Endure (43 page)

We filled Grams in on the situation and added what we’d learned about the Claw. Or at least what we hoped we’d learned. It didn’t matter now though, Riddley was gone and so was any hope of Rayna knowing she needed to release the spirit. Once Grams heard what we had to say, she understood immediately why we weren’t in the best of spirits. She was a powerful witch and even she couldn’t help with this.

“Well, there’s got to be another way!” she growled. “We can’t just be shit outta luck because some hunter didn’t make it.”

“There isn’t. Unless you can magically find Rayna and tell her to release the spirit guarding the Claw, we’re screwed,” I said.

“Unfortunately, Riddley is the only hunter I know powerful enough to communicate telepathically over long distances.” Marcus’s voice was solemn.

“Grams might not be able to do anything,” Chief said. “But there might be something you can do, Chase. You can enter her dreamscape.”

“Invade her mind? I’m not sure I’m qualified for that.”

“Perhaps not, but it may be our only option. I am not powerful enough to do such a thing without being in close proximity, but you are a demigod. If the Brothers are strong enough to do it, so are you. And I can be here the entire time, guiding you.”

Everyone’s eyes were on me, and unease seeped into my body.

“It’s as good an option as any right now,” Marcus said.

“Come on now, boy,” Grams said. “Stop pussyfooting around. You know you’re going to do it. Just say yes and get it over with.”

******

We’d cleared everyone out of the room. If I was going to do this, I needed to be completely focused. Chief and I had created an open space in the middle of the floor, and we sat across from one another. My eyes were closed and I listened to all of his instructions. I knew how to astral project on a basic level, but putting myself into someone else’s mind was a completely different experience, and a dangerous one too.

Breathing in and out in slow breaths, I let my heart rate drop from its rapid nervous beats to a steady hum. With the aid of my water and earth elements, I relaxed my body completely. It took longer than I had wanted, but with Chief’s voice as my guide, all the tension drifted away. I felt like I could float across the floor, and as I thought it, my body became weightless.

“Now, as your spirit
lets
go of any and all emotions that are bound to your body, step forward and release yourself.”

I still wasn’t proficient at this, but it wasn’t my first time and I knew what to expect. With my eyes closed and my focus steady, I felt the connection break between my body and soul. It was an unnatural feeling, one that filled me momentarily with an emptiness I never thought possible. For that brief moment, all the emotion inside me died. I had no cares, no ambitions, no dreams. I was an empty vessel of muscle and blood, but there was no true heart.

When the connection was fully severed, all the feeling rushed back into my soul, and I felt overwhelmed. All the emotions hammered into me one after another, and it took me a few moments to get my bearings. When I’d relaxed once again and calmed my soul, I opened my eyes and looked down at myself.

My blond hair looked even filthier than it felt. Lines of black dirt and mud stuck to some of the strands, while others were caked with red and brown sand. Smudges of dirt smeared my face, and my lips were dry, but even as ragged as I appeared, I looked at peace in this moment.

“
Excellent
.” Chief’s voice bounced inside my head. A massive white tiger stood beside his physical body, making him look small in comparison.

“Okay, that wasn’t so bad. Now what?”

Chief rose up on all four massive legs, his claws shooting out and then retracting as he stretched. His back arched and his head turned from side to side, a wide pink tongue licking his jowls.
“When someone invades your mind, you reach out with an unseen limb, one that searches the energy around you and pushes the person away. Now you must reach out and search for Rayna’s energy. She can be near or far, but you must
feel
her, and pull yourself toward that power. You must first think of her, remember her, and draw her near.”

I didn’t take the time to ask any more questions. I brought forward the memory of the first day I met Rayna.

The vampire had been ready to strike, fangs bared and claws extended. I had been ready to attack, but I wasn’t given the chance. The demon’s body had jerked, embers blazing over his skin and devouring his body. In the wake of falling ash had been a girl both terrifying and beautiful. With a stake in hand, raven hair spilled over her shoulders, red strands framing her face. Her skin glistened with sweat, and in the darkened street, the moonlight made her body shimmer. It wasn’t until I saw the eyes that I realized what I was looking at—a demon. The hatred I’d been taught took over and I attacked.

