Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books)
Read Shadow Walker (Neteru Academy Books) Online
Authors: L.A. Banks
LA Banks
2010
Neteru Compound Glossary of Terms
As always, my greatest thanks goes to the Creator and all the angels who shepherd my steps through this journey called life, as well as to the ancestors who whisper in my ear about the people and things they think I should write about (and they keep me busy!).
But there are also certain people—earth angels as I like to call them—who make the process of being on this journey, which feels like a mission or quest sometimes, not just bearable but fun, funny, crazy and absolutely a joy. So I have to thank Lissa, Gretta and Sesvalah who held me up in prayer through the arduous process of getting this particular baby born. They were the true earthly midwives of this process to make
Shadow Walker
manifest. Then of course there are always the eager readers and the staunch street team (who forever has my back). I so deeply appreciate your enthusiasm and positive encouragement—you all bring the Light! At points you cheered me on and made me push, and gave me that extra coaching needed to muscle through the labor pains—even when it seemed like it might be a breeched birth. But no matter what, the book made it to come wailing into the world. Ha! We did it as a team. For that, I THANK YOU and LOVE YOU right on back!
No dedication is right without acknowledging the folks who lent their special talent, skill and sheer force of nature to make this happen, therefore special thanks goes to Lissa Woodson, who hung through the darkest times; to JL Woodson and Barron Steward, who made the website pop; to Leslie Wainger who edited this book back to life after it had suffered so many abuses; to Sara Crowe, who believed it back to life when all seemed lost; to Joe Konrath, the mad scientist who had alternative treatments for the patient that worked miracles (I love you, Joe—you are my hero!); to “52 novels” Rob Siders, Carl Graves and Cheryl Perez who made it do what it do, helped it get up and walk; and to my long-time editor and friend Chandra Sparks Taylor who put the finishing polish on this project—bless you all!
Look for book 2,
Shadow Seekers
, sometime in 2011…
Awakening
“May I look upon my soul and my shadow.”
—The Egyptian Book of the Dead
The Compound
Sixteen years after the Armageddon
T
he demon was so close now that she could feel its icy breath on her neck. Sarah Rivera swung her bedroom lamp at it as she lurched toward the door, yanked it open and dashed into the dark hallway. The corridor was longer than it had ever been, as though something unnatural had drawn it out before her so that she could never reach the end of it to get to safety.
Running hard, she focused with all her might on the tiny emergency exit light that now seemed miles away. That beacon was the only source of illumination in what had otherwise become pitch blackness. Shadows loomed and stretched around the faraway light as though mocking it, mocking
her,
dimming its effectiveness as she reached out toward it.
Then, as if the air around her had become molasses, her legs suddenly felt heavy and mired in a sticky goo of atmosphere, making her struggle just to put one foot before the other. She tried to scream, even to call for her mother or father, but no sound came out.
Pure panic gripped her as she saw her best friend’s bedroom door ajar. Tami would help her. They could fight this beast together.
Sarah slogged through the density that clung to her legs and thrust her way through Tami’s open door. Tami was standing in the darkened room, hands on hips, face wearing her usual smart-ass smile. But her friend’s eyes weren’t right. They weren’t Tami’s eyes. They were the eyes of the demon!
The bedroom door slammed behind Sarah with a loud bang. Instantly the entire room went pitch black. Not even moonlight shone through the window. Sarah’s scream began in the pit of her stomach but never reached her throat. Her heart slammed against her breastbone. She could hear things moving in the dark, circling her, stirring the air.
In the next second, she was awake.
Sarah sat up quickly in the dark, panting. She immediately reached for her nightstand lamp and clicked it on, covering her heart with a hand. A slight sheen of perspiration made her tank top and panties cling to her body. The sheets around her were in a tangle about her legs, and she flung them off her. The pillows were gone from the bed, cast to the floor during the nightmare.
Almost in tears, she leaned forward and rubbed her temples, feeling like her bedroom was closing in on her. Her head ached in a strumming throb. This was the third nightmare in a week. She was tired of trying to convince her mom and dad that the dreams had nothing to do with the stress of taking placement tests for school. Each time the demon in her dreams got closer. Tonight it had gotten too damned close. That had to mean something. It all felt too real.
But it annoyed her to no end that her parents were always so preoccupied with their own lives and problems that they could never seem to make time to really listen to her or to take her seriously. Other people had problems, too. They weren’t the only ones in the world going through hell.
If she were psychic, like they were, and had a daughter who was slowly coming into her extrasensory powers, like they did, she would make the time to listen. She was sure of that. But they didn’t. Sarah frowned. They claimed she had performance anxiety and then blew her off. Maybe it was easier for them that way. Who wanted to deal with a kid who had issues when you had more important stuff to address?
Sarah let out a forlorn sigh. She could hear her father’s voice booming inside her brain like low, rolling thunder. She leaned forward and clasped her hands on either side of her head. Yes, she could hear them. They were somewhere in the compound…. Were her parents fighting?
She threw back the covers to completely untangle herself and easily navigated her way through her semi-darkened bedroom to yank on some sweatpants and her sneakers.
