armor of magic 02 - rising light (16 page)

“We need to bail,” he said.

“We can’t leave yet. If Charlotte helps Rocco, we can use the Logos to get rid of those things.”

Asher looked to the sky that was quickly filling up with more of the flying creatures. “No time for that, we need to get everyone and get out of here.”

We sped across the road and ducked next to Charlotte and Lilith, pressing up against the sedan, which was getting rocked back and forth with fireballs. The swarm of demon-bats began to lower and surround the car. Cagliostro had pulled out the big guns; he had known we were coming.

A blast from the trees knocked the car sideways. The four of us ran to the other side. I held up my shield, warding off anything else they were lobbing at us, as the black tornado moved in closer. The buzzing sound rang in my ears.

“This is your fault, Protector,” Lilith sneered.

I wasn’t about to get into an argument with Lilith, so I stayed focused. “Charlotte, you need to heal Rocco so we can work together to stop this insanity. I can’t hold them off much longer on my own.”

“Can’t your
boyfriend
just glimmer us out of here? You’re not doing such a great job, Fiona,” Lilith hissed.

“I’m not leaving Rocco behind!” I shouted.

“Let’s get over to him and go. Now!” Asher yelled.

The flames were coming fast as we ran over to Rocco. I kept my shield hoisted, sheltering us from the hailstorm of fireballs and demon-bats. The buzzing grew louder as the cyclone swooped directly overhead. Asher grabbed Rocco and pulled him up close to his chest. “Grab my arms and hold on,” he shouted to the three of us girls. But when he attempted to glimmer us out of there, nothing happened.

“Why isn’t it working?” I asked.

“I’ve never glimmered this many people before. Give me the rod, Lilith,” he shouted.

“No way, I need the protection!”

“I need it to transport us out of here. Hand it over, now,” he ordered.

Lilith handed over the rod, and Asher whipped it forward, extending its length, then he stuck it into a large puddle on the cement. We clung to his arms and Rocco lay against him as an explosion of brilliant white light burst around us. Then the five of us shot through flashes of colorful radiating spectrums.

***

We landed in the parking lot of a small motel on the side of the road that had a flashing neon sign with some of the letters burned out. Asher collapsed his baton and tucked it away.

“The
Mystic
Inn?” Lilith scoffed.

I started walking to the motel. “It beats the shit-show we just left. Let’s just get inside. We obviously need to rethink our strategy.”

twenty-nine

Inside the janky motel room, Charlotte worked her healing magic on Rocco. After a few moments under her pink rays of light, Rocco’s eyes shot open and he bolted to his feet ready for action. He examined the room.

“What happened?”

“Cagliostro’s onto us. We have to recalibrate,” I told him.

He sat in one of the armchairs, taking out a matchstick.

The space in that little room was crowded, but at that moment we were fine with that. We were stronger together. And our predicament was getting increasingly more dangerous.

I clicked on the crappy television. The well-coifed newscaster sat stiffly in his chair, his lips pulled tight and an air of severity in his face.

“Riots have now broken out in Chicago, Atlanta and New York. Nobody seems to know why.”

The screen cut to footage of people in urban sprawls throwing rocks into shop windows and setting things on fire. Though they didn’t mention a cause for their uproar, I would’ve bet my money they were getting direction from Cagliostro. He had already started unleashing his demonic influence into the world and his powers were growing by the second.

“So, what’s the plan?” Rocco asked.

“We’re definitely not going back on the road,” I told him. “Asher’s going to transport me and you to Rhapsody Grove. Screw it. It’s our only option … probably should have just gone with that plan in the first place.”

“Just the two of you?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah. You and your sister aren’t coming. I need you alive for potential healing. And Lilith’s dead weight.” I glanced at Lilith. “Sorry, but it’s true.”

Lilith shrugged and went back to sipping her diet soda and watching the news.

“But what if you need me right away and you can’t get back here?” Charlotte asked.

“Yeah, and then Cagliostro captures you and uses you as leverage. We know how these things play out,” I told Charlotte, then turned to Asher. “Also, we’re gonna need more silver,” I said.

“Won’t hurt to stock up,” Rocco agreed, biting down on his matchstick.

Since everything was closed for the night, we decided to look around for silver in the morning. The motel night manager mentioned some shops in Olde Mistick Village.

“Buy out every jewelry shop in town,” I told them.

