Soul Dealers Page 7

  Zach took on a fighting stance, his daggers at the ready. One of the soldiers came at him with his sword drawn. Zach brandished his daggers, and they circled each other. The other guards watched as if amused that Zach would even try to fight. He and the guard crossed sword and dagger. The sword was longer, but the dagger was thicker and in spite of his injuries and the size of his opponent, Zach was stronger. After a desperate struggle, Zach was able to knock the guard’s sword from his hand, and it went sailing across the room. Then, surprising the others, Zach threw a roundhouse kick and knocked a guard who was sneaking up on him from behind against the far wall. That was when the guards realized what they were up against and came at him full force.

  Zach put up a desperate fight, seriously injuring several of the guards and mortally wounding another. The others stared in shock at the puddle of remains their colleague had become before charging him all at once and taking him down to the floor. Zach dropped the daggers and raised his hands over his head in surrender.

  Although he couldn’t understand their words, he could tell by their chatter that they were trying to decide among themselves what to do with him. Zach hoped he was right and that Lucas would have told them to take him alive. After several agonizing minutes of armed barbarians discussing his fate in a foreign tongue, Zach was hauled roughly to his feet and propelled forward through the cold cement tunnel.

  One of the barbarians unlocked a cold, dank cell and another of them literally threw him in. His body hit the cement wall and then fell to the floor. Zach lay still and pretended to be unconscious until they left.

  Then he heard Dan’s voice. “Zach, oh God, are you okay? Answer me!” He felt Dan’s hands shake his shoulders.

  He opened one eye and then the other, looked at Dan, and grinned.

  “Jesus Christ, you prick!” Dan exclaimed.

  Zach dragged his bruised, battered, and bloody body to a sitting position. “I’m really hurt!”

  Dan exhaled. “At least you aren’t dead. Why did you let them haul your ass in here?”

  “Because it was the quickest way to find you and haul your ass out of here. Did you talk to the guy who grabbed you? Do you know what they want from you?”

  Dan snorted. “Yeah, they asked me where I buried King Solomon’s treasure. And I told them I left a hint in a temple on top of a mountain in Tibet.”

  Zach scowled.

  Dan grinned. “Okay, not funny. No, they didn’t talk to me. I think there’s one badass and his girlfriend. The girl called him Lucas. The others are minions. They don’t talk much. And they look weird.”

  Zach shook his head. “As a matter of fact, they don’t talk at all.”

  “Even robots talk.”

  “As you said, they’re minions. But no need to worry about them. Did you get anything from Lucas’s girlfriend?”

  Dan grinned. “Indeed, I did. She had a weird accent, and she thought I was American.”

  “That’s helpful!”

  “Here’s the juicy bit. She spoke on her cell phone, negotiating the money they could get if they arranged for us to be killed under a girl’s watch. She also asked if whoever hired her wants her to kill the girl as well and whether they would get paid more for that. She yakked in French, thinking I wouldn’t understand. She didn’t mention the name of the girl, but she…” Dan trailed off as if he had realized something. And then the blood drained out of Zach’s face.

  “We’re just pawns. They want Mya!” Zach muttered.

  Chapter 19

  Mya charged into the Babylonian court. She went first to Leon’s chamber. She knocked several times without a response, so she let herself in. Leon wasn’t there. She sat down on his bed and again and closed her eyes. She concentrated on Leon and only on him. That was when she saw him lying on a wooden slab in one of the courts very small confinement chambers.

  Mya left the room and made her way down the long golden corridor. She wore her running shoes, so her feet made no sound. She’d left her Earth clothes on—she was on a mission and wasn’t here to be seen in court in a gold bikini. She made her way around behind the huge gold throne on which her Goddess sat when she held court and zigzagged around the large marble statues of the other Gods that ruled the land. Behind them were the confinement chambers where the offending citizens of Babylon were held while Ishtar decided their fate. Many of them ended their lives in the public arena with their heads rolling among the raucous spectators.

