Soul Guard (Elemental Book 5) (8 page)

“What?”

“You have the same magic as the master.”

“I thought all Dothra wizards could do that.”

“Only the shadow walkers and the true master’s
followers, and we can’t control the darkness like that; we can only use it to
travel between places. Not even the Shadow Master can control it.”

I figured she must not have known about the tower.
Since the tower on Dothra’s world was built in the middle of a major city, that
was surprising. “I need to go see that Stephen’s coven is okay. Are you able to
get these people home?”

She frowned. “No. I am not a humanitarian. I helped
out more than I needed to because Stephen was nice to my human. As far as I am
concerned, I have done enough to help the vampires.”

I pulled my cellphone out of its holster and called
Maseré, since it was still too early to call Stephen. The frustrated alpha just
sighed when he picked up. “So, I have a group of vampires here who need food
and help getting home.”

“And the hunters?”

“Dead.” Silence. “I didn’t kill them. We had inside
help. How’s it going at the coven?”

“I have rounded up all of the Canada pack members,
but so far it is only Veronica to blame. I’ve had a chat with the alpha of the
week, whose son apparently went missing a couple of weeks ago. Canada suspects
vampires are to blame, particularly Stephen because the alpha’s son was in
Stephen’s territory. Nevertheless, they swear they had no idea what Veronica
was doing.”

“So it’s Veronica’s brother who’s missing?”

“I’m not sure. I don’t think they even know who the
guy’s father is.”

I could hear the disapproval in the alpha’s voice.
“Alright, well, can you arrange for a lot of blood to be brought over?”

“Just give me the address.”

“Um… okay. I’ll send a guide.” As if he knew exactly
what my plan was, Rocky appeared right in front of me. Several of the vampires
shrieked.

“Who are you sending?”

“You’ll know him when you see him.”

*          *          *

After sending Rocky to bring back Maseré, I looked
for Henry. Since Henry wasn’t at the shack, I returned to the truck, only to
find that he and his pickup were gone. I called him and it went to voicemail,
so I called him again. “Scott went missing last night,” he said when he finally
picked up.

“So you decided to drive for hundreds of miles
instead of asking me to use the shadow pass?”

“You said you haven’t figured out how to use it yet.
Also, I didn’t think about it.”

I sighed. “I’ll call you when I find him.” I hung up.
Next, I focused on Alpha Flagstone’s mind, knowing full well I was probably
going to get punched.

I barely sensed his mind before the air grew cold,
shadows darkened in the shade of the trees, and Flagstone appeared, too far out
of reach to hit me. He was, however, glaring. “What have I told you about
trying to mess with my mind?”

“I know it’s taboo, but I don’t know how else to get
ahold of anyone with a key. Henry’s son is missing and I need to find him.”
Since the shifter was Hunt’s familiar, he was able to use the powerful wizard’s
magic and the shadow pass.

He showed a frustrating lack of concern. “Missing? Is
that all?”

“Scott is only five.” The shifter opened his mouth to
interrupt. “And his jaguar form includes saber fangs and wings.”

His expression finally changed. “Raduma,” he said,
more to himself than me.

I nodded. “I thought you knew what Henry was.”

“I knew from the first moment I saw him. I just
didn’t think his child would develop those traits. I thought Henry didn’t have
wings.”

“He doesn’t, but I’ve seen Scott with them when he
was in danger.”

“Why didn’t you use the shadow pass to find him?”

“I haven’t been able to get anywhere but the tower.”

Without wasting any more time, he grabbed my arm and
pulled me towards the shadows. “Picture the child,” he said. The shadows
swarmed us, blocking all light, and the air changed. The gravity was heavier,
the air was stale, and it was pitch black.

I visualized Scott in my mind. Not knowing which form
he was in, I pictured him in his person form. I didn’t even have a guess at how
long we were in the shadow pass. Hands reached for me, but I knew to keep my
mouth shut. My instincts warned me that I was surrounded.

Finally, the light returned and the gravity let up.
We were in an alley. The first thing I saw when I looked out on the street was
the animal control truck. “Shit.” There were three men in uniform with
tranquilizer guns and a crowd of people gathered in front of a bakery. A dozen
plans formed in my head in the first few seconds, before I disregarded all of
them and strolled right out onto the street.

Flagstone tried to stop me, but I was already acting.
I let my magic overpower the minds of all the people in the crowd and made them
sleep. When I first learned to control minds, it required pushing thoughts,
images, and my mood into their mind. To make them sleep, I would have to recall
the feeling of sleep from my own mind. The more I used my power, however, the
easier it became. This time, my magic pulled it from them. They all dropped to
the ground without resistance. Only then did I realize I was overreacting.

