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19. Tick Tock i
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2021-12-18 01:00:21~ “You need to take it slow.”
“Don’t tell me to take it slow!” Sven roared. He had woken to find out that days—weeks had passed since Penny dispatched him at the portal. Sven could not remember how long it took him the first time to come back, but it had not felt like an eternity had passed. Then again, the first time had been unexpected, and he was not in the middle of his plot for Lansguard. Upon realizing that his most trusted lieutenant—Barabbas—was dead, Sven went over the edge.
“It makes no sense pushing yourself like this when you are not at your full strength.”
Sven, in anger, lifted the bed he woke up on, flipping it over onto its side. It was the only thing between him and Passerini who was trying to pacify him. Sven grabbed the vampire by the neck, slamming him into the nearest wall and pinning hi
Raven MooneWhat schemes are the villains up to now? Will Marx and the others figure out there is another portal in time? What do you think? Tell me your predictions in the comments.
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Enter the Shadows Tick Tock ii
~Penny had to be smart about moving through the city. She stuck to roofs, staying out of sight in the morning, picking up her hunt at night, sticking to the shadows. In her pursuit for Sven, Penny followed the tiny residues of shadow magic to the source. Though faint, the trace was the newest lead she had in finding Sven. She followed it to the heart of the city. To the heart of Pentorium. Whomever Penny found would have had contact with the man recently. She stayed in the shadows and waited. A man came out of the building, rushing down the steps to the sidewalk as he spoke on his phone. He wore a sensible black business suit and carried a silver briefcase in his free hand. There was a town car parked at the curb and waiting by the open passenger door was the driver. Penny turned her head to the side, her ear in the man’s direction as she listened. “Tes
Last Updated : 2021-12-18Enter the Shadows Tick Tock iii
~ From her talk with Barabbas, Shea knew some changes took longer than others did. Ichiro was back in the house now after Penny pumped his system with her venom. They had no idea how long it would take for the change to start or for it to end. Everything was watching and seeing how it all turned out. If Ichiro turned at all. Martha had the cure for the poison on standby, but the added factors of the situation had her chewing her nails to the quick. “His body is undergoing so much stress,” she told Ava. They were standing out in the hallway. “His heart could give out before the change even finishes.” Ava shushed her. “Shea needs this. Whatever happens, just do what you can.” Martha nodded and went back into the room. Ava ran a hand over her face.
Last Updated : 2021-12-18Enter the Shadows 20. The Plot Thickens i
~Marx remained trapped. He knew the things he saw weren’t real, but they felt real. The acrid smell of blood and death seemed as real as anything else in his life. The dry, hot air against his skin, the sounds of battle that had his heart racing. It was hard for his mind not to succumb.Before him, a war raged.Vampires.Werewolves.Humans.Shadows. Not like the ones Sven conjured, but the real deal. There were so many of them. Their wispy forms merged, weaving around the vampires, werewolves, and humans who fought them. It seemed like a never-ending battle. All sides were denying defeat as they fought, many to their last breaths.Among the warring factions was his fam
Last Updated : 2021-12-21Enter the Shadows The Plot Thickens ii
~Ava’s concern about going to Pentorium fell on deaf ears. According to the others, the vampires would have to learn to play nice. They were all in this together, despite the conflicts of the past. Ava could not help but consider the fact that this mess was all of her doing. In her overzealous attempt at gaining equality for her people, she triggered a vicious war. Many died and from the ashes, a greater monster emerged. Two monsters. Make that four—the King, Sven, Salvay, and Passerini. Her actions had destructive consequences, and she could not blame the vampires for their inability to overlook the causes and effects. One had to be there to witness and understand the full extent of the devastation. With Marx unable to take point, she was at the front of the line. She was now Marx’s reluctant second in command. Ava was not sure when she inherited the t
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~“Avana.” Ava stopped when she heard Philippe calling her name. She did not want to argue with any of them, but if Philippe started an argument, she was going to finish it. She’d accept her penance, but not their abuse. “Walk with me,” he said. Ava followed Philippe to the elevator, then to his car. They traveled in silence to his R and D facility. Eyes watched her. Those who were once pure hearts with curiosity and those from Lansguard with subtle malice. Philippe spun the handle of a vault-like door. It hissed as it opened. Inside the massive room, the lights came on as they stepped in. Smack in the middle of the chamber was a cell; controls lined off at the base. “What is it?” Ava asked. “Since we found out abou
