Seirs, Soul Guardians Book 5 (15 page)

Tatiana nodded her head in agreement.
“Me, I go with you and David. Tony and Roberto—” she gestured with
her hand, “you go with Jenny and Peter.”

Tony scratched the stubble on his
skin. “What does the weapon look like?” His voice was a little
deeper than Roberto’s, and his accent was the heaviest.

Tatiana smacked him on the head, and
gestured with her hands dramatically. “You, you never listen during
the meetings, eh? It’s a blue glass triangle.”

“
Aye, bella. Me, I don’t
know,” laughed Tony playfully. He gave Tatiana a smug smile. “Your
great beauty distracts me.” He lifted his hand towards her face.
She smacked it away.

Kara raised her eyebrows and shared a
sidelong glance with David who shrugged. Tony was an Italian
version of David—cocky, and too full of himself when it came to
women—always playing around when it was time to be serious—a big
kid.

“
Dogs aren’t allowed in, so
Poochie and I will guard the main entrance,” said Thor. Drool
spilled to the ground in puddles around his feet.

“
That’s right!” A low growl
rippled from Poochie’s throat. “They won’t get past me.” Poochie
drew back his ears as he lowered his head. A ridge of hairs rose on
his back like tiny blades. He snarled aggressively and revealed
rows of large pointy teeth. A chill vibrated up her back. She
always thought Great Danes were gentle giants, but he looked
fierce. He was big enough to do some serious damage.

Thor waddled up to Kara, his big brown
eyes serious. “Kara, be careful. There’s a very bad smell in this
place.”

“
In the Pantheon?” said
Kara. She lowered herself to be level with the tiny dog. Poochie
rested his large head on her shoulder, his drool dripping down her
neck.

Thor continued, “No. It’s hard to
explain. It’s this city—there’s something here—something big, and
it smells evil, really evil. It’s as though there’s an enormous
demonic stench. I can’t put my finger on it—it keeps moving. I
don’t understand it. It’s all around us now, in the air, under our
feet, but I can’t find it.”

Kara wiped the drool from her neck and
wiped it on her jeans. Thor’s worried expression made her feel more
nervous. “I’ll be careful, I promise. So far, I don’t see any
demons or Seirs. We might be able to search for the weapon before
things get messy.” The crystal timer gently rubbed against her
chest. “And I’m running out of time. We have to go in
now.”

Thor pressed his paw on her knee.
“Watch your back, Kara. There’s something evil lurking
about.”

Kara rubbed Thor’s head. “I will,
don’t worry.”

She rose and made eye contact with the
group; their faces were as determined as hers. They made their way
swiftly towards the entrance to the Pantheon.

Marble columns lined the portico.
Gawking tourists passed her on their way out. Part of her wished
she could enjoy the history of the ancient building, but there was
no time to act the tourist. Lilith could be hiding anywhere—waiting
to make her appearance with an army of Seirs. With Thor’s warning
still fresh in her memory, Kara marched through the giant bronze
doors.

The Pantheon was a gigantic
dome with
monumental
tombs
set into the walls. Glossy marble floors with a series of
geometric patterns spread in front of her. The only light spilled
down from a large round opening in the center of the dome, like a
great eye opened to the sky. A ray of soft yellow light shone on
the marble floor in a circular pool. A large
altar
was set on the opposite side to the
entrance, with the
icon
of the Madonna and Child above it. The
apse
was decorated with golden mosaic
crosses. Loud voices reverberated as
hundreds of tourists walked in circles taking pictures and
reading the inscriptions to the tombs.

Kara ignored the building’s interior
beauty. She turned to Jenny, Peter, and David. “Let’s find this
thing.”

Jenny beamed. “We’re on it. Come on,
Peter.” She took off running to the right side of the dome. Tony
and Roberto jogged watchfully beside her. With his arms
outstretched for balance, Peter skated carefully behind them on the
slippery floors.

