Dark Spirits (16 page)

“I don’t know,” I mumbled, still wary. “I want to, but . . . ”

“Look.” Ameerah placed a hand on her hip, perturbed. “If I were to invade your personal space, both you and Nathan could easily cast me out. Do you think I’d risk going through such agony?” I shook my head. She had a point. “I don’t know if it’s even going to work, but it’s worth a shot. What do you think?”

I looked at Nathan.

“Why not.” He shrugged, and we held our hands out.

Ameerah took Nathan’s hand and when she reached for mine, she paused. She looked at me with her hand hovering above mine, and I could see the earnestness in her eyes. I didn’t like the beam of light I saw flash across them again, but once I got past it and really looked into the depths of them, I saw something good residing there. I wondered if we’d become friends and thought how ironic it would be if that were to happen. “I need you to concentrate on Aosoth,” she instructed me, and then looked at Nathan. “And you too.” Her attention fell back on me, and her eyebrows knitted. “I feel a connection with you like some sort of kinship.”

“Maybe because you were psychic or because Aosoth killed my grandmother and father, and she killed your girlfriend. So she destroyed both of our lives,” I suggested, my voice cracking.

“I didn’t know.” Her face fell, and she whispered, “That must be it.” But then her expression darkened. “Don’t worry. We’ll get the bitch, and she’ll pay for what she’s done to us. Now, I’m going to try and show you what she’s doing at this very moment.”

Nathan seized my free hand before Ameerah could take it. He was so quick, his hand became a blur. “I want to know something first.”

Ameerah blew out an exasperated sigh and turned to him. “What?”

“How can you show us what she’s doing when you’re locked inside a vessel, and if you can, wouldn’t your spirit be trapped there with Aosoth?”

What he said was true. Dark spirits can’t leave vessels unless they’re cast out, the vessels died or if soulless vessels happened to be nearby, they could jump into them. But with the first two, they’d get wheeled into an area of the same dark energy as them, and they couldn’t leave until other able vessels approached their area.

Ameerah flipped her hair off her shoulder in a gesture that could only be read as agitation, and all I could think about was, I wouldn’t want her pissed at me. “I don’t know if it’s going to work, but I have a theory. Since Paige is psychic, and you both are immortals, I’m betting her energy and the goodness of your spirits will not only allow me to leave this vessel and take you two with me, but bring me back as well.” She held her hands out. “So you see, I’m risking way more than you thought.”

Nathan and I shared a look, and then without hesitation, we took her hand.

Chapter Sixteen

Paige

When I touched Ameerah’s hand, with Aosoth as my predominant thought, something in my chest jolted, causing me to suck cool air into my lungs. My body no longer existed–the confinements of a shell cracked open to release the being within. I was a pair of eyes being propelled through a black whirling funnel. It lasted maybe half a minute. I wasn’t sure. But for a split second, I had a troubling thought:
how would we get back to our bodies?
Then the answer came to me as if it were common knowledge, like the sky being blue or knowing not to put your hand in fire. All I had to do was think about my body and where it was to return.

In the far distance I could see a pinhole with light reflecting behind it. As I sped toward it, it quickly grew into a gaping hole, revealing miles of shimmering sand beneath a clear aquamarine sky. And then, as if somebody shoved me into a pit of thick, gooey mud, I jetted out of the funnel feeling heavily weighed and uncomfortable as hell.

“Are you okay, Paige?” I heard Nathan ask. I turned in the direction of his voice. A wave of brilliant colors floated beside me in the air. It reminded me of dust particles, beautifully colored individually, sparkling glitter in green, blue, orange and so forth. It was breathtaking. A warm and joyous feeling sparked through me. And somehow I knew it was Nathan’s smile, and he could feel my wonderment. “Look at yourself,” he said, not physically, but mentally as before.

So I did, and the radiant hues were magnificent. They were similar to his, but I had a lot more pastels than him.

“They’re parts of your soul,” Ameerah said from the other side of me.

I looked at her and automatically flinched away, each particle moving in synchronicity like flocks of birds in a tight aerodynamic formation. Most of her colors were dark gray and glassy. But when I took a closer look, I noticed a few brilliant ones: red, indigo, and pink peeking between the shadowy grains of her soul. I immediately felt ashamed for how I reacted and moved to her. I realized then she was a fence sitter, meaning she wasn’t really a dark spirit. At least, not like Aosoth or the “old one,” because if she were, she’d be completely black. So she was in between, riding the wave between heaven and hell.

The pink particle of Ameerah’s soul glowed and winked at me. My mind automatically pulled up the aura chart of its meaning.

