Shadow Keeper (36 page)

Jagged teeth latched onto my shoulder. The shirt protected me from the sharp, dagger–like teeth puncturing my flesh, but not from the gnawing at the tendons. Searing heat shot through my body. I screamed from the intense agony.

I forced down the pain and gathered my strength. On one side, I got my arm and leg planted firmly in the ground. I shoved with all my might and rolled onto my back.

The creature lost his grip on my shoulder as I rolled over. He reared back, preparing to pounce on me again. I reached for the knife, but now it lay even further from my grasp. The demon leapt on me. I caught his hairy throat in my hands and used all my strength to strangle the filthy creature. His ratty snout hovered close to my face. He snapped and snarled, and clawed at my chest. Green slime oozed from his gaping mouth as I pressed my thumbs into his windpipe.

My hands cramped and my biceps ached from the fierce pressure I exerted, but I couldn’t kill the evil creature. We were at a stalemate. The demon wouldn’t die from strangulation, and I couldn’t reach the knife that would send him back to Hell.

A puff of white vapor wisped across my face and into the demon’s snout. He jerked his head to clear the smoke. Another puff and then a steady stream clouded around the demon’s face. His filthy body eased off me. I released my stranglehold when he crawled away. The creature slithered back as another puff hit him in the face

I glanced around for the source. Lisa held the smoldering sage leaves in her hand and blew the smoke at the demon. “Don’t cross the salt line,” I warned.

She didn’t waste her breath on an answer. The toes of her boots edged closer to the line, but she didn’t cross. The creature reared up. His blood red eyes glared at her. His ugly snout opened and he roared in her face.

Her head twitched when green spittle from the demon’s mouth slapped against her cheek, but she kept her focus. Lisa blew again. Her breath floated over the tips of the burning sage leaves, directing a long, steady stream of smoke at the retreating demon. The creature staggered back.

I scrambled to my feet and grabbed the knife. I leapt at the creature and plunged the blade into its heart. The demon dissolved into a shroud of smoke. I grabbed the smoldering sage leaves from her hand and herded the black vapor into the hole.

Lisa tossed the salt box at me. I poured the contents over the evil darkness that filled the hole. She dropped to her knees near the mound of dirt. I knelt on the opposite side. Frantically, we used our hands to scoop and shovel the dirt until nothing remained but a small mound.

Exhausted, I leaned back on my heels and inhaled a deep, clean breath of air. No putrid stench of the demon lingered. My shoulders slumped forward as I glanced at Lisa.

She leaned to the side, supporting her body on one arm. Her elbow buckled and her body collapsed on the ground.

I staggered to my feet and rushed to her. She lay in the dirt without moving. I lifted her in my arms and hurried to the circle.

“Mom. She’s unconscious.” I lowered Lisa’s body to the ground.

“I can’t stop,” my mother yelled.

I glanced at her. She pumped both palms over Stratton’s heart, performing CPR. The muscles in my chest constricted, making my breathing difficult. Kyle Stratton was dying from anaphylactic shock. If Lisa had ingested any of the peanut butter, I might lose her too. “God, no,” I shouted as my anguish grew.

“Lisa, baby.” Monica leaned over us.

I shoved her aside and lifted Lisa to me so I could press the side of my head against her chest. A strong and steady thump reverberated in my ear. “She’s alive.” I laid her in my lap and patted my hand against her cheek.

Her eyelids fluttered. She grabbed at my bicep and tried to sit. “My father—”

“Easy.” I turned her so the firelight shone on her face. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m all right.” She squirmed around in my arms. “How’s my father?”

Unable to give a positive answer, I shook my head. “My mom’s doing everything she can.”

Lisa bolted upright, but remained in my lap. “Daddy!”

Stratton coughed. His chest heaved. Mom grabbed the stethoscope dangling around her neck and stuck the ends in her ears. She pressed the flat end to his chest. “I have a heartbeat.”

