Desert of the Damned (26 page)

“Not going to happen,” Jake said through gritted teeth. “So leave. And leave Amy alone.”

“I don’t have time for this,” Dante said. “I don’t have time to find new prey. Only Amy will do now.”

“So you did kill Lupi,” Amy blurted out without thinking.

Dante looked at her intently. “An accident. His heart failed while I was absorbing chi. Not enough to kill him.”

“You had sex with him?”

Dante rolled his eyes. “No. Placed him in a trance and drew the energy from his third eye. Sex just heightens the level of chi.” He smiled, obviously pleased with himself.

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The fire, which had burned down, left the charred lump of the fur among the glowing coals. While Dante and Amy were talking, she noticed Jake had moved closer to his foe.

The weight of the long night settled on her and she glanced up at the hint of dawn lighting the horizon. All she wanted to do was to have this end so she and Jake could return to the house and they could sleep. Dante raised his hand and her knees nearly buckled.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jake jump Dante. “Stop it,” Dante shouted.

Before Jake reached him, Dante raised his hand. Jake let out an “oof” as Dante flicked his hand, tumbling him several yards away.

“Jake!” Amy tried to move but couldn’t. Jake didn’t move for several moments and Amy feared him dead. Then he rolled to his side and struggled to get up. Standing on shaking legs, Jake approached Dante again.

Dante huffed as if he was getting impatient. This time he lowered his head and raised both arms. Jake was lifted off the ground and slammed down again. Jake slowly got to his feet and staggered toward Dante.

“Don’t. Dante, I’ll go with you,” Amy said.

“No!” Jake said as he strode closer.

“Another step, Montag, and I’ll crush your chest.”

“Fuck!” Jake glared at Dante and didn’t take another step. He glanced back at Amy’s house, then at Amy.

“That’s it, Montag. Go back to the house if you don’t want to watch. I won’t be long.

And I won’t hurt her.”

She saw something flicker in Jake’s eyes, confident and primal, as if he was trying to send her a message. “I’ll come back for her then.”

“Fine. Whatever,” Dante said. “I’ll have my quota and be done with this madness for another hundred years.”

Jake limped back toward her house as Dante scooped her up in his arms.

“Quota for what?” Amy asked, trying to stall for time.

He lowered her on the sand and brushed her hair back. “My debt for immortality and a means to avenge a wrong.”

“Immortality? Avenge what wrong? I don’t understand.” With great effort she kept her voice steady but she couldn’t keep her body from shaking. How would he arouse her when she only feared him now? Isn’t that when he took her life energy?

“The man who stole my gold claim during the California Gold Rush in 1855 also stole my wife, then sent men to murder me. The demoness saved me while I was dying and made a deal with me. If I would be one of her Drones, collecting life force energy for her alternative world, she would help me seek revenge on John Reilly.”

Amy shook her head, confused and amazed. “But if all this is true, then John Reilly died over a hundred and fifty years ago. How can you get revenge?”

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“John Reilly is another Drone but I don’t know what he looks like or what his name is. Each cycle we can change our names and appearances. Gwyllain, the demoness, promises someday she will tell me so I can kill him.”

Dante moved on top of her and Amy stiffened. “Sorry I don’t have a blanket for you.”

“I can’t.” Looking at him, she tried to figure out how to tell him her body wouldn’t respond to him when she was terrified.

“Relax, Amy. I’m not going to touch you or hurt you.” He raised his hand and she felt the tension ease from her body, comforting warmth reverberated from the roots of her hair down to her toes.

She sighed and wasn’t afraid anymore.

A shadowy movement off to her side didn’t even startle her, or cause her to turn.

Then a low growl sent a shiver through her. Looking up, she saw a bear with thick brownish black fur standing beside the fire. The animal snarled his large teeth at Dante.

Amy blinked, thinking she was hallucinating.

Slowly, Dante stood. With him away from her, her trance began to lift and she realized the bear was real. How in the world could a bear be in her backyard?

The bearskin rug.

