Pyros: DarkWorld: Skinwalker 0.5 (Novella) (DarkWorld: Origins Book 1) by T.G. Ayer Read Free Book Online Page A

red blood streamed from a ten inch slit in his chest; the handiwork of the shaman who stood beside the altar, bloodied dagger still held aloft, his eyes rolling back in his head as he chanted to the rhythm of the drums.
    Logan frowned as he concentrated on the gathering. He used a controlled burst of magical energy, keeping the flame to the minimum, allowing the energy to flow. The blast buffeted the two guards hovering over the boy, slamming into them so they stumbled away, leaving the boy unguarded. Logan watched the boy while Jess approached the shaman, whose face now bore a striking resemblance to a terrified meerkat. His hands glowed and an iridescent globe of energy sputtered between them.
    As soon as the ball of heat left the shaman ’s hands, it fizzled into nothing. Unfortunately, he'd reacted to Logan's actions without consideration to Jess's proximity to his magical overflow. She was buffeted by the power and scowled. But she didn't take her eyes off the shaman who'd been sent off balance by the clash of the two energies.
    Logan was distracted from his observation of the young boy what with the shaman’s attempt to blast him to Hell's Gate. A quick glance back at the altar confirmed to him that his intuition was as remarkable as his magyk. The boy, no longer a mass of quivering fear, was standing a few feet away from Logan, eyes fury-bright, lips curved on a sneer of malice.
    Logan watched, almost in wonder, at the undulating arc of magical energy now spanning the arms of the boy.
    “Sacrifice! My ass! He's the friggin' warlock, not that scrawny pleb!”
    Logan ducked the first of a wave of energy missiles, kicking himself for missing the signs. The shaman had been attending the boy, not restraining him. His moan, one of frustration, not fear. And the horror in his eyes was due to the botched ritual, not the gaping wound in his chest.
    Logan threw himself behind the altar. Landing sprawled and spread-eagled on the dusty ground, he found himself gazing into the staring, lifeless eyes of the donor of the warlock’s heart. Logan's rough landing jarred the body of the child and his head fell to the side, face-to-face with Logan's horror-stricken one. During his final moments the child had shed what would be his final tears. Logan's gaze followed the clear liquid as it pooled at the edge of the eye. As it swelled, dammed by his eyelid until the pool of tears became too large to contain it. The tear slipped over the edge of his eyelid and ran down to his hairline just above his ear.
    The progress of that one teardrop was macabre fascination, helpless grief, and unadulterated rage all rolled up into one unholy power. A power which Logan craved to unleash. He rose to his knees and peered around the side of the altar, catching sight of Sandi, trying to secure the warlock and failing,
    Logan watched him for any indication that he was summoning more power, while Jess did her thing, no doubt probing his mind. She had the freakiest ability. She could delve into the mind of a subject and turn them off as if they had this tiny little switch deep inside their heads. When the shaman fell to the ground in an undignified heap, Logan let out a rush of breath.
    It was over.
     
    ***
     

Chapter 1 3
    Logan whispered a silent thanks that Jess had helped this time. She was an enigma – only using her abilities when she deemed fit. The team saw that as arrogance but Gunther tolerated every bit of her high and mighty ways.
    She hardly said much, and had an old-world manner of speaking that was at time regal and sometimes comical, her use of English seemingly like a second language, though Logan could never detect an accent. Worse than all of that was her lack of emotion. And for some reason she had been assigned to Logan instead of one of the other teams.
    Now she squeezed past Logan, on her way to the back of the helicopter, her face implacable as she said, "Your thoughts, Logan, are loud and abrasive. You should clear your mind and