Relic: Mask (A Kane Arkwright Supernatural Thriller) (Relics Book 7) Read online

  I felt her scalp for bumps. Nothing.

  I couldn’t find any signs of damage. It worried me.

  “Rebel? Can you hear me?”

  Her face was still. Her skin, pale. I glanced up at the girl. She watched us, her face unreadable. She showed as much expression on her face as Rebel did lying on the forest floor.

  “I can help her,” the stranger said.

  “Did you do this?” I asked.

  The girl shook her head. “It was the wind.”

  “You made the wind, lady.”

  “No. The temple made the wind.”

  I stood up and took a couple of steps toward the creepy (gorgeous) stranger. “Okay, if you can help her, then fucking help her.”

  “Once I’m away from here, I will.”

  “You can’t help her if you’re gone!”

  “I can, sir.”

  “Stop calling me that. My name is Kane.”

  She nodded. I would have asked her her name, but that would have opened me up to a spell. I was already having a hard enough time keeping my hands to myself.

  “I am Feifei,” she said as she turned away from me, and walked into the darkness. I looked at the wall of blackness, and wondered if this was a good idea. Feifei poked her small, beautiful face out of the shadows. She smiled slightly.

  “Come,” she said. “I do not bite, Kane.”

  The way she said my name felt wrong. It felt like it had something behind it that my mortal brain couldn’t possibly comprehend.

  I followed her, but fear shot through me as I realized I’d gotten it backwards.

  It’s not the succubus name that deepens magic. It’s the victim’s name.

  What spells could she cast over me now?

  Chapter 4

  I followed her small form through the forest.

  She faded in and out of view as we wove through the trees.

  “I recognize you, Kane. You were here some years ago.”

  “When I was a teenager, yeah. I don’t remember you.”

  “The old man you were with was an excellent dealmaker.”

  “Skyler? Don’t tell me you listened to a word he said.”

  “I did not. She did.”

  “Who’s ‘She’?”

  “The temple. He offered her something she wanted. In return, she gave him access to the temple with the promise of safe passage.”

  “What did he offer her?”

  “Peace. For a while. He took the burden of tending to me from her.”

  “That was big of him.”

  “For a night and a day, she was able to wander.”

  “And what did you do?”

  She didn’t answer immediately. She was crafting a lie.

  “I wandered, too.”

  The ceiling of trees was so dense that the moonlight started to fade.

  I opened my Vault Portal. Or I tried to. It had been acting up since I’d secured Set’s Sceptre. For the first time since I’d been given the portal, I was uneasy with it. It didn’t feel as connected to me anymore.

  It felt like I was losing control.

  After an awkward moment of willing the portal open, only to see it pulse bright and dim, it finally locked into an open position.

  The portal did double duty at that moment. It lit the way in the forest, and it provided me with an arsenal at my fingertips.

  I didn’t have anything to defend against a succubus. To make things worse, I didn’t know what variation of succubus I was up against. That made choosing my weapon tough. Sure, I had my Glocks. But I had no idea how effective they’d be against whatever waited for me.

  I broke the silence because I wanted to hear her voice again. Yeah, I was weakening. “What’s holding you here?”

  “I’ve told you. The temple.”

  “Temples don’t imprison us. We imprison us. Who wants you in the temple?”

  “She has no name. She hates me. My misery is what keeps her alive.”

  “Sounds like a real bitch. Why does she keep you here?” Feifei didn’t answer. Her footsteps in the forest made no sound. “Is it a punishment?”

  She didn’t answer, but I could feel her thinking. She had the upper hand. I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape whatever web she’d woven around me. She had no reason to share anything I could use against her.

  Right when I decided she wasn’t going to answer, I barely heard a whispered, “Yes. It is a punishment, Kane.”

  “For what?”

  “For loving a man.”

  “So, she doesn’t think much of us guys, huh?”

  “I loved a man she loved,” she said. Her voice sounded lower now. It was still gentle. It slithered into my ears like a Spell of Kane Horniness, and made me need to adjust my pants. Just a little.

  “Sounds like I got myself into the middle of a mess,” I said.

  “I will honor our deal.” Her voice was more serious. More determined. I believed her. “If you kill her, I will be free, and your friend will recover.”

  “How long have you been a prisoner?”

  “I don’t know. Time means nothing here.”

  “Okay, then who was the prime minister of Japan when you were first trapped?”

  “Prime minister?”

  “Yeah, the leader of Japan.”

  “Emperor Munehito.”

  I stopped walking. She turned when she realized I wasn’t pacing her anymore. “It has been long,” she said. It was more of a statement than a question. I nodded.

  “About 900 years,” I said.

  Her face showed no emotion at all.

  “It feels longer.” She turned, and walked down a hill. Her slippers slid through the leaves, but she didn’t stumble as the hill got steeper. She rode the ground like a surfer rides a wave. Then she looked up at me, and waited.

  I wasn’t as graceful. I started with my foot catching on a branch. It knocked me on my ass, which I used to do some butt-surfing of my own. I hopped up mid-hill, and pretended like that was what I’d intended to do.

