and Geo handed her a canteen. If she never saw
sand again, it would be too soon. She chugged the water and spit
out a sandy mouthful. “Isn’t it coming back?”

He shook his head. “It
caught one of the poulí to̱n nekró̱n.” She gave him a puzzled look.
“A bird of the dead.”

The vultures. She
grimaced.

Geo reached out and
brushed the sand off her cheek – softly at first then, as if
catching himself doing something wrong, he scowled and pulled away.
“Are you all right?”

Oh, how her body hurt!
Her knees felt swollen like two basketballs. Her hands were scraped
up, her throat dry and aching. “Forget a beach vacation,” she said
with a husky voice. “The Alaskan tundra is looking good right now.
My whole body aches. And what the fuck was that thing?”

“Mongolian Death Worm.”
He removed the hat from around her neck.

“It looked like a giant
intestine.” She shuddered. “And we just jumped down into
its…transportation system.” She peered around them for the first
time. The tunnel was made up of compact dirt about as wide as a
one-lane road – at least the parts she could see. The sun lit up
the area around them through the hole, but past that was shrouded
in darkness.

I wonder what the
chances are the demon packed a flashlight.

“We had no choice,” Geo
said, digging something out of his pack. “But as long as we’re
quiet, we might go unnoticed. We’ll travel the rest of the desert
down here. It’s cooler and safer.”

“Yeah, as long as the
leaping worm of death doesn’t come back for a little snack.” She
wrapped her arms around herself, feeling a shiver creep up her
spine.

He pulled out a swath
of fabric and smirked. “The desert of death. The worm of death.
You’re quite dramatic.” Wetting the cloth with some water from the
canteen, he looked her over. “Come here.”

She took a few steps
toward him. “Excuse me for being dramatic when things keep trying
to kill me. How come you couldn’t stop them with your power?”

Gently, he dabbed the
wet cloth over her face and shoulders. “It only works on
intelligent beings, not animals. And I told you once and I’ll tell
you again – I won’t let anything kill you.”

The coolness soothed
her burnt shoulders and chest. Her eyes fluttered closed. “God,
that feels so good.” When she heard how breathy she sounded, she
flushed and snapped her eyes open.

Geo’s jaw clenched.
“Here.” He shoved the fabric into her hands.

Did she do something
wrong? To clear the sudden tension, she asked, “So a day and a half
and we’re out of the tunnels?”

He nodded, his
expression turned to stone.

A whole night in this
place? She looked down at the compact dirt floor. At least the
ground was solid. No more sand. But it was eerily quiet. And so
dark.

Geo pressed a finger
between her eyebrows. “Your forehead’s all crinkled up. What’s got
you so worried?”

“I don’t like this
place,” she admitted. No reason to pretend to be brave. “And I miss
my sister.” Tears welled up but she blinked them back. She would
not lose hope. She had to stay strong. For Nikki. Throughout her
whole life, she’d protected her younger sister. When her dad had
started drinking, she’d locked Nikki in her room. When her brothers
had been in a teasing mood, she’d antagonize them, keeping their
attention from Nikki. She’d been successful in sheltering her for
the last fifteen years. Until now.

Geo studied her face,
but his mask of indifference didn’t falter. “You’ll be there soon.
Just have to stay alive until then. If we tread carefully, we
shouldn’t be bothered.”

“Shouldn’t, maybe,
might…your confidence is inspiring, demon.”

He arched a brow. “Not
a demon.”

Samantha pulled on her
top, feeling a slight chill in the growing darkness. “I don’t
suppose you have a flashlight?”

“A what?”

Guess not. “How will we
see where we’re going?”

“I have near perfect
vision in the dark.” His gaze raked over her and his look of
disappointment made her self-conscious. “I keep forgetting you’re a
mortal.”

She scowled. “Sorry for
having the ability to die.”

“It’s all right. Not
your fault.”

She clenched her fists.
“I was being sarcastic!”

“You’ll have to trust
me to guide you through the dark.” He stuck out his hand.

She stared at it. No.
Samantha was not some helpless female. She refused to play the role
of damsel in distress waiting on a knight in shining armor – or in
this case, a demon in ass-hugging leather. She was a powerful
witch, a descendant of…well, nobody special really. But she’d spent
all her free time studying hard to overcome the sins of her family.
At sixteen, her powers had come sputtering to life, clunky and
awkward because her family wasn’t exactly itching to train her. So
she’d worked hard on her own, practicing in the woods behind their
trailer park. She’d missed school dances, make-out sessions,
shopping with girlfriends…feeling even more guilty when Nikki
skipped those things to join her. And all for the ability to do the
most basic of spells. But still, she could do better than having to
hold hands like a small child.

“Come on. Hurry up,” he
said, moving his hand closer.

“I have an idea.” She
turned, searching the ground around them. “I need something to use
as a torch.”

She expected Geo to
snort or roll his eyes at her attempt to help, but he didn’t. He
moved into the shadows, past where she could see, and when he came
back, he was holding a long, somewhat curved stick. A little short
but it would do.