Chapter Fifteen
Wearing a leather coat, a black t-shirt, black jeans, black leather boots and a black vest with wooden stakes on the front, Peter placed the receiver back on the cradle of the telephone when he turned to the others and leaned against the bar.
"Well, our backups on their way up," Peter said while pouring some Midori into a glass then slugged the Midori down and walked to the coffee table, picking up the sword with a golden handle and hilt. The silver blade sword belonged to his ancestor, Giacomo Vincenzi, and Peter had placed the silver blade sword in the secret scabbard he had sewn into the leather coat.
The ping of the lift doors alerted them as Mark and Seamus walked down the hallway when they saw the rifles, boxes of ammunition, wooden stakes, bottles of holy water, two, double blade axes, a flamethrower, several crosses made of wood, silver and brass and what looked like a super soaker water gun sitting on the coffee table, bar and the couches and Peter was cleaning the silver blade sword. Anthony handed Frank one of the rifles while the others began arming themselves and Peter placed the silver blade sword in the scabbard that was hanging off the belt around his waist. Smiling, he watched while Cassandra adjusted the belt when he leaned closer and placed his forehead against her forehead.
"Watch the hands," Peter whispered as she smiled then kissed his lips and he brushed some hair behind her ear.
"Excuse me!" Mark shouted as they turned to look at them and Peter slid his arms around Cassandra, pulling her against him. Mark and Seamus walked closer while Peter placed his hand on the top of the hilt of the silver blade sword and tilted his head to one side.
"Before you say anything, I have permits for all this," Peter said when the door to the bedroom opened and Boe walked into the room, heading toward Peter. Boe sat down next to Peter when Peter stroked the top of the tiger's head and Mark gave him a blank look, pointing to Boe. "Yeah, I have permits for him, too."
"Mind telling me what's going on?" Mark asked.
"Like I told your partner, we are going to hunt D'yar'nath and thought you might like to come with us," Peter said as he placed the bottles of holy water into the pocket of the leather coat and took out the crumbled pack of cigarillos and the silver lighter. He took out a cigarillo when he placed the end of the cigarillo into his mouth, placed the crumbled pack into the pocket then lit the cigarillo, placing the silver lighter back into the pocket.
"And we might figure out who the killer is," Anthony said as he sipped on some whiskey and leaned against the bar.
"We know who the killer is," Mark said as he looked at Peter and Peter sighed, rolling his eyes.
"ANYWAY, if we're ready, let's go," Peter said when he walked to the bedroom and opened the door. With a bow, Peter pointed with his hands for them to go into the bedroom and closed the door after they had gone inside. The others stood at the center of the room while Cassandra walked to the cage and removed Cross from the cage. Peter knelt down in front of Boe while the tiger looked at him and Peter held his hand out. Curious, Boe moved closer when the tiger sniffed Peter's hand and slowly titled its head to one side.. Peter could still feel the energy from Zoltar's body as the tiger walked from him to Anthony then bumped its head against Anthony hand. Smiling, Anthony held his hand out and allowed the tiger to sniff his hand. After Boe had sniffed their hands, the tiger walked to the wall when it turned and looked back at them. "Right, let's go."
"Go? Where the hell are you going?" Mark asked as he walked to Peter and Peter sighed, placing his hands on his hips.
"We're going to use the Dark Road."
"What's the Dark Road?" Seamus asked.
"The Dark Road is a passage that witches, wizards and other magical beings use to travel from one place to another, but it can be hazardous if anyone strayed off the path," Cassandra said as she walked closer and stood next to Peter.
"And how do we get there?" Mark asked sarcastically. Growling, Peter walked to the wall when Mark and Seamus noticed that the wall had turned black and an ominous wind whistled in the darkness. Boe walked in front of them when the tiger sniffed the ground and Peter looked at the others.
"Right, everyone keep together. I don't want to lose anyone," Peter said as he followed Boe into the darkness and Cassandra followed close behind him. Anthony and Wiktor followed her then Frank and Stephanie as Mark looked at Seamus and Seamus shrugged, half running to catch up with them. Mark sighed as he went to catch up with Seamus and the ominous wind howled around them. Boe lead the way while Peter reached behind him and Cassandra took his hand, wrapping her fingers around his fingers. She walked beside him while Boe looked straight ahead and Peter slid his arm around Cassandra, pulling her closer. Anthony and Wiktor walked closer while Frank patted his lap and Stephanie sat on his lap, placing her head on his shoulder. Seamus noticed that no one looked around when he pointed and Mark nodded, locking his eyes straight ahead.
"How long will this take?" Mark asked.
"I don't know," Peter said when Boe started walking faster and they followed close behind the tiger. A few minutes later the tiger walked out into a dark hallway as they came out of the darkness and Mark and Seamus removed their guns from the holsters, holding the guns tightly in their hands. Anthony turned on the torch that Peter had given him as he shined the light around the hallway when he saw the photographs on the wall and walked closer.
