Dark Flames (Blood Bound Book 6)

Chapter 4

Myra had just put the graveyard back to sleep when her necromancy was answered by a very powerful demon.

The other PIT members present abruptly crumbled to the ground, knocked unconscious by an unseen force. Zachary had still been young, with only a few demon killings under his belt and quickly took refuge behind a tombstone… uncertain of what else to do. The power coming off the demon was something he’d never felt before and he knew it had to be one of the few master demons that still roamed the earth.

After a few moments of nothing happening, he gathered his courage and peeked around the edge of the grave marker.

The shadows in front of Myra were writhing, almost breathing with anticipation. That was when a tall handsome man with long silver hair much like Myra’s appeared from the darkness. Even with the distance separating them, Zachary could see the way the demon gazed at Myra… like he wanted to devour her. The demon then approached the necromancer who had just laid his zombies and ghosts to rest.

The panic that filled Zachary’s mind overwhelmed him and fire leapt from his hands in anger. He stood up from his hiding place, desperately rushing to save the woman he was supposed to be protecting.

Zachary hadn’t wanted the demon to hurt Myra and had every intention of rescuing her even if he had to burn the entire graveyard to the ground doing it. However, the demon had something else in mind. He slowly turned his head and locked his startling silver eyes with Zachary's.

Much to Zachary’s horror, his fire went out… so had his control over his own body. Although he’d fought it with everything in him, he still hit the ground, unable to move or speak. The first thing that went through his mind was that he was still conscious… unlike the other men littering the graveyard, and he had a perfect view of what was about to happen.

Myra had let the demon touch her… appearing to welcome it as she smiled seductively and placed her hand on his chest. She’d even called the demon by name… Deth.

Clothing was quickly removed and Zachary watched as the demon laid claim to Myra’s body. They’d made love against the tombstone behind them multiple times before the demon had whispered something in her ear making her lock loving eyes with him. They had shared one more kiss before the demon vanished into the night.

Zachary watched as Myra had slowly turned her head and looked at him… she’d known he was watching the whole time. Without a word she’d gathered her clothing and gotten dressed then waited for the rest of the team to gain consciousness. Zachary had regained use of his body after only a couple minutes and sat up, remaining where he was… as far away from Myra as he could get without leaving and silently stared.

She still looked just as lovely and even wore a soft smile. He didn’t understand… he didn’t understand any of it.

When the others awoke, they had no memory of what attacked them and, when asked, Myra had simply explained that all was quiet and the ‘attack’ had been nothing more than the backlash of power from returning the dead to their grave.

Zachary never repeated what he’d seen that night to another soul. However, after that, his trust in Myra had been shattered. He’d even made it a point to request other jobs so he would not have to go near her.

He’d also done his research on the demon she’d met in the graveyard and discovered that he’d been right… Deth was an ancient demon. The demon could have killed them that night, all of them including Myra if he’d wanted because he had killed in the past… killed many.

Myra was obviously playing for both teams… and that was a line none of them ever dared to cross. He found it mildly ironic that she’d met her end at the hands of a demon… or so the story had been told. Apparently, crossing that line had dire consequences.

Zachary refused to feel the sadness that tried to creep across his chest at her death… the last thing PIT needed was a traitor walking among them.

Pulling himself from the past, Zachary watched Tiara move across the large room below, listening to the India bells around her ankle jingle quietly and wondering how much like her mother she was. She could have been her mother’s doppelganger… just a younger version. She resembled a child in a woman’s body, completely innocent of the violence around her yet more than aware of it at the same time.

She possessed a golden tan, flawless skin, and the wide eyes of an innocent child. That innocence was somehow tainted by full pouty lips that made him want to feel them against his own. As he gazed at her, he realized he was wrong… her mother’s beauty didn’t hold a candle to Tiara’s. Just watching her made him feel like a stalker but instead of backing off he looked closer.

Her way of dressing made her look like she’d been taken straight from the caravan of a gypsy clan that had been lost in time. It was the same way Myra used to dress. He assumed it was tradition within that line of necromancers.

Tonight, her shirt was little more than a black square scarf folded into a triangle and tied around her chest, leaving her sides and back bare to show her temptingly flawless skin. Her skirt was dangerously low on her hips but covered everything else clear down to her ankles.

Doors started opening all around and people appeared from all corners of the castle, crossing the main room under him and he frowned at the distraction. Zachary’s cell phone went off and he took it out to read Storm’s text message.

‘Meeting in Ren’s office, bring Jason.’

“How the hell am I supposed to do that, use smelling salts?” Zachary muttered putting his phone away. Looking back toward the medical room, he blinked in surprise when the door opened and Jason poked his head out in the hall.