Still, I was already inside before Flagstone could
reprimand me. “What the hell were you thinking?! That’s the kind of thing that
would get you a death sentence if the council were still running!”

I ignored him, looking around and under the tables
and counter for Scott.

With a speed I thought over vampires possessed,
Flagstone slammed me against the wall. “Answer me! Tell me why I shouldn’t kill
you for that!”

“They’re asleep, not dead.”

“That’s not the point! That’s exactly the kind of
thing John Cross would have done!”

I felt Rocky’s presence press against my mind and
sent him a dismissive thought. I tried to shove Flagstone off, but that just
made the wolf growl. “John would have killed them.”

“Some of them could have busted their heads open on
the pavement! What were you---”

“I wasn’t thinking!” I interrupted. “I just acted and
I know it was stupid!”

He let me go. “Then find the cub, because Logan wants
to talk to you.” Although his voice was much lower in volume, there was still
anger boiling behind it.

I continued my search for Scott in the kitchen, where
I found an old, thin man instead. When I walked in, he stepped in front of
something and put his hands up. “Don’t shoot him,” he said.

I immediately put my hands out to show him I wasn’t
armed, which didn’t help because my jacket flapped open to reveal my gun. “I’m
not here to hurt him; I’m here to keep him from getting captured.” After a
moment of hesitation, the man moved aside and I saw the small, saber-tooth
jaguar cub huddled under a counter with a huge bread roll in his mouth.

“He came in here last night because he was hungry,
but he ran out there when the customers made noise because he was curious.
Someone called animal control. I knew he wasn’t wild because he’s too
accustomed to being indoors.”

I squatted down and studied the cat. Scott should
have run out instantly when he recognized me, but he was shaking instead. His
beast side was in full control of him. After all the experimentation done on
him, I was afraid I would just scare him worse if I tried to use my magic to
coerce him out. “Hey, buddy. Are you going to come out or stay in there all
day?” I asked.

He inched back, already pressed against the wall.
Flagstone entered the room. “Get some color pencils and paper,” I said.

“What?” the baker asked, confused.

“And get Mr. Baker out of the room.”

“No, I’m staying until I’m sure you’re not going to
hurt him,” the man argued.

Flagstone sighed, left the room, and returned a few
minutes later with a sketch book and color pencils. When I took them, I
realized they were Scott’s. I set them down and picked up the black pencil.
“While Flagstone here takes the nice baker for a walk, I’m going to draw you,
so stay right there, okay?” I instructed gently.

Flagstone took the baker out, despite the man’s
protests. I found a clear page and started drawing. I didn’t have an ounce of the
talent Scott or Henry had, so I made mistakes. Since that was the whole point
of my plan, I announced these mistakes out loud and showed him every few
seconds. Within ten minutes, the boy couldn’t take it anymore. Scott shifted
and climbed out of the hole.

“No! You’re holding the pencil wrong!” he said,
exasperated.

“You can hold a pencil wrong?”

“Duh! Look, my eyes aren’t that far apart! You make
me look like a dog, Uncle Devon,” he whined.

“Okay, I think you’ve spent too much time with
Darwin.” While he taught me how to draw himself, I called Kyle and told him to
pick us up and bring clothes. Then I called Henry. “He’s safe,” I said when I
heard him pick up.

He breathed the longest sigh of relief I’d ever
heard. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, but there’s bad traffic all the way out
here.”

“How bad?”

“It’s a crawl and I’m on country roads.”

Ten minutes later, Kyle and my mother arrived. They
both apologized profusely as I put Scott in the car seat of Kyle’s Sedan. I
went with them, hoping Flagstone would simply return to Quintessence. I sure as
hell didn’t want to talk to Hunt about what I did.

Scott didn’t say a word until we got to my mother’s
house. I took him to the guest room that was set up for him, sat him on the
bed, and told him to explain what happened. He still sat there for fifteen
minutes without saying anything. Fortunately, he realized I wasn’t going away.
“I thought…” he stopped for another few minutes. “I thought I was going to lose
Daddy again. I woke up and he wasn’t here and I forgot where I was.”

“So you thought you would just go out and find him?”

He nodded. “Nobody cares when I leave. I just knew
Daddy was looking for me.”

I sat down. “Your dad has a job and he hates that it
takes him away from you, but you’re going to be starting school soon and you
won’t see him for four months. He needs to know that you can be okay without
him.”

He started crying. “I don’t want to go!”

