Chapter 10
“Damn it, I hate walking through the woods after dark,” Guy complained smacking at his neck where either a bug was biting him or his hair had tickled his skin. The second it started itching he knew which one.
Jason smirked over his shoulder at Guy, “What are you talking about? This is great!”
Guy glared at him, “Who are you, Ranger Dan?”
“Nope,” Jason answered. “I’m a forest ranger remember?”
Tiara couldn’t help but smile when Guy stuck his tongue out at Jason’s back and made a particularly amusing face to go along with it. Being with those two made her forget that everything was falling apart around her. The team was like her family… it felt nice since her real family was so dysfunctional that they were either letting demons kill them or trying to kill her.
Nighthawk walked ahead of them, easily leaping over fallen trees and navigating his way through the forest. Jason was directly behind him making sure to communicate everything that could injure anyone else. Zachary and Tiara were in the middle between Jason and Guy, who brought up the rear.
Carley also flitted among the trees, taking the opportunity to pop up at unexpected times in an attempt to make Guy flinch.
When Carley succeeded, Jason would smirk but remain silent… he didn’t think Guy would appreciate his laughter. It was bad enough that Jason was actually better at something for a change.
“How much further is it?” Tiara asked, having hiked up her long skirt and tied it off so it only hung down to her knees.
Nighthawk pushed aside a curtain of vines hanging between two trees. Beyond that was something that could have once been considered a clearing but was now overgrown with tall grass and wildflowers.
“We are here,” Nighthawk stated.
Craven seemed to melt from the shadows and entered the small area, looking at the ground in dismay. Tiara gasped as she felt it… hundreds of souls haunted this place but none of them could be seen. She felt an overwhelming anger in the air, bordering on evil as they all walked across the sanctified ground.
Nighthawk stopped about ten feet from an old piece of black ash wood that had been driven into the ground. Weather and time had worn it down until it looked like a rotted stick, yet Nighthawk gazed at it like it was his saving grace.
“We must hurry,” Nighthawk whispered. “My tribe does not want you here.”
Craven nodded and looked at Jason, “You must remove the black ash stake from the ground… we cannot touch it.”
Jason approached the piece of wood suspiciously, “Why?”
“That is what’s keeping his soul bound to his grave,” Tiara answered. “It’s a barrier… an ancient one.”
Carley remained next to Guy, looking at Nighthawk with an expression of sympathy. She wondered what it was like to have your soul sealed away from you, unable to feel emotion of any kind and appearing as nothing more than a cold exterior.
Shaking her head, Carley knew she would never be able to imagine it. Because of her emotions being so high strung all of the time… she believed she would yearn for them if they suddenly disappeared. But would she? Nighthawk didn’t seem to yearn… he only wanted his soul to make him strong enough to possibly withstand Deth’s arrival, or at least stand a chance against the Night Walker that had attacked them last night.
“Does everyone have their phones set?” Zachary asked.
“Yeah, we’re set,” Jason answered then bent over and took hold of the stake. He sighed thankfully when it just felt like old wood in his grip. He’d learned, when dealing with the supernatural always expect the unexpected. “Just say when.”
Craven stared at the place where Nighthawk’s soul was laying quietly. The soul couldn’t even feel the presence of the Indian… it couldn’t see beyond its bondage. Needing to expose the barrier, Craven whispered words and his eyes lit up with an eerie glow. A bright white circle suddenly appeared on the ground as though thousands of lightening bugs had lit up all at the same time.
Jason took a quick step back really wanting to point at the stick and say, ‘See, I knew something fucked up was going to happen’, but he refrained settling for glaring at the thing instead.
“When,” Craven said stoically.
Jason rolled his eyes at the demon’s attempt of humor and frowned as he came forward a bit hesitantly this time. Gripping the black stake he used the strength of the ring and pulled up hard and fast.
The stake gave way and was pulled out like a hot knife cutting through a frozen stick of butter. The small barrier around Nighthawk’s grave began to flicker like a fast strobe light in a night club before it turned a dark smoky gray. Jason scrambled back when the hard packed ground began to tremble and crack open. A shaft of light suddenly shot up through the crack and illuminated the Indian burial ground.
Tiara stared in amazement at the strength this soul possessed. Nighthawk must have been very powerful when he was alive. She inhaled slowly when that power reached out and caressed her the same way it was now doing Nighthawk.
The beam of light slowly dimmed and when it finally took shape, the ghostly image of Nighthawk stood there staring at its own flesh and blood counterpart.
