After Sundown: Illumination Page 14

  Talon roared in rage. “Wuss? Let’s see who the wuss is, shall we?”

  Talon rushed him again but this time Jason outmaneuvered him, slipping sideways and elbowing the other gargoyle as he stumbled by. The impact caused Talon to drop his knife and fall to one knee before quickly recovering and getting to his feet. Jason kicked his knife out of reach.

  Talon swung around, eyes blazing.

  “Yep, I guess you have to have a master after all, don’t you?” Jason said with a snicker. “There’s no way you could come up with this plan on your own. So, what do you call your boss? Master? And I’ll just bet he calls you slave, or is it minion? No, I know, he calls you what you are, a lowlife worm.”

  Talon’s eyes widened and his face darkened with shame and anger. “Xander may have organized this but the dark wizard is not my master. No one is my master. I answer only to myself, unlike you, who’s at the bidding of a vamp. That’s pathetic,” Talon said in disgust. “How can you look at yourself in the mirror each night knowing that you’re the lapdog of a vampire?”

  Jason felt his anger dissipate somewhat. A dark wizard was involved. Interesting. This added a new twist to his mother’s disappearance. What did a wizard want with a female gargoyle and female human?

  “Better a vamp than some wizard sticking his nose into everybody’s business and hurting the gargoyle population in the process. So what did it cost him, Talon? What treat did he give you for betraying your own people? What false promises did he make to turn you into his whore?”

  Talon rushed him without warning.

  Jason tried to sidestep again but Talon was ready this time, he followed Jason’s direction and shoved him before he could move away. Jason hit the ground hard, his knife fell from his hand and slid across the floor. Talon was on him before he could do more than get to his hands and knees. Talon wrapped his arm around Jason’s neck and squeezed.

  “I’m no one’s whore, half-breed. Xander’s mission is to save our people from being corrupted and weakened by humans. Your mother and this female were destined to destroy our people. Xander is putting a stop to that. That’s what this is all about. If I become more powerful in the process all the better. You see, my almost-dead friend, it’s a win-win situation for me. Unlike your life, which is about to end, my future life looks very, very bright.”

  Jason had heard enough. He had the information he needed. Now Talon would die. Releasing the breath he had been holding, Jason let himself fall to the ground, surprising Talon, whose grip loosened. He took that second to twist out of the other gargoyle’s grasp and roll away, grabbing his knife and jumping to his feet.

  Talon had managed to recover his knife as well and was stumbling toward him. Jason swung his knife out in an upward arch. Talon staggered forward, unable to stop soon enough. His eyes widened in shock as the knife plunged into his chest. Jason looked Talon in the eyes as he dragged the knife up into his heart.

  “That’s for my mother, you son of a bitch. And this,” he said, twisting the knife, “this is for Rebecca. I hope you rot in hell.”

  Talon’s eyes flared wide and his mouth opened in a silent scream as Jason pulled out the knife and he slipped to the ground. Like his friend Azkar, Talon would not be rising again. Satisfaction raged through Jason, and he wanted to roar in triumph.

  He heard a small gasp. Turning toward the noise, he saw Rebecca had regained consciousness. She was sitting up, staring at him in horror with her hand covering her mouth. He started toward her but her eyes widened with terror as she focused on the knife he still held in his hands, and she frantically scooted backward.

  Jason dropped the knife and held up both hands, palms forward in the universal sign of “no harm”.

  “I won’t hurt you, M’Tali. It’s me, Jason.”

  Chapter Nine

  Rebecca was dreaming. She closed her eyes tightly for a moment then reopened them. The surreal images before her were still there. She had to be dreaming. This couldn’t be real. And it wasn’t a pleasant dream. Bloody knives, growling, grotesque monsters and violence. All the things that make up a good old-fashioned nightmare.

  And this one was a whopper.

