Rise of Cain (Immortal Mercenary Book 3) Read online

  “That’s why you’ve got me,” I said sternly. “I know about abilities. I know how to navigate them, and I know how to live with them. I’ll help you.”

  “Unless you can’t help yourself,” she answered. “Roy was a bust. We still have no idea what sin we need to make right to undo the thing your brother did to you. You’re a blow to the head away from becoming that thing again.”

  “And, if that happens, I’ll be here,” Andy said from the backseat. “Me, and Clint and, if she’s not too busy being a complete jackass, Aria too maybe. The point is, we’re going to figure this out. Even if Uncle C isn’t with us temporarily, that doesn’t mean you’re alone.” He put a hand on Merry’s shoulder and squeezed. “We’re here for you, kid. So don’t forget that.”

  She looked back at him, a sense of peace resting on her face. “You’re good at that,” she answered.

  “I’ve raised two daughters,” he responded. “I know the drill.” Merry pulled at her cell and tried to call both Amber and Kyle’s phones for what had to be the twentieth time tonight.

  “Still no answer?” I asked as she hung up.

  “I don’t know why she’s doing this,” Merry sighed. “I mean; I get why she ran away. She was scared, but what’s the point of not letting me know where she is, and why take Kyle with her?”

  “Because it’s the smartest move,” I answered simply. “Kyle has a powerset that works to her advantage and moving in smaller numbers greatly reduces the risk of being caught. She’s smart. She has the Wisdom of Solomon. Besides, she loves you, Merry. She doesn’t want you to get hurt, and she probably figures that being around her puts you in danger.”

  “I don’t give a damn about danger. I want my daughter back,” she said, looking out the window.

  “And I’m going to get her for you,” I said. “I promise.”

  “Get off this exit,” Merry said, pointing to a decidedly dark street jutting off the interstate. It looked to be completely barren, without so much as a street light to guide our way.

  “This is kind of the middle of nowhere,” I said, but did as Merry asked.

  “That’s the point,” she responded as I followed her instructions and took a left down the sketchiest looking road I had seen since the Dark Ages. “I told you I never had much of a family life. I bounced around from foster home to foster home; that kind of stuff. A lot of that was my own doing. I was a hardheaded kid, and I didn’t like the idea of being told what to do. So I’d make it impossible for people to keep me. I was never sad to leave a house, except for one.” She blinked hard and her face seemed to relax a little as she fell into a memory. “When I was thirteen, a punk without much of a kind streak, I was placed with a woman named Wilma Rodman. She was a widow, never had any kids of her own. It took me five minutes to know she was a little off, and ten to know I was exactly where I needed to be.”

  “Off?” I asked, my brow knitting tightly. “Off in what way?”

  “She had been by herself for a long time, had to take care of herself, and that wasn’t easy. What was more, she had seen enough of the world to know it wasn’t a cakewalk. So she made sure she was ready for whatever came.”

  “She was a survivalist, wasn’t she?” Andy asked, his eyes lighting up. “I saw something about them on tv. They’re the sort of loons who move out far into the woods and build these armored forts and everything, thinking the world is about to come to an end.” He shrugged. “I mean, she’s right in this case, but you get my point.”

  “She didn’t live out in the woods at first. I doubt the state would have let her foster kids if that was the case, but the world turned into a rougher place. All we ever heard about on the news were terrorist attacks and how anything was possible, ever here in the States. She started teaching me how to take care of myself. I guess that’s part of the reason I’ve made it this far.” She nodded. “Then, yes, she did move out here into the woods. I loved it here, but the state thought it was too dangerous. They pulled me out when I was fifteen. A couple of years later, I was pregnant.” She looked down at her feet against the car’s floor board. “I took Amber to see her a few times. She called her Grandma. I always told her that, if anything happened to me, that’s the woman you need to go to. I told her that, if your world is falling apart, she’ll help you keep it together. Because that’s what she did for me. That’s how I know she went here.”

  “Good enough for me,” I said.

