The ryan chronicles seri.., p.27
The Ryan Chronicles Series, page 27
Something told me to say no, but instead I just nodded like an idiot and she climbed into the car. The last glimpse I got was Valerie in the passenger seat, sending a wave in my direction and I closed the front door even with the warning bells inside me screaming like a banshee.
Angel Heart Chapter 13
They moved the gathering inside to get away from the relentless mosquitoes. The family room and kitchen was an abundance of activity and the three kids kept running around like they had sixteen pieces of candy and were riding the sugar high.
Despite the relaxed atmosphere, a mounting panic pierced my soul; and I couldn’t sit still as long as Valerie was off somewhere in town with that piranha. I guess the charity bit the agent laid out must have really suckered her in, and I slid onto the kitchen chair closest to the family room where Tom, Raven, Steve, Jennifer and Naomi were talking.
Damian stood with his back against the counter drying his hands on a dishcloth, regarding me with an amused smile.
“What?” I snapped.
“You don’t know what to do with yourself when she’s not here.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but then just snapped it closed and crossed my arms on the table. He was absolutely correct and I wondered if the panic biting my skin had more to do with that, than some ominous cloud waiting to shoot me down with a bolt of lightning.
He laughed and glanced at Naomi. “You about ready, babe?”
“Yeah, want to grab the kids while I pack up our stuff?”
It took them fifteen minutes to gather their things and head out. The absence of chaos settled over us all in a heavy sigh, and I joined Tom and Raven on the couch. Hannah was tucked into the playpen in the corner sleeping peacefully.
“It’s been a hell of a day,” I said and glanced at the clock. Valerie had been gone for over an hour and I pulled my cell phone out, pressing the phone icon and finding her name. Her phone rang and the buzzing behind me pulled my attention. Her phone vibrated on the counter and I sighed. I wasn’t sure if the burn on my skin was aggravation or just some weird precognition, and I shook it off.
“Are you okay?” Steve asked as Raven collected a couple of the glasses and turned toward the sliders.
Glass crashed on the floor snapping our attention to Raven. Shock radiated off her like a dark layer of fog and she stepped backwards. Everyone turned toward the sliders and immediately jumped to their feet at the sight of the man standing in the entry, a sharp hunting knife in his hand. His crazed gaze locked on Raven and the sadistic smile that formed chilled me to the core.
When her stalled brain restarted, her memories plowed over me like a two-ton truck. Fear blanketed the room, radiating off all of them like an airborne disease. Even Steve sported a skittish look that I had never seen, and he inched toward the bookcases and the gun hidden behind a false front.
The man’s gaze moved from Raven’s to his and he sent an evil chuckle.
“Special Agent Williams, I would think twice before going for that gun,” he said with a hellish growl that pulled goose pimples to the surface of my skin.
“How did you get out?” Steve asked, his hand pausing before he took another step toward what he deemed their best chance at protection. He obviously forgot I was in the room.
“I guess you missed the news story,” the man said and stepped across the threshold. That simple act removed the possibility that this was a demon. He successfully crossed the line of salt protecting the doorway. “There was a fire and a handful of us escaped.” He grinned. “And I figured it was time to collect.” His gaze narrowed and moved to Raven.
“I think you’d better leave,” I said, stepping next to my brother who was just as frozen to the spot as Raven. His thoughts were a mass of blood and pain and panic, and I had to shut it off in order to focus on the current situation.
“Just as soon as I carve up this ungrateful bitch and her mute boy-toy,” he said and pointed the knife at Raven.
Tom reached for her, pulling her behind him and then he stepped in front of her, blocking the psycho from reaching her. He shook his head, his face hardening and the blaze in his eyes ballooned into a hostile storm.
Bits and pieces of what this man did came forth from my family, and my fists clenched. “I don’t think so.”
His lunatic gaze turned to me. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m your worst fucking nightmare,” the words slipped out in perfect form, shocking me as much as everyone else in the room, but I recovered quicker than the rest and narrowed my eyes to make my point.
