The Paranormalist 4: The Unearthly Page 7

  Ash was about to become something more. Something far greater. Perhaps then Jane would finally appreciate him for what he was willing to do for her.

  If she didn’t… well, maybe he’d bring her here, too. Make her see, the way Jeff had needed to see.

  Ash smiled in happy anticipation of his rebirth.

  Chapter Eleven

  Vesper’s fingers flashed over the keyboard of her beloved MacBook Air. An image of Robert Rockmore popped up on-screen. The man’s resume was straight out of the James Bond villain playbook. Industrialist millionaire. Occultist. And bona fide madman.

  Okay, she’d added the last part, but it sure as hell seemed to fit. Similar to Simon Kane’s father, Rockmore had dabbled in powers he could never hope to control. Just another ambitious, ruthless man who had overextended his ambitions.

  Fortunately, there were men like Simon willing to face the nightmares head one.

  Vesper was part of that fight now, and she wouldn’t want it any other way. Battling the forces of darkness at Simon Kane’s side was about the most meaningful thing she could see herself doing with her life. She had found her calling.

  Now if only Simon could see that too. He kept sidelining her—even though Vesper had been the one to save his ass when he got trapped in an evil warehouse.

  Despite her determination, sometimes it was good to take a time out from work and refuel. Vesper had hoped this trip was going to be the much-needed break for both her and Simon.

  If she was honest with herself, perhaps she’d hoped this weekend getaway would be a chance to take their relationship further. There was a spark between them. They both knew it. And one of these days, it was going to ignite. But even among this idyllic setting, there was no escape from the horrors they fought. Her cunning plan to seduce him—which involved a couple of beers and a sexy playlist on her phone—would have to wait.

  Vesper sighed and patted her laptop. “Just you and me, girl.”

  She tried to look at the bright side. At least it was comfy in the cabin. The fireplace was warming her feet and painting a cheerful golden light against the cozy wooden walls and the faux bear rug carpet.

  Vesper focused on the unnerving figure on her computer screen. The man wore a black suit and bowtie, the pencil mustache giving his aristocratic features an air of decadence and depravity, further enhanced by a pair of beady, cruel eyes. Just another monster in human disguise.

  As she compiled her notes, Vesper was proud of herself. Identifying the observatory had provided them with some critical pieces to this case. There were still many unanswered questions, but she was making excellent progress and couldn’t wait to share her latest findings with her boss.

  Of course, Simon Kane was so much more than just a boss. He’d save her life, and then he’d saved her soul by giving her a safe place to heal while allowing her to process the horrors she’d experienced.

  She vividly remembered her first few days at Kane’s Malibu mansion, the gnawing uncertainty that had gripped her. What did this man want from her? she’d wondered. She’d been burned many times before—for God’s sake, her ex had sold her to a demon-worshipping biker gang for a few hits of meth—so it was no wonder she kept her guard up at first.

  But as the days went by, and Vesper realized that her savior bore her no ill intentions, she started to explore the mansion. Almost immediately, she felt drawn to the occult library. The thousands of tomes both terrified and intrigued her.

  We fear that which we don’t understand.

  And the books in the vast collection promised answers.

  After Vesper’s experience with the biker gang, going back to a normal life was unimaginable. In her heart she knew that the nightmares wouldn’t stop, no matter what she did or where she went. She could not run away from herself.

  So her best option, her only option was to confront the horrors that stalked the world. She wasn’t going to go through life as a victim.

  At the end of the first week, instead of retiring to bed early, the way she had on her first few nights, she headed downstairs and joined a surprised Simon in the library. Weirdly enough, the ancient texts filled her with a strange sense of calm.

  Eyes blazing with determination, she randomly selected one of the ancient tomes from Simon’s vast collection. Didn’t even matter what it was about. It was merely symbolic, the first step in a much longer journey. Book in hand, she found an armchair and, to Simon’s obvious amazement, started taking furious notes as she read. Three hours later, she was able to get her first good night’s sleep since almost becoming a human sacrifice.

