Lost Soul (DarkWorld: SkinWalker Book 2) (16 page)

Tara sat at the front counter, packing away a sword in a long, velvet-lined box. "Hey," she said, barely looking up at me. Her hands moved swiftly as she sealed, wrapped, and labeled the box, setting it next to the register, ready for mailing. Then she came around and locked the door, putting out the closed sign. "Come. Your stuff is inside."

I followed her into the apartment behind the shop and entered their dining room. The table seemed weighed down with an array of weapons and ammunition. "All this for me?" I stared.

She nodded and led me to inspect the spread. "We can begin here." She pointed to a range of bullets and vials filled with colored liquid. She placed a finger on a red vial. "These poisons have been adapted for demonic entities." She moved a finger to the blue vials. "These are meant for the undead or ghostly entities. Mother managed to have them consecrated and blessed by various shamans and Mages to increase their power."

"How can I be sure they will work?"

Tara raised an eyebrow. "Mother has had both potions field tested." What could I possibly say to that?

"Thanks." I turned my attention to the weapons. There were only two of them. One a double-barreled gun that looked like a sawed-off shotgun, and the other a short, wider blade with a jagged edged.

Tara picked up the sheath of the sword and handed it to me. "What do you see?"

I turned it over in my hand. "A metal sheath to house that blade." I pointed.

"Anything else?"

I looked closer, then noticed a tiny lid covering one end of the sheath. I removed the lid to find it attached by a thin metal chain. "What's this?"

Tara picked up a fat bottle filled with blue liquid. "That allows you to keep the knife's edge seasoned with the poison at all times. Just pour a little poison into the hole and run the bladed in and out of the sheath. Then you're ready. Just killed a demon and need to kill another? Wipe off the demon blood and stick the knife into the sheath to re-poison the edge. Unfortunately, you will still need to go through the process of cleaning the blade. We couldn't find a way around it. The blood will just dilute the power of the poison."

I nodded and took the sword in my hand, sliding it into the sheath to get the feel of the weapon, to balance the weight of both pieces in my hands. "I like it."

"Right, so the other one is just a gun with two chambers to allow you to reload less. It's your choice though as I've made ammunition for all your guns and for your crossbow as well."

I couldn't believe the extent that Tara and Gracie had gone to. "Thank you! I really owe you. Put it on my tab and I'll sort you out when I get back." Then I stopped and stared at her. "Or maybe I should pay you before I leave."

"Why?" she asked absently as she began to pack away the vials into long thin boxes. Then she stacked them at the bottom of a sturdy rucksack, topping them with the weapons.

"In case I don't make it out alive." I smiled wryly at her.

"Stop being stupid. You'll be fine." Tara glared at me. "Besides, I don't think Mother wants payment."

"No way. She did too much for me not to reimburse her." I shook my head firmly. No way I was taking charity.

"You can have it out with her when you get back. She isn't here right now." She held the bag out to me.

"Fine, I will." I took the rucksack by the strap and hefted it onto my unoccupied shoulder.

Tara gave me a small smile as she walked with me to the front of the store. "So when will you leave?"

"Now that the weapons are sorted, probably tomorrow." There wasn't anything stopping me now except one more round of fire treatment. My gut twisted. It won't be long before I entered the Greylands to bring Greer home. And hopefully I got there before she went totally insane.

"And how are you feeling?" Tara scanned my face with her knowing, dark eyes

"There is that. Right now I feel fine, but that's because Logan's just treated me with the fire. He needs to give me another treatment before I leave, so I'm hoping it will last long enough to get Greer back home. Otherwise I'm in deep shit."

Tara frowned. "I'm worried about you. Are you going to be okay alone?"

"I won't be alone. Logan's sending an Omega operative with me. He's a djinn. So at least I'll have company and a little protection."

"Good." Then she threw her arms around me. I squeezed her back. "Please take care, Kailin. And please come back." She smiled sadly at me as I pulled away and unlocked the door.

"I'll try. But that's all I can do. What will happen will happen." I kept moving and glanced over my shoulder as I walked out the door. I didn't want to make any promises just in case something did happen and I didn't make it out alive.

***

A few quick phone calls updated my father, Iain, Grams and Logan on when I was leaving. Lily was waiting at my door when I got back home, so she sat and studied the weapons while I spoke on the phone.

She remained silent even after I came to stand beside her. "What's wrong?" She continued to stare and the weapon-laden table for a moment
.

"I just realized this is dangerous. More likely deadly." Her voice grew softer. "What if something happens to you?"

I wanted to tell her that nothing was going to happen, but why would I want lie to Lily? Not when she was prepared to lay her life down for me. "To be honest, I can't be sure I'll come out of this alive. Nothing is certain. Only that I'll do my best to stay alive because I have my mother and Anjelo waiting for me." I touched Lily's hand and she met my eyes. "If I don't make it, promise me you will choose action. I don't want you to mourn and mope around. You need to do something with your life. Take action. Make a difference. You hear me?"

Lily worried me.

As much as she put on a strong front, she'd succumbed once to the call of a drug to ease her pain. I didn't want her to repeat that if I didn't make it out of the Greylands alive. When Lily nodded and gave me a weak smile, I hid a sigh of relief.

"Yeah. I hear you."

"Promise me." My voice didn't give her any choice.

"I promise, Kai. I won't let you down." She spoke firmly and sounded determined. I just hoped that strength would hold out if I didn't come back
.

A knock sounded on the door and Logan entered, his face a study of emotion. Worry, impatience, frustration. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. It's just Omega stuff." Logan waved me off and winked at Lily, who smiled and gave him a small wave before turning back to study the weapons.

