Authors: Ciana Stone
Ana raised both hands to ward off the attack and Giovanni’s energy collided with
the shield she raised, sending sparks into the night all around her. Neither of them
would relent and soon both were straining with the effort to maintain the energy they
emitted.
Ana knew she could not hold out much longer. Even now she could feel the tendrils
of his power seeping in through gaps forming in her protection. It was like fire that
penetrated her skin and took residence in her blood, searing her from inside.
The pain weakened her and Giovanni grinned, moving closer, pressing harder. Ana
struggled to maintain what little defense she had left but it was no use. His power was
too strong.
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I
’
m going to die
. The realization hit her with enough force to temporarily erase the
pain. Without help, she would not be able to withstand the attack and she would die.
But if she died then Giovanni would win. He would find Chase and Clara, kill Chase
and make everyone, including Clara, believe that he had saved her.
The idea of Chase dying gave her the strength she needed to play her final card.
Instead of attacking, she surrendered. Ana sank to the ground, folding her legs into the
lotus position. The pain made breathing hard and sweat poured from her body, but she
tried to ignore it.
With every ounce of energy she possessed, she projected a plea. “To those who
walk in Shadow, and long to reach the Light. I call upon you now, come forth from dark
of night. Dispel this ancient evil. Dispel this ancient hate. Rise now to do my bidding,
and change your wandering fate.”
Giovanni laughed at her. “Now that’s just pitiful. You can’t do better than that?”
Ana did not respond. She had only enough energy to concentrate on her
summoning. Over and over she murmured the chant, enduring the pain even though
her heart was beginning to beat erratically and her lungs felt like she was breathing fire.
Giovanni reached down and grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to her feet,
pressing his face down close to hers. “You’ve lost, bitch. You can’t beat me. You’ve lost
and you’re going to die. But not before I fuck you one last time.”
Ana’s concentration failed when he threw her on the ground and started ripping
her clothes off. She did not have the strength to fight him and the pain racking her body
was enough that she struggled just to not scream.
“Don’t,” she pleaded as he grabbed her knees and spread her legs wide. “Please,
Giovanni. If you ever cared for me, don’t do this.”
His reply was a backhand that sent her head whipping to one side and stars
dancing in her eyes. He drew back to hit her again but screamed as sharp talons
punctured his skin.
Giovanni rolled off Ana, battling Fergi, whose talons were sunk into his arm. She
snapped and pecked at him, successfully biting off the tip of one of his fingers. With his
attention diverted, the power he had over Ana faded. She scooted back like a crab from
him and climbed to her feet.
“Fergi!” She cried out a warning as Giovanni’s free hand began to pulse with fire.
Fergi released him and lifted skyward, barely dodging a blast of fiery energy.
Giovanni cursed, cradling his wounded arm against his body as he turned on Ana.
“Now, where were we?”
Ana stepped back from him, raising her arms out to her sides and repeating her
summons. Before she’d finished the chant, a wind rose, blowing her long hair out
around her like a dark halo. Leaves rustled and twigs snapped. Fergi’s shrill cry
blended in with a low keen that seemed to come from all around them.
Giovanni paused and looked around. His eyes widened.
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Chase ‘n’ Ana
* * * * *
The sound of horses had Chase stopping and turning Whiskey to face the
approaching riders.
“What the hell are you doing here?” he demanded as Charlie reined to a stop in
front of him.
“Damnedest thing,” Charlie replied. “I was getting ready to turn in and suddenly it
hit me. Why the hell are we waiting around for morning? Clara could be dead by then.
So I rousted the boys and we hightailed it over here.”
“Jason’s on his way with the rest of the police force,” Clay added. “Damn, Chase, I
feel like a complete fool. How the hell could we have sat there and done nothing when
Mama C’s life is at stake?”
“It’s Sardo,” Chase replied.
“Sardo?” Charlie asked. “What the hell you talking about?”
