Time Untime (Dark-Hunter #21) - Page 8
Ren braced himself as he felt the steel claws of Kyatel rip across his body. As the wind-demon had intended, it stung his flesh like a thousand scorpions. Tears of vicious pain welled in his eyes while he struggled to remain on his feet. If he went down, the demon would have the woman and the fight would end here and now. She would die and all the gates would open.
I will not be defeated….
Never again.
Angry for getting them into this situation and for failing to teleport her to his intended haven, he forced himself to stand strong in spite of the physical agony as he mentally reached deep inside and summoned every piece of power he could. This was so not where he wanted to be. Why … why had his powers screwed them over like this? For once, couldn't something work the way it was supposed to? His fury rising, he bared his fangs and threw his arm outward. As hard as he could, he drove a fireball straight into the demon's chest.
Screaming, Kyatel fell back, through the doorway. The winds stopped howling long enough for Ren to grab Kateri's hand and pull her forward. They needed to get deeper into the first realm if they were to survive. He would try to teleport them again, but after this misstep, he didn't dare. His powers were waning and with two of them …
Better to be locked here than to fall into the second realm.
As he tried to lead her, she shook her head in denial and literally dragged her feet, slowing them down. "What are you?"
"The only one in this realm on your side. Come with me or they will kill you."
He saw the hesitation in her eyes an instant before she nodded. His only thought to put as much distance between him and his former ally as he could, he ran toward a door and threw it open.
Kateri slowed again as she saw the burning room they needed to cross. Giving him a look that said she thought he was insane, she refused to go into it.
Ren fought down his irritation. Unlike him, she wasn't used to demon tricks and traps. "It's an illusion."
This time her gaze called him a liar.
"Trust me."
"Why should I?"
He deserved her doubt. After his past, he wasn't entitled to anything except contempt and disdain. Still, it stung on numerous levels. "You want to live?"
Her gaze scorched him with a trust he'd never seen in any woman's eyes before. "Yes, I do. So please, don't be lying to me. I don't have much to live for, but I definitely don't want to die tonight." Those words were whispered as she stepped forward and retook his hand.
Hoping, praying he was right about it being an illusion, Ren pulled her into the flames. For the merest instant, he thought he'd misjudged the situation. But as they crossed the burning room and he recognized the stench of this hell, he knew what had happened.
Coyote had breached this first gate and sucked them into it. Somehow his brother had opened the doorway to Hi'hinya and released Kyatel. Or worse, Coyote had broken Choo Co La Tah and Choo had done it for him.
Either way, the gate for Hi'hinya was open and it was bad for all of them.
Not wanting to consider what it would take to force Choo's hand to do this, Ren used his telekinesis to slam the door shut and seal it behind them before Kyatel came through. They wouldn't have long and he wasn't exactly the fiend of the month around here. No doubt there were wanted posters for him everywhere. Ones that held a huge bounty. If a demon could capture him and take him to the Grizzly, they would be rewarded beyond measure. There was nothing in the universe the Grizzly Spirit wanted more than to have Ren back in his custody.
For that reason, Ren was as much a threat to her as the demons were.
Maybe he ought to let her go it alone.
But he knew better. She wouldn't last long in this first realm of the dead. She had no idea how to fight or avoid them. And at least the demons here weren't that strong as a rule. Many were nothing more than shadow walkers-demons that straddled the two worlds. The biggest problem with them was that they had no loyalty whatsoever. Ambiguous and capricious in the purest sense of those words, they were as likely to kill someone as to help them.
If they were really lucky, the shadow walkers wouldn't care about their presence at all.
Of course, luck was always one fickle bitch.
And tonight she seemed to have it in for them.
Suddenly, the wall to his left exploded, showering them with sheetrock. However, that wasn't the bad part. The bad came in the form of a herd of demons who were hell-bent to claim his heart, and her life as a bonus.
Ren let go of the woman so that he could face them.
Kateri fell away with a gasp as Ren manifested the club she'd seen him use a thousand times in her dreams. And he made use of it like a champion. With the flat end, he swatted them back before slicing them open with the obsidian glass.
The twisted demons screamed as they went down. Many retreated, but others persisted, climbing over the bodies of the fallen so that they could pursue him.
