Blood Shift (The Charming Shifter Mysteries Book 3) Page 21

  “I’m not sure about this,” Chia said, slowing. “Maybe we should re-think this idea.”

  Cecil whirled around, grabbing her hand and tugging her along. “You have to do this. You know me. I’m as scared as shit and I’m willing to lead you to God knows what. So, no doubting yourself, got it?”

  Chia gulped and nodded, even though Cecil didn’t have eyes in the back of his head. I’m a blood-cailleach, whatever the heck that is. It’s in my blood. I can do this.

  Chia and Cecil shoved past the workers as they made their way to the winding steps leading to the poison factory room. At the threshold, she peered into the gloom, took a breath, and entered, following Cecil. She blinked, trying to see through the dimly lit corridor, illuminated by some strange phosphorescent light.

  “This is a longer path than it looks. It winds in circles, twists, and turns,” Cecil called over his shoulder.

  “Got it. Circles.” Making her way down the uneven stone steps, she steadied herself against the rough wall, scraping her already injured palms on the jagged surface.

  “It’s supposed to disorient,” Cecil called, rounding the first bend.

  “Understood. What did you mean this place is surrounded by evil?” she said, out of breath from keeping up with Cecil’s long-legged stride. “When we looked at it from the outside, I only saw shifter drones.”

  Even in the darkness, his shuddering response was evident. “It just…I’ve heard…I don’t want to know.”

  Seconds later, Chia had a good idea what made it so horrific.

  Two of the demon hounds she’d encountered before appeared like movies on the wall, on either side of her.

  Chia yelped.

  “What is it?” Cecil stopped suddenly. He whirled about, looking around wildly.

  Chia nearly barreled into him. “D-d-dogs,” she stuttered. “Demons. They’re tracking me.”

  “Can you see them?” Cecil said, his face lined with a sheen of sweat.

  “See the dogs? Yes. Can’t you?”

  The demons snarled and snapped from the wall, their fur glowing green with red, blue, and orange glints. If she hadn’t experienced their vicious nature, she would almost call them pretty.

  Cecil let out a strangled groan. “Nope. But I’ve heard of them, plenty. They’re soul gatherers. They’re known as the Cu Sith.” He pivoted and began to scurry down the twisting steps.

  “The Cu Sith?” Chia hurried after him.

  “Yeah, and if they catch you and kill you, you suffer forever. They’re not howling are they?” Cecil rounded the bend, out of sight for a few seconds.

  Icy tingles raced along Chia’s scalp. Her mouth grew bone-dry.

  One of the Cu Sith let one, long, ear-piercing, horrible howl.

  “Yes, why?” Chia’s voice emerged in a breathy stutter.

  “On the third howl, that’s when they attack. Hurry!”

  Another howl came from the wall. It lanced Chia’s soul.

  “I can’t go any faster.” Her hands shredded as they scraped along the jagged surface of the wall. She wondered if she’d pass out from fear.

  On the third howl, the Cu Sith exploded from the wall, like 3-D objects bursting from the screen. Only they were very real.

  Chia screamed. “Cecil!”

  She stood, shivering, in the narrow hallway.

  The demons growled, lowering their massive heads, preventing her from going any farther.

  “I can’t see you, Lil’ Summer. Where are you?” He waved his arms about from a yard or so away.

  “I’m right here!” She fell backward on the stone steps, as one of the Cu Sith seized her pant leg.

  It shook her with ferocity like it would tear her limb from her hip.

  Her skin rippled with fear. “Let go of me! You can’t have my soul!” She pushed against its muzzle.

  It exploded into green glowing grisly fragments.

  She stared at her hand, having forgotten about her blood.

  The other Cu Sith yelped, scrambling backward. Instead of attacking her, it bared its knife-blade teeth and crouched, preventing her from following Cecil.

  “Lil’ Summer!” Cecil called.

  It sounded like he was a long way off. She briefly lifted her gaze, viewing him through some sort of haze.

  “Cecil! I’m here!” She looked at the horrible beast. Then, she turned her attention back toward Cecil.

  His eyes shone white as he searched for her.