He laughed, and Steve reached for the shelf where he had hidden his service revolver. The man shot his gaze in Steve’s direction and pushed his hand against the air. Steve went flying backwards, slamming into the wall hard enough to knock him out. Jennifer ran to his side and I turned back to the man, wondering just what the hell he was.
When the asshole’s gaze fell on me, he whispered, “I said yes, and he promised me revenge.” Then he flashed the evilest smile I have ever seen.
“Run,” Raven whispered pulling my attention to her. “C.J. run,” she repeated.
“No,” I said and shook my head. I wasn’t going to sacrifice my family to a psycho just to save my ass.
The man’s scrunched face transitioned into an expression that tickled a memory and the knife pointed in my direction. “You and I will have a long talk just as soon as Raven’s father gets his just desserts.”
The voice chilled me and I could feel the memories clawing at my consciousness. I knew the moment I let them break through; I wouldn’t be able to help my family, so I put up a protective barrier in my head, shutting off the hurricane.
I focused on the crazy demon-seed in front of me, and let the power swirl until it became as sharp as the knife he carried. For every step he took inside the house, Tom, Raven and I retreated. The front door opened and feet shuffled toward the family room, but I couldn’t split my concentration just yet.
It wasn’t until Valerie stepped into view that the tight coil inside me fizzled. Two red-eyed demons dragged her into the room. One had a gun to her head; the other had one against her back, right in line with her heart. I wasn’t sure I could prevent both bullets from ending her life and I froze in place, unable to decide how to deal with this new threat. Valerie wouldn’t recover from either shot, even with her healing power.
The hiss behind Raven’s father captured our attention and my gaze dropped to the snarling white tiger in the doorway. Everything happened so fast, I didn’t have a chance to digest what I was looking at, but I said a little prayer of thanks for the diversion. When the tiger launched at Raven’s father, the barrel of each demon’s guns shifted away from Valerie giving me the opening I needed. I let the anger fly at the same moment the tiger’s jaw clamped down on Raven’s father’s knife-wielding arm.
Burning flesh filled the air and Valerie fell to her knees, away from the dust storm created by the annihilated demons.
Raven’s father screamed and I didn’t know where to focus my remaining fury.
Raven touched my arm and I met her gaze.
“The tiger is Naomi,” Raven whispered.
I think my eyebrows rose and I know my jaw dropped open, but it snapped closed just as quickly when I refocused on the tiger attack unfolding before me. Somehow, Raven’s father got the knife into his other hand and it was falling in a deadly arc aimed at the tiger’s neck.
Power shot out of me like a bullet and it hit the knife with the force of a home run swing, sending the blade clattering out the door onto the concrete patio.
The man’s gaze jumped from the attacking tiger to me, his face transitioning from a mask of anger to one of pain, and he threw his head back with a roar. A trail of thick black smoke ballooned from his mouth and snaked out the door into the sky like a retracting tornado.
The man collapsed on the floor, screaming until the tiger relinquished his arm and stepped back, still baring it’s teeth, but no longer in attack mode. He seemed smaller now, more fragile, even with the murderous thoughts raging in his head.
He scrambled to his feet and lunged at Tom, still roaring with anger and pain.
Tom’s fist smashed into the man’s throat with such force, I actually heard the crack of bone. It took a second to realize it wasn’t his hand that broke. His punch destroyed Raven’s father, collapsing his windpipe and snapping his spine in one brutal blow.
There was no remorse in Tom as he looked at the twitching corpse, just a visceral satisfaction that I could identify with based on his memories. He met my gaze and gave a nod before turning and wrapping his arms around Raven, just holding her while Steve blinked his dazed eyes at the horrifying scene.
I glanced toward the doorway and Naomi stood where the tiger had been, her chin dripping with thick blood. She wiped her mouth and turned her dark eyes in my direction.
