Flight From Death

  “Gah!” That wasn’t exactly what he said, but Chai roared something in a language I couldn’t understand. As he pushed himself up, the wight came to his feet again. He was scary-nimble, and he was eyeing the entrance to the passage. Ralph was standing guard, but if the wight pushed off with one good leap, I could see how he might go flying right over the wolf’s head.

  Sheathing my dagger, I threw myself forward, body-slamming him from the side. The wight hadn’t been paying attention to me and I managed to surprise him. As soon as I wrapped my arms around him, we crashed forward and I took him down. The fall wasn’t pleasant and neither was the feel of the muscle-bound creature in my grasp—he felt slimy, like wet fungus—and he stank to high heaven.

  He bucked below me and I tried to straddle him, attempting to use my body weight to pin him down. I grabbed his wrists with my arms, but that was a mistake because not only did he drag his knuckles on the ground like a gorilla when he walked, but he seemed to have gorilla-like strength in those biceps of his. Though I was strong—dragon strong—he was a creature of the forest and he was also a creature who walked more than one realm. That gave him a decidedly supernatural advantage.

  Tonya scurried forward, her sword out. “Let me get a clean shot! I don’t want to stab you.”

  Flashes of skewering Degoba ran through my mind and I leaned back to give her access. As I did so, one of the wight’s arms slipped out of my grasp and he immediately closed his meaty fingers around my throat, holding tight. I began to choke—the width of his fingers spanned halfway around my neck.

  Immediately, I dropped his other wrist and clawed at his hand, trying to pry his fingers away. I managed to wedge my fingernails into the crotch between his thumb and forefinger and dug in as hard as I could. Droplets of blood—whatever passed for blood in his veins—dribbled over my fingers. I had managed to pierce his skin. His grip loosened just enough to let me jam my fingers between my throat and his palm and, by doing so, I broke his hold. Forcing his hand back, I jerked my head back, trying to keep my throat out of reach.

  Tonya had been dancing around us, trying to find access, but suddenly, someone was behind me.

  “I’ve got his legs, Shimmer.” Chai was holding him down. I rolled off the wight, away from his flailing attempts to choke me again. As I scrambled away, my butt landed on the floor.

  An audible crack split the air as Chai broke one of the creature’s legs. He had hold of the foot in one hand and was applying pressure to the knee with his other. In one swift move, he brought the wight’s foot up while pressing down on the knee. Horrified by the sound, I sat on the ground, staring.

  Tonya didn’t seem to have any such hesitation. She jumped right in and brought her sword down toward the wight’s heart. But the wight bellowed and lurched to the side, and the sword barely pierced its shoulder. Tonya yanked it out again as Chai turned his attention to the other leg. He seemed to be working on the break-every-bone-in-its-body theory.

  The wight flailed again, this time managing to grab one of Tonya’s ankles. He pulled hard and she went down, her sword clattering to the side. As he dragged her ankle toward those horrible teeth, I scrambled to get hold of her sword. I decided there was no time to plan how to do this—it was either hit him or watch him bite into her ankle, and I didn’t want to see what those gnashing, razor-sharp teeth could do to her leg.

  I sucked in a deep breath and plunged the sword down toward his belly as hard as I could. Tonya might be a better swordswoman than I was, but I had strength on her in spades.

  The tip of the blade hit the wight square center, and I followed through, driving it with my weight. As the blade shuddered, resisting his woodenlike skin, I let my breath out and pushed harder. The blade sank deep then, driving through to pin him to the floor like a butterfly in a schoolkid’s collection.

  The wight let out another roar, shuddered, and was still.

  Tonya yanked her ankle out of his grip. “Is he dead?”

  “I think so . . .” I gave him a quick jab with my toe to see if he’d move, but nothing happened.

  Chai stood up, staring at the creature. “I have a feeling this isn’t quite over,” the djinn said.

