Behind us, the Selkies gained on us. I had an idea. "Skirt over the top of that battle," I commanded the boat. Seconds later we would pass straight over the battle. The Fomorians didn't notice us until we passed by them, but we drew their attention to the Selkie's close behind us and they attacked the king's guards instead.

  "Hahaha," I chuckled smugly. But I reacted too soon.

  The biggest baddest Fomorian of them all in the group was not leading the charge but commanding from behind. I knew at once that this was Tethra, the self-proclaimed Fomorian king of the sea. He stood well above his underlings, and if I could see Balor and him standing side-by-side, he might be even taller. He wore a crown on his head and wielded a slab-like sword the size of small airplane wing.

  "You seek to flee the battle, Manann mac Lir? Taste of Orna you coward!" he bellowed at me.

  Because we rode in mac Lir's boat, the confusion of the battle led him to believe we were his most hated enemy, King Manann mac Lir.

  "What’s Orna?" I asked Rob.

  Rob pointed his entire fish body at the gargantuan sword arching toward us. "That’s Orna!"

  "Dodge the sword," I yelled at Scuabtuinne. Quickly I grabbed onto the edges of the boat as it barrel rolled over the gargantuan blade. I felt a surge of water rush just over the top of my head as we narrowly missed getting severed by the Fomorian king.

  He let out a shout of rage and left the battle to follow us.

  "Up, up!" I yelled at the boat, reminding it to head back to Benicia. I had to lean forward as we shot towards the surface of the water to keep myself from falling out. I looked over my shoulder and saw Rob in hobgoblin form again, stretched out behind the boat, just barely holding on to the edge. And behind him the massive fingers of Tethra's hand closed around the boat. His fingers would crush Rob, the boat, and myself in one swift grasp.

  At the last second I managed to draw The Retaliator and swipe one of his fingers with the blade. He was so gargantuan I basically gave him a paper cut, but he cried out in pain nonetheless.

  Before I knew it we burst through the surface of the water and skirted along the waves, leaving Manann mac Lir's castle behind us in our wake. The gathering cloud of foggy mist met us head on. As we rode through, the boat slowed of its own volition as if knowing riding at top speed through the mist was dangerous.

  The air changed, smelled different. Suddenly the sky was free of fog again, the mist was nowhere to be seen. We were back at the Benicia waterfront.

  Before long the boat drifted right up to the launch and stopped to let us out. Quickly I jumped from the boat onto the dry cement of the launch not wanting to touch any more water that I had to. A few people were still at the launch and they eyed me and my boat curiously.

  "Uh, return home Scuabtuinne," I commanded the boat, but nothing happened. "Flee. Depart. Retire. Withdraw." The boat bobbed there like a tail-wagging stray dog.

  People were looking at me funny by now. But I didn't have time for an explanation, so I found my Fastback and split.

  20 Hostage

  TAIN WAS ECSTATIC TO see me, almost tackling me to the floor, licking my face over and over when I opened my apartment. "Down boy. Down."

  Gavin however, was nowhere to be found. Though Manann had locked me up for hours in Tir fo Thuinn, it was only 9:40 PM and still Friday night, a little over an hour since the car chase with Justin. "Gavin probably got thrown off when you went through the mist and didn't show up on the other side of the tunnel," speculated Rob. "Perhaps he’s out looking for you still."

  "True. But I explained to him that the whole mist thing happened with the Banshee. So he would've figured out sooner or later that it happened to me again."

  I got out the shotgun vest and lanyard and loaded up on more shotgun shells. Even though I had The Retaliator, I wasn't going to take any chances with the Kelpie. The thing had killed my sister. I’d make sure it got every ounce of my retribution. I took Sensei’s katana, Jade, and my new crystal sword Fragarach, and laid them out on the bed. I tried to decide if I should bring both swords, or just Fragarach. In the space of one day I’d been blessed with not one, but two new blades. Although both were on loan. While I knew Jade was basically no good against the Kelpie, I also wanted to bring it for appearance sake. Vain I know.

