sharpened by a need for revenge. Those twice or three-times formed got progressively harder to fight.
The solution was to make resurrection impossible.
The words of the spell came easily to mind. Kade had an opening, since the puppet master had begun to call his creation home. He'd be concentrating more on that than defending the soulless thing he'd made. Kade pinned its other hand and kicked its legs apart. He met the depthless gaze and smirked. "Not tonight."
"Kade, what are you doing?" Melanie's voice, too close for her to be safe. He glanced up and found her standing at his shoulder, a hand pressed against her stomach as though the bullet that had passed through her had left a real wound. Lines of tension showed on her forehead and her lips were a shade paler than they should have been. "We need to get out of here. Stop playing around."
Not now.
"I told you to stay," he said as the phantom beneath him solidified. It regained strength and tested Kade's grip, trying to close the distance to Melanie.
"I don't follow orders barked at me by someone I just met. They've got one of the doors open," she said. "Can we leave? We should leave." Decision made, she stepped away.
Kade couldn't afford to let go. "No! Melanie. Melanie, wait. Look at me. Please look at me?" He craned his neck to keep an eye on her, willing her to turn around. "I need you to stay here." He wet his lips. "Please."
His attention had to be divided between watching her decide and wrestling the phantom down again. Each time Kade looked over his shoulder, the phantom strained upward, determined to buck him off if it couldn't work its way free.
"I need you," he blurted, truth tangled up in almost-embarrassing desperation. "I need your help. Please."
Now she slowed, stopped and turned. She'd given him a moment. So what if she was still in harm's way? She'd listened. If he could see her, he could help her. If she ran...
One thing at a time. "What can I do? What are you doing? You never answered me."
"Taking care of a mutual problem." He focusing on the struggling thing beneath him again. "I need you to repeat the words you hear me say. Every syllable, in the same order. You can't miss one. Can you do that for me?"
"Not when it's this hard to hear." She moved closer without prompting. Too close , the voice at the back of Kade's mind warned again. She knelt before he could tell her to back away. Her shoulder brushed his and the smell of her perfume, or maybe just her shampoo, surrounded him. She tucked her hair behind an ear. "Better," she announced. "Okay, now tell me what to say."
The phantom fought desperately, gnashing its teeth, corded muscle standing out in its neck. Having its intended target so close and yet untouchable must have been torture. Something like pity stirred for one brief moment in Kade's heart. He set his jaw and snuffed it out.
It wasn't a language that Melanie had ever heard before, and she'd studied some of the oldest and most obscure. Not ancient Sanskrit or Arabic or even Aramaic, though it could have been a cousin. At least in the same family.
Just like always, she was thinking too hard. Repeat the words, he'd told her, syllable for syllable, missing none. Hard to do with people shouting. Harder still when the man Kade held down began to scream.
The night could not have gotten any more bizarre if she'd taken drugs. First her sudden forwardness with Kade, a man she didn't know at all. And then the attack, or whatever this was. A close call and pure luck, she decided. The cramps had made her see things. She couldn't possibly have dodged a bullet. Even more impossible, it couldn't have simply passed through as if she was a ghost. The gunman missed. That was the only explanation.
Nothing explained how a man dissolved.
And yet, while she watched and echoed Kade's nearly unpronounceable words, his captive did just that, writhing and moaning and howling with pain. It made her stumble over the unfamiliar syllables. It made
The solution was to make resurrection impossible.
The words of the spell came easily to mind. Kade had an opening, since the puppet master had begun to call his creation home. He'd be concentrating more on that than defending the soulless thing he'd made. Kade pinned its other hand and kicked its legs apart. He met the depthless gaze and smirked. "Not tonight."
"Kade, what are you doing?" Melanie's voice, too close for her to be safe. He glanced up and found her standing at his shoulder, a hand pressed against her stomach as though the bullet that had passed through her had left a real wound. Lines of tension showed on her forehead and her lips were a shade paler than they should have been. "We need to get out of here. Stop playing around."
Not now.
"I told you to stay," he said as the phantom beneath him solidified. It regained strength and tested Kade's grip, trying to close the distance to Melanie.
"I don't follow orders barked at me by someone I just met. They've got one of the doors open," she said. "Can we leave? We should leave." Decision made, she stepped away.
Kade couldn't afford to let go. "No! Melanie. Melanie, wait. Look at me. Please look at me?" He craned his neck to keep an eye on her, willing her to turn around. "I need you to stay here." He wet his lips. "Please."
His attention had to be divided between watching her decide and wrestling the phantom down again. Each time Kade looked over his shoulder, the phantom strained upward, determined to buck him off if it couldn't work its way free.
"I need you," he blurted, truth tangled up in almost-embarrassing desperation. "I need your help. Please."
Now she slowed, stopped and turned. She'd given him a moment. So what if she was still in harm's way? She'd listened. If he could see her, he could help her. If she ran...
One thing at a time. "What can I do? What are you doing? You never answered me."
"Taking care of a mutual problem." He focusing on the struggling thing beneath him again. "I need you to repeat the words you hear me say. Every syllable, in the same order. You can't miss one. Can you do that for me?"
"Not when it's this hard to hear." She moved closer without prompting. Too close , the voice at the back of Kade's mind warned again. She knelt before he could tell her to back away. Her shoulder brushed his and the smell of her perfume, or maybe just her shampoo, surrounded him. She tucked her hair behind an ear. "Better," she announced. "Okay, now tell me what to say."
The phantom fought desperately, gnashing its teeth, corded muscle standing out in its neck. Having its intended target so close and yet untouchable must have been torture. Something like pity stirred for one brief moment in Kade's heart. He set his jaw and snuffed it out.
It wasn't a language that Melanie had ever heard before, and she'd studied some of the oldest and most obscure. Not ancient Sanskrit or Arabic or even Aramaic, though it could have been a cousin. At least in the same family.
Just like always, she was thinking too hard. Repeat the words, he'd told her, syllable for syllable, missing none. Hard to do with people shouting. Harder still when the man Kade held down began to scream.
The night could not have gotten any more bizarre if she'd taken drugs. First her sudden forwardness with Kade, a man she didn't know at all. And then the attack, or whatever this was. A close call and pure luck, she decided. The cramps had made her see things. She couldn't possibly have dodged a bullet. Even more impossible, it couldn't have simply passed through as if she was a ghost. The gunman missed. That was the only explanation.
Nothing explained how a man dissolved.
And yet, while she watched and echoed Kade's nearly unpronounceable words, his captive did just that, writhing and moaning and howling with pain. It made her stumble over the unfamiliar syllables. It made
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