Page 48 of Nazab

“Where did she go?” the grizzled drunk asked in confusion.

“Is she even real?” one of his friends asked in confusion. “Or am I tripping again?”

At Jazmine’s command, shadowy coils of rope sprang into being. She flung her hands outwards and they sought out their targets. Seizing hold of the guns and knives, the cambion disarmed her victims.

“What the hell is going on?” a panicked dude said as he leaped off the barstool to turn in a circle. “Where did our guns go?” He couldn’t see them piled in the unnaturally dark corner behind the cambion.

His panic spread to the others and the short guy made a run for the door.

“You’re not going anywhere,” Jazmine said and a shadow grabbed hold of his ankle. Yanking him off his feet, she dangled him upside down in the air. He screamed in terror, clawing at his leg and finding nothing to grab hold of.

Jazmine grinned in fierce delight as her shadows obeyed her commands. Tearing the short man to pieces, the remains dropped to the floor. His friends screamed in horror, shocked out of their drunken stupor. She formed sharp swords out of the darkness and they began slicing the humans apart. Blood sprayed all over the place, but she was distant enough that none of it splattered on her.

She took her time to kill the evil men who had no doubt caused far too much misery during their pathetic lives. When the final human expired, her shadows vanished. “It’s a work of art,” she said in admiration as she studied the carnage.

Body parts were strewn all over the floor, the bar and the furniture. The corpses would start to rot quickly and would no doubt draw attention from other survivors. This time, the murders couldn’t be blamed on her. Lachial suspected she’d slain dozens of mercs, but he didn’t have any proof of it. The soldiers didn’t usually stray this far from Manhattan, so she was confident she would get away with it.

Jazmine was tempted to take some of the weapons with her, but Lachial might search her apartment and find them if he became too suspicious of her activities. Leaving them behind, she sprinted back towards the area where Xathan had led the warriors.

“They’re still at it,” Jazmine said when she heard screams and shouts in the distance. She crept as close as she could get without being detected and watched the utter carnage unfold. A huge group of humans were trapped in a park. The soldiers were decimating them with their swords. She watched until only a few were remaining, then left.

The shadow wielder raced back across the interstate bridge to Manhattan. She entered her apartment building and locked the door behind her. Switching the lights on, she changed her clothes and removed her sneakers, then made herself some coffee. It had tasted bitter and horrible to begin with, but she’d grown used to it.

Several minutes passed before she sensed her sire returning. Only his four guards were with him this time as he made sure she was home. It was still early, so they headed to wherever their commander had told them to search for the night.

“I could sneak out again,” Jazmine said to the boy wearing blue in the painting. His expression almost seemed to be chiding. “You’re right,” she agreed reluctantly. “It’s too dangerous. Lachial will lock me back up in the holding cell if he ever catches me in the act.”

It seemed hypocritical for the soldiers to condemn her when they were all just as bad as she was. She knew they feared she would turn against them and their fears were justified. Jazmine would kill them all in a heartbeat if she thought she could survive their battle. But she wasn’t ready yet. She needed time to hone her skills and turn herself into the most dangerous creature this world had ever seen.

She sat on the couch with her coffee and gazed at the painting with a dreamy smile.

Chapter Thirty-Five

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QUEEGLY RUBBED HIS aching head, wishing painkillers worked on his migraines. Qi had scanned him several times, but she hadn’t found anything wrong. The doc had put it down to side effects from having a shattered skull.

“This is the price I have to pay for being an oracle,” he said with a grimace. His headaches were usually accompanied by powerful visions. Most of the time, he saw the future. Sometimes, he saw the past. Last night, he’d received a vision of something that had occurred a few days ago.

“There’s no way I’m going to tell my friends about that,” the Mad Prophet muttered. He didn’t want Grace to hear about it and she was far too perceptive. The teen would glean the information from someone. He knew she would suffer if she discovered what the survivors had gone through.

It was lucky Xanthia didn’t have any cameras operational in the area where Xathan, Lachial, Vetis and their guards had slaughtered their targets. The scenes he’d witnessed in his dream had been horrific.

Sometimes, he wished he hadn’t been burdened with this destiny. But Fate had chosen him and he needed to suck it up and do his duty. He knew he would be rewarded with his fondest dream once this was all over. All he could do was try to guide his friends along the right path. He’d already done what he could for Grace, but the kid was going to go through some harrowing ordeals in the future. He would spare her from it if he could, but her destiny had already been decided by a power far higher than him.

His friends were all taking the day off from working on building his new home. Queeg was sitting in his studio across from his bedroom. Amaros had muted the room with magic, so he had privacy and no outside noise to interfere with his broadcasts. Xan had set everything up for him with her magical affinity for all things electronic. The knights had moved the furniture in here for him. Everything would be moved to the new house they’d been working so hard on when it was finished.

Putting his feet up on his desk, he sipped the steaming hot coffee in appreciation. As far as the apocalypse went, things were pretty damn good at the stone base. He had everything he could ever want or need and the companionship of some pretty amazing folks.

Sinai strode past Queegly’s studio, knowing Angel wasn’t hiding inside. The seer needed a quiet room and her pet was anything but silent. “Where are you, Angel?” she called out.

Grace’s door opened just ahead. “She’s in here,” the kid said with a grin. Angel yowled and sauntered into the hallway to look up at her favorite human. “You have excellent timing,” Grace went on. “She just started screaming at me for food.”

As if understanding her, Angel launched herself into the air. Sin caught the feline before her claws could dig furrows in her leg. “I know you’re starving,” she said with a wince as the cat howled into her ear. “You don’t have to deafen me!”

Grace giggled as the duplicator stomped down the short passageway to the main building. Leaving her bedroom, she carried the books she’d finished to the library in the great room. As always, the carvings Oaklie had created came to life when she neared them. Grace touched a fox that was sleeping beneath a tree in wonder. Oak had integrated all of the animals she’d carved onto their doors into the design on the bookshelves. “This will never get old,” Grace murmured as she grabbed a bunch of new books to read.

“Hey, kiddo,” Bria said, glancing up from the pool table. Urzra stood behind her, gazing at her derriere in admiration as she lined up her shot. “Do you want to play with us?” the emotion manipulator asked.