Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (264 page)

Kara jumped up. She looked over the many heads for David. She spotted him. He was staring at her, a frown on his face. He glanced at the demons before looking back at Kara. A shadow of confusion flashed across his face. He read her true panic. And then he was fighting his way back through the crowd, towards her. Three other higher demons broke through the mob of people and made their way towards David.

“David!” she yelled. He vanished under a wave of mortals.

Kara trembled as she backed away, her eyes on the two higher demons marching towards her. The world around her grew still. She felt helpless and stuck, like a mouse caught in a trap, as she stared at the black-eyed monsters.

One of the demons pulled out a long black blade from his jacket. It was opaque, and a black mist emitted from it, like rippling black smoke. She felt a strange prickling from the inside, as though tiny electric shocks were going off all at once inside her mortal body. The demons broke into a run.

“DAVID!” she cried desperately. She waited ten seconds. Then she ran.

Kara bolted down Decarie Boulevard. She ran without looking back, and pushed her mortal legs as much as she could. Her M suit, it turned out, was better than she could have hoped. Her powerful legs moved with incredible speed. She glanced back and nearly fell as the shock of the higher demons being so close took her by surprise. They were faster than she was.

Kara pressed on. She knew she wasn’t trained to fight these demons…not yet. She imagined demon torture. That gave her the fuel to keep running.

She had been running non-stop for so long that she felt her spirit starting to dampen. Her M suit didn’t tire, but she didn’t know how long she could keep this up. How long could she stay in her suit? She knew they didn’t last long. What was going to happen when she outlived it? She knew she had to do something, fast. Dread overwhelmed her whenever she looked back and met those evil black eyes. And David hated her now. The unfairness of it all filled her with rage.

A bright red neon sign, Stan’s Diner, appeared in front of her. Kara saw her chance and took it. She ran into a large group of teenage girls, stole a blue jacket from one of them, pulled it on and squeezed herself in with them. She hid with the giggling girls until she was right in front of the diner. Ducking her head, she sprinted straight for the front door and nearly collapsed as she rushed in. She crashed into a few people. “Oops, so sorry! Excuse me!” Kara whirled around and looked out the front glass door.

The higher demons passed Stan’s Diner. They ran along the sidewalk, then they stopped. Their heads moved around, as if to follow a scent.

She ran towards the back. A waitress walked down a hallway. “Toilet!” yelled Kara. “I need a toilet—hurry!”

The waitress stopped and pushed up her glasses. Her white hair was pulled back in a tight bun. “Okay. Keep your pants on,” she laughed. “The washrooms are over there,” she pointed behind her, “but they’re out of order.”

Kara stared. “Are you kidding me?”

“You’ll have to try Stone Grill down the street,” the waitress told her.

“I’m not going to make it!”

The waitress blinked. “Are you sick?”

“Something like that.” Kara ran past the waitress and stopped in front of a wooden door. Two small paintings of a man and a woman with each sitting on a toilet reading the paper were nailed to the door. A paper sign taped on the front read:
Out of Order
. She tried to force the door open, but it wouldn’t budge. “Oh no, this can’t be happening!” cried Kara. She pulled on it again as hard as she could—and lost three fingers.

“AHHHHHH!” screamed Kara. She watched her fingers fall to the ground and bounce to a stop. Her index, middle, and ring fingers lay by her shoes, looking like a couple of merguez sausages. A flash of blinding white light radiated from her severed hand, illuminating the entire hallway as if someone had just turned on a huge spotlight.

Kara bent down and scooped up her mortal fingers with shaking hands. She squeezed them with her left hand. They felt like rubber. They were hollow, like empty shells. She dropped them in her pants front pocket. Then she shoved her glowing hand underneath her shirt and turned to check if she had been seen.

A man in his fifties with salt and pepper hair appeared in the hallway. He smiled at Kara as he passed by her. Kara put on her best fake smile and pretended to be talking on the phone. He disappeared into the kitchen where the smell of grease was as thick as tar. A metal coat rack stood against a wall, near the entrance to the kitchen. Kara dashed over to the rack and grabbed a pink silk scarf. She quickly wrapped the scarf around her glowing fingers.

Kara jogged down the hallway to the front of the restaurant. A faint clatter came from the dining area, where customers enjoyed their greasy meals. She saw a young waitress setting up a new table. Kara looked out through the tall glass windows which ran the length of the diner. A higher demon searched the grounds outside. It prowled down the block searching, like a wild animal sniffing out its prey.

She hid her pink hand under her shirt and leaned back against the wall. The waitress filled the empty salt shakers with a large bag of salt.

