Chapter 30


    Ayasse sat on a bench just outside Robert’s house. One of the British policemen brought him a mug of the same black, strong-smelling brew from the inn. He sipped it and closed his eyes. This world was so heavy.


    “I like this coffee,” he muttered.


    “You looked like you needed it,” the young police officer said. He wasn’t making signs of the cross as the others, but he still didn’t get too close. These people, for all their science, were surprisingly superstitious.


    Ayasse nodded and took another sip of the coffee. There was no poison in it, but the bitter taste reminded him of some of the concoctions Thane used to feed him.


    “Thank you,” Ayasse said.


    “No problem. It should be over soon,” the young policeman said, turning his back to Ayasse and staring at the front of the house.


    “Master would have loved this drink.” Ayasse took another sip and started to cry softly. She hated any sense of emotion and had tried to beat all the sadness out of him years ago. “Why am I crying now?” he whispered. “Where were the tears when I buried you?”


    An explosion from the house rocked Ayasse out of his thoughts. Dropping the coffee, he disappeared into the shadows. It was getting harder and harder to push into them. Each time, the things that lived there came a little closer. He couldn’t worry about that now. Sam needed him.


    *********************


    “What the hell?” Sam had been flung against the wall; the wind knocked out of her as the door exploded.


    Officer Shear had been turned into ash and bone.


    The government agents scrambled away from Bob, pushing and shoving each other to the side of the room, away from the remains of the Chief Shear. The other two police officers caught in the explosion groaned on the ground.


    “I haven’t had the chance to test my power from the Demon blood yet. It’s stronger than I expected but effective,” Bob said, turning to Sam. He raised his hands again and chanted, “Fireball.”


    Sam rolled out of the way, and the back of the house exploded in shards of wood and glass. She covered her head from the debris with her arm. Jumping to her feet, she felt her ankle snap and let out a scream. She toppled over, holding her foot and grimacing.


    “How are you doing magic, and without chanting?” she asked through the tears.


    “You didn’t think I would connect myself to a magical world and not take advantage of it, didn’t you? I even managed to get some healing potions, but they didn’t work quite the way Eon promised they would,” Bob scoffed. “I will admit, until I had your blood, the magic I could do was limited. So, I must thank you for coming back.”


    Stolen story; please report.


    “Burn!” A wave of flame shot out from his hand. Engulfing Sam, it sent her tumbling over the broken desk. Turning to the remaining government agents crouched against the far wall. Bob chanted “Tornado.” A whirlwind picked them up and tossed them outside the door.


    “Sam, what’s happening?” Ayasse crawled out of Sam’s shadow and grabbed a carpet from the floor. He smothered the fire on her and stepped back, panting.


    “Ayasse! Stay back,” Sam shouted, turning to Bob. Her ankle was throbbing, and she couldn’t stand. “No! This was my win, not yours.”


    “Yes, this is your win. You have beaten me, Samantha. You have destroyed everything I’ve built with a simple piece of paper.” Stepping up to a bookcase, Lord Robert pulled “The Odyssey,” and a secret door opened. A portal stood open behind it, the same as the one in Relancia, but smaller. “I’m still going to save my daughter, though.”


    “What do you mean? Where are you going?” Sam crawled forward. She couldn’t let him get away. “Why didn’t I hear that open?”


    “This one is different, more stable than the other one you went through.” Bob moved closer and turned a dial on a machine next to the portal. It expanded to the size of a man.


    “Stop!” Sam pulled herself forward.


    “There are no shadows near him,” Ayasse shouted, gasping. “I can’t get close.”


    “I refuse to stay here and get arrested. I’m also running low on magic. ‘Fireball’ is a huge drain. I’m impressed at what you’ve done tonight, Samantha, but I’ve been planning this for months. You being here has just speeded up my timetable,” Lord Robert turned his back to Sam and stepped up to the small portal. He picked up a bag next to it.


    “Goodbye,” he said as he walked through with his head high, pushing a button as he left. A steel shield slid down behind him, preventing anybody from following. Sam pounded the floor. She could get through the metal. But he was smart. It would take time, and she had no doubt he would have trapped it. It’s what she would have done.


    “What happened?” Ayasse asked, moving next to Sam and helping her sit up. “I thought people in your world couldn’t do magic.”


    “He said something about Demon blood,” Sam flopped over on her back and cringed. The burns from the fire spell combined with her throbbing ankle were calling for attention. “That fat pig must have sent some to Bob.”


    “That’s right,” Albert said.


    Sam raised her head and saw Albert. He was standing in the last corner of the room, untouched by any of the destruction.


    “Could you please assist me in putting out these fires?” he bowed. “It is difficult to move Miss Nadia at the moment, and I don’t want her harmed.”


    “Nadia is alive?” Sam felt her face soften and sighed in relief. She hadn’t killed her. “Ayasse, give me a hand.”


    Ayasse grabbed the heavy carpet and beat out the flames. “I can’t do…” He started gasping for air.


    Sam took the carpet. “Sit down. You’ve done enough.” She turned to the small fire starting to spread near the door, reached across and smothered it with the heavy carpet.


    “What happened?” One of the black-suited tax men poked their head around the corner.


    “Mr. Johnson,” Ayasse said. Please come in.


    “You remembered their names?” Sam whispered to Ayasse.


    “Of course. It’s only polite,” he whispered back.


    Sam rolled her eyes and sat back. She picked up her leg and straightened it. It gave a low pulsating throb, and she could see her foot getting bigger.


    “Robert Allen escaped through a portal to a place called Relancia,” Sam told Mr. Johnson. “It’s behind the metal shield there.” She jabbed her thumb in the direction of the bookshelf. “His butler, Albert, should be able to give you more information.” Sam could feel the resentment in her tone and took a deep breath. Unbending control and the need to dominate never worked. There was always someone better at it. Maybe if she had taken a different way and had the government men go in first, things might have been different.


    “I can’t make this kind of mistake again,” she mumbled.


    “I see.” Mr. Johnson sat down on the remains of the door and started to take deep breaths. Sam remembered he was the man who had the panic attack when Ayasse popped out of the shadows.


    That was all secondary. Nadia was alive and in the house. She needed to see her.