“He’s a witch,” Chase said. “He’s the one who made you believe that it was okay to
wait. As soon as he thought you’d turned in, he headed out here for Ana and Clara.”
“Witch, my ass!” Charlie scoffed.
“Believe what you want, but—” Chase wheeled Whiskey around as Cody took off
into the darkness. It took Chase a few moments to spot what had Cody so excited. He
was off his horse and eating up the distance that separated them the moment he
recognized the slim form stumbling toward him with a little owl perched on her
shoulder.
“Chase!” Clara latched hold of him and hung on for support. “Thank god! You have
to help her!”
“Where is she?” Chase asked.
Before she had a chance to answer, Charlie was pushing Chase aside and scooping
Clara up in his arms. The little owl perched on Clara’s shoulder fluttered to a nearby
limb and watched. “God almighty, Clara.” Charlie cradled her against him. “I thought
I’d lost you. Are you hurt? If that bastard so much as laid one hand—”
“I’m fine, Charlie,” Clara interrupted softly. “But Ana isn’t. That no-good husband
of hers tied us up in one of the old buildings in the ghost town and left us surrounded
by scorpions for two days, and now he’s coming back to finish us off. You have to help
her.”
“The hell I do.” He carried her toward his horse.
“The hell you do is right.” Clara struggled out of his arms and faced him with her
hands on her hips. “If it wasn’t for Ana I’d be dead.”
A chatter drew Clara’s attention and she amended her statement. “Correction. If it
wasn’t for Ana and Neasjah, I’d be dead.”
“Who the hell is Neasjah?”
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The owl flew over and alit on Clara’s shoulder. “This is Neasjah,” Clara said.
“Sardo had us tied up and surrounded by scorpions and Ana couldn’t break the magic
circles around us or the scorpions would have killed us. So she called for help and
Neasjah heard her and brought hundreds of owls and they disposed of the scorpions
and Ana and Neasjah were able to free us and then—”
“Clara, Clara.” Charlie pulled her to him and engulfed her in his arms. “Christ,
woman, what did they do to you? Boys, we got to get her to the hospital pronto.”
“Like hell!” Clara pushed away from him. “You listen to me, Charlie Russell. I’ve
been taking care of you and these boys most of my life and loving every one of you
even though it can be a thankless job. I’ve put up with your bellyaching, your
blustering, your cuss-fired bad temper and all your bullshit because of that, but if you
think for one red-hot second that you’re not helping Ana then you can just think again.
That girl saved my life, and loves your son and he loves her. And whether you like it or
believe it, she is a witch and right now she’s fighting something that’s likely to kill her,
and you will help her or so help me God, I’ll leave the Circle R and never come back.”
“Clara—”
“No!” she cut Charlie off and turned to Chase. “We have to hurry.”
“Then let’s go.” Chase mounted and led the way.
Clara faced Charlie. “Well, what’s it going to be?”
“Get on the damn horse,” he groused and mounted.
Clara took his extended hand and swung up behind him. Ten minutes later, they
were on the edge of the ghost town.
Silently Chase made his way along. He looked around the corner of a building just
in time to see Fergi dive out of the sky and attack Giovanni Sardo, who had Ana pinned
to the ground.
Ana scooted away from Giovanni as he battled the hawk. Chase made his way
around behind Giovanni. When a strange light started to pulse in Giovanni’s hand, Ana
screamed a warning to Fergi, who lifted off.
Giovanni turned to face Ana and said something Chase couldn’t hear. By that time
Ana was on her feet. She raised her arms out wide to her sides and began to speak.
Chase couldn’t make out more than the first few words before a wind started to whip
the cottonwood trees and blow debris across the ground.
A sudden shrill cry from Fergi made him jump. The low keening sound that came
from nowhere and seemed to reverberate all around them made the hair on the back of
his neck rise.
Whatever it was, it was slowing Giovanni Sardo. He was looking around nervously.
“Spread out,” Chase whispered to his father and brothers. “Once we have him
surrounded we’ll move in and take him.”