"Hey, check this out!" Anthony said as they walked closer and looked at the photographs. MAGICAL DEATH AT THE GARDEN was the headline of the old newspaper clipping taped to the wall as they looked at the photographs and Peter growled, seeing several darts pinned to one of the photographs. He also noticed the red ink horns on the photograph and he growled, balling his hands into fists. More photographs of Peter were taped to the wall as they looked at the photographs when Peter sighed, turned and headed down the hallway. The light from the street cast shadows on the walls while they followed Peter when he stopped at a door and placed his hand on the door handle. Motioning with his hand for them to stop, Peter slowly opened the door when he peeked inside the room and opened the door some more. Snapping his fingers, Peter looked at Anthony when Anthony handed him the torch and Peter shined the light in the room. Walking into the room, Peter shined the light around when something flashed in the darkness and Peter walked closer, tilting his head to one side.
"Peter?" Cassandra asked as he turned while shining the light toward her and held his finger to his lips, hushing her. Wiggling his fingers for them to come in, Peter shined the light around when he saw the silver circle and walked closer. Kneeling down on his haunches, Peter shined the light on the silver circle as he looked at the runes carved in the silver circle and titled his head to one side. Cassandra walked to him when she knelt next to him and he moved the light around, stopping when he saw a pair of large feet with sharp talons bent in on the four toes. Slowly moving the light up, they slightly jumped when they saw D'yar'nath looking down at them. Carefully standing up, Peter slid an arm around Cassandra while D'yar'nath titled its head to one side and slowly blinked its eyes. Peter let go of Cassandra when he stood in front of D'yar'nath and D'yar'nath scraped its toes on the floor, spraying little, curled chips of wood in the air. Peter locked eyes with D'yar'nath when Peter fell onto his knees then went prone on the floor and Cassandra looked from Peter to D'yar'nath then fell to her knees and went prone on the floor.
"What are they doing?" Mark whispered.
"They are showing D'yar'nath respect," Anthony whispered when he walked to the silver circle and fell to his knees, going prone on the floor. Wiktor, Frank and Stephanie headed toward the silver circle while Wiktor helped Frank out of the wheelchair and they went prone on the floor. Shrugging, Seamus walked to the silver circle when he knelt next to Cassandra then looked back at Mark and Mark sighed, walking to the silver circle. Seamus and Mark knelt on the floor and went prone on the floor. D'yar'nath looked down at them while slowly blinking its eyes and the thin lips parted as D'yar'nath smiled. Snapping its fingers, D'yar'nath slowly nodded its head and they stood up while Wiktor helped Frank into the wheelchair.
"Ok, we found the demon lord. Now what do we do?" Mark asked while Peter shined the light on the silver circle and looked at the runes. Tilting his head side to side, Peter wiggled the fingers of his left hand while trying to translate the runes when he sighed and shined the light on D'yar'nath.
"Well, for one thing, we're going to have to find a way to free His Lordship here," Peter said as D'yar'nath slowly blinked its eyes and softly smiled at him.
"Do you think that's wise?" Seamus asked.
"It couldn't hurt," Peter said with a shrug of his shoulder then slid the rifle out of the leather coat and checked to see if the rifle was loaded. Smiling at D'yar'nath, Peter took aim when he waved with his hand for D'yar'nath to move its foot back and fired the rifle. The wood exploded while the others ducked and Peter walked a few feet to the left and fired the rifle. "There, that should do it."
D'yar'nath looked down at the silver circle when it slowly lifted its foot then stepped over the silver circle. Taking a few steps, D'yar'nath stood in front of them as Peter looked up and lowered the rifle.
"Everyone back up real slow," Peter said softly as they moved back and D'yar'nath flexed its fingers in and out. "Now, there's no need for trouble. We're not going to hurt you."
"Got that right," Mark whispered and Seamus gently nudged him in the ribs. D'yar'nath titled its head to one side then looked into the darkness and pointed to the left. Nodding, Peter walked into the darkness when he shined the light around then saw the wooden table and walked closer, shining the light on the white, ceramic urn sitting on the table. Picking up the white, ceramic urn, Peter shined the light on the golden label and read the name etched on the golden label. Walking back to the others, he stood next to Cassandra and looked at the white, ceramic urn.
"Well, I found Pendragon," Peter sighed as he held up the white, ceramic urn then handed the white, ceramic urn to Cassandra, who handed the white, ceramic urn to Mark. Walking back into the darkness, Peter and Cassandra headed for the wooden table while he shined the light up and looked at the photographs on the wall. The photographs of Doctor Andrew Bennett, Henry Altman, Gordon Lester and Zoltar had an X slashed through them as he looked at the other photographs then shined the light down on the wooden table, seeing a small, black frame lying face down on the wooden table. Picking up the small, black frame, Peter shined the light on the photograph and his eyes went wide. "Shit."
"Find something?" Mark asked while Peter and Cassandra walked toward them and Peter handed the small, black frame to him. Looking at the photograph, Mark and Seamus' mouths dropped open when Boe and Cross started growling and Peter frowned, looking toward the doorway. Shining the light toward the doorway, Peter nearly dropped the torch and the figure in the doorway smiled, brushing some hair back.
"Hello," Jessie said then leaned on the doorframe and D'yar'nath growled, its red eyes shimmering in the darkness.