When she glanced up at Dante, the bear made his move, lunging for Dante. One swipe of his claw ripped open Dante’s shirt. Four bloody slash marks appeared across his chest and the nebula stone necklace dropped to the ground. Amy stared at the necklace for a moment, thinking she had never seen Dante without it.

A flip of Dante’s hand sent the bear stumbling away but not nearly as far as it had sent Jake. The bear appeared stunned and took his time getting back on his feet.

The nebula stone has other powers, Amy thought. Didn’t Dante touch it or wave his hand over it when he changed into the coyote?

Scrambling to her feet, Amy picked up the necklace. Dante’s eyes widened at first with horror then satisfaction and, in two giant steps, he reached her before the bear had a chance to lunge again. He grasped her hand holding the stone and drew it to his chest.

She saw the self-satisfied grin he gave the bear as the earth dropped out beneath them.

She and Dante disappeared into darkness.

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Chapter Sixteen

Darkness and swirling shadows surrounded Amy as her body drifted, floating on air. Somewhere in the distance, she heard the sound of crashing waves. The ocean? It was a comforting sound, reminding her of Florida and the home she missed. She breathed in the warm, humid air as the sea breeze coated her skin with the salty mist.

Then her feet touched down onto solid ground. Squinting, she peered into the darkness and slowly her vision cleared. Far below, waves smashed against jagged rocks. She stood only inches from the precipice.

Her breath was stolen from her lungs as she lunged backward and hit a wall.

Turning around, she looked up into the stern brown eyes of the man. He had long blond hair, and a fine unshaved jawline, which gave him a rugged handsome look.

Besides towering over her, he was built like a weightlifter. “Step away from the edge,”

he ordered as he grabbed her upper arm with a tight grip. “The mistress is waiting.”

“Where’s Dante?”

He angled his head in the direction over his shoulder. “On his way to see Mistress Gwyllain to explain your…ah, unexplained arrival.”

She caught a glimpse of Dante then as he ran up the steps of a white building and disappeared inside, leaving her alone with this stranger who didn’t seem too pleased that she was there.

Amy swallowed. Images of the man tossing her over the edge raced through her mind. She took steps up the slope and when she slipped he helped her keep her footing.

“Head clear now?” he asked in an even tone.

She nodded. “I need to talk to Dante.” Before he was the one person she wanted to be away from, now she wanted to see him since he was the only person who could make sense of this situation. And maybe he would help her get back.

“Come.” The man gripped her upper arm and pulled her along the large field toward the white building with columns that looked like a Greek temple.

“What is this place?” Amy thought if she kept asking questions, she wouldn’t have a chance to think. “How did I get here?”

The man gave her an annoyed look. He sighed in frustration. “You’re here because Dante brought you. Don’t you remember?”

“Yes, I remember that.” Amy glanced around, trying to figure out how to escape.

But where would she go? “Don’t you have a name?”

His mouth tightened just a little as if hiding a smile. “Valdon.”

“Do you live here, Valdon?”

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He cocked his head slightly. “Didn’t he explain Anartia to you?”

She shook her head.

As they reached the steps to the white structure Valdon grabbed her arm again to stop her from approaching the stairs. “Anartia is an artificial dimension that exists between worlds—Gwyllain’s planet and Earth.”

Amy studied him for a moment trying to take this entire situation in. “I’m not sure I understand.”

“The engineers who constructed it could explain better. Anartia was created as an exile and a prison for Gwyllain and her lover Tarik, a punishment by Gwyllain’s husband. In this world, Gwyllain is the conduit for the power source that maintains the artificial dimension. She controls Anartia and those who have merged with this alternative universe, like Dante, myself and many others. After Gwyllain collects the life force energy, it automatically flows into Anartia.”

Her head was beginning to hurt. Most of what he just said made no sense but she wasn’t going to ask him to explain it again. “Gwyllain brought you here and Dante here?” she asked.

“Yes, from Earth.” As if that made everything clear.

“Why don’t you go back? Why don’t you send me back?” She just wanted out of there.

