Bennu tried to launch himself, but he could only flap one wing and scream his frustration. Kavon and the bull came over to stand next to him as torrential rains drenched all three of them.
Darren couldn’t stay in the SUV any longer. He rushed over. Above them, Anzu and Pochi fought. It was Pochi’s speed versus Anzu’s strength. However, Darren could tell that Anzu was confused and disoriented without his shaman’s help. Pochi darted in and out, leaving line after line of vivid slashes along Anzu’s body.
Darren fell to his knees at Bennu’s side. “Bennu,” he whispered in horror as he spotted the bones sticking out of the skin. How did someone treat a guide?
Kavon rested a hand on Darren’s shoulder. “The wounds aren’t real. They’re illusions to help us understand how serious the injury is. But Bennu is a spirit animal. He doesn’t have bones to break. He’s hurt, but guides can heal themselves, given time.”
“Butler?” Darren asked.
“Dead,” Kavon said. Darren looked over, and Butler lay half in the mud. The back of his shirt had a familiar blood splatter pattern that was turning into an impressionist watercolor version of itself as the rain soaked the body. Like Darren always told the others, a bullet stopped a shaman faster than a counter spell, and Ahtisham had serious weaponry on top of the hotel.
Coretta ran through the rain, a huge crystal held up like the world’s worst umbrella. She skidded in the mud and fell on her ass next to Darren. “Are you okay?” she shouted over the storm.
“Fine!” Darren yelled. Despite the fact that Coretta was using dead magics for her shield, Darren would’ve sworn he felt the buffering as she hid their presence from Anzu. He turned his attention back to the fight above their heads. Anzu dripped blood from hundreds of cuts, but Pochi’s attacks had slowed. Bennu cried out plaintively, and Pochi dropped through the air. Darren thought he might hit the ground, but at the last second, he swooped to the side and darted under the shield before landing on Darren’s foot. He made a chittering cry and puffed himself up.
For a second, Anzu hovered, his head sweeping back and forth. Then he vanished. The clouds began to drift apart.
Kavon stood. “We’ve driven Anzu back to the spirit plane.”
Coretta let her arm fall to her side. “Thank God,” she whispered.
Kavon’s expression turned grim. “He can still find another shaman and come back stronger. We need to find him on the spirit plane before that happens.” He looked toward Coretta. “We’re going to the spirit plane. Guard our bodies.”
Before Coretta answered, Kavon grabbed Darren’s hand, and then they were both on the African veldt.
They weren’t alone.
