The Pyramid of Souls by Erica Kirov Read Free Book Online Page A

The horse clearly sensed a Shadowkeeper now.
       Nick felt the tiny mice trembling in his pocket. His own head pounded. He rubbed his temples.
       A large, black, foul-smelling shadow grew in size and cast the entire stall into pitch blackness. Nick whispered, "We're trapped in here."
       The shadow swirled, forming a funnel like a tornado. It spun so fast that more sawdust and bits of hay flew up. Maslow reared on his hind legs. Nick could barely see; his eyes stung with dirt and dust.
       "Ouch!" Isabella cried as sawdust flew at her face.
       When the funnel stopped spinning, a Shadowkeeper stood six feet high, its wrinkled, leathery wings outstretched and encompassing the stall from one end to the other. Its face— once human, but now reptilian—was scaly, yet slick with ooze. Its noxious odor made Nick feel sick.
       Maslow kicked his front hooves, rearing up and moving toward the Shadowkeeper, causing the evil beast to back up a few paces. Sascha roared and charged, baring her teeth and inciting the other large cats to roar in solidarity.
       Suddenly, a woman walked out from behind the Shadowkeeper. With jet black hair, a wide slash of a smile, and hideously garish red lips, she looked crazed. Yet something about her was very familiar—something about her eyes.
       "Maria!" Isabella breathed.
       "Who?"
       "I know her."
       "What?"
       But there was no time to explain. Maria, whoever she was, pointed at them with a long talon of a finger, and—despite the tiger, despite Maslow—the Shadowkeeper edged toward them, hissing and squealing like a wounded, feral animal.
       Then behind Maria, a black, wolf-like creature trotted up, fangs bared. It snarled and snapped, saliva dripping from its mouth and pooling on the ground. The beast looked very hungry. Its yellow eyes narrowed to slits, focusing on Nick and Isabella as if planning on making a meal of them. A growl rumbled deep in its throat.
       Nick whispered, "Whatever that thing is, it's like it has rabies or something."
       Suddenly, a hoarse caw echoed in the sky. Then there were hundreds of caws. Nick and Isabella looked up at the sky through the window of Maslow's stall, which was full of ravens, maybe thousands of them, their cackling calls all echoing across the night. They nearly blocked the lights of Las Vegas, flapping in a frightening, unified chorus of wings.
       "What else can go wrong?" Nick asked.
       "Look!" Isabella shouted.
       The ravens seemed to frighten the Shadowkeeper. The beast drew back its wings, folding them into itself like a cockroach's wings. It moved out of the stall and hissed at the birds. With its sharp claws, it scraped emptily at the sky, like a zombie. Then it changed shape, melting into a slick, oily puddle which the wolf-like beast sniffed.
       Maria pulled a necklace up over her head and opened a triangular vial hanging from the gold chain. The oil moved toward her. She set the vial down and the ebony liquid filled it. Then, glaring at them, she put the cap back on the vial and returned the chain to around her neck.
       The wolf-like creature lunged toward Nick and Isabella. Maslow rose up on his hind legs and kicked out toward it. Maria emitted a low growl of her own, as if communicating with the beast. It drew back to her side, and together they vanished in a burst of black smoke.
       The ravens, now a fluttering mass of darkness, flew higher and sped through the night, out toward the desolate desert that lay beyond the borders of Las Vegas.
       Nick stared at Isabella, his heart pounding. "Who was she—and how do you know her?"
       "She is my sworn enemy," said Isabella. She put her hand to her chest. "My heart is pounding." Her breath was shallow.
       Nick frowned. His cousin was a know-it-all sometimes, but she was also the kindest person he'd ever met, protective of her family just as she was of her tiger (and of all animals). She wasn't the type