CHAPTER 18

The farther away from the door we got, the more I expected the light to fade, but there were still windows—actually big gaping holes—that looked out into the brush surrounding the building, and they let in the daylight, such as it was. We wound our way through the battery, now deserted except for us, until we found ourselves at a door leading into the back rooms. The building was longer and deeper than I’d thought, and we were going to have to let go of the light as we entered rooms that were windowless. As we plunged into the darkness, Ralph brought out a high-beam flashlight.

We kept quiet, following Degoba’s instructions. Even if the wight was sleeping, best not to chance waking him up. The more time we had before engaging him, the more chance we had to kill him outright. In my most optimistic fantasy, we’d discover him asleep and destroy him before he could wake up and take us on. I knew that wasn’t a likely scenario but hey, I could dream, couldn’t I?

As we moved into the room where he was supposed to be hiding, Ralph trained the flashlight into the corners, but there was no sign of the wight. We’d have to find the access panel he’d created—not an easy task given the size of the room and the fact that it was pitch black in here except for the light from our flashlight. The last thing we wanted to do was to wake him up before we’d discovered his hideout.

“Where do we start?” I kept my voice low, whispering in hopes we wouldn’t be overheard.

Tonya assessed the room, staring first at one wall, then another. “It can’t be the wall behind us,” she whispered back. “Or the wall to our right—that’s adjacent to another room. So it has to be either straight ahead, or the wall to the left. I’m thinking . . . straight ahead. There’s some force that feels like it’s pulling me to it.”

“Compulsion?” I stiffened, wondering if the wight was putting the moves on her now that Degoba was out. But she just shook her head.

“No, just a sense. The energy there is thicker and darker—like a murky veil. I think that’s our best bet.” She moved up to stand beside Chai and, giving the djinn a hesitant smile, started forward.

He kept pace with her, guarding the way. Ralph and I followed behind. I wondered if it wasn’t best to spread out in a single line, but that would just give the wight access to more of us at once. At least this way, Ralph and I were the second line of defense. Not sure if that was sound thinking or just self-preservation, I decided it made logical sense. I sure wasn’t the expert on matters like this.

As we moved forward, it once again occurred to me how weird my life had become. After I’d been released from the Lost and Foundling, I spent most of my time alone, making my way as best as I could. I’d always managed to get myself into sticky situations, but most of it was trying to avoid being caught. I’d stolen to keep myself alive, for the most part—although I did admit to taking a covert delight in outwitting so many of the dragons who wouldn’t give me the time of day on the street. But mostly, I had just wandered through the Dragon Realms, drifting from town to town, occasionally dropping down into the Northlands where nobody questioned me about my house or my lineage.

And now? Here I was, Earthside, working with vampires, werewolves, and humans, sneaking up on a forest wight to put a stop to his reign of terror. Surreal.

Tonya paused, extending her hands palms wide. My guess was that she was trying to gauge the densest part of the energy—the central core. After a moment, she started forward again, toward the far right side of the back wall. As we drew closer, Ralph lowered the flashlight so it wasn’t directly pointing ahead. Good move. If there were cracks around the panel, we didn’t want to flash a light through them.

Another moment, and we were there, within arm’s reach of the wall. Tonya leaned forward, still silent, then turned around and nodded. She pointed to the wall, then traced an outline in the air, her fingers a few inches away from the concrete.

I squinted. In the diffused light, I could see the outline of a rectangle, flush against the wall. But was it a door or a panel? I couldn’t see any protrusions indicating a handle, but that didn’t mean there weren’t hidden indentations or levers.

Ralph motioned for us to move back. He handed me the flashlight, then pulled something out of his pocket that he clipped on the edge of his glasses. A faint light glimmered from it and I realized it was a clip-on flashlight, but the light was pale and not blinding. He crouched on the floor, using one hand for balance, as he closely examined the outline.

I kept the flashlight turned to the side. Nobody was guarding our backs at this point, so while Chai and Tonya watched Ralph, I turned around to nervously peer into the darkness behind us. Every sound we made in this hollow bunker echoed, down to the littlest scraping sound. How could we be here without the wight hearing us, unless he truly was asleep?