  And he was right. The next moment, the wight’s body convulsed again, and then his mouth opened. I leaped back as Tonya scrambled away. Ralph let out a long howl as black smoke began to pour out from between the wight’s lips. It roiled over us like a cloud, then surged forward out the passageway, over Ralph’s head. He leaped up in the air and snapped at it. A loud crackle split the air, and Ralph whined and slunk away. The smoke boiled down the passageway and then was gone. The room felt empty.

  “Fuck, I think . . . he’s dead all right, but he’s not dead,” Tonya said. “I have a really bad feeling that he’s still around.”

  Chai leaned over the body. “His pendant is still glowing. He’s still alive.”

  “Will destroying his pendant destroy him?” In some cases like this, I knew it would work, but having never dealt with this kind of creature before, I didn’t want to assume anything.

  Tonya slowly reached out, her hand hovering over the necklace. Then, with one quick movement, she grabbed it and pulled, breaking the chain. The center stone—a mixture of azurite and malachite, I thought—glowed softly as she held it. She wrapped her hand around it, closing her eyes.

  A moment later, she looked up. “He’s still alive, but he’s not in the pendant. I think he jumped to another host. If we destroy the pendant now, he may decide just to stay in whoever he’s taken possession of.”

  “Who could he . . .” And then I stopped. Who was the one person the wight had had a connection with in the past few days? Who had he already taken over once? “Degoba.”

  Tonya jerked her head up. “But we . . . no, it could happen. The wight might be strong enough to break through my wards. And in a life-or-death situation, he might very well have barreled along the thread that connected him to Degoba.”

  “When you regressed him, the spiritwalker said he felt the wight on the outside, waiting. The channel must be open. Come on, we’ve got to get back to your house. Not only is Degoba there, but Patrick and Alex are in danger!” Chai grabbed up the chest that was on the floor. “I’ll be along in a minute. Go!”

  Ralph turned as I grabbed up the flashlight from where I had dropped it. Tonya retrieved her sword. She shoved the pendant in her pocket and we headed out. A moment later, a rush of warmth gusted from behind us, and I smelled flames as Chai came barreling along behind us. As we cleared the panel, Chai turned and slammed it shut.

  “I burned the nest. There may be some smoldering in there, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I used a quick-burning flame.” He was still carting the chest, and I wondered what was in there.

  By the time we got outside, the day had gone from overcast and breezy to an all-out storm. The waves were rolling in, breaking as they buffeted along the shoreline. I could hear the voices of the sirens, but they were far off and muffled by the crash of the water.

  We hurried back to the Range Rover. Ralph turned the ignition and hurriedly backed out of the parking space. Chai was sitting in the backseat with Tonya, the chest on his lap.

  “What’s in there?” I glanced over my shoulder.

  He shrugged. “Could be treasure. We won’t know till we open it, but it seemed important so I didn’t want to leave it behind. You never know what creatures collect over the years.” Pausing, he laughed. “But then, look who I’m talking to, Little Sister. You’re a dragon. Dragons are the biggest hoarders of all.”

  I blushed. He was right. Among the creatures of the world, dragons were most known for hoarding treasure and goodies. But the truth was, the white dragons were most likely to be that way. Most dragon families of any stature would be well off and have riches that would make most humans drool, but among the Dragon Reaches, it was all relative. Being born with no house, no name, no family meant I had absolutely no inheritance, which not only put me in the outcaste category bu
t made marriage unlikely because a good share of marriages were financial and political liaisons, and there was nothing for a dowry for me.

  “Yah, well, you’ve seen my trove. It’s all in my apartment.” Even though I’d stolen to get by a good share of the time, I hadn’t stolen to get rich.

  Chai reached forward and placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “I know, Shimmer. You are one of the oddest—and pleasantest—dragons I’ve ever met. And I’ve met more than my fair share over the years. I just wish . . .” He let his words drift off, but I knew what he was thinking.

  The djinn had more than once lashed out on my behalf. He didn’t like dragon culture, and the way I was treated just fueled his irritation at the entire structure of the society into which I’d been born. I’d listened to him pontificate more than once on the subject, mostly because I agreed with him.