Kateri glanced around, seeking some way to help. Unfortunately, she wasn't sure what exactly they were fighting and she didn't have a super weapon to combat them with. Going up against them with her bare hands didn't seem like the smartest thing to do. Rather, she decided not to be a distraction to the one who knew how to fight them. Better to guard the wall and make sure Ren didn't accidentally hit her with that club than to run forward and get them both hurt.
It was actually quite impressive to watch Ren wield his club. He treated it like an extension of his arm. He held a fluid grace to his movements that said he'd spent his life training for battle.
And as he fought, more images filled her head.
"Why do you fight me, Makah'Alay? I am not your true enemy. He lives much closer to home. We could be allies, you and I. Fight with me for those who can't fight for themselves. Let go your anger and, for once, embrace something good." She didn't know who the old man was who fought against Ren, but something about him seemed so familiar….
Ren didn't respond as the two of them went at each other like primordial gods fighting for supremacy.
"Is this really what you want?" the old man tried again. "Is it all you want?"
Ren glared at him. "What I want is for you to die already, old man! And shut up while you do it!"
"That's not you talking. It's Grizzly. He fears the truth because he knows that will send him back to where he belongs. Let your hatred go and purge him from your body. Whether you believe it or not, you're better than this, Makah'Alay. You do deserve to be happy and valued."
"Fuck you!" Ren had renewed his fight with greater vigor.
Both of them were sweaty and grimy from their battle. They looked like they'd been fighting for months….
For …
"A year and a day," she breathed.
Ren turned to scowl at her. "What did you say?"
"Duck!" she shouted as one of the demons went for his back.
Turning, he barely caught it with the club. The twisted demon thing let out a piercing shriek before it burst apart. The flames flared brighter until they were blinding. Kateri held her hand up in front of her face to shield her eyes.
Ren turned and grabbed her, then tried to teleport. It didn't work. Dammit. He had to get her out of here. But he couldn't take them both out with his powers so depleted.
It's a good day to die. If he was gone, no one would care.
But unlike him, she mattered.
He cupped her face in his hand, then locked gazes with her. "Think of your grandmother. Call her to you and ask her to guide you home."
Kateri scowled at his order. "I don't understand."
He put something solid in her hand and held her fist closed over it so that she couldn't see what it was. "Just do it. Now close your eyes and think of her."
Kateri did. One second, she could feel the room warming up-feel the flames starting to lick her skin to burn it-and in the next …
She was beside Talon in his living room in his New Orleans home.
What the…?
Completely confused, she turned in a small circle, surveying her cousin's house. Decorated in bright pinks and purples, it was completely out of synch with the overtly masculine man Sunshine had married. But he indulged her in everything. Even to the point that all of their towels were pink.
Sunshine sat on the couch to her right with her infant son, Declan, sleeping on her lap.
At Kateri's sudden appearance, Talon shot to his feet. He took a step toward her.
Relieved, Kateri started for him, then remembered Ren had given her something. Glancing down, she opened her hand to find a small, white, opalescent, tumbled feldspar that was in the shape of a teardrop.
A moonstone. Her grandmother had carried a similar one in her degalodi nvwoti or medicine pouch that she kept either in her pocket or tied around her neck. Every morning when her grandmother awoke, she'd pull out her crystals and stones that she kept in her night stand and choose the ones her Spirit Guide told her she would need for the day. Whispering a prayer, she'd place them in her degalodi nvwoti and draw the strings closed so that she could bravely face whatever challenges the day would send for her. Every morning it was a new set, but the one stone that never changed was her sacred moonstone.
"Why do you always keep a moonstone with you, Eleesee?" she'd asked one day after her grandmother had taken it out of her degalodi nvwoti and held it as if in prayer.
Her grandmother had pulled Kateri into her lap and placed the moonstone in her palm for her to examine it. Even now, she remembered how beautiful the milky translucent stone had appeared as the bright sunlight made it flash blue. "It's a stone of destiny that will help you see your future clearly so that you can better attain it. For that reason, it's a strong wishstone-whisper your dreams to it and it will echo them to the heavens for the Great Spirit to hear. It can also heal and protect those who are in need. And it is a stone of new beginnings and good fortune. You should always carry one whenever you travel, Waleli. They are a most precious gift from Grandmother Moon, who guides us through the cycles of our lives and who watches over us while Grandfather Sun slumbers. In our darkest hours when our enemies are hidden from our sight and wish to do us absolute harm, it is she who will guide us to safety. She who will make us see truths we don't want to face."