I didn’t have the same anger and hatred now as I did then. In fact, in hindsight I think it was fear that made me attack her. I’d never met a demon before that hadn’t tried to kill me, and yet one had stood before me in the body of a woman, and she had just saved my life. The determination and satisfaction on her face made me smile. It filled me with warmth unlike any other. More than even the goddess Serephina couldn’t feign.

As the memory faded, I recalled the first time we had visited the sanctuary. I was powerless then, strong and fast like any other hunter, but without magic. Raya’s hand had slid over mine and the rough bark of the tree pulsed with life beneath my fingertips. She had called her element and channeled it into the wooden body that stood strong in front of us. That same magic had slid into me. It was the first time I’d ever felt elemental magic inside me. It filled me with life, giving new meaning to the forest and everything it contained. The power owned me, moving through my veins like it belonged.

The memory built a sensation deep inside my soul. I didn’t need my physical body to feel it. It was alive and roaring through me. It stretched my senses, letting me feel and smell the fresh breeze that breaks through a forest wall after a spring rain. Flowers, leaves, and moist dirt rolled over my skin, but it wasn’t my earth element I felt, it was Rayna’s.

I opened myself to it, letting it ride through my soul. It lifted me from the ground and I floated toward the ceiling. Chief’s spirit moved and I could feel his voice trying to break into my mind, but it was blocked by power. Rayna’s essence called to me and I had let it wrap me up and pull me away. I floated in darkness, the concrete room gone. The comfort and smell of wild earth blended together around me. The scent became a gentle hand pulling me forward, and I used my own energy to pull myself toward it faster.

A fuzzy sensation covered my body, as though I had slid through a portal. The darkness lifted as leaves brushed against my skin. An array of colorful flower petals ornamented the earth. The wet grass tickled as I floated across it toward a massive tree. Not just any massive tree,
the
tree, but it looked different somehow: less alive and full of vigor. I wasn’t given time to question the image. In a flash of light, the tree’s power consumed me and I entered the sanctuary below.

I stood upon a small mound of earth, and the sanctuary around me had been destroyed. The colorful flowers I remembered were dead, trampled into the ground, their roots torn from the earth. The trees that lined the area were all bare, their branches dry and crisp. At the bottom of the hill, the trident-wielding statue was gone, as was the pond that surrounded him. Instead, broken marble lay scattered across the dying grass. Pick axes and shovels were strewn throughout the rubble. Three Cyclops, a pureblood vampire, and a few half-demons worked where the statue once stood. They tore into the earth and burrowed into the ground with their tools. The sanctuary felt different now. The power and magic that roamed the air seemed distant and sad, as though each chunk of earth had been a piece of its soul being torn away.
 

Away from the rubble, Riley’s body lay still upon the earth, pale as ever and his lips a bright shade of blue. Streaks of black and red blood stained his skin, and he looked stiff and bloated. Drake and Darius stood near the demons, watching with intense stares as they threw piles of dirt out of the hole. A trio of Visceratti slithered in the distant corner. They surrounded Rayna, who sat chained to a thick stump that had once been a glorious tree. Her eyes were open and she didn’t seem to be hurt, but she looked angry.

Tension mounted my shoulders as I cut across the grass, avoiding the rubble and dirt. They couldn’t see me. They couldn’t see me. They couldn’t see me. I repeated the phrase over and over again.

Rayna’s energy became visceral and thick, and with each step I neared, her eyes grew fiercer, glowing with rage as she stared at the Visceratti. The demons hissed as I neared and I stopped, waiting for them to react. The black-veined eyes panned the area as though they sensed something, and I was reminded of our trip to Vortan. The Visceratti Queen had hissed and charged without hesitation. She had felt me then, and part of me thought she could see me. Were all the Visceratti like this?