  Ralph cleared his throat. “Not to interrupt, but if the wight has possession of Degoba, what are we going to do? It’s not like the creature has a body to return to now. We took care of that.”

  I frowned, thinking. “Can we make him jump into something else? Not someone else, mind you, but an object? Is that even possible?”

  Tonya snapped her fingers. “That’s it. I know what we have to do. But . . . listen. We may need to make a bargain with the wight. If so, we need to keep whatever promise we make, so be very careful before we agree to something. When I make oaths, the gods pay attention and hold me to them. That’s just the way my practice works. I’m a fam-trad witch—it’s hereditary. We’re pledged to a goddess who honors vows and oaths, and if I strike a deal and then break the bargain, she’s going to be pissed.”

  “Then we think before we speak.” I didn’t want Tonya in trouble with her gods. That would be worse than me being in trouble with the Wing-Liege.

  We pulled up in front of Tonya’s house and hurried to the front door. But Tonya paused before she inserted the key in the lock.

  “Listen, Degoba has a lot of power up his sleeve. If the wight can get hold of that—well, I don’t know what all a spiritwalker can do. Degoba never has fully told me the extent of his abilities, but just . . . be careful.”

  “He was hopped up on Sleepy-Cold, though. That may make it harder for the wight, if he’s taken control. Degoba took several doses and that’s going to affect both his thoughts and his coordination.” Ralph shrugged. “Who knows, the wight might be drunk for all we know.”

  Somehow, the thought of a drunken forest wight didn’t comfort me any. Alcohol usually fueled belligerence. But then again, if Degoba was doped up enough, the wight might not be able to function either. Hoping for the best, I followed Tonya into the house as she unlocked the door.

  It didn’t take long to get our answer. Degoba was sitting on the sofa, and the expression on his face was one of confusion. There was a cunning look behind the bewilderment, but it was obvious that the cold remedy had affected him. He looked up as we entered the room, and tried to stagger to his feet.

  “Stop.” I pulled out my dagger. “Recognize this?”

  He flinched—whether it was Degoba in control at that moment or the forest wight, I wasn’t sure, but his hand went to his side automatically.

  “Crap. We can’t let him attack us. He’ll hurt Degoba in trying. Probably pull his stitches if nothing else, and we don’t want that wound bleeding again.” I glanced over at Ralph. “Do you think you can hold him down?”

  “I probably can, but you and Chai are stronger than me. I think you should be the one to do that, just in case . . .” He sighed. “My thing with blood.”

  “Got it.” I was beginning to see why Alex didn’t take Ralph out with us on more cases. The guy was a whiz with computers and hacking, but as much as I liked him, he could be a big liability in the field. I started to hand him the dagger but he flinched away and I quickly sheathed it. Damn it, werewolves and silver. There were so many things to remember.

  Tonya held her short sword steady, aiming the tip at the spiritwalker. He was trying to stand up.

  “Chai, you take the right side, I’ll take the left.” I moved forward, Chai mirroring my actions.

  “You don’t want us to hurt the body you’re in.” I didn’t know if reasoning with it would do any good, but I might as well give it a try. “If we do, there’s nowhere for you to jump. We’re protected and you can’t control us.” I was hoping he wouldn’t be able to influence Tonya—she was holding the sword—but so far, he hadn’t seemed to touch her.

  I glanced over at her and she winked. “I’m wearing my grandmother’s pentacle. It protects me against spirit possession. I’m a really good medium and she gave it to me when I was a little girl so I would be safe.”

  Apparently it worked against wights as well as spirits. I turned back to Degoba. “Once we have him down, how the hell do we get him out of Degoba’s body?”

  “I have an idea. Just get hold of him.” Tonya motioned to Ralph to join her. As he did, I edged toward the sofa, around the coffee table. Chai took the other side. There was nowhere for Degoba to go. He tried to step onto the sofa, heading toward the window behind it, but apparently he’d taken enough of the decongestant to make movement difficult, and he stumbled, dropping back on the cushions. Chai took that moment to pounce, gaining hold of his wrists. I grabbed the afghan that had been covering Degoba and swiftly wrapped it around him, forming a makeshift straitjacket.

