Nocturnal Part 36

Ginny spun around and glared at her cousin.

Markus took a step back. "What'd I do?"

"Nothing. Not a d.a.m.ned thing." She took a deep breath and let it out. Something very weird was going on, and Alton was involved, all the way from the tips of his s.e.xy cowboy boots to the top of his beautiful blond head. "I have to make a phone call. You sign in. I'll be right back."

There wasn't a st.i.tch of clothing covering her perfect body. She was tall and slim and her stylishly bobbed hair swung against her jaw with each step she took on gloriously long legs. If she hadn't been trying to kill him, Alton might have found her attractive. Instead, he wrapped both hands around the jeweled hilt of his crystal sword and swung with practiced ease.

The blade sliced cleanly through the juncture between her neck and shoulder. He watched with grim satisfaction as the mannequin's head bounced off the wall and rolled across the sidewalk. The jaws gaped wide, exposing row after row of razor-sharp teeth framed by perfectly painted pouty lips.

Alton stepped back out of the way, giving Eddy Marks plenty of s.p.a.ce to aim the point of her crystal sword. She held DemonSlayer high, slas.h.i.+ng through the demonic mist as it flowed through the hole in the mannequin's plastic neck.

The eerie banshee cry of the escaping demon sent s.h.i.+vers down Alton's spine. The screech ended abruptly the moment Eddy's sword sliced into the mist and it burst into flames. All that was left was a puff of foul-smelling smoke.

"Well done, my lady."

Eddy smiled at the sword in her hand. "Thank you, DemonSlayer." Then she sheathed her weapon and rose up on her toes to accept a kiss from her beloved Dax.

Alton couldn't help but think that Dax was one very lucky ex-demon, to find a woman like Eddy Marks, one brave enough to have gained immortality along with her own sentient sword. There weren't many women like her, not in the world he'd come from.

In fact, there were none like Eddy in the lost world of Lemuria. As far as he knew, she was just as unique to Earth.

"That was a new one," Eddy said when she finally peeled herself away from Dax. "Have you seen any more like her?" She nodded in the direction of the mannequin lying on the sidewalk.

Alton dragged his gaze away from Eddy and Dax and stared at the mannequin. "Thankfully, no, but this isn't good. It was bad enough when demons were using ceramic and stone creatures as avatars, but plastic's a new medium for them. Can you imagine the chaos they're going to cause? There's no way to get rid of all the potential hosts for the d.a.m.ned things."

Dax knelt down and ran his hand over the body, as if he needed to see for himself what it was made of. "What I want to know," he said, "is where the demons are coming from. All of a sudden, there's no shortage of them, either. There shouldn't be so many. Not since Alton sealed the gateway from Abyss."

Eddy shoved her bangs out of her eyes. "Maybe they've opened a new one."

Nine h.e.l.ls.

The three of them stared at one another. A new portal was the last thing they needed. Alton sighed. Not two weeks ago he'd been a perfectly bored resident of the lost world of Lemuria, wondering why nothing exciting ever happened. Then he'd helped two humans, a tiny will-o'-the-wisp, and a mongrel dog escape from a Lemurian prison deep within Mount Shasta, and nothing had been the same since.

Exiled from Lemuria with a price on his head, he'd joined the battle against demonkind's invasion of Earth. Not that he was complaining about all the changes in his life, but was there no end to the demon invasion?

Of course, Dax and Eddy's lives had changed just as drastically. Dax the demon had become a demon slayer, working for the good guys to halt the demonic invasion of Earth, and Eddy Marks was a newspaper reporter who had saved Dax's life without a clue what she was getting into. Alton figured she probably hadn't expected immortality, a demon lover, or a crystal sword that talked to her.

And b.u.mper had been just a dog. The dog barked. Alton leaned over and scratched her curly head. b.u.mper looked up at him, and Willow's thoughts flowed into Alton's mind.

I think that demon was the only one. b.u.mper and I checked.

Thank you, Willow. And b.u.mper.

He couldn't imagine Willow's life now, trapped inside a mongrel like b.u.mper. The tiny will-o'-the-wisp had been sent as Dax's companion, able to draw energy from the air to fuel his demon powers. In that last big battle on Mount Shasta when the demon ate Willow, she'd managed to transfer her consciousness into b.u.mper just in time. While Dax no longer needed Willow for energy, Alton knew they all needed her as part of their team. Whether she looked like a tiny fairy or a curly blond pit bull, Willow had the soul and spirit of a warrior.