  The creatures that circled each other, hissing, growling and talking in a deep guttural language she didn’t understand, were monstrous. Their features were made up of hard angles and chiseled edges. And they were huge with bulky muscles, and extremely tall. Well over seven feet, maybe eight or even nine, she wasn’t sure. Their spiked tails and wide wings made them seem even larger. But it was their faces that she kept returning to time and time again.

  The dark black one had a monstrous face, with features out of proportion and skewed. The sharp horns on his head, as well as his sharply clawed feet and hands, only added to that perspective. His leering expression made her shiver with dread.

  The lighter one with the marbleized skin was no less intimidating, but in a different way. Large and bulky like the other one, he only had two horns on his head. His tail was just as long but thinner and the spikes on his tail were only on the end. His face drew her attention again and again. Whereas the dark creature had grotesque features, this one had sharply angled ones as if his face had been carved in stone. His bearing was more noble, while the other’s seemed more base. But it was his eyes that fascinated her the most. Shining silver in color, the likes of which she had only seen once before, blue sparks were actually shooting from them, causing his irises to almost glow.

  It was obvious that both monsters were angry, making loud, threatening growling noises as they circled each other. The dark one kept lunging at the light one until he finally managed to take him down. As he started strangling him, Rebecca felt helpless. She didn’t know who or what these creatures were but the one who fell to the ground was not in good shape. She was scared to death to even move. She didn’t want to get their attention but at the same time she couldn’t just sit by while one killed the other, could she? They continued to speak to each other in a low, guttural language that grated on her ears. She couldn’t understand what they were saying but she did know one thing. By the look on their faces as they talked, it wasn’t a pleasant conversation.

  Her indecision was too prolonged. Rebecca watched in terror as the lighter monster suddenly broke away from the darker one, rolled away and got to his feet. He grabbed his deadly knife just as the dark one lunged for his. Just as the dark one had almost reached him, the lighter creature plunged his knife into the dark one’s chest. He brought the knife higher and twisted it as he spoke quietly to the dark creature, who eventually slipped lifelessly to the floor.

  The darker one was dead. And she knew it was because of her. She gasped as the reality of the situation hit her. This was no dream. It was too real, too clear, and she was way too awake, heart pounding out of control, for this to be a dream or nightmare.

  Her gasp caught the lighter creature’s attention. She shrank back, trying to become invisible, but it was no use. He started her way, bloody knife in hand, violence on his face, and Rebecca was absolutely sure she was about to die. She tried to scoot back away from him but she could only go so far. The creature looked curiously at her then dropped his knife to the ground.

  He raised his arms to show her he meant no harm then spoke.

  “I won’t hurt you, M’Tali. It’s me, Jason.”

  This time she understood what he was saying. And his voice, although somewhat deeper and gravelly, was familiar. Was it possible? Could this thing somehow be Jason?

  She shook her head in denial.

  It couldn’t be. This monster looked nothing like Jason. But wait, how had she understood what he just said? She hadn’t been able to understand a word the two creatures had spoken up until a moment ago.

  “Y-you’re n-not Jason,” she stuttered, fear tying her tongue in knots. “I don’t know what you are but I do know that you’re not him.”

  The creature slowly drew closer. She froze, unable to move. She was terrified of what he might do to her. When he reached
out with one finger and placed it gently under her chin she couldn’t help but flinch.

  “It is me, Rebecca. I know you’ve been through a lot and I’m sorry I have to add to that but believe me, it is me, Jason,” he declared firmly, lifting her chin so she met his silver gaze. Rebecca noticed that there were no longer blue sparks flying from his eyes. “And if you can’t wrap your mind around that then just know that I won’t hurt you, okay?”

  Rebecca was fascinated by his eyes. She looked closer and drew in a sharp breath. They looked, well, they looked exactly like Jason’s. How was that possible?

  “Rebecca? Okay?” Jason repeated.