  I had to keep the conversation going if I wanted a chance to save face. No, I have no idea what face I had to save with a fucking succubus, but I wasn’t thinking clearly.

  “How do you know English?” I asked.

  “There have been… many visitors here.”

  “You mean victims.”

  “Some, yes. But some came here to die.”

  “You killed them?”

  “She did.”

  “You led them to her.”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you killed them. That’s called ‘accomplice to murder’ these days. I’d imagine you had something like it back when you were human.”

  “I am still human, Kane,” she said. I could hear the anger in her voice. But she was controlling it. She was holding back on me. And, for the first time, I realized she was holding back on me to spare me her rage. “And I know my crimes. I want you to put an end to them.”

  “Why me?”

  “I see it in you. I saw it many years ago when you first set foot here. You can kill her. You will not hesitate when it’s time to strike.”

  “Would this do the trick?” I asked. I pulled out a Glock, and showed it to her.

  She looked at it and touched it with her pinky’s tip. She drew her hand away as if she’d touched fire.

  “Yes, that will do nicely, Kane. But you must make it fast.”

  “Yeah, sure. I’m all about making it fast. I mean, not everything. Not everything should be fast. Some things should be slow.” Jesus. What an idiot. “I mean killing. Kill fast, get out, drink whiskey.”

  She took my hands in hers, and folded my fingers over the weapon. She caught me in her eyes, and kept me there as she said, “Make it fast.”

  I nodded.

  She turned, and pointed a finger down another hill that lay at our feet.

  There it was. Just like I remembered it.

  The small temple waited for us.

  Chapter 5

  I recognized t
he sloping roof, the pebble path to the entrance, the low double doors that even my teenage height had challenged.

  Frankly, I enjoyed that moment. I’d managed to snag a memory from my hazy brain. That was getting less and less common. It was getting harder to remember my past with each passing day. Even my parents’ faces had disappeared into a mist that made me feel like I was in a prison with walls closing in. But the sight of the structure, and the smell of the forest brought me back to the night Skyler and I crept down the hill, relic in hand.

  Somewhere in the labyrinths below that temple was a small scrap of scroll. Another piece of the puzzle. The second piece of five that we needed to find to take the world back. Maybe. Ain’t life just a big fucking pile of Maybes?

  Feifei’s voice broke through my daydream.

  “When she is gone, you must escape quickly,” she said. “The temple will return to the dust it was built from. The temple, and everything in it.”

  “That’s not good, Feifei. I need something inside,” I said.

  “You speak of the treasure in the box?”

  I wasn’t going to tell her any more. I’d already revealed enough.

  “No need to answer me, Kane. I know. But please remember one thing. If you find it there, you will find danger. Many have come here for it. Many have died trying. But only one truly owns it.”

  “Who?” I asked. Feifei glanced at the ground. “Who owns it?”

  “The man we love,” she said. She was trying to tell me something, but it was a riddle. I didn’t have time for riddles.

  “Who is he?”

  “He is a god, Kane. A storm. With his hammer, he is thunder. If your treasure is in the temple, take it. If it’s gone, then he has taken it back, and you must move on.”

  “No can do, lady.”

  In one swift motion, she took my hand into hers. It was warm. Soft. Her fingers wove through mine, and then squeezed. She opened her mouth to say something when her eyes fluttered, and her mouth opened.

  The temple doors slammed open with a crack, like a gunshot.

  She pulled me along with her. I didn’t like the glances she shot at me as we ran. They looked like they were goodbyes.

  The scent of old wood, incense, smoke, and stale air invaded my head as we entered the temple. All other senses took a backseat as the memories of entering that place for the first time were triggered by the feast of smells.

  The room was small. But I knew that was a ruse. The room was just a doorway.

  I pushed past Feifei and walked toward the statue near the rear of the room. The small Buddha smiled as I slipped behind his mantle and shoved at the wall. The door had not aged well. It fell and skidded down the steps under my feet. Again, the scent took over my senses. But this odor wasn’t as pleasant as the temple. Mold, decay, the wind of death swept into my face and made me gag.

  “Be careful,” she said. “She is waiting for you.”

  I pulled out my Glocks and smirked. “I look forward to meeting her. You stay here. Remember our deal. If Rebel doesn’t recover, I’ll follow you until the end of the world.” I thought about that for a second. “The next end of the world.”

  “I will honor our agreement, Kane.” I turned to go, but she reached up and placed her palm on my cheek. She pulled my face toward her and stood on her toes. Her fingers ran through my hair as our lips touched.

  It’s not easy to juggle a succubus kiss and two Glocks. That’s a load of trouble at once. But I like to think I did okay. She looked pleased when we separated. She gave me the same look she’d given me outside.

  It was a goodbye.

  “Rebel,” I said to her, simply. “You promise.”

  Feifei nodded.

  I flicked on my pen light and held it between a finger and the gun. I aimed it down the stairwell. The light managed to break the darkness for a few feet, but if anything wanted to attack from below, it would be on top of me before I could see it.

  “Good luck,” Feifei said from behind me.

