Welsh Road (The Depravity Chronicles) (35 page)

“I…huh? What?”
Simon asked. But suddenly he knew it was true.

Wing it
, his father had
told him.

And so he did.

5

Although they
were outnumbered, Jena was shocked when all seven shades attacked her
great-grandmother.

“They’re
attracted to power,” Isabelle said. “Fortunately your powers are limited in
astral form. At least for now.”

“How is that
good?” Jena asked. “They’re going to kill her!”

“There are
things worse than death,” Isabelle warned. “But your grandmother can take care
of herself.”

Jena watched as
the shades were ejected from Eleanor’s spirit. Her mother was right. Eleanor
could kick some serious ass.

“I had backup,”
Eleanor said when she saw the look of astonishment on Jena’s face. “Our
ancestors. You’ll know them soon enough. But for now, the rest is up to you now.”
Then she vanished.

“Stand inside of
me,” Isabelle said.

“What?” Jena
asked, confused by her mother’s request.

“Stand on top of
me!” Isabelle ordered. “Now!”

Jena moved to
where her mother was standing, and was greeted by a bolt of warm energy. She
could feel her mother, as if they were embraced in some awesome cosmic hug. It
didn’t take long before Jena could also feel the power welling up inside of
her, as if she were in a freefall on a giant rollercoaster. It was a huge rush.

“Focus your mind
toward the shades,” her mother said. It seemed like Isabelle’s voice was coming
from her mind, like the two of them had become one person. Jena did as her
mother instructed.

Together, mother
and daughter sent a massive blue wave of energy directly at the seven shades,
each of whom did their best to deflect the blast. It was no use. The combined
power of mother and daughter was more than they could handle.

“I figured
they’d be stronger than that,” Jena said.

“They are,”
Isabelle said. “I’m not sure what they’re doing.”

As if on cue,
the seven spirits flew across the room and hovered above Nicholas’ body. One by
one, they grinned at Jena and entered his body.

“No!” Jena
shouted.

“Two,” Jena
heard Nina ominously say.

“What the hell’s
going on over there?” Jena asked, now seeing Nina standing in front of Sam and
Matthew.

“Three.”

“Get back to
your body!” Isabelle shouted.

Jena tried to sprint
back to her vessel, but found she was incredibly tired. By the time she crossed
the room and climbed back into her vessel, it was too late.

Jena opened her
eyes to see Nina glaring back at her. Nina suddenly slapped her, and hard.

“Did you have a nice
trip?” Nina asked. “I certainly hope it was worth it. Look what you made me
do.” She pointed toward Sam and Matthew.

Jena gasped for
air. It was like someone had punched her in the stomach. There, staring
lifelessly up at the ceiling was Father Matthew. She would have grieved, maybe
even screamed in anger. But right now she was being distracted by the guy with
massive black wings flying around the room.

The guy looked a
lot like Simon.

6

Everything was
happening so quickly it was difficult to keep track of it all. Anna watched as
the seven black flames seemed to fly up Nicholas’ nose. Then, in another part
of the room, Nina had put her pointer finger on Matthew’s temple, sticking her
thumb in the air, like her hand was a gun. When she pushed her thumb down,
there was a loud
CRACK!
and Matthew fell to the floor.

If that wasn’t
enough, as Jena was waking up, Simon grew wings and started flying. It was
almost more than Anna’s brain could handle. But she had to if they were going
to survive.

When Jena
awakened from her astral journey, Nina backhanded her. Nina had obviously
underestimated the ingenuity of her guests. A mistake she was not about to
repeat.

“Did you hear
me, little girl? I killed your priest.” Nina was furious that Jena wasn’t
paying attention. Instead, her eyes were darting around the room. “What the
hell are you looking at?”

Nina nearly
screamed in terror when she saw the angel floating above her. Angels were a
pain in the ass and could create serious problems for her. Then, when she
looked more closely at the angel’s face, she realized it wasn’t an angel at
all. It was Simon.

The Nephilim.

