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Journey to Hell iii
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2024-10-29 19:42:56~ The first man gave them six locations. The first yielded less than a dozen armed men in a small safe house. None of them had anything of value. They were just more foot soldiers following a cause they did not understand. Ava incapacitated them as she did the first man in the underpass. She didn’t feel it fair to kill them for being stupid. At the following two locations, Ava did the same thing, Penny snorting her disappointment. They were halfway through with no actionable information, leading them to the head of the snake.
Zeroing in on location number four, Ava felt a trace of shadow magic. They were in a train yard; the tracks occupied with unattached carriages. Some possibly in use, others left to gather rust and vagrant occupants. Penny picked up the trail leading the way to the source. She stopped Ava, stretching out a hand to block her path. Ava looked up at the werewolf, who had her n
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Enter the Shadows Journey to Hell iv
~ Seeing the sign, Ava knew where they needed to be. Using another portal, she cut their journey short. They came through some distance away from their destination, intending to make the rest of the way on foot. They did not get far before they came under attack. “Shadows.” They broke away from the shadows of the trees coming at her and Penny from all angles. Confusion and panic tugged Ava’s mind in a million different directions. The only other person she knew who could wield shadow magic in this world was soul-dead on an examination table in Pentorium. Salvay had the magic he stole from the temple in Zanu, but it was one of light, not death. He would not have been able to do this. Several shadows tried to overpower Penny, one going for her soul. It looked like it was trying to suck a tennis ball through a
Enter the Shadows Journey to Hell v
~Half of the ride to the courthouse went by in silence. Marx sat on the passenger side, staring through the window. He could feel Helick’s unease. His constant sideways glances. The other man had heard everything Anabella said. Celeste was Marx’s mate, but she raised Helick and Garrick from the time they were babies. She was the only mother they knew. Her death was as painful for them as it was for him, or even more. When the tragedy was fresh, he hadn’t taken that into account. Raw from the grief, Marx went off to lick his own wounds, leaving Garrick, Helick, Daniel, and Shea to tend their own. Shea found solace in going cold and distant while the twins and Daniel went out defending those who could not defend themselves. Lochlan was the only one who stayed with him on the Mountain. Not because Marx did much to accommodate him, but out of stubborn loyal
Enter the Shadows Journey to Hell vi
~Marx and Helick returned to Anax Corp to a message that the others were waiting for them. The first thing he noticed when he walked into Anabella’s office was Penny’s unconscious body on the sofa. He ran over to her, dropping to his knees. Her wolf was lying on Anabella’s couch, half of its body hanging off the side, the sofa too short to accommodate her full length. “Penny?” “I’m over here… too.” Marx turned to see Penny’s spirit waving at him. He slumped on the ground in relief. “You stupid girl.” “You grumpy old man.” Penny smiled, and it reached her eyes. Locked up inside of the beast, he sometimes forgot how innocent she was. How determined she had been. Despite the trouble she brought raging into his life, M
Enter the Shadows Journey to Hell vii
~ Ava opened a portal for Penny. The werewolf’s massive size did not allow her to pass through the door of the office with ease. On top of that, Penny on an elevator was not going to happen. Ava left with Anabella and Philippe, Helick following behind her. Before the three could step into the elevator, she called Philippe aside. The other two left without them. “What’s on your mind?” Philippe asked her. She adjusted the books in her hand. “Do you still have the chamber? The one you built for Sven?” “Yes, I do.” “Did you tell the others about it?” Ava glanced towards the door leading to Anabella’s office. Vescovi and Marx were still inside. The last thing she wanted was for either to hear their conversation, especially Marx. Ava appreciated him fretting over her
Enter the Shadows Journey to Hell viii
~Ava had an entire speech rehearsed. She knew that the decision she made would not go over well with the others, so she wanted to break it gently. All that went through the door when Daniel woke up inside of Sven’s body and went wandering off. Now the wolf was out of the bag in a big way, and she had just to face it head-on. With the deed already done, Ava had no plans to undo it. Not now. The ‘later’ would have to wait. “I’m sorry,” Daniel said from inside of Sven’s body. “Woke up and saw that I was—” he looked down at the body in which his soul now dwelled. “I knew you were going to do it, but it took some time for the whole thing to—catch up.” “You OK?” she asked him. Ava folded her arms across her chest. She wanted to hug Daniel. Touch him for the first time. He had kissed her once, but that was a long time ago, and her memory of the moment was fogg
Enter the Shadows Journey to Hell ix
~Shea was standing out in the woods. Another busload of evacuees was offloading outside of the dome. Waiting to greet them was the Native’s Shaman. In a line, the humans walked up to him, and he marked each human before they stepped into the protective shield. Those who were vampires or werewolves stepped through, unmarked their link to the shield created by what they were. Ichiro came to stand beside her. “This is not moving fast enough,” she said to him. Shea was feeling antsy, her anxiety building with the savagery of the storm overhead. “And what if vampires attack us? The humans might need a mark, but those like us do not.” “If anything supernatural tries to attack us, they will trigger the traps. Ava has this place fortified enough to keep the odds in our favor if we are.” Shea chewed on her lips, una
Enter the Shadows 25. To Hell and Back i
~Shadows rained down on them, a swarm of soul-sucking black mist. Though they knew an attack was imminent, the abruptness of it caught them off guard. Vescovi stood in the lobby where the casualties were being bagged and taken away. Numbered in the single digits, the toll would have been greater if it weren’t for Sven’s—Daniel’s quick thinking. Because of him, the entire building was now shielded from a full-on assault from the shadows. The men and women who were on the outside at the time were the ones who got their souls ripped from their bodies. For those who suffered injuries, Martha tended to them. Some needed bandages; others had injuries that required magical help. The woman was efficient; organized and collected during the turmoil. Ava made a good choice with her. Ava’s other selection still gave Vescovi pause. He watched Daniel as he charmed th
Enter the Shadows To Hell and Back ii
~Helick was on the roof of the yellow school bus. With him were five other men. They were providing cover for the protective detail on the ground while guarding the civilians below him inside the bus. Hana was keeping the panic down, using her voice to lull the passengers. This far away from Pentorium Helick’s comm, all of their comms, were useless outside of speaking to each other there on the outskirts of Chaise Point. He only hoped Yuri made it in range to signal the others that they needed additional support. Less than twenty feet away, one of the buses they were using for transport was wrapped around a pole. The shadows came for them, a black tide of death. They were out running before shadows got smart, going for the bus’s tires. The blowout had the driver losing control of the vehicle coming to a stop when it rammed headlong into a utility pole. The driver didn’t make it. He was the only casu
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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