  Mya walked until she came to the chamber where Leon lay. He jumped up and came to the barred slat in the door when he saw her.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I need your help.”

  Leon held his arms out and said, “I’m not really in a position to help at the moment.”

  “Why are you locked up?” she asked him.

  Leon looked down at the floor and then back up at her before saying, “That’s not important, but the Goddess will be very unhappy if she finds you here. You have points to make up on your scorecard.”

  “Yes, I know. You told me already,” Mya asked. “But you haven’t answered my question. Why are you locked up? You spoke out about me, and that upset her, right? I thought Ishtar promoted you.”

  “What?”

  “That’s what you told me when you came to see me on Earth.”

  “No, I didn’t. It’s true you have two points to make it to zero. You’re in the negative. When Ishtar mentioned the number and wanted to impose a deadline on you, I objected, and she threw me in here. But I never had a chance to tell you.”

  Mya braced her hands on the wall and tried to keep calm. So who appeared to her in Zach’s apartment using Leon’s form? She looked at Leon and knew he wouldn’t last long here. “I’m going to beg for your pardon.”

  “No, Mya! That will just make her angrier—or worse, she’ll want blood from you in return.”

  “You’re here because you spoke for me. I’m not going to just leave you here. Besides, Zach is on the restricted list to die. And you know I’m not allowed to save subjects on that list. I need you to save him.”

  Leon snorted and raised his shackled hands.

  “Trust me. I have a deal to make, and Ishtar is going to like it.” Then she turned and walked away.

  In the cell, Dan paced back and forth. “You’re saying they’re using us as bait to get Mya?”

  Zach nodded. “Not get her, but get to her. Someone wants her to fail whatever the mission she is on. She mentioned before that it’s her duty to protect us. She didn’t explain further. But I get the impression that someone is trying to fail her by killing us under her watch.”

  “Is she some kind of FBI or CIA agent?”

  Zach shook his head.

  “MI5? MI6?”

  “No. It has to do with something supernatural, Dan. I know you’ll like this explanation much better than one that says she’s a spy. She admitted she has supernatural power. But she wouldn’t explain further.”

  “They want to bait her. So what do you want to do?”

  Zach smiled. “We’ll help them!”

  Mya stood in front of Ishtar’s chamber and took three deep breaths before she knocked. The door was opened by her servant, Elyse. Elyse had been with Ishtar for over a hundred years now, so she knew Mya on sight.

  “Mya! Were we expecting you?”

  “No, Elyse, but it’s urgent that I speak to our Goddess. Is she available now?”

  Elyse looked over her shoulder. Her Goddess was embroiled in a passionate romp with her latest lover behind the sheer curtains of her large bed.

  “Not exactly, Mya. You can wait in the court, and I’ll ask her if she can hear you today as soon as she…um…becomes available.”

  “Let her in. I’ll see her,” came Ishtar’s grumpy voice from the bed chamber.

  “Kneel at the altar. Your Goddess is about to arrive.”

  Mya didn’t wait for a second invitation—she pushed her way in and kneeled next to the altar, waiting. In a short moment, she hea
rd the sashay of Ishtar’s robes and the jangle of the gold that dangled from her bronzed body.

  Ishtar made her sweat it out for several minutes before saying, “Rise, Mya. What is so urgent that you disturb my pleasant afternoon off?”

  “My Goddess, although I am unworthy, I’m here to ask a favor of you.”

  “A favor?” Ishtar said, raising one perfectly shaped eyebrow over her perfectly made-up golden brown eye.

  “Yes, my Goddess, a favor. I am trying to save two of my subjects from certain death.”

  “Of course. That has been your one and only mission for more than a thousand years on Earth. But why do you have to ask for a favor from me?”

  “My Goddess, one of the subjects has recently been switched to a restricted dead list. He’s an important person from another universe. I should save him, Ishtar. I mean, we should save him.”

