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Warning - Unedited
Chapter Sixteen
We left the Grim Reaper frozen in the cemetery. Asher had performed a quick spell to hide his frozen form from any passersby, and we’d hightailed it back to Asher’s place in the same car that had taken us to the cemetery. Fortunately, I was still a little bit corporeal, but I was going to hate going full-ghosty again when Asher’s magic wore off.
Even this little taste of life made me desperate to get the whole thing back.
“Come on, we need to hurry.” Asher tore out of the back of the car.
I followed, hurrying after him.
The driver rolled down the window. “Want me to wait here, boss?”
“Yeah, thanks.” Asher pressed his hands to the doorframe of the entrance, his magic flashing green.
“Fixing your wards?” I asked.
“Which you broke earlier.” He shot me a look. “Yeah, making them stronger.”
I grinned and gave him a shrug. “What can I say? I’m powerful.”
“Good, because we’re going to need that power in a sec.”
“Hopefully not from me,” Nimsy said. “Because I’ve got a lady to see.”
I turned to him, shocked. “What?”
He shrugged. “I’ve got a personal life, you know.”
“Yeah, but… You’re leaving now?”
“She calls me Beast.”
“I call you Beast. Sometimes. And we might die, you can’t leave me in my time of need!”
“Hey, if I’m going to die, I want to see my woman first.”
My woman? I’d never heard my cat talk like this before. But… “Yeah, fair enough. Be back in thirty minutes.” I scratched his back one last time, enjoying the feel of his fur against my nearly transparent fingers. “Have fun, buddy.”
“Oh, I will.”
I grimaced. I did not need to imagine whatever he meant by that.
He turned to saunter off down the sidewalk, tail twitching jauntily, then looked back at me. “Don’t worry. I’ll return before shit goes down. I’ve always got your back.”
Hell yeah, he did. He’d pretty much saved my life after those Soul Suckers had gotten to me in the Blood Moon.
“You done?” Ashed asked.
I scowled at him. “Yeah. Give me a break.”
“We’ve got work to do. If you want to live, that is.”
“Oh, I want to live.” I followed the grumpy bastard into his house, making a point not to look at his butt.
Well, not to look at it a lot.
If these were the last of my earthly pleasures, I was going to enjoy them.
My gaze dropped to his butt again. We’d just had that amazing kiss…
Maybe he’d be up for a repeat?
No.
It wasn’t like we had time and I was nearly full ghost. That would make it way too weird.
Eyes on the prize, Cleo.
We went straight to his workshop, deviating only for Asher to grab an apple from the kitchen.
“How can you eat in these circumstances?” I asked.
“I’m not the one who’s about to die.” Despite his flippant words, there was worry in his eyes. It was almost like he was trying to pretend everything was normal when it so clearly wasn’t.
“Anyway, I have to eat.” He chomped into the apple and entered the workshop. “At least I’m eating on the go.”
“Whatever.”
Meurte trotted into the room. The little Chihuahua was wearing a tiny leather jacket with spikes on the sleeves. “I feel bad energy, homies.”
Asher looked at him. “What kind?”
Meurte shuddered. “Dead energy.”
I pointed to myself. “Dead girl here, remember? It could be me.”
“It’s not you, Chica. It’s something else.”
“Then we should move fast,” Asher said. “Muerte, you keep a lookout, okay?”
“On it, boss.” The little dog trotted to the window and leapt up on the sill, staring out into the night.
I turned to inspect the workshop. Big tables filled the middle, and the shelves that lined the walls were stocked full of weird shit. Bottles of colorful potions, crystals, books, and a disturbing number of skulls.
“Cleo, get those potions.” Asher pointed to a collection of small bottles in the corner. “It’s time to practice being my apprentice.”
I saluted, then turned and went to the shelves, piling the bottles into my arms and bringing them back to Asher. “I’m going to be the best apprentice you ever saw.”
He raised a brow. “You’re going to have to work hard, then.”
“Oh, I’d be happy to.” At whatever he wanted. I ran my gaze up and down his strong form. These may be my last few minutes with a body—I wanted to make them count. There wasn’t time for anything real, but I could flirt.
“Stir this.” Asher pushed a bowl full of green liquid toward me, completely oblivious to my flirting.
I scowled at him and grabbed it.
Focus, moron.
The reaper was breathing down my neck, and he would be pissed when he woke up. Drag-my-ass-to-the-real-death pissed.
I stirred the potion while Asher gathered some crystals. Scented smoke wafted off of it, carrying the smell of dirt and grass and a fresh breeze.
“So, what’s this about your lineage?” I asked, remembering what Lilura had said. Asher was apparently uber powerful, according to her. More so than I’d realized. And he had staff.
He shrugged. “Got parents. Like everyone.”
“Not everyone has a lineage. I certainly don’t. I’m a no one.”
His gaze met mine. “I’d hardly say that.”
I quirked a brow at him. “Are you being nice to me?”
“I’m always nice to you. Except for when you’re being a pain in the ass.”
“Which is always, I assume.”
“If the shoe fits.”
He said no more about his lineage, but if I survived tonight, I’d get it out of him eventually.
After a few moments, Asher gestured to me. “Hand it over.”
I pushed the bowl toward him and he lined the crystals up around it. Energy thrummed in the air once they were all in place. He set the briefcase on the table and flicked it open, revealing the glowing crystal.
I couldn’t help but stare, riveted by so much power.
If this thing fell into the wrong hands…
I shook my head, driving away the concerns. One thing at a time, and the first thing needed to be me coming back to life.
“We need to feed our magic into the potion,” he said. “So that it will protect us specifically.”
“How?”
He held out his hand. I raised a brow and placed my hand in his. Warmth flooded my body, racing up my arm. But it was harder to feel him now.
I frowned, staring at my nearly transparent hand.