Tears choked her as she held Ren's moonstone, and understood the significance of what he'd done for her. In their culture, gifts were never expected from others, not even on birthdays or at weddings or festivals. In fact, it was usually the one being celebrated who gave to the attendees, as a way of letting them know how much they were valued and how much the person being honored appreciated other people taking valuable time out of their lives to come be with them for the event.
The importance was never on receiving something. The importance was on the act of giving to another, especially when it came unexpectedly and from the heart. The monetary value of a gift was even less important. The most valued gifts of all were those that held personal or spiritual significance to the giver.
And Ren had sent her away with his protection and destiny stone-with one of his most sacred possessions that he'd thought enough of to have it with him-knowing that he stayed behind to fight for her without it to watch over him.
No one had ever given her anything more valuable.
"Teri?" Worry creased Sunshine's beautiful brow. "Are you all right?"
Kateri couldn't answer for the lump in her throat as she clutched at Ren's most precious gift. A single tear for him slid down her cheek.
In that moment, she felt something grab her from behind.
Talon lunged for her.
It was too late. Whatever had grabbed her, sucked her out of the house and back into darkness.
"Grammy!" Kateri called, attempting to do what Ren had instructed her. She tried her best to stay focused on her grandmother. But it was useless. Her grandmother couldn't help her stop whatever this was.
So instead, her thoughts turned to a tall, gorgeous man who always murdered her in her dreams.
Ren's head swam from the pain he was in. It was so foul that it kept him from shifting forms to escape. He'd used up his reserves to send the woman to Talon. Worse, his Dark-Hunter powers were making him sleepy-something they always did whenever a Dark-Hunter was wounded. Asleep, the Greek dream gods could help them heal. But if he went down in this fight …
They'd kill him for the very blood he hated.
He felt so sick. And still the demons kept coming.
Just lie down and let them have you. Really, there was no reason for him to fight anymore. He'd more than made amends for his human atrocities. And he'd survived long enough to see his bargain with Artemis fulfilled.
It was time for his next adventure.
If you die without a soul, you will be in utter misery for eternity.
He laughed at the thought. How would that be a change from normal? Hell, he wouldn't even notice the difference.
Kyatel shimmered in front of him. His demon's eyes were a bright fluorescent purple. "You owe me your blood."
Ren sneered. "I owe you nothing."
The demon bared his fangs before he went for Ren's throat. Ren caught him and swung him around. But instead of flying away from him, Kyatel embraced him like a brother. The demon sank five claws deep into Ren's previously injured shoulder.
Ren cried out in agony of the additional wound.
"Remember your debt," Kyatel breathed in his ear.
Ren's sight dimmed as that one word took him back to the distant past. Back to the time when he had ruled here as Grizzly's overlord.
When he had owned everything …
It had been the only time in his entire life he had felt no pain. No shame. He had walked this realm with the knowledge that he was king. No one could touch him.
You are mine again. Grizzly laughed, the sound echoing through his head.
No! Ren struggled to hold on to his last shred of humanity. But it was impossible. No matter how much he denied it, he knew the truth in his heart.
He wanted to belong to something. Anything. Just once. No one else had ever wanted him. Evil had been the only thing that ever welcomed him to its bosom….
But this wasn't belonging and he knew it. All of it had been a lie. The demons hadn't welcomed his presence any more than his family or the world in general. And the only reason Grizzly had pretended to want him was so that he could use Ren's body to get at his enemies.
As for Windseer …
She'd abandoned him as soon as she had her freedom. Ren had been just as lonely here as their overlord as he'd been in the human realm.
Nothing changed. He was a worthless throwaway then.
He was worthless now.
Closing his eyes, he waited for the demon to end him.
"Let. Him. Go."
At first, Ren couldn't place that angry tone. And even once he'd identified it, he couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Kateri standing behind Kyatel.