  Many books followed the first one. And as her knowledge increased, so did her determination.

  A smile played across her face as she recalled Simon’s initial reluctance when she first offered to assist him in a case. To be fair, it had sounded like a terrible idea on paper. After all, she’d barely survived her first encounter with the supernatural with her sanity intact. Vesper was terrified to leave the mansion, scared to face the world, so how did she expect to partner up with a man who rode into danger daily?

  Surprisingly enough, the job proved to be the right move for both her and the man the press had nicknamed the Paranormalist. Simon Kane had a new partner, whether he wanted it or not.

  The sound of her ringing cell thrust Vesper out of her memories.

  Vesper grabbed the cell and felt instant relief when she heard Simon’s voice. She listened with growing interest as he told her how the observatory had vanished.

  Once Simon finished his briefing, it was her turn. Rockmore’s story would have chilled even the most hardcore skeptic, but Vesper merely felt empowered by her discoveries. Giving the unknown a human face was the first step in defeating it. We fear that which we don’t understand, right? Well, she was beginning to understand.

  The pieces were coming together.

  She wrapped up her report and took a deep sip from her glass of red wine. She was curious to hear what Simon would make of her discoveries... and that’s when a loud banging sound rattled the cabin.

  “What’s that?” Simon demanded to know.

  She answered quietly, hoping that whatever was out there didn’t have supernatural hearing. “I don’t know. It came from outside…”

  “Vesper, get the hell out of—”

  The phone went dead, cutting off Simon’s voice.

  The old Vesper would have cowered in terror, but she shared little in common with that frightened young woman. Her training kicked in as she reached for her Glock. The gun was loaded with the same rune-engraved silver bullets Simon used.

  Vesper glanced at the glass sliding doors that led out onto the deck, and suddenly missed the sophisticated security measures of the mansion. An intruder could easily break through the large panes of glass. There were no alarms and no wards to hold back any inhuman home invaders.

  As Vesper rose from the sofa, the slight buzz from the wine was gone—she was stone-cold sober now.

  Gun in hand, she crossed the living room, passed through the rustic kitchen, and turned the corner into the foyer leading toward the front door.

  Her heart hitched in her throat when she saw that the entrance stood wide open.

  The wooden door banged against the outside wall in a steady, unnerving rhythm, buffeted by the strong winds outside. A flurry of snow filled the open doorframe, and a gust of icy air raked her skin.

  Even though there was no sign of the mystery intruder, she wasn’t alone any longer. Whoever—whatever—it was thought it could play with her.

  Vesper took a tentative step toward the open doorway.

  Planted her feet firmly in place.

  Leveled the Glock at the cabin’s wide-open entrance.

  And waited.

  She was no horror movie damsel who was going to step outside just so that the monster could blindside her. Simon had insisted on running drills just in case something ever broke their wards. If you couldn’t run to safety, you stood your ground and did not hesitate to pul
l the trigger.

  Come and get me, you bastard.

  Vesper had no idea how their enemy had managed to identify Simon and her as threats. Somehow, the strange forces trapped in the haunted observatory knew they were getting close to the truth. That didn’t matter now. She just needed to survive until Simon arrived. There was no doubt in her mind that he would break every traffic law to get here.

  Vesper’s grip tightened on the Glock, and she wished she had some chewing gum to calm her nerves. The initial burst of adrenaline was subsiding, and her resolve was wavering slightly.

  What is it waiting for?

  A flicker of shadowy movement. A shape peeled from the frozen darkness and appeared inside the doorway.

  Guess who blinked?

  The intruder was tall, muscular, and male. As he eased closer, light from the hallway splashed on his face. The man sported rugged good looks and wore snowboarding gear.

  He looked almost normal.

  Almost…

  Vesper’s pulse quickened when she took note of two slithering rattlers growing from his chest.

  Holy shit.

