Chapter
Kady had her hand on Titian shoulder. He led her around the side of the metal hangar building. Russet and Dunn sandwiched her in from behind. They had goggles on, techy guns raised, and grim faces that were so focused she actually felt safe.
None of them said a word, communicating only in hand signals. When Titian jogged, she jogged, when he crouched, she crouched, and promised herself to start doing yoga, Pilates, and kung-fu when this was all over.
Titian glanced back at her from their hiding spot behind an open door. He jerked his chin and indicated with two fingers toward a filing cabinet.
She looked, but didn’t see anything. Dunn popped his goggles off and placed them over her eyes. A full-grown lion, big ole mane and everything, crouched next to the filing cabinet.
“Crikies,” she whispered.
Dunn pressed his lips to her ear and said, “Fedele.”
As if that explained anything.
Titian moved their group across the darkened hanger to meet up with the lion. When they got there, the lion shoved the filing cabinet aside with its hip, revealing a trapdoor, not a whole lot wider than her butt.
“Black is down there?”
Dunn covered her mouth with his fingers, shushing her.
Titian dropped into the hole, sliding down a ladder, all sexy fireman style. Kady was no fireman. She stepped on the ladder and went down one rung, then two. They’d never get to Black’s soul at this rate.
She took a deep breath, channeled the spirit of She-ra, Wonder Woman, and Princess Leia and jumped.
She landed right on her ass on a concrete floor about six feet down. Ouch. That was going to bruise.
Titian lay sprawled on the floor a few feet away, breathing, but unconscious. Oh, no. Had his soul been stolen?
“Russet, Dunn, hel—” Before she finished screaming for Black’s brothers the trap door slammed shut and she heard the sound of weapons being fired.
“Hello, witch.”
Agent Douchecanoe stood across from her in a weird space that was half maintenance room and half cave. She expected a Snidely Whiplash evil laugh from him, but he stepped out of the darkness and stared her down.
“You saved me a lot of time and energy coming to me.”
Several spectral warriors hovered around him, but none of them were the right one. The hatred and animosity flowed from them, filling the room. Only her light inside kept her from buckling under the darkness.
She stood, rubbed the dirt off her pants, trying to stall while she came up with a plan. “Yeah, I didn’t do it for you. Where’s Black?”
“There is no Black, unless you mean his now black soul.”
That she would never believe. “His soul is beautiful and strong and mine.”
Agent Douchecanoe flung his arm, pointing to her and a wave of spectral warriors screeched and flew toward her, but not fast like before. They weren’t there for her soul.
She threw up her shield, pushing it out to a good yard around her, encompassing Titian too. The asshole stared at where she’d been, invisible to him now.
She had maybe ten seconds before he figured out she hadn’t moved. Her magic had thrown Russet and Dunn to the ground when she’d blasted them in the canyon, but they hadn’t been hurt.
The spectrals barraged her shield, tearing at it, each time losing a limb to its effects. So many attacking all at the same time felt like she was being punched with spiky brass knuckles.
She brought balls of soul powered light into each of her hands, planning to fend them off. If she flung them now, they would evade like that had before. What else could she do?
A spark of a plan formed in her mind. She would need them to get much closer.
The agent approached her shield, still trying to see through it to her. “You and your kind are standing in the way of progress, witch.”
Each bite of the spectrals to her shield decreased her power, but also their own. That power had to be going somewhere. “How is this progress, you asshat?”
Finally figuring out where she was, Agent Douchecanoe strode across the room like he owned it. Maybe he did. He wasn’t scared of her even a little bit with the spectrals at his beck and call. Their scratching and clawing at her shield grew harder, hurting her deeper.
“The spectral warriors will allow us to have dominance in the galaxy. We will be able to control the resources and the people. We may be behind in the space race in technology, but we won’t be for long.”
He reached out and touched the shimmering wall of her shield. His fingers skimmed it and Kady felt something different. Something she could harness.
“We’ve made a few connections since Roswell, ones that will help us eliminate these damn Space Rangers. America will become the superpower in space that it is here on Earth.”
Oh. My. Gerrrrd. What a dumbass. But, a dumbass with a soul. Even if he didn’t know how to use it properly. But, she did. She reduced her shield’s range to have the space, drawing the spectrals in, hoping the agent would follow. They did, and redoubled their attacks. Scratched filled with blood appeared on her arms and neck. They stung and she almost pushed them all back again.
She had to get them closer though. Centimeter by centimeter she drew them all in, talking to as a distraction both to them and herself.