He c****d an eyebrow wondering if Storm spent every day popping in and out of existence to make things happen on the right time line. Just thinking about how long a day could stretch for the time traveler gave him a headache. But then again, if something was done wrong, couldn’t Storm always go back and fix it if he wanted?

“Glad to see you’re awake,” Zachary said with a smirk. “I trust you slept nightmare free?”

Jason came the rest of the way out of the room and slowly approached Zachary. “Yeah, I feel a lot better now that the death mark is gone.” He looked down at the activity below them and asked, “What’s going on?”

Zachary threw his arm around Jason’s shoulders and steered him toward the stairs. “Wanna see something really cool?”

Jason shrugged, “Sure, why not?”

“Good,” Zachary smirked, “you’re presence has been requested by our boss… your first official PIT meeting.”

Jason c****d an eyebrow. “But I’m not a member of PIT.”

Zachary smiled mischievously, “It’s either join us, or suddenly come down with a huge case of amnesia.”

Jason pulled away from Zachary with a worried frown. Holding his hands up in surrender, he nodded, “Lead the way.”

When Zachary laughed and took off down the stairs, Jason had no choice but to follow… though he did so at a safe distance.

*****

“I’ve got something for you.” Storm said and took out a small USB drive from his shirt pocket.

Ren took it from him and plugged it into the computer. He smirked when he saw the same map he’d created… only this one was more updated. Where the original map had only a few blips on it focusing on the centralized power recorded, this map resembled a child’s Lite-Brite on speed. Different colored lights now lit up every inch of the city and were extending outward toward the slums, the preserve, and even the beaches… they were everywhere now.

“Where did you get this?” Ren asked in awe, slowly rising from his chair in the process to get a better look at the huge screen on the wall.

Storm looked down at his nails and examined them with great interest, “You.”

Before Ren could say anything, the doors of his office suddenly opened and some of the PIT members who had filtered back to the castle walked in. Ren felt the accumulated power in the room and fought to keep his own power under control. Though his face was outwardly expressing boredom, inside he was almost panicking.

Reaching out for the blocking power he’d felt earlier, Ren latched onto it and felt his world stabilize again. He nodded at Zachary as the other man entered and joined him and Storm at the desk.

Zachary let his gaze slowly filter across the people, quickly skipping the area Tiara was standing in just to prove to himself he could do it. It was harder than he thought. When his gaze swung back to her, he noted her flinch and she quickly looked from him toward Storm. Zachary frowned and crossed his arms over his chest wondering why she’d reacted to him like that.

Jason looked around for Angelica and was disappointed when he didn’t see her among the exotic looking group. He quickly drew back against the wall swearing he’d just seen a guy teleport into the room. One second the spot beside him had been empty… and the next it wasn’t.

Guy immediately sought out Tiara with his gaze and tried to think of the best way to approach her with his plan. He’d just spent the last couple of hours tearing his and Carley’s room apart trying to find a spell for what he had in mind.

During his grief-fed rage, he had remembered Carley stumbling across it in one of her ‘acquisitions’ as she’d called the stolen scrolls. The two had shared a bit of amusement at the time, believing they would never have a need to bring the dead back to life.

The spell was an old one that had been transcribed from an ancient text… a way to bring the dead back. In this case however, it would only tie the spirit to the human realm while it remained attached to the spirit realm. In short, Carley would become a ghost.

Guy knew there was another part of the magic that would allow Carley to return to her body but you had to have the power of necromancy for that to work. Tiara was the only one who could help him bring Carley back… it would take Tiara’s power to bond his sister’s soul back to her body.

Tiara felt eyes on her and looked up wondering if it was Zachary. Instead, she found Guy staring longingly at her. She calmly met his gaze knowing what was going through his mind. She’d heard about his sister’s death and hoped that he would change his mind. Her mother had often been approached by the loved ones of those who had been killed in the line of duty. She’d have to avoid him for a while… at least until he calmed down.

“Glad all of you could make it,” Storm said once the doors were closed. “I’ve got good news and bad news.” He nodded toward the huge computerized map on the wall, “That’s the bad news.” There were several murmurs within the crowd.

“What’s the good news?” Trevor frowned from the doorway as he entered the room.

“The good news is that the most powerful demons are smart. They just made it back into this world and they’re not stupid so they’re not going to out themselves right away by going on killing sprees.

In the past, the master demons liked to control humans… not kill them. They will set up shop first and try to claim a territory. My hope is that some of them will even kill each other in order to stake their claim on an area and it will narrow down the playing field.”