Last Updated : 2021-12-22Enter the Shadows The Plot Thickens iv
~Daniel stood over the body, Ava at his side. “What does this sign mean?” he asked of Philippe, who was with them. “Purists.” Philippe zipped up the body bag, closing the corpse inside. The woman, a human, had her throat slashed, and a symbol carved with crude care into her chest. “Seems they are calling Vescovi’s bluff,” he said, standing. Nodding, he gave the coroner the go-ahead to take the body away. “A human found the body this morning, but Anabella is taking care of that.” “Things always get worse before they get better,” Daniel said. “I suppose so.” Philippe ran a hand over his mouth, watching after the coroner’s van as it drove away. “If you will excuse me, I have some other matters to attend to.” Dan
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~Passerini smiled as he looked down at live footage of the hallway leading to the lab. “The gas works. Yes, I am sure. Observing the demonstration now.” He was speaking to Salvay over an earpiece. His hands were free to operate the tablet as she spoke. “I will make contact once I am at the safe house.” Pleased with the results of his experiment, he started going through the different camera feeds. He stopped when he saw Daniel’s team. He looked up in front of him. There was only one turn to be made in the corridor, and the men were around the bend. He put his right hand in his pocket, the other holding the tablet by his side, and waited. Daniel and his team came into view. “Hands where I can see them, Passerini.” O
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~“I need you to relax,” Anabella said. She used her most soothing voice as she approached the man who was lying face down on the bed in the center of the room. “Don’t fight the connection.” Using a sedative to relax the man was not an option. It would cloud her connection, as it would cloud his mind. “Deep breaths.” Anabella’s nails lengthened. She positioned herself alongside the man. As her nails broke his skin, the man stiffened. “Relax,” she said again. “Let me in.” The connection started, and all of his memories flooded her mind. Anabella had to focus on what she was looking for, minimizing the excess information. She was looking for everything that took place in the past forty-eight hours. The memories narrowed down. She saw the man walking into the kitchen kissing the top of his daughters’ head
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Enter the Shadows 27. Epilogue: After the Shadows
~ Marx stood looking at the carbonated lump that used to be four people he knew. Four people he loved. Ava, Lochlan, Zack, and Dempsey. Around him, the grass had grown again. The earth showed no signs of the battle that raged there. Mother earth had healed, but he had not. None of the others had. The world was safe, but a gap remained in their hearts that could never be filled. Around the base of the carbon memorial, laid fresh flowers. Every day for the past six months, Martha came with a new bouquet. Today was no different. He arrived as she did. “You came,” she had said to him when she saw him. In her hands, she had more than a dozen bulbs of tulips. Her summer dress fluttered in the breeze, strands of her now brown hair escaping her ponytail. The smile she gave him out shunned the sun, and Marx, for the life
Enter the Shadows The Last Stand iii
~Marx was leading the last assault; one meant to be a distraction. Ava moved her palm away from the wound on her side. Bleeding still felt strange to her. Martha was the only one with whom she could go into details about her plans. “Penny has the last rune. All she has to do is plant it on him. When she does, we have only a few minutes to get our part done,” she said to Martha. “What is our part?” “I’m going to use you like an amplifier. I know how it sounds and yes, it is dangerous. For me more than you.” “Then we can’t do it,” Martha said. “If you’re going to get hurt—” “I have a contingency for that as well.” “Ava—” She
Enter the Shadows The Last Stand ii
~Rea and Cale launched direct attacks on Kunz while Ava tried to unravel his protections. Each layer she pulled apart revealed another was more entrenched and more intricate than the one preceding it. She almost got another layer undone when she heard Cale shout— “Look out.” Ava had enough time to react, the death rune crackling through the air towards her. She split the force in half, saving herself by a hair. In the duel that ensued, Cale made the ultimate sacrifice. Rea tried to stop him as he ran straight for Kunz. Ava threw up a rune between Cale and the King; it was too late. Like dust, Cale disappeared. A self-satisfied smile lifted the side of Kunz’s lips. “Come now Avana. You cannot hope to defeat me. Even with all the knowledge at your disposal, I have spent years perfecting my craft.”