“I know, but think about what’s best for him. He
wants you to have everything he didn’t, and that includes friends, and love,
and choices like what you want to do with your life.”

“Then why is he sending me away?”

“That’s not what he’s doing. Yes, you are a little
young to be at a school like that, but you will fit in a lot better there than
at a human school. Soon, you’re going to meet other shifters and wizards your
own age. I bet if you really like it, Henry will try to get hired at the school
in January. Then he can be your teacher.”

His eyes widened with fear. “Will he give me time out
in front of my friends?”

“Oh yeah. At least six minutes. But guess what— the
rules are different. You can be a cat as much as you want there. All you have
to do is go four months. I bet your dad can even visit you if you’re really
good for your teachers.” I hoped I wasn’t wrong. I was never in boarding school
and Hunt’s schools weren’t the norm anyway, so I had no idea how parents dealt
with their little ones being away so long.

“What if I can’t?”

“Well, the one thing you can’t do is run away again.
When your dad found out you ran away last night he was so afraid the bad guys
took you.”

“I didn’t think about that. Is he mad at me?”

“He’s going to be. You have to understand that when
you scare him that badly, he’s going to get mad, probably at everyone. I bet he
puts you in time out for an hour. You just have to understand that he loves you
and he’ll do anything to make sure you stay safe.”

I felt his presence before Flagstone appeared in the
middle of the room. “You were spotted,” he growled at me.

“How bad is it?”

“Some friends of mine are making sure it gets played
off as a stunt, but you’d better realize how close you came to exposing us. I
should tear your throat out here and now.”

When Scott hissed, I put my hand over his mouth to
stop him and stood. “If you do, make sure you find Darwin and tell him to call
his father.”

When the shadows cleared, I
was in Hunt’s office with Hunt and Flagstone.

Hunt was standing in front of his fireplace, looking
just as serious as Flagstone. I somehow had time to notice the new coffee
table.

I always considered the office to be both dark and
cozy. Against the north wall, in front of a large window with heavy drapes, was
a bulky wooden desk. On the west wall was a fireplace with two black leather
chairs facing it, while the east wall consisted of two bookshelves that were
split by a doorway. A black leather couch was placed in the middle of the room,
facing the fireplace. The scratched, wooden coffee table in front of the couch
was new.

“Devon, please sit,” Hunt said. I did. “Rosin said
you attacked a group of humans in the middle of the street.”

“I did.”

“For any particular reason?”

“I was more worried about Scott and I just didn’t
think about it as hurting them.”

“Does that happen a lot?”

“No.”

“How much sleep did you get last night?”

“Not much.”

“Have you noticed anything weird? Anyone watching
you? Any nightmares?”

“No. Why?”

He looked thoughtful rather than angry. “Let me know
if you do.” He turned to Flagstone and they stared at each other for a minute,
obviously communicating in their minds like I could with Rocky.

“What, that’s it? You’re not going to threaten to kill
me?”

Hunt frowned. “Of course not. You may be much, much
younger than me, but you are an adult. You are older than Remington even. I
know you better than you think. I know you would never intentionally hurt
people unless it was life or death.”

“Then why did you want to speak to me?”

“Because your actions worried me. My first thought
was that you were being controlled by Krechea, and my second was that you were
possessed by one of his shadow walkers. I wanted to make sure you were in
control of yourself, which you seem to be. I expect your lack of judgment was
due to stress and lack of sleep.”

I considered it. I didn’t think I was stressed, but I
had plenty to be stressed about. “Maybe,” I said.

“Either that, or the power might be going to your
head.”

“If that were the case, I would have wanted to hurt
them, and I didn’t.”

“Possibly. The fact that you did not even consider
their wellbeing worries me.”

I stood. “I’m not like John, and his magic isn’t
changing me. I put my friend’s child’s safety over the welfare of strangers who
were surrounding him. I’m not going to say it won’t happen again, but I’ll try
to be more tactful next time.”

At that point, Vincent entered the office. “It sounds
like you’ve had a busy day,” he said to me.

“How did you… never mind.” Along with his visions of
the future, he had Ghost. Then again, the cat had been making himself scarce
for a few months.

“Now that we are all together, we need to discuss
more pressing matters. It seems the shadow walkers have begun causing trouble,”
Hunt said.

“It does seem so,” I said hesitantly.

“You don’t sound so sure,” Vincent said.

“No, I’m not. Regina was attacked and my apartment
was searched, but Henry and Scott were unhurt. There’s also been a few storms
and some traffic problems in my city, but that seems pretty passive aggressive
for demons. Why wait until now to attack?”