Logan turned to me. "Do you want me to treat you now? How long before you leave?"

"Now is good. I'm just waiting on Grams. She'll tell me where the nearest dark water is. And then there's just your djinn friend."

"Okay then, let's get started." He headed off to the bedroom and I followed, giving Lily a small grin. This time I sat on the edge of the bed. He'd done the last treatment only yesterday and I was fairly sure that neither of us would be as taxed by the procedure this time. When I removed my jacket, I was reassured. My arm was only lightly flecked by the poison's purple and blue mottling
.

The treatment took a fraction of the usual time and I remained silent for the most part. Logan seemed preoccupied and not much in the mood to talk, which was fine with me. I couldn't find anything to talk about, either. My mind buzzed with nervous energy, which I couldn't direct anywhere just yet
.

I toyed with telling Logan about the second Wraith but decided he seemed too edgy to throw more stuff at him. It wouldn't make any difference anyway.

When we were done, we walked back into the living room to find Grams and Lily talking in the kitchen.

"I take it no introductions are necessary?" They both smiled.

"Are you ready, dear?" Grams got down to business.

"As I'll ever be." I began to pack away my ammunition and weapons and ended up with a rucksack and a satchel, one for each shoulder. The weight of the two bags worried me—they would hamper any progress I might make. But I had to draw up a plan once I got there, stow the gear someplace where I'd have easy access. Otherwise, I'd be asking for trouble.

Grams nodded and Lily shifted from one foot to the other.

Logan joined us. "Saleem?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. He was late as far as I was concerned. Had he gotten cold feet?

As if in answer, the air beside me thickened, spinning slowly, shimmering as a small whirlwind of color became a spinning image of a person. Then the spinning ceased, the colors settled, and Saleem stood there with a cheeky grin.

"It's about time you got here," I said, eyes narrowed.

"Apologies. I had to account for my weapons." His shrug drew my gaze to his shoulder. A black, military-style rucksack weighed him down.

"Right. You ready?" He nodded. "Oh, and one thing. Since you are coming with me, I need to know you understand the situation. I'm in charge. I won't have us off in the Greylands fighting for control of this mission."

Saleem looked at Logan. Then I looked at Logan and frowned. "Are we going to have a problem here?" Logan looked at me. "Neither Omega nor you are in charge of the mission. I'm making that clear now. If you don't agree, then don't come." I directed the last sentence at Saleem whose eyebrows were very close to his hairline. Dark curls fell to his frown-creased brow.

He glanced at Logan again and whatever had gone on unsaid between them seemed to be over. He looked at me and nodded. "I'm good with that."

"You better be sure, because if you give me any shit, I won't hesitate to incapacitate you and leave you behind." I turned away and grabbed my bags, glancing at Grams and Lily who both raised their eyes.

From Grams' expression she understood completely where I was coming from. I didn't want any split in authority while I was on the dead plane. Omega needed to be aware that they had no authority over me or my mission. And that I wouldn't waste any time should they decide to assert themselves while we were on the mission.

I turned back to Logan, who held out a hand for one of the backpacks. Handing one over I headed for the door. "Where to, Grams?"

"Lockwood Lake. It's deserted and the dark water is the deepest in this area."

"The pier not good enough?" I recalled the dock I'd used to enter Wrythiin. It was secluded enough. And Lockwood was a mile away.

"Lockwood is better, more secluded, and the water is deeper, older." Grams answered, brooking no argument. I had no problem submitting to her authority and I didn't care that Logan and Saleem could see that.

***

The drive to Lockwood Lake was silent. Just Logan, Lily, Grams and me. Saleem had done his djinn thing and disappeared from the apartment. We found him waiting in the gravel parking lot when we arrived.

Darkness had settled over the mountainside and my stomach clenched a little. We followed the signs, taking the trail into the trees. It took a few minutes of hiking carefully along the winding pathways until the trail opened out onto a small pebbled beach that led us down to a large, dark lake.

The water rippled and small waves hit the shore softly, crashing onto the stones on the water's edge. The lake felt secluded, surrounded by dense forest, old oak trees reaching up into the night sky.

Someone had constructed a handful of wooden piers along the water's edge, each about twenty feet apart from each other. I walked to the edge of the stone beach and stepped onto the nearest pier,
hearing the wood squeak beneath my weight.

This was it.

Once I took that leap into the dark water, there was no turning back.

I'd done this before, so I wasn't nervous or worried. I just wanted to get it over with, get on with saving Greer.

I glanced at Saleem who had come up beside me. "You ready?"

He nodded, hitching his backpack higher on his shoulder. "So how does this work? You coming with me through the portal or do you arrive there on your own?"

Saleem inclined his head in what felt like a tiny bow. "I'll make my own way there. I'll track you, so I'll be waiting for you on the other side."

"Track me?" I frowned.

"Djinn have the ability to sense a person's aura, so we can track that person wherever they are."

"Like a tracker?"

"Something like that, but trackers usually work with items belonging to the missing person. Djinn can only use the person's actual aura. So it would be much harder for me to find you if I had to use your belt or your knife or some other possession."

I nodded, still unsure how I felt about Omega's djinn having the equivalent of a GPS tracker on me. Too late to refuse Saleem now. Besides I needed the backup. I'd be stupid to decline him
.

"Okay, then." I faced the group, ready to leave.

Grams held out her arms for a quick hug. I was keenly aware of the possibility it would be our last. "Take care of yourself, dear, and be careful at all times."

"Yes, Grams." I smiled, shifting my gaze a little too quickly from my grandmother's face.