It was late, so we decided to get some rest. Asher and I shared one of the double beds, while Lilith and Charlotte took the other one. Rocco lounged in the chair, keeping his sonar tuned. Though the room filled with the sounds of deep breathing, none of us were actually sleeping.

Asher spooned behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist. I felt his pulse through the tips of his fingers, the energy vibrating off him and melding into me. Finally, I closed my eyes to try to get some sleep. All night I dreamed of those damned demon-bats latching onto my skin and setting my blood on fire.

***

I awoke to a door slamming shut and sat up in the bed. Asher was gone. Lilith was still sleeping. Rocco sat in the same chair he had been in all night, sipping black coffee and staring at the television, cursing under his breath.

Charlotte came into the room, carrying a bunch of shopping bags. “Not much of a selection,” she said.

I dumped the contents of the bags onto the bed. The pieces of jewelry were clunky and obnoxious, items tourists might buy when they’re on vacation and are desperate to bring something back home. But there was enough to get a fair amount of silver dust.

“Anybody know where Asher went?” I asked.

Rocco glanced up from the tube. “Said he needed to check on something.”

“Any clue what that means?”

“Probably went to scope out the area around the Grove.”

I didn’t like the sound of that. At all. But we had work to do, and Asher could take care of himself. I handed a bunch of the silver jewelry to Rocco, and we started shaving the clunky bracelets and pendants into fine silver dust. Charlotte gave us some empty glass bottles—also souvenir memorabilia—to contain our stash.

When Asher still hadn’t returned, I started getting fidgety and began pacing around the motel room. I checked my phone every few minutes and texted him over and over. He was either out of battery juice, or something horrible had happened.

“Where did he say he was going again?” I asked Rocco one more time.

“He didn’t. But I’m figuring he went to check out the area. We’re gonna have to hit the road soon so we can figure out a way into this shitstorm. With or without him.”

I nodded, agreeing with him, but feeling sick to my stomach. A feeling I was experiencing a lot more frequently. “Any thoughts on how to get there?”

“I say we use our speed and pray we don’t get detected.”

It wasn’t ideal, but it was all we had at the moment.

Around noon, Asher still hadn’t returned, so Rocco and I decided to leave without him. Charlotte wished us luck. Lilith waved with her stubbed wrist, rubbing it in one last time.

Rocco and I stood near the edge of the two-lane road. He bumped my shoulder with his elbow. “If you see something out there, we ain’t stoppin’. No repeats of last night. Cagliostro obviously has some industrial-strength mind control going on. Don’t let him fool you.”

I stared down the road, the queasiness in my stomach increasing.

“Farrow? You okay?”

“I’m worried about Asher. It doesn’t make any sense.”

He patted my shoulder. “He’ll be all right. He’s a bounty hunter.”

“Ex-bounty hunter.”

“He’s an angel, Farrow. He’ll be fine.”

I kept quiet and prepared myself for our mad dash to the Grove, letting Rocco use his bionic sonar to lead the way.

thirty

Rocco and I cruised along at an even pace of about 300mph, and we got to the edge of Mattatuck State Forest in less than ten minutes. Though the sun was bright, the dense woods allowed very little light to come through. We inched slowly among the trees, looking and listening for unusual sounds. The only noises I picked up were woodland critters skittering about and the trickling of a brook somewhere in the distance. Before we walked deeper into the woods to find the clearing where Rhapsody Grove was located, Rocco closed his eyes and mentally scanned the surrounding area.

“I’m gettin’ a read on something.”

“Like what?”

“Don’t know, but it ain’t a demon or bloodsucker, I don’t think.”

“You don’t think? Can you get a little clearer on that?”

He turned around and walked toward a thicket of trees. I followed behind, calling on my sword and shield just in case we had any visitors.

Rocco walked ahead. A branch snapped, and I quickly turned around and inhaled, trying to pick up any scents. Nothing but forest smells.

“Whoa,” Rocco said, stopping.

I caught up with him and peered around his broad shoulder. Something was hanging from one of the trees. I inched closer, keeping my shield tight around me. Rocco grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back.

“Don’t,” he said.

Ignoring him, I walked faster until I got close enough to be absolutely sure of what I was seeing.

