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Within seconds, we were all on our feet and facing our opponents, and I suddenly knew just who the hell they were, and why we couldn’t fight them.
Chapter 11
“Don’t attack!” I frantically waved the others back. “Retreat. Get out of their line of fire.” I raced behind the nearest cedar, hoping to hell everybody was behind me. I leaned against the tree, shaking. The others were right on my heels. As soon as I was sure they were out of danger, too, I motioned for Shade to watch our backs.
“Are you hurt?” I asked Delilah as Keo took a look at her burns.
“Yeah, they sting, but the burns are superficial. What’s going on? Why did you tell us to get out of there?” Delilah was digging her blade into the tree.
“Because those people are some of the witches from the Aleksais Psychic Network. I recognize a few from seeing them in Mystic Charms. We can’t attack them—they’re under a spell, or brainwashed, or something like that.”
A thought occurred to me, and I darted a quick look back around the tree trunk, hoping to see Faerman’s wife, but she was nowhere among the group as far I could see. Couldn’t have it easy for once, could we?
I leaned against the tree. “So what do we do? We can’t attack them, even if they attack us.”
“I agree.” Delilah frowned. “Is there a way to break whatever spell they’re under? To free them from whatever is controlling them?”
“No, because we have no clue of how they’re being influenced. It might be a spell, but it also might be simple brainwashing techniques. Or maybe…some sort of psychic leech connected to them? We really have no way of knowing without capturing one of them to find out. And considering they seem to be wielding magic beyond what most FBH pagans and witches can work, we’d be in danger if we tried.” I bit my lip.
Morio crossed his arms. “Well, we can’t just stay here the rest of the day. What about that gray orb? Any clue as to what it is?”
Shade stepped to the side. “I’ll see what I can find out.” But after a moment, he let out an exasperated noise. “Not enough shadow for me to work in, damn it. I was going to shadow-walk over there, but for once the sun is out and there aren’t enough areas in the shade for me to manage it.”
“Let me take a look on the astral.” Vanzir vanished before we could say anything. I hoped to hell he could find something. It sucked to be stumped like this. If we could just take the witches down, we’d have no problem, but we were the good guys. And good guys didn’t take out innocent pawns.
A moment later, Vanzir reappeared. He looked shaken. “Okay, so look over there and tell me what you see now.”
I glanced back around the tree trunk. The zombies had reached the line of witches but instead of attacking them, they were walking toward the gray mass and…and what the hell? They were disappearing into it. As each zombie walked into the blob, there was a spark of light and it vanished. The human shield was standing there, staring across the drive, waiting for us to return.
More confused than ever, I stepped back. “Um…guys, take a look. I have no clue as to what’s going on. Is the thing an illusion?”
Vanzir shook his head. “That orb is no illusion. And on the astral plane? It’s very much alive and growing. Be right back.” Once again, he vanished. We waited until he reappeared. There was nothing else we could do.
“Okay, here’s the thing. Every time a zombie walks into that creature? It eats it and absorbs the energy. My guess is that—whatever that thing is—it’s eating dinner. I just hope whoever’s holding its leash isn’t going to drop those witches into the mix.” Vanzir looked a little queasy.
“Can you get to it from the astral?” I looked at him. I knew that Vanzir’s powers had returned, albeit somewhat twisted. And the Triple Threat had something to do with it.
He gave me a long look. With his Jareth-via-David-Bowie’s spiky haircut and gaunt face, and the kaleidoscope of colors that whirled in his eyes, Vanzir gave off a haunting, edgy presence. The dream-chaser demon and I had a convoluted history and an odd bond that neither of us had asked for.
“I might be able to. In fact, we all might want to approach it from the astral, considering that we don’t have many other options.” He glanced around. “Roz can take you over to the astral but only one at a time. I can hop over there but can’t take anybody. Shade?”
Shade let out a sigh. “It’s better if I don’t carry living beings with me, unless they are connected to the Netherworld in a strong way, but…we can give it a go. I warn you, though, it will have an effect on whoever I take with me.”
Morio shrugged. “I’m youkai…I doubt it will bother me too much. Take me, while Roz takes Camille and then Delilah. Vanzir, you wait here with Delilah till Rozurial comes back for Delilah. With Camille and me over there, at least we can work our magic together if need be.”
With a shrug, Shade agreed. “If you’re willing to chance it, I’ll take you.”
“Whatever we’re going to do, let’s get moving. We can’t wait around here much longer. Keo, go back to Chase—tell him to keep his men back. Tell him what we’re doing and that we’ll return as soon as we can. If he doesn’t hear from us in an hour, let Smoky know what’s going on.”
The werewolf nodded and took off, running back down the street. Once he looked to be safely away, I moved over to Roz, who arched his eyebrows in a joking leer. I grinned back at him, then leaned in. He opened his arms and I pressed against his chest, which was extremely lumpy thanks to the multitude of weapons he had hidden under there.
“Dude, you are the most uncomfortable hug I’ve had in ages.” I wrapped my arms around him, and he enfolded me in his embrace.
“Try it when I’m naked,” he whispered, but before I could smack him, we shifted into the Ionyc Seas, and the familiar sleepiness began to claim me. I closed my eyes, secure in Rozurial’s arms, as the heavy drag of interdimensional traveling began to wear on me.
A moment—or a lifetime—later, we set down and I opened my eyes. A misty plain spread out before us, where I could see vague shapes representing the physical bodies of the trees and structures and people back on the physical. The tree behind which we were hiding was glowing wildly—its spirit was vibrant and tuned into magic.
I stepped to the side and peered around the “trunk” to see what Vanzir had been talking about. Sure enough, behind the astral bodies of the people forming the human shield, I saw a brilliant, shimmering circular being—only the colors were chaotic and wild, and it felt bloated and squishy from here. Dark forms—glowing so faintly that I knew they had to be the zombies—were making their way to the thing, and every time one of them stepped into the creature, a spark flared and the blob grew stronger.
