Hellfire (15 page)

He leaned over and kissed the
top of her head. “I’m just glad you’re safe. When I realized you were gone, I
panicked.”

She wrapped her arms around
his waist and hugged him. “I’m sorry. I didn’t
meant
to frighten you, but I missed a couple in the other room and followed them in
here. I thought they’d be heading out through the portal to Mount Shasta, but
they were gathered together in the middle of the cavern. There were more than I
expected. They’d already formed a huge creature all morphed together, and they
were headed straight for the Lemurian gate. I didn’t have time to call for
help.”

“You did really well, Ginny.
Your first
fight,
and it was a big one. How did you
know what to do?”

His praise had her heart
pounding in her chest and a lump forming in her throat. All of a sudden, the
enormity of the past hour’s battle, the meeting with Roland, and the changes in
her life hit her at once. It took her a minute before she felt she could speak.
Then she merely reached over her shoulder and stroked the hilt of her sword.
“DarkFire,” she said. “She was in my head, telling me how to swing, what to do.
I never once felt like I was on my own.”

“You never were,” Alton said.
He tilted her chin up and stared into her eyes. Ginny was almost positive he
was going to kiss her, and it wouldn’t be just a quick little peck to the lips.
She ran her tongue over her lower lip. Alton’s focus shifted and he stared at
her mouth. “I was with you, too, Ginny. I’ll always be beside you.”

He leaned closer. She felt the
clench of muscles deep in her belly. Her eyes drifted closed.

A dog barked. Blinking, Ginny
spun around. What was a dog doing inside the vortex? It barked again, closer
this time, and then a flurry of blond curls scrambled out of the darkness.
“Bumper?
Isn’t she Eddy’s mutt? What are you doing here?”
The curly blond dog raced past her and leapt at Alton, all wiggles and yips and
wet doggy kisses.

Alton!
Alton! You’re here! What are you doing here?

The dog was talking? Ginny
slapped a hand to her forehead, where the voice seemed to echo in her mind. She
stared at the silly-looking mutt as Alton slipped his arm from Ginny’s waist
and dropped to his knees, laughing and hugging the frantic dog.

“That’s Willow you hear,” he
said, dodging doggy kisses. “Remember? I told you she’s inside Bumper now.”

Feeling as if she’d been hit
with maybe one too many impossible things, Ginny glanced up as Eddy and Dax
stepped out of the shadows. Finally—someone familiar! Arms wide, Ginny raced
across the cavern. “I don’t believe this. Eddy! What are you doing here?” She
grabbed her best friend in a hug, but her eyes were on Dax.

“Me?” Eddy laughed and hugged
her tight. “What are you doing here?”

College
buddy, my eye!
Ginny hugged her best friend ever, but her mind was
absolutely seething with questions. She wasn’t about to let go of the one with
all the answers.

Dax grabbed Alton’s arm and
dragged him to one side. “What are you doing here?”

“I was going to ask you the
same thing.” Alton shook his head, but he kept his eye on Ginny and Eddy. After
what they’d just been through, he wasn’t letting Ginny out of his sight.

“Demons are thick in Sedona,”
Alton said. “We needed some answers and I figured we’d better look for help, so
I took Ginny with me to Lemuria.”

Dax frowned. “How’d that go?”

Alton grinned at him. Then he
burst out laughing. Both women stopped hugging and looked his way. Ginny had a
huge smile on her face. When Alton held his hand out, she reached for him and
wrapped her fingers around his. He looked into her shining eyes and was
immediately caught up in their depth and unexpected heat. He cleared his throat
and squeezed her hand.

“Well,” he said, dragging out
the word for emphasis, “I’m still a wanted man. Ginny is Lemurian. She’s
immortal. She’s got her own sword, a different kind of crystal that shows the
real demon beneath the demon mist. Other than that, it was just your typical
trip to another dimension.”

“What?
Ginny?”
Eddy gaped at Ginny. “What do you mean, you’re Lemurian?”