My legs and body were stagnant. The slits in the demons’ faces expanded and contracted as they sniffed the air. After what seemed like an eternity, I dared to take a step. One, then another, and the demons didn’t react. Stepping to the side, I moved around the backside of them and kneeled beside Rayna.

Her face was slightly bruised with minor swelling around one eye. A smear of dried blood ran from her nose to her lip, and a deep scratch had scabbed across her chin. She breathed heavily, a deathly glare cast at the backs of the snake-demons.

“
Rayna
.” I thought, but she didn’t respond. Her shields were keeping me out. I didn’t want to do it, but I had no choice. There was no time to go searching for more soul pieces, we needed to use what we had and unfortunately, Rayna was the only way to get to it.

I summoned more power from my soul, and wisps of white began to spiral around my arms. I felt strong, like if I could touch it, I could tear the rooted stump from the ground and hurl it across the sanctuary. I centered the energy and reached toward Rayna. I imagined the power moving through her mind, my voice becoming a beacon of hope inside her. Rayna twitched, the anger evaporating from her eyes. She looked left and then right, finally pausing near my chest.

“
Rayna
.”

She lurched upward, straightening her spine. She looked around again, paranoid and confused.

“Rayna, it’s Chase. I’m here with you. Don’t speak, it’ll alert the demons. Use your thoughts.”

“How are you inside my mind?”
Her voice sounded breathy and panicked.

“I’m astral projecting like Chief taught me. I need your help.”

Rayna’s laugh echoed around me and she rolled her eyes.
“In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a little preoccupied at the moment.”

“And I want to help you, but right now I need something only you can do. I need you to release the spirit protecting the Claw.”

“What?”
I winced as her voice scraped through my mind like a jagged splinter.
“If I do that, the Dark Brothers will be able to sense its power.”

“That’s a risk we’ll have to take. It’s a weapon of the gods; it might be our only hope at killing Riley, or Ithreal if he manages to take control.”

“Right now I’m more concerned that you broke through my shields. If you can do it, that means they can too.”
Rayna looked up at the demons slithering back and forth in front of her. White scars marred their grey bodies, sagging breasts swinging from side to side with their movements.

“You’re going to be okay. I promise.”

“You don’t know that, but I appreciate the words.”

“I won’t let you down. I meant what I said at the warehouse. I won’t let anything happen to you too.”

“You might not have a choice.”

“Don’t talk like that.”

Rayna sighed.
“I’ll see what I can do about the spirit, but I’m not sure I can manage it from this distance.”

“You have to try, please.”

Rayna nodded but didn’t think another word. Her eyes had dropped and she stared at her legs. When her eyes closed, her power came to life in the air. The Visceratti reacted with haste, slinking toward her.

“
Ssssave
your magic, hunter!
It’ssss
of no
ussse
.”

Rayna didn’t respond, and the Visceratti swung the back of her hand against her face. Her magic vanished and the Dark Brothers were there in the blink of an eye.

“Enough!” Drake commanded. “Do not hurt the summoner. She has suffered enough damage from your careless attack.”

“We did what needed to be done!” one demon hissed. “Who are you to command us? We bow to our Queen and to Ithreal when he
rissssessss
. You are nothing but a
halfling
in a weak human shell.”

Without a word, Drake’s power encircled them. White cracks formed inside his black eyes and veins swelled beneath his skin. The power became a thick cloud, pooling in the air. Black arms of power accented with spirals of gold wrapped around the demon that spoke. It crept along her skin, forcing her squirming to slow. Flakes of half-chewed skin dangled over her eyes as they opened wide and the magic swallowed her body. Bones crunched and her cries were silenced. A few glowing embers escaped the cloud, fluttering in the air until all that remained were flakes of ash that spiraled to the earth. The magic sucked itself back into Drake and his skin smoothed, the flickers of white fading from his eyes. Where the demon stood was now a perfect sculpted pyramid of cinders.