  “What? Well, uh, let me think a minute,” she said, narrowing her eyes and tapping her index finger in an exaggerated fashion on her pursed lips as if seriously pondering his question. “Hmmm—that’s a hard one. I’ve been suffering from and struggling through amnesia up until several minutes ago, when every last traumatic tidbit of those horrific lost memories suddenly came crashing back into my mind. And a big part of those memories involved creatures who, by the way, looked uncannily similar to you, committing violent act after violent act against me. And now you’re asking me to trust you? Considering everything I now remember and after what I just witnessed here today, that’s kind of asking a lot, don’t you think?”

  Rebecca clamped her mouth tightly shut.

  What is wrong with me?

  Why am I being sarcastic when this huge creature could break me like a small stick?

  She held her breath. What will he do?

  His mouth spread into a smile. The hard angles of his face softened somewhat as he did so and despite the fact that his sharp teeth were more fangs than anything else Rebecca could almost make out features she recognized. Jason’s features. But how? Why? What would have caused this?

  “I see your point, M’Tali, but try to reserve judgment until you know the whole story. I’m not just your attendant here at the hospital. I’m also your personal bodyguard. I work for Sundown Security and was hired by your family to protect you. I don’t want to say much else because I think you have enough to deal with at the moment but for now just understand that I’m here to protect you. Your life is in danger and this creature,” he explained, pointing to the still form behind him, “as well as the one over there were trying to kill you.”

  Rebecca looked around him to both monsters on the floor. She hadn’t realized there was another one there until Jason pointed him out. But wasn’t that where one of the terrible men she now remembered hurting her had fallen to the floor after being knocked out by Jason when he walked into the room? And what about the other guy he had been with? What happened to both of the men who had brought back her terrible memories, memories she was just starting to understand the ramifications of? And what did that have to do with these creatures? As she looked from one dark monster to the other, lying so still on the floor, she shivered. Both looked just as dangerous dead as they did alive.

  “But why? Why were they trying to kill me and what are they anyway? And what are you? And why would I need a bodyguard? And what do these creatures have to do with me or my memory?” Rebecca knew she was talking way too fast and asking way too many questions but after everything that had just happened she couldn’t seem to help it. Hysteria was slowly but surely sneaking up on her again. “And where did those other men go? The ones from my memory who stormed into my room earlier and—”

  Jason held up his hand, er, claw. The sharp nails on each finger made Rebecca close her mouth immediately.

  “Wait, Rebecca. I’ll answer all your questions but now is not the time. Now I need to clean up this mess, and call in some help to do that, before anyone finds out what happened here.”

  Rebecca couldn’t have responded even if she wanted to. Her mouth fell open in amazement as the room began to glow. The glow was emanating from Jason as he raised his face to the ceiling, spread his arms wide and closed his eyes.

  Then it happened.

  One minute there was a gigantic creature standing in front of her then the form wavered, blurred and disappeared. Rebecca blinked and before she could catch her breath another figure appeared. It was Jason but now he was human once more.

  But that wasn’t the most amazing thing. That wasn’t what made her suck in her breath and forget how to think. No, the image that threw her over the edge, the one that finally became too much in the crazy events of the night, was Jason himself. He was completely naked, his hard, sculpted body glowing in the light of his transformation. Overwhelmed, her brain went into overload. It was all way too much. The men attacking her, the horrible creatures, the fight between Jason and them and now this. Rebecca fainted dead away, but her last thought before the darkness took her was that she had never seen anything or anyone so incredibly beautiful.

  After contacting the agency, cleaning up the hospital room and removing all the evidence, Jason brought a still-unconscious Rebecca to her grandfather’s estate and left her in Christian’s care. From there went out to find whatever information he could about his mother and Rebecca’s dark wizard.

  Within a few minutes of him entering the club, Maria approached him. As usual the sway of her hips and secret smile drew more than her fair share of admiring male stares. And those males currently vying for attention followed close behind her like dutiful puppies.

  She didn’t seem to notice as she made her way across the room.

  “I think I found your man,” Maria said once she reached him.

  “What do you mean?” he asked, working hard to ignore the siren call of her voice.