Ginny merely shrugged and
glanced at Alton.

Alton wrapped his arm around
her shoulders and hugged her close. “It appears Ginny is descended from
Lemurian royalty, from a time when we still had a king and a queen. HellFire
was the first to tell us. Then the Crone, an ancient woman I always thought was
more myth than reality, presented Ginny with her own sword—along with the details
of her Lemurian birthright.”

Eddy laughed out loud. “Ginny,
you got some ’splainin’ to do.”

Ginny flashed
her a
bright grin, let go of Alton’s hand, and carefully
withdrew DarkFire. “It was so weird,” she said, staring at the darkly glowing
crystal blade. “As soon as we got to Lemuria, Alton was arrested, but his
friend Taron took me with him. We all met up again in this huge underground
plaza, and after HellFire cut through Alton’s chains, this really old woman
walked through the crowd, and it was like Moses parting the Red Sea. She met us
up on the dais and spoke a prophecy that she insisted was about my coming to
Lemuria. Then she kissed me, walked away, and turned into dust.”

She grabbed Alton’s hand and
squeezed his fingers. Shaking her head in disbelief, she said, “Next thing I
knew, HellFire had birthed a twin, except my sword glows with this weird light
and she’s definitely female.” She held the crystal sword out for Eddy and Dax.
“Meet DarkFire. She carries the spirit of the old woman known as the Crone,
whose real name was Daria. She was a woman warrior who fought in the Lemurian
DemonWars.”

“Hello.” The sword’s voice was
soft, almost melodic.

Eddy’s eyes opened wide.
“Woman warrior?
I didn’t think Lemurian women were
soldiers.”

“Then who is the voice of
DemonSlayer?”

Alton’s soft question seemed
to catch Eddy by surprise. She reached back and touched the pommel of her
sword, rising above the leather scabbard. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said,
stroking the smooth metal.

Dax grinned. He dipped his
head, acknowledging Ginny’s sword. “It appears they were. Greetings, DarkFire.”

The sword pulsed in brilliant
shades of lavender and purple.

“Ginny, this is so cool.” Eddy
reached out and touched the crystal blade.
“Hard to believe,
but cool.
It’s good to meet you, DarkFire. I had no idea there were
women warriors in Lemuria.”

“Ginny will tell you my story.
DemonSlayer will tell
her own
when the time is right.
For now, beyond you, Edwina Marks, Ginny is the only woman warrior among our
kind, the only one willing to take up the fight against demonkind.” The blade
darkened. After a moment, Ginny returned it to her scabbard.

Eddy blinked. “How the hell
did she know my name was Edwina?” Then she yawned and slapped her hand over her
mouth. “Oops. Sorry…we’ve been up since yesterday. There was a nasty
infestation in southern Oregon, but Ginny! I want to know everything! How did
you find out about, well…everything? You’re coming back to Evergreen, right?”

Ginny glanced at Alton. He
shook his head. “No,” he said. “Not yet. We have to see what’s happening in
Sedona. There were hundreds of demons pouring through the portal from Bell Rock
just before you arrived. There shouldn’t be any. I closed the portal there when
I first arrived, so they must have opened a new one. Sedona’s full of vortexes
that can power the gateways.”

Dax nodded.
“Makes
sense.
We’ll try and join you once we check in with Ed and get some
sleep. We’ve been fighting a small invasion north of here, but I think it’s
under control.”

Alton grabbed his arm.
“They’re changing, Dax. It’s like they have a sense of purpose. They massed and
tried to get through the portal to Lemuria. If Ginny hadn’t stopped them, they
might have made it.”

“At least we’ve got some
Lemurian soldiers on our side.” Ginny glanced at Alton. “You tell them what
happened. I’m still not sure.”

Alton nodded and quickly
described the battle, Roland of Kronus and his sword’s amazing transformation
from steel to crystal. “DarkFire sort of replicated herself,” he said.

“Sort of?”
Dax frowned and glanced from Ginny to Alton.