At the same
time, Nina noticed that the shades had already taken possession of Nicholas. That
wasn’t supposed to happen yet. His body was not yet prepared for their arrival.
He would explode if the shades fought for control of his mind. It would be too
much for him. And she needed Nicholas to be alive and well, inhabited by seven
of the greatest sorcerers who had ever lived. Working for her.

“This is
your
doing,” Nina hissed at Jena.

“I certainly
hope so,” Jena said, returning Nina’s hateful gaze.

Just as Nina was
about to put Jena out of her misery, Simon came crashing down on top of Nina.
His feet landed on her shoulders and forced her to crash to the floor. The
hardwood buckled under the weight of his attack, sending both him and Nina through
the floorboards and into the basement. With Nina briefly out of commission, the
immobilization spell was lifted once again.

This time,
everyone took full advantage of their freedom.

1

It was dark and
musty in the basement. The only light came from the hole in the floor above
them, but it didn’t offer much help. Simon felt his way along a wet, slippery
stone wall, trying to pinpoint Nina’s location.

Nina’s fury was
reaching new heights. In her nearly 1,000 years of life, she could not remember
ever having been so angry. She cursed herself for not ever having developed the
ability to see in the dark. If she cast a spell that illuminated her
surroundings, that damn Nephilim was sure to attack. How in the hell did he
come into his power? It wasn’t time.

Constantine.
That bastard. Well, never mind that. She would deal with him later. Right now
she needed to put the angel boy out of commission and return to her life’s
work.

The wall seemed
to stretch for miles. Simon became nervous that he had gone too far. He
couldn’t even see the light from the upstairs, which had been slightly visible
when he started walking. There was no way he was going to find Nina in the far
corners of the basement. Just as he was about to turn around, he could feel the
outline of a door. He fumbled for the knob, hoping it was unlocked. It wasn’t.
Frustrated, he pulled as hard as he could. Not only did the knob rip off, the
entire frame of the door fell on top of him.

“Damn,” Simon
said to himself. The stench that rafted through the door was so potent that
Simon wretched. He hadn’t eaten all day, so they were painful dry heaves.
Hoping against hope that there was a light, he felt along the wall for a switch.
Miraculously, he found one. He flipped it cautiously, nervous to see what would
be waiting for him once the light exposed whatever secrets lay hidden in the
dark.

When he saw what
was standing before him, Simon screamed.

Nina could hear
Simon rustling around several yards away. Then, she heard him scream. No doubt
he had awakened whatever was slumbering in the trenches of the farmhouse. With
any luck, he would be dead by the time she returned to the main floor. Smiling,
she closed her eyes and murmured a spell under her breath. Her feet lifted from
the ground and she began to levitate, making her way up through the hole that
had swallowed them.

Her first order
of business was to kill the survivors.

* * * * * *

2

Anna ran to
Trevor, who was still kneeling by Anish.

“Mom, I think
he’s really dead,” Trevor said, a tear streaming down his face.

“We need to
figure out a way to kill her,” Anna said breathlessly. She twisted her head to
see Matthew lying on the ground with Sam checking for a pulse.

“Son of a
bitch,” Sam cursed. He turned to Anna, shaking his head.

Anna was not
prepared for the emotional pain that began stabbing her heart. It was like ten
thousand knives had been shoved into her chest. Within a few seconds, however,
the grief turned to rage. The Beretta would do no good. They needed to find a
weapon that would at least put Nina down long enough for them to escape.

Jena ran to her
mother, trying to wake her. Anna shook her head, her rage growing steadily.
“Poor girl,” she said, more to herself than anyone else.

Jena abruptly
lifted her head, scanning the room.

“What’s wrong?”
Anna asked.

“Where’s
Nicholas?” Jena asked. “Did anyone even see him leave?”

Anna shivered as
she thought about the dark shadows entering Nicholas. “Let’s worry about one
thing at a time, shall we?”

Trevor began
feeling Anish’s clothes.

“What are you
doing?” Anna asked.