  “Cecil! I’m right here, in front of you! I seem to have slipped into another dimension.”

  “I can’t see you!”

  “Well, keep going. Go open the door or whatever. I’ll be along shortly.”

  “Are you sure?” Cecil said with a shaky breath.

  The Cu Sith curled its lip and snarled. Its eyes glowed red.

  “I’m positive,” Chia said, feeling anything but confidence. “Now go!” She licked her lips, watching Cecil hasten away. “Okay, puppy. Easy,” she said to the vicious demon-dog. “Just let me go past you.” She took a step.

  The stench of shadow shifter tickled her nose. Behind her came the roaring thud, thud, thud of heavy boots.

  The hair on her scalp and neck stood stiffly. She glanced behind her, seeing nothing, yet fearing her next attacker. It’s got to be Red.

  Turning back to the Cu Sith, she whispered, “Come on, puppy. I won’t hurt you.” She took another step.

  The dog growled, low and deep, making her blood freeze in her veins. It backed away from her.

  The scent of Red Mountainbear assaulted her nose. His pounding footsteps thundered in her ears.

  “That’s it. Let me past,” she said, taking another tentative step.

  The Cu Sith lunged and snapped, its teeth millimeters from her arm.

  She yelped and snatched her hand away. “Bad dog. Bad, bad, bad.” She rubbed her palm against the jaggy rock walls, wincing, her eyes stinging with tears of pain. Once she was sure she’d shredded her skin, she flung her fingers at the dog.

  As drops of blood touched its skin, it cried out, before exploding like a bloody bomb.

  She took off, like a caffeinated lightning bolt. Up ahead, a doorway loomed.

  Cecil cracked open the door, peeking his head out. “There you are! I can see you again!” His eyes grew wide. “Holy shit! Behind you! Look out!” he yelled. He slammed the door.

  Chia’s lungs heaved as she sprinted down the hall. Sneaking a look over her shoulder, a black blur of half man, half shadow, barreled in her direction like a bullet train.

  “Oh, my God,” she cried. “I’m never going to make it!”

  Red easily caught up with her. His hot, nasty breath landed on her neck. His shadowy fingers grasped her shoulders, pinching her with his long fingernails.

  She let out a garbled scream.

  “I’ve got you, bitch!” he snarled.

  Shaking her shoulders to free herself, Chia bit down hard on her lip, drawing blood. She whipped her head sideways and spit, catching his wrist.

  His hand sizzled and disappeared in a puff of flaming smoke, but he didn’t explode.

  Filling her mouth with saliva and blood, she spat a gooey blob at his partially blurred, shadowy head.

  His face burst into flames. His cheeks began to melt, oozing free from his skull. He roared, releasing his grip.

  “Why aren’t you dying?” She hurtled toward the door, slamming into it with her shoulder. She leaned back and screamed. “Cecil! Let me in!”

  Cecil threw open the door and fast-armed some sort of heavy object.

  Red—what was left of him—ducked.

  She leaped for the doorway.

  Cecil seized her wrist, hauled her inside, and slammed the door behind her. He twisted the deadbolt.

  “I hope this buys us some time,” he said in a tremulous voice.

  “Me, too.”

  They both leaned against it, putting all their weight into it, as Red’s fist hammered outside.

  The din of his anguished
cries made her skin crawl.

  She stared at the room, panting, trying to catch her breath.

  The machines continued to pump green ooze out the tube.

  The walls were lined with coats on hooks. A cubby system held purses, thermoses, and other personal items. Two huge cabinets sat in the corner.

  All the shifter drones stared at them, with looks of curious wonder on their faces.

  “Oh, man, they are so out to lunch,” Chia gasped. “Don’t they realize what they’re up against?” Without waiting for an answer, she said, “What did you throw at Red?”

  “One of those bricks.” He pointed with a shaky finger. “They use them under the machine.”

  Chia looked at the bricks. “I don’t think that will help us take out this machine. But it will shatter a window or two so the shifter drones can escape.”

  “What about a blow torch? There’s a bunch of tools in the cupboard.” He lifted his hand, indicating a sturdy metal tool closet.