Their words were hard to make out, but the urgency in her father’s tone was unmistakable. Never in her life had she heard her dad sound like that; never had she experienced hearing someone so clearly inside her head. She needed to get closer.
She slipped out of her bedroom and quietly made her way down the hall, still jittery from the all-too-recent nightmare, barely noticing the blood-red moon outside her window.
She had only gone twenty-five feet when she saw her brother, Alejandro, sneaking out of his own bedroom.
“Pssst,”
Sarah said.
Al gave a quick start and whirled around to face her. His surprised expression turned into his normal glower once he saw it was her.
“Don’t do that,” he whispered furiously. “What’s your problem?”
“Did you hear it?” Normally she only had biting comments for her irritating twin brother, but not tonight. She was glad he was there with her.
“You heard Mom’s voice inside your head, too?” he asked, still frowning.
Sarah shook her head. “Just Dad…what’s up?”
“They’re fighting,” Al said, stating the obvious. “Never heard ‘em go at it like that before, though. This isn’t one of their normal arguments.” He glanced down the hall. “I’ll let you know if I find out anything.”
They stared at each other for a moment. For once she wished her brother would just drop his defenses and be on her side. He was a telepath just like her. If they teamed up, they could find out what was wrong faster. Most times Al didn’t seem to be able to do that. But this was so much bigger than who was supposedly their parents’ favorite or who was demonstrating special abilities first, or any of that other craziness. Sarah briefly closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, trying to find a way to reach her twin. When she finally looked at him, she could feel the wall Al always kept between them beginning to crumble.
“Please, Al…can’t we do this together? I’m really worried.” She held her brother’s gaze until he looked away. “What if they’re breaking up or something?” she finally whispered, hugging herself. “I didn’t hear what Dad was saying…I felt it.”
Al ran a hand through his hair. “When I heard Mom’s voice, it was like glass shattering inside my chest. I need to get closer so I can hear what’s going on.”
“You mean so you can eavesdrop,” Sarah said dryly, and as soon as she said it, she wished she hadn’t.
“Yeah, well, then why are you out here?”
“I know. You’re right. I’m sorry. I’m just used to sparring with you, but tonight…”
“Exactly. And that’s why I don’t wanna be around you,” he said, folding his arms over his chest. “You judge people, Sarah. But whatever is going on with Mom and Dad is more important than whatever you think.”
Al smirked when she had nothing to say in response. Sarah scowled as he turned and began creeping down the hall again, then sighed and followed. It was better than nothing.
She and Al had long since learned all the back service corridors and stairwells of the old hotel that their parents had converted into a mountain safe house for their family sixteen years ago. In fact, all the Neteru Guardian team members lived there as one big crazy combination of blood relatives mixed in with warrior friends for life that shared no actual blood ties—uncles and aunts were more titles than real biological links. But it didn’t matter. They were still considered family. All the kids grew up like brothers and sisters or functioned like cousins under the same roof. All of them had long since learned their way around the property, unbeknownst to the often battle-distracted adults, and had spent hours of play going through the secret passageways of the old hotel.
So, getting to the war room unnoticed—where they suspected their parents were—would be a piece of cake. Or would have been—until Tami opened her bedroom door and joined them in the hallway.
“What’s up?” Tami said after a brief yawn, looking at them with a curious smile.
It always amazed Sarah how Tami’s great figure could make even a pair of cut-off sweats, a rumpled tank and a bed-head ponytail look good. Her best friend stretched, yanked the scrunchie off her long, dark-brown hair and tugged it into a tighter updo, and then put her hand on her hip. Her curious hazel eyes were lit with mischief, and that, combined with the hypnotic stare that she’d inherited from her once-vampire mom, always made resisting her questions a hard thing to do. “C’mon, guys, spill.”
“This is family business,” Al muttered. “You should go back to bed.”
Sarah glanced at her brother. It was odd how even when he was being snarky toward Tami, his tone softened.
Oblivious, Tami just looked at him for a moment as if he had lost his mind. “My BFF here mentally called me, so don’t you tell me to—”
“I didn’t call you,” Sarah said quickly.
“Sure you did,” Tami replied. “Here.” She tapped her temple with a finger and gave Sarah a wink.
Yeah, Sarah thought. Ever since her cool older cousin Ayana—or Yaya, as she was always called—who was nineteen years old to her fifteen, had gone off to school, she and Tami had been soul-linked like that. If she was ever in trouble, Tami would know it and vice versa. That was how it had been with her and Yaya. If ever she felt bad, down or blue, Yaya just knew it and came to her with all the right words and a well-timed hug. Sarah swallowed hard, trying to hold back the emotions that might make her voice quaver.
Now she and Tami were connected just like she and Yaya had once been, which was more like twins than she and Al. They’d said one day Yaya would be her mother-seer in a battle compound. But Tami was so different from Yaya. And Tami was also different from Sarah herself, even though in all truth, Sarah had to admit that Tami was her best friend. Still…Tami had an attitude with an edge; Yaya had a soothing gentleness that wrapped around any wound you brought her to inspect.