“That’s not all that has been going on,” Flagstone
said. “There have been incidences of people hearing voices and children seeing
deceased members of their families since the shadow walkers escaped Dothra.”

Hunt pulled out a thick stack of letters from his
desk and unfolded some of them. “On Sunday, a good friend of mine in England
sent me a letter that his three children went missing on Saturday night. On
Monday, I got a letter from his wife, who had walked into the kitchen that
morning to find him dead.”

“Up until then, there had been no reported deaths.
Unfortunately, most wizards are extremely solitary, so we can’t be sure of
that,” Flagstone said.

Hunt held up another letter, not bothering to look at
it. “I got another letter on Monday that the oldest, most powerful wizard
family in Russia went missing on Sunday. Within twenty-four hours, four of them
were found dead. The remaining six were found Tuesday morning, claiming that
nothing happened.”

“That’s strange, but do we know it’s the shadow
walkers at fault?”

“No.”

“Maybe give Darwin a copy of those letters. I bet he
can use the dates and times to figure out how many shadow walkers we’re dealing
with.”

“I will do that if I see him. In the meantime, I
suggest we get our loved ones somewhere safe,” Hunt said.

“Like where? What is the safest place in the world?”

“From a magical opponent, Quintessence is the safest
place.”

“Really? When did the school become safe? Are we
talking about the same Quintessence? Last semester, we had a party because no
one died. The university doesn’t exactly have a track record of being safe. You
do realize we’re going up against the same demons that
possessed
your
golems, right?”

“I do. This time, however, we have the advantage of
knowing our enemy. We can fortify the defenses and screen everyone who comes
in. It only takes one person on the inside to betray us.”

“Yes, only one person to make everyone inside just
sitting ducks. Have you read ‘The Masque of the Red Death’? Krechea’s followers
can use the shadows like we do, but they don’t need keys.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“I don’t know if it’s a better idea, but I think I
might know where they can go that the shadow walkers can’t get to them. Out of
all the paranormal worlds, would any of them be safe?”

“Skrev is just as dangerous as Dothra,” Flagstone
said.

“Draumr is, too,” Vincent said.

“Draumr? Really? Who named these worlds?”

“They were in one of Keigan’s old books,” Hunt said.
“Draumr, the world that Vincent’s key unlocks, is the original world of the
fae.”

“What’s wrong with the fae?”

“The pure fae are just as powerful as Dothra’s
wizards and feral as Skrev’s shifters. They eat the impure on sight.”

“Okay, then we definitely don’t want to go there. At
least we won’t have to deal with the pure vampires. If we do, you know how to
fight them.” When Hunt and Flagstone both frowned deeply, I rolled my eyes.
“Silver. Silver bullets will make them burst into ash, so I imagine a silver blade
will, too. There were several of them on Dothra. Do we have any idea who
Krechea might be after?”

“The four of us for sure. He wants to get our keys.
Right now, you are the youngest and least experienced, but you are also nearly
indestructible.”

“Six months ago, I was a dead man walking. Now I’m
indestructible?”

“Not entirely, no. Between your visions, mind
control, instincts, and gargoyle, I believe you are going to be his second most
difficult target.”

“Does he know that?”

“I am pretty sure he does… somehow. Now, your visions
are not infallible, as Gale’s curse proved, but that takes practice.
Unfortunately, our loved ones are our weaknesses, and you have more people to
care about than Vincent, Keigan, or I do. That is why we must hide them.”

“Well, Henry and Darwin will insist on working with
me and I know they can. Regina has a new protector and Astrid is in Dothra.
Cody and Marcus are vampires now. Convincing Cody to stay low shouldn’t be a
problem, but Marcus isn’t going to agree to hide here, because the magic would
interfere with his electronics. He turns to his toys when he’s afraid.” While a
scared child might have a security blanket, the first month after he saw his
father kill his mother, he slept with a hard drive in his arms.

“What about your mother?”

“She’d have to stay here, if this really is the
safest place.” I looked at Vincent, but he didn’t argue. In fact, his stoic
expression didn’t waver at all. “Is that okay with you?”

“Of course. Her safety is most important.”

“And your brothers?” Hunt asked.

It was a shock to me at the end of the previous
semester to learn that I had at least two brothers I never knew about. Once I
thought about it, however, I realized it wasn’t surprising at all; John Cross
had no decency.

I shrugged. “I only met them that one time, I’m old
enough to be their father, and the fact that my only relation to them is John
doesn’t exactly encourage me to get to know them. As far as I’m concerned, the
twins have nothing to do with this and no one would go after them.”