  Why hadn't Gavin returned yet? I should at least have some text messages on my phone. You'd think he'd try to contact me, blow my phone up if need be. "I wonder if he also went through the mist but ended up somewhere else?"

  Rob put his finger to his lower lip in contemplation. "I suppose that could happen."

  "And with the time difference between the Otherside and Earth, we have no way to gauge when or where he's coming back," I said.

  "Or," said Rob, "he went through the mist and just ended up on the opposite side of the tunnel."

  "But that would mean he had to deal with the aftermath of Justin and his homeboys trying to kill me," I said. I had a sick feeling in my stomach. Had the Morrigan's summons to the Otherside put my brother in jeopardy?

  "Justin's homeboys could've just as easily been brought to the Otherside as well," said Rob.

  That was an angle I hadn't even thought of. As if to answer my thoughts my phone rang. I saw Gavin's name popped up on the screen. With a sigh of relief I answered the phone. "Hey bro where you at?"

  "Seanny boy," said Justin's voice on the other end of the line. In just those two words I could tell he was happy and smiling. A lump grew in my throat. He continued, "Let's cut the small talk brah. I got your brother. Gary? George? Whatever. Anyway, we caught up with him after you dipped on us through the tunnel. I don't know how you got away but it doesn't matter because I know where you're going to be."

  He paused waiting for me to say something but all he heard was my heavy breathing. "Come meet us on the train tracks underneath the Napa Suscol Bridge. You'll see us by the river. Don't bring anybody or anything. Don't try nothing funny or your brother becomes fish food at the bottom of the Napa River. You got it?"

  It was too much information for my brain to handle. I tried to simultaneously remember all the details while process the fact that they had my brother held hostage somehow.

  "I said, you got that!" Justin yelled into the phone.

  "Yeah, yeah. I got that. Don't hurt my brother. I'll do whatever you want."

  "Your brother will be fine, if you do what we say. We don't really want him anyways. We just want you. Suscol Bridge, train tracks. You got forty minutes to get here or your brother swims with the fish."

  Justin hung up on me leaving me with thirty-nine minutes to save my brother's life.

  NEHEMIAH’S LANDLINE phone rang forever and ever. Finally after what felt like ages his wife Sasha answered the phone. "Hello?"

  "Hi this is Sean looking for Nehemiah."

  "Sean? Oh, Sean. You're his new... friend," she said, sounding slightly irritated.

  I never really thought of Nehemiah as a friend up until this point. And now that Gavin told me that Nehemiah knew my father was a monster hunter and part of the Shepherd’s Guild, I didn't know what Nehemiah was to me. "Uh, Yeah. Sorry for calling so late, but I really need to speak to him."

  "He was supposed to be out patrolling with you," she said in almost an accusatory tone.

  "Oh, was that tonight?" I wondered aloud. "Snap, I totally lost track of the time."

  "Yes it is getting late," she reminded me. "He took the boat and the pickup truck if that means anything to you."

  "Okay, thanks," I said and hung up.

  Tain and Rob sat staring at me, waiting for me to make the next move. What was I to do? I couldn’t do this alone and could use Nehemiah’s help. The fact that the wizard took the boat meant he could only be in a handful of places. The problem was that I didn’t have time to search any of those places. I had something like thirty-three minutes to save my brother now. But Rob had time.

  The hobgoblin seem to read my thoughts and was already turning into an owl. "Find Nehemiah and ask him to get to the Napa Suscol bridge as fast as you can."

  "Don't worry boss, I won’t let you down." He hooted and was off.

  Disregarding everything that Justin said, I placed all of my weapons in the back of my car. The Kelpie would have to wait. "Come on boy," I said to Tain. His ears perked up and he ran around in a circle, excited. "We’ve gotta save Gavin."

  MY CAR RIPPED DOWN Sonoma Boulevard at speeds well over the limit. I didn't know how long a Good Luck charm lasted on the car, but I just went ahead and assumed that it would prevent any cops from pulling me over. Sonoma Boulevard cut right through downtown Vallejo turning into Highway 24 on the way to Napa. I'd have to drive through American Canyon though on my way there. American Canyon was a city known for having terrible stop light traffic and cops that had nothing better to do than to issue speeding tickets at the slightest infraction of the law.