Asher was hanging upside down, all the color and light drained from him. I ran over to his limp body and tried to tug him down from the branches, but I was shaking and freaking out. I couldn’t get a grip on him. Tears sprung into my eyes as I clung to his body, praying for the sound of a heartbeat, or an inkling of the energy that usually bounced between us.

But there was nothing.

Nothing.

“Is he dead?” I cried.

Rocco said nothing as he helped bring Asher’s body down to the ground. I collapsed over him and pressed my ear against his chest. Again, nothing. I started pounding on his ribs, begging him to wake up.

Rocco grabbed me by my shoulders and pulled me closer to him, wrapping me into a cocoon. “Shh, this ain’t gonna help. You can grieve later. We have a duty. And right now, we gotta get that Scroll back and stop that bastard Cagliostro.” He held me tight as I whimpered into his chest. Everything in my body shook with a fiery hatred.

“I’ll kill him! I’ll kill the evil son-of-a-bitch! Who the fuck does he think he is? Come on, Cagliostro! You want me? Here I am!”

Rocco covered my mouth and pressed me down until my back was against the dirt. “You gotta keep it together, Farrow. Take some deep breaths.”

I listened to the detective and took in some painfully deep breaths until my heartbeat settled down and the burning hole in my stomach eased.

“I’m going to make that asshole pay for this,” I whispered.

“We get the Scroll. Then Julian. Priorities, Farrow.”

“That’s bullshit!” I yelled.

“Look, I know this is hard. I’ve lost my fair share of people. That’s why I decided not to get involved with anyone. Like Maddy at the diner. Not worth the pain.”

I didn’t agree with Rocco. What kind of lonely life was that? I wanted to experience relationships, fall in love, get into spats, make up and oh, I don’t know … have sex with someone.

“The Protector life is a lonely one, Farrow.”

“That’s lame and sad. And not the life
I’m
going to live.”

Standing, I brushed away my tears and shoved the ache in my throat down and down until I couldn’t feel a single emotion. Until all of the Light in me was centered in my helmet and I was ready to shoot lasers from my eyes at anything that got in my path.

“Cagliostro is going to pay severely.”

Rocco shook his head sympathetically, then glanced up. He was about to spew some more Protector bullshit wisdom my way, but instead he yelled, “Watch out!”

But it was too late. A giant black cyclone of those demon-bats had flown into the woods and was heading straight toward us. Rocco jumped to his feet, swinging his sword and slicing through the mass of venomous creatures. They hissed as they swooped in unison, circling us.

“Use the Logos,” he shouted.

Before I could utter a single word, a string of the demon-bats unraveled from the pack and wrapped around me like a black snake. My limbs were locked by my sides and I couldn’t kick or squirm. Then a million vibrations twitched in my muscles, paralyzing my body. I tried to yell out to Rocco, but my mouth wouldn’t move. The loud screeching, spinning cyclone had sucked me into its fold and carried me away.

Below, Rocco stared up toward the sky, still swinging his sword and zapping what he could of the demon-bats. He yelled something over and over, only I couldn’t hear a thing. My eyeballs bulged out further the tighter the band of demon-bats squeezed around me. My head felt like it was going to pop off. And then, everything went as black as night.

***

I woke up completely discombobulated. My feet were above my head and I was hanging upside down. Once my eyes adjusted to the shadows, I could see that my ankles were chained to a rusty pipe running along the ceiling of some sort of cave. My wrists were cuffed behind my back and I was naked except for my Armor, which seemed to be deactivated. I let out a huff of satisfaction. Cagliostro might’ve been able to remove my clothes, but he’d never be able to remove my Armor. Only I could do that. And
nothing
—on earth or in any other dimension—would ever get me to remove my Armor. However, it wasn’t doing me much good since I couldn’t break free of the chains. Or call on my sword. Yeah, the demon mage had even more power than I had suspected. Mental note for the future: always assume the head demon mage of the Shadow Order has more power than suspected.

The whole thing was entirely too cliché, being thrown into a cold and dark cave and hung upside down to be humiliated and tortured. I twisted my head around, and a sharp pain lit up my neck. A warm trickle of liquid rolled down my cheek, and I watched it plunk into a puddle below me. Cagliostro was slowly draining my blood. Exactly the same way he had killed those people throughout the Southwest. The same way he had killed Asher in the woods.
Was Asher really gone?
It didn’t seem right. I refused to accept that Cagliostro had killed my boyfriend.