Shadow Rising (39 page)

After a moment, she glanced at me. “I wasn’t told the details. I’m sorry. Nobody should ever be forced to make the transition. I was wrong to judge you. But you judge me. Do you want to know why I made the choice?”

“If you want to tell me.”

“I was dying. I developed Spindle’s Fever. There is no cure, and it’s a painful, fatal disease. I wasn’t ready to die. I had so much to live for, and Queen Asteria trusted me. I talked to her about it. The only possibility for me was to make the change. She agreed, and called in Mama Raleesha, who agreed to sire me. And so, before the disease did any further damage to me, I died and was reborn.”

Spindle’s Fever was a wasting disease, and it mostly struck those who used magic. Nobody knew what brought it on, and though it was rare, it was feared among sorcerers and witches. Camille had mentioned it once or twice, but any worries she had about it she kept to herself.

“I guess…I can see why you made the choice.” I liked to think I wouldn’t choose the same path if I were in her shoes, but until you faced the fire, you never knew what you’d do. So I kept my judgment to myself.

Shade stopped and motioned for us to do the same. “The cave is through this patch of woods and a little ways beyond. The path winds around in front of it, and on up the mountain. Get ready.”

Vanzir and Smoky moved up next to us. Vanzir pulled out his whistle and made sure it was fastened around his neck. “The degas can be attacked physically, unlike the bhouts, but they are strong and dangerous. Try the whistles first, to
disarm them and make them easier to attack. But sound alone isn’t going to take them out, so be prepared for one hell of a fight.”

I glanced at the path. “Let’s go. And Charlotine—you may have faced some nasty things in the past, but make no mistake, these are demons, and they won’t give you a chance. Don’t give them any opening.”

She held my gaze a moment. “Right.”

And so, Shade and I at the front, Charlotine and Vanzir behind us, and Smoky bringing up the back, we moved in.

We approached the cave off-path, shrouded by the undergrowth. The ground was soggy and wet, spongy with forest debris. The constant drip of the rain off the tree limbs set up an odd cadence, and I was grateful for it, because it would help mask any sounds we made.

As we reached the border of the undergrowth where it cleared out into a small opening around a cave, we edged in, watching. There was activity there; we could see it and feel it.

Charlotine leaned in. “Do you want me to scout it out? I’m good at bat form.”

I frowned. I wasn’t good at taking any form, and I envied vamps who could. “Fine, go. But don’t do
anything
except look. Get back here in under ten minutes.”

She shifted, effortlessly, and flew up and out into the night. As I watched her, something in me responded to the transformation and I found myself wanting to shift, too. But that was crazy. I never had the urge, and when I did, my results were less than spectacular.

But the urging became stronger and I tugged on Smoky’s arm. “Listen, I’m feeling pulled to change shape.”

“You don’t do that.” Smoky frowned at me.

“I know, that’s why I’m telling you.”

“Do you want to try, while we’re waiting for her to return?” Smoky gave me a quizzical look.

I scratched my head. The tingling was stronger. “Yeah. I won’t do anything stupid, but I want to give it a go.” I stepped back, giving myself room to focus on shifting. It had never
been easy, and though I’d managed to attain bat form a couple of times, I never managed to hold it for long. And my flying powers were pathetic.

But as I closed my eyes, it was as if a switch went on inside and I found my body fluid, a whirl of smoke and vapor shifting into another form. The next thing I knew, I was hovering above the ground, in bat form, looking down at Smoky, Shade, and Vanzir. I could barely see them, but I could sense them. I let out a series of clicks and as they bounced back, I was able to make out their presence a lot easier.
What the fuck!
I was a bat! I took a few turns around the area before settling back down toward the ground.

Usually, transforming back was just as difficult. I strained as the shift began but was focusing so hard that when it came easier than expected, I overshot and fell forward, kissing the ground before I managed to catch myself. Smoky grasped my arm and helped me up.

“What the hell was that?” Vanzir asked. “You’ve never done it like that before.”

“Yeah,” I said, keeping my voice as low as I could. “Maybe it has something to do with the ritual that I performed with Roman. He’s incredible at shifting forms to bat and wolf.” Roman had other powers, too, and I wondered just how much I’d inherited from him. Life was suddenly looking up.