  “Take a right here,” she said, directing me into what looked like a path running through the woods. “We’ll have to ditch the car halfway down, but it’s on;y a fifteen minute walk from that point, so-”

  A loud clap of thunder slapped in the sky and, with it, a bolt of lightning struck the earth right in front of us. I screeched to a stop. Another bolt came, landing so close to my side of the car that it clipped the driver side mirror, shattering the glass and knocking the molding off.

  Guess this car wasn’t a dream anymore.

  “Uncle C, what-”

  “Look,” I said, pointing to a glowing figure literally floating toward us in the distance. As it neared, I saw it was a woman. Flanked in green energy, she wore a long dress. Curly black hair swam in tendrils over her head and mocha skin glistened in the moonlight.

  “What did you do to me?” she asked, bolts of lightning striking just outside the car with each of her words. “You tell me what you did to me right now or, so help me God, I’ll kill all of you!”

  “Who the hell is that?” Andy asked, peering out at the woman.

  “That,” Merry answered shakily. “That’s my foster mother.”

  23

  “Stay in the car,” I said, breathing heavy as I reached for the door handle.

  “No!” Merry yelled, grabbing my hand to stop me. “You’ll die if you go out there. Look at what’s happening.” She pointed outside, to the bolts of lightning striking down at sporadic places beside the car. “Let me go.”

  My heart leapt. “Are you out of your mind. “I’ll come back if I die. You won’t. I’m going and that’s the end of that.”

  “You won’t come back,” Merry answered. “Not until that thing has had its turn in your body, and I won’t risk that again, not with Amber so close.”

  “We’re not sure she’s here,” Andy reminded us as lightning slapped against the ground surrounding us again. “She could have gone somewhere else. She could literally be anywhere.”

  “I know my daughter. She’s here,” Merry answered. “And she won’t kill me, regardless of what she says.”

  “Regardless of what she says?” I balked. “You never said anything about your foster mother having access to magical lightning. Since I’m sure that would have come up, my guess is that- whatever that thing is- she’s not her.” I pulled the door handle and pushed the door open. “Now please, Merry. Stay where you are. I can’t fight this thing if I’m worried about keeping you safe.”

  I didn’t figure she would listen, but Andy might be able to buy me a few minutes, and that might be all I needed. Besides, given the fact that she could have just as easily used the lightning to strike the car we were sitting in as opposed to strategic spots around it, I was guessing she wasn’t actually trying to kill us. At least, not right now. Still, I’d rather put myself in the line of fire than Merry or Andy, just in case this was one of the ever increasing amount of times that I was wrong.

  I closed the car door and another bolt of lightning struck right near the tips of my feet. I felt the warmth as it seared through my shoe, warming my toes.

  “I asked you a question!” Wilma shouted, still glowing with green energy, still floating in the air. Her brown eyes dug deeply into me and, in them, I could see more than a little fear and confusion. “What did you do to me?”

  I held my hands up into the air, as if to show Wilma that I was unarmed and not a threat. Sure, I had a pocket knife that could cut through granite in my back pocket and a cuff holding a real life version of Magick’s Soulsword, but this woman didn’t need
to know that. All she needed to know was that I was innocent of the charge being leveled against me.

  “I didn’t do anything to you, ma’am,” I said in a calm and even voice. I started toward her slowly, each step met with lightning that seemed to strike just out of reach of me. She was sending me a message, but still, she wasn’t trying to kill me. “I came here looking for a girl, a girl who would call herself your granddaughter. She’s in trouble, and I’m afraid I’m the on;y one who can help her now.”

  “You’re here for Amb-Ahh!” she screamed, her body writhing as lightning struck in various places all around. “Get out of my head!” Wilma screamed. “You don’t belong here!”

  My eyes widened as I took in the situation. Wilma was being overtaken by something. An entity was filling her, akin to the way my body had been taken over before. Only, she was still inside hers. That must have been a completely different sort of hell. It must have been a pretty powerful entity too, given the control it seemed to have over lighting.