Other souls of long dead Indians began to rise from their unmarked graves but did not attack… their attention riveted on what was taking place. Tiara realized the evil feeling she’d felt before was nothing more than anger… the souls that still resided here believed the people had come to desecrate their burial ground.
The ghostly form of an elder stood closest to Nighthawk. He was wearing a full headdress and more clothes than the other warriors making Tiara think he was probably the chief of Nighthawk’s tribe.
Tiara felt like crying when Nighthawk’s soul looked at the elder and nodded before turning back to the body that waited. The soul closed its eyes and leaned forward, almost falling into Nighthawk’s body.
Nighthawk lifted his hands as though he was trying to catch it but the soul vanished into him and he was left stunned. A myriad of emotions suddenly exploded through him and Nighthawk gasped in shock and guilt. His emotions had been set off like a live wire, thrashing about inside his skull.
The faces of those he had been forced to kill while under the control of demons sent his conscience into a tailspin. He remembered each and every one of them and grasped his head in an effort to control it.
“What have you done to me?” he cried out and fell to his knees unable to withstand the weight of his emotional memories. So much pain and destruction… all given in an instant.
Tiara pushed away from Zachary before he could stop her and rushed to Nighthawk’s side. All this time he’d been connected to her soul through their link but now that he had his soul back she was getting a strong feedback from him. Feeling his turmoil, she wrapped her arms around him in an offer of comfort. Not only was he in pain but his soul was too.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stroked his long black hair. “It wasn’t your fault,” she whispered softly and leaned them both back against Zachary when he came and wrapped his arms around her.
“What’s wrong with him,” Zachary frowned feeling a bit helpless. If he had the power to fix the Indian, he’d do it in a heartbeat just to get rid of Tiara’s tears. He helped her cradle Nighthawk when the Indian’s body curled in on itself and Nighthawk released a cry of anguish.
Shadow had been tailing the rag-tag group through the forest and arrived just in time to see the end of the ritual. She blinked in shock seeing the Night Walker in the process of being given his soul back. What surprised her most was that it was being done without binding him to Tiara. She was further confused by the display of affection Tiara exhibited, running to Nighthawk’s side in an effort to comfort him.
Seeing everyone’s attention on the other Night Walker she looked over at Jason and saw that the ring was now glowing softly. Deth could sense Tiara’s sadness and her tears. This was good. They had somehow managed to do her job for her because the little princess definitely wasn’t smiling now.
Feeling all the demons behind her, Shadow gritted her teeth knowing they would report back to Deth if she did not use them to attack the group. Deth had spent centuries training her and she remembered all too well the punishment she would suffer if she did not do his bidding. There were worse things than being bound to your grave.
She stepped out of the spirit realm directly behind Jason and jerked him back against her.
“What the…” Jason barely had time to look over his shoulder before catching a glimpse of demons surrounding the whole group.
“I wouldn’t want you to be hurt,” Shadow whispered against his ear and gave his earlobe a light nip.
Jason jerked his head away from her lips, keeping his attention on the demons. It looked like she’d just plucked people off the street on their way to work… everything from business men to construction workers surrounded them. The signs that gave away their true forms as demons were their eyes… solid black with no white showing at all. They almost resembled Zach’s in color but these eyes held malicious intent and he didn’t think those were moving tattoos on their skin.
He watched black lines streak across their flesh and blanched when he realized it was the blood pumping through their veins. Those veins darkened with each heartbeat reminding Jason of a few horror movies he’d seen in the past. Those closest to the top of the skin were the darkest… most of them arteries. It was scary to think about how many demons worked in Hollywood for the movie makers to know such secrets.
“Help them,” Nighthawk ground out loudly feeling the demons surrounding them even through the pain searing inside his skull.
Jason smiled and relaxed back against his captor seeing several cell phones suddenly appear in the team’s hands. This is what they’d been waiting on.
The action took Shadow by surprise and she wondered what they were all up to. Her head jerked up when she heard something very similar to the scream of a banshee. The souls of the Indian warriors that had been buried here rushed forward with their tomahawks raised and glittering blades brandished ready to attack.
The demons hesitated for just a moment but the warriors didn’t. A tomahawk spun through the air striking one of the demons in the skull. The weapon lodged in the demon’s forehead and it went down, black blood flowing from the fatal wound. Another warrior leapt with the grace of a dear and slit the throat of the construction worker.
When the belly of the third demon was completely sliced open, the rest of the trespassers attempted to run… only to be stopped by Guy’s quickly erected barrier.
The barrier was one trick Guy was particularly proud of. It would allow everything through it and stop almost anything from leaving. Now the demons were at the mercy of the spiritual killing machines that made up Nighthawk’s tribe.
