“I couldn’t agree more.” I started to climb. I’d gone only a few feet when Tyler’s voice shot into my brain.
Jess, where are you? His tone was frantic.
How could I explain where I was? We’re inside the mansion, trying to find a way out. Did you find Ray? Please tell me you found him.
Yes, we found him. Relief swept through my body so clearly I almost lost my grip. He was locked in a crypt and is pissed as hell, but there’s more trouble. The sorcerers have set up summoning rings around the perimeter. But that’s not the worst part. The Screamer is loose.
What do you mean it’s loose? It’s fully corporeal?
Yes, and Ray has already fought it once. I’ve been trying to reach you for a half hour. Where have you been? I was about to go balls out ripping down walls in this place.
We ran into an important … complication. Too much to explain. Tell me about the Screamer. I don’t get why Ray is involved.
It’s after you, Jess.
What do you mean, after me?
It’s linked to your blood somehow and it’s trying to find you. Naomi says it craves your power and it needs more. It’s like a possessed banshee. Everyone is running.
Stay away from it. Once we get out of here, we’ll find you outside.
Jess, it’s in the house.
In the house?
Tyler, don’t worry about me. I’m concealed right now. If the Queen has fueled the new ward and it’s protecting us from the demons, our priority is still finding Dad. I’ll get out of the house as soon as I can. Start searching the grounds—
“It comes too soon,” the ghost cried. “Climb!”
Before I could react, a hand shot through the wall and grabbed me by the neck like a homing pigeon.
“Jessica!” Rourke bellowed as my skull crashed into the wall.
At the thing’s touch, a current of pure electricity shot through me, so strong I couldn’t breathe.
In the next instant I was in my Lycan form.
I thrashed, but it wouldn’t let go. Its hand was generating more electricity and it held on like a clamp. I lost my footing and dangled in the air as the Screamer continued to bash me into the wall.
A fierce screech hit my eardrums.
I took hold of its forearm, painful currents washing over me, and tried bracing my legs against the shaft so I could rear back, but its hold was unyielding. It bellowed at me and gave one more huge thrust. My body crashed through the rest of the wall, splinters and broken wood raking my body.
Once it had me on the other side, it tossed me onto the rug.
We were in some kind of parlor.
Then it turned and picked up an armoire like it was nothing and smashed it into the opening, dropping it right over my howling mate.
“Well, hello, Conan,” I said from the floor. “It’s so nice to see you again.”
24
This wasn’t the adorable Conan I knew and loved. This was Conan meets Hellboy. “I will drink you dry,” it moaned as it advanced on me. I scuttled backward on my arms and legs. “And feast on your entrails.”
“It cannot be stopped,” came a panicked whisper in my ear. “It has manifested itself.”
“I can see that,” I muttered. “It’s kind of hard to miss.”
“You must leave here,” the ghost urged.
“I’m working on it.” My back hit a wall and I immediately shimmied to the right. There were windows directly on the other side of the room. It was the only viable option. Conan had shoved furniture in front of the only door. It would take too long to dismantle it.
The Screamer had gobbled up so much of Conan there was only a shell left. Its eyelids drooped, its fangs bit into its lower lip, blood leaked down its chin, and its hair was falling out. It resembled a zombie vampire as it shuffled at me.
It was dead, but in a whole different way.
It was double dead.
“It seeks more power.” The ghost pushed against my body, trying to move me.
“I know that. Listen, if you don’t have any helpful advice to give,” I told the ghost, “then do me a favor and keep your breathy comments to yourself.”
Before the Screamer could reach me, I snatched up an end table and hurled it.
It batted it away like a mild irritant.
“What makes them so strong?” I asked. “It’s like the Hercules of the Undead.”
“They are fueled by raw energy,” it whispered in my ear. “It cannot be defeated.”
“Bullshit,” I retorted. “If that were true, Screamers would be running around all over the world eating people’s souls. This thing is going down. We just have to figure how.”
It kept hobbling at me with single-minded intention as I inched my way along the wall. It was a good thing it was slow. Let’s try and knock its head off and see if that works, I told my growling wolf.
“That won’t work.”
“Hey,” I accused. “Stay out of my brain. How do you do that anyway?”
“I can hear your thoughts,” the ghost said. “They are the same as speaking them.”
The Screamer lunged and I dove out of the way.
Its arms went through the wall where my head had just been and a horrible keening erupted. Unfortunately I’d had to dive away from freedom.
The Screamer still stood between me and the windows.
“If you want my blood, you have to be faster than that, big guy.” It spun around. “And you’re not moving too quickly with your two … broken kneecaps.” For the first time I noticed its legs weren’t working properly. Conan must have broken bones when Danny tossed him out the window and they hadn’t had time to heal before the Screamer had possessed him.
Ick.
It came at me again, faster this time.
I rolled twice and brought my legs up in a scissor kick behind its head. But instead of sending it flying, a jolt of high-voltage electricity tossed me backward. “Dammit,” I yelled as I smashed into an antique desk, shattering it. My leg gave out beneath me. “What just happened?” I panted.
“I told you it is made up of pure energy,” said a whisper. “It cannot feel pain.”
“What, is it made up of lightning bolts? That was a gigantic electrical charge. That amount of energy shouldn’t be possible.”
The ghost gave a hollow chuckle.
“Did you just laugh?”
“Jessica!” Rourke yelled. My head whipped to the hole in the wall. His fury was palpable. He had begun to tear through the rest of the armoire trying to get me.