“You would have found out what I can do sooner or later,” she said and I uttered a laugh.
The barrier in my brain gave like a weakening dam and the memories flooded my head, dropping me to my knees. Pain slammed into my eyes like a dozen knives and I cried out just before the dark yanked me into oblivion.
Angel Heart Chapter 14
In the darkness, a succession of visions hit. Each one more debilitating than the last, and I bellowed with pain, but my cries were soundless in this horrifying black pit. Death intruded in many forms, starting with my sister and then my older brother. My mother and father were next and my heart thundered in agony.
Some of the memories were mine, but a great many were sourced elsewhere. Memories of a concrete prison blanketed me, and the deaths in that place were just as violent as my mother’s. Other memories layered over my parents’ memories, and until I saw an infant fitted with an explosive onesy and Jennifer’s wide eyes, I realized I was seeing the more devastating moments in Steve’s life. His experiences were even more painful than mine.
A blood mist blanketed the room along with a sound that pressed on my eardrums, sending a shot of torture through my entire form.
I sat up screaming, the sound like rough sandpaper drawn over lead escaped from my throat. Valerie stood next to my bed with a syringe in her hand and a panicked look on her face like the devil had just jumped out from the closet.
I couldn’t catch my breath, not with the dozens of deaths now emblazoned in my memory. When the room started to spin, I dropped my head to my knees, forcing myself to breathe, despite the energy each labored breath drew.
A cool sensation covered the back of my neck and I turned, meeting Valerie’s much calmer gaze. She removed the washcloth and dipped it in the bowl of cool water before pressing it against my skin again.
“How long this time?” I asked.
She uttered a hysterical laugh and met my gaze.
I glanced around at the surroundings, confirming I was still at the house and then back at her. I sat up slowly, wincing at the deep ache present in every muscle. That alone gave me a clue it was more than just a couple of hours. “How long?” I said, this time with more force.
“A couple of weeks,” she whispered. “And your heart stopped twice.” Her eyes filled with tears and she showed me the syringe. “I thought I’d have to use this again.”
“What is that?” I asked, homing in on the long, nasty looking needle.
“Adrenaline shot to restart your heart,” she said. “My healing powers did nothing this time.”
“Holy shit,” I said and rubbed my face, trying to grasp the current situation through the clutter of so many horrific memories. “What happened after I passed out?” I asked without the thick stutter. It seems the connection between my brain and mouth wasn’t quite as bad as it was before I dropped into memory land.
She bit her lip and tears formed again. “Tom was hauled in for killing Raven’s father.”
“What?” I snapped, clearly recalling the entire situation. If anything, it was self-defense.
“They came to the same conclusion,” Valerie said, reading my thoughts. “I was the only solid witnesses. Steve hadn’t fully come to at that moment and Jennifer focused her attention on him, not the situation. Of course, both Raven and Tom were biased, based on what that bastard did to them, and you were knocked out cold. They wanted to bring you to the hospital, but I explained I was a doctor, and you had already been under home care for seizures. They left me in charge of your case as long as we had the local visiting nurse in daily. The only thing we really couldn’t explain were the bite marks, we just said he arrived with those wounds.”
I gave a nod and rubbed my face again, before swinging my legs over the side of the bed. That’s when the I.V. line tugged and I glanced down at the back of my right hand. I gave Valerie a raised eyebrow.
“You needed nutrients,” she said and gave me a shrug. “I didn’t know how long you’d be out and I certainly didn’t want you to starve to death.”
I offered what I hoped was a smile and her head dipped to her chest. The shake of her shoulders clued me in to how difficult the last two weeks had been for her. She thought she’d have to go years without me again, and I reached out with my un-tethered hand and pulled her into my arms.
“Shhh,” I cooed in her ears while she trembled and sobbed. When she finally stilled, I held her a few minutes longer, smoothing the hair away from her face before I pulled away. “I think I know who possessed Raven’s father, but I thought Damian killed him,” I said and she met my gaze.
