“Yup,” Chatha said. He had learned that agreeing with the god was the best course of action. And Chatha was happy to stay where he was as long as the god fed him new toys to play with. That idea made him perk up. “Play?”
Apep sighed in exasperation. “Very well, if you must!” he said. “I’ll bring the Night Angel here to you and you can play with her all you like. That should definitely teach her a lesson. I don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner.”
“You had to make a baby.”
“Oh yes! That’s right. I have to have my priorities.” Apep was quiet for a moment, and then quickly grew bored. “This gestation process takes an incredibly long time.”
Apep sighed again. He would simply have to pass time entertaining himself with the Night Angel and whatever else turned him on.
“So let me search for her a bit.” Apep closed his eyes and reached out with his godly senses, looking for the signature, or ka, of the creature that had attacked him. It was easy, actually, because once his power had touched her power he had learned what her ka felt like and would, from that moment on, be able to search for it with ease.
Only, there was no ease, Apep learned with a stormy little frown. As far as he could tell, the Night Angel wasn’t in that more immediate dimension. She had disappeared. She couldn’t be dead, could she? That would be terribly disappointing. Especially for Chatha. He did want to make Chatha happy. After all, he’d grown quite fond of the little deviant.
Apep decided to section off a small part of his energy to keep an ear out for her in case she returned. It was possible she was in one of the scapes, as the Shadowdwellers liked to call them. There were several, although certainly more than the three the Shadowdwellers were aware of.
Thinking of the Shadowdwellers made Apep think about the curse that was keeping one set of Nightwalkers from seeing the other set. It had been a very long time since he had constructed that little gem of a curse.
Once upon a time there were several gods—all of whom were less powerful than Apep, of course—and they had come together to fight a great war against other gods, also not as powerful as Apep was, but a nuisance just the same. Each created a race of Nightwalkers to act as their champions. There had been a terrible war and eventually they had been victorious. Apep grudgingly had to admit the Nightwalkers they had created had played a very key role in that. As a reward for all their hard work, the gods had set the Nightwalkers into the mortal world where they could live in peaceful retirement…and be available should the need arise.
Over time peace had grown frighteningly boring for Apep. To amuse himself he was reborn in mortal form and decided to play a delightful game of mortal chess. He captured cities, decimated armies, violated women. Yes, it was all great fun. But soon his nemesis, a god named Amun, had come and warned him to evacuate his corporeal form or he would forcibly extricate him from the mortal world. Apep had not liked the ultimatum, but he knew Amun was very good for his word and that he would enlist the help of the other gods to see it done. And, while no single god was more powerful than he was, a joined group of gods would certainly be something to take seriously.
Well, at the time he’d been having much too much fun to leave, so Apep had chosen to stay. But he had realized that that meant the gods could send the Nightwalkers after him and while he was omnipotent, his mortal body could be destroyed under the right set of circumstances and he would then have to start all over again. He had not been in the mood for that and had been determined to adhere to what he already had.
So in order to prevent that from happening, Apep had constructed this gorgeous, deeply involved curse that had made it so the Nightwalkers would be split in half and the two sets would be completely ignorant of the existence of one another. It had been very complex. It had taken a great deal of talent and power to make it so that, for instance, the written word of a Night Angel could not be read by a Demon. The words would be incomprehensible, the words shifting continuously. This way, if the Demon should stumble across a Bodywalker tomb or scroll, their minds would be blind to it. Then, if, say, a Shadowdweller physically bumped into a Night Angel, they would be none the wiser for it.
So the split had been right down the middle. Six, the Demons, Lycanthropes, Druids, Shadowdwellers, Vampires, and Mistrals were ignorant of the existence of the other six, the Bodywalkers, Night Angels, Wraiths, Djynn, Phoenixes, and Mysticals, and vice versa. Therefore it had made it impossible for them to join forces together against Apep, and eject him from his mortal form.
Apep had even given the Wraiths, the race he had created, their death-touch so they could lay waste to the other Nightwalkers with ease. But in that way the curse had backfired the teeniest bit because it now protected half of the races from the Wraiths. Of course, if he dissolved the curse that would instantly open the field. Definitely something for him to think about.
Anyway, in the end it had all been for naught. Amun had rallied the other gods and had ripped the mortal world away from Apep. Then, they had added insult to injury and had used their significant power to create an ethereal prison for Apep, which had insured that he could not be reborn again. He had been trapped there for eons. But then his liberator had come along and had somehow, delightfully, freed him from his prison! Now he was mortal again and able to play games once again. And with no sign of Amun or the other gods, this time he could run amok without interference.
So it was best, he resolved, that the curse remain tightly in place. It was now only the joined forces of the Nightwalkers that could cause him threat. And that powerful Bodywalker Pharaoh had been one of the key dangers in need of eradication. So although he had failed to retrieve Kamen, he had succeeded in eliminating that particular threat.
Now Apep was making a list of the most powerful creatures in each Nightwalker race. He would pick them off one by one and weaken the Nightwalker ranks considerably. Just in case they thought to try something. It was purely precautionary.