“It was amazing,” Ginny said.
“She created a sword for Roland, much larger than she is, out of his own sword.
She turned his steel to crystal.”

“She said it holds the spirit
of Hesta, Roland’s grandmother, who was also a woman warrior.” Alton shook his
head. “Why didn’t we know there were women who fought for Lemuria? What
happened to them? Roland said their story was known to the common folk.
Why not the rest of us?”

Dax shrugged. “We need to find
out. Did his sword speak?”

Alton shook his head. “Not
yet. He still has to earn his sword’s respect in battle, I guess. But when he
held his sword up for his men to swear loyalty to Lemuria, not to the council,
the other three soldiers’ steel blades all turned to crystal.”

“Wow.” Eddy shook her head.
“That just happened? Here?” She swept her hand wide, encompassing the cavern.

“Right here,” Alton said.
“About two minutes before you guys showed up.”

“Well, crap.” Eddy grabbed
Dax’s hand. “Our timing sucks.” She yawned and leaned close to her ex-demon
lover.

Dax brushed her short hair
back from her face and she snuggled against his shoulder. Even Alton could tell
she was ready to fold from exhaustion. “We can catch up on all of this after
you get some rest. Ginny’s got her cell phone with her.”

“Okay, ’cause I want details.”
Eddy sighed and stared at the portal Alton had sealed just one week ago, the
same gateway that had allowed so many demons into the tiny community of
Evergreen. She seemed every bit as frustrated as she was tired.

“Did Dax tell you that the
ones we fought in Oregon had taken on living animals as avatars?” Eddy clung
even tighter to Dax’s arm. “They’re evolving even faster than last week. It’s
as if something is pushing them, enabling them in ways we haven’t seen.”

Alton nodded. “We saw the same
thing in Sedona. They’re taking on animal form there as well. Household pets
and wild animals, though if the animal is caged, the demon goes in search of
another host that’s still running free.”

“Wow.” Ginny barely whispered
the word, but everyone immediately glanced her way. Ginny held up her hand.
She’d removed all the bandages. “Look. It’s all healed. I had some really deep
scratches and bites.”

Eddy grabbed her wrist and
turned Ginny’s hand. Pink flesh against her dark skin left bright patterns from
the healed wounds. “What happened to you?”

“Tom the demon-powered cat
happened.” She shrugged, obviously fascinated by her healed hand. “My cousin’s
cat was possessed and went crazy. I was helping Markus catch him and he—the
cat, not Markus—attacked me. I had some pretty ugly bites and scratches, but I
haven’t had time to see a doctor.” She looked at Alton. “How’d this heal so
quickly?”

He ran his fingers over the
newly healed flesh and smiled. At least this was some good news. “More proof
you’re Lemurian. We heal fast. Broken bones take longer, unless Willow can
still do her healing stuff from inside Bumper….” He glanced at Dax.

Dax shrugged. “Don’t know.
Haven’t needed any healing since…well, since Willow and Bumper
became more closely acquainted.”

Eddy laughed and grabbed his
arm. “That’s a nice way of putting it, dear. We can discuss this later. I need
sleep and we still have a long hike down the mountain to Dad’s Jeep.”

Ginny gave her a quick hug.
“Call me after you catch up on your rest. Girl, we really need to talk.”

Eddy hugged her back and then
turned and gave Alton a long, slow, assessing look. Laughing, she shook her
head. “You’re not kidding,” she said. She hugged Alton, grabbed Dax by the arm,
and whistled for the dog.
“C’mon, BumperWillow.
Time to go home.”

The three of them passed
through the portal. Alton watched them leave. Then he held his sword high and
searched the nooks and crannies and corners of the cavern. There was no demon
sign, at least for now. Finally he glanced over his shoulder at Ginny. “You
ready to go?”

She nodded, but she was still
staring at her healed hand. “Ya know, the sword is really cool and I love the
telepathic link, but for some reason, this just blows me away!”

Alton grabbed her arm and
tugged her toward the portal to Sedona. “Well, let’s hope it blows you this
way. I want to get back before dark.”