“Are you for real? You’re doing this for America? There’s a whole entire Universe out there.”
That’s it, a little bit closer. She could feel the light of his soul, scarily dim. But, there was some. With each inch they gained, the burns to his skin intensified. Much more and she’d be on fire.
“Don’t be stupid, the Universe has always been there, but with the alliances we’ve made, now it’s ours for the taking.”
How did one make alliances with hatred and evil? Probably why this guy’s soul was so dim. A little more. Please, Universe, don’t let her collapse before they got to her.
“Either you’re with us, or you’re against us, witch. I’ve seen what your powers can do, how you can interact with the spectral force. Join Task Force Omega, and you’ll be a key player in keeping America strong.”
His soul wasn’t enough. She needed more. The only one she’d ever drawn on was Black’s. Agent Douchecanoe’s felt slightly slimy and was hard for her to work with.
The spectral’s souls floating around her, beating at her, had no light. She couldn’t get anything put pain and despair from them.
She examined the horrible beings looking for one in particular. Titian’s wasn’t there. Which meant he was still alive with an intact soul.
“I don’t think so. You’re a bully, your agency is a bully. I don’t like bullies.”
He pulled something out of his pocket and clasped it in his hand. “I like that. Bully. Suits me.”
She reached out and found a soul that was soft like silk, almost slippery, but that burned hot and bright.
Yes. Kady threw gratitude out into the universe and drew Titian’s soul out in swirls of orange and cream.
The balls of light in her hands grew bright, then faltered for a moment. A slash cut through the shield, hitting her right over her heart. One more hit like that, and she was toast.
“You’re the stupid one if you think you can control the spectrals without losing your own soul.
He laughed like she’d just told the most hilarious joke ever. “I don’t control the Spectrals. Someone else does that. But, she could use your help. Your powers are too valuable for us not to possess.”
It was now, or never.
“Your spectrals, and your boss can kiss my curvy ass. I’m getting my mate back.” Kady dropped her shield and drug all the power and light around the spectrals. The orbs she created were slow to move, but they bubbled through the air and divided. She encased one spectral while another lashed out at her, knocking her to her knees.
She reached inside, to the place no one, not even Black had ever touched. It was the place she kept the truest part of herself, the one that wanted to be a warrior and a lover and shining light for the world.
Kady tapped into that most authentic piece of her soul and added its power to this battle.
She was a warrior.
Each spectral was sucked into a bubble of light. Their shadows shrunk, cowering and faded to nothing more than the shadow of a rat.
Agent Douchecanoe recoiled and stumbled, first putting his hand over his heart, staring at the dark green swirls coming off his skin.
“What are you doing to me, you bitch?” He held his clasped hand out and Black’s soul ember dropped and dangled. It glowed like a star in the sky.
Kady reached out for it. That was hers and this guy was defiling it just by touching it.
He grasped the pendant in his hand and closed his eyes. Sweat beaded on his forehead and Black’s spectral warrior rose beside him, vibrating with hatred and dark power.
“Black.” A terrible sadness rushed over Kady, smashing against her, dragging her own soul into darkness.
Agent Douchecanoe thrust his fist forward and the spectral warrior that was Black charged at her, screaming louder the closer it got.
The bitter taste of fear blistered the back of her throat. She pushed it down and closed her eyes. She called up that power inside, the part that was the lover, that the soul of her true love brought to the surface.
She wrapped the charging warrior in a field of it, stopping him mere centimeters from her.
“Black, are you in there? Can you hear me?”
It screamed and screeched, lashing out at her. So much pain prickled across their connection that it stole her breath away.
“Fool, it can’t understand you, they are stupid barely conscious bastards.”
Kady shot her hand out, releasing one of the spectrals. It charged the agent and engulfed him. His gray green soul rose from his chest and his body dropped to the floor. The spectral didn’t relent, continuing to scratch and pull and bite until a fine dusting of ash was all that was left of Agent Douchecanoe and his soul.
Before she could envelop the remaining spectral warrior, it streaked past her and through the rock wall of the cave, disappearing.
The cord and pendant that contained Black’s soul ember sat on the ground next to the ash. Kady crawled across the floor and picked it up. The golden fire inside was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen.
She slipped the cord around her neck. The pendant fell between her breasts, resting over her heart. A warmth like a fire on a cold winter’s night pooled inside of her and her skin glowed with light and heat.
The trapped spectrals shrieked, cowering from her light.
All except one.
Black’s spectral warrior stared transfixed on her and the light emanating from her, lighting up the room.