Holding back a laugh, Kara took the
left side of the dome. She pushed her way through the curious
mortals and headed towards the nearest of the seven niches that
surrounded the dome. She remembered from Wikipedia that these were
the tombs of great men. That dusty old bones were hidden away under
boxes of concrete was a little freaky. Perhaps the weapon would be
hidden with them? She pressed her hands against the cool stone and
began to search the first niche for the weapon. David got on his
knees and searched around the foot of the niche, while Tatiana
stood on guard with her back to them, turning frustrated mortals
away in brisk Italian.

The first niche turned out to be
empty. Kara hurried on towards the second niche whose brick archway
extended into the concrete wall. She dug her hands into the
cavities and brushed them over the rough stone surface.

Something moved in the corner of her
eye. A pallid face moved in the crowd. A long black coat caught the
light.

Kara froze and strained her eyes. But
the figure disappeared.

“
Kara?” David studied her
anxious face and then followed her gaze. “What is it? What did you
see?”

“
I thought I saw a
Seir...but I can’t see him anymore. I think my eyes are playing
tricks on me.” With the amount of stress she was under, it was a
wonder that her mind didn’t explode.

David frowned. “I don’t see any. But
believe your instincts. I’m sure they’re here somewhere, hiding
like the cowards they are.”

“
What’s going on?” Tatiana
leaned forward, “Why have you stopped?”

“
Kara saw a Seir,” said
David. “I knew they’d show their ugly faces sooner or
later.”

Kara shrugged. “But I don’t see him
anymore. I thought we’d have more time before the Seirs found us.
It’ll make things more difficult.”

Tatiana unbuttoned the bottom of her
jacket. The hilt of her sword peeked through the material. “Don’t
worry about the Seirs. Keep looking for the weapon. I’ll take care
of them, demone amante.”

She whistled loudly. Tony and Roberto
turned their heads. Tatiana made a few hand gestures, and they
nodded in acknowledgement and surveyed the dome with their hands on
their swords. Tatiana prowled like a cat ready to pounce. Kara
admired Tatiana. She was fearless.

After a half hour of searching through
three separate niches, Kara threw out her arms and sighed in
frustration. She rose on her toes and searched across the dome for
Jenny and Peter. They stood near another niche, looking as
frustrated as Kara felt. Jenny met Kara’s eyes and raised her
hands, shaking her head.

“
They said it was here.
It
has
to be here
somewhere.” Kara placed her hands on her head. “Where is
it?”

“
Relax, Bella, we will find
it,” said Tatiana, calmly. “We’ll look for it all night if we have
to.”

Kara bit down on her tongue. She
didn’t have all day to find the missing piece. “It’s gotta be
somewhere we haven’t looked yet.”

“
We’ll find it, don’t
worry. Keep looking.” David gently nudged a woman with short white
hair and a severely pinched face out of his way. She gave him the
evil eye before shuffling off angrily.

Kara saw that an arched
chapel was hidden between the last two niches. It was behind a row
of red marble columns. David and she had both missed it. Fluted
Corinthian pilasters rose on either side of the chapel near the
opening. The inscription read:
the Tomb of
Umberto I, son of Victor Emmanuel II and second King of the Unified
Italy.

It was the only spot she hadn’t
checked.

“
David,” she said and
pointed. “In there.”

She ran over to the chapel. David’s
boots echoed swiftly behind her. She stood by the columns and
peered inside. The tomb was a massive red porphyry block carved
with lion heads and topped by a slab of alabaster mounted with
gilded bronze. A cushion of gold and red silk sat above the tomb.
There—set as a jewel inside the lion’s eye and sparkling in the
soft light was the other piece of the Arath.

At that exact moment, a Seir broke
away from a group of mortals. His white head shone in the rays from
the oculus. Wickedness gleamed in his dark eyes.

Tatiana saw him and moved towards Kara
protectively, her hand never leaving the hilt of her sword, and her
eyes glued on the Seir.

Without thinking, Kara leaped over the
barrier rope.