Valdon gave her an amused look. “Only the Drones can go back but they must return to Anartia whenever summoned to bestow their offering. The slaves remain to serve her here. After the Drones complete their cycle they remain on Earth.” He gripped her arm and led her up the steps and through the entrance of the temple. “Dante serves the mistress now, as will you.”

Stopping and taking a step back, she jerked her arm free. Rage boiled to the surface.

“I’m no one’s servant,” she shouted.

Grabbing her arm again, he dragged her up the stairs. Amy winced from the pain of his grip. She tried not to think about what Valdon meant by serving the mistress. If she could just talk to Dante, he would find a way to send her home again, back to Jake.

What had Jake done after she and Dante disappeared? She couldn’t imagine. There was no possible way Jake could help her. The thought gave her such a hollow feeling, she didn’t want to move.

Inside the entrance, she exhaled forcefully at the sight of the giant hall. The great room was about three stories high with rows of white columns on either side. The floors were made of richly veined white marble. About a dozen young women, naked or partially draped in fragments of silky cloth, lay around a large sunken pool in the center of the room. A few sipped from golden goblets, others brushed one another’s hair or sat by the edge of the pool, their feet dangling in the water. The women glanced up at Amy and Valdon briefly, then continued with their leisure duties.

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Black granite tables, chairs and loungers were scattered around the space and covered with cushions in bright jewel-tone colors. More cushions and rugs were strewn around the floor.

A spicy, woody fragrance rose from a metal incense burner that hung from the ceiling.

“This way. You must be ready before she sees you.”

Ready for what?

Amy was dragged along to a side room with no door. A flat rectangular cushion that was large enough to be used for a bed lay on the floor. On top lay a dark blue tunic.

Gold sandals were on the floor beside the cushion.

“Change into this. I will return.”

“No,” she said but recoiled at the sharp look he gave her. “As soon as I explain the mistake, I plan to leave. So there’s no need for me to change.”

He rolled his eyes and gave her a thin grin. “I will return in a few moments. If you are not wearing that garment, I will change you myself and it will be my pleasure.”

She glared at him, getting the message.

He left but he stood right outside her room. Quickly, she stripped out of her clothes and into the tunic. She would be damned if she was going to have that Neanderthal handle her.

Strolling around the room, she went over by the only window. It was long and narrow, too small for even a kitten to slip through.

Kitten. She thought about Sienna and her chest tightened. Who would feed her cat?

Tears stung her eyes. How long would she be here? On tiptoes, she peered outside. Blue sky, a couple hundred yards to the edge of the cliff and no other structure for as far as she could see. How could she get out? Between worlds? What the hell did that mean?

She retrieved her pants and felt in the pocket for her cell phone and the turquoise stone. She pulled both out. Bill had given her the stone for protection.
Protection from
what? Apparently not from demons.
She flipped open the phone. It was still on.

She stared at the screen which read “No Service”. No kidding. What did she expect?

She put the phone and stone back into her pants.

“Are you ready?” the man asked without turning around.

“Almost.” She blinked back tears and quickly changed into the sandals.

“I’m ready,” she said with a shaky voice. “What’s next?” Afraid to guess, she followed him out and stood by the row of columns.

“Valdon! Bring her to me,” a woman’s voice shouted from a lounger by the pool.

He cocked a brow and gave her a look that said “you’re on”.

“She is ready, mistress.” Valdon angled his head, directing her toward the great room. “Come meet your mistress. Follow her commands and your life will be worth living.”

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Amy walked into the center of the room, her sandals slippery on the marble.

Alongside the pool, stretched out on one of the loungers was a woman intently watching Amy as she approached. From the arrogant tilt of her chin and the sensuously relaxed position, Amy assumed it was Gwyllain. Another young male and a woman, dressed as she and Valdon were, stood beside one of the columns as if awaiting orders.

The mistress was stunning with long, sleek black hair and she was naked except for a shimmering midnight blue cloth wrapped around her hips. Shafts of sunlight shone down from a dozen huge skylights in the cathedral ceiling, illuminating her bronzed skin and sizable breasts.