  But tonight luck was on my side. I must've hit all green lights because I was out of American Canyon before I even knew it, passing the super Walmart which was the last semblance of civilization between American Canyon and Napa. From here on out it was just rolling hills on the right, the Napa River far out on the left, with a lot of plains of grass in between. Highway 24 however was only a two lane highway on each side meaning I had to bob-n-weave through rows of cars who were driving just way too slow for an emergency like the one I was in.

  Several times my car squeezed in between other drivers with margins so thin I shouldn't have made it. I knew this for a fact because my Luck charm illuminated the car on both occasions preventing me from even touching the other cars. Also the other drivers high beamed and honked at me. I didn't care. No one else mattered but Gavin at the moment.

  I tried to formulate a game plan in my head as I drove, but my heart beat too fast, my mind racing too quick to jump over the first hurdle. The first hurdle being the fact that I didn't know the lay of the land or the situation that I was getting into. How many friends did Justin have with them? Two? Three? Eight? Would he have people watching from the shadows, waiting for me to try something stupid? Or was he smart enough to keep fewer people involved? I had no real idea of his emotional state or why he was even taking things so far. All I knew was that he thought that I had endangered his sister or maybe even hurt her. Which was sort of true.

  She had gotten captured by a Sluagh two weeks ago, a monstrous demonic bird that had carried her a distance over half the size of the city of Vallejo and then through a large dolmen out on Skaggs Island through the Between and out the other end into Donn the Red’s dungeon. Trapped there for several days in Otherside time, starved and terrified, Charice waited to die. Donn’s second Banshee beat up Charice, treating her like a vile prisoner. And at the end of it all Donn worked some kind of magic on her that actually healed her. It bothered me to this day. Why did Donn heal her if we were trying to escape? It just didn't make sense.

  I practically forgot that Justin called Charice's phone during the whole chaos of her getting captured. He’d heard the whole incident. I could only ponder what his imagination led him to believe about the situation. Obviously he didn't know anything about monsters, so the only thing he was left to assume was that I had gotten his sister into a dangerous situation, or that I myself had harmed her.

  But besides all that, Justin lived the life of a gangbanger. The real thing. And he had an image to keep, a reputation to uphold. If there was one thing about Filipino and Mexican culture that stood true no matter what, they valued family above all else. Then add to that gang culture and you have a recipe for unbridled revenge. There was no way around it for Justin. He had to exact some sort of retaliation on me because I was the only one he could blame for what he thought happened to his sister.

  I hadn't talked to Charice in two weeks. I didn't really know the full extent of her relationship with her brother. Was it a love-hate thing? Did she confide in him sometimes, and other times didn't? Had he questioned her and questioned her until she admitted something, anything to get him off her back? Or had Justin simply built up this hatred for me based on assumptions he made? I really didn't know, but I would soon.

  As I neared the Suscol Bridge I saw the illuminated Napa Wine crusher statue. It was a monument that both symbolized the heart of wine country and served as a silent announcer informing you that you had entered Wine Country. The Vineyard worker was locked in an eternal pose, straining his back as he pulled the crank to crush the grapes. It made me think a lot about my situation over the last month up until now. It made me ask, was I the wine crusher, or the grapes being crushed? Sometimes I felt like both.

  I exited the highway and took a little side road that drove up to the railroad track. I half expected to see Justin's Impala and my brother held up at gunpoint, but I saw none of that. I was beginning to doubt if I even met them at the right place or if this was all a ruse, if they'd sent me on a goose chase.

  Headlights flared in my eyes blinding me as a car drove straight at my Mustang. Tain barked like crazy, causing me to jump out of my skin. I’d been so lost in thought I forgot he rode with me. I threw the car in reverse but as I turned and looked back through my rearview window another pair headlights were fast approaching. They boxed me in leaving me nowhere to go. Soon the swaggering silhouette of Justin exiting one of the cars moved towards my driver-side window. His glock was trained on my head. Tain growled something fierce, drool dripping through his bared canines. "Cool it Tain. Down boy!" I said firmly. Justin didn’t need any extra reasons to let loose.