Just like his other companions.

Alton carefully sheathed his sword. h.e.l.lFire, the crystal sword he'd had since reaching manhood, had finally, after so many millennia, gained sentience and begun to speak. Proof that it finally considered Alton a warrior, a man of respect.

They'd all earned that respect in the final battle with the gargoyle, which explained the crystal swords Dax and Eddy now wielded as well, replicates of his own sword.

DemonFire for Dax, DemonSlayer for Eddy.

Sentient crystal swords, perfect for fighting the demon invasion that threatened to offset the balance between good and evil. Three warriors, their sentient swords, and a mongrel dog melded to the mind of a will-o'-the-wisp.

They were all that stood between a demon invasion of Earth and the unsuspecting citizens of this world.

Alton couldn't help but worry they might not be enough.

Eddy's cell phone played "Ode to Joy." She reached for the phone and turned away to take her call.

A chill raced along Alton's spine.

Eddy stared at the phone in her hand for a long, long time. Then she slowly slipped it back into her jeans pocket. Alton and Dax were deep in conversation, and it looked like b.u.mperWillow was right in there with them.

b.u.mperWillow. Eddy couldn't think of one without the other. Not anymore. Thank goodness she'd been able to get things straightened out with the shelter and they'd agreed to let her adopt her foster dog, b.u.mper, or they'd really have been in a fix. When the gargoyle had eaten the little sprite's body and she'd slipped into the closest available host, at least she'd found one who loved and welcomed her. Eddy couldn't think of one without the other. Not anymore. Thank goodness she'd been able to get things straightened out with the shelter and they'd agreed to let her adopt her foster dog, b.u.mper, or they'd really have been in a fix. When the gargoyle had eaten the little sprite's body and she'd slipped into the closest available host, at least she'd found one who loved and welcomed her.

The symbiosis between the brave little will-o'-the-wisp and Eddy's funky mutt couldn't have been better, though after seeing how gorgeous Willow'd been as a sprite and how silly she looked as a pit bull crossed with a blond poodle, Eddy couldn't help but wonder if Willow ever had second thoughts about her choice of borrowed body.

But that was the least of Eddy's problems. Ginny Jones's phone call had just opened up a whole new can of worms.

"Guys," Eddy said, "we've got a problem."

Alton kept his arms tightly folded across his chest. He was afraid if he didn't hold himself contained, he'd fly to pieces. Ginny was in danger, and it was his fault. All his fault, for sending her to Sedona.

He'd known there was more than one vortex in that Arizona town, but he hadn't even thought of the demons using one as a pa.s.sage from Abyss to Earth's dimension. No, all he'd thought about was getting Ginny away from Mount Shasta and the demon invasion here, but this community was probably the safest one around for now, especially with the three of them keeping things under control.

He glanced at the headless mannequin lying in the alley.

Well, moderately under control.

This was not good, but the problem in Sedona sounded even worse. Family pets with glowing eyes and multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth? Loving animals suddenly going berserk and attacking their owners? It sure sounded like demon possession to Alton, and he knew the others agreed. Until today, they'd thought demons could only animate things of the earth-ceramic or stone, concrete or clay. Plastic was essentially more of the same, just a different material, but taking on living creatures as avatars took a lot more power, showed more intelligence.

Ginny could be in terrible danger.

b.u.mperWillow whined. Alton looked at Dax and Eddy, and realized they were staring at him too. All three of them. What had he missed?

"Well?" Eddy slapped her hands down on her hips.

Alton blinked. "Well, what?"

She rolled her eyes. "Are you going? Is there a pa.s.sage through the vortex that will get you to Sedona now so you can check on Ginny? My best friend's in danger because you sent her there."

He cringed. "I know. Yes, there's a pa.s.sage, and yes, I'll go."

Eddy's sudden smile hinted at something more than mere concern for Ginny. "Be sure and pack some extra clothes," she said. "You might be gone for a while."

