I Hear Voices by Gail Koger Page A

fierce snarl, Sloan fought his way into the Black Hawk.
    A cannon-like blast of thunder split the air and a driving curtain of rain hit with stunning force.
    I tumbled backward as the helicopter bucked wildly and got a bird’s eye view of the canyon before someone snagged my shirt and yanked me back from oblivion.
    A savage rage etched into his face, Derek roughly dumped me on a seat and fastened my harness. “Don’t you fucking move.”
    I gulped. “Not moving.”
    Lightning crackled around the helicopter like hundreds of hungry snakes.
    Derek and the Crew Chief hauled Ed and the Marine into the helicopter. Hank quickly closed the bay doors, shutting out the lashing rain.
    The chopper spun and I caught a glimpse of the blood red whirlwind. Think. Think. There had to be a way to stop it.
    “He wants the skulls back,” Granny Annabel said.
    I smacked myself in the forehead. Geezus! I was such an idiot. “We free their souls and he loses all that power.”
    “Si.”
    The Black Hawk vibrated so badly, my teeth rattled. I unfastened my harness and smacked into the deck as the helicopter dropped violently.
    Derek roared. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
    “Saving our butts,” I roared back as I crawled over to the backpacks.
    The Tomb Raider dropped down beside me.
    “How?”
    “We need to pour all the salt we have left on the skulls. Once we free the souls, his power source is gone.” I rooted around in my backpack. Crap, there was only one bag left. I turned a wrathful gaze on Derek. “Please tell me you didn’t use ten bags of salt?”
    He shrugged. “It was the only thing that seemed to work.”
    “One bag ain’t gonna cut it,” I hissed.
    “Hank, do you still have that box of salt tablets?”
    “Yes sir.” He dug it out of his medical kit and tossed the box to Derek.
    He caught it and ripped it opened. “How much do we need?”
    “All of it.” I emptied the bag of salt into Derek’s backpack and grimaced. It reeked of death.
    Sloan crushed a dozen salt tablets over the blood stained skulls.
    The rain stopped and the wind dropped.
    All the men crowded in around us and hurriedly crushed more tablets.
    I chanted, “Ostium, fluminis, sont. Fluminis zap.”
    An eerie wailing filled the cockpit.
    A mind blast of rage hit me and I doubled over in agony. “Shit.”
    Derek wrapped a massive arm around me, pulled me onto his lap and stroked my face. “You okay, Angel?”
    I sucked in a shuddering breath. “Yeah, the Thunder God’s a bit pissed.” Wrapping a hand around my cross dangling from Sloan’s neck, I snarled, “Ostium. Fluminis. Sont.”
    Dozens of glowing lights erupted from the backpack, whizzed around us gleefully and vanished.
    An unearthly howl rattled the Black Hawk.
    As the devil’s whirlwind dissipated, a big Saguaro cactus flew out of the funnel cloud, slammed against the cockpit window and rolled over the top of the chopper.
    Those damned wraiths! If they couldn’t bring us down one way, they’d find another.
    The Black Hawk spun violently and warning alarms sounded in the cockpit. Stressed metal shrieked and groaned.
    Derek clamped an arm around me and grabbed hold of the harness. Around and around we went until I thought I would hurl.
    With a sudden, stunning stop, the helicopter smashed into the ground. Something slammed into my head and everything went black.
     
    “Zelda? Zelda wake up,” Derek commanded, patting my face.
     
    Little tiny hammers were banging at my temples. With a groan, I opened my eyes. “What happened?”
    “The helicopter crashed.”
    “Oh yeah. Now I remember.” I wiped at something tickling down my forehead. Huh. Blood.
    Smoke billowed overhead. Frowning, I turned my head and saw that the helicopter was on fire. I bolted upright in horror and gasped as the world spun dizzily around me.
    Derek grabbed me and carefully lowered me back to the hot, rocky ground. “I have a couple of Med Evac choppers coming in and I need to know if the