A moment later and Tonya peeked around to catch my attention. Grateful she hadn’t tapped me on the shoulder, I gave her a nod and turned back to see what progress Ralph had made.

The werewolf had backed away, but he pointed to the far right edge of the outline. Trying to puzzle out what he was gesturing at, I shook my head. I just wasn’t seeing it. Tonya and Chai did the same. Ralph motioned for us to back out of the room. As soon as we were on the other side of the door, in low tones, he told us what he’d found.

“There’s an indentation about halfway down the edge, and a small button inside the hollow. From what I can tell, when you press the button, the panel will swing open. I got the impression of hinges on the other side, but I’m not entirely sure.” Ralph shrugged. “If he’s rigged any traps, that I can’t tell. I’m a damned good lock pick, but we aren’t dealing with humans here, or even normal Supes.”

“I’m good at picking locks, too,” I said. I’d made a long study of various locks while attempting to navigate through my earlier life. It had paid off, too, until the Greanfyr incident.

“Thing is, this isn’t a lock. It’s a handle of sorts—so we’re stuck with either just going through, or not. There’s no middle ground.” Ralph looked at Chai. “You know, if the biggest, toughest one of us went first . . .”

Chai cupped his chin. “I wonder who you’re talking about, Master Wolf. You’re about as subtle as a skunk.” He let out a chuckle. “All right, I will take the lead. You could have just told me, you know.”

“I didn’t want to incur a favor.” Ralph shrugged.

“Telling me to go first isn’t the same thing as asking.”

“How was I supposed to know that? I’ve never dealt with a djinn before. Anyway, you go first, then. Whatever the case, the longer we stand out here bickering, the more chance we have for that thing to wake up and come charging out at us. And you don’t want me to fall down in a faint because somebody spills a little blood.” Ralph snorted. “In fact, before we head back in, I’m turning into my wolf form to stave off just that possibility.”

He stepped back, then effortlessly shifted into wolf form. As with all Weres, his clothes changed with him. In Ralph’s case, they seemed to shift into a bandana around his neck. I wondered what determined their final form, but this was neither the place nor time to ask.

Chai took the lead. Tonya unsheathed her short sword and fell in behind him, and I took my place beside her, dagger out and ready in one hand and flashlight in the other. Ralph closed in behind us. We headed back in.

As we approached the outline, Chai motioned for us to wait. He went ahead. In the glow of the flashlight, he ran his hand along the edge where Ralph had pointed, and the next moment there was a soft click, and then a swish as the panel swung inward. From where Tonya, Ralph, and I were, the darkness loomed thick inside the passage. We hurried forward.

Chai was already peeking inside when we reached his side. A corridor of rammed earth stretched in front of us. It wasn’t very tall—about six feet, which meant that Chai would have a rough time, and I’d have to hunch a little. Either that or scrape my head along the top. Bending low, Chai stepped inside, and then I followed, with Tonya behind me. Ralph loped in behind her. We’d have to hope nobody came along and shut the door on us.

•   •   •

The passage was so narrow that the light from my flashlight illuminated the entire area. I hoped to hell the wight was still asleep, because that was the only way he wouldn’t know we were coming. Trying to see around Chai was useless because he filled the space. Behind me, Tonya and Ralph slinked along, Ralph letting out very low growling noises. I’d noticed one thing about him—when he was in Were form, he tended to be a lot more aggressive. Ralph the geek boy had a definite animal edge to him.

We hadn’t gone far—about four yards—when Chai suddenly straightened up as he stepped out into a chamber. Two steps and I was by his side as I moved out of the way to allow Tonya and Ralph to enter. I glanced around the chamber.

The hole—it was more a hole than a room—was about eight feet tall and about ten feet wide. A nest of leaves and forest detritus filled one corner, smelling like a rain-sodden forest. There was a chest near the nest that looked like it was made out of interwoven bones. And on the nest, waking up to stare at us, was the forest wight. The moment he saw us, he was on his feet.

The wight was bipedal, short but squat like the sapwalkers, and he was dark and bushy, and his skin was an ochre color, overgrown with big patches of prickly black moss or lichen. His eyes were dark pools of anger, above a mouth ringed with teeth. With massive arms as long as mine, he walked in a gorilla-like fashion, and his feet were wide and gnarled with knobby weals.