Friendship.

“You don’t need to feel bad, Paige. I understand. But as you can see, I’m not all that evil.”

I thought of camaraderie, and the pink part of me twinkled. She smiled. I felt it like I did with Nathan.

“There’s Aosoth,” Nathan said thickly, capturing our attention. He didn’t need to point because he
showed
me in my mind where she was. For some reason I thought about Odell, probably because he had communicated with me in the same manner.

I looked around, still having that unpleasant heavy feeling and spotted her several yards away in the vast Sahara Desert. A sudden creepy feeling consumed me, overriding all the anger and hatred I had toward her. She was a black figure, much like the ones I’d seen in the barn, crawling up one of the endless sand dunes. Every minute or so, she’d roll on her side and had a seizure like fit. Afterwards, she’d flip over on her hands and knees and crawled like a spider up a dirt hill.

Out the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of red and felt instant rage emanating from it. Nathan blazed past me, straight to Aosoth.

“You can’t do anything here, Nathan,” Ameerah called, but he kept going anyway.

I moved higher, so I could get a better view of the area. In the far distance were clay huts and camels, which meant people, which meant if there were soulless humans around then once Aosoth fully restored her energy, she could jump into a body.

Crap.

“You think these months here were hell? Just wait until I get my hands back on you. I’m not through with you yet.” Nathan hovered in front of Aosoth. She rolled to her side, spasms ransacking her body as he spouted promising threats to her, his tone dark and furious.

And then she laughed, a high-pitched hideous sound, echoing around us. “I can’t see or hear you.” Her voice was dry and rough. “But I can
feel
your threats and hatred.” She flipped over on her hands and knees again, reminding me of a dark creature who haunted children’s dreams. “I don’t know who you are,” she continued, looking around, trying to locate the source, “but I’m not afraid of you.”

 Movement from across the desert caught my eye. A female nomad with skin the color of dark chocolate and wearing a headdress, appeared to be coming our way. I wasn’t close enough to hear the vibration a soul gave off, so I moved toward her. But then I smacked into something. Something I couldn’t see. I bounced back a few feet, feeling like a kite anchored to the ground.

“It’s no use, Paige,” Ameerah told me, moving to my side. “We’re encapsulated in this dark area, and since we entered it, like Aosoth, we can’t penetrate the boundaries. Aosoth can keep crawling, but she can’t go any farther than what’s permitted. Her only hope is to regain her energy and have a soulless or willing human walk into this area.”

Nathan joined us. “Aosoth isn’t strong enough yet, but soon she will be. What concerns me are the nomads dwelling close by.”

“There’s nothing we can do.” Ameerah sighed.

I couldn’t stand the uncomfortable, heavy feeling any longer. It became too unbearable to endure. I had to get out of here. Nathan and Ameerah must have felt the panic rising in me because they huddled to my side. Without needing to say a word, our energies locked onto each other–a small combination chain that would open the door to our present selves. I concentrated on myself standing on the trail to Gnat Creek, anxious to get back, desperately wanting to feel light and free again.

Instantly, I returned to the black whirling funnel, but this time it went so fast I couldn’t process the whole experience. And then the smell of wood bark, cedar, and earth overwhelmed my senses. The next thing I knew, my hand released Ameerah’s, and I felt strong arms around me. I blinked a couple times and looked around. My eyes didn’t seem to want to focus. Ameerah knocked the flashlight in the palm of her hand, rattling the batteries. The light would go bright for a second and dim the next. My legs were shaking, and when my foot slipped out from under me, Nathan pulled me up against him. My limbs felt like they were made of paperweights, and my ears were thumping. All I wanted to do was close my eyes and sleep.

Ameerah continued shaking the flashlight. “Damn cheap ass batteries.”

“What’s wrong?” Nathan whispered in my ear, his warm breath caressing it.

“I feel weak and tired . . . so tired.” I rested my head on his chest and closed my eyes, the promise of sleep reaching me.

“You depleted your energy transporting us, and being in a dark and negative area didn’t help matters either,” Ameerah said in a matter-of-fact tone of voice.

Nathan stiffened, and I opened my eyes. Ameerah smacked the flashlight against her palm again. The bright light didn’t falter this time. She directed the beam to the ground, looked at us and made a face. “What?”

“Why didn’t you tell us that?” Nathan’s voice was low, his anger stinging each word.

I rubbed my eyes to keep them from closing and tried to focus on Ameerah. “I thought it was you and I that transported us because we’re psychic.”

