Dweller on the Threshold (41 page)

I nodded.

 
“I misunderstood a religious ceremony, spread rumors in my ignorance and her reputation was destroyed. I gave her daughter the gift of beauty to try and make up for it but it backfired. I have no defense. It was selfish and a piss-poor way to try and make amends. Pasiphae went crazy over what happened on Aegenia. She must have cursed me to live invisible in this earthly dimension knowing it would be the one thing that drove me crazy. I was always the center of attention back then.”

I waited.

“Don’t you see? You are her granddaughter. You were supposed to see me.”

“No, I don’t see. I don’t see how this conversation is important here and now, Phro. I only know that we’re all hurting and exhausted and a wonderful, incredible man just
possibly
gave up his life to save us. Why do we need to hear this right this moment?”

She grinned and it looked like her normal, snotty one. “We rarely did things that made sense. Too bored most of the time to think straight, we’d try anything once, just for amusement. Look at all my father’s escapades.”

I was so going to try and punch her the next time I astral projected. Everything hurt. My outsides. My insides. “Phro please. Tell me if this has anything to do with Nikolos in that place.”

“I’m getting there. Your mother didn’t believe in her own powers of attraction. She was a lot like you—though she’s the spitting image of that brother of yours. The fact that she actually bought her way onto this earth to seduce that nasty slab of humanity shocks me. She was pretty fastidious then. Always into rituals or playing with her snakes.”

“Aphrodite, you are pissing me off.”

She stomped her foot. “Dammit, you stupid woman, don’t you realize these things have to be told as story? Think about the snakes. The bees! Think about the feminine figure you saw over and over in Nikolos’s home in those damn statues and pieces of pottery. He was Ariadne’s most loyal warrior. She introduced him to the finest woman on their island, gave them the ankhs at the wedding. When that woman died, she put you here for him.” She paused. “And she made sure you inherited a gift from her. One that would save him.”

 
I waited. Held my breath.

“Did you ever read the story about the Minotaur in the Labyrinth?”

“The half-bull, half-human child? Ariadne’s brother. But if Pasiphae didn’t…”

She hung her head. “That’s another story we twisted. Ariadne’s brother was born with some sort of disfigurement, but no one forced him to live in the labyrinth. He did, however, get lost in there and Ariadne’s true love went in to find him and got lost himself. Ariadne led him from the labyrinth with string.”

When she stopped speaking, I sat stunned for a couple of seconds. The miles of extra cord—the very thing that had driven me nuts when it got caught in trees. The very thing that had come in so handy with the demons.

I would be able to lead Nikolos from the underworld with it.

I took Elsa’s hand in mine, squeezing lightly when she winked. She could see and hear Phro because of the solidity the goddess had taken on. She’d gathered energy—probably so everyone could see her and the grand story could be told in style.

 
“Is Blythe okay?” I aimed my question at Frida, who stood silent and protective over her. I hadn’t even seen him during this entire battle. He nodded and offered me a smile. A real one.

 
Dooby still had his hand on Blythe’s head. “She passed out. She was using so much magic.” He bit his lip and I noticed that he had dirt streaks covering his body from head to toe. “I didn’t know she had that kind of power. She never said.”

“I don’t think she knew,” I answered.

 
He stroked her hair. “Well, if you plan to go after Nikolos, we’ll need to summon another fire elemental. We’ll also need the blood of an ancient.”

“I’ll find one.” The pain had started to make me dizzy. “I’ll find one if I have to drag the devil himself into a circle to give blood. Nikolos shouldn’t pay. He’s been paying all these years and it was never his fault to begin with. He sacrificed himself to set all those souls free.”

I stood, letting Castor help me. I leaned against him. The Dweller had called us hosts. I suppose he meant we were two parts of a whole. Not that that made sense or anything, but right then nothing much did. Not with me losing blood so quickly. I decided then to let Dooby and Blythe translate that book. Maybe there was something in there about Castor and me.

Castor helped me to the second swamp buggy. “I’ll send people back for the other vehicle,” he said, gently tucking me into the back seat. He offered me the sweetest smile before his expression smoothed, turning serious. “It’s not over.”

“I know.” I kept my voice low so we wouldn’t scare the others. They’d have to be told—just not right now. “Did you see them?”

“You mean the things that were escaping that hole? The elemental and the Dweller were working together, I think.”

I nodded. “He was stalling me on purpose. That damned elemental didn’t mess with us for a reason. It was letting things out.” I’d seen the shadows, creatures skulking into the woods to hide. I didn’t know what kinds of creatures.

“We’ll have to get them back.” Castor looked toward the trees where most had disappeared. “Who knows what power they’ll have here.”

“I know. I’ll get them back.”

“
We
will,” he said before turning to go back for my sister. I could hear her protesting as he picked her up.

 
“Okay, we will,” I murmured, letting my body relax for now. Raw determination pumped through my aching heart and I closed my eyes. “After
I
get Nikolos back.”

About the Author

Rinda loves unusual stories and credits growing up in a family of curious life-lovers who moved all over the country. Books and movies full of fantasy, science fiction and romance kept her amused, especially in some of the stranger places. For years, she tried to separate her darker side with her humorous and romantic ones. She published short fiction, but things really started happening when she gave in and mixed it up. When not lost in fiction, Rinda loves making wine, collecting music, gaming and spending time with her husband and two children.

She’s represented by Miriam Kriss of the Irene Goodman Agency.

You can find Rinda at
relliott4.wordpress.com
and
www.deadlinedames.com
.