  “Yeah, maybe.”

  Dark plumes of the shadow shifter coiled under the doorjamb.

  Chia shrieked as the feathery wisps wrapped around her ankle. Yanking her leg, she hopped away from the door.

  The shadow rebounded out of sight.

  “Get something to block the crack.”

  Cecil grabbed one of the shifter’s coats from a hook on the wall.

  The shifters all stared at him, like curious cows in a field.

  He shoved the coat into the crack under the door, using his boot to kick it snugly. “You must have hurt him badly if he can’t simply break the door down.”

  “Let’s hope so. What can we block it with?”

  Cecil’s head whipped left and right. “There’s this, I guess.” He kicked at a crate of supplies.

  Together, they shoved it toward the door.

  “Now you get all these shifters out of here. Hurry!” She lunged for the cabinet with the blow torch.

  “On it,” Cecil said. He picked up a brick, arched his arm back, and threw it.

  The small window, five feet from the floor, shattered.

  “Good arm, buddy.” She yanked open the cabinet doors. Her eyes scanned swiftly for a blow torch. There it was, nestled between a can of paint and stack of magazines. She grabbed both it and the friction lighter next to it.

  “Hey! Everyone! Lunch is served outside today,” Cecil said to the shifter drones.

  Shrugging, they put down whatever they were working on and followed him toward the step ladder he’d placed against the wall.

  “Out you go,” he said, assisting them up the ladder and out the window.

  Chia fumbled with the lighter and the blow torch. She’d seen her grandfather use one as a child, but that was a long, long time ago. Her hands shook.

  A massive shove against the door caused the supply crate to move a few millimeters.

  “How do I light this darn thing?”

  Cecil turned from helping one of the shifters up the ladder. “See that valve on the torch head?”

  “This one?” She tapped against a silvery knob.

  “Yep. Turn it slowly.”

  With shaking fingers, she turned the knob.

  Another shove against the door caused the crate to budge an inch.

  “Now make a spark with the friction lighter. Be careful.” He turned back to a young female shifter with limp red curls. “Up you go, miss.”

  Chia squeezed the lighter until it sparked. A bright blue flame burst out of the end of the torch. “Help me find something to light on this blasted machine.” She scanned for something, anything flammable.

  A vicious roar came from behind the door, followed by another shove. This time, a shadowy appendage slithered through the crack in the door.

  Chia yelped. She threw coats on top of the machine and held the torch to the attire. The tech fabric drooped as it simply melted. “God darn it. I need something that will burn.”

  “Here!” Cecil rooted through their cubbies. Finding magazines, he tossed some them on top of the machine.

  She held the blue flame to the paper. They smoked and then ignited.

  “Here’s more.” He ripped pages from someone’s paperback book and added them to the flames. He grabbed a crate out of the nearby corner, picked up a brick, and slammed it down. The wood snapped into pieces. He tossed some of those on the fire, too. “See if you can melt through the tube, too. Maybe the liquid is flammable.”

  Chia trained the torch end on the see-through cylinder carrying toxic ooze outside the factory. It began to curl and melt.

  With a whoosh, the poisonous green liquid burst into flames.

  Chia jumped back.

  Red must have put all his might into his next shove as the crate scraped across the floor. He pushed his way through the opening.

  His face was completely misshapen, charred, making him unrecognizable. “You fucking bitch, I’m going to destroy you.”

  Chia screamed. “Out, out, out! Cecil, let’s go.”

  Flames licked the top of the machine. The dry wood caught next until the entire top of the machine was engulfed in fire. It began to shake, as green steam poured from its vents.

  Cecil picked Chia up by the waist and hefted her so she could reach the ledge. A glass shard sliced her palm as she wiggled out the opening.

  “Give me your hand.” She extended her arm to Cecil.

  He grabbed it and maneuvered out the window.

  Once he was out, Chia shook her hand, causing droplets of blood to line the window ledge. Then, she and Cecil stood and sprinted away from the building, with her turning to look over her shoulder every few seconds.