Kara ran to an empty table. She grabbed a salt shaker and shoved it in her pocket. She knew what a bit of salt could do to a higher demon. But this time she was alone. And there were two of them. She ran to the next empty table and grabbed another salt shaker. There were only two empty tables in the diner. But she needed salt.

The men and women in the restaurant eyed her suspiciously. Kara flashed them a smile. “I have low salt levels.”And with that, Kara rushed over to a booth with a family sitting comfortably inside.

“Hi there,” she said as she grabbed the salt shaker, “do you mind? I’m all out. Thanks a lot.” She shoved the shaker inside her other jean’s pocket. And just when she was about to turn around—her right ear fell onto the table.

“Crap!” yelled Kara as she scooped up her ear. She looked at the terrified family.

“Ah…it’s just a rubber ear,” she smiled, “nothing to worry about. Stupid little prank.”

But a beam of light had exploded from the right side of her head. A look of complete shock masked the faces of the family. Their eyes were glued to her head, at the glowing hole where her ear used to be.

Wide-eyed, Kara smacked the right side of her head. She pressed her hand against the hole. “I’m having a seriously
bad
day!”

She swung herself out of the booth and threw her mortal ear on the floor. She ran to another booth and scooped up three more salt shakers. Satisfied, she headed towards the back of the restaurant, but not before grabbing a knife from one of the tables.

A bell rang, and she turned to see a demon pushing the front door open. He stepped into the diner. His black eyes locked onto hers and grinned. Kara pushed open the back door and ran into an alleyway.

The other higher demon stood in the back alley. Hands in his pockets, he waited calmly outside for her. His pale face cracked in an evil grin. His black eyes watched her every move.

“I’m
so
not ready for this!” Kara put as much distance as she could between her and the demon. She knew running was not an option anymore. Her mortal body was shutting down. With her butter knife in one hand and a salt shaker in the other, she waited for the demon to attack.

A door slammed shut behind her. The second demon stepped into the alley with a black blade smoking in his hand. Kara blinked and backed away.

“How about playing by the rules?” said Kara. “Two against one, that’s hardly fair!”

Rotating his dagger skillfully between his fingers, the demon took a step closer. Kara watched silently as he positioned his body in anticipation.

And then he struck.

But Kara was ready. The demon lunged forward, his weapon going for her stomach. Kara side stepped and thrust her knife into his side, cutting away at his flesh. She rolled and stepped back, watching in horror as black blood oozed from the cut. The demon clasped his wound with his hand, with a stunned expression on his face. Black blood dripped between his fingers. Then he came at her swinging.

Kara went into defense mode; positioning her right foot in front of her while adjusting her weight with her left, she blocked his hit. The impact nearly forced her to her knees—but she held on. She felt the mortal body strain…she knew it wouldn’t last long. With all her strength, she pushed off and backed away, watching the demon’s corrupted face screwing up in anger, its upper lip trembling.

The demon attacked again. He swung his blade with brutal force, aiming for her head. She blocked it, but the force of the strike forced her to the ground. Her butter knife flew out of her hand. Blinking, she looked up at the demon, its black eyes filled with a mix of hatred and hunger. She felt a cold fever rushing through her. She trembled. She felt the M suit weakening beneath her, melting away. Her vision blurred. She blinked desperately, trying to see clearly. The second demon walked slowly towards her, a smile materializing on its face. It opened its mouth to speak.

“The end is near,
angel
,” hissed the higher demon.

Kara opened a salt shaker.

“You can already
feel
it. We will
drink
your essence, little one…and you will be no more!” Its jaw dislocated and opened abnormally long, all the way down to its chest, like a ventriloquist’s dummy’s wooden mouth. Kara could only stare. It lunged at her…

Kara threw the salt shaker in its mouth. The demon fell over and screamed. Convulsing on the ground, his mouth sizzled and popped. Black smoke rose from his body like burnt toast. He howled in pain.

Kara grabbed another salt shaker and readied herself as the other demon attacked. She threw the salt at it, but the demon brushed it aside with its blade. With lighting speed, the demon struck and sliced off her right arm.

“Ahhh!” Agonizing pain surged through her M suit. Her body burned, the poison of the blade eating away at her soul. She stared at the hole where her right arm used to be; black mist emitted from the wound like smoke from a candle. A kind of acid surrounded the cut, eating its way around the stump, leaving it blackened. The pain was so intense that Kara shut her eyes and rolled on the ground. She was burning alive from the inside. She felt the poison of the blade spread through her M suit…and into her soul. She was dying, for a second time.

Kara...Kara ...

Kara turned and looked at the demons. Their lips didn’t move.