  I thought of about a dozen cocky responses, and kept them all to myself.

  Chapter 6

  The deeper you go under the earth, the more complete the silence.

  The sound of my breath was all I heard.

  The pace quickened as the air got thinner, and the steps went on and on. I almost lost count at 200. By 400, I was ready to fire off a shot to make the bitch come to me. It would be tight quarters, but at least I’d have some energy left for the battle. I held off on the urge long enough to reach the 500th step.

  It was the bottom.

  I was in total darkness, but the walls were a solid white. I pointed the penlight at the wall closest to me, and the light dispersed nicely, filling some of the room with a faint glow. I propped the light on a stone on the floor. All I could do was hope it would stay in place. If it dropped, I’d be blind.

  “Come out where I can see you,” I said. My words sounded sharp as they bounced off the walls.

  Silence.

  I thought I saw a shadow move from the corner of my eye. But there was nothing there by the time I settled my Glock on the spot.

  I backed up a couple of steps. My thinking was, if I had a wall behind me I’d only need to defend three sides. It was a sound strategy. It should have been a slight advantage.

  But it wasn’t.

  The attack came from above.

  When something that size suddenly moves in a small space, you can feel it. She was silent as a whisper, but I could feel that something massive was on the move.

  I stepped out of the way just in time. A giant mass dropped to the stone floor with a loud thump. It was heavy enough to shake the whole room. It was fast enough to scurry back into the darkness as I fired off three shots.

  And it was evil enough to laugh at my fear.

  The hiss was filled with a sadistic mirth that chilled my spine. I moved my Glocks left and right, up and down, and back again. There was no method to the pattern. I was looking for a lucky shot.

  Whatever was in the darkness, whatever was filling a good chunk of that room with its massive ass, was enjoying every second.

  “You like to fight dirty?” I yelled into the darkness. “I can fight dirty.”

  I opened my Vault Portal. I should have done it in the first place. Some part of me clung to the ideas of the past, the weapons of the past. I needed to get over my connection with my toys. This was a world where relics ruled.

  And I had the relics.

  I reached for the slowly opening portal. I was going to grab the Sceptre. I was going to see if it had the power to save Feifei. Or Rebel.

  Both, maybe. My head was still filled with the succubus, even as I fought for my life. Bad move on my part. I was slammed against the wall with a shove that was powerful enough to break a rib.

  I saw stars as my head bounced off the wall. I tried to shake some sense back into me. The thing in the room could have taken me out if it had wanted. I was easy prey. But she, it, whatever, was holding back.

  She was playing with me.

  Feifei was right. This asshole had a big fucking karmic debt to pay. I was going to collect it.

  My portal had shut down on its own. I’d need to open it again to get my hands on the Sceptre. The hissing from the blackness moved around me, back and forth, like a pendulum trying to hypnotize me.

  “You’ve returned to me, boy,” a female voice said, emerging from the hiss like a distant echo.

  I fired blind, taking my best guess at where the voice originated from. I hoped to hear a pained cry. Followed by a heavy thump. And then maybe the pitter-patter of Feifei’s little feet as she ran to me for another taste of Kane lips.

  Yeah. I had it bad.

  Instead, the laugh came back at me.

  Maybe I could delay her long enough to spot her. “Do I know you?”

  “No, but I know you. I’ve known you since you were a boy. I’ve known about you for longer than that.”

  “Cut the riddle bullshit and step out where I c
an see you. We can make this a fair fight.”

  “This is no fight, boy. I plan on keeping you safe and sound here for as long as I can.”

  “Nice of you. But I’m not looking for safety. I’m looking to save my friend and free the nice girl who led me down here.”

  “Nice girls don’t lead men down here to me. Nice girls tell you to run. They help you escape. But you know that. You know that she’s brought me prey for thousands of years. And now she’s brought you. A most valuable prize.”

  The air around me filled with the sound of a whistle. I ducked just in time to dodge a missile of some kind. It cracked into the stone wall behind me, just missing my head.

  “I see why you’ve lived so long,” I said.

  “Why do you say that?”

  “You fight from the darkness like a coward.”

  “You’re trying to test my pride, boy? Quaint. But it won’t work.”

  I tried to concentrate as she spoke. I didn’t need long this time. I got lucky. The Vault Portal opened, and stabilized within a split second.

  I tried something I’d never tried with it before.

  I wrapped my fingers around the blue light that framed the portals edges, and shoved it away from me.

  It slid across the room like a floating disc.

  If I’d blinked, I would have missed it. The glow passed by the massive form in the middle of the room.

  My hunter wasn’t a person. Or a ghost.

  She was one fuck of a big spider.

  Chapter 7

  I ducked under the fang this time.

  She must have been the one that stung me in the forest. Her, or a monster like her.

  The sharp ass whisked past my face like a dagger. I wondered if the whistling sound was the blood coming from my arteries. But the fang passed again, barely missing my chest and left the echo of another whistle in its wake.

  I fell to the stone floor and one of its legs knocked a Glock from my hand.

  I lifted the other one to take the monster out. It slapped the other one across the room. It was faster than anything I’d ever seen.