~ FIVE ~

DRIFTING IN AND OUT of consciousness, Jessie felt strange, as if she’d been drugged. Her head was pounding. A terrible pain. She was in danger. She knew she needed to wake up. She needed to protect herself. She panicked. Her heart beat far too fast and hard, painfully pounding in her chest. A foul odor burned her throat, filling her lungs, choking her. She was in danger.

Something dark was close, stalking her. No! It wasn’t just an evil presence approaching her. It was Wes. He’d found and taken her. She needed to get away. She needed to run. She fought to wake up. She struggled to open her eyes. Worsening bursts of pain stabbed at her skull. She feared her head was going to explode. Fighting to open her eyes increased the pain. Eventually, the pain wore her out. She stopped struggling, allowing herself to drift into an unconscious state.

 Ever since Jessie could remember, she had the ability to see things that weren’t visible and to hear things that weren’t audible. Some people called her a psychic. Many claimed that she was lucky. She didn’t think so. She viewed herself as an unfortunate recipient of an unwanted gift that couldn’t be returned or exchanged. She’d learned the hard way that some things were better off never being seen or heard.

At that moment, she regretted having the skill a thousand times more than ever before. She didn’t want to know Guss Eckhart was a monster. Her stomach rolled at the sight of him receiving praise and adoration from his followers as he stood at a pulpit made of human bones. Being able to see his true grotesque form and nature completely disintegrated her prior beliefs on what classified an utterly evil being.

“It’s entirely too obvious to miss.” She whispered. “How is it possible for all these people to be blinded to the fact that he’s a beast?”

“They fear death and eternal damnation. They believe he’s a god. They believe he is their only path to salvation.”

Shocked by the woman’s response, Jessie inhaled sharply as she turned to her left. “You can see me?”

“Of course.” The woman nodded.

“That isn’t possible. This is a dream…my dream.”

The woman’s lips slowly parted and curved upward to form a broad smile that lit up her eyes. “You’re not dreaming. You’ve been drugged. He knows why you are here.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You came to stop him.”

“No. I came to find my friend. She went missing a few weeks ago.”

“You need to come with me now.”

“I haven’t found her.”

“You won’t. Not yet.”

“Many of you have asked me why I have pity on humans.” The sound of Guss’ voice distracted her. “It’s simple. When I felt the enormity of your ancestors suffering I couldn’t abandon them. Their enemy wasn’t made up of flesh and blood. They had no hope of destroying the beast that hunted them with any weapon forged by human hands.”

The woman took her arm. “We need to leave now.”

“Wait.” Jessie kept her focus on Guss.

“Hearing a loud swoosh and a ground moving roar coming from above, I lifted my head to behold the miracle I created. An enormous dark figure above the tops of the trees. A dragon. Its wing span reached well over a hundred feet from one tip to the other. It consumed the beast with flames so hot that not a single ash remained of it. And yet, despite the intense heat, the ground and dense vegetation in the area didn’t show any sign of being scorched.”

The applause and screams that followed his speech were so loud and lasted for so long that Jessie covered her ears with her hands to protect them. 

He lifted his arms. “Enough!” His voiced thundered as if he’d shouted into a microphone. “This isn’t a time of jubilation! Bring the betrayer to me!”

“He plans to kill someone, doesn’t he?”

“You. He plans to kill you. You are the betrayer. We need to go now.”

Startled, Jessie gasped and opened her eyes. The nightmare had haunted her every time she closed her eyes for the last three years, but she would never get used to it. It was the single most terrifying moment of her life. Her head hurt badly. It felt as if her skull was being crushed in a vise. She gripped her head hard. Her stomached rolled as bile rose in her throat. Her vision was darkened and blurred. She closed her eyes for a few moments, taking slow and steady breaths, waiting for the pain and sickness to pass.

After a few minutes, she opened her eyes, looking up at the sunlight peeking through the treetops. She felt disoriented and groggy. A terrible pain on her right side reminded her of having her appendix removed. For a while, she stayed absolutely still, watching the leaves in the treetops rustle in the wind.

Finally, after several moments, she sat up and looked around. “Oh, this is nice. You’re too funny, Wes. You’re such a dirty rotten bastard. I can’t believe you dumped me off at a cemetery.”

She grabbed her backpack and stood up. Realizing her feet were bare, she looked down at them. “Why the hell did you take my shoes?”