  The serpents hissed as they lashed the air, fangs and forked tongues revealed. Their twisting forms cast weaving shadows as the hybrid creature edged into the cabin.

  Her throat tight with horror, Vesper pulled the trigger.

  The silver bullets tore in the monster’s chest and slammed the serpent man against the wall in a splash of red. The reptiles made spitting sounds as the man roared with pain.

  Smoke erupted from the wounds. The magic of the rune-engraved bullets was kicking in and causing some real damage.

  Vesper backed away, firing two more bullets before dipping back into the living room. She took two, three steps… and froze.

  A second intruder stood on the deck and glared back at her from beyond the glass sliding doors. Like the first home invader, this man was tall and athletic. He had swarthy good looks, and his eyes shared the same unearthly quality she’d encountered back in the art gallery. For a moment, she could only stare into those swirling spiral eyes.

  Her feet were still firmly rooted in place when the man exploded through the sliding doors in a rain of glass. As the intruder took his first determined step into the cabin, an inhuman roar cut through the air.

  It took her a split second to locate the source of the bestial sound. There was a salivating cougar head sprouting from the man’s chest. It was so wrong, so fundamentally unnatural, that her brain couldn’t cope.

  But Vesper didn’t need to understand what was happening here. She just needed to pull the trigger until it stopped.

  Jaw set tight, she blasted the incoming hybrid. The volley spun the monster around and sent him crashing into the hot tub.

  Damn it, I wanted to have a soak later, she thought crabbedly, stunned that her black sense of humor remained intact during this confrontation.

  The cougar’s roar mixed with the intruder’s frustrated curses as he became entangled in the plastic cover.

  Vesper emptied her clip, praying the magic of the silver rune-engraved bullets would be sufficient to put an end to this mutant monster. After the final shot, the thing was no longer moving. But she had to make sure.

  She stepped onto the deck, took a glance at the hot tub, and saw the lifeless hybrid beast with smoking bullet wounds. He was face-down in the water, dead. Eerie tattoos had crawled over the back of his neck and his hands. That told her something very important. Vesper still didn’t understand who these men were, but they served the haunted observatory.

  Rockmore, or whatever unholy force had seized control of the structure, had sent these revolting patchwork men after her.

  I guess ya didn’t think I was packing magical ammo, did ya?

  Vesper fought back the impulse to let out a victory whoop. There might be more of these things out here. Instead, she silently crossed the deck into the wooded yard. She didn’t dare go back into the cabin, uncertain if the first attacker was dead. Her plan was to quickly circle back to the front of the property and make a go for Simon’s BMW before another nightmare popped up.

  Tall trees encircled her as she navigated the snowy terrain, moonlight drowning the skeletal branches in a sickly light. Her breath came in sharp bursts of condensation that wafted in front of her face. She fought back a shiver. Damn, she should have grabbed her winter coat, but her first instinct had been to get out of the cabin as fast as possible.

  Next time, I’m booking us a week in Ibiza. Maybe Cabo.

  Jaw clenched, Glock in hand, Vesper rounded the property. She was out of ammo and didn’t have a spare magazine, but her enemies didn’t need to know that.

  Her overactive imagination expected to find snake boy and possibly more of his mutant buddies waiting for her at the front of the property, but to her relief, there was no sign of any more mutants.

  Vesper’s eyes narrowed to scan the shadows all around her. It seemed clear.

  She took a few steps and… became a statue. Eyes snapped wide open, lips pressed into a tight line.

  Shit, shit, shit.

  A large structure stood in her path, casting its monstrous shadow over the property in the harsh moonlight. The Rockmore observatory dwarfed the cabin like some nightmare fortress. The grainy, black-and-white photos had failed to capture the size and scale of the building.

  Vesper had no idea where the sinister, imposing structure had come from, but this wasn’t some phantom. The observatory was solid and real and impossible to ignore. And somehow it was here, outside Uncle Jonathan’s cabin, as if the building had always been here.