Kara ...be strong ...

“Who—where are you…?” She whirled her head around.

We are here with you ...

Kara trembled. “I can’t s…see you. H…help me. Please.”

Feel your strength, Kara. Don’t be afraid ...

“What d…do you m…mean?” She shook uncontrollably.

“Who are you talking to, little
angel
?” The higher demon tossed her severed arm in the air. “No one can help you now.”

The demon stretched open its mouth and swallowed her arm. Its eyes suddenly glowed white, before going back to black. The demon grinned. It turned its attention to the remaining parts of Kara. “Your essence tastes great,” said the demon. “You will make me very powerful, little
angel
. You should be happy your
meaningless
angel
soul
will have served a purpose.”

Kara blinked as she forced herself to sit up. She cradled the stump of her arm. Part of her wanted to die, to stop the excruciating pain. She waited.

Kara...don’t let go...you can do this...hang on a little longer...

“M…my head,” breathed Kara, “I’m hearing voices in my head.”

A door opened with a loud creak on the opposite side of the alleyway. A man dressed in white threw some large black garbage bags on the ground, plopped a large bucket of soapy water with a wet mop beside it, and slammed the door shut.

“Hmmm,” continued the demon as it approached her, “how splendid you will taste.”

The bucket, Kara,
said the voices.
The water...run to it. Feel the strength in you, Kara, run!

Kara couldn’t explain it, but she suddenly felt stronger, as though the strength of a hundred people burst into her. The higher demon’s jaw loosened up grotesquely as he prepared to eat her, and Kara mustered the last of her energy and ran towards the bucket.

She plunged her head in the water. A sharp pain erupted in her legs—and the darkness took her.

I
t seemed
like days had passed when Kara finally opened her eyes.

Her body was enveloped in something soft. It followed her every move like the waterbed she had once tried at her Aunt Tracy’s house. Kara turned her head in every which way and saw only orange. As she moved, a semi-liquid substance pressed against her like jell-o. She reached out. Her hands stopped at a harder subsurface. She felt up and down and around. She was inside a globule. She opened her mouth to scream, and liquid poured in. She closed her mouth again.

Kara strained to see past the semi-translucent shell. Shadows of bubbles floated all around her. She looked down at herself; her clothes were gone. She was completely naked. She whirled around inside her bubble, kicking with her legs and flailing her arms.

There was a sudden loud
pop
…Kara felt the bubble break below her, and she slipped and fell into a pool of water. She struggled to the surface, where buckets of the jell-o substance came drooling down on her.

“Gross!” she yelled, as she wiped her eyes. She was inside a massive warehouse-like building made of shimmering brass metal. A great metal contraption of interwoven pipes and wires stood at her left, reaching all the way to the top…like her uncle’s car garage, but without the oily cigarette smell. The pool ran the length of the building and sparkled in the sun light, which spilled from the skylights above.

Thousands of soft orange spheres the size of a person hovered in the air, like giant soap bubbles. They bounced off of each other in the crowded space.

Kara heard a shuffle of feet and turned to see a cherub with a glass jar full of souls stop at an operational panel on the left. With some effort, the cherub stood on the top of its toes and dumped the souls into an opening. They flowed up through a pipe, where she couldn’t see them, to a giant translucent tube extruded from the top of the machine. The souls rolled inside the machine for a moment and then popped out, one by one, enveloped by orange bubbles. She could make out the silhouettes of GAs wiggling inside these bubbles, as they grew slowly into their human forms.

Something moved in Kara’s peripheral vision. A group of guardian angels stood below one of the globules, looking up. Suddenly the bag broke, and with a
splash,
a naked GA plopped into the pool. She heard buzzing as she read a huge flashing neon sign, Healing-Xpress.

Kara made a face. “Whoa…I think I swallowed too much of that orange stuff.”

Kara brought her hands to her face. Her body gave off a strong citrus smell, as though the orange substance was some sort of fruit punch. She heard the faint patter of some walking behind her. She turned and looked up into sparkling blue eyes.

“Here…” David threw her a towel and turned his back. “You can cover yourself with that until we get you some clothes.”

Kara’s mouth seemed sewn shut. She struggled to open it.

“Thanks,” she croaked. She pulled herself up and over the ledge into a sitting position. She wiped her body down. “And you’ve been here for how long…staring at my naked body, if that’s what this is?” She wiped her face with the towel and then carefully wrapped herself in it.

“I just got here.”

Kara studied David’s back. He had come to see her. Maybe he believed her now?