“You remember?”
“Yes. Some things, but not everything. There are still some big ass gaps and I think those are my true memories.”
“You aren’t stuttering nearly as much anymore,” she whispered and sniffled.
I couldn’t help the smile that surfaced. “You sound disappointed.”
“No, just surprised.” She peeled out of my arms, crossed to the box of tissues on my dresser, and used one before turning back to me. “How far back did the memories go?”
I sighed and put my hand out for her to remove the I.V. while I figured out the first memory from the clutter in my head. She stepped next to me and began pulling the tape off, and with it any hair that had grown on the back of my hand. It took me a moment to pinpoint the timeframes of the memories. It all blended, folding in on each other like a complex puzzle, but I think the first memory was that of my grandfather’s funeral. “I only saw death and destruction,” I said, meeting her gaze. “Starting with my father’s dad’s funeral and ending with my mother’s death.”
She nodded like she understood.
“Coupled with the vision I had at Tom’s, I’d say that brings me up to date.”
She paused and looked at me, her features filled with skepticism and the laugh she uttered told me I had only scratched the surface.
“I think I was looking at my mother and father’s memories.” I rubbed my hand after she pulled out the last of the tube. “I also saw the things Steve has seen,” I said.
“Okay,” she stretched the word out like there was more.
“Besides my own, whose memory am I missing?”
She just stared at me and then turned away.
“Yours?”
She nodded, and glanced over her shoulder. “When we first touched, the powers that Steve transferred to me reshuffled, leaving me with only the healing thing and you with everything else. When that happened, we swapped memories.” She gave me a shrug.
“Wouldn’t that have been part of my memory, too?”
Her eyebrows arched as she considered this before nodding.
“Is that all?”
She slowly shook her head. “You said you only saw the deaths. If you had gotten everything, the first death you would have seen would have been from over twenty-five hundred years ago.”
I blinked and my jaw slowly opened. “I have Damian’s memories?”
“Yep. And so do I. There’s a lot of shit in our heads.”
“Whose heads?”
“Damian, Steve, Jennifer, you, and me.” She shrugged and took a seat on the bed next to me. “If your parents were alive, they’d probably be in the memory share category as well.”
“And yet, I still don’t know why two years of my life were spent in the dark,” I said and hopped off the bed. The adult diapers I was wearing had to go, and I needed to feel clean after the litany of deaths I witnessed. With a pair of boxers and shorts in hand, I crossed to the bathroom, leaving Valerie to do whatever she needed to restore my bedroom from the sick room it had become.
The hot shower felt good, but after expending the energy to clean every inch of my body, my reserves were drained. I shut off the water and pulled the shower curtain back. I was tapped, and I sat down on the edge of the tub before I collapsed.
The door opened and I looked up at Valerie’s soft gaze. She didn’t need to ask if I needed her help. She already knew, and slipped inside the steamy room. The towel she draped across my shoulders felt good, and I leaned into her when she put her arm around me.
“I should have warned you,” she said and I huffed.
I didn’t remember being this exhausted when I woke from my coma. “I am so damned tired,” I whispered.
She helped me dry off and get into my shorts before aiding me back to the bedroom. Valerie guided me into the chair and I stared at the stripped bed, wishing it was made and I could just crawl into it and curl up around her.
“What you need is food,” she said and pointed to the desk next to me.
The small serving of soup did nothing for me, but I sighed and picked up the bowl, forgoing the spoon. The moment the warm broth hit my stomach, you would have thought I hadn’t eaten in years. Like a switch had turned on, my exhaustion morphed to a ravenous need for sustenance. Not only did I forget about being tired, but the soup revived me from the core out, and I drained the bowl, suppressing the urge to lick the china clean.
Valerie let out a stifled laugh and I met her gaze.
“I’m hungry,” I said, stating the obvious since my stomach was now making a grumbling racket.