Just then, Charlotine came flying back. She landed gracefully and shifted back into her form. “Ten of the demons you describe. And the Demon Gate is glowing. There must be someone in there activating it.”

“Gulakah? Fuck. We can’t face him.” A wave of panic rose up inside. But we had to go in. We couldn’t let this go on, and we couldn’t just sit out here until the coast was clear. “Okay, what are we doing?”

Smoky and Shade looked at one another. “There’s room enough out there for us to shift into our dragon forms. The degas are strong, but not strong enough to hurt us when we’re as big as a house.”

“That’s only if we can lure them out. And what about Gulakah?” I looked at Vanzir. “You can’t latch onto him, now that you have your abilities back, can you?”

“I can try, but I won’t win. That much I guarantee you, and I’m sorry, but I’m just not feeling up to a suicide mission right now.” He turned to Shade. “You know the most about Gulakah. What do you know that will repel him?”

Shade shook his head. “I can’t think of much that I haven’t already told you. There has to be a way to defeat him, but I don’t know what it is.”

“We can’t defeat him,” Charlotine said, “but I
can
repel him. I can cast a powerful circle to keep out demons. Sorcerers use it for summoning, in order to protect ourselves during the rituals. We also have a variant for repelling the demons. The spell will last for about ten minutes, which will give us the leeway to destroy the gate and get out of here.”

“You’re sure you can repel him with that ritual? He’s a god, exiled from his home.” I knew Charlotine was powerful, but powerful enough to repel a god?

She gazed at me evenly. “I can do it, but it won’t hold for more than ten minutes. It might go for fifteen, but I’d have to be focusing on it, and you need me to disarm the gate.”

“What do we do?” I didn’t like being backup, but in this case, it was all about teamwork.

“You keep anything and everything away from me so I can do my job. Menolly, I need you with me. Up front. I may need some help. Let the others fight the demons that will be coming in.” And for the first time, she gave me a faint smile. “I work better with vamps.”

I looked at the others, who nodded their agreement. “I’ve got your back. So what’s first?”

“I set up the circle and you guys lead Gulakah out here.” She slid out to the clearing. Luckily, there was nobody out there, and she was able to reach an open area. She opened her pack and pulled out what looked like a bag of some powder. She began sprinkling it in a large circle around her. Shade noticed me squinting, trying to see what she was doing.

“Sulfur,” he whispered.

After the sulfur, she took out yet another bag and made yet another turn with it. I tried to see what it was, but in the darkness, with only faint flickering lights from within the cave to see by, it was impossible.

“What’s that?”

Shade inhaled slowly and grimaced. “Asafetida. Pungent as all get-out, and very useful in keeping baleful spirits at bay.”

The third time she cast the circle, I didn’t even have to ask. Shade volunteered the info. “Rock salt. She knows her stuff, all right.”

After she finished with scattering the sulfur, asafetida, and salt, Charlotine pulled out a dagger—double edged—that gleamed with a wicked blade. She cast a circle—that much I recognized from what Camille often did—and though I couldn’t hear what she was saying, I could feel the hairs on my arms raise. Then, she motioned for us to join her in the circle.

“All right. While we’re in here, someone has to go lead Gulakah out so I can finish the incantation. We’ll be protected from him while we’re inside the boundaries until I repel him out of here. After he vanishes—and if everything goes all right, he should—then we move out. Menolly guards my back, and you guys take on the degas and bhouts. The bhouts can’t get to Menolly and me, but the other demons…they can hurt us.”

“So who goes out to lead the Lord of Ghosts our way?” I would have volunteered, but I’d already promised Charlotine to be her backup.

Vanzir started to say something, but then Shade spoke up. “I’ll do it. He’ll recognize my energy as being from the Netherworld, and it may spur him on. The rest of you wait here.”

Smoky took his arm. “I’m full dragon; I’m less likely to be harmed if he goes on a rampage.”

“No. You have the household to protect. I’ll be all right. I can fade into the shadows and hide.” He leaped out of the circle and headed for the cave before Smoky could say another word.

Smoky glowered but said nothing. We waited…one minute…five…and then a low reverberation shook the ground. I tensed, moving behind Charlotine so I wouldn’t be in the way of her spell.