“Where are we going to stay?”
Ginny planted her feet. “I don’t have all that much money that I can pay for
hotels and meals in restaurants for very long.”

Alton reached into his pocket
and pulled out a small leather pouch. He’d totally forgotten about it. “I
grabbed this when we were in my rooms in Lemuria. Hold out your hand.”

Ginny spread her fingers wide.
Alton dumped a small pile of diamonds into her palm.

“Holy shit.
Talk about bling! Are those for real?” She picked one up with her free hand and
turned it, catching the light from Alton’s sword in the diamond.

“Definitely
real.
We’ll sell a few as we need cash, but just a couple of those
should be good for more than the time we’ll need to be in Sedona.”

Ginny carefully helped him
pour the stones back into the bag. Then she burst out laughing. “You’re just
full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Oh, I hope so,” he said,
tugging her hand and pulling her close. “Now let’s get to Sedona and find a
place where we can get comfortable.”

“At least we can each afford
to have our own rooms now, right?” She glanced up at him out of the corner of
her eye. He was certain he saw her lips twitching.

“I don’t think so,” he said.
He tugged her close and they paused in front of the portal to Sedona. “It’s
dangerous. I need to keep you close. Besides, we have to work on our
telepathy.”

Ginny poked him in the back. “I’ve
heard lots better lines than that, Alton.”

They were both laughing as
they stepped into the tunnel.

The stench of demon was faint,
but enough sulfur lingered that it was obvious demonkind had come this way.
Alton held HellFire high and carefully checked the full length of the tunnel
between the two vortexes—one in Mount Shasta, California, the other in Sedona,
Arizona.

A thousand miles’ distance in
Earth’s dimension, yet only a matter of a few yards when passing through
interdimensional portals. “Look.” He held the sword close to the wall. “I
didn’t even notice these before. I wonder where they
go?
”

“What are they?”

He shook his head, studying
the pale wash of light and color in the stone. “Portals, but they’re very low
energy. They don’t appear to draw much from the vortex, which means they
probably don’t cross vast distances.”

“I know of at least four
energy vortexes in Sedona.” Ginny stepped up close and stared at the wall.
“According to my cousin Markus, they’re scattered all around the area.” She shook
her head, laughing softly. “Of course, I always thought vortexes were
fake—something to attract tourists. I never imagined they were real.” She
gestured at the smaller portals. “Maybe these are just for moving around
Sedona.” Then she touched the wall and gasped when her fingers disappeared into
the rock. Immediately she yanked her hand back. “I will never get used to that.
Never.”

“Four?” Alton walked back
along the tunnel. “I only know of one other, at Cathedral Rock, though I’ve not
used it before.” He flashed
her a
grin. “It’s powered
by feminine energy as opposed to the masculine energy of Bell Rock.”

“Well, I don’t know if they’re
boy vortexes or girl vortexes, but Markus told me there’s one out north of town
in a place called Boynton Canyon, and another one in town, near the airport.”

Alton turned and stared at
her.
“Girl vortexes and boy vortexes?”

“You said masculine and
feminine. What else would it mean?” She looked so serious, she almost got him.

Almost.
Laughing, he turned away from the tunnel and grabbed Ginny’s hand. “Let’s go.
We can come back and check on these tomorrow, after we’ve eaten and gotten some
sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Ginny linked her fingers with
his.
“Agreed.”
She skipped a step to catch up to his
longer stride. Chagrined, he matched his steps more closely to hers when she
punched his arm and added, “Then you can tell me more about little girl and boy
vortexes…after we find a room.”

He couldn’t stand it. Alton
stopped dead in his tracks, turned, and wrapped his arms around her. He drew in
a deep breath, absorbing her scent and wondering if he could ever get enough of
her. He nuzzled the top of her head and held her close. She molded her body to
his as if they’d been perfectly designed to fit together. “Ginny?” he asked, breathing
deep once again of her natural perfume. “What would I do without you?”