Ameerah scowled at Nathan, ignoring my comment. “I didn’t think I had to.” She sighed and flicked her hair off her shoulder. A beam of light scanned across her eyes, and her full lips curled into a sneer. “I
told
you I was betting on Paige’s energy to bring me back, so I thought you were aware it was all her doing it.”

“But I thought we did it together because we’re psychic,” I said again, hearing the exhaustion and disappointment in my voice. Nathan made an irritating sound in his throat.

“At first I thought so too because I could feel the psychic energy swelling inside me, but as soon as we touched hands, your energy suffocated it, and now it’s gone.” She lifted her shoulders to punctuate her statement. “So you did it, Paige.” She paused and cocked her head in a curious manner. “Do you feel drawn to me now?”

My mind was still trying to process what she just told me, and it took a moment to answer. It was all my doing? So what did that mean, and why would my psychic energy kill hers? I hated all of this: the mystery of myself. “No, I don’t feel it anymore.” I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer and closed them.

Ameerah sighed again. “So I was right. Somehow you zapped my psychic energy with yours and probably channeled it into you.”

My feet slipped from under me. Nathan caught me and tightened his arms around my back, holding me up.

“I need to get Paige home,” he said. “So tell me quickly what’s going on with Volac?”

I could hear Ameerah’s footsteps scratching against the ground in front of us. I wanted to turn my head and look but felt too weak to do so. Instead, I took comfort in Nathan’s arms and relaxed against him. She moved toward us, then halted, her body heat, warm against my bare arm. And then she spoke, no higher than a whisper. “He’s dead set on destroying Paige and equates her to a nuclear bomb, which has caught the attention of others.”

Nathan groaned. “This isn’t good.” He trailed his fingers along the side of my face to the nap of my neck. He then ran them through the length of my hair, not realizing he was lulling me to sleep. “Do you have any positive news to give us?” There was need in his tone. A hopeful need.

Still in a whisper, Ameerah answered, “Right before I came here, Ayperos and his group crashed a meeting Volac was having with his followers and threatened them to stand down.”

 “You’re kidding, right?”

“No. I’m not.” Ameerah hesitated. “Listen. I have to go. I no longer feel comfortable here.” She sounded nervous and scared.

 Nathan removed his hand from me, and his arm jerked forward. “Tell me what happened first.”

“Let go of my wrist, and I’ll tell you, but then I must go.”

Nathan’s hand went back around me, and I could feel myself slipping beneath dark waters. I struggled to stay above it by hanging onto their every word.

“Volac refused to stand down. He told Ayperos if the ‘old one’ gains control, they’ll no longer be free, and he won’t give up his autonomy,” she said in a rush. “Ayperos assured him things wouldn’t change for him and his followers if they were to leave Paige alone. Volac laughed in his face but then stopped short when Ayperos offered him a blood oath.”

Blood oath.

Those two words swam in my head. I wondered what a blood oath was. It sounded serious, like selling your soul to the devil . . .
blood oath
. . . hmmm. I could feel myself being lifted in the air and then crushed in warmth. I tried to concentrate on their conversation.

“Volac said he’d take part in the blood oath if it was with the ‘old one.’ Otherwise, Ayperos could piss off.”

Nathan sighed heavily. “Why didn’t you tell me this from the beginning?” He paused and lowered his mouth to my ear. “Hang on, Paige.” He rocked me, and I suddenly realized I was cradled in his arms.

“I’m . . . okaaay, ” I managed to say with a heavy tongue.

“I didn’t tell you this first,” Ameerah’s haughty voice rang out, “because as far as I know the ‘old one’ hasn’t given Volac a blood oath. Therefore, Paige is still in danger of him. Now, I got to go.” A delicate hand pressed against my forehead, cold against my skin. “Take care of her,” she said.

Nathan kissed my cheek. “With my life.” His words rumbled deep within his chest with a fervent pledge bound by love.

Love.

I could hear it in his tone. Feel it in the way he held me. Everything we’d been through with our relationship lately seemed silly now. Like Tree had said earlier–it was in Nathan’s nature to protect me. Maybe it was a testosterone thing, primordial even. Or maybe love. But it was probably both.

So we had to go through those bumps, to get the measurements right. It wasn’t silly after all. It was necessary. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here now, and we wouldn’t have seen Aosoth.

Aosoth
.

Why didn’t we talk about her when we returned?

Oh . . . right . . . we got sidetracked.

 But what sidetracked us?

Something jostled me. I wondered if it was the dark water I was slipping under. I struggled to hold onto my consciousness, trying to latch onto my name being anxiously called. But in the end, the cold, watery darkness claimed me.