  “You think I should set aside important matters in court to take my time to swap around subjects on your list?”

  “No, Ishtar. I understand that subjects are placed on lists due to several reasons that are beyond the court. But Zach Flynn is a subject with a great connection to a universe that we might want to build a good relationship with. So I ask that you not only give me permission to save him but also send help my way. Please send me Leon.”

  Ishtar raised both of her eyebrows, leaned back in the chair, and tapped her fingers on the golden armrests.

  Mya cursed silently. This might be an overplay, and her head might be rolling on the floor soon.

  “Which universe?”

  “It’s Eudaiz, Ishtar.”

  Ishtar shook her head. “There is no immediate benefit to us in dealing with Eudaiz.”

  “The connection with Eudaiz and killing Zach has to have something to do with us, my Goddess. Please give this some consideration. If it’s not important, why would someone send a spy into the court and send a creature in Leon’s form to make me rush around to save Zach only to fail because they sent Xiilok soldiers to kill him under my watch? Why would someone want me to make a mistake and fail?”

  “Say that again,” Ishtar’s voice deepened. Mya grinned from ear to ear on the inside. She knew which button to press now. “I said someone wanted me to fail…”

  “No, not that part. You mentioned Xiilok soldiers. Are you sure?”

  “Oh, Xiilok. Yes, Ishtar, I’m certain. These creatures turned into worm puddles when they died.”

  Ishtar sat right up, narrowed her eyes.

  “You can kill Xiilok soldiers?”

  “No, Ishtar. I didn’t kill them. Zach did.”

  “I see. And Zach is from Eudaiz. And he’s on the dead list with Xiilok soldiers trying to kill him and you wanting to save him. So they’ll kill him anyway. If you don’t have my blessing, and you try to save a subject on the dead list, you’ll be exiled. You’ll be released from my protection and up for grab by any creature in any universe. If I give you the permission to save that subject, then I violate our own agreement and tarnish my reputation.”

  Mya looked at Ishtar. “You are the wisest Goddess of all time. These plots would never stop you from doing what you want.”

  Ishtar smiled. “And you are a smart little deity. You have my permission to save the subject. Not only that, I will send Leon to help you and make sure you succeed.”

  “Thank you, Ishtar. Please accept my utmost gratitude.”

  “Too soon. I will have to change your assignment. A new contract will be made for you. Once you’ve saved your subjects, you will come back to the court and take on the position of a minor deity of virginity.”

  Now Mya’s head started to spin. A minor deity of virginity position would mean she would have to stay a virgin for all eternity. That would mean she and Zach could never—

  “I accept,” Mya heard her own voice say. Her brain hadn’t quite caught up with her speech, and it surprised her. When her brain did finally catch up, she knew it was the only choice. If she refused, she’d be sacrificing Leon, Dan, and Zach. There was no way she could do that.

  “Very well,” Ishtar said and waved her hand absently in dismissal. In a short moment, she used the pen Elyse offered her, already dipped in golden ink, to signed the bottom of the scroll.

  Chapter 20

  Zach wagered the noise he and Dan were making was loud enough to capture the attention of the goons guarding the door. From the small window on the cell door, it would look like he was strangling Dan.

  A couple of the guards stormed in. Before they could pull Zach and Dan apart, Zach had knocked one unconscious and disarmed the other.

  Hearing the commotion, three more goons charged into the cell. Zach grinned as he grabbed one guard, bringing him down before he even knew what was happening. As he fell, his head slammed against the wall behind him, and Zach rammed his fist into the other guard’s face.

  While the two guards were stunned and blinded, Zach groped for one of the knives he knew they all carried. He stood up and drove the blade into the chest of the last standing goon. Their bodies disintegrated into brackish worm puddles.

  Zach glanced at Dan, who stood in a corner, his back pressed against the wall.