Perhaps he would start with the Demon King. Then the Ancient Demon medic named Gideon. The Lycanthropes did not concern him, but the Vampire Prince was a great source of power.
Perhaps what he should do next was go to the Wraiths and recruit them to his side once more. He would remind them from whence they had come and out of sheer loyalty they would be on his side once more.
So which should he do? The Night Angel bitch or reclamation of his Wraith forces?
“I’ve such a busy schedule,” Apep sighed.
“Can I help?” Chatha asked eagerly. “I need new toys, remember.”
“Yes, yes,” Apep said with dismissive impatience. But then he perked up. “Yes! An excellent idea! Chatha, my love, I will send you out to retrieve the Night Angel toy as soon as she returns to this scape! You can play with her while I hunt down the Doyen of the Wraiths. An excellent plan! I’m so clever, really. It’s almost unfair.”
Smiling, Apep went about making himself pretty so the Doyen could not mistake his magnificence and would know from the very start how amazing he truly was.
Grey was watching. He sat in a chair set in the upper left corner of the library he had left his guests in. The chair was floating near the ceiling, and both it and Grey were invisible to all eyes. Well, except to a Phoenix’s eye, but that went without saying. Phoenixes could see anything. Right through magic, right through glamours. It was called true vision. And like a Wraith’s death-touch, it was a force to be reckoned with. That was probably why he avoided both species like the plague.
He supposed it was a bit cowardly of him to set this task on these two individuals, but he didn’t have much choice. He could not risk his own life at this juncture. He knew he was one of the most powerful Djynns alive and that he would be crucial when the time came to face the danger that was brewing, but for all his power, a single touch from even the weakest of Wraiths would kill him.
He wasn’t a coward so much as he was aware of his limitations. Just as Leo was aware of his limitations. Grey had considered, for a brief
moment, conjuring a condom for the poor fellow and dropping it down on them in its nice little packet. But then that would have given away that he was observing them, so he had restrained himself. He knew that if they wanted to be together, be it physically or emotionally, they would have to find their own way.
What he had shown them had been one of many possible futures. And now that the wish had been made, Grey was able to tap the magic that would help him to save the life of the Bodywalker Pharaoh. And it was crucial for that to have happened. But first…first he needed this nikki. If for no other reason than to get it out of the hands of the Wraiths, the nik needed to be got. He had been trying to come up with a possible solution for quite some time now, and it had never occurred to him to simply send in a mortal human.
Mainly because while they were immune to the death-touch, it didn’t mean they wouldn’t still be outmatched by the supernatural strength and power of the Wraiths.
What amazed him was that the Night Angel was very obviously planning to go with the human man. She had to be terrified, knowing that all it would take is a single touch, but she was bravely determined to back him up.
It was strange to Grey, this sexual tension between such disparate beings. When he had seen a future with such a strong possibility of a union between them he had realized it was something that must be engendered. There were ramifications to such a union. In fact, it was necessary if they wanted to have the strength needed for the coming storm. Both Leo and Faith would be essential to defeating the evil that would come upon them.
Grey waited until they were all clothed and the majority of their autonomic functions had calmed down, then decided it would be best to disturb the thickening tension in the air. The best thing for all involved would be to get this task started.
Faith was trying to figure out how she was feeling. Numbness for one. Was she hurt or was she relieved? Was she insulted or was she complimented by the idea that he wanted to take care of her? He wanted to make certain she was kept safe. And she could respect that he was being responsible.
Still, there was a sense of rejection involved in this. She knew she shouldn’t feel it, that it was irrational, but it was there all the same. She opened her mouth to say something to Leo, to seek some kind of reassurance, but just as she did, Grey appeared between them.
“Let’s begin. Daylight has come. I will teleport you to the Wraith’s stronghold. I can bring you right to his door, but not to the room where the nik is. Wraiths have protections that keep beings like me out of their homes. So it will be up to you to make your way to where the nik is. And I am sorry but I have no floor plan. But I do have this.”
Grey produced a small electronic device about the size of a cellphone. It was a flat screen and it had two dots on it that were blinking. One blue, one red.
“It’s very straightforward. You are the red dot, the nik is the blue. Head straight for it and get out as soon as you can. I’ll be watching. The only way I can rescue you or get you out of there is if you exit the walls of the house. You must make your way free of them or I can’t help you.”
“Got it,” Leo said, tucking the device in his back pocket and quickly girding himself with the gear he’d been given.
After a moment Grey turned to Faith.
“Going with him is suicidal, you know.”
“I know. But he’ll be dealing with supernatural beings and will need my help. What I need is an outfit that covers me head to toe, wrist to wrist, and up my throat. Can you give me that?”
“One catsuit coming right up.”
Grey snapped his fingers and Faith found herself covered exactly as mentioned. She felt like the fabric was suffocating her, but it was better than leaving her skin bare to the touch of a Wraith. She was happy to see he had thought to give her gloves as well. The material was black and a light, thin spandex, so it wasn’t as bad as all that. It still allowed her to move freely.