  “Wilma, calm down!” I said, standing completely still. With her body and mind racing the way it was, my guess was the lightning wouldn’t be as precise. I saw no need to tempt fate by running around in this particular minefield. “I know what’s happening to you is scary, and I’m sure it hurts more than a little, but I need you to listen to me.” Whatever was coming through her body was likely put there by my brother in an effort to stop us. That, of course, meant that he was also likely tracking us and, if Merry was right and Amber was here, she was in trouble.

  It also meant I had bigger fish to fry. If things were different, I would try to talk Wilma through expelling this thing from her body. Merry loved her and I ws sure that meant she was a good woman. What was more, the less crazy lightning spewing people you have on the planet, the better. I didn’t have time for that though. I needed to get to Amber as quickly as possible, and that meant taking this woman out by any means necessary, save the most lethal of methods.

  “Listen to me, Wanda. I have Merry in the car. She’s with me. She just wants her daughter.” I kept completely still as lighting plowed willy nilly all around me. “We know that what’s happening isn’t your fault. We don’t blame you, Wanda.”

  “I’m just trying to-” She screamed again, lighting striking the trees and setting them ablaze with red-orange flame. “Why won’t she leave? What is she doing inside of me?”

  “I’m going to get her out, Wanda,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Just listen to me and do as I say. Take a deep breath and close your eyes.”

  “I can’t,” Wanda answered, panicking. “She won’t let me close my eyes.”

  “They’re your eyes, Wanda,” I said. “They’ve always been your eyes and, regardless of what the woman inside of you is saying or doing, they always will be. Merry is your family, Wanda. So is Amber. We do what we have to for our family. I know it hurts, but you tell that bitch in your body that they’re your eyes and you’re going to close them.”

  “Mom,” Merry voice sounded from behind me. I looked back to find her standing outside of the car. Andy kept her inside for longer than I thought. Wilma’s eyes went to Merry. “Mom please.”

  And, just like that, a sense of resolve etched onto the woman’s face. In seconds, her eyes were closed.

  “Thank you,” I mouthed. Then, turning, I rushed toward the floating woman. Lightning was still striking everywhere and the fire started in the tree tops was now quickly spreading. This place would be engulfed in minutes, but I had a bigger problem to deal with right now.

  I leapt toward the woman, lifting my arm and commanding the Blade of the Divine to come forth. As I did, a bolt of lightning scathed my leg. The sensation was hellish as it burned its way up my body. Still, I couldn’t allow myself to feel it, not yet, not until this was over.

  I slammed into Wilma, knocking her to the ground with a thud. Over her, I raised the Blade of the Divine over my head and prepared to drive it into her, disrupting her soul’s energy and hopefully dislodging whatever spirit was trying to take up residence.

  Her eyes flipped open, blue instead of brown now. “Callum, it’s me!” Wilma’s voice said and her hands went up in front of her face. “It’s Pearl!”

  “What?” I asked, my hands pulling to a stop inches before her chest.

  “It’s me. It’s your wife. Someone is trying to force me into this woman. They’ve pulled me from the afterlife and jammed me into her body. She’s not even a medium. That’s why she’s reacting like this. Her body doesn’t understand what’s going on and she’s tapping into my magic without knowing how to channel it. If you thrust that into her chest, it’ll dislodge me on this plane. I’ll be stuck here. I won’t be able to get back to where I belong.”

  “You’re lying,” I said, instantly thinking of my brother and a possible trick.

  “Your favorite song is ‘Last Train to Clarksville and you have a tattoo of a barbwire heart on your ass.”

  “I got that removed, but let’s never speak of it again,” I said, retracting the Blade back into its cuff.

  Satisfied that this was indeed my former wife, I pulled myself off her. “Can you keep this under control or do I need to worry about having the rest of myself cooked by a lightning bolt.”

  “No,” Pearl said breathlessly. “I’ve settled her down. She’ll be napping until I can remove myself from her the right way.” She looked down at my leg, twisting Wilma’s hands and causing an aura of green energy to surround them. Suddenly, my leg was healed and the fire quickly spreading through the woods had been doubted.

