The Templar Chronicles (73 page)
Read The Templar Chronicles Online
Authors: Joseph Nassise
Tags: #Contemporary fantasy, #Urban Fantasy
Cade’s gaze went from the sword to Riley’s face.
His eyes were open and moving slightly. Duncan’s knife was still embedded deep in his throat, and blood was everywhere, but amazingly the Templar warrior was still clinging to life, refusing to die.
Riley was alive!
The realization rocked Cade to his core and created even more urgency, if that was at all possible. If he could deal with the Adversary and return them to the other side close enough to get Riley help, he might just survive.
He grabbed Riley’s arm.
“Listen to me, Matt. I’m going to get us out of here, but I need your sword to do it. Let go!”
The other man did so.
“Hold on. I’ll be right back for you.”
Standing, he turned his back on his friend to face his enemy.
The Adversary had both his hands on the sword where it emerged from his stomach and was slowly pushing back inside his body, forcing it out in the direction it had come.
Cade was all but out of time.
Still, he had to try.
He rushed forward, his feet pounding against the scorched earth beneath them, his breath echoing in his ears, his heart hammering in his chest.
The Adversary gave a final shove and Cade’s sword popped free and fell to the ground at his feet.
He turned, his bloodied hands rising, preparing to unleash another wave of arcane power in Cade’s direction.
“Not this time, asshole,” Cade said and brought Riley’s sword down.
The Adversary’s severed head flipped through the air, hit the ground, and rolled several times before coming to stop, looking back in Cade’s direction.
For a moment his lips seemed to move, as if he were still speaking, and then the fallen angel’s body burst into brilliant flames, burning so brightly that Cade was forced to shield his eyes and turn away from its brilliance to keep from being wounded himself.
When he looked back again, the Adversary was gone.
So was Gabrielle.
The bier on which her spirit had rested was empty.
Goodbye, my love, he thought, but then was forced to turn his back on the past in order to deal with the present. There would be time enough for grieving later. One look at Duncan told Cade that all he needed to know about the younger man’s condition and so he rushed instead to Riley’s side, determined to do what he could to save at least one of his friends.
EPILOGUE
Almost three days later Cade climbed from the back of a taxi in the driveway of his home, exhausted and weary from all he’d been through. Cade paid the driver and then waited for him to turn around and leave the property before making his way inside the house.
Two months had passed since they had entered the Beyond. The Order had proclaimed them dead and had held burial ceremonies on their behalf, three empty coffins buried with full honors, despite Cade’s prior conduct. He wondered how Riley would feel when he returned to the Newport Commandery and saw the headstone with his “death” date on it.
It had been close, there was no doubt about that. In the wake of the Adversary’s destruction, Cade had found a smaller, more manageable portal and used that to transport an injured Riley back to the real world. By some miracle, and Cade had no doubt that it was divine intervention, there was no other explanation, they had appeared inside the barracks of the commandery in Arlington, Virginia. The locals had sprung into action, rushing Riley into surgery, and several hours later the doctor had emerged, telling Cade that Riley would pull through.
Cade had left a note for his brother in arms, telling him he’d be in touch, and then had gotten the hell out of there.
He dropped what little gear he had just inside the foyer and wandered through the kitchen to the back door. He stared across the yard at the workshop for a long moment, afraid to confront what he knew was waiting for him there.
Cade had been unable to reach Clearwater since his return, but he had no doubt the hedge witch had moved on to other issues. After all, he’d only hired her for a few days, not two months. He couldn’t expect her to stick around. His only question was what she had done before leaving.
Had Clearwater left the wards up or had she disabled them? Would he find Gabrielle’s body still intact, forever trapped in that nether world by the Adversary’s sorcery, or would she have finally moved on to a better place, her body at long last beginning the decaying process that would return it to the earth from which it had been created, earth to earth, and dust to dust?
He didn’t know.
But he couldn’t put it off any longer; he had to find out.
He walked out of the house, crossed the yard, and stepped up to the workshop door.