  “Now what? We’ve got him.”

  Chai was holding him firmly, and although Degoba was still freaky-strong, between the medicine and the blanket and the wound, it was obvious that he wasn’t going anywhere at this point. Degoba hissed—or rather, the wight hissed. But he said nothing, just struggled and growled.

  Ralph and Tonya approached. Ralph held up the pendant. He must have gotten it out from Tonya’s pocket. She still held the sword, aimed at Degoba’s heart.

  “You can’t keep possession of the spiritwalker,” she said. “You know that, don’t you? We can’t let you go free.”

  The wight stared at her through Degoba’s eyes. After a moment he opened his mouth and said, “I can kill him if I have to.”

  “You do that and you kill yourself. I have a bargain to make with you.” She nodded toward the pendant. “You vacate his body and enter your pendant, and I give you my vow as a witch, on the honor of Hecate, that I will not destroy you. We will leave you and the pendant unharmed.”

  I stared at her. Not destroy him? Wouldn’t that mean the other wights would still bow to his energy? But I said nothing, figuring she knew something I didn’t. We had to get him out of Degoba regardless of the cost.

  A moment passed, then another. Finally, the wight let out a long sigh. “You give your word on your life?”

  She nodded. “I do. If I break my word and I destroy your pendant, may my goddess strike me down.” A rumble filled the living room. I had a feeling that Hecate was listening closely. Tonya really was tuned in to her lady.

  Another moment, and a flash of light filled the room as a shadow flew out of Degoba and into the pendant. Degoba stopped struggling. The wight had fled his body.

  Tonya immediately knocked everything off her coffee table and set the pendant on it. She dropped to her knees and, hands over the necklace, began to chant in a loud, clear voice.

  “Spirit hidden in this jewel, I seal you forever within,

  Let no one free you, nor any tool allow you to access this realm.

  Dark forest spirit, rest at peace. All your violence now shall cease,

  You are trapped, never to flee, By Hecate’s will, so mote it be.”

  Another flash of light and the gem flared with a sickly green light, then paled to a soft glow.

  I stared at it. “He’s in there?”

  She nodded. “He is. He’ll never get out unless someone breaks the gem.”

  “What about his influence on the other wights?” So Ralph had been thinking the same thing I had.

  Tonya shook her head. “That ended when we killed his body. His
spirit still lives, but the magic through his presence on the physical realm was what was holding them. We’re ready to pick them off now. They won’t be terribly difficult at this point.”

  “We should get the other one before heading over to Patrick’s. We don’t have a lot of time before dusk.” I glanced at the clock, then back at the pendant. A thought crossed my mind. “Before I leave Port Townsend, I can take the pendant out into the deep water of the strait and dive to the bottom and bury it there. Chances are good no one will ever find it then.”

  Tonya smiled at me, gratefully. “Thank you. That means my part of the bargain is done. If it’s out of my house then I won’t chance ever destroying it.”

  Degoba was snoring loudly—apparently only the wight’s possession had woken him out of the drug-induced haze. We tucked him back on the sofa, making certain the wound was still covered and not stressed, and then I picked up the pendant.

  “I don’t feel comfortable leaving this in your house. Shall we take it with us? Is it safe to?”

  Tonya nodded. “If we leave it in the car, there should be nothing that will happen to it. Just don’t leave the doors unlocked so that anybody steals it.”

  And so, at three thirty, after a quick snack, we trooped out again to find the other wight.

  CHAPTER 19

  Ralph had the map he’d created with the potential lair on it. Our destination was a place called Kai Tai Lagoon. At the word lagoon I perked up, but Tonya put the skids on that mood.

  “We’ve been working for years to turn it into a wetlands estuary. There’s been a lot of push-pull from property owners nearby, and the city government, but it looks like we’re finally making way in the battle.” She shrugged. “In summer, it looks like hell in there and a lot of the water dries up, but the area is great for birds. Think swampy marsh, more than crystal-clear lagoon. Right now, the mists will probably be rolling through the area.”