She brushed a sticky strand of hair behind her ear. She felt prickling all the way down her back as she tried to come up with something to say. She was never good in these kinds of awkward situations. But then again,
she
was dead, and she had been naked and covered in sticky orange slime; what could be more awkward than that?

“You can turn around now.” Kara watched as his body shifted and turned.

“Hm.” David thinned his lips, a scowl materializing on his brow.

She studied his face for a moment. She had never seen David look so troubled. It was as though he was fighting something from the inside. When she couldn’t bear it anymore, she asked the one question she’d been dying to ask since he arrived.

“So…do you believe me now? About the demon’s mark on my leg?”

David stared at the floor, his face expressionless. “It doesn’t matter what
I
think. The Legion is divided about what happened. They haven’t come to a decision. Not everyone believes you’re innocent.”

Kara looked into his face. She wanted David to believe her. It was the truth, after all.

“You still don’t believe me…and you think I’m some
spy
?” she said angrily.

“It doesn’t matter what I think.” His quiet tone was worse than if he’d been yelling.

“Right…you said that. So then, why are you here?”

David met her eyes, an unreadable expression on his face. “I’m still your Petty Officer…it’s my job to make sure you’re okay.”

“Right.” Kara narrowed her eyes and shook her head. “You said the Legion was
divided—the Legion
—does everybody know about this? And angels have taken sides?”

A loud
splash
cut the uncomfortable silence between them. More GAs plopped into the pool, their naked bodies struggling to a sitting position as they wiped the orange liquid from their supernatural skin.

After a long pause, Kara turned her attention back to David. “So, how did I get here—in these
bag
things?” She pointed to the floating orange bubbles. “The last thing I remember was being attacked by higher demons and reaching the bucket of water. Then everything went black.”

David looked up as more GAs plopped into the pool.

“Your soul was in a bad shape…you needed to be healed. This is where all angels come to get fixed.”

“Oh.” Kara felt like a car that needed an oil change. She cleared her throat.

“Um, David? Something…something
strange
happened to me when…when I thought I was going to die … when my soul was dying.”

“What do mean,
strange?
”

Kara blinked. She wasn’t sure whether hearing voices in your head up in Horizon could mean the same thing as hearing them back on Earth.

“What is it?” said David. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

“Kinda.” Kara sighed and closed her eyes. “You’re going to think I’m crazy, but I…I heard voices.”

She opened her left eye and peeked at David.

“What?” David cocked an eyebrow. “Maybe you just bumped your head or something.”

“I don’t think that’s it. I really
heard
voices inside my head…they…they helped me escape. You think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

David’s expression was distant.

“I’ve never heard of guardians hearing voices. I’m pretty sure it was your own voice, Kara. Remember…you were weak, and you thought you were dying. Our minds do strange things when we’re about to die.”

He threw out his hand. “Come,” he said as he gestured for her to take it. “The Archangel Raphael wants to meet you.”

Kara took David’s hand and pulled herself to her feet. She realized she should be more cautious about what she said from now on. Hearing voices was not common among the angels. She feared it might make her look more like a traitor. So she dropped the subject.

“Who’s Raphael?” she asked instead. She pulled her towel tighter around her.

“An Archangel,” David squeezed her hand.

“I know…but who is he? What does he do?”

“You’ll see.”

They left the Healing-Xpress building through giant metal doors, and Kara stared up into a scarlet and orange sky. Like a rainbow, the colors chased one another, twisting and swirling as they spread above and beyond. In the forest before them, tall green trees rippled in a light breeze.

Surprisingly, Kara felt great. She kept the towel wrapped tightly around her body and followed David through the forest. The dirt path led up to a clearing where they looked out across a valley to a mountain that rose high above and was lost into a sea of red clouds. As they neared the base of the mountain, Kara realized that a city was carved from the mountain’s core. Groups of oracles and guardian angels poured out from the many stone edifices, going about their business.

“What is this place?” asked Kara.

David seemed to relax a little. “Miracles Division…where the
magic
happens.”

“Huh?”

“Just a handful of GAs get to work here,” explained David. “Sometimes—but it’s very rare—we get to perform miracles. Usually by healing the sick. What the mortals can’t explain with their science…how a person is suddenly cured of cancer…that’s us.”

Kara thought of all the sick people she had seen in the hospital last year when she had cut herself and needed a few stitches…back when she was alive. She remembered
a lot
of sick people. “But…there are still
so
many sick people in the world? Why aren’t they cured?”

“I’m not sure,” answered David. He passed a hand through his hair. “All I know is there are only a few special cases...and that the orders come from The Chief himself.”

