Shadow Rising (Shadow Born Trilogy Book 2) Read online

  He cautiously edged forward until he was a few yards from the beach, and then broke into a run. Breathlessly, he landed on the rocky shore. He wasted no time locating the trail up the mountainside. It had taken longer than he’d expected to land, and he was behind schedule. Gabriel was due to make the exchange any minute. Reeves was halfway to the mansion when he saw the explosion. A thundering noise shook the whole mountain, and sparks rained down from the sky. He winced, squinted against the brightness.

  He took a deep breath and exhaled a cloud of steam. “Crap,” he said, and broke into a run.

  Chapter 5

  Gabriel found two shadowfriends standing guard outside the house. He approached them cautiously, scanning his surroundings for any sign of a trap. There was no one else in sight. He stopped a few yards away.

  “You got the statue?” one of the men said.

  Gabriel opened his pack and held it up so they could see it. “Where are the Skeversons?” he said.

  The guard entered the house. He returned a moment later, followed by Pete’s parents and Victor, a high-ranking shadowfriend. The Skeversons looked catatonic, as if they’d been hypnotized by a Shadowlord. They gave Gabriel a dull stare through half-lidded eyes. Their clothes were filthy and torn, almost rags. That was especially bad considering the type of lifestyle they had. The Skeversons were rich, they were politically connected… seeing them like this made Gabriel realize how rough their year in captivity had been.

  “Evening, Gabriel,” Victor said slyly. Gabriel set his jaw and took a deep, calming breath. He had a personal history with Victor. He had the scars on his back to prove it. Gabriel’s fists clenched up as he saw his old enemy, but he forced himself to relax. This was no time to lose control.

  “You cut your hair,” Gabriel observed. Victor had previously worn his hair long in the front, heavily bleached so that it looked like the tip of a vanilla ice cream cone. It was cut short now, and dyed a bright orangish color. It was even stranger looking than before.

  “Nice of you to notice,” Victor said. “You’ve gained weight. What are they feeding you at that place?” When Gabriel and the other orphans had been prisoners of the shadowfriends, Victor had only given them table scraps to eat. When D.A.S. freed them, they were all badly malnourished.

  Gabriel cracked his knuckles loudly. Victor’s smile vanished with a slight wince. A few months earlier, Gabriel had knocked Victor unconscious in a single punch. Apparently, the memory was still fresh in Victor’s mind. Gabriel couldn’t conceal a slight grin.

  “You know, it’s not too late to come back to the Shadow,” Victor said. “We could use you. It’s not like D.A.S. has a chance. You know that, right?”

  Gabriel ignored the taunt. “Quit wasting time,” he said. “I’ve got the statue right here. Let the Skeversons go.”

  “I’ll let them go as soon as we verify the statue is authentic,” Victor said. He motioned to one of the guards, and the man came forward. Gabriel eyed him suspiciously. The guard reached for the statue, and Gabriel reluctantly handed it over. The shadowfriend turned it over in his hands, examining the craftsmanship, inspecting the material and design. He turned back towards Victor and nodded. Then he started walking away, still clutching the artifact.

  “Wait!” Gabriel said. His hand instinctively went to his sword hilt. He flicked a switch on the handle, and a long, shining blade sprung forth. The shadowfriend broke into a run.

  Gabriel lunged forward, but the guard dodged around Victor and disappeared inside the house. Victor threw his arms up in the air and shouted, “Crescendo!”

  There was an explosion of blinding light, and Gabriel felt himself thrown back across the yard. He landed roughly on the ground and threw his arms over his head as a wave of snow, ice, and crystallized dirt grenaded into the air. Debris rained down on top of him and the mountain shook like it was ready to collapse beneath him.

  By the time Gabriel could raise his head, Victor and the other shadowfriends were gone. The Skeversons were gone, too. He blinked as fireworks shot up into the sky and exploded overhead, raining showers of sparks down the entire mountainside.

  Gabriel crawled to his feet and stumbled towards the house, still clutching his sword. He glanced back and forth at the tracks in the snow, wondering exactly what had happened. A few seconds later, Reeves appeared behind him.

