Enchanter (32 page)

“I hope you’re not in a hurry anymore, dear, because you’re
not going anywhere.”

That voice, so high and loud, was not that of an older
woman. It was evil, malevolent, and worst of all, inhuman. This – whatever it
was – was not the woman from 2B. At least, not anymore.

“What… do… you… want?” My voice sounded far away, even to my
own ears.

She hovered over me for a second or two before kneeling
before me, with her face only inches from mine. “Brandon…”

And that was the last I heard before another hard blow
knocked me out.

****

A loud hissing sound startled me awake. I opened my eyes,
only to find that I could not see straight. I could not clear my sight from the
blurry vision, no matter how hard I tried. Everything was out of focus, and since
it was dark all around me, it took even more effort for me to try to make out
anything at all.

Confusion had me looking around like a mad woman, and fear
forced me to center my hearing on my surroundings so that I could try and
identify where I was. I was not in my room or even in my apartment. Judging by
the sounds emanating from somewhere near me, I was not someplace safe, and
those keeping me company were anything but friendly.

Where am I?

I tried to lift my head up to see if I could make out my
surroundings better, but that only made my headache worse. My right temple ached
worse than the migraine I’d had earlier in the day, and I ended up refraining
from trying to get a better look around me and opted for keeping myself flat on
whatever surface I happened to be on.

Jesus, now what?

The last thing I remembered was being bitch-slapped by an
old lady that should not have been as badass as she actually was, and losing
consciousness soon after.

I think Mrs. 2B dislocated my jaw!

Of one thing I could be absolutely sure now, that creepy
feeling I had gotten whenever that old woman was around me was not just my
imagination. As it turns out, she had been hiding something – or someone.
Unfortunately, now I was in a shitload of trouble. I was absolutely sure that
she was the one that had kidnapped me. Although for what purpose, I had yet to
find out.

Oh, my God! She said she wanted Brandon!

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than I felt a
hand touch my right knee. Instinctively, I tried to kick out, only to realize
that my ankles were bound together and it was nearly impossible for me to lift
them up at all. Not only were they secured to each other, but they were also tied
to whatever surface I was lying on, which meant there was no way in hell I was
going to get loose at all. When I realized that my wrists were also bound
together over my head, I freaked out big time. I began to scream and lash out,
even though I could not move my limbs more than a few inches on either side.

My shouts of fear and desperation were accompanied by a
series of earsplitting shrieks from creatures I could not see.

“Hush, now, you pesky human!” a gruff voice commanded from
somewhere within the shadows. “You’re upsetting my pets.”

“Who’s there?” I called out.

A series of barely-working light bulbs came on over me. They
did not illuminate the whole place, but they at least provided enough of a
light source for me to see that I was surrounded by a small army of hungry-looking
soul devourers.

Oh, Jesus, I’m going to become chow for these little
devils!

“You have been out for a while. I was beginning to worry,” the
same voice from before said. This time however, it was a lot closer. When a
flash of movement to my right caught my attention, I strained my neck to see a
tall man with short, dark hair staring back at me with eyes as black as
midnight.

Was this the infamous Lasher? Or was it another power-hungry
demon? Because by the stories I had heard in the past few days, I now knew
there were lots of menacing individuals looking to destroy the Enchanters and
everything related to them.

“Now that’s a joke! You worried about me?” Although my voice
sounded steady and unafraid, I was shaking with fear.

“I guess worried is the wrong word, after all.”

“Who are you?” I did not really want to know who he was, but
I got the impression that if I kept him talking, I could buy myself some time.
For what, exactly? I had no idea, but so far that was the best strategy I could
come up with. “And what did you do with… Mrs. 2B?”

Guilt washed over me the second those words left my mouth. The
woman might be dead now, and I had never bothered to find out her real name.

“I am the old woman from 2B.”

“Oh, yeah? In that case, I’m Miss Universe, nice to meet
you.”