He lunged forward, eyes flashing, hissing at us. I spotted the pendant around his neck that Degoba had mentioned. We had to not only destroy him, but get hold of that pendant and crush it.

But all thoughts fell to the wayside as he aimed himself at me. Startled, I dropped the flashlight and brought my dagger up. At the gleam of silver, he paused, eyeing me closely. Chai chose that moment to dive in and ramrod the wight with his head, a move that surprised me but also proved to be relatively effective in dislodging the wight’s attention from me. The creature turned to the djinn and his already angry glare turned murderous. Apparently, wights didn’t like djinns.

Tonya pushed past me, swinging with her short sword. The blade caught the wight on the arm and nicked it—but though it drew blood, the wight let out a hiss and glared at her. He didn’t look like he’d been hurt in the slightest. Apparently he was tougher than her blade.

I thought quickly. I was stronger than Tonya, even if I wasn’t as good with weaponry. Maybe I could grapple him and hold him for her. I was about to leap on the wight when Chai—apparently with the same idea—crashed into him. But the wight somehow managed to tuck and roll as he fell. He avoided being pinned as Chai went down on the ground, grappling air.

“Gah!” That wasn’t exactly what he said, but Chai roared something in a language I couldn’t understand. As he pushed himself up, the wight came to his feet again. He was scary-nimble, and he was eyeing the entrance to the passage. Ralph was standing guard, but if the wight pushed off with one good leap, I could see how he might go flying right over the wolf’s head.

Sheathing my dagger, I threw myself forward, body-slamming him from the side. The wight hadn’t been paying attention to me and I managed to surprise him. As soon as I wrapped my arms around him, we crashed forward and I took him down. The fall wasn’t pleasant and neither was the feel of the muscle-bound creature in my grasp—he felt slimy, like wet fungus—and he stank to high heaven.

He bucked below me and I tried to straddle him, attempting to use my body weight to pin him down. I grabbed his wrists with my arms, but that was a mistake because not only did he drag his knuckles on the ground like a gorilla when he walked, but he seemed to have gorilla-like strength in those biceps of his. Though I was strong—dragon strong—he was a creature of the forest and he was also a creature who walked more than one realm. That gave him a decidedly supernatural advantage.

Tonya scurried forward, her sword out. “Let me get a clean shot! I don’t want to stab you.”

Flashes of skewering Degoba ran through my mind and I leaned back to give her access. As I did so, one of the wight’s arms slipped out of my grasp and he immediately closed his meaty fingers around my throat, holding tight. I began to choke—the width of his fingers spanned halfway around my neck.

Immediately, I dropped his other wrist and clawed at his hand, trying to pry his fingers away. I managed to wedge my fingernails into the crotch between his thumb and forefinger and dug in as hard as I could. Droplets of blood—whatever passed for blood in his veins—dribbled over my fingers. I had managed to pierce his skin. His grip loosened just enough to let me jam my fingers between my throat and his palm and, by doing so, I broke his hold. Forcing his hand back, I jerked my head back, trying to keep my throat out of reach.

Tonya had been dancing around us, trying to find access, but suddenly, someone was behind me.

“I’ve got his legs, Shimmer.” Chai was holding him down. I rolled off the wight, away from his flailing attempts to choke me again. As I scrambled away, my butt landed on the floor.

An audible crack split the air as Chai broke one of the creature’s legs. He had hold of the foot in one hand and was applying pressure to the knee with his other. In one swift move, he brought the wight’s foot up while pressing down on the knee. Horrified by the sound, I sat on the ground, staring.

Tonya didn’t seem to have any such hesitation. She jumped right in and brought her sword down toward the wight’s heart. But the wight bellowed and lurched to the side, and the sword barely pierced its shoulder. Tonya yanked it out again as Chai turned his attention to the other leg. He seemed to be working on the break-every-bone-in-its-body theory.