“Following a
hunch,” Trevor said. Suddenly he stopped. He opened Anish’s jacket, his eyes
widening. There, resting in a makeshift holster was the silver axe that had
been used last year in the cemetery. He held it up to show the others.

“That might
work,” Anna said, a bit of confidence streaming into her.

“Hot damn,” Sam
said.

“Let’s kill that
whore,” Jena said between clenched teeth.

“Now the only
question is how we get close enough to her to use it,” Anna said.

“Leave that to
me,” Trevor growled, grabbing the axe and ripping it from its straps. He
sprinted to where Simon had pushed Nina through the floor, prepared to jump. Just
as he was about to take flight, he saw flaming red hair begin to appear just
below the floorboards. He fell to his knees and began crawling toward Nina’s
hair, gripping the axe until his knuckles turned white.

Time to die,
bitch
.
Trevor smiled.

* * * * * *

3

“Surprise!”
Nicholas said when Simon turned on the light.

“What the hell?
How did you get down here?”

“I got mad
skills,” Nicholas replied. Simon noticed that Nicholas’ eyes were black and his
face was pale. It was as if someone had painted it white. He looked like a Goth
on crack.

“Jena will be so
happy to see you,” Simon said, not sure if the boy in front of him was still
Nicholas.

“I can see your
thoughts, Nephilim,” Nicholas hissed. “You have the hots for my witch?”

Simon had to
think fast. Nicholas had somehow become possessed, most likely by those dark
shades. If that were the case, then son of an angel or not, Simon might be in
mortal danger.

“You are an
abomination,” Nicholas said. “But, I am a fan of abominations. So I might have
some use for you. I’ll be in touch.”

Simon watched as
Nicholas disappeared in a puff of black smoke. “That was seriously messed up,”
he said to himself.

Suddenly someone
screamed. Simon quickly turned around and headed back toward where he had
fallen through the floor.

“Wings don’t
fail me now,” Simon prayed. He jumped into the air, not sure how to even move
his wings. Instead of taking flight, he fell flat on his face on the cold stone
floor, breaking his nose.

* * * * * *

3

By the grace of
God, Nina was facing the opposite direction from Trevor as her head began to
rise above the splintered hardwood.

Still gripping
the axe with all of his strength, Trevor closed his eyes, trying to calm his
mind. No doubt Nina could hear his thoughts, or sense his anxiety and thus his
proximity to her.

When Nina’s head
had fully emerged, Trevor swung the axe.

SWOOSH!

Nina’s head
rolled into the floor, the rest of her body falling into the basement. Stunned,
Trevor stared at her head. Nina seemed to be staring at him, as if there were
still life in her eyes.

“You little
fucking bastard!” Nina’s severed head cursed.

Anna screamed,
horrified.
This gives a whole new meaning to talking heads
, she mused.

“Shut up,
bitch!” Trevor shouted, kicking Nina’s head like a football. They watched as
her head soared across the living room and into the fire pit.

Sam raised his
arms like a referee would, signaling that Trevor had just scored the winning
field goal.

“Holly shit,”
Anna whispered. “Well at least a few heads didn’t grow in its place, like the
Hydra thingee.”

Trevor snorted.

Unfortunately, their
joy was short-lived.

A dark flame
erupted from the pit, drifting toward Trevor. As it came closer, a face was
swirling around in the smoke. Its identity was unmistakable. Nina. Just as she
was about to strike at Trevor, Jena appeared at his side. She threw up her
hands, erecting a shield of magic.

Nina struck the
shield, clearly believing she could overpower Jena. There was an intense
crackling sound, followed by Nina screaming.

“I don’t
understand,” Nina said, her angry face momentarily breaking through the smoke.
It was then that she saw it.

“This probably
helped,” Jena said, fingering the talisman that hung around her neck. “Time for
you to leave.”

Jena wasn’t sure
how to do it, but she asked her mother and great-grandmother for help and
closed her eyes. She imagined Nina being cast into another realm, far, far away
from them. Just when she began to feel the power begin to build up inside her,
Jena lost consciousness.