The bastard had the nerve to laugh. “Ah, humans and their
absurd sense of humor.”

“I guess it’s true what they say. Everyone
is
a
critic!”

The man slowly approached the platform I was lying on, which
I still could not see what it was because of how far my head could go without
me restraining my neck too much. But I was sure of one thing: it was hard as
concrete, cold, and made out of wood.

“Where is Mrs. 2B?” I tried again.

“That old hag? Why do you care what became of her?”

“I care because I don’t see her here.” And I was terrified
for her safety.

“Oh, she’s here, all right.” And then he pointed to my left
and I had to fight back the need to vomit when I caught sight of the discarded
body lying there. The body of what was once Mrs. 2B was now resting to the side
of my makeshift bed, torn into chunks of flesh. “Using that cancer-infested
body was quite unfortunate. I had a hard time maneuvering around in it. But it
was quite an effective disguise. You never suspected I was watching you, did
you?”

I was scared before, but after seeing what they did to Mrs. 2B,
I was downright ready to pass out. Somehow, I mastered the courage to say, “Of
course I knew. You’re not that good at doing anything but annoying me, you
freak!”

Angered by my outburst, the man dug his long, glassy nails
into my right thigh and squeezed tightly for a few seconds before releasing me.
I cried out as a sharp, searing pain traveled up my muscles.

Well, I had been warned before that my mouth and nasty
attitude could get me in trouble. And it just did.

“Not so brave now, are you?” he hissed, displaying a long,
reptilian like tongue that caused me to cringe.

“Damn it! What do you want?”

“I’ve already told you.”

“Brandon?”

“That would be the one.”

So he was not after me?

“Why him?”

“Such a nosey little girl you are, Leah. Why do you want to
know? I mean, what difference does it make whether you know or not?”

“Well, gee, let me think.
Maybe
because I’m about to
die and if that’s going to happen, I at least deserve to know why.”

The man barked in laughter. “You humans are such funny
creatures.”

“And you demons are so damn lazy. I mean, really. Can’t you
do anything on your own? Do you really need an army to fight your battles each
and every time?”

The ugly man was not amused this time. His eyes narrowed and
he sneered before his hand shot up toward my neck, and his pale fingers grabbed
my lower jaw and squeezed.

Maybe smart-mouthing the pissed off demon was not such a
good strategy after all. The desire to squeeze the life out of me was clearly
visible in those pools of ebony he had for eyes.

“What a mouth you have.”

“So I’ve been told,” I gritted through my teeth.

“Too bad you can’t use it to save yourself,” he muttered
next to my right ear. “But if you must know what I want with Brandon, then let
me fill you in. You see, my dear Leah, Brandon is the key to finding the Giver
of Life.”

My ears perked up at that.

“If I can usurp his body, I can use his magic to find her.”

Didn’t the idiot know he had the Giver of Life quite
literally in his hands? Guessing by his words, it was safe to assume that he did
not.

“I know that Brandon is quite fond of you, and he will come
looking for you.”

“That’s a bit of a stretch, considering he doesn’t even know
I’m here,” I spat.

The man took two steps away from me and smiled. “He knows
you’re here. He just doesn’t know you’re not alone.” Before I could ask how he
knew that, the man produced my cell from within his pants pocket and said,
“Brandon, I need your help. I’m trapped in this warehouse, please help me!”

Holy crap! That’s my voice!
He used my damn phone and
voice to lure Brandon to his death!

“You bastard!” I screamed, terrified now for Brandon’s life.
“He’ll know it’s a trap!”

“Yes, he’ll know. But he’ll come, anyway.”

Understanding that the only reason I had been kidnapped was
to lure Brandon to his death, I knew that I needed to do something. However,
that was easier said than done. I tried to focus my energy on making the blue
fire appear, but no matter how hard I tried or how many times, nothing
happened.

Damn! What good are these powers if I can’t use them when
I need them?

