| |
––––––––
SWEAT BEADED ON MY brow as I delicately worked to undo the ward. I could feel the time passing, but knew I couldn’t rush this. Raw power wasn’t going to work this time, it would just trigger the trap. This called for patience and finesse, which were two things I wasn’t exactly known for.
My friends and allies watched me, barely daring to make a sound for fear of distracting me. I could feel them standing behind me, staring at me and willing me to hurry. The longer we stayed here, the greater the chances were that we would be discovered.
A drop of sweat ran down my forehead and into my eye. Blinking it away, my concentration slipped for just a moment, but that was all it took for disaster to strike. Plucking at the wrong magical thread, the ward began to unravel too quickly. Before I could raise a shield, power smashed into me.
Dark, death, druidic and demonic magic invaded me, searching for vulnerabilities. Knocked to the ground from the force of the trap, I curled up on my side as pain blossomed inside me. “It burns!” I moaned as fire seemed to ignite inside my stomach.
Rudy hurried over and put his hand on my forehead, then yanked it away with a hiss. “Hellfire,” he said in a tone filled with dread.
“Will my blood save her?” Jake asked in terror for my safety.
“Not this time,” the leprechaun said. “Neither will mine. She needs something else to combat the fire.”
I sensed Mirra drop to her knees beside me. “Sirens are water based,” she said in desperation. “Try my blood, Ari.”
She pressed her wrist against my mouth, urging me to drink. The pain was so intense that I could barely think. It was eating me from the inside out, spreading rapidly through my organs. Greg would keep me alive, but I shuddered to think what condition I would be in once the trap ran its course. I would probably be a shell of my former self.
“Drink, girly,” Rudy said urgently. “Before it’s too late!”
My fangs descended and I weakly bit into Mirra’s vein. Her blood was unlike any I’d tasted before. It was salty like the ocean and just as tumultuous as I took another swallow. It hit the hellfire and two opposing forces clashed together. I took a third mouthful as the water and fire essences dueled. Fresh pain welled up and I reflexively took a fourth swallow. As always, the fourth one was a doozy.
Jake pulled Mirra away, but it was already too late. “That’s enough, sweetheart,” he told her as Connor pulled me onto his lap.
“Why is she so still?” Jonah asked and I realized my body was locked into place.
“I can feel my essence inside her,” Mirra said in wonder that was tinged with fear. “It’s fighting the hellfire.”
Even with my eyes shut, I felt Mayra come closer. With their power added to mine, I had an affinity for them both. “We can help her combat this spell,” the older siren said. They both knelt and put their hands on my chest. Normally, I wasn’t okay with women touching my breasts, but in this instance, I was willing to put up with it.
With their hands pressed against me, they linked their magic and sent it into me. Rushing through my body, it boosted the blood that was holding the hellfire at bay. Their siren power was like a soothing balm as it eased the burns inside me.
As my body healed, I was inundated with a barrage of images. The siren essence washed over the hellfire, quenching it completely. Not done yet, it swirled around the various types of magic that resided inside me. Ignoring the vampirism, dark magic, demon essence and traces of death magic, it headed straight for the dragon blood. Instead of repelling it, the dragon blood rose to meet it. Circling each other, they seemed to size each other up, then merged.
“Holy crap!” Jonah breathed when I opened my eyes. “Her eyes are glowing again.”
Blinking slowly, I could make out an eerie greenish-blue light shining from my eyes. The pain was gone and all traces of the hellfire had been wiped out as if I’d never sprung the trap at all.
“Are you okay, love?” Connor asked. He must have felt my agony through our bond. His brow was furrowed and concern tightened his eyes.
“Why can’t I ever stop at three mouthfuls?” I complained as he helped me to sit up. “That fourth one is always a kicker.”
“What happened this time, darlin’?” Jake asked. He hunkered between the sirens, who were still kneeling on the floor. All three were beautiful, not that I would say that to Jake’s face. Men tended to get annoyed when they were called beautiful.
“I saw Mayra’s and Mirra’s past,” I said. It had been a confusing jumble of images and not all of them had been pleasant. A lot had involved naked men, which I wasn’t about to describe to anyone. “Don’t worry, its already fading,” I said when they shared concerned looks. “I also saw the future,” I added. That was fading as well, but I knew what I had to do now. The vision had confirmed what I’d already suspected. Dragon blood was the only way to defeat our foe. “We can beat Von Hades,” I told them. “The holy weapons are going to help.”
Relief washed over everyone except Connor. He felt my internal pain that I was trying so hard to suppress.
“Is the trap gone?” Quin asked as Connor helped me to my feet. Jake stood and offered his hands to the sirens. They took it and gracefully stood.
“Lucky fairy,” Winston said with a wistful sigh as they both eyed the hunter appreciatively.
“It’s gone,” I replied. I could no longer sense any magic near the hidden cavity behind the painting.
Quin strode over to the wall and grabbed hold of the painting. Tearing it free, she tossed it aside carelessly, exposing a safe door with a combination lock. “I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy,” she murmured. “Does anyone know how to crack a safe?”
“I do,” Brandi said and glided forward. Reaching through the metal door, she fished around inside the safe and pulled out a handgun. “Here you go,” she said and handed it to our boss.
Delving through the wall again, she pulled out a sword, rifle, crossbow and twin daggers. The guns and bow had self-replicating ammunition, so we didn’t need to worry that they would run out.
“That’s it,” the pink-haired ghost said feeling around inside. She stuck her head through the metal door just to be sure. “There’s nothing else in there,” she added when she pulled her head out again.
“We have what we came for,” Quin said, keeping the rifle for herself and handing the other weapons around. Jake chose the handgun, Connor took the sword, Mirra was given the daggers and Xavier took the crossbow. I would be using magic and didn’t need a weapon.
“Let’s get out of here before Von Hades realizes we’ve stolen his prized possessions,” Winston said.
Right on cue, I felt a magical barrier spring into being, surrounding the entire house. “It’s too late,” I said. “He knows we’re here.”
“Is anyone else experiencing déjà vu?” Jonah muttered.
Once again, we were trapped in the mansion, but we had more than just hellhounds and gargoyles to contend with. This time, there were druids and spectral creatures from another dimension as well.