  Dan was a nerd and had never fought, not even for a parking spot. It wasn’t that he was a coward. He opposed violence and refused to get involved in a fight unless it was absolutely necessary. Because Zach seemed quite capable of handling the fight by himself, Dan thought it best to stand back.

  Zach snaked his hand into the pocket of a guard who looked like the one in charge and pulled out a big ring of keys. He was used to the electronic locks and automatic security system in Eudaiz, so this classic type of security amused him.

  Zach and Dan raced out of the cell and had time for only a half second of celebration before the door at the end of the hall opened and Lucas came in with a group of Xiilok soldiers.

  “Oh, crap!” Dan muttered. “You said yesterday that you wanted to take me to a place where I would play a very important role. Maybe that universe can send you some help? We could use a bit more manpower.”

  “In a normal situation, yes, Eudaiz can send soldiers to help us. But I told you they’re at war, and my little mission here is considered trivial. We don’t really have to fight these soldiers. I can open the teleport, and we can go right now.”

  Dan clenched his teeth. “Why didn’t you do that in the cell before all the fighting and killing?”

  Zach looked at Dan. “Because of Mya. I have to make sure we don’t leave her behind to deal with the mess we created. Someone is using us to get her. And I think that person is using her to get to something even more important to the multiverse. This mission is not just about me grabbing you and teleporting back to Eudaiz as I originally thought. Someone is playing big games with the multiverse. We have to make sure he doesn’t have the upper hand. We don’t want to be his trump card.”

  Dan and Zach ran back, retreating into the cell from which they had just escaped.

  “You better make sure your teleport works and that the roles we’re going to take in Eudaiz pay well.”

  Zach rolled his eyes. “Bloody accountant.”

  Mya led Leon and a group of soldiers to the industrial area where her network had reported sightings of Zach and Dan. It took longer than she had thought to get help from the court. Apparently, because she and Leon had transported back and forth several times, it had grown easy for them. But for the soldiers who had never been to Earth, it was a hell of a trip via the dimensional channel.

  It might be fair to make their travel difficult. If it was too easy to transport soldiers in large numbers between worlds and dimensions, universes would invade one another too often. Prosperous universes would be under constant threat of invasion.

  The area was large, and she didn’t like the feel of it. She switched on her deity vision and could see Zach and Dan stuck in a small cell at the far end. They were surrounded by Xillok fighters led by Lucas.

  Mya gave careful instructions to Leon so that he
could then give his soldiers some strategies.

  “Be careful, Leon. You’re excellent in hand-to-hand combat. But don’t underestimate the weapons on Earth. Humans are experts at inventing weapons to kill one another. I don’t know the impact guns will have on you and our soldiers. The Xiilok soldiers don’t use guns, but Lucas, the professional human killer, does.”

  “Promise me you’ll stay in your deity form the whole time,” Leon said.

  Mya nodded. “I need it. So yes.”

  The lined up in their planned strategic position and charged into the building.

  Chapter 21

  In the warehouse, Xiilok soldiers began to yell in loud, screechy voices. They approached the cell at the far end of the corridor. Mya had used her deity vision and had seen Zach and Dan in that cell. Sensing something unusual, Lucas turned around and saw her, Leon, and the Babylonian soldiers.

  Lucas brought his little army to a halt. He could continue to advance his army and take out Zach and Dan, or he could turn and fight Mya and her people who were charging up behind him and would likely slaughter his army in return. He wasn’t a Xiilok, and he had no supernatural power. He thought fighting humans like Dan and Zach would be his best bet. Lucas signaled the Xiilok fighters to charge at Mya and her people, and Lucas himself approached the cell.

  He was sure Dan was just an ordinary accountant—a human he could kill with a flick of his fingers. But he didn’t know Zach. Zach might have some supernatural power. But the tip he had gotten from his client which told him about the birthmark being Zach’s fatal weak point seemed to help a lot. He might use that trick again this time.

  The two groups of enemies faced one another. Leon, a tried and true battle hero, led his soldiers to the fight.