When I could not make anything happen, I started to squirm,
hoping to undo the bonds keeping me on the platform, but that only made the
demon man angry. He marched right up to me and slapped me hard across the face.

Blinding, hot fury coursed through my body and I started to
curse him out, using every single foul word I could think of. Of course, this
only served to amuse him further.

After a few minutes of me squirming, he finally held me down
and pinned me with a stare. “If you don’t stop, I’m going to tell one of my
friends over there to feed on you.” He threatened as he pointed to one of the
soul devourers.

“You don’t need Brandon, because I’m—“

“Let her go!” Brandon’s voice sliced through the otherwise
silent building.

A second later, an angry-looking Brandon emerged from behind
a pile of wooden crates to one side of the small room we were in.

The soul devourers started shrieking in excitement at the
sight of him.

“Well, well, well. You are finally here.” The demon hissed,
his tongue coming too close to my face.

“Let Leah go.”

“Why would I do that?”

“You wanted me, you have me. Now let her go.”

“Brandon—”

“No, Leah.” I understood what he was trying to say, although
all he said were those two words. The demon did not know who I was, and Brandon
wanted to keep it that way.

“Brandon…” I whispered, already understanding that he had
every intention of putting himself at risk for me. He considered my existence
more important than his, and he was willing to die in order to keep me safe.

“If you let her go, I won’t fight you.”

“And you think I’m that stupid?”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“Neither do you.” The demon’s nails came dangerously close
to my jugular, causing Brandon to hesitate.

I could practically see the wheels spinning in Brandon’s
head, but after a few minutes he took several steps forward and nodded.

“Fine,” Brandon raised his hands up. “I’ll surrender, but let
her go, Adon.”

Adon? So this was not Lasher?

“Don’t move your hands at all or I’ll slit her throat.” The
demon called Adon threatened.

Brandon nodded, having every intention of obeying as long as
I did not end up hurt.

“Release her bonds,” Adon ordered one of the soul devourers,
who hurried to do his bidding. As soon as I was free of my ties, I hurried to jump
off the platform – which I now knew was actually a wooden table – and started
toward Brandon.

No sooner had I begun to walk toward Brandon than I was
abruptly stopped by a strong hand, which curled up in my hair and pulled me
back against a hard male body. “Come closer, Brandon,” Adon demanded.

Brandon’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but he slowly ambled
toward us, his eyes on me the entire time. When he was within six feet from
Adon and me, the demon commanded him to stop.

“I’m right where you want me, now let her go.”

For a second I thought Adon had every intention of letting
me go, but that hope was shattered into a million pieces when he said, “Pin him
down!”

The army of soul devourers wasted no time following orders
and I screamed when the group of them shoved Brandon to the ground and jumped
on him all at once.

Brandon did not go down without a fight. He punched, kicked,
and shoved, but even as big and strong as he was, eight male bodies were still
no match for him. Even as they took him down, he struggled with them until he
managed to dislodge one hand from beneath the mass of bodies and used it to
burn two soul devourers.

I took advantage of the sudden chaos to kick Adon on his
right shin, hard enough for him to release his hold on my hair. It worked perfectly.
He cried out, but let go of me, and I took advantage of that to move away from
the demon man. My victory however, was short-lived, because I had not taken
more than three steps forward when I felt him grab my arm.

In a series of movements too fast for me to react, he spun me
around and sucker-punched me, nearly knocking the daylights out of me. I fell
to the floor, half-conscious.

The second I landed, Brandon screamed in fury and renewed
his struggles with the six remaining soul devourers.

“You fools! Keep his hands down!” Adon roared angrily. “If
you want a job done right, you have to do it yourself!”

He started for Brandon, his steps fast and determined.

Desperation and uncertainty hit me like a ton of bricks. I
tried to scream or move, but with three hard blows to the head in less than an
hour, my brain was acting funny. I knew that with my powers I could heal myself,
but the huge problem here was that I did not know how to do it.