And she was pissed at the demon holding him. As incredulous as it was, she appeared ready to tear the demon apart. He wasn't sure who was more shocked by her reappearance. Him or the demon.
That being said, Kyatel recovered first.
Then laughed.
Ren took advantage of the distraction to stab the demon. Too bad, it couldn't kill him. But the blow to Kyatel's carotid would weaken him. Kyatel would have to stop the bleeding and replenish the missing blood, or he'd be too weak to fight. Something no one could afford to be in this realm.
Kyatel's eyes glowed a deep vibrant orange that obliterated their normal purple hue. "This isn't over."
Ren gave him a taunting grin. "It is for now."
As the demon vanished, Ren turned to grab Kateri's arm. "What are you doing here? I sent you away."
"I don't know. I was at Talon's and then I vanished … and came back."
Ren cursed. Kyatel was stronger than he'd been before. Much stronger. But for her timing, he'd have probably been killed. And now, thanks to the wound in his shoulder, he was even weaker than he'd been before.
Which meant she was in extreme danger. If something attacked her, he was in no condition to put up much of a fight. And if it came for him, he wouldn't be able to keep it from getting her.
Shit …
"You shouldn't have come back here."
Kateri didn't respond to that. Her attention was diverted by the amount of blood on his clothing. His arms had cuts all over them. And his left shoulder looked as if someone had tried to shred it. "You're hurt."
"I'll live." He leaned his head over to glance past her shoulder, where more creatures were piling in on them. "We need to leave."
"And go where?"
Ren hefted his club up, over his uninjured shoulder. "Preferably some place they're not."
"I couldn't agree more." She followed him out of the room, down a long hallway where there were more demonlike creatures, but they didn't attack. Rather, they stayed to the shadows, watching with an eerie intentness that made her extremely uncomfortable. "Where are we?"
He twisted his club around on his shoulder before he answered. "Someplace neither of us needs to be … The first level of the West Lands."
Kateri scowled at the term. "Why does that sound familiar to me?"
"It's where our ancestors locked away the worst evils of the world to keep them from preying on humanity."
Oh yeah …
Her eyes widened as she remembered her grandmother's stories about the Guardian who'd been chosen to keep mankind safe. Benevolent and kind, he'd sought to protect the first humans by banishing all threats. Unfortunately, mankind had been tricked and, like Pandora in Greek mythology, had cracked open the door to release just enough evil to keep them from having a life free of pain and suffering.
It's just a legend.
That thought died as another demon turned around and viciously hissed at them. Huge, green, and smelly, it was as real as she was.
This wasn't playtime and that definitely wasn't make-believe. As much as she wanted to deny it, she couldn't. These things were real.
Baring his own fangs, Ren angled his club at the beast, letting it know what would happen should it attack. It shrank away in fear. He put her in front of him while he rushed her through the building, and away from the rest of the creatures.
Too grateful to argue or even question Ren's peculiar dental problem right now, she rounded a corner, then pulled up short as she saw three divergent hallways. With no idea where they were going, she allowed Ren to choose the correct direction.
He headed left with huge predacious strides.
Kateri practically ran in order to keep up with him. One of his strides equalled two and a half of hers. "How did we get here, anyway?"
Ren winced at a question he didn't want to answer. He couldn't stand looking stupid or being mocked. But apparently, his sole purpose in life was to serve as the poster child of imperfection and incompetence.
Thanks, fate. Appreciate the consideration.
So rather than hide it like a coward, he told her the truth. "I was trying to take us to Sin's and somehow I landed us here. I know it was a stupid mistake, okay? I'm doing my best to fix it as quickly as possible."
"Hey." She pulled him to a stop. "It's all right. You were trying to help me. I'm not about to complain when you saved my life, especially since you bled to do it. What kind of person do you think I am? And by the way, thank you. For everything." She rose up on her tiptoes to place a quick, chaste kiss on his cheek.
Ren couldn't speak as those words echoed in his head and his skin burned from her soft lips. Lips that left him swollen and aching for a much more thorough physical exchange.
Honestly, he was baffled by her. No one had ever given him the benefit of the doubt before. In the past, whenever he screwed up, he was held accountable, and usually rather rudely. "I should have known better."