The wight flailed again, this time managing to grab one of Tonya’s ankles. He pulled hard and she went down, her sword clattering to the side. As he dragged her ankle toward those horrible teeth, I scrambled to get hold of her sword. I decided there was no time to plan how to do this—it was either hit him or watch him bite into her ankle, and I didn’t want to see what those gnashing, razor-sharp teeth could do to her leg.

I sucked in a deep breath and plunged the sword down toward his belly as hard as I could. Tonya might be a better swordswoman than I was, but I had strength on her in spades.

The tip of the blade hit the wight square center, and I followed through, driving it with my weight. As the blade shuddered, resisting his woodenlike skin, I let my breath out and pushed harder. The blade sank deep then, driving through to pin him to the floor like a butterfly in a schoolkid’s collection.

The wight let out another roar, shuddered, and was still.

Tonya yanked her ankle out of his grip. “Is he dead?”

“I think so . . .” I gave him a quick jab with my toe to see if he’d move, but nothing happened.

Chai stood up, staring at the creature. “I have a feeling this isn’t quite over,” the djinn said.

And he was right. The next moment, the wight’s body convulsed again, and then his mouth opened. I leaped back as Tonya scrambled away. Ralph let out a long howl as black smoke began to pour out from between the wight’s lips. It roiled over us like a cloud, then surged forward out the passageway, over Ralph’s head. He leaped up in the air and snapped at it. A loud crackle split the air, and Ralph whined and slunk away. The smoke boiled down the passageway and then was gone. The room felt empty.

“Fuck, I think . . . he’s dead all right, but he’s not dead,” Tonya said. “I have a really bad feeling that he’s still around.”

Chai leaned over the body. “His pendant is still glowing. He’s still alive.”

“Will destroying his pendant destroy him?” In some cases like this, I knew it would work, but having never dealt with this kind of creature before, I didn’t want to assume anything.

Tonya slowly reached out, her hand hovering over the necklace. Then, with one quick movement, she grabbed it and pulled, breaking the chain. The center stone—a mixture of azurite and malachite, I thought—glowed softly as she held it. She wrapped her hand around it, closing her eyes.

A moment later, she looked up. “He’s still alive, but he’s not in the pendant. I think he jumped to another host. If we destroy the pendant now, he may decide just to stay in whoever he’s taken possession of.”

“Who could he . . .” And then I stopped. Who was the one person the wight had had a connection with in the past few days? Who had he already taken over once? “Degoba.”

Tonya jerked her head up. “But we . . . no, it could happen. The wight might be strong enough to break through my wards. And in a life-or-death situation, he might very well have barreled along the thread that connected him to Degoba.”

“When you regressed him, the spiritwalker said he felt the wight on the outside, waiting. The channel must be open. Come on, we’ve got to get back to your house. Not only is Degoba there, but Patrick and Alex are in danger!” Chai grabbed up the chest that was on the floor. “I’ll be along in a minute. Go!”

Ralph turned as I grabbed up the flashlight from where I had dropped it. Tonya retrieved her sword. She shoved the pendant in her pocket and we headed out. A moment later, a rush of warmth gusted from behind us, and I smelled flames as Chai came barreling along behind us. As we cleared the panel, Chai turned and slammed it shut.

“I burned the nest. There may be some smoldering in there, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I used a quick-burning flame.” He was still carting the chest, and I wondered what was in there.

By the time we got outside, the day had gone from overcast and breezy to an all-out storm. The waves were rolling in, breaking as they buffeted along the shoreline. I could hear the voices of the sirens, but they were far off and muffled by the crash of the water.

We hurried back to the Range Rover. Ralph turned the ignition and hurriedly backed out of the parking space. Chai was sitting in the backseat with Tonya, the chest on his lap.

“What’s in there?” I glanced over my shoulder.

He shrugged. “Could be treasure. We won’t know till we open it, but it seemed important so I didn’t want to leave it behind. You never know what creatures collect over the years.” Pausing, he laughed. “But then, look who I’m talking to, Little Sister. You’re a dragon. Dragons are the biggest hoarders of all.”

I blushed. He was right. Among the creatures of the world, dragons were most known for hoarding treasure and goodies. But the truth was, the white dragons were most likely to be that way. Most dragon families of any stature would be well off and have riches that would make most humans drool, but among the Dragon Reaches, it was all relative. Being born with no house, no name, no family meant I had absolutely no inheritance, which not only put me in the outcaste category but made marriage unlikely because a good share of marriages were financial and political liaisons, and there was nothing for a dowry for me.