  Red tried to follow, but he must have touched her blood. Flames licked his hair and danced along his neck and shoulders. He bellowed in rage. He crawled free of the poison room, scraping across the blood-stained ledge. Once outside the window, his body began to disintegrate. His arms and legs blew from his body in a colorful explosion. His torso toppled to the ground. A legless, headless man, he continued to scream. “You fucking bitch! I’ll hunt you until the end of time!”

  A few seconds later, the entire room exploded. Wood, bricks, and metal cascaded in the air in a fiery eruption.

  All the shifters who Cecil had helped outside threw their bodies on the ground for cover. Others streamed from the factory, screaming for their lives, along with humans.

  Chia scanned the chaos, looking for Hung. Finally, she spied him, several yards away. “Hung! Over here!”

  Bruised, bloody and battered, he sprinted toward her. When he reached her, he threw his arms around her. Then, leaning back, he sought her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  She smiled as best she could. “About the same as you.”

  “Where can I kiss you?”

  She tapped the corner of her mouth.

  He pressed the sweetest kiss on the place she indicated. He withdrew and said, “You did it, woman. You brought down the shadow shifter and the factory.”

  She looked up at him, her eyes soft and filled with love. “Does this mean we get to go home?”

  Chapter 30

  A few weeks later, Chia stood on a snowy sidewalk downtown, talking with Cecil. She wore flannel-lined jeans and a pink turtleneck, with a new puffy pink down jacket. The other one had been trashed.

  The day seemed remarkably sunny with only a wispy breeze blowing through the air. She eyed the half-finished structures marking the new and improved downtown Charming, making patterns against the blue sky. Her lips curved in a smile at all the men and women working hard on building them. The tinny bang and thwack of hammers coupled with the buzz and hum of power saws made delightful music to her ears. The sound said “growth and rebuild, ” and she’d been largely responsible for it.

  “So, how do you like being Project Manager on the rebuild of Charming?”

  Cecil grinned, waving a claw hammer. “I like it okay. The ladies think it’s hot, so…they, like all the power tools I wield. You know, like my…”

  C
hia cut him off before he had a chance to elaborate. “Okay, then. How’s the build going?” She cocked her head, studying him.

  “It’s going great. Look around.” He swept the hammer in a half circle.

  The tremble and fright marring his handsome features a few weeks ago had been replaced with a newfound confidence since she’d put him in charge of the town restoration project.

  With a yellow hard hat on his head, he stood tall, dressed in jeans, a blue flannel shirt, and a downy gray parka. Unlike his usual attire, nothing was held together with duct tape or bore holes. His wild hair fluttered at the edges of the hat, probably trying to escape the confines of being held in place. His sky-blue eyes looked clear and alert. And, he was sexy as sexy could be.

  Still, Chia was content to merely be a friend. Hung had the key to her heart.

  “You headed home?” Cecil asked her.

  “Yeah.” Her forehead furrowed.

  “What’s the matter?” Cecil put his free hand on her shoulder.

  “Nothing, it’s…Hung said he has something to say to me. I haven’t seen him much since the whole thing went down. He told me he had some things to take care of, so he took off. Now, he’s coming back to ‘talk.’” She made air quotes. “It makes me nervous, not knowing what it is. What if he’s going to break up with me?”

  “He really loves you. I wouldn’t worry.” Cecil pursed his lips, looking thoughtful. “Did you get that, er…you know…the blood thing resolved?”

  “My little vampire offering exchange?” Chia let out an exasperated sigh. “More like a truce.” She held up her now-healed hands. “It was hell feeling I’d become a cutter…to have to slice myself open to destroy evil. I had to, um…” She bit her lip and looked away.

  “Use D’Raynged to heal?” Cecil tossed the hammer in his hands.

  It twirled in a circle, sunlight glinting against the metal head before he deftly caught it.

  “Yeah, well…I tried to not use him. But some of the cuts were getting infected, you know? And, man, they hurt. I took to wearing gloves to even hold a mug of tea or coffee in my hands.” She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “Why does my life seem more complicated than ever? All I wanted was to be one of you guys—a shifter with different abilities. I wanted so bad to be magic in some way. Turns out I’m some sort of blood freak who has to bleed to vanquish evil.”