Ghost Canyon (The John Decker Supernatural Thriller Series Book 7) Anthony Strong (popular romance novels .TXT) 📖

reached in. His hand curled around the bones within. But as he pulled them out, a set of powerful talons dug into his back and lifted him skyward, leaving the bag and his surprised companions on the ground.

Decker felt the earth drop away beneath him.

Robyn screamed, her eyes wide with fright.

Special Agent Barnes lunged forward and grabbed one of Decker’s legs. Fowler followed his partner’s example and wrapped his arms around Decker’s other leg. Together they pulled against the Baykok’s might as it fought to carry him away.

Decker grunted in pain as sharp claws sliced into his back. Worse, the FBI agents were losing their battle. He was being dragged higher and there was nothing he could do about it. Then he realized that even though the bag was gone, he still clutched the three leg bones. The grave was directly below him, where the rest of the Paiute warrior’s remains now lay exposed. There was only one thing Decker could do now. Mouthing a silent prayer Decker gauged the distance and dropped the bones toward the opened grave.

They clattered to the ground, all three hitting near the same spot close to Shilah’s unearthed rib cage. One bounced away and was lost in the bushes. Another slipped off onto the rock pile. The third one lay balanced atop the warrior’s skeletal remains.

If Decker was expecting an instant reaction, he was wrong. Nothing happened. The bone that remained in the grave was not Shilah’s.

With a victorious screech, the Baykok flapped its leathery wings and pulled him higher despite the two FBI agent’s best efforts. Decker could feel the creature’s taloned feet digging into his flesh as it tried to tear him from their grasp.

But Robyn wasn’t ready to give up. She grabbed one of the discarded bones and lunged into the bushes to retrieve the other. She emerged a moment later with bloody scratches on her arms and face but clutching both bones. With a defiant scream, she pushed them into the grave.

This time the reaction was instant.

A light flickered within Shilah’s rib cage. A curl of wispy gray smoke twisted upward, expanding to take on a vaguely human shape. A chest formed, and a face, and atop the smoky figure’s head, the translucent outline of a feathered headdress. And there were arms too. They twisted outward and reached toward the Baykok, even as a pair of amorphous hands spun themselves into existence.

At this, realizing its own peril, the creature relaxed its grip upon Decker. He fell back to the ground and stumbled to remain on his feet.

When he looked up, tendrils of curling gray smoke were extending from the misty figure’s hands and weaving around the Baykok’s clawed feet, ensnaring it. They snaked up its body and dragged the struggling creature relentlessly toward the grave. The Baykok hissed and wailed, beating its wings in a frenzied attempt to escape, even as it grew ever closer to the Paiute warrior’s remains. It clawed at the rocks surrounding the grave. But it was no use. The fiery red mesmeric glow that burned within the Baykok’s hollow eye sockets was already fading, its struggles becoming feeble as it sank back into the earth. Then, as Decker watched, Shilah’s smoky, amorphous spirit reached a vaguely defined hand over the Baykok’s head and pushed the creature down, before they both faded from view and were gone.

Chapter Sixty-Four

“is it over?” Robyn asked, staring wide-eyed at the spot where the Baykok and smoke spirit had disappeared moments before. “Did we defeat it?”

“I believe we did,” Decker replied. He reached around and explored his back where the creature had clawed him. His shirt was shredded. Touching the wounds elicited stabs of fresh pain. He withdrew his hand, now bloody.

“I don’t understand what just happened,” Fowler said. “If that creature was created from Shilah’s remains, then what rose out the grave?”

“The warrior’s true spirit?” Decker speculated. “In the Native American legends, the Baykok is the restless soul of a disgraced man. An undead creature, it wanders the earth unable to enter the afterlife. But no person is completely bad. The Baykok was evil, for sure, but there must’ve been goodness in Shilah too. I think that’s what rose out of the grave.”

“Shilah’s soul was fractured. Split between light and darkness,” Barnes said. “Is that what you’re trying to say?”

“It’s the best explanation I’ve got. Either way, Shilah is whole again. He’s at rest.”

“It all sounds crazy to me,” Fowler grumbled. “All I want to do is get out of here.”

“We should put the rocks back in place first,” Decker said, approaching the grave and kneeling. One by one he piled boulders back over Shilah’s remains.

The others joined in, and the task was soon completed. Decker stood up and said a silent prayer to whatever Gods the old warrior had believed in. That done, he turned back toward the trail in time to see a figure limping along toward them.

“Carlton,” Robyn screamed, elated. “You’re alive.”

“Of course I’m alive, you foolish girl. You think I don’t know how to drive a Jeep?” Carlton said, closing the gap between them.

“That’s exactly what we think,” Barnes replied, grinning. “You did go headlong into a ravine, after all.”

Carlton came to a halt. Decker noticed a gash on his forehead. He was favoring his left leg too. “We should get you checked out,” he said.

“I’m fine.” Carlton waved a dismissive hand.

“You saved my life,” Decker said. “If you hadn’t come along, I would’ve been a goner.”

“Don’t mention it.”

“The trail is so narrow,” Barnes said. “How did you even get a Jeep up it?”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to, boy?” Being a hero had not dampened Carlton’s grouchy demeanor. “Damn thing’s built for off roading. Not in good shape now though.” He glared at Decker. “You owe me a Jeep.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” Decker couldn’t help but grin.

“Why were you even there?” Fowler asked.

“I saw you bunch of fools heading out of town and figured you’d get yourselves in trouble. And I was