She walked over to a plaque marker setting on top of a stone pedestal and read it. The graveyard was established in 1810. It was a creepy location. It was a long-forgotten cemetery in the middle of a forest. Luckily, she didn’t spook easily. She didn’t even believe in ghosts. Not really. And, besides, so what if they existed? She couldn’t imagine choosing to spend her afterlife hanging out at her gravesite with other spirits. The world was a huge place with more interesting places to haunt and entertaining people to harass.

Truthfully, it was very sad to think of the people buried beneath her feet.  They were once loved and grieved. But they’d been forgotten. Many of the tombstones were toppled over and buried beneath shrubs, weeds, branches, and fallen leaves. As for those still upright and clearly visible, most were weathered to the point of being completely unreadable.

It was partially surrounded by a three to four-foot-tall crumbling stone wall. She could’ve easily climbed over it but, to avoid damaging it further, she opted to walk across the cemetery and exit through the rusty iron gate.

***

In his dragon form, Tobias moved across the sky, scanning the area below, searching for any sign of Jessie. He would never give up. He had to find her. Failure wasn’t an option.

You won’t believe what I am looking at right now. Otaktay said.

He didn’t want to ask. He didn’t want to know, fearing it would be her. Fearing she might be dead. Another kill?

A human female in the old cemetery on the edge of your property.

Dead?

Not unless the dead stumble around and talk to themselves.

Show me.

Otaktay shared the image with him.

That’s her. Keep an eye on her. I’m close.

You’re sure she’s your mate? She looks pretty yummy. I was thinking about having a snack before the wolves surrounding her show up.

They’re hunting her? The wolves would pay with their lives for targeting her. Not one would leave the area alive.

I supposed that makes sense since they’re surrounding her. It looks like they’ve been hanging around for a few hours.

That’s odd.

Something is spooking them, but I can’t detect anything other than the woman. And blood. You’re right. She’s injured. I can’t see a wound. It must be hiding under her clothes. Do you want me to sneak and have a quick look-see?

Don’t you dare touch her. Moving too quickly for the human eye to see his descent, he tucked his wings close to his body and swooped down to glide just a few inches above the dense canopy of trees. Shifting into his human form, he landed in a crouch.

“I’m not fucking around with you. I seriously believe you need to work on your landing. Coming down that hard can’t be good for your knees at your age.”

“My knees are fine.”

“For now.”

“It’s a demon.” Tobias said.

“The woman?”

“No. The pack is being held back by a demon’s spell.”

“Obviously not a good one. I got pretty damn close to her.”

“It’s a protection spell. You meant her no harm.”

“That’s not true. I considered eating her. Don’t you think it’s odd? If the demon was hurting her, why would he bother to protect her from wolves?”

Not wanting to alert the other demon and wanting to identify him, Tobias began to unravel the spell. “I plan to find out before I kill him.” He turned to the west, lifting his face to the full force of the wind as the pack of rogues began to move closer.

“You’re drawing the slimy bastards in, aren’t you?” Otaktay asked.

“I removed the protection and I’m hiding my identity.”

“Sounds like a solid plan.”

“I’m also drawing the demon back. I need to deal with him right away.”

“Perfect.”

Tobias turned to face Otaktay. “Don’t worry. I have a plan.” He’d never been so distracted. Unable to concentrate.

“Really? Let’s hear it.”

“I’m going to use myself as bait.”

“It’ll never work. Being a demon spewed from the bowels of hell you possess an unpleasant smell.”

“I’m going to conceal my identity.”

“That’s a bad idea.”

“They have her scent. They’re hunting her. I need to kill them. They’ll scatter and wait for another opportunity to attack her if they realize a demon is with her.”

“I’m betting you’ll spend about two romantic minutes in the cemetery getting acquainted with her before you realize that’s a terrible idea.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Just let me know when you figure it out. I’m going to start picking the fuckers off.” Otaktay shifted into his saber-toothed tiger form and took off.

Tobias watched him for a few seconds. Let me know if you run across the demon.

Which one?

Let me know if you run across any demon.

Sure thing. Let me know the instant you’ve pulled your head out of your ass.

My plan is solid.

I wonder how many times your sweet little human mate has witness a big bad demon terminate rogues.

Damn it.

Don’t worry. I’ll do my best to keep them away from you.