Enter the Shadows 26. The Last Stand i
~They came through using three portals. Cale and Rea helped Ava to create one large enough to transport all of their forces. On the other side, they emerged on the field of battle in Hedgewood. The ground was scarred black. Trees toppled over and uprooted. It looked like a nuclear weapon went off, turning black everything in its path. The familiarity of the scene had an itch running down Marx’s spine. This place was either where they would claim victory or where he would walk over the corpses of the people he loved. He brushed his somber thoughts aside. Victory was their only option. To Ava, who stood on his right, Marx said, “Your handy work?” “I may have caused a patch here and there.” She bobbed her head from side to side. It was such a human gesture Marx found he had an urge to smile. He allowed his amu
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xii
~ Storming Hedgewood had to wait. Ava’s ‘problem’ required a second’s more thought. So close to the end, Marx was growing impatient. They needed to strike while they could and delays after delays were shifting the advantage square into the enemy’s hands. He folded his arms across his chest, keeping his face void of his emotions as he listened to Ava. “He has layers of protection wrapped around him like a shawl,” she was telling them as they stood inside the lobby of Anax Corp. Having the conversation on the outside felt too open. While they conversed, the last of the civilians and the injured were being ushered to the safety of the Mountain. Those left behind were there to fight. Marx found he was itching to fight. Ava continued. “We got through three of them before we had to retreat.” “Kunz spent years perfectin
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back xi
~The sky was a battlefield. Above Pentorium, spreading out for miles, the shadows fought amongst themselves. Those made from the spirits of dead vampires clashing against those created from werewolves. Marx had control of the latter. It was surreal watching it all unfold. Anabella came to stand by Marx as he stood gazing up at the result of his power. Power he would never have dreamed of having. Explaining to the others what he could do would have paled compared to the scene unfolding over their heads. “This is what Sven wanted from her,” Anabella said about Sven and his sister, Marx’s mate, Celeste. “And when he couldn’t take it, he planned to break the seal on the portal.” “I can’t imagine having that man’s thoughts inside my head,” Marx said. “I rather
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back x
~Vescovi’s head throbbed as if a drummer band was marching across his forehead. Making his way through the tunnel with his men, a blast came out of nowhere, knocking them down and rendering them unconscious. He woke up in a crumpled heap with his men, all in various stages of recovery. It took him several tries to get to his feet and stay there, the drumming in his head growing louder with each movement. Walking straight was a task, but it was urgent that they get to Xavier and the others. They were delayed enough as it was getting the remaining civilians under Anax Corp ready for transport to the Mountain. Pentorium was under an evacuation order. He paused when he saw that the panel leading out of the tunnels was open. It was plausible that Xavier had left it like that since it was their way in and out, but Vescovi could not ignore the prickle at
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back ix
~Martha moved to run to Nico as a shadow took possession of his body. Four steps in his direction, she stopped. Nico faced her direction, his eyes twin pools of swirling mist. The thing inside of him had his lips turn up in a smirk. With hot tears streaming unchecked down her cheeks, Martha clutched her fingers into tight fists. The words came from the pits of her stomach. The ground under her feet undulated, rippling with energy as she spoke them. Nico charged in her direction, his face twisted in rage. Martha held up her hand, palm open, continuing the chant, repeating it with fervor and a new understanding. Death fueled shadow magic. Hate. Anger. All the dark things that sullied the world. The spell was the most powerful she had ever attempted since Ava infused the revenant soul with hers. She had to release control to it. Allow the magic to ru
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back viii
~Martha couldn’t breathe, her anxiety tightening her chest. Through her link with Nico, she could feel his growing distress. It urged her to move faster as she sprinted through the hidden tunnels leading down into the subway. Back at Anax Corp, Vescovi was assembling a team, a process that was taking longer than was comfortable with her. Nico and the others needed immediate help. Communications, already spotty, had gone dead. Not a single response, only the constant frying of static. Unable to stand around doing nothing while the man she loved probably laid gutted and dying, Martha snuck off when no one was looking. None of the others knew what she was planning to do. If they did, they would have tried to stop her. She was the passive one. The one who chose not to fight. For a werewolf, her reliance on that part of herself never went past her prim