A whooshing noise, like dried leaves rustling in the breeze, caught my attention. I glanced at the lone oak tree. A dense shadow seeped from the opening in the hollow of the trunk. “Look,” I shouted as I pointed in that direction.

“The demon,” Monica shrieked. “He’s back.”

“No.” I hugged Lisa tighter when her body trembled. “Don’t be afraid. It’s your father’s spirit. See how it floats above the ground. It’s not earthbound like the demon.”

Light from the campfire reflected on the shadow and gave it a luminance glow. The shadowy mist swirled above us before drifting lower. Like a puffy cloud of sparkling stardust, the mist descended on Stratton and surrounded him. His skin shimmered as his body absorbed the shadow through every pore. The glow faded. Stratton shuddered. His eyes opened and he stared up at the night sky.

“Kyle.” Monica knelt beside him and pressed both hands to the sides of his face. “Are you alive?”

He stroked his fingers across the back of her hand. “Hi, Babe.”

As Monica broke into tears, Lisa scrambled from my arms and hurried to his other side. “Daddy. Is it really you?”

“Lisa.” He grabbed her hand. “I’ve missed you both so much.”

While the three of them embraced each other, I glanced at Mom. She looked exhausted. I crawled on my knees to her and put my arms around her. “Are you all right?”

“Brendon.” She pulled me close. “I was so terrified that creature would—” A choked sob caught in her throat.

“I’m not hurt.”

Her arms squeezed me tighter. She didn’t cry, but warm tears smeared against my cheek. The muscles in my throat tightened and my eyes stung. I closed them when the moisture gathered. The horror of the night just caught up with me. The two women I loved the most could have been killed tonight.

Mom’s grip relaxed and she moved back. She wiped at her face with the back of her hand. “We have to get Mr. Stratton out of here. Monica’s already called emergency services. A medical helicopter is going to meet us at the casino and airlift him to the hospital.”

“I’ll get him in the car.” I crawled to Stratton and nudged Monica and Lisa from him. “Got to get you to the hospital.” I pulled him into a sitting position.

“Wait.” He grabbed at my shoulder. “Young man, before we do anything, I have to thank you.”

“There’s no need, sir.”

“Yes, there is. If it wasn’t for you, I don’t know what would’ve happened to my family. And I certainly wouldn’t be alive to thank you.”

“I wasn’t the only one to help.” I glanced at my mom. “It was a combined effort.”

“I know, but you risked your life. You fought that demon and sent him back to Hell.”

“I had help with that too.” I grabbed Lisa’s hand. “Your daughter is pretty amazing. She had the courage to look that ugly demon in the face and chase him off me so I could grab the knife.”

“You were all amazing.” He glanced at everyone in the circle before looking back at me. “But particularly you, Brendon. You could’ve been killed—my daughter could have been killed, but you saved her life and risked your own. I owe you for so much. If there is ever anything I can do for you, all you have to do is ask.”

I glanced at Lisa. She looked so happy. Light from the campfire made her blue eyes sparkle and her blonde hair glisten. I looked back at her father. “There’s just one thing, sir. I’d like to go on a date with your daughter.”

The end

****

Next Novel from

M. K. Yarbrough

Shadow Curse

Second book in the Shadow Trilogy

Chapter One

The blonde beside me on the bed jabbed at my bare chest. “Brendon, someone’s knocking at the door.”

“I know.” I pulled the sheet over my head. “I’m trying to ignore it.”

“Should I ignore it also?”

With a question like that, she couldn’t be a college student. She probably showed up at last night’s party with a friend. I threw back the covers and sat up on the edge of the bed. “Why don’t you get dressed? I’ll find out who it is.”

I glanced at the clock. Whoever pounded on my dorm room door at nine in the morning on the first day of Christmas break better have a damn good reason. My Levi’s lay crumbled on the floor next to the heap of other clothes. I slipped them on while stumbling across the floor. Rubbing at my eyes with one hand, I jerked open the door with the other.