She snorted. "I don't think knowing has much to do with it. Besides, we were a little preoccupied with our near-death experiences. Give yourself a break. Out of everything that has happened in the last few hours, this isn't so bad." She gestured to his club. "At least we're armed and ready to battle. Well … you are, anyway. Thank goodness."
Her generosity of spirit charmed him. He'd often heard it said that people had good hearts, but he'd so seldom seen them that hers caught him off guard. The majority of people he'd dealt with had been self-serving and cold.
Unforgiving.
And that had been his family.
Ren slowed down as they left the building. The moment they were through the door, the glamour spell was broken and instead of appearing as the Ishtar Casino he'd thought it to be, it took on its true form-an old gray stone structure that looked weathered and aged, in a town full of similar buildings. They were burned-out hulls against a dark landscape of utter misery. There was nothing inviting or beautiful about this place.
Worse than that, he hated to be back here where he was forced to face the memories he'd wanted to keep buried. The First Guardian was right. He flogged himself more than any torturer ever could.
And that thought reminded him of the first time he'd met Acheron-the immortal who led the Dark-Hunters. Though Acheron appeared physically young-he'd barely been twenty-one when he was killed-he was one of the oldest and wisest men Ren had ever known.
His features perfect and chiseled, Acheron held the swirling, silver eyes of a true ancient. "Life is messy, Ren. It's not easy and it's definitely not for the timid. Everyone has a past. Things that stab them right between the eyes. Old grudges. Old shame. Regrets that steal your sleep and leave you awake until you fear for your own sanity. Betrayals that make your soul scream so loud you wonder why no one else hears it. In the end, we are all alone in that private hell. But life isn't about learning to forgive those who have hurt you or forgetting your past. It's about learning to forgive yourself for being human and making mistakes. Yes, people disappoint us all the time. But the harshest lessons come when we disappoint ourselves. When we put our trust and our hearts into the hands of the wrong person and they do us wrong. And while we may hate them for what they did, the one we hate most is ourself for allowing them into our private circle. How could I have been so stupid? How could I let them deceive me? We all go through that. It's humanity's Brotherhood of Misery."
Ren had locked gazes with the Atlantean youth. "Tell me, Acheron. How do we find peace again when we have wronged ourselves and others?"
"If we're lucky, we find the one person who will hold our trust and keep it sacred and safe against all attackers. That one soul who will restore our belief that people are decent and kind, and that life, while messy, is still the most wondrous gift anyone can know. But until that day comes, we have to try and remember that home isn't a specific place or person. It's a feeling we carry inside ourselves. That touch of the divine that lights a fire inside us that burns out the past and consumes the pain until nothing is left but a warmth that allows us to love others more than ourselves. A warmth that only grows when we do right even while others seek to do us wrong. Peace is knowing that one life, no matter how trivial it seems, touches thousands of others, and learning to respect that about all people. While you may not mean much to the world, to those who really know and love you, you are their entire world. And it is the knowledge that no one can hurt you unless you allow them to. The only power they have isn't something they've taken or demanded. It's what we give them by choice. And while it is imperative that we value the lives of others, it is equally important to value our own."
Even though he'd wanted to believe Acheron's words, Ren scoffed. "You make it sound so easy, Atlantean."
Acheron had let out a short, bitter laugh. "The truth is always simple, but the path to it is overgrown with thorns and lined with traps. Our fears and our emotions cloud even the brightest day and the clearest truth. Talk is cheap, but actions are bloody. You can't plant the garden until you've overturned the soil. And nothing new can grow until the old dies. Lay your past to rest, Ren, so that your future can grow unimpeded by those ghosts. We can't change what we've done, but we can always change what we're going to do."
Those last words had branded themselves into Ren's heart and he had carried them through the centuries.
And tonight, he was going to protect the woman by his side with everything he had.
Kateri's features went pale as she surveyed her dismal surroundings. Never had she seen a more frightening place. A huge sallow moon hung over a town that reminded her of a Tim Burton landscape. Mournful cries for mercy and tortured screams echoed all around, many punctuated by the sound of insane laughter as if someone or something took pleasure from their pain.
A chill of foreboding ran up her spine. "Is this hell?"