Look for these titles by Rinda Elliott

Coming Soon:

Blood of an Ancient

All it takes is one freak to turn everything into a demonic ritual

On Pins and Needles

© 2013 Yolanda Sfetsos

Sierra Fox, Book 3

Sierra Fox can’t catch a break. Her relationship with werewolf, Jason Papan, is going great but someone’s still trying to kill her. After a death prediction, she becomes even more paranoid. But there are too many things going on in her life for her to dwell on just the one.

With her biological grandfather’s help, Sierra is about to find out exactly why the demonic-obsessed freaks wants her. Meeting the half-sister she didn’t know she had throws her into a new lot of trouble. The teenager suffers a supernatural problem that makes her a target, and when teenagers start turning up dead, Sierra realizes the case leads to her sister.

As Sierra finds herself in the thick of the murder investigation, and the target on her becomes harder to avoid, she has no choice but to face her darkest fears and accept that to overcome the looming threat, she’ll have to embrace the darkest of her powers. Or that death prediction might just come true…

Warning: Spook catching: never gets any easier, neither does trying to avoid being killed by a shadowy organization. Always expect the unexpected—dangerous vampires, poltergeists and demon-obsessed freaks. At least the werewolf is pleasurably safe.

Enjoy the following excerpt for
On Pins and Needles:

I stared at this seemingly healthy young girl and for the first time noticed the dark circles under her eyes, and just how thin she was. “I don’t know what to say.” I bit down on my lip, fighting the itch to grab a pen and start writing this down into my grimoire—under my family history. This was bizarre. She’d allegedly died four times already and had somehow—obviously—been revived. How was that possible?

For just a moment, I honed in on my spook catcher skills, hoping to eliminate the fact she could very well be dead right now and not know it. But no, she was very much alive.

“It’s okay. Most people don’t know what to say or how to react.” She looked down at the desk. “All I know is that every time I come back, I feel a little different. A little heavier, if that makes any sense.”

My heart sped up. How had my mother dealt with another anomaly? And what could be wrong with Willow that she kept dying but came back? It explained why she’d reached out to me. Yet I couldn’t help but wonder how her father fit into all of this, and how he even knew about me. How long had he known? I still had a hard time believing my mother actually told him.

“Listen, I don’t want to pry into your business, but does your father know you’re here?”

Willow’s head jerked up unnaturally fast and her blue eyes widened, shining brightly. So bright it almost looked as if shimmering light was filtering from
within
her. “Why?” Her soft voice suddenly had a rough edge.

“I’m curious, what does he think of all this?”

“My father has nothing to do with this.” The long strands of her hair lifted around her like slithering snakes being whipped by a sudden gust of wind.
 

What the hell was going on? My hair sizzled from the electrical charge I associated with poltergeist activity, or phantasms. “Willow, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just dandy,” she replied, and a flash of light exploded behind her, revealing the writhing form of a tall, thin boy with longish brown hair. He weaved around her, his body charged like an electric eel. Yet she didn’t seem to notice him or the sparks.

When another form appeared behind her, this time in the shape of a dog, I jumped out of the chair and took a step back.
 

I raised my right hand. “Okay, Willow, you need to calm down.”

“I am calm. I’ve never felt calmer, because being around you feels different…in a good way.” A rueful smile spread across her plump lips. “You’re exactly what I’ve needed all this time. You can help me.”
 

The monitor between mine and Ebony’s desk flickered on, and so did the overhead lights. A few manila folders flew off the top of the stack and began swirling around, an assortment of pens following close behind.
 

If I couldn’t get her to calm down, the poltergeist activity would wreck the office.

What had set her off? I’d said something that made her angry and it was now manifesting with violent electrical, telekinetic energy. It wasn’t the evidence she’d presented, or even discussing the fact she’d died several times. No, it was the question about whether her father knew she was here.
 

“Willow…”

“Yeah?” she asked while the boy writhed around her. He seemed to have eyes only for her, just as the small dog did.

“Tell me about your favorite movie, or book.” I knew next to nothing about this girl, so distracting her in a positive way was going to be quite a challenge. Usually to calm poltergeist activity, I needed to connect with the source but these attachments didn’t seem to be in control.
She
was. And that wasn’t the only thing that made everything so confusing, because poltergeists rarely revealed themselves. It was usually like dealing with an invisible telekinetic entity. So how could a live person have poltergeists with her
and
make them appear? No, that wasn’t quite right because I was pretty sure she couldn’t see the kid and the dog.
 

But I certainly can.

Her smile widened. “Oh, Jamie and I loved to watch scary movies together. It didn’t matter how old or B-grade they were, we loved them. We especially loved the old hack and slash ones from the 80s.”

The hovering boy turned to look at her with what could only be described as adoration on his face. His bluish shimmer made her glow like some kind of celestial being.

“Do you have a favorite?”

“Oh, we loved
The Nightmare on Elm Street
movies the best. I was never scared, but liked it when Jamie held my hand.”

“Who’s Jamie?” I sat slowly, wincing because the electrical charge was so close my skin was crawling. “He sounds like a good friend.”

She was quiet for a moment, staring at the desktop as if she was lost in the past. “He was…he was my boyfriend.”

“Willow, what happened to him?” I asked softly. Anything, even the wrong tone of voice, could set her off again. At least nothing was flying around the office now. “How did Jamie die?”

The poltergeist boy I assumed to be Jamie continued to glide around her.
 

Her eyes met mine. “He died in a car accident. We were in the car, and…”