My gaze scanned up long legs clad in jeans, past a narrow waist, and lingered on the nice looking rack concealed beneath a red sweater. I forced my gaze up to the full, glistening lips, straight nose, and clear blue eyes framed by dark blonde lashes.

My breath caught in my throat. In the doorway, stood the last person I expected to see.
Lisa Stratton
.

Trying not to swallow my tongue gave me extra time to control my words so I didn’t blurt out anything stupid like
I love you
.

“What the hell are you doing here?” shot out of my mouth instead.

Her lips quivered and her gaze darted to the floor.

I wasn’t going to let her get to me. Slamming the door in her face might keep the old feelings from surfacing, but my curiosity was piqued. “What do you want?”

She glanced up, but her gaze didn’t meet mine. “I miss you.”

The words stabbed me in the heart. Those were the same ones I’d said to win her back after our first breakup, but I wouldn’t let her use them on me. Not now. Not after all this time. I slouched against the doorjamb, trying to act like I didn’t care. “You’re too late. About a year to be exact.”

“I’d like to explain.” She took a step forward. “May I come in?”

I put my hand on the doorframe in case she tried to barge past me. I didn’t want her in my room, or back in my life. “There’s nothing to explain. You dumped me without a single word.”

“I called.”

“One time—from the airport. You left a message with my little brother that you’d call back. You never did.”

“I lost my phone when we were on vacation in Hawaii.”

“Oh, that explains it.” My sarcasm cranked up a notch. “It took you a whole year to find it.”

“My mom bought me a new one, but she took her time doing it. After we got home—”

“To Esparto?”

“No, San Luis Obispo. My mom thought it would be better for my dad’s recovery if he was in a familiar place.”

Memories of her father’s hellish rescue seeped into my brain. I shoved it aside. “How is your dad?”

“A lot better...thanks to you. You saved his life.”

My anger returned. I didn’t want her gratitude. “He already thanked me so don’t bother.”

“It was my mother.” Her head dropped and her long blonde hair slipped across her face. “I overheard her tell my dad she wasn’t going to offer me up as a virgin sacrifice just because you saved him.”

“That wasn’t why I did it.”

“I know.” She pushed her hair behind one ear and her gaze latched onto mine. “Brendon, I—” The rattle of car keys cut her short. Her hand pressed against her mouth. “Is that your roommate?”

“Not exactly.”

The door opened wide. Last night’s bed partner ducked under my arm. Her hand pressed on my bare chest. “I’m going to take off now, Brendon.”

Lisa’s fingers stayed at her lips. Her eyelids narrowed as her gaze darted to the woman clinging to me in the doorway. The pieces in her mind falling into place seemed to make an audible clunk.

My revenge was almost complete.

“Thanks for everything, Cathy.” I slipped my arms around her and pulled her to me. My mouth covered hers for a long kiss goodbye.

She stepped back when I released her. “My name is Karen.”

“Yeah. That’s right. See you around.”

Lisa watched Karen walk away before turning to me. “Is she your girlfriend?”

“Not hardly. We hooked up last night at a party.” I swung my arm in the direction of the dorm room. “Want to come in?”

Her gaze brushed over my naked chest and down my bare abs. The fly on the Levi’s hung open. My first instinct was to button the crotch, but a show of modesty might dilute the retribution I craved.

She shook her head. “Could we go somewhere and talk?”

I couldn’t hold back a smile. “Are you afraid to be alone with me?”

“No.” A little twitch tugged at her lips. “I just don’t feel like crawling into a bed that’s still warm from another woman.”

Crap! If she’d said anything but that, I could’ve slammed the door in her face and never thought of her again. Did she really want to share my bed? I needed confirmation. “Is talking all you want?”

Her head did a slow shake while she nibbled at her lower lip. “I have a motel room. Why don’t you wash off the smell of that skank and meet me outside in half an hour?”