“
Hey, what are you doing?”
yelled a man with thick glasses, his oversized camera bouncing
against his very large belly. “You can’t go in there! You’re not
supposed to touch anything!”

Kara ignored him. Excitement rushed
through her breast. There it was, waiting for her.

She had beaten Lilith. Without the
other piece of the weapon, Lilith’s plan to annihilate the mortal
world would be at an end. Lilith would fail. Kara would still have
plenty of time to search for the children, and then maybe even find
Lilith and stop her for good. Kara smiled. It was time to make
Lilith pay.

More angry tourists shouted at her.
They didn’t know how important her mission was. She was saving them
all, even the obnoxious ones.

Tatiana flashed a wide smile. Kara
could see Jenny’s purple through the wall of angry mortals. She
beamed at Kara.

“
Stop her!” yelled a dark
skinned woman. The whites of her eyes showed as she pointed at Kara
feverishly. “Someone stop her! She’s going to steal the jewels!
Thief!”

“
Fermarla!” Someone else
shouted in Italian.

The blue pyramid glistened like a
giant sapphire. Kara removed her hoodie and reached out . .
.

“
Kara, wait!” yelled
David.

She grasped the sapphire blue pyramid
with her fingertips and pulled.

The alarm went off.

Chapter 13

When in Rome

A
n earsplitting sound like a malfunctioning ambulance siren
resonated throughout the dome. Tourists dropped their maps and
trampled over themselves to get away from the awful noise. A
cacophony of screams and shouts filled the air. The marble floors
trembled under the hundreds of stomping feet. The scene was
chaotic.

With a tug the Arath popped out
easily, and Kara grasped the weapon tightly. It fit perfectly in
her hand. The edges of the crystal were not sharp but smooth and
warm like a boiled potato. Kara flinched as a humming sounded from
inside the pyramid, as though it were filled with bees. Blue light
flickered and grew inside the weapon, bathing her palm in hues of
blue. A dizzy spell came over her suddenly, and the world around
her started to spin. Without warning, the Arath’s power struck out
at her. A cold chill rippled through her, as waves of power
throbbed inside her body and hissed angrily as though in warning.
Her body stiffened, frozen like a statue, as ripples of the
weapon’s energy gushed through her. Finally, with a tingling
sensation, the power subsided.

Kara shifted her weight and relaxed a
little, trying hard to hide the panic on her face from the others.
A prick of pain stabbed her palm, and she stretched out her hand to
examine it closely. Three tiny puncture wounds marked her hand in a
perfect triangle. The weapon had marked her. Or did it bite her? It
surely felt like a bite to her. She tossed it up in the air. It
felt cool, and her dizziness had gone.

She hauled herself over the cordon
just as others rushed closer for a better look. Tatiana and the two
men stood protectively in a half circle around them. The frantic
tourists spilled out the dome like sand from a funnel.

“
You got it!” squealed
Peter over the ruckus. His eyes widened at the sight of the weapon,
and he leaned forward examining it closely. “To think something so
small can have such great power. It’s a real mystery. It makes you
wonder why they created this thing in the first place. They must
have been mad.”

Jenny eyed the Arath apprehensively.
“It’s pretty. Figures that Lilith would like it—she’d probably wear
it around her neck like a necklace.”

David and Kara shared a look. His blue
eyes pierced into hers momentarily. She tensed as he looked away,
stone faced. He was still angry with her. It pained her that she
couldn’t do anything about it. She only wished she could tell
him...

“
She’s going to be very
angry when she learns about this,” continued Jenny and smiled
sheepishly. “I wish I could see that pasty face of hers when she
realizes that
we
have part of her precious weapon.”

Kara sighed, “Well, it’s not over yet.
She still has the other piece of the Arath in her possession. And
we still need to find the missing children.”

“
Do you feel anything from
it?” bellowed David over the deafening alarm. “Like its power or
something?” He looked as though he was expecting her to lie
again.