Chapter:   1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23

Night Vengeance

Chapter Ninteen

Stanley parked in the underground parking lot under Knight Industries and hurried to the elevators. He fidgeted as he watched the numbers light up as he passed each floor. When the doors opened, he headed straight for Justin's office. He knocked on the door and waited, but no one answered. As he was about to open the door, another door opened and Garrett stepped into the hall.

"Hey, if it isn't Stan the Man, what are you doing here so late?" he asked, smiling at the lab tech.

Stanley yelped at hearing his name and whirled to face Garrett. "G…Garrett. Hi. Uh…I'm looking for Justin and Devon. Would you know where they are?" he asked nervously.

Garrett's smile dissolved and his eyes narrowed dangerously, "Why do you want to know?" he asked.

Stanley's eyes skittered away from Garrett's. Earlier, as he was driving away from the house, from Salazar, images and voices had flashed in his mind. Memories had suddenly flooded in and he'd nearly crashed the car, only his quick reflexes had prevented it. He'd suddenly remembered what had happened in the bar, the file he'd given Salazar, and what he'd seen in the strange crystal.

Guilt weighing heavy on him, he looked back at Garrett. "Please, just tell me where they are, this is something I can only tell them," he said, almost pleading.

Garrett considered the tone of Stanley's voice. He was tempted to scan the man's mind, but his oath to Justin stopped him from doing it. He decided to tell Stanley what he wanted to know.

"Devon left to investigate some house outside the city. Justin and Rae went after him. They've been gone a few hours now," he said.

As Garrett spoke, Stanley grew paler and paler. They'd gone to the house, to Salazar, to their deaths. He had to stop them, he had to stop Salazar, it was the only way he could redeem his soul. Without a word to Garrett, he spun around and ran back to the parking lot, got in his car and peeled away, back to the house, back to Salazar, praying all the way that he arrived in time.

~~~~~*~~~~~

From an upstairs window, Salazar's expression darkened as he watched his harpies explode. She may have stopped his harpies but she wouldn't be able to stop what he sent next. With a wave of his hand the storm ended and the ground began to shake madly.

Rae fell to her knees at the first tremor. "Justin!" she cried out as the ground beneath her opened, swallowing her.

On his knees, Justin quickly crawled to Rae and grabbed her hands before she fell in the deep pit. As he was pulling her up, an enormous serpent slithered up from the hole, hissing, it slinked toward him and coiled around him, squeezing him. Justin could do nothing to stop it, for if he let go of Rae, she'd be lost to him, forever.

"Justin, you must let go," Rae sobbed in his mind.

"No! No, I won't let you go!" he exclaimed. "Use your gift!"

"Justin, I can't. I have to see it to use my power," she replied.

"Well, I can see it and it's one ugly sucker," he managed to say. He could feel a few of his ribs cracking and knew it wouldn't be long now until the serpent snapped him in two.

"Isn't there a way you could do it without seeing it?" he asked a bit desperately.

"No there isn't, unless…" she began then stopped.

"Unless what?" growled Justin.

Silence met his question.

"Come on…sweetheart, now's not…the time to…give me the…silent treatment. You can…do that later…when I do…something stupid…that will…really…piss you…off. Now…unless…what?" he said, in jagged gasps, then a sharp spike of pain shot through him as one of his ribs snapped.

His pain became her pain and Rae knew there wasn't much time before the serpent broke more than one of his ribs.

"Keep your eyes on the serpent Justin. Whatever you do, don't take your gaze from it for one second," she ordered him.

Justin nodded and stared at the serpent. Its head undulated back and forth and Justin's eyes followed, not once breaking eye contact.

Rae closed her own eyes, a second later a triangle appeared in the middle of her forehead and her third eye opened. She focused her third eye to see through Justin's eyes and saw the serpent. It had an enormous head and long forked tongue, which flicked out. Its hissing hurt her ears but she blocked out all sound. Power well up and the ancient words spilled out.

"Serpentum Golmti Haikaoo Feltoree! Serpentum Golmti Haikaoo Feltoree!" she shouted.

The serpent's head stopped moving. Its tongue retreated into its mouth and its body relaxed, uncoiling from around Justin.

Justin began to close his eyes in relief, but Rae's growl to "Keep looking at it" had him opening them wide again.

"Heretado Creesture Jabbadei" she continued.

The serpent began to shrink and shrink, it shrunk until it was no more than caterpillar size. Rae sighed and closed her third eye, she was exhausted. The power she'd used had drained her and her body went limp.

Justin quickly tightened his hold on her hands and pulled her up into his strong arms.

"Herbs…in my left…back pocket," Rae whispered in his mind, she was too drained to speak aloud.

"It's not herbs you need love, it's blood," stated Justin.

Rae smiled weakly, "Yes…I do need blood…for my body, but the herbs will…replenish my drained energy," she carefully explained.

Justin nodded, lifted her slight weight, plunged his hand in her left back pocket and pulled out a plastic baggy. He opened it and pulled out a few pinches of the unrecognizable, awful smelling herbs.

"Mix it with water," she instructed.

Justin waved his hand and a wooden cup materialized, filled with water. He added the herbs, and to his surprise, smoke wafted up off the top of the cup and a sweet aroma filled his nostrils. With his finger, he swirled the mixture and brought it to her mouth.

Rae drank it, then rested her back on his chest. After a few seconds, her whole body began to glow, encircling them both. Justin felt a burning heat along his ribcage, then found he could breathe much easier because his pain was gone. He gazed down at Rae and saw her eyes had turned white. This is what she had done in the lab when she'd healed herself just a few days ago.

The glow gradually dissipated and Rae's eyes turned back to their clear blue. She smiled at him as pushed herself into a sitting position.

Justin stood and helped her to stand. He pulled her in his arms and grazed her lips with his. "You are an amazing woman, and I love you," he said as he hugged her tight.

Rae kissed and hugged him back, then they both turned and stared at the house.

"Are you up for this?" Justin asked, his gaze still on the house.

"Yes, I'm fine now. Let's do it," she replied, and as one, they moved forward.

 

©2006 Romance at Heart Magazine.

©2000 Angel Young.

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