The words of a spell whispered into her mind. She held the pendant in her open hand.
“I am yours and you are mine. Together, forever, will we shine. The ember of your soul, over my heart will lay. Come and be with me now, in your heart I will stay.”
Black’s soul pulsed with a luminescence, fluctuating from and empty dark absence of light, to purple, then blue, green, to yellow, then back to the rich golden tones that matched his skin. She pulled him into the pendant, barely containing all the light inside.
“Kady?” Titian propped himself up on and elbow and looked around at the fiery orbs of light containing the remains of the spectrals. “Fucking hell, woman. Is that my soul magic?”
She nodded. The orbs swirled and the orange light that was the part of his soul she’d borrowed for the battle danced and jumped across the room and back into Titian’s body.
The form of his fox shimmered and then receded. “Fates above. Glad you’re on our team.”
“I have his soul, Titian. Can you move? We need to get to Black.”
“Yeah, I can, but how is the question. We aren’t going back out the same way we came in.” He stood and pointed to the tunnel they’d dropped down. The metal was mangled and in some parts melted to the side of the wall.
“I don’t remember doing that.”
“No, that’s the effects of a pulse grenade. Looks like the Barrett boys had quite a battle while we were down here. I don’t know what we’ll find up top.”
A rumble began on one side of the cave and rocks fell from the ceiling. Titian grabbed her and pulled her back. “Take cover.”
They ducked and crouched next to the nearest wall, and the room shattered. Light streamed in from the outside and a full-size tank crashed into the room.
Russet and Dunn stood on the sides, weapons at the ready. Another man, built like a god with blond waves of hair rode on top. He must be Fedele, the lion.
“Nice timing dickheads. Kady already saved the day. Where the fuck did you get a tank?”
Russet jumped down and rushed to Kady’s side. “Did you find Black?”
She nodded and smiled, grasping the ember in her hand.
“Then let’s get you to Magic. Herbie?”
In a blink, Kady’s old red and white pickup truck appeared where the tank had been. The guys dropped down into the truck bed.
“I seriously have got to get me a Herbie,” Dunn said shaking his head.
“What about those guys?” Titian asked, indicating over his shoulder with his thumb, pointing toward the trapped specks of spectrals.
“I’m pretty sure those cages will hold them until we are away. I can’t hold them forever, but long enough.”
Kady climbed into the front seat and didn’t even have to turn the ignition. Herbie took them out to the hangar and parked next to the bear’s ship.
They were all safely inside and airborne again within moments. They couldn’t get to Magic fast enough for Kady. The hilly land and scrub brush flew by in a blur. They crossed a small lake and a river where she swore she saw a couple of dragons. They must be close.
The was nothing on the horizon, then in an instant, the town appeared. Russet came in for a landing several hundred yards from the nearest building.
Black waited for her, standing at the edge of town. Lacey and Frost were by his side.
Kady pushed at the door controls, sliding them open before the ship touched down. The wind blew her hair and she hit the ground running, needing to be with Black as soon as she could.
Herbie, in his spaceship broom form swooped her up and dropped her a few feet away from him. She stood there for a few breaths. What if this didn’t work?
She had his soul, but could she get it back inside of his body, and would he be the same man she’d fallen in love with?
“Good luck,” Lacey whispered. She grabbed Frost’s hand and stepped away.
“Black.” He looked at her, like a child or a puppy when its name is called. “Lower your head, let me slip this around your neck.”
He did as he was told and Kady placed the pendant over his head. She helped him to stand up straight again and prayed for his soul to reunite with his body.
Nothing happened.
“Please universe, please put my heart back together again.” Kady placed her hand over Black’s heart, pressing the ember into his skin. It glowed beneath her hand, but nothing more.
“Black,” she whispered, “you listen to me, now. I was lost and alone until you crashed into me. You helped me find the power living inside of me. I know it’s there without you coaxing it up with your kisses and your love, but I want to share it with you.”
Had the ember grown brighter or was it only Kady’s own magic, or wishful thinking?
“Come back to me, Black. Share my life, be my love, I’ll give you my soul in return. Come back to me.”
She pulled Black’s head down to hers, touching her forehead to his, then a kiss to his lips.
He was soft and warm, then the place where they touched grew hot, tingling, burning, scorching, but not in pain, but in pleasure.
Black wrapped his arms around her, pushing his tongue into her mouth, sucking at her lips, pulling at her soul.
“Kady?” he whispered her name.
Nothing had ever sounded as joyful and sweet.