  “Did they get it?” he said.

  Gabriel nodded, frowning. “They got away with the artifact and the Skeversons too. I blew it.”

  Reeves stared absently at the empty doorway. “This isn’t good,” he said. “What happened exactly?”

  Gabriel struggled for the words to express his thoughts. He’d seen the work of Shadowlords before. He knew the taint of their dark magic. “Victor cast some kind of spell.”

  “A spell?”

  “Yes. He said ‘crescendo’ and waved his arms around and everything exploded.”

  Reeves grimaced. He surveyed the scene for a moment, glancing back and forth across the yard. “They definitely didn’t do this with conventional explosives. Victor’s moving up in the world.”

  “You mean he’s becoming a Shadowlord?” Gabriel said.

  Reeves nodded, his face dour. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

  Chapter 6

  On the way back to Winschfield Manor, Reeves explained Julia’s situation. It turned out that she hadn’t had a heart attack after all, but rather an episode of fainting, or as Dr. Pratchet described it, “acute spontaneous syncope induced by chronic fatigue and stress.” Julia was going to be fine, but the doctor prescribed several weeks of rest. Julia ignored her directions entirely, of course.

  Upon their return to Winschfield Manor the next morning, Gabriel immediately questioned Julia about the letter. She refused to divulge any information. She disappeared into the D.A.S. headquarters in the basement with Reeves for several hours. Just before noon, the two senior D.A.S. agents adjourned and called everyone into the kitchen for a meeting.

  Gabriel, Jodi, and Pete were there, along with the orphans and even Mr. Oglesby. He arrived exactly ten minutes late. His old Volkswagen van left a trail of smoke as it puttered up the drive and rolled to a stop. The engine dieseled loudly for ten seconds after he shut it off, and then died with a loud backfire just as he entered the kitchen.

  “Sorry,” the old Englishman said quietly as he ambled in, leaning on his cane. “Sorry, everyone.”

  “Have a seat, Mr. Oglesby,” Julia said with an amused glint in her eyes. She gave him a moment to get settled and then she began to talk: “I’m afraid I have some unsettling news. Yesterday, I received a letter from my husband Alfred. As you all know, Alfred disappeared nearly ten years ago while he was on safari in Africa. He has since been proclaimed dead. What you didn’t know was that Alfred was actually on an undercover mission for D.A.S. when he disappeared.”

  “What kind of mission?” said Jodi.

  “I can’t get into that.”

  “So this means he’s not dead?” Pete said.

  “We can’t be sure of that,” said Julia. “Despite the fact that it’s only just arrived, the letter dates back to the time of Alfred’s disappearance. Obviously, we are hopeful, but we must be cautious. The Shadow can be deceptive.”

  “We need to go to Africa then,” Gabriel said. “We need to find out if he’s alive!”

  “No,” Reeves said. “If this is a ploy, then we’ll be playing right into the Shadow’s hands. Alfred’s letter spoke about artifacts, items similar to the statue that was stolen by shadowfriends last night. For some reason, these relics are important to the Shadow.”

  “I knew there was something strange about that thing,” Gabriel said. “What are they for?”

  “We don’t know yet. All we know is that the Shadow will go to any length to get them. Therefore, D.A.S. must do whatever it can to stop them.”

  Jodi raised her hand. Reeves suppressed a grin. “We’re not in school, Jodi,” he said.

  “Oh, right… How many ar
tifacts are there?” And where are they?”

  “We don’t know that either,” said Julia. “We’re going to have to do some research on the subject.”

  Gabriel spoke up: “Okay, so when do we leave?”

  “You’re not going,” said Julia. “I’m afraid Reeves and I must take this journey alone. There’s no telling how long it may take to locate these objects, or how dangerous it may be to excavate them.”

  The room fell quiet as they all absorbed that. Gabriel was crestfallen. He didn’t want to stay behind while Julia and Reeves went on a mission without him. He was a field agent. He was supposed to be going on dangerous missions.