His brothers gave nods and headed into the darkness, careful to move quietly.
Charlie started to leave but Clara took his hand. “You be careful,” she whispered.
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Charlie nodded, gave her hand a squeeze and moved off.
“You stay put, you hear?” Chase said to Clara, and at her nod, slipped around the
corner of the building and melted into the darkness.
Ana felt the rise of power in the wind and ended the chant. She could feel the
presence of others. Giovanni was looking around fearfully. She wondered if the fear
was his, or if the Entity inside him was afraid. At this point it made no difference to her.
All that mattered was stopping both of them and helping the Others to make the
crossing.
Amorphous shapes began to swirl around them, like fog gathering. The wailing
intensified as the spirits circled around them. Ana spotted shapes moving in the
darkness and heard Fergi’s voice letting her know that Chase and his family were there.
Neasjah’s voice sounded, letting Ana know that Clara was also there and that she
believed that she could join with Clara to intensify her power if Ana wanted to attack
Giovanni on multiple fronts.
At first Ana didn’t understand, but Cody’s voice joined in and explained. He was
with Chase. She, Chase and Clara had unconsciously formed an equidistant triangle
around Giovanni. Together with the spirits that swirled in the clearing, they had
Giovanni surrounded.
“Okay,” Ana sent the message to the animals. “Tell Chase and Clara what to do and
on my signal give it all you’ve got.”
Fergi swooped down and settled on Ana’s shoulder as Ana began her chant. The
spirits wailed louder, and the wind intensified until it had the power of a storm.
Across the clearing, Chase jumped as Cody’s voice piped up in his mind, explaining
what was about to happen. Chase’s first inclination was to argue, but something
happened to change his mind.
Charlie stepped out of the darkness with a Colt in his hand. “End of the line, you
miserable jackass,” he yelled at Sardo.
Giovanni’s head whipped around in Charlie’s direction. He raised his hand,
pointing at Charlie, and snaking energy shot from his fingers. It slapped at his hand and
the gun flew from his grip. The energy circled Charlie and lifted him up off the ground.
Giovanni flicked his fingers and Charlie was slung a good twenty feet before crashing
to the ground.
“Okay,” Chase whispered to Cody. “We’ll try this your way.” Hoping he was not
making a huge mistake, he crawled over to get his gun and waited for the signal.
Giovanni screamed at Ana in a voice that was not entirely his own, letting her know
that the Entity was assuming more control. “Stupid witch. You think you can stop me
with your paltry magic and these pathetic humans? I’ll crush you all like bugs beneath
my feet.”
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Ana challenged him, “And yet here I stand.”
Giovanni roared and ran toward Ana. “Now,” she said and pointed one hand in
Chase’s direction and the other in Clara’s.
Chase saw Clara doing the same thing and followed suit. Suddenly a brilliant
stream of light appeared, connecting each of their hands to the other, forming a triangle
of light around Giovanni Sardo.
He stopped abruptly, turning to view the spectacle before facing Ana again. “I hope
this isn’t all you have,” he said before he unleashed a fiery tendril of energy at her.
Ana’s body arched under the impact, but straightened after but a moment. Her eyes
glowed as if lit from within. “To those who walk in Shadow, and long to reach the
Light. I call upon you now, come forth from dark of night. Dispel this ancient evil.
Dispel this ancient hate. Act now to do my bidding, and change your wandering fate.”
The wail of the spirits rose to earsplitting volume. Their shapes swirled in frenzy
around Giovanni, buffeting him from all sides. He stumbled, fighting to stay on his feet
and maintain the attack on Ana.
“No!” he screamed at Ana. “Die, miserable bitch!”
“Not today,” she said a moment before a ball of light shot out of her forehead
toward him.
Giovanni’s scream was cut short. The ball of light illuminated the spirits to eyewatering brilliance. In turn they crowded in on Giovanni and exploded like a nova,
sending a wave of energy out in all directions with light so blindingly white that all