“Oh.” Kara followed David down a small slope. Her bare feet pressed against a smooth stone path. “I feel kinda awkward in just a towel… everyone else is dressed.” She tugged the top of her towel and held it in place with her right hand.

“You’re not the only one…look.” David pointed to another group of GAs waddling down a path in white towels.

“Thank God. I don’t feel like such a moron now.”

When they reached the opening of the city, two giant man-like rock sculptures stood on either side of the entrance, like soldiers guarding the entrance to the palace. Their rough faces were carved into downward grins.

Kara stared at the jungle of winding and turning walkways that wound between buildings carved from huge walls of rock, as though chiseled by gigantic hands. Other buildings were wood and stone, molded into perfectly balanced designs.

Kara followed David inside a massive stone structure, down a hallway, then finally into a large chamber. Red rays of sunlight poured through square openings at the top, like stained glass windows. Five guardian angels in blue lab coats worked on wooden tables cluttered with plants and pots, mixing and measuring elements in glass containers. The liquids morphed into green and orange colors.

A beautiful Asian-looking woman, draped in white linen, examined the contents of a square glass container, which looked to Kara like a small trapped rainbow. Red highlights reflected off the jet black hair that spilled all the way down her back. She towered over David and Kara.

“So, this is Raphael?” whispered Kara. “She’s a woman.”

David had a huge grin plastered across his face, his eyes fixed on the beautiful lady.

Kara rolled her eyes. “You’re so predictable.”

They walked towards the impressive woman. She looked up, and her perfect face melted into a brilliant smile.

“Ah, David.” She put the glass container on a table and walked towards them. “I’m so glad to see you again.” She reached out and hugged him.

Kara noticed a golden shield crisscrossed with two silver swords marked on her forehead.

“I’m very happy to see you too, Raphael,” David was smothered in Raphael’s bosom as he spoke. She let him go, and Kara thought she could see the blush on his cheeks.

Raphael’s brown eyes locked onto Kara. “So, this must be Kara…let’s have a look.”

She took Kara’s hands in hers as she examined her closely. Kara felt a strange ripple pass through her body, as though she had just gone through an internal x-ray.

“Well, then…I’m going to put my hands on your face, okay? I need to make sure there aren’t any traces of the death blade inside you.”

“A what kind of blade?” Kara wrinkled her face.

“A death blade…a demon blade. It’s poisonous to any angel,” answered Raphael, “it can kill you.”

“Right...I remember those.”

The Archangel studied Kara’s face closely. “Are you ready, Kara?”

Kara blinked and looked over at David. He gave her a reassuring nod and then his eyes darted back to Raphael. Kara bit her lip and turned back to face the Archangel.

“I feel a little weird with you staring at me like that,” she said.

Raphael smiled. “Don’t worry. It won’t take long,” she laughed, “I promise I’ll stop staring at you in just a minute.”

Raphael’s almond eyes hypnotized Kara, and she could only nod.

Raphael pressed her hands around Kara’s face and then closed her eyes. Immediately, Kara felt a soothing warmth spread from her head to the rest of her body, as though someone had just poured a bucket of warm water over her head. The sensation turned to little pricks inside her, like tiny lightning bolts bouncing on the inside walls of her core.

And then it stopped.

Raphael took a step back and her face broke into a smile. “Wonderful. You show no signs of the poison. And the demon’s Mark is gone.
That
, is
very
good news, Kara.” She turned around gracefully and walked over to the large wooden table.

Kara bent over and stuck out her right leg. She twisted it inwards so that she had a clear view of the bottom part. She smiled. It was olive colored, smooth and clean. The mark was gone. She danced around on the spot, flashing her clean leg. She locked eyes with David and smiled. But he didn’t return her smile. Instead, he focused on Raphael.

Raphael rummaged through piles of clothes neatly placed on long wooden shelves. Kara studied her angelic face, wondering if she thought her a spy or not. Raphael didn’t act as though she thought Kara was a traitor. Raphael was kind to her and wasn’t giving her the cold shoulder like David was.

“Raphael, is there a way you can sense…I’m not a traitor somehow? That I’m telling the truth when I say I’m not a spy?”

The Archangel turned to stare at Kara. Her eyes switched to David’s momentarily, then back to Kara. “I’m afraid I cannot help you with that. I’m a healer. I don’t get involved with Horizon politics.” She smiled. “I cannot read your mind.”

Kara sighed. “Oh. Well…thanks anyway.” She stared at the floor.

Raphael stacked a pile of clothes and handed them to Kara. “Here, these are your new clothes. You can get changed in the back.” Her voice was so soothing and motherly; just having Raphael close to her made her feel as though she was with her own mother.