  “So we’ll be here without you?” Jodi said.

  “I’m afraid it can’t be avoided,” said Julia.

  Gabriel glanced at Jodi and Pete, and then at the crestfallen looks of the other children. They were silent, absorbing it all. Jodi spoke up:

  “What about us?” she said, voicing what they were all thinking. “If you two are leaving, what’s going to happen to all of us?”

  “Mr. Oglesby will be staying here with you,” Julia said. “For the time being, everything will go on as normal. If Reeves and I aren’t back by the holidays, you’ll go on without us and return to school as usual.”

  “But that could be weeks,” said Pete. He looked extremely concerned. Pete’s parents were still captives of the shadowfriends. Looking at him, Gabriel realized that if Julia and Reeves were off looking for artifacts, no one would be trying to find Pete’s parents. Naturally, Pete must have already been thinking the same thing.

  “It could even be longer,” Reeves said with a grimace. “I’m sorry kids, but we just don’t have any answers right now.”

  Julia nodded in agreement. “What we really need is for all of you children to cooperate. If you all work together, you’ll hardly notice we’re gone.”

  There wasn’t much more to the conversation. Reeves and Julia said their goodbyes and within an hour, they were gone. An uneasy silence descended on the mansion. Despite being full of children, the place was quiet as a funeral, and almost as depressing. Mr. Oglesby busied himself going from room to room, doing his best to keep an eye on everyone. Pete disappeared in the basement to work on some computer stuff, and Jodi went into the kitchen to figure out something for lunch.

  Gabriel couldn’t bring himself to do anything but sit in his room and stare out the window. There were storm clouds on the horizon, and the trees shivered under a heavy breeze. Fog drifted down around the mountain slopes and crawled in and out of the valleys like long tendrils.

  Gabriel felt terrible for Pete, especially because it was partially his fault. Gabriel had let himself be tricked. He hadn’t been cautious enough, and because of that Victor had gotten away with his captives. Was there something Gabriel could have done differently? He wasn’t sure. He just knew he’d failed.

  Gabriel felt so bad about everything, and he was so overwhelmed by Reeves and Julia’s sudden departure, that he completely forgot about his vision of the Shadow world the previous night. Until it happened again…

  Chapter 7

  Jodi was in the kitchen when it happened. She knew she wasn’t the best cook in the world, but she was a far sight better than Gabriel or Pete, and she preferred to do the cooking herself than try to stomach something those two concocted. She’d started some pasta and hot dogs, and was chopping up some vegetables to go on the side.

  Mr. Oglesby appeared briefly in the kitchen and offered to help, but she thanked him and sent him on his way. Oglesby’s idea of a perfect meal was probably the raw meat of some poor dead animal. Oglesby was a werewolf. Jodi was one of the few people who knew Oglesby’s secret, and one of the fewer who’d ever witnessed one of Oglesby’s transformations. She didn’t know the whole story, but according to Gabriel, it had something to do with Mr. Oglesby’s cane. Somehow, the cane possessed the power to cause Mr. Oglesby to transform. Apparently, it had little or nothing to do with the moon or wolfs bane or any other superstitious nonsense, but that didn’t make it any less real. Jodi had seen Oglesby change, and she’d seen him attack the shadowfriends. It had been terrifying and amazing all at once.

  Jodi was halfway through chopping the vegetables when she saw a shimmer of movement in the corner of her eye. She fixed her gaze on the spot, just between the bar and the long table. She blinked, thinking perhaps that the light had been playing tricks with her vision. There was nothing there. Just her imagination. Jodi turned her attention back to the vegetables. She picked up the knife and… there it was again. Jodi gasped and tightened her grip on the handle of the chef’s knife.

  “Who’s there?” she said. The sound of her voice echoed in the stillness of the kitchen. She stepped away from the cutting board and slowly made her way around the counter. “I said who’s there! What do you want?”

  She fixed her eyes on the strange apparition, lest it vanish again. The thing didn’t seem real; it was like a bubble of nothing floating in the air. The only reason she could see it at all was because it was like staring through a curved piece of glass. She couldn’t see the thing itself, just the warped vision of the objects behind it.