Shadow backed away from the fight using Jason as a shield. She was about to step back into the spirit realm when she suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Her head whipped around to look at the man that dared to touch her. She added her own terrified scream as the graveyard vanished from around her.
“All aboard the Ren Express,” Ren suddenly announced in the middle of it all.
Carley took off through the forest knowing Ren’s teleportation wouldn’t work on her while Guy rushed up to Zachary, Tiara, and Nighthawk.
“Hold on,” Ren said and placed a hand on Nighthawk leaving it up to the rest of them to grab hold of him. They vanished leaving Craven in the middle of the burial ground.
Craven felt relief once Tiara was away from this danger and turned his head just in time to see one of the warriors coming straight at him with a bloody black tomahawk. He smirked just before he too vanished leaving the rest of the demons to be massacred by the powerful souls that had answered Nighthawk’s call.
***** Shadow suddenly found herself in the middle of what looked like a high-tech office with Jason standing several feet away from her smirking. The others that had been with him were looking at her like she was some kind of animal on display. Sending a glare in their direction, she attempted to step back into the spirit path. A growl built up in her throat when she realized she couldn’t find it and she started walking toward Jason.
She encountered her third surprise that evening when she was met with an invisible wall that literally flung her back onto the floor. Shaking her head, Shadow slowly rose to her feet and looked at them in shock. They had actually managed to trap her and block all passages to the spirit realm.
Zachary remained on his knees, holding Tiara against his chest while she still cradled an exhausted Nighthawk in her embrace. He watched her trail her fingers through his hair like one would do a child and even though the Indian was no child… Zachary allowed it for now. It was hard to be jealous over a man that was in so much pain.
Jason was having trouble getting his reaction to the woman’s body under control. He still felt the sensation from where she’d nipped at his ear and pressed herself against his back. He didn’t want to be attracted to his potential murderer but damn… no one except Envy had ever been able to get his attention like that. He mentally chalked it up to the fact that he had been drowning in sexual need since Tiara and Zachary had made up.
Guy stared hard at the trapped Night Walker wondering why she wanted to kill all of them. Sure, she said she’d been sent by Deth… but didn’t Night Walkers choose who they protected? That was the impression he’d gotten from Nighthawk anyway.
Ren had retreated behind his desk and started the computer, discretely running scans on the Night Walker they’d captured. It was easy to do when you were mentally linked to the system. The first thing he noted was the fact that her and Nighthawk’s aura matched.
“Now then,” Storm said loudly and clapped his hands together turning his attention to Shadow. “Shall we begin my dear?
Shadow’s breathing had nearly stopped and she blinked her dark eyes at what had just happened and how she’d gotten here… this man was a Time Walker.
According to legend, Time Walker’s had once watched over events, tweaking them where needed in order for time to continue smoothly. They had been heralded as gods… but over the centuries the myth had dwindled away to nothing… believed to be extinct.
“What have you done?” Shadow whispered as she stared at the Time Walker and took a few steps toward the barrier but paused before touching it. If she stayed in here she would be stuck in this world… she liked that idea. This was the first time she had ever been out of Deth's reach. Her moment of freedom dissipated as she reached out and barely touched the barrier… either way she was still a prisoner.
“Deth will come no matter what you do to me,” she informed the Time Walker fearlessly.
Storm started to approach the barrier but Craven was suddenly in his path glaring at the trapped woman.
“Why?” Craven asked.
Shadow gave the demon a brooding look, “You know why. He wants what is his and nothing will stop him from getting it.”
“You sound very sure of yourself,” Craven said. “Perhaps my brother is suffering from delusions of grandeur.”
“You’re the one who’s delusional,” Shadow countered wishing it wasn’t true. “He has thought about you over the years you know… his pathetic twin brother… the one who couldn’t survive the demon wars and perished. You are dead to him. Now he has Myra tucked away in his own private slice of hell and he wants his little princess to join him.”
“You mean he wants to kill her,” Jason interjected coldly.
Shadow cocked her head to the side and gave Jason a sexy smile. “But of course… how else will she join him?”
Tiara inhaled sharply but kept her eyes on Nighthawk who had grown still and was now listening. She felt Zachary move away from her but refused to lift her gaze.
“Lady,” Zachary said. “That’s my soul mate you’re talking about.”
“I’m no lady,” Shadow growled, “I am the Shadow of Deth… but you can call me Shadow.”
Shadow turned her gaze on Zachary and paled slightly when she was met with a pair of midnight black eyes that burned with a soul searing fire. These were some powerful people but still… Deth had been hunted as long as she’d been with him and no one had ever gotten close. She felt disappointment come with the thought.