Summoning his courage, he took a deep breath and went inside.
Continued in
INFERNAL GAMES
, book four of the Templar Chronicles series, coming Fall 2011
About the Author
Joseph Nassise is the author of more than a dozen novels, including the internationally bestselling Templar Chronicles, and several installments in the Rogue Angel action-adventure series from Harlequin/Gold Eagle.
He’s a former president of the Horror Writers Association, the world’s largest organization of professional horror writers, and a two time Bram Stoker Award and International Horror Guild Award nominee.
Connect with him online at:
Other Books by Joseph Nassise
EYES TO SEE
Book one of the Jeremiah Hunt Chronicles
In an urban fantasy that charts daring new territory in the field, Jeremiah Hunt has been broken by a malevolent force that has taken his young daughter and everything else of value in his life: his marriage, his career, his reputation. Desperate to reclaim what he has lost, Hunt finally turns to the supernatural for justice.
Abandoning all hope for a normal life, he enters the world of ghosts and even more dangerous entities from beyond the grave. Sacrificing his normal sight so that he can see the souls of the dead and the powers that stalk his worst nightmares, Hunt embarks upon a strange new career - a pariah among the living; a scourge among the dead; doomed to walk between the light of day and the deepest darkness beyond night.
His love for his departed daughter sustains him when all is most hopeless, but Hunt is cursed by something more evil than he can possibly imagine. As he descends into the maelstrom of his terrifying quest, he discovers that even his deepest fears are but prelude to yet darker deeds by a powerful entity from beyond the grave - that will not let him go until it has used him for its own nefarious purposes.
EYES TO SEE is now available for preorder:
Hardcover edition - Amazon.com
Hardcover edition - Barnes & Noble
THE SPIRIT BANNER
A Rogue Angel Adventure
Genghis Khan carved out a legacy of bloodshed and conquered kingdoms that has lasted almost eight hundred years. But while his name and deeds live on in the annals of history, his tomb has never been located… until now.
Not everyone is convinced that the diary and the map, said to lead to the great warrior's final resting place, are authentic. Archaeologist Annja Creed is among these doubters. The reality is that the body was lost to history. But despite her skepticism, Annja suddenly finds herself pulled along an increasingly complex trail of clues, each more remote than the last.
And as she and her companions race to their final destination, one thing is clear--the only tomb she may find is her own…
Learn more at
Shades of Reality
or view it at
Amazon US
THE DRAGON'S MARK
A Rogue Angel Adventure
Archaeologist Annja Creed and her sword have never been outmatched--until now. When a surprise party for her mentor Roux includes some uninvited guests, Annja finds herself fighting desperately for her life. The intruders escape but leave a sinister message behind.
A legend has resurfaced about a sword that should be feared. A sword that seeks a master as bloodthirsty as itself. It is wielded by an assassin known as the Dragon who initiates a terrible game of cat and mouse. Eventually, the two swords—light and dark—must meet...and only one shall triumph.
Learn more at
Shades of Reality
or view it at
Amazon US
TEAR OF THE GODS
A Rogue Angel Adventure
The legacy of a pagan king could unleash terror on the world
It started as a dream —a redheaded warrior king fought and died for his men centuries ago. The dream would lead archaeologist Annja Creed to the king's undisturbed corpse…and one of England's greatest mythical artifacts.
Deep in an archaeological dig in England's Midlands, Annja locates a braided necklace around a mummified king's neck. Made of an unusual material—not quite obsidian, but gleaming with multihued color—the torc is an astonishing find. But someone knows exactly what the torc means. And he will do anything to get his hands on the Tear of the Gods. When the dig is compromised and innocent archaeologists are slain, even Annja herself is left for dead. Now she is fleeing for her life, not knowing the terrifying truth about the relic she risks everything to protect—or the devastating consequences should it fall into the wrong hands....
Learn more at
Shades of Reality
or view it at
Amazon US
Table of Contents