  Vesper’s sense of dark wonder grew when she spotted the slightly open doorway, a beacon of light in the darkness. It clearly wanted her to go inside.

  Do you think I’m a total idiot?

  And then she heard another roar behind her. Vesper whirled, her blood freezing in her veins.

  Two conjoined coyotes cut off her escape, both heads alive, teeth snapping at the icy air.

  A chorus of hissing roars ripped through the night, each even more terrifying than the first. The ground shook, and a lumbering black bear peeled from the dark trees. The massive animal had been fused with a bobcat and a mountain lion, the feline heads sprouting from the bear’s furry shoulders adding their snarling voices to the chilling battle cry.

  The mutant animals drew closer, a tight circle of sharp teeth and claws. Sudden violence would greet any attempt to break out of their cordon.

  They kept closing in, forcing Vesper to fall back. They were herding her toward the observatory. Soon, she would have no choice but to seek refuge inside.

  But Vesper sensed that the horrors lurking within the observatory were far worse than these mutant creatures.

  She weighed her options. Either face those razor-sharp teeth or take a chance on the unknown.

  Another ferocious roar made the decision an easy one.

  As a winged wildcat hurtled toward her, Vesper ran into the observatory.

  She would soon come to regret her decision, but by then it would be too late.

  Chapter Twelve

  Sheriff Delgado’s cruiser roared toward the cabin, headlights spearing the snowy night. We ground to a halt, and I was out of the vehicle before anyone else. I ignored the sheriff’s protests and ran toward the cabin, leaving footprints in the fresh snow.

  My snow-covered BMW 8 Cabria Convertible remained parked in the driveway, and lights burned inside the cabin—Vesper had to be here. But was she all right?

  My heart slammed against my rib cage as I drew the Glock. I had good reason to be worried. All my attempts to reach Vesper had failed. There was no doubt in my mind that my new enemy had gone on the offensive.

  My assistant was in trouble. The only question was how much.

  Stop calling her that, I told myself. The sick feeling in my guts served as a sharp reminder that Dakota Vesper was so much more than just an assistant. If something had happened to her…

  I clenched my jaw and pu
shed the negative thoughts aside.

  Instead, I allowed my mind to go blank, my world reduced to the twenty yards around me and the challenge ahead. My grip tightened on the Glock as I advanced toward the cabin and gingerly pushed the front door further open.

  I waited for a beat, then entered the cabin.

  Signs of destruction abounded—holes in the log walls, piles of wood chips on the hardwood floor, blood spatter on the wall. Vesper must have used her own Glock against whatever had attacked her. Had her efforts been enough to stop the intruders?

  There were no signs of any bodies. Could rune-engraved silver bullets stop these agents of darkness? Had the magic dissolved them to dust or had the volley only wounded them?

  I fought back the temptation to call out for Vesper. Even though the fatalistic part of my brain knew the enemy was long gone, that we were too late, another part of me clung to hope. I prayed I’d find Vesper in the cabin’s living room or on the outside deck, shaken but unharmed.

  Doing my best to remain hopeful, I edged down the short hallway, turned the corner, and entered the living area.

  A gust of icy air greeted me. I barely registered the brutal cold, adrenaline making me immune to the weather.

  The intruders had shattered the sliding doors leading out to the deck, and glass carpeted the faux bear rug. Nearby, the fireplace flickered forlornly and cast orange shadows against the scenes of destruction. The sofa had been pushed back, and two lamps and various other knick-knacks lay sprawled on the ground.

  More bullet holes pockmarked the cabin walls, but still I found no sign of Vesper.

  A footstep sounded behind me, and I whirled around, bringing the Glock up on pure instinct.

  “Put the goddamn gun down, Kane,” the sheriff said. “There’s nobody here.”

  Sheriff Delgado stood in the living room, a nervous-looking Woods right behind him. I took a deep, steadying breath and lowered my Glock.

  “What the hell happened here?” Delgado asked.

  “They came after her.”