  “Help!” said a distant voice.

  Jodi blinked. “Gabriel, is that you?” She summoned up the courage to reach out and touch it. Instantly, it vanished. It was almost like watching a sheet fall to the ground, only there was no sheet. There was nothing to touch and nothing to see but the shimmering movement. And then, instantly, Gabriel appeared before her. His face was ashen, his eyes wide with terror. He stared at her unblinking; as if he was afraid she might vanish.

  “Gabriel, are you okay?” she said.

  He smiled weakly. “You’re real,” he said. Then he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

  Chapter 8

  Disembodied voices rang through Gabriel’s head, distant and quiet so that he couldn’t make out the words. He concentrated on the noises, and it seemed as if he was moving towards them. They became loud and distinct.

  “What happened? Will he be alright?”

  “Relax, children. Gabriel is fine. He’s just taking a little nap.”

  That was Mr. Oglesby. The first voice had been one of the younger children. Gabriel’s eyelids fluttered. He blinked against the light and licked his lips. His mouth was dry.

  “Ah, there you are,” said Mr. Oglesby. “You gave us all a fright.”

  Gabriel was lying on the leather sofa at the north end of the library. He was close to the front of the room, and he could hear the wind howling through the trees outside. Lightning flashed across the sky and rain began to pelt the windows. He stared at it longingly. “I’m thirsty,” he said. His voice cracked with dryness.

  “Here you go,” Jodi said. She handed him a bottle of water, and Gabriel drank deeply.

  “Thanks,” he said. He took a deep breath, pushed himself upright, and found himself staring into a room full of expectant faces. “I’m okay,” he said. He cleared his throat. “Sorry to worry you. I didn’t get any sleep last night. I must have passed out.”

  “What a relief,” said Pete.

  “Well, in that case we’d better let you get some rest,” said Mr. Oglesby. He gave Gabriel a look that said he knew there was more going on, but for the moment, he was giving Gabriel a reprieve. “Come on children, we’ve all got other things to do.” He herded them out of the library. Gabriel listened to the sound of their voices disappearing down the hall. Pete and Jodi stayed with him. They were staring at him with worried expressions.

  “So what exactly happened?” said Pete.

  Gabriel pursed his lips. “I’m not sure I can explain it,” he said.

  “I can,” said Jodi. “He appeared in the kitchen, right out of thin air. It was like magic.”

  Pete’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that true?”

  “That’s just where I ended up,” said Gabriel. “I spent about ten minutes wandering through the whole house, trying to find myself.”

  “Find yourse
lf?” said Pete. “What do you mean?”

  “I was lost.”

  Jodi rolled her eyes. “Gabriel, you were in the mansion the whole time. How could you be lost?”

  “Because I wasn’t in the mansion the whole time,” Gabriel said. “Not exactly anyway. I was…” his voice trailed off. He didn’t want to finish the sentence.

  “What?” said Jodi. “Come on, spit it out!”

  Gabriel’s eyes were downcast, a look of both fear and trepidation mingling on his face. “I was in the Shadow world.”

  It took a moment for that to sink in. Jodi and Pete exchanged a glance, and Gabriel could see that they were having a hard time believing him. “I think I’m going to go to bed,” he said.

  “Wait!” said Pete. “I think we should get to the bottom of this. Whatever happened to you, it might be dangerous… has it happened before?”

  Gabriel frowned. “It happened last night, on the mission.”

  Pete’s face fell. “Last night?” he said. Gabriel nodded.

  “This happened before?” Jodi said, her voice tinted with anger. “Gabriel, how could you go into the field knowing that you might be compromised?”

  “I didn’t know,” Gabriel said defensively. “We were already there when it happened.”

  “You should have called the mission off, then,” said Jodi. “Pete’s parents were involved for goodness’ sake.”

  Gabriel shot a worried look at Pete, but his friend looked away from his gaze. “I’m sorry,” Gabriel said. “I swear Pete, I didn’t know…”