  “What’s going on?” Merry asked, running up to us with Andy behind her. “Did you fix her?”

  “Kind of,” I admitted. “This is Pearl. She’s my ex wife, if you remember. And she’s been forced to borrow your foster mother’s body for just awhile.”

  “Forced?” Andy asked. “By who?”

  “By whom,” a familiar voice corrected from behind us. “And the answer to that is me.”

  My mother appeared before us, shimmering into existence in a flourish of golden energy. “You wouldn’t accept my help, and I knew you didn’t stand a chance without magic. So I figured I’d give you someone you could trust to help you. Knowing what I do about your past, this witch seemed as good a choice as any.”

  “You pulled my ex wife from the afterlife just to help us out?” I asked, conveniently ignoring the fact that I myself had asked Pearl to do exactly the same thing during my last trip to the Nexus.

  "It was either her or Morgan LaFey,” my mother muttered. “And, given the way that ended, I doubted you ever wanted to see her again, even if it was just for assistance.”

  “Morgan LaFey?” Andy asked. “From King Arthur?”

  “That’s not the point,” I said. “The point is I’ve told you not to meddle, and here you are doing it.” I shook my head. ‘And watching us anyway. Tell me, Eve. What’s the point of ensuring we have help if you’re just going to trail us anyhow?”

  “Should I be punished for being a protective mother?” she asked in her fake ‘wounded’ drawl.

  “What about my mother?” Merry asked, her eyes acting as daggers pointed at Eve. “You hurt her.”

  “Oh she’ll be-”

  “My God,” Andy said, breaking into the conversation. “She trailed us. Uncle C, she magically trailed us!”

  My heart dropped. That meant she could be tracked and it also meant that-

  “Abel,” I stammered. “Abel is here.”

  24

  When Abel and I were children, we used to sneak away from Mother and Father. The world was different back then. We were the only people in it. So there was no danger of us being kidnapped. With the exception of the serpent, we were in league with the creatures of the sea, land, and air as well. So our parents didn’t need to worry about us being trampled or bitten or taken as prey. What they did need to worry about, and the thing that Mother used to remind us of every time we hid from them, was that the world was large and unexplored. The
re were a thousand different paths and a millions different ways to get lost among them. As I thought about my brother now, as I considered what he was up to, it occurred to me that my mother was right to warn us. There were so many ways to get lost in this world, and I was afraid my brother had found the worst one.

  “God in heaven,” Merry said, running her hands through her hair.

  “Don’t bother,” my mother said. “If He was going to help, He’d have done so already. This is on us.” She extended a hand to Merry. “Take my hand, child, and show me where the house is. Show me where your daughter would be.”

  Merry chanced a look over at me and I nodded in approval. My mother wouldn't try anything stupid now. She seemed to be intently on our side and besides, we had a rather powerful witch of our own now, one I knew I could trust. My mother wouldn’t dare come up against all of us with Pearl at our backs.

  Merry took her hand and a portal opened. “There,” my mother said. “Come now. That’ll take us through to the house and, hopefully, to your daughter before Abel has a chance to end her life.”

  “Go,” I nodded to Merry, Pearl, and Andy.

  “I dropped a pin for Aria and Clint. They should be here soon,” Andy said and jumped through the portal.

  “Soon won’t be soon enough,” my mother said after everyone, save us, had gone through the portal. “We need to take care of this ourselves. Otherwise, we need stronger backup.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked, glaring at her. “You obviously don’t want the world to end. You tried to kill me in order to stop it from happening.”

  “You act as though death is the worst thing that could ever happen to you. We both know that nearly the exact opposite is true. And I only tried to take your burden because, frankly, I didn’t think you were up to it. This isn’t about the world, Cain. It’s about our family. I do want to see the human race survive. I want to see it thrive for centuries after this one, but not at the expense of my children.” She swallowed hard. “If Abel goes through with this, if he spills the blood of an innocent, then you know what will happen. You know the wages for that kind of sin.”