“I suggest we also bring in all of the most powerful
wizards,” Vincent said. “Have you thought of a way to save Astrid?”

“Not without someone getting trapped there. The only
one who can open the door is Langril and he’s only concerned with defeating
Krechea. Once the tower is destroyed, there will be no more deals with the
demons, and anyone who stays behind to destroy it will be trapped or killed, so
we have to save her before she does. What exactly is so dangerous about
destroying the tower?”

“From what I can tell, it is an energy backlash. If
the four of us destroyed the tower, the energy would be distributed between us
and we should all make it, but we would be trapped on whatever world we are on
at the time.”

“The entire point of Astrid destroying the tower from
her side is so that we can trap Krechea between the worlds. We can just save
Astrid and destroy the tower from this side if we can defeat him ourselves. Are
we sure there’s no way to destroy him outright?”

“Not if he’s anything like Keigan, and Keigan himself
was unable to destroy Krechea.”

“But there are gods, like Janus. The gods were able
to drive the ancient Dothra wizards out before.”

“They were able to drive them out, not destroy them.”

“Unfortunately, Heather doesn’t know much about them.
From what she’s said, her father didn’t tell her much about Dothra. Langril had
the power to freeze even Vincent. How can I become that powerful?”

“That comes with time.”

“Then what about bringing Langril back here to fight
them?”

“That would be a mistake,” Hunt said. “Right now,
Krechea cannot get all four keys.”

“Unless he kills me. Then he can.”

“Because you’re so hard to kill, he’ll test you
first, determine what it is you want most, and try to bargain with you,”
Vincent said. I ran my hand through my hair instead of responding. Apparently,
my uncle knew me better than I’d thought. “What? You’re not considering it, are
you?” His tone was completely nonjudgmental.

“I guess that depends on what he wants. To be honest,
I don’t give a shit about Dothra. If he wants to give me Astrid and return to
Dothra, I don’t see a problem with it. If he wants to eat my entrails and rule
Earth, then I do have a problem with it.”

“We’ll save Astrid,” he said.

Hunt frowned. “In the long run, her sacrifice is the
most practical---”

“Absolutely not,” I interrupted. “I will do
everything in my power to make sure no one is sacrificed. I’ll do the Disney
speech if I absolutely have to, but I think Darwin would prefer to do that
himself.”

“If that is settled, I will begin reinforcing the
protection over the university.”

“What about the kids’ school?”

“I will do the same there as well, because Krechea
may still be after children.”

“I know children will be easier for him to get on his
side, but can they really be that useful to him?”

“Would you kill a child?”

“No.”

“Then yes, they can be. I will take you back now, as
I expect you have work. As soon as Quintessence is prepared, Rosin will tell
you and help you bring your mother.”

“Are you going to have trouble keeping Remington
inside?” The headmaster’s daughter was quick to anger and always had a weapon
on her.

“Of course. Remy was born arguing with me,” Hunt
said. Flagstone smirked. My phone went off and I reached for it instinctively.

“Wait,” Flagstone said, too late.

The instant my skin touched the phone, it sparked
violently. “Shit!” I unclipped it from the harness and checked the screen, but
it was dead. “I normally keep a few spare phones at home, but I’m pretty sure
I’m out.”

“Try hitting the power button,” Flagstone suggested.
I frowned at the phone. “I tried to have a mobile myself and half the time it
was zapped, I could turn it back on.”

I pushed the button and gaped when it lit up. “Wow.
Thanks. Damn, though… how many phones have I wasted by throwing them away? I
tried that a couple of times at first and gave up.”

“It depends on the model. The disposable ones
typically survive better.”

Before I could even check the recent list, the phone
rang again.
Henry
. I answered it cautiously. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“You need to get over to your mother’s.”

I felt the blood drain from my face. “Is she okay?”

“She’s alive. Just… get here.”

“Okay. I’m on my way.” I hung up and turned back to
the others. “I need to get to my mother’s place.”

“Use the shadow pass,” Hunt said.

“Why make him---” Vincent started.

“Because he needs to learn,” Hunt interrupted.

“I haven’t been able to get anywhere but the tower.”

“That is how you learn. You will have no better
motivation than love. If you wait until it becomes life or death, it will be
too late.”

“If you’re just playing around, I’ll do something.
I’m not sure what, but definitely something.” Without giving him a chance to
question my empty threat, I closed my eyes and concentrated.

I pictured the symbol of my door and pushed away all
other thoughts and sensations until my mind was as dark and quiet as the shadow
pass. The constant dull ache in my palm sharpened as if my hand was cramping,
but the sting was only in my mind.