"As close to it as I want to get." Ren stopped, then gently tugged her into a shadowed alley.
When she started to speak, he placed his finger over her lips. Only then did she hear the sound of something slithering by the area they'd been in only a heartbeat before. Bug-eyed, she held her breath until it vanished and all was relatively quiet again.
"I have to get you out of here," he whispered in her ear.
She couldn't agree more. "And you, too."
He glanced to his wounded shoulder. "I've been tagged. I won't be able to leave now. Wherever I go, they'll follow and drag me back."
Her heart ached at the sad resignation in his voice. It was as if he accepted the fact he was going to die here, and that she had no intention of allowing to happen. If she was nothing else in her life, she was loyal to a fault. "It's not right to leave you here alone to face them."
"I'll live."
"You keep saying that. But-"
"I'm immortal, Kateri," he said, cutting her off. "You're not. Your duty is to save the world and my only duty now is to save you. I have to get you back to the human realm so that you can fulfill your sacred role. It's that simple."
She shook her head at the ludicrousness of those statements. And nothing was ever simple. Rubik's Cube had taught her that when she was four years old and had arrogantly boasted that it couldn't be that hard.
Yeah, that had learned her.
"You know, Ren, twelve hours ago, I'd have called you nuts for talking about sacred roles and all of this." She gestured at the bleak, twisted buildings surrounding them. "Luckily, I'm a little more open-minded now. Not sure if that's a good thing or not, but … At least I'm not wasting time with denial anymore. I accept the fact that the weirdness in my life has just shot up the epic scale of redonkulous."
After all, what more could happen?
Death and dismemberment notwithstanding.
Yeah, okay, maybe she shouldn't test the bad-luck fairy since the bitch was already gunning for her. But dang …
Didn't they deserve a break tonight? And not one on their bones.
All of a sudden, one corner of his mouth quirked up as if he was amused by her comments. "We have to get off the street and find a safe place to hide until I recharge my powers enough to get you out of here."
"Okay. But I still don't understand why it has to be me to do whatever it is I'm supposed to do. How did this chore fall to my bloodline anyway? What did we do to be so cursed?"
"It's not a curse. Your ancestor stood strong before the gods when no one else would."
There was an answer she hadn't expected. "What do you mean?"
Ren grimaced as if his wound pained him, then rolled his injured shoulder. He led her back to the dark street. Keeping to the shadows, they headed in the direction that, given the moon's position, she assumed would be east. "Before recorded time, there was a god who came to this realm and-"
"What god?" she asked, cutting him off. While her people believed in an overall divine being, and other paranormal entities, they didn't think of the Great Spirit as a god in the traditional sense of the term. It was extremely hard to explain their beliefs to others who came at it with preconceived notions.
And the way he used the word "gods" …
It didn't make sense to her.
"Ahau Kin was, for lack of a better term, the Mayan god of their underworld and of time," Ren explained. "It's why he's usually shown at the center of their calendars."
She scowled as she remembered seeing the image all over the Yucatan last summer. "The guy who looks like a jaguar or has a jaguar face?"
He nodded.
Fernando would be so pleased that she recalled that. But her happiness died instantly as she remembered her friend's death, and grief went through her all over again.
Clearing her throat, she waited for Ren to continue.
He didn't. Rather he seemed to be lost in either thought or memories.
After a few minutes, she prompted him. "You were saying?"
Ren ground his teeth as his thoughts went back to his youth-to a time and place he hated with every part of his being.
Even now, he could see himself running through the bright summer forest of his island home, chasing after the buck he'd been hunting. The beast had been elusive and it'd led him to a clearing where a woman bathed alone in a pond that was at the base of a whispering waterfall.
Never had he seen a more beautiful maiden. Her long black hair had fanned around features that were perfection incarnate. Her dark, tawny skin had been so flawless that his mouth had watered for a taste. And even though he was invading her privacy, he'd been unable to tear his gaze away from her.
Completely naked, she was floating on her back, her eyes serenely closed while her breasts jutted out from the water. Her hands had moved through the water in a mesmerizing dance that was in synch with the pleasant, gentle tune she was humming.
His prey forgotten, he'd moved closer, taking care to be as silent as possibl