Read Online Storm Kissed by Jessica Andersen - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jessica Andersen
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muttered. Until she shot her mouth off back at the hotel, Strike and the others hadn’t had a clue that she and Dez had a history. It shouldn’t have bothered her that he hadn’t mentioned . . . Shit . She kept reading.
—realize that you and Dez had problems, but I think I can explain some, if not all of them. You know how Dez changed after the fight with Keban? That wasn’t him, it was the effects of magic . . . or, rather, a curse.
Her blood iced and her palms started to sweat, but she didn’t stop reading. Couldn’t have even if she had wanted to.
That night, Keban gave Dez a small obsidian carving of a star demon, a creature of darkness. We don’t know where he got the carving or how he knew what it would do to Dez, but you experienced the fallout. Here’s what we’ve been able to piece together: The star demon amplifies the darker aspects of a mage’s personality until it overrides the good stuff. In Dez’s case, it also allowed him to form a connection with the barrier, even before the magic reawakened. Although he couldn’t use his powers afterward—he was only able to call the lightning that night because it was the equinox and, I’m guessing, because you were in danger—the effects of the star demon’s power twisted him into the man who drove you away. But the thing is, he’s not that guy anymore.
A year ago, prophecy said that we had to offer ourselves to the gods and ask them to pick three of us to receive the powers and knowledge of our strongest ancestors. Enacting the Triad spell risked madness, death, possession . . . but forfeiting prophecy carries a heavy price, so we cast the spell. The gods reached out beyond us, all the way to Denver, and picked Dez. But instead of giving him the powers of his ancestors, they gave him a spirit guide—a long-ago ancestor of his named Anntah—who entered his mind, undid the damage the star demon and Keban had done, and taught Dez what he needed to know. He awoke a new man: centered, powerful . . . and jonesing to make up for the things he had done. Or maybe “new man” is the wrong term—really, he went back to his pre-star-demon personality, his baseline self.
Reese’s breath rushed out in a hiss. “Bullshit. That’s just bullshit.”
The details fit the pattern; there was no question about that. But she didn’t for a second believe that Dez had let some piece of rock control him. And if he was acting differently now, it was sure as hell because it suited his purposes, not because of some spell.
She gritted her teeth, flipped the page, and read on.
We didn’t believe his transformation at first, but Rabbit confirmed his turnaround, and over the past year Dez has worked his ass off to prove himself. Then, two days ago he disappeared without a word. Our usual private investigator found that he had received a letter via the old winikin drop system, but Carter couldn’t track him beyond that. He suggested we hire a specialist, and I immediately thought of you. At the time, I assumed that was simple logic. Now, I’m reminded that what the humans call coincidence we call the will of the gods.
Don’t believe me? Look on the next page. That’s a printout from some security-cam footage that Dez downloaded the night before he took off. At first, we thought it was just some guy stealing a Puebloan artifact from a small museum outside of Santa Fe. After Dez disappeared, we guessed who it might be. Now that Rabbit has seen things through your eyes, we know for sure.
A cold chill sliced through her, and she was almost braced for it when she flipped the page and found Louis Keban staring back at her. The photo was blurry and badly lit, and his scars were obscured by shadows, but she knew his eyes and the slightly off-balance way he held himself. Up until a year or so ago, she had still seen him in her nightmares. Now, she had a feeling those bad dreams would be back with a vengeance.
Last she had heard, he had been safely ensconced in a locked
—realize that you and Dez had problems, but I think I can explain some, if not all of them. You know how Dez changed after the fight with Keban? That wasn’t him, it was the effects of magic . . . or, rather, a curse.
Her blood iced and her palms started to sweat, but she didn’t stop reading. Couldn’t have even if she had wanted to.
That night, Keban gave Dez a small obsidian carving of a star demon, a creature of darkness. We don’t know where he got the carving or how he knew what it would do to Dez, but you experienced the fallout. Here’s what we’ve been able to piece together: The star demon amplifies the darker aspects of a mage’s personality until it overrides the good stuff. In Dez’s case, it also allowed him to form a connection with the barrier, even before the magic reawakened. Although he couldn’t use his powers afterward—he was only able to call the lightning that night because it was the equinox and, I’m guessing, because you were in danger—the effects of the star demon’s power twisted him into the man who drove you away. But the thing is, he’s not that guy anymore.
A year ago, prophecy said that we had to offer ourselves to the gods and ask them to pick three of us to receive the powers and knowledge of our strongest ancestors. Enacting the Triad spell risked madness, death, possession . . . but forfeiting prophecy carries a heavy price, so we cast the spell. The gods reached out beyond us, all the way to Denver, and picked Dez. But instead of giving him the powers of his ancestors, they gave him a spirit guide—a long-ago ancestor of his named Anntah—who entered his mind, undid the damage the star demon and Keban had done, and taught Dez what he needed to know. He awoke a new man: centered, powerful . . . and jonesing to make up for the things he had done. Or maybe “new man” is the wrong term—really, he went back to his pre-star-demon personality, his baseline self.
Reese’s breath rushed out in a hiss. “Bullshit. That’s just bullshit.”
The details fit the pattern; there was no question about that. But she didn’t for a second believe that Dez had let some piece of rock control him. And if he was acting differently now, it was sure as hell because it suited his purposes, not because of some spell.
She gritted her teeth, flipped the page, and read on.
We didn’t believe his transformation at first, but Rabbit confirmed his turnaround, and over the past year Dez has worked his ass off to prove himself. Then, two days ago he disappeared without a word. Our usual private investigator found that he had received a letter via the old winikin drop system, but Carter couldn’t track him beyond that. He suggested we hire a specialist, and I immediately thought of you. At the time, I assumed that was simple logic. Now, I’m reminded that what the humans call coincidence we call the will of the gods.
Don’t believe me? Look on the next page. That’s a printout from some security-cam footage that Dez downloaded the night before he took off. At first, we thought it was just some guy stealing a Puebloan artifact from a small museum outside of Santa Fe. After Dez disappeared, we guessed who it might be. Now that Rabbit has seen things through your eyes, we know for sure.
A cold chill sliced through her, and she was almost braced for it when she flipped the page and found Louis Keban staring back at her. The photo was blurry and badly lit, and his scars were obscured by shadows, but she knew his eyes and the slightly off-balance way he held himself. Up until a year or so ago, she had still seen him in her nightmares. Now, she had a feeling those bad dreams would be back with a vengeance.
Last she had heard, he had been safely ensconced in a locked
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