She tugged at her gloves and the edges of her sleeves nervously, making certain they overlapped so none of her skin was exposed. The only part of her left bare was her face and the long white tail of her hair. She had worked it into a thick plait and it swung freely down her back.
She looked up and found Leo staring at her with a hard look. She looked at him askance.
“One wrong move and they could…”
“I won’t make a wrong move,” she promised him. “In fact, I plan on us getting in and out of there without seeing a single soul.”
“I can do that,” Leo said. But he was still not comforted. He was incredibly anxious about her coming and it was a risky distraction. But she was right. She was his ace in the hole if he came up against anything powerful. Her ability to deflect power back to the caster was invaluable.
“Okay, Grey. Get us out of here.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The sun seemed almost garish as it beat down on them. To Leo it seemed strange to be moving clandestinely in daylight rather than night. The principal was the same, but it was sort of like wearing a swimsuit in the snow in his mind. He was used to navigating in the dark and in the shadows. He was used to sneaking around, using stealth, and dozens of tactics employed strictly in the dark in order to keep from being detected. He was used to slipping in like something cold and quiet, something unexpected and dangerous. But this was a whole new set of rules and he hoped he could adjust accordingly.
He hadn’t worked with a team since his Army Ranger days. And back then he had been completely well versed on what all of the other soldiers were capable of, seeing as how they had trained together so much that they knew one another like the backs of their hands. He only knew part of what Faith could do. Of course what he did know about her was pretty amazing, but he knew that was only the tip of the iceberg. He knew that there was so much more to her.
Well, he knew one thing about her for sure; he knew that she was a very passionate creature. In fact he had to make himself not think about what a passionate creature she was or he wouldn’t be focusing on the moment. And God knew he needed to very much be focused on the moment. But once he started to think about it, it was damn hard to stop. He could still remember the taste of her. The warm, delicious smell of her. The way she made little sounds and moans when he touched her at just the right spot.
And the more he thought about it, the more he began to realize that there were other things he could have done to give her the pleasure she had deserved. He had just been so out of his element, so off kilter ever since this whole journey begun. And he didn’t just mean the journey since they had left New Mexico searching for Grey; he meant the whole kit and caboodle, including his lovely vacation at the hands of Chatha.
Shaking his head he reminded himself of the danger that they were facing. He reminded himself that all it would take was one touch and Faith would be dead. And that was more than enough ice-cold water to keep him on task. Grey had cleverly planned their insertion by materializing them right at the front door or, rather, the back door. At least that’s what it looked like. It was hard to tell which part was the front of the house and which part was the back from their position.
They immediately backed up flush to the house and looked around to make sure that there were no human or daylight immune guards. Grey had said he could insert them at a prime moment and he would know if there were any guards in the immediate area and could protect them from a precipitous appearance in a guard’s path.
It looked pretty quiet but that did not mean that there were no technological observers, as well as whatever magical ones they were using to protect the stronghold. The sooner they got inside the better.
In his back pocket Leo had lock picks. It was actually a very nice set. But hey, you can get the best when you had a Djynn providing all of your equipment. But before Leo opened the lock pick pouch, he had to inspect the door very carefully.
Faith was no stranger to working in a clandestine manner. She did not exactly feel like a duck out of water. She did not feel frightened, although there was a h
eightened sense of nervousness. But who wouldn’t be nervous if they were about to enter a house full of an indeterminate amount of people who could use a mere touch to bring about the end of your life? But mostly her fear was all centered around Leo. He was only human. She didn’t care how skilled he thought he was. It would be nothing in the face of a race of people with extraordinary strength, amazing reflexes, and a really bad attitude. It was said that Wraiths despised humans. But then again it was said that Wraiths despised everybody.
The house that they appeared behind was a two or three story colonial; or so it seemed from the outside. Just like any other house you might see on any other street in any other suburb. But there were no streets. There were no neighbors, and for all they knew they were hell and gone from America. There was an enormous field as far as the eye could see in all directions. She could easily picture what it might look like in summertime, waist high wheat grasses or corn, no matter which way you turned it would be a wall of uniform vegetation.
Leading directly up to the house itself was a little footpath made of crooked bricks and oddball stones that curved and wobbled and wended as if it were an afterthought rather than a planned walkway.
“Hey, Faith,” Leo said softly, “get down low and wait for me right here. I’ll be right back.”
“Wait! Where are you going?” The last was said in a low hiss of a whisper, but she may as well have been talking to herself because he was already gone. If she wasn’t nervous before, she most certainly was when he just left her there to her own devices. For some reason, having him next to her had made her feel more secure. Safer. Protected. Wasn’t that funny? That she should feel safer because he was around when, in fact, she was the stronger of the two of them? At least physically speaking. She briefly thought about the scars on Leo’s chest and realized just how tough of a person he really had to have been in order to make it through something like that. She was pretty positive that she would not have made it out of that completely intact. But then again it was quite possible that Leo had not made it out of that without significant mental damage. In fact, his hatred of all things Nightwalker was very indicative of the damage path that had been torn through him.