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They moved the gathering inside to get away from the relentless mosquitoes. The family room and kitchen was an abundance of activity and the three kids kept running around like they had sixteen pieces of candy and were riding the sugar high.
Despite the relaxed atmosphere, a mounting panic pierced my soul; and I couldn’t sit still as long as Valerie was off somewhere in town with that piranha. I guess the charity bit the agent laid out must have really suckered her in, and I slid onto the kitchen chair closest to the family room where Tom, Raven, Steve, Jennifer and Naomi were talking.
Damian stood with his back against the counter drying his hands on a dishcloth, regarding me with an amused smile.
“What?” I snapped.
“You don’t know what to do with yourself when she’s not here.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but then just snapped it closed and crossed my arms on the table. He was absolutely correct and I wondered if the panic biting my skin had more to do with that, than some ominous cloud waiting to shoot me down with a bolt of lightning.
He laughed and glanced at Naomi. “You about ready, babe?”
“Yeah, want to grab the kids while I pack up our stuff?”
It took them fifteen minutes to gather their things and head out. The absence of chaos settled over us all in a heavy sigh, and I joined Tom and Raven on the couch. Hannah was tucked into the playpen in the corner sleeping peacefully.
“It’s been a hell of a day,” I said and glanced at the clock. Valerie had been gone for over an hour and I pulled my cell phone out, pressing the phone icon and finding her name. Her phone rang and the buzzing behind me pulled my attention. Her phone vibrated on the counter and I sighed. I wasn’t sure if the burn on my skin was aggravation or just some weird precognition, and I shook it off.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked as Raven collected a couple of the glasses and turned toward the sliders.
Glass crashed on the floor snapping our attention to Raven. Shock radiated off her like a dark layer of fog and she stepped backwards. Everyone turned toward the sliders and immediately jumped to their feet at the sight of the man standing in the entry, a sharp hunting knife in his hand. His crazed gaze locked on Raven and the sadistic smile that formed chilled me to the core.
When her stalled brain restarted, her memories plowed over me like a two-ton truck. Fear blanketed the room, radiating off all of them like an airborne disease. Even Steve sported a skittish look that I had never seen, and he inched toward the bookcases and the gun hidden behind a false front.
The man’s gaze moved from Raven’s to his and he sent an evil chuckle.
“Special Agent Williams, I would think twice before going for that gun,” he said with a hellish growl that pulled goose pimples to the surface of my skin.
“How did you get out?” Steve asked, his hand pausing before he took another step toward what he deemed their best chance at protection. He obviously forgot I was in the room.
“I guess you missed the news story,” the man said and stepped across the threshold. That simple act removed the possibility that this was a demon. He successfully crossed the line of salt protecting the doorway. “There was a fire and a handful of us escaped.” He grinned. “And I figured it was time to collect.” His gaze narrowed and moved to Raven.
“I think you’d better leave,” I said, stepping next to my brother who was just as frozen to the spot as Raven. His thoughts were a mass of blood and pain and panic, and I had to shut it off in order to focus on the current situation.
“Just as soon as I carve up this ungrateful bitch and her mute boy-toy,” he said and pointed the knife at Raven.
Tom reached for her, pulling her behind him and then he stepped in front of her, blocking the psycho from reaching her. He shook his head, his face hardening and the blaze in his eyes ballooned into a hostile storm.
Bits and pieces of what this man did came forth from my family, and my fists clenched. “I don’t think so.”
His lunatic gaze turned to me. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare,” the words slipped out in perfect form, shocking me as much as everyone else in the room, but I recovered quicker than the rest and narrowed my eyes to make my point.
He laughed, and Steve reached for the shelf where he had hidden his service revolver. The man shot his gaze in Steve’s direction and pushed his hand against the air. Steve went flying backwards, slamming into the wall hard enough to knock him out. Jennifer ran to his side and I turned back to the man, wondering just what the hell he was.
When the asshole’s gaze fell on me, he whispered, “I said yes, and he promised me revenge.” Then he flashed the evilest smile I have ever seen.
“Run,” Raven whispered pulling my attention to her. “C.J. run,” she repeated.
“No,” I said and shook my head. I wasn’t going to sacrifice my family to a psycho just to save my ass.
The man’s scrunched face transitioned into an expression that tickled a memory and the knife pointed in my direction. “You and I will have a long talk just as soon as Raven’s father gets his just desserts.”
The voice chilled me and I could feel the memories clawing at my consciousness. I knew the moment I let them break through; I wouldn’t be able to help my family, so I put up a protective barrier in my head, shutting off the hurricane.
I focused on the crazy demon-seed in front of me, and let the power swirl until it became as sharp as the knife he carried. For every step he took inside the house, Tom, Raven and I retreated. The front door opened and feet shuffled toward the family room, but I couldn’t split my concentration just yet.
It wasn’t until Valerie stepped into view that the tight coil inside me fizzled. Two red-eyed demons dragged her into the room. One had a gun to her head; the other had one against her back, right in line with her heart. I wasn’t sure I could prevent both bullets from ending her life and I froze in place, unable to decide how to deal with this new threat. Valerie wouldn’t recover from either shot, even with her healing power.
The hiss behind Raven’s father captured our attention and my gaze dropped to the snarling white tiger in the doorway. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to digest what I was looking at, but I said a little prayer of thanks for the diversion. When the tiger launched at Raven’s father, the barrel of each demon’s guns shifted away from Valerie giving me the opening I needed. I let the anger fly at the same moment the tiger’s jaw clamped down on Raven’s father’s knife-wielding arm.
Burning flesh filled the air and Valerie fell to her knees, away from the dust storm created by the annihilated demons.
Raven’s father screamed and I didn’t know where to focus my remaining fury.
Raven touched my arm and I met her gaze.
“The tiger is Naomi,” Raven whispered.
I think my eyebrows rose and I know my jaw dropped open, but it snapped closed just as quickly when I refocused on the tiger attack unfolding before me. Somehow, Raven’s father got the knife into his other hand and it was falling in a deadly arc aimed at the tiger’s neck.
Power shot out of me like a bullet and it hit the knife with the force of a home run swing, sending the blade clattering out the door onto the concrete patio.
The man’s gaze jumped from the attacking tiger to me, his face transitioning from a mask of anger to one of pain, and he threw his head back with a roar. A trail of thick black smoke ballooned from his mouth and snaked out the door into the sky like a retracting tornado.
The man collapsed on the floor, screaming until the tiger relinquished his arm and stepped back, still baring it’s teeth, but no longer in attack mode. He seemed smaller now, more fragile, even with the murderous thoughts raging in his head.
He scrambled to his feet and lunged at Tom, still roaring with anger and pain.
Tom’s fist smashed into the man’s throat with such force, I actually heard the crack of bone. It took a second to realize it wasn’t his hand that broke. His punch destroyed Raven’s father, collapsing his windpipe and snapping his spine in one brutal blow.
There was no remorse in Tom as he looked at the twitching corpse, just a visceral satisfaction that I could identify with based on his memories. He met my gaze and gave a nod before turning and wrapping his arms around Raven, just holding her while Steve blinked his dazed eyes at the horrifying scene.
I glanced toward the doorway and Naomi stood where the tiger had been, her chin dripping with thick blood. She wiped her mouth and turned her dark eyes in my direction.
“You would have found out what I can do sooner or later,” she said and I uttered a laugh.
The barrier in my brain gave like a weakening dam and the memories flooded my head, dropping me to my knees. Pain slammed into my eyes like a dozen knives and I cried out just before the dark yanked me into oblivion.