I was almost full ghosty again.
Screw that. I wasn’t going to get sad, I was going to fix this shit.
I sucked in a deep breath as Asher moved my hand toward the bowl. With his hand over mine, we dipped our fingers into the liquid. He didn’t have to be holding my hand for this, but he’d chosen to. The knowledge of that made warmth rush through me.
“Focus on your magic,” he murmured. “Imaging feeding it into the potion.”
I had no idea how to do that, so I winged it. I closed my eyes and imagined my power flowing from my arm and into the potion.
“That’s it.” Asher’s warm voice sounded closer.
Magic tingled at my fingertips. I opened my eyes to see it sparking brighter and brighter. There was a brief flash of light and heat on my hand, then a blast of magical power rolled over me.
I gasped and staggered backward. “Whew.” I looked at Asher. “That’s freaking crazy.”
He nodded. “I’m a pro, what can I say?”
He let go of my hand and I could barely feel his fingers leaving mine. My touch sensation was going. Tears pricked my eyes—or they would have, if I’d had a body still. My time was up.
“I’ll do this bit,” he said, his gaze flicking over me, no doubt taking in my transparent state.
I nodded as he picked up the bowl of potion and poured it over the crystal. The gleaming stone absorbed it quickly, appearing totally unchanged.
“You sure it worked?” I asked.
“Trust the master.”
I smirked. “Well—”
A bone chilling cold raced through me then, cutting off my words.
Muerte began to bark his head off. “Soul suckers!”
Fear slammed into me making my ghosty legs go weak.
“Run, Muerte!” Asher shouted. “Get your ass out of here!”
Muerte leapt down from the windowsill and hauled tiny Chihuahua ass out of the room, his little toenails clicking on the wood.
It all happened in a fraction of a second. Through the window, I could see a Soul Sucker get lodged in the ward that protected Asher’s house. Just like before, when I’d first broken into Asher’s place. The creature’s gelatinous form glowed, and his gaping mouth opened wide, a horrifying chasm full of sharp fangs. He was stuck firmly in the glowing ward. Icy cold chilled me straight through.
Another Soul Sucker slammed into the first one from behind. There was a blast of white light as their magic combined, and the first monster lunged through the barrier and into the room. Just like that.
Shit.
The second became lodged in the ward, but it was trying ferociously to wiggle out.
Asher lunged for the briefcase with the crystal and slammed it shut.
As he was clicking the latches closed, I thrust out my hand and called upon my magic. It swelled inside of me, and I forced it toward the monster. The magic blasted out of me as a bright pink light. The electric current slammed into the Soul Sucker, making him shudder and hesitate.
“Let’s go!” he shouted.
We spun and ran toward the door passing a shelf full of potions and Asher grabbed a blue one in his free hand. Fast as a whip, he turned around and hurled it at the nearest Soul Sucker. It slammed into the creature’s gelatinous chest, exploding and coating him in red goo. The Soul Sucker froze solid.
“It won’t last long,” Asher said.
We were nearly to the door. I looked back and spotted the second monster dislodge itself from the ward. It shot into the room, mouth gaping and arms outstretched. The horrible memory of being pinned to the ground by these beasts flashed in my mind.
No way in hell I’d let that happen again.
I followed Asher’s lead and grabbed a couple of red potions while on the run, turning around to hurl them at the Soul Sucker who was gaining on us.
“You don’t even know what those do!” Asher shouted.
The potion vials that I’d just thrown at the Soul Sucker exploded against his gelatinous chest, making the creature turn an opaque dark gray. The creature stilled.
“That one made him slow down!” I said.
“Not for long.”
As we passed through the door, I looked back over my shoulder. Asher was right. The creature was already moving. So was the first one. They burst forward, arms outstretched toward us.
“They’re moving!” I shouted.
Asher turned back to the door, throwing out his hand to send a blast of green magic toward the Soul Sucker who chased us. It slammed into both monsters, throwing them backward. Then he touched the door frame and muttered a few words. A green glowing barrier appeared in the doorway.
“Won’t buy us much time.” Asher backed away from the door. “I’m tapped out from earlier. Need to recoup my magic.”
He spun, and I followed. Together, we sprinted from the building pumping our legs as fast as we could.
“What about Muerte?” I demanded.
“He’s long gone. That dog knows how to clear out.”
We sprinted to the car, which sat idling in the driveway. Cold rolled over my back, and I looked behind me to see the Soul Suckers appearing in the doorway. Asher wrenched the car door open and we dived into the backseat. As I was about to close the door, a little black blur streaked toward me along the ground.
“Wait for me!” Nimsy shouted.
I held the door open just long enough for him to leap into the car after us.
“Go!” Asher shouted.
The driver slammed his foot to the gas and the car peeled out of the drive, running over a low bush and swinging into the street.
I watched, horrified, as the Soul Suckers raced toward us. I could feel the cold through the car door.
The car peeled away, tires squealing as I was nearly thrust into Asher’s lap. The Soul Suckers drifted after us, but even they weren’t as fast as a car going seventy. I watched as they disappeared into the distance.
“Oh my god, that was close.” I looked at Asher.
“No kidding.”
“You get the potion?” Nimsy asked.
“Barely. You have a good time?” I asked my cat.
He nodded and looked like he wanted to make a joke, but he didn’t. With death hanging over our heads, it was hard even for Nimsy to crack jokes.
Asher’s phone rang and I swiveled toward him, watching as he answered.
He nodded a few times and spoke a few quiet words, then hung up and looked up at me. “That was Lilura. We have a meeting place for the fae.”
I eyed his bloody clothes. “And you still need to change.”
He shrugged. “The last thing I care about right now are my looks.”
***Leia will send out chapter 17 next week, so be sure you're on her mailing list! Click here.
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