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Authors: Rain Oxford
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the
demon, who just rolled her eyes again when I approached. “Why are you helping
these people?” I asked.
She scoffed. “Well, if I had left it up to you, they
would have rotted in here while you and your kitty were outside hiding in the
trees. I guess this is your first time dealing with hunters, because you have
to move a lot faster than that or they will multiply like rats. I have been
culling this group for months just to keep them from taking out the whole
coven.”
“They’re not rats; they’re people. How many humans have
you killed?”
She sneered. “Less than the number of vampires they
have killed. Are you saying human life is greater than a vampire’s?” A couple
of vampires were listening in. “Your soul is not clean, either. How many
paranormals have you killed? Or were they human?”
Despite having powers that he stole by killing
paranormals with a magic amulet, Gale was human. John had killed numerous
humans and paranormals. What right did I have to tell her killing murderers was
wrong? In the human world, arresting someone was always the answer. When
paranormals were involved, everything was more complicated.
“So why does this matter to the shadow man?” I asked.
Since most of Krechea’s followers apparently didn’t know his name and those who
did refused to say it, I didn’t bother. Surprisingly, her eyes narrowed with
anger.
“I am not doing this under his orders. I have never
followed the Shadow Master. I serve the true master.”
That was unexpected. Langril was once the most
powerful wizard of Dothra with a whole collection of followers. Dothra was such
a desolate and violent place that not even the natives wanted to be there.
Thus, Langril taught his followers to “ghost” to Earth and convince human
wizards to make deals with them. Once a wizard made a deal with them, they
could live on Earth and were called soul guards. They were free once they
completed their end of the deal, but no matter what the deal was for, the
wizard’s soul would go to Dothra when they died.
Krechea tried to kill Langril’s daughter, Heather,
who was half human and had no idea of her darker roots. To protect her, Langril
gave up his followers and used his key to stay here with her. Krechea took over
Dothra and killed all of Langril’s followers who wouldn’t change their
allegiance. Since the Dothra wizards were able to appear anywhere through
shadows, just like the key allowed me to do, Krechea’s followers were called
shadow walkers.
“You’re a soul guard then?”
“Yes. I am Zinaida, and my human died long before the
Shadow Master plagued Dothra. He has no power over me. Or at least he didn’t.
Now that he is free, we are all dead.”
I opened my mouth to tell her it was Langril who let
him escape in the first place, when my instincts stopped me cold. Then a dull
hum started from somewhere in the compound.
“The power is kicking back on. We need to get them
upstairs now,” Zinaida said. The vampires who could stand helped those who
couldn’t and they all headed for the door.
“It’s daylight.”
“This place is designed to prevent vampires from
escaping. They are safer out there than down here.” She took the unconscious
vampire from Cesar and carried her out. Getting to the shack was slow, but
overall fairly easy. Getting everyone up the ladder was not.
We got all but three vampires into the shack when the
rows of lights flickered on. Instead of the standard white or yellow, these
were like blue halogen. Two of the remaining vampires were unconscious and one
couldn’t stand, so there was no way we could get them up before the light
spilled over us.
I let my instincts take over my magic and focused on
the symbol of my door, which was also branded into my hand. Although it was
invisible, I could feel the ache of it in my palm often. As the image blocked
out all other sensations, it began to sting my skin.
I grabbed the wrists of the two unconscious vampires
in one hand
demon, who just rolled her eyes again when I approached. “Why are you helping
these people?” I asked.
She scoffed. “Well, if I had left it up to you, they
would have rotted in here while you and your kitty were outside hiding in the
trees. I guess this is your first time dealing with hunters, because you have
to move a lot faster than that or they will multiply like rats. I have been
culling this group for months just to keep them from taking out the whole
coven.”
“They’re not rats; they’re people. How many humans have
you killed?”
She sneered. “Less than the number of vampires they
have killed. Are you saying human life is greater than a vampire’s?” A couple
of vampires were listening in. “Your soul is not clean, either. How many
paranormals have you killed? Or were they human?”
Despite having powers that he stole by killing
paranormals with a magic amulet, Gale was human. John had killed numerous
humans and paranormals. What right did I have to tell her killing murderers was
wrong? In the human world, arresting someone was always the answer. When
paranormals were involved, everything was more complicated.
“So why does this matter to the shadow man?” I asked.
Since most of Krechea’s followers apparently didn’t know his name and those who
did refused to say it, I didn’t bother. Surprisingly, her eyes narrowed with
anger.
“I am not doing this under his orders. I have never
followed the Shadow Master. I serve the true master.”
That was unexpected. Langril was once the most
powerful wizard of Dothra with a whole collection of followers. Dothra was such
a desolate and violent place that not even the natives wanted to be there.
Thus, Langril taught his followers to “ghost” to Earth and convince human
wizards to make deals with them. Once a wizard made a deal with them, they
could live on Earth and were called soul guards. They were free once they
completed their end of the deal, but no matter what the deal was for, the
wizard’s soul would go to Dothra when they died.
Krechea tried to kill Langril’s daughter, Heather,
who was half human and had no idea of her darker roots. To protect her, Langril
gave up his followers and used his key to stay here with her. Krechea took over
Dothra and killed all of Langril’s followers who wouldn’t change their
allegiance. Since the Dothra wizards were able to appear anywhere through
shadows, just like the key allowed me to do, Krechea’s followers were called
shadow walkers.
“You’re a soul guard then?”
“Yes. I am Zinaida, and my human died long before the
Shadow Master plagued Dothra. He has no power over me. Or at least he didn’t.
Now that he is free, we are all dead.”
I opened my mouth to tell her it was Langril who let
him escape in the first place, when my instincts stopped me cold. Then a dull
hum started from somewhere in the compound.
“The power is kicking back on. We need to get them
upstairs now,” Zinaida said. The vampires who could stand helped those who
couldn’t and they all headed for the door.
“It’s daylight.”
“This place is designed to prevent vampires from
escaping. They are safer out there than down here.” She took the unconscious
vampire from Cesar and carried her out. Getting to the shack was slow, but
overall fairly easy. Getting everyone up the ladder was not.
We got all but three vampires into the shack when the
rows of lights flickered on. Instead of the standard white or yellow, these
were like blue halogen. Two of the remaining vampires were unconscious and one
couldn’t stand, so there was no way we could get them up before the light
spilled over us.
I let my instincts take over my magic and focused on
the symbol of my door, which was also branded into my hand. Although it was
invisible, I could feel the ache of it in my palm often. As the image blocked
out all other sensations, it began to sting my skin.
I grabbed the wrists of the two unconscious vampires
in one hand
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