Eddy's dad, Ed Marks, gunned his old Jeep up the last steep stretch of dirt road. He'd offered to take Alton as far as he could up the rough flank of Mount Shasta, but they'd just about reached the end of the road. Alton knew he still had a good hike ahead of him to find the portal.

The way was steep, the ground slippery with loose rock and scree that often meant slipping back two steps for every step forward, so the ride this far was welcome. Plus, he enjoyed spending time with Ed.

It shouldn't have surprised him, how much he liked Eddy's dad, but their close friends.h.i.+p had been an unexpected bonus. Alton figured it was as much his need for a father figure who treated him with respect as the fact Ed was just a h.e.l.l of a nice guy. His own father still hadn't accepted that he was an adult, a capable man able to make his own decisions. Ed saw Alton as a warrior, a brave companion to Dax and Eddy.

And he treated Alton like a grown man, which might have been silly under other circ.u.mstances. As an immortal, Alton was already centuries older than Ed Marks, something that didn't seem to bother Ed at all.

He wondered if his own father would ever see him as anything other than a disappointment? What would the ruling senator of the Council of Nine say if he knew his son's sword was now sentient, that Alton had proven himself as a warrior?

Fat chance of that ever happening. Now that he had a Lemurian death sentence hanging over his head for helping Dax and Eddy escape from their prison cell, Alton had to accept the fact that going back to his world inside the volcano probably wasn't going to happen.

Still, it was something to dream of-his father learning his only son had actually accomplished what no other Lemurian in recent history had done-he'd established communication with his crystal sword. Even though the story of Lemurians as warriors and demon fighters was a huge part of their history, no one alive now could actually remember anyone strong enough or brave enough to bring their sword to life.

Yet Alton's sword spoke to him. Respected him enough to communicate, sword to Lemurian.

In fact, he was the only Lemurian alive today who'd actually taken part in a battle with a weapon other than words. While his people took pride in being known as philosophers and statesmen, they'd lost their fighting edge-the very qualities that had kept their society safe for so long.

Just as they'd lost their strongest allies-their sentient, speaking crystal swords. The sword each young man received when he came of age had become nothing more than a fancy ornament.

Crystal swords had no reason to speak to men they didn't respect. Why talk to a warrior who didn't know how to fight and wasn't willing to risk his life for something of importance?

Alton had not only risked his life, he'd discovered an inner strength he hadn't known he possessed. He'd proved to both his sword and himself that he was a warrior, one willing to die for a cause he believed in-protecting the known worlds from the threat of demonkind. All of them-Eden, Earth, Atlantis, and Lemuria-were at risk from the encroaching evil of Abyss.

The danger of reaching a tipping point, of the ages-old balance of good and evil finally slipping over to the dark side, was still very real. Thank goodness the demon invasion of Earth had barely gotten under way before the Edenites recognized the threat and recruited Dax, a fallen demon, out of the void. With his borrowed human body and Willow by his side, he'd become the perfect leader in the fight against demonkind, against a demon king powerful enough and smart enough to lead the demon hordes to victory.

Gaining strength by the hour within his stone gargoyle avatar, the demon king had almost won. Dax's brave sacrifice and Eddy's strength and determination in the face of certain death had bought a temporary victory when Eddy'd courageously risked death by wielding Alton's crystal sword.

The demon king was gone, for now. But he'd be back.

Had he resurfaced in Sedona?

Alton stared at the trees they pa.s.sed and thought about Dax and Eddy and the love between them that seemed to grow stronger each day. He'd be jealous if he didn't love both of them so much. Eddy was brave and true, and Dax, a man who had begun as a demon, had shown more integrity and good than anyone Alton had ever known in Lemuria. Dax and Eddy deserved the immortal love they'd found with each other.

So why did that make him think of Ginny Jones? She was nothing like Eddy Marks. Nothing at all. Ginny was mortal, her life no more than a tiny blip on his life's screen. Plus, she was stubborn and opinionated and had no respect for a woman's place-a woman's role as the helpmate to her man. Not that Eddy was anything like the Lemurian women Alton had known, either, but she was Dax's problem.

Did that make Ginny his?

The engine revved up and the Jeep's wheels spun as forward motion ceased. Alton glanced at Ed.