* * * * * *

4

“Wake up,”
Trevor repeated for what seemed like the hundredth time.

Jena mumbled
under her breath, and then slowly opened her eyes. “Are we dead?”

Trevor laughed.
“Not quite.”

Jena tried to
smile, but wasn’t very convincing. When her vision became clear, she saw Anna
and Sam standing behind Trevor.

“Where’s Nina?”

“You tell us,”
Anna said. “You saved Trevor’s life, and then closed your eyes. Next thing we
knew, you were literally glowing blue.”

“Yeah, you
looked like Smurfette,” Trevor said.

“So she’s gone?”
Jena asked.

“Seems that
way,” Sam answered.

“Where’s Simon?”
Jena asked.

“I’m down here,”
a voice called from beneath the floor.

“Well fly up
here, Wings,” Trevor said.

“I can’t,” Simon
answered. “I don’t know where they went.”

“You’ve already
lost your wings?” Anna asked. “Someone ring a bell.”

“What?” Trevor
asked.

“Every time a
bell rings, an angel gets its wings,” Anna quoted the Christmas classic. No one
got it. Still, somehow, everyone managed to laugh. Everyone but Jena.

“Where’s
Nicholas?” she asked.

“Um, about
that…” Simon said. “But first, could someone find a way to get me up there
please? It’s kinda spooky down here. Seriously.”

“I’ve got it,”
Sam said, leaving the living room and searching for a door to the basement.
When he found it, he opened the door and knocked hard so Simon could follow the
sound.

“Sweet,” Simon
sang when he appeared at the bottom of the stairs. He climbed them two at a
time, overjoyed to be alive.

Jena was already
standing by the time Simon was once again on the main floor. “So?” she asked
impatiently.

“I saw him
downstairs,” Simon said. “And, Jena, I’m so sorry. He’s been possessed.”

Jena didn’t
move, nor did she speak.

Anna put her
hand on Jena’s shoulder. “Honey, I saw those dark spirits go into his nose.”

Finally, Jena
nodded. “I saw it, too. We need to find him before something happens to him.”

“Or before he
does something to someone else,” Simon said.

“What?” Trevor
asked, slightly confused. He must have missed quite a bit during the action.

“He disappeared
in a cloud of smoke,” Simon said. “I’m so sorry. There wasn’t anything I could
do. He just, like, vanished into thin air.”

Everyone stood
silently for a moment, looking around the room and processing what had happened.

“I saw Nina’s
body,” Simon finally said. “I assume you did the honors?” he asked Trevor while
looking at the axe.

“Yeah. But I
seriously doubt that’s the last we’ve seen of her.”

“No doubt,”
Simon echoed. “You don’t survive for a thousand years and die at the hands of a
teeny bopper.” He elbowed Trevor.

“We need to find
Nicholas,” Jena repeated.

“One thing at a
time,” Anna said, authority ringing in her voice. “We need to take care of our
dead. Then, we need to eat. Get some rest. We have plenty of time to fight
these battles later.”

“Wow, our dead,”
Trevor repeated. “That’s harsh, Mom.”

“I don’t mean to
be, honey,” Anna said. “But we need to organize ourselves. Remember, there are
four dead bodies hanging in the trees not far from here. Now there are three
more,  and the police are going to show up soon. We need to be long gone before
that happens.”

“What about the
bodies that were already here when we arrived? The ones Nina must have killed
earlier?” Simon asked.

Anna lowered her
head for a brief moment. “We leave them for the police to handle.”

“Understood,”
Sam said, knowing Anna was right. “Come on guys, let’s do this.”

Trevor shook his
head. “How in the hell are we supposed to carry three bodies through the woods
without being seen? We’re not even physically capable of doing this. Anish and
Matthew are not exactly small men, Mom.”

“Leave that to
me,” Jena said. She raised her hands, and as she did, Isabelle, Anish, and
Matthew lifted from the ground. “If anyone is in the woods, I’ll cloak us. I
think I can handle that now.”

“That necklace
really packs a wallop,” Simon said.