  "I told you to come alone," Justin screamed.

  "It’s a dog bro."

  "Open the door slowly," he yelled at me. "If his head sticks out I’ll put him down."

  Pushing Tain to the back seat, I commanded him one last time to stay. Justin told me to cut the engine and drop the keys.

  "Good," he said. "Now kick them towards me."

  He retrieved my keys and ripped me out of the Mustang by my jacket collar, kicking the door closed. Tain howled, scratching at the windows, trying to escape and help me.

  We walked towards the railroad tracks and the river beyond, his gun pressed hard into my back the whole way. I caught sight of the other Impalas out of my peripheral and saw the telltale RDN Old English letters on the rear windows of each vintage ride. Raza del Norte. The same guys from the dojo and the drive-by car chase earlier. Straight up gang bangers.

  I kept thinking how stupid I was for coming in guns blazing. But I’d lost from the beginning. They had my brother and already proved they weren’t afraid to get lethal. But now I had none of my weapons, not my shotgun, my katana, or Fragarach. But I did have my Luck. Only problem was I’d have to take time to focus the magic, to let it build, then release it without getting shot. And I didn’t want to bank my brother’s life on my sometimes reliable magic when I came alone with no experienced wizard at my side.

  Car engines cut off and other doors opened and closed behind us as his homeboys left my car boxed in and followed us to the river.

  I tried to look back and see if I could spot Gavin with them but he edged the gun further into my back. "No sudden movements," he said.

  "Where's my brother?"

  He dragged me to a dirt circle worn with tire tracks. I recalled this was a popular fishing spot on the weekends. He rotated me so I faced the way we came and through the darkness.

  A big guy who looked like he was part Samoan, part Mexican lumbered forward. From the way the other guys eyed him, he appeared to be the leader. And if word on the street was true, this was the guy that had murdered his girlfriend on hearsay because of a text.

  "Oscar’s got your brother right here."

  My blood burned. This guy was the lowest of the low. Shooting your girlfriend was despicable. Mowing her down with an AK-47 was heartless. This guy needed to be reminded what fear and pain were like. And I just might have to be the guy to show him.

  Oscar dragged Gavin towards me. Even in the darkness I could tell that Gavin was battered and bruised. They’d taped his hands together and gagged his mouth with a bandanna. No doubt he put up a decent fight. A cut above his left eyebrow leaked drying blood that ran down his face. Our eyes connected and there were a million questions I wanted to ask him. My hands balled into fists and my neck muscles tightened as I gritted my teeth hard.

  As far as the homeboys, there were a lot of them. Most if not all wore white wife beaters, some already dirty with drops of blood. Some of it had to be Gavin’s, but judging by the looks of some of their swollen faces he’d dealt some serious damage himself before being tied up.

  Apparently other gang activity was slow tonight, or this was a main event. There were about twenty thugs in all, all armed to the teeth with guns, chains, knives, you name it. But mostly guns. If I tried anything this place was promising to turn into a war zone.

  "There's your brother," said Justin. "As promised. Now tell me why you hurt my sister and thought you could get away with it."

  "What?" I was flabbergasted.

  Justin moved behind me and kicked the back of my knees so that I fell to the ground. "Tell me why you hurt my sister or tell me who did."

  "I don't know what you're talking about dude," I said desperately.

  I caught a swift kick to the stomach and the wind rushed out of me.

  21 Down on Luck

  "DON'T LIE TO ME CARROT top!" A few of the homies laughed at my expense.

  My eyebrows scrunched together, lines stretched across my forehead. "I really don't know what you're talking about."

  "My sister was wearing a tank top at the house the other day. I saw the bruises on her back. She didn't realize they were there, but I saw ‘em, blue as a Warrior's jersey. Tell me how she got them."

  I gulped trying to process what he said and find an explanation on the fly. "We went out to eat at the restaurant we are at the parking lot needed a new asphalt job. She tripped in a pothole and rolled over and fell on her back." There was no way it sounded legit.

 

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