  “Well, I looked into what we talked about last time, asked around a little bit. You know, the usual routine, and found someone who might be able to give you some information. His name is Digby Riggins. He used to work for Xander, until the wizard finally got sick of him and fired him.”

  But Digby had been no ordinary assistant. He had been Xander’s go-to gopher and number one snitch and, as Maria had discovered, he was indebted to Xander for saving his life a long time ago.

  “So now he’s a snitch for hire, I guess. He calls himself a free agent,” Maria explained. “If you want to get the dirt on somebody just talk to Digby. He’s a real fountain of information. And it’s your lucky day, gargoyle. He’s in the bar tonight. You can’t miss him. Loud clothes, grayish skin, runny eyes and bright orange hair. A real looker.”

  Jason chuckled.

  “Thanks, Maria. As always, it’s a pleasure working with you.”

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said with a smile and roll of her eyes. “That’s what they all say.”

  And with a saucy wink and twitch of her enticing hip, Maria turned and returned to her throng of adoring males.

  “Clear the way, boys. I need another drink. Who’s buying this time?”

  Jason smiled and shook his head as the group moved away with every guy surrounding her raising his hand to buy the lady a drink.

  “She’s one hot lady.”

  Jason turned at the sound of the voice.

  The elf was tall, he’d give him that, close to his own height, and he had a face that women seemed drawn to. But he was also wiry and lean. Those who didn’t know him would assume he wasn’t very strong.

  They would be wrong.

  The guy may be lean but he had incredible strength and agility. Jason knew the elf could easily hold his own in a fight. He’d have no problem with this guy watching his back. In fact, the elf had been just there on several occasions, saving Jason’s ass once or twice, just as Jason had saved his a few times.

  This elf was one of them, another freak from Sundown Security.

  Jason returned his gaze to the soft sashay of Maria’s hips as she walked away.

  “You can say that again,” he agreed. “So what’s up, Daniel? How’s life treating you?”

  “Life’s good, bro. Well, except for that whole protect the humans get the bad guys deal,” he joked with a shrug and a wry smile.

  Daniel was such a smart ass.


  Jason grinned.

  The elf always acted as if he didn’t want to work for Sundown, like he didn’t like the job, when in fact he was one of Vlad’s best guys. After Christian, Daniel was next in command within the hierarchy at the agency.

  “How about with you, my friend?” Daniel asked. “Life treating you well?”

  Jason nodded.

  “It’s all good. I just got a nice tip from Maria about a snitch named Digby Riggins. Ever heard of him?”

  “Yeah, he’s got dirt on the dirt. The guy seems to know everything there is to know about anyone. I’m not sure how he does it but it’s kind of freaky if you ask me.”

  Freaky? Jason wanted to laugh. They were all freaky, every employee at Sundown and every patron at Twice Charmed. All were preternatural creatures, all the stuff of human legends, myths and fairy tales. But even among their kind there were wierdos, those just one step beyond the norm—or the paranorm, actually.

  “Thanks for the word. I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “You do that,” Daniel said. “Hey, by the way, did you hear the one about the gargoyle who liked to ride his bike everywhere?”

  Jason groaned. Daniel loved to tell jokes. And they were always the stupidest, corniest ones around but no one at Sundown had the heart to tell him. So they all tolerated it.

  “Nope. I can’t say that I have.”

  Daniel grinned. “Yep, they called him the rolling stone. Get it? The rolling stone!”

  The elf broke out laughing.

  Jason grinned and shook his head, trying not to show Daniel just how not funny that was.

  “Yeah, uh, good one. Listen, I’ve got to go. Maria told me that Digby’s around here somewhere. He and I need to have a little talk.”

  Daniel nodded his head, still chuckling. “Okay, man. Later.”

  Before he could reply Jason’s mobile phone rang. He nodded his goodbye to Daniel before answering. It was Christian.

  “Something’s come up with another case. You need to find someone else to watch Rebecca until you get back.”