The older man shrugged. "This is as far as I can go, Alton. You'll have to hoof it the rest of the way." He slipped the gears into neutral but left the engine running. The trail wound upward from here, climbing through the last of the trees before it crossed areas of slippery scree, the shattered stones that littered the sides of the dormant volcano above the tree line.

Alton climbed out of the Jeep. He checked his scabbard to make certain his sword was secure, grabbed his pack, and slung it over his shoulder. "Thanks, Ed." He glanced around, orienting himself. A harmless-looking pile of rocks lay beside the road.

Harmless now, but they were the remnants of the gargoyle that had become the avatar of a powerful demon. Eddy had destroyed the avatar with her singular act of bravery, but she'd missed the demon's soul and it had escaped back to Abyss. Unfortunately, it could still return to create havoc on Earth.

Alton shook his head. "Hard to believe this is the same place where we fought the demon-and almost lost."

Ed sighed. "I'll admit, I've never been so afraid in my life. For myself, for my friends-the image of that monster twisting Dax's body and throwing him to the ground still wakes me up at night. I never thought I'd see the boy alive again." He cleared his throat, wiped a hand over his eyes. "The truth, though? Mostly, Alton, I was afraid for my daughter. Her bravery astounds me, even now."

Alton reached out and shook Ed's hand. "We don't need to worry about Eddy. She's a lot tougher than she looks."

Breaking into laughter, Ed threw the Jeep into gear. "That she is, son. Now you get. I'm worried about Ginny. She doesn't know what we went through here, so she doesn't have any idea what she's up against. You go take care of that girl." He winked, turned the Jeep, and headed down the hill.

Alton watched until the Jeep disappeared into the forest. Then he started the long hike up the hill. The mountain might be the vortex, but there were only a couple of places where he could cross into the other dimensions and access the portal that would take him to Sedona.

Or the one that led to Lemuria.

No. He couldn't think about home. He'd made his choice when he helped Dax and Eddy escape from their Lemurian prison cell. He'd walked away from everyone and everything he'd known and loved his entire life, but he'd chosen for the greater good.

He wondered if his friend Taron had had any luck at all convincing the council to join the battle against demonkind. That was Alton's only hope of ever going back home. Taron could be persuasive, but were his powers of persuasion a match for the council's stubbornness?

The sun had moved to the west by the time Alton paused in front of a ma.s.s of tumbled boulders and knew he'd reached the portal. He wrinkled his nose against the stench of sulfur. There shouldn't be any sign of demons here, but their smell was all around him. That made no sense. He'd closed the portal to Abyss.

Unless they'd managed to open a new one.

Alton faced the lichen-covered rock, but before he stepped through, he removed his sword from his scabbard. As he wrapped his fingers around h.e.l.lFire's jeweled hilt, he realized how much the sword's sentience had changed things. He no longer felt alone-not when he had h.e.l.lFire beside him. Addressing the crystal blade, he asked, "Do you smell their stench as I do?"

The hilt vibrated in his hand. "I do," the sword answered. "I'm ready."

With a nod, Alton stepped through the portal, walking through what appeared to be solid rock. The dark cavern he entered glistened with the light from the various gateways leading to other dimensions: the green and turquoise that led to Atlantis, the gold and silver that would take him to Eden-and certain death should he attempt to pa.s.s into that hallowed land.

The portal glowing gold would take him home, to Lemuria, a land where he'd always been welcome. Now, were he to attempt to cross into Lemuria, he feared he faced death as surely as if he'd tried to enter Eden's sanctuary.

Facing Ginny Jones and a whole pa.s.sel of demonkind sounded a lot safer.

Alton turned his back on the gateway to his home world. The one that had once led to Abyss was still sealed shut. Why, then, did he smell the sulfuric stench of demons? Where were they coming from?

He held his glowing sword high and used the light h.e.l.lFire cast to search along the stone walls. A small portal, tucked into a nook toward the back of the cavern, glowed with the colors of a setting sun.

Sedona. He recognized the multicolored hues of red rock and blue skies, but swirling within the portal's depths he sensed something else.

Demonkind.

Demons had pa.s.sed this way, and not so long ago. Were they somehow making their way from Abyss to Sedona, and then north through the connected vortexes to Mount Shasta? He'd have to ask Eddy and Dax about that.