Netherworld: Drop Dead Sexy(79)
Chapter Seventeen
Being pulled from one place to another against my will was nothing like the hopping around I do with Dan. Much like Erica Ford’s earlier attack, this was more akin to being hooked in the belly by a sadistic fisherman and reeled in through a lake of molten lava. In short, it hurt. A lot.
I emerged screaming in a dilapidated shack. I could see patches of sunlight between the boards overhead, trees between the boards of the walls, and water between the boards of the floor. The smell was pure swamp, most likely the Okefenokee. Despite all the gaps between its silvery boards, not much light filtered into the shack. The main illumination came from a hurricane lantern, which cast a soft glow on the surroundings. Brokenly painted wards covered every surface I could see.
Staggering but glad to be done with my trip, I located Erica Ford pretty fast. She still chanted, her face fervent with effort. A folding card table sat next to her, on which lay the lantern, a knife, stubs of flickering black candles, and what looked like a medieval chalice. Erica was in desperate need of a new decorator.
Most disquieting of all were the wraiths. Easily a dozen faded, gauzy spirits drifted aimlessly across the ceiling, passing through one another, and moaning in thin, lost voices. I could barely hear them over the skin-crawling buzz of insects.
As my guts recovered from the shredding agony of Erica’s spell, a wave of fury overcame me. I stomped up to the witch and got right in her face. “All right, lady, I’ve had about enough of your crap.”
Her chant broke off, and she gave me a crooked grin. “It’s not my ‘crap’ you should be worried about. I have her, Pembroke.”
I’ll admit my guts turned to chicken soup the moment the Judge walked in through the walls in ghost form. Thank goodness I didn’t have a bladder anymore, because a large puddle would have formed beneath me that moment. Especially since the Judge looked as substantial as Erica. It’s hard to explain since with the exception of the wraiths, we ghosts look pretty solid to each other. Still, the Judge seemed more there than anyone else I’d seen. I had a feeling that had any living creature not gifted with second sight been in the room, they’d still have seen him.
He stared at me. His undisguised revulsion mixed liberally with something a little too much like lust for my liking. I caught myself cringing. He’d looked at me the same way when he killed me. As I crossed my arms over my chest in a protective gesture, I realized I still wore no clothes.
The Judge’s thin lips curled. “Foul creature.”
This beast had ended my life, and I grasped onto my rage like a life preserver. I snatched my arms down and planted my hands on my hips. “Yeah well, you should have paid attention to the ‘do not disturb’ sign I had hanging on the door. Knock first next time.”
As much as I wanted to thumb my nose at his loathing of my unclothed state, I felt way too vulnerable with nothing on. With bravado, I fashioned myself a string bikini. An itsy-bitsy, teeny-weeny, yellow polka-dot bikini, thank you very much.
Erica snorted. Maybe she got the joke. I didn’t care.
Drawing myself up proudly, I announced to the sallow-faced vampire ghost, “Since I have nothing to say to you, I’m out of here. Liberatio, solvo, eximo!”
Having used the words Yelena had taught me to get me out of such a jam, I marched straight to the nearest wall. End of scene, exit stage right. Except instead of passing through the shack as the Judge had, I splatted against the wooden surface and bounced right onto my butt.
As I rubbed my aching nose, more surprised than hurt, Erica snorted. “My wards keep you all inside and the earth’s magnetic field out. You’re not going anywhere.”
I seized on the library, seeing, feeling and smelling its comfort and tried to transport myself there. Absolutely nothing happened. I stared at the Judge and Erica in horror, and once more noticed the helpless wraiths bouncing along the ward-covered ceiling.
Erica laughed at my expression. “You didn’t think that little nature witch Yelena was a match for my skills, did you? Stupid Wiccans. They have no real power.”
The Judge scowled at her. “Leave off the boasts and continue the search. Now that this problem has been solved, we can concentrate on more important matters.”
I staggered to my feet. I don’t know what made me madder; not being able to escape or tall, dark and killer dismissing me like I wasn’t there. “If you think I’m not still ticked about you murdering me, you’d better think again.”
His arm shot out, and he gripped my upper arm with a hand of iron. “You will not speak, strumpet.”
Then hell the likes of which I’d not known before descended on me. Being drained to death hadn’t come close to this. Not even Erica’s witchy pull had hurt so much. I can’t describe the searing pain that suffused my entire being. I just can’t. It eclipsed everything, leaving only torment beyond any torture I could conceive of.