Taking a deep breath, I began the third iteration of the spell.
Halfway through, I felt as if my tongue were thickening in my mouth. The words were more difficult to form correctly, and my hand that traced the pattern in glowing runes was trembling. I swallowed excess saliva and concentrated.
Rafe placed his hands on my knees, and I felt energy flowing into me. My tongue seemed to shrink back to its normal size and my trembling hand calmed.
I reached the last line in the runes, spoke the last word, and reached out to touch my motorcycle. There was a discharge of energy and my Harley glowed with the mystical powers released by the spell.
I slumped down, nearly exhausted, and waited to see what my summoning would bring.
Nothing happened.
After a few minutes, I looked from my Harley to Rafe. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No,” Rafe said with a shake of his head. “You did it perfectly. You have to wait for it. Something always answers the familiar spell, but it isn’t always immediate. I think Beast didn’t show up for about ten minutes.”
“I don’t understand. Why so long?”
Rafe shrugged. “Since I’ve only done the spell once, I’m not really sure. Walt just said that it’s not a summoning like calling forth a demon. Those summonings either use the name of the demon you want or you have to accept anything that arrives. This summons is looking for a compatible creature that will fit the requirements of your individual psyche. The creature has to be compatible with you for decades. It’s almost like having a soul mate.”
I chuckled.
Rafe stared at me, obviously confused. “What’s funny?”
“I was thinking about you and Beast. Soul mates, eh? I guess that explains a lot.”
Rafe frowned and rolled his eyes. “I said ‘almost.’ Besides, I think Beast is an exception to the rule. I’m not sure why I got saddled with him.”
I grinned and restrained a laugh. “Sure thing, Rafe.”
Rafe pursed his lips and then started to say something else.
The night was split with a roar from Beast.
We both looked overhead to see Beast gliding a few hundred feet above us.
A line of fire streaked down from somewhere to our east.
Then another line of fire appeared, following the first line on its path to…us!
Chapter 11
THERESE
The explosion was deafening, but the shock wave passed us, leaving a ringing in my ears, but not much else. The circle had held.
About the time I was feeling confident, the second missile impacted.
Again, the earth erupted in shock waves of heat and light.
Again, the shock wave passed our circle, leaving us almost unaffected.
“This is getting ridiculous,” Rafe said as he stood.
I leapt to my feet beside him and looked into the sky for some sign of our attacker.
The smoke and debris clouded our sight, but then a wind blew through the clearing, and suddenly we could see again. I had felt Rafe triggering his wind tattoo and wasn’t surprised at the sudden wind.
Overhead, using Rafe’s enhanced senses; we could both see Beast moving toward the direction the missiles had come from.
“Can you see what’s shooting at us?” I asked.
“No, I…wait,” he said and then pointed.
I followed the line of his arm and wondered what he was pointing at. Then I saw a glow in the distant sky. The glow was moving at an angle to us, curving, and then moving directly away from us.
“This doesn’t make sense,” Rafe said. He swept the horizon with his gaze, and I saw another heat-glow coming toward us at treetop level. “Well, someone else is on the way.”
“Were those what I think they were?” I asked.
“I don’t know. They looked like some sort of air-to-ground missiles, but that’s crazy. Why would a mundane attack us?”
“They seemed like Hellfire missiles. That’s the weapon of choice for using drones to take out terrorists.”
Rafe glanced at me. “Aren’t those military?”
“Sure, well, military and CIA.”
Rafe frowned. “I haven’t done anything to irritate either of those organizations. Why would they be coming after us?”
I watched the infrared signatures of the approaching air vehicles and wondered if his question was rhetorical. I certainly had no idea why the government would come after us. Nothing Rafe had described to me would bring down the military or the CIA on us. It must be some kind of mistake.
The heat signatures, I was certain that they were some kind of helicopter, separated. One slowed and hovered near the dirt road that led into our clearing, while the other moved to the opposite side of the clearing. Before they had come to a stop, dark figures began rappelling from each copter.
“What are we going to do?” I asked.
“My inclination is to see what the hell they want, but since they’ve already tried to kill us…”
He didn’t need to expand on his statement. No one who wants to talk starts negotiations with a pair of Hellfires.
“What if it’s some sort of mistake?” I asked.
Rafe pursed his lips and shook his head, indicating that he didn’t think much of my suggestion. “What kind of mistake allows the government to launch missiles on Americans on American soil?”
I shrugged. “Are we in danger?”
Rafe’s head cocked to one side. He turned to study the group of men that had hit the ground and were fanning out, moving to surround us. “I don’t see how. Firearms aren’t going to break our circle, and I don’t think they could be carrying enough explosives to really make a difference.”
“Then you don’t really need to kill them,” I suggested.
He looked back at me. “What have I told you about people attacking us?”
“That you like to discourage people from doing that?”
Rafe laughed. I couldn’t believe he found humor in this situation. Someone was trying to kill us!
“That’s one thing. Discourage and make sure they don’t get a second chance to kill us.”
The two lines that our attackers had formed were moving in our direction. The helicopters that had disgorged them lifted higher and moved off.
“But you didn’t kill all of the Amazons,” I