“Yah, well, you’ve seen my trove. It’s all in my apartment.” Even though I’d stolen to get by a good share of the time, I hadn’t stolen to get rich.

Chai reached forward and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I know, Shimmer. You are one of the oddest—and pleasantest—dragons I’ve ever met. And I’ve met more than my fair share over the years. I just wish . . .” He let his words drift off, but I knew what he was thinking.

The djinn had more than once lashed out on my behalf. He didn’t like dragon culture, and the way I was treated just fueled his irritation at the entire structure of the society into which I’d been born. I’d listened to him pontificate more than once on the subject, mostly because I agreed with him.

Ralph cleared his throat. “Not to interrupt, but if the wight has possession of Degoba, what are we going to do? It’s not like the creature has a body to return to now. We took care of that.”

I frowned, thinking. “Can we make him jump into something else? Not someone else, mind you, but an object? Is that even possible?”

Tonya snapped her fingers. “That’s it. I know what we have to do. But . . . listen. We may need to make a bargain with the wight. If so, we need to keep whatever promise we make, so be very careful before we agree to something. When I make oaths, the gods pay attention and hold me to them. That’s just the way my practice works. I’m a fam-trad witch—it’s hereditary. We’re pledged to a goddess who honors vows and oaths, and if I strike a deal and then break the bargain, she’s going to be pissed.”

“Then we think before we speak.” I didn’t want Tonya in trouble with her gods. That would be worse than me being in trouble with the Wing-Liege.

We pulled up in front of Tonya’s house and hurried to the front door. But Tonya paused before she inserted the key in the lock.

“Listen, Degoba has a lot of power up his sleeve. If the wight can get hold of that—well, I don’t know what all a spiritwalker can do. Degoba never has fully told me the extent of his abilities, but just . . . be careful.”

“He was hopped up on Sleepy-Cold, though. That may make it harder for the wight, if he’s taken control. Degoba took several doses and that’s going to affect both his thoughts and his coordination.” Ralph shrugged. “Who knows, the wight might be drunk for all we know.”

Somehow, the thought of a drunken forest wight didn’t comfort me any. Alcohol usually fueled belligerence. But then again, if Degoba was doped up enough, the wight might not be able to function either. Hoping for the best, I followed Tonya into the house as she unlocked the door.

It didn’t take long to get our answer. Degoba was sitting on the sofa, and the expression on his face was one of confusion. There was a cunning look behind the bewilderment, but it was obvious that the cold remedy had affected him. He looked up as we entered the room, and tried to stagger to his feet.

“Stop.” I pulled out my dagger. “Recognize this?”

He flinched—whether it was Degoba in control at that moment or the forest wight, I wasn’t sure, but his hand went to his side automatically.

“Crap. We can’t let him attack us. He’ll hurt Degoba in trying. Probably pull his stitches if nothing else, and we don’t want that wound bleeding again.” I glanced over at Ralph. “Do you think you can hold him down?”

“I probably can, but you and Chai are stronger than me. I think you should be the one to do that, just in case . . .” He sighed. “My thing with blood.”

“Got it.” I was beginning to see why Alex didn’t take Ralph out with us on more cases. The guy was a whiz with computers and hacking, but as much as I liked him, he could be a big liability in the field. I started to hand him the dagger but he flinched away and I quickly sheathed it. Damn it, werewolves and silver. There were so many things to remember.

Tonya held her short sword steady, aiming the tip at the spiritwalker. He was trying to stand up.

“Chai, you take the right side, I’ll take the left.” I moved forward, Chai mirroring my actions.

“You don’t want us to hurt the body you’re in.” I didn’t know if reasoning with it would do any good, but I might as well give it a try. “If we do, there’s nowhere for you to jump. We’re protected and you can’t control us.” I was hoping he wouldn’t be able to influence Tonya—she was holding the sword—but so far, he hadn’t seemed to touch her.