And then, in that point between
then
and
now
, Shade
came rushing out, with a blur on his heels—Gulakah, in full pursuit. Nine feet tall, reptilian in nature, the Lord of Ghosts towered over everyone around him. Weaving tentacles emerged from his head to dart this way and that, like horrendous living dreadlocks. Matte-black eyes and razor-edged teeth marred the muzzle-like face, and his skin glimmered with a dirty green glow.

Terrified, I stood my ground, but watching the demon general-cum-god bear down on us was testing my limits.

Smoky tensed, and behind me, I heard Vanzir gulp.

Charlotine held out her hand.
“Repel!”

Her voice shook the clearing as a crackle of flame lit up the night. Gulakah froze in his tracks, a look of rage on his face as the crazy snakes on his head writhed furiously. Then the flame blasted through the air, framing him with a halo of brilliant light as thunder cracked the air. Gulakah let out a roar and, in a single blink of an eye, vanished. Charlotine didn’t hesitate but leaped out of the circle and raced for the cave.

“Come on. We have to get inside and take care of the gate before he comes back!”

Following on her heels, I charged into the cavern. Smoky, Shade, and Vanzir flanked us, ready to meet the degas and bhouts who poured out of the entrance. Smoky jumped in front and read from one of the scrolls as Vanzir set off his supersonic screech machine.

A loud piercing wail broke through the night as a torrential rain began to pour, and several of the degas screamed and cowered back. The raindrops seemed to act like an acid on their skin. One, who got caught behind us and the opening, writhed on the ground, screaming as the water ate into his skin, steaming with every place it touched the gray, wrinkled flesh.

As we pushed our way into the passage, Shade going first, I chafed at not being on the fighting end of things. I didn’t like being a bodyguard—I’d rather be in there kicking the shit out of the demons—but Charlotine reached back and grabbed my wrist, as if she’d read my mind.

“Stay with me! I need you.”

“I’m here.” We drove our way through the narrow passage that was lit from within the central cavern ahead. Two
degas were crowding into the passage, and the nearest shrieked as Shade slammed his fist through the creature’s chest. How the fuck he managed that, I couldn’t see, but the demon fell to the floor and Shade kicked him aside and moved forward to the other, who, apparently, had
not
learned from his comrade and suffered the same fate.

We broke into the main chamber, stumbling through the rough-hewn opening. Two huge standing stones were lit up like a Yule tree, covered with fiery runes that ran up one stone, over the crosspiece, and down the other, like some demonic copy of Stonehenge.

The cave was teeming with demons. A mass of swirling energy filled the room as bhouts poured through the Demon Gate. I stared at the monolithic structure, dread filling every bone in my body. How many hundreds of the spirits had already come through?

Charlotine yanked me forward with her as Smoky, Vanzir, and Shade went to work on the degas. Smoky’s nails lengthened into talons and he set to ripping through them, leaving a trail of bloody, eviscerated demons behind him. Vanzir held out his hands and the neon feelers came twisting out, latching hold of several of the creatures, who writhed, unable to break away, as he triumphantly fed. A haze of purple fire emanated out from Shade, forming a mist around him to engulf an invisible enemy. I only hoped it was the bhouts and not something else that had come through, as well.

As screams and groans filled the air, Charlotine and I approached the Demon Gate. She stared up at it, the first look of uncertainty on her face that I’d seen from her.

Frantically, she shook her head. “This is huge. I don’t know if I can do it. I’ll try, but this…this isn’t just any Demon Gate.”

“Holy crap. If we can’t destroy it, what the fuck do we do?”

“I don’t know. But the number of spirits pouring through this gate is legion. Hundreds must have come through. If we break the gate, we break the control that Gulakah has over them. But that’s a big
if
…”

I frantically tried to figure out how much time we had left
before he could come back. “We have to move quickly and then get the fuck out of here.”

Just then, one of the degas came racing in, directly aiming for Charlotine. I jumped between her and it and rammed my fist into its face. The damned thing was hard as a brick wall, but I was stronger than brick and managed to smash its face. It dropped where it stood, and I gave it a nasty kick for good measure.

Turning back, I saw that Charlotine had her hands against the left pillar of the gate, and she was moaning as she pressed against one of the runes. The flicker of fire swirled around her, and I realized she was attempting to infuse it with her own energy. Another demon was on her tail and I intercepted again, throwing it back against a third that was headed our way. The two began marching in on me again, and I kicked one in the face as I slammed the other to the ground.