She looked at Tiara on the floor still cradling the other Night Walker and stroking his hair. For a brief moment she wondered what it was like to be on the receiving end of such gentleness with no underlying motives involved. She quickly squashed the feeling and her expression hardened.
“You cannot save her,” Shadow said again before crossing her arms over her chest and turning her back to the phoenix. “If anything, you’re just damning us all.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Guy demanded.
Shadow ignored the wizard as she envisioned Deth coming for her and jerking her from this transparent prison only to punish her. She felt her heart start to race as fear set in.
Storm sighed and walked around the desk to see what Ren was looking so hard at.
“What did you find out?” Storm asked curiously.
Ren nodded toward the readout on the thin screen, “While I was scanning our hostage, I went ahead and scanned the whole room and noticed several things that might be helpful.”
“And those things would be?” Storm frowned at the two DNA samples that were stabilizing on the screen and the flashing word between them… MATCH.
“For starters,” Ren pointed at the one on the left, “that ring Jason is wearing has some of her blood in it. I noticed she was paying him more attention out in the graveyard than she was to the others and I think that might be why. Question is… was she going to hurt him or was she protecting him? Didn’t she get in some kind of fight with Jason last night too?”
Jason’s ears perked up hearing his name and when he looked toward the desk he cringed seeing that both men were looking at him. He debated on which was smarter… run like hell or go find out why he was suddenly center of attention. His shoulders slumped when curiosity got the best of him.
“What did I do now?” Jason asked as he approached.
Curious as to what was going on, Guy followed Jason.
Tiara tilted her head a bit listening to the conversation. That was a very good question Ren had asked. What would the other Night Walker have done to Jason if she’d managed to get him away from everyone else? She shuddered at the thought.
Ren leaned back in his seat and smiled at the new recruit, “Seems like our girl over there has had her hands on you twice now, but so far you’ve come away unharmed. Got any ideas why?”
“Has she said anything that would indicate what’s on her mind?” Storm clarified when Jason simply frowned at Ren.
“Let’s see, so far she’s asked my name, told me I was going to be a lot of fun, and tonight when she grabbed me, she said she didn’t want me to get hurt,” Jason shrugged when Ren raised an inquiring eyebrow. “Hell, I don’t know. Maybe she likes to flirt with someone right before she kills them.”
“I don’t think so,” Storm looked down at Jason’s hand, “that ring you’re wearing happens to be empowered by her blood. Maybe she really doesn’t want to hurt you. We might find a way to use that to our advantage.”
“It could be acting as a link between her and the kid here,” Guy added helpfully then frowned. “That link also seems to be connected to Tiara and Deth though. Didn’t you just say earlier tonight that the ring felt haunted?”
Jason flinched and sent him a glare, “If it had her blood in it then I guess it is haunted you dummy.”
“Just thought I’d mention it,” Guy held his hands up to indicate he was shutting up.
Jason didn’t say anything but covertly leaned forward on the desk so his long bangs would fall in his face and help hide the glance he slid toward the girl. For all he knew, because the ring was made from her blood then if she hurt him… it would really hurt. He wasn’t so sure he trusted her or even wanted to.
“There’s something else we might be able to use,” Ren smirked reading Jason’s mistrust in the suggestion.
A frozen frame of her inside the barrier came up on screen and the other men closed in to see what Ren was showing them. The computer zoomed in on the girl’s arms enlarging what looked like tattoos on the inside of her wrists.
Jason didn’t even bother asking how Ren was working a computer without even touching it and instead focused on the marks. They were the same symbols that were on the ring, except hers had strange lines added over and around it.
Seeing Storm almost relax at the sight Jason asked, “Is that supposed to mean something?” He almost jumped out of his skin when Craven’s voice came from directly behind him.
“It means she did not choose to be Deth's Night Walker… she was forced into his service,” Craven enlightened the ring bearer. “He has marked her as his slave.”
“I know two people I’m getting bells for this Christmas,” Jason mumbled under his breath.
“Wouldn’t look good on him either,” Storm said as he walked away from the desk having seen enough. “Ren, would you please join me?”
“I’d love to,” Ren stated then winked at Jason, “Give us a chance loverboy, we may be able to fix your girlfriend’s murdering streak yet.”
Jason just gave him a bland look. When he turned around to follow them, Jason noticed the way Craven was now looking at him and suppressed a shiver. Didn’t the demon know Ren was only joking?
“Come on, let’s go see what the Gods are up to,” Guy said as he slid between Craven and Jason to break up the staring contest.