I glanced over at her and she winked. “I’m wearing my grandmother’s pentacle. It protects me against spirit possession. I’m a really good medium and she gave it to me when I was a little girl so I would be safe.”

Apparently it worked against wights as well as spirits. I turned back to Degoba. “Once we have him down, how the hell do we get him out of Degoba’s body?”

“I have an idea. Just get hold of him.” Tonya motioned to Ralph to join her. As he did, I edged toward the sofa, around the coffee table. Chai took the other side. There was nowhere for Degoba to go. He tried to step onto the sofa, heading toward the window behind it, but apparently he’d taken enough of the decongestant to make movement difficult, and he stumbled, dropping back on the cushions. Chai took that moment to pounce, gaining hold of his wrists. I grabbed the afghan that had been covering Degoba and swiftly wrapped it around him, forming a makeshift straitjacket.

“Now what? We’ve got him.”

Chai was holding him firmly, and although Degoba was still freaky-strong, between the medicine and the blanket and the wound, it was obvious that he wasn’t going anywhere at this point. Degoba hissed—or rather, the wight hissed. But he said nothing, just struggled and growled.

Ralph and Tonya approached. Ralph held up the pendant. He must have gotten it out from Tonya’s pocket. She still held the sword, aimed at Degoba’s heart.

“You can’t keep possession of the spiritwalker,” she said. “You know that, don’t you? We can’t let you go free.”

The wight stared at her through Degoba’s eyes. After a moment he opened his mouth and said, “I can kill him if I have to.”

“You do that and you kill yourself. I have a bargain to make with you.” She nodded toward the pendant. “You vacate his body and enter your pendant, and I give you my vow as a witch, on the honor of Hecate, that I will not destroy you. We will leave you and the pendant unharmed.”

I stared at her. Not destroy him? Wouldn’t that mean the other wights would still bow to his energy? But I said nothing, figuring she knew something I didn’t. We had to get him out of Degoba regardless of the cost.

A moment passed, then another. Finally, the wight let out a long sigh. “You give your word on your life?”

She nodded. “I do. If I break my word and I destroy your pendant, may my goddess strike me down.” A rumble filled the living room. I had a feeling that Hecate was listening closely. Tonya really was tuned in to her lady.

Another moment, and a flash of light filled the room as a shadow flew out of Degoba and into the pendant. Degoba stopped struggling. The wight had fled his body.

Tonya immediately knocked everything off her coffee table and set the pendant on it. She dropped to her knees and, hands over the necklace, began to chant in a loud, clear voice.

“Spirit hidden in this jewel, I seal you forever within,

Let no one free you, nor any tool allow you to access this realm.

Dark forest spirit, rest at peace. All your violence now shall cease,

You are trapped, never to flee, By Hecate’s will, so mote it be.”

Another flash of light and the gem flared with a sickly green light, then paled to a soft glow.

I stared at it. “He’s in there?”

She nodded. “He is. He’ll never get out unless someone breaks the gem.”

“What about his influence on the other wights?” So Ralph had been thinking the same thing I had.

Tonya shook her head. “That ended when we killed his body. His spirit still lives, but the magic through his presence on the physical realm was what was holding them. We’re ready to pick them off now. They won’t be terribly difficult at this point.”

“We should get the other one before heading over to Patrick’s. We don’t have a lot of time before dusk.” I glanced at the clock, then back at the pendant. A thought crossed my mind. “Before I leave Port Townsend, I can take the pendant out into the deep water of the strait and dive to the bottom and bury it there. Chances are good no one will ever find it then.”

Tonya smiled at me, gratefully. “Thank you. That means my part of the bargain is done. If it’s out of my house then I won’t chance ever destroying it.”

Degoba was snoring loudly—apparently only the wight’s possession had woken him out of the drug-induced haze. We tucked him back on the sofa, making certain the wound was still covered and not stressed, and then I picked up the pendant.

“I don’t feel comfortable leaving this in your house. Shall we take it with us? Is it safe to?”

Tonya nodded. “If we leave it in the car, there should be nothing that will happen to it. Just don’t leave the doors unlocked so that anybody steals it.”

And so, at three thirty, after a quick snack, we trooped out again to find the other wight.