The Stone Warriors: Nicodemus

by D. B. Reynolds

  Nico and the warriors had chosen their respective entry points, based on . . . what? She didn’t know. It didn’t matter, since while they knew the house had been magically trapped and spelled against entry, they didn’t know whether one side was worse than any other. And since Sotiris was in the middle, the sides were up for grabs.

  As they zoomed down Pacific Coast Highway, passing houses at what Antonia thought was an alarming speed, she became aware of her power bubbling over inside her. Her magic was always there, always at a consistent level with which she was very familiar. But she’d never sensed anything like this. It was as if someone had turned a switch she’d never known was there, and her power had begun to grow.

  Turning, she regarded the woman next to her. Hana appeared completely human to both her eyes and her senses. But she wasn’t, was she? Nico had told her about Hana’s ability to amplify another’s magic, but she’d assumed it was something the truly lovely young woman could turn on and off at will. But what if it wasn’t? What if it was simply a part of Hana, like her black hair, or beautiful skin? That would mean . . . “Goddess,” she breathed softly, causing Hana to turn and meet her stare. “It’s you.”

  Hana’s brow furrowed briefly, then cleared. “Oh, right. You have magic. Sorry about that.”

  “Don’t be sorry,” Antonia said in wonder. “I should be thanking you. I’ve never felt like this before. It must be what it’s like for them all the time.”

  “Who?”

  “Nico and Raphael, and Sotiris, too. How do they stand it, I wonder?”

  “Some people would wonder the same about you and your magic. The answer, of course, is that you and they were born with it, so it’s all you’ve ever known.”

  “Not Raphael.”

  Hana smiled slightly. “Raphael may not have been born with power, but he was sure as hell born to wield it. Besides, he’s something like five hundred years old. He’s had a lot of time to get used to it.”

  She nodded. “I suppose you’re right. Well, thank you anyway. It feels great, and I’m glad to have it tonight.”

  They slowed to stop at an arched gate, where a uniformed man stepped out of a white booth to check their identity and verify their permission to enter. They had neither, but as planned, the vampire driver said a few words, the guard smiled and stepped back, and a moment later, the gate slid open before them.

  “Handy trick,” Antonia commented.

  Hana laughed a little. “You get used to it. Every vampire driver on Raphael’s estate can do it. It’s a required skill.”

  Once through the gate, the road wound up and around, passing an amazing collection of estates. Some of the houses were big, and certainly beautiful, built on enough land that they were able to sit well back from the road, behind gates of their own. But the farther they traveled into Bel Air, the bigger the houses and larger the estates. Many of the homes couldn’t be seen, because the privacy walls were so tall, and acreage was so large, that the houses were invisible from the road. Antonia couldn’t even guess how big those estates had to be, or who lived on them.

  The road traveled upward for some distance before they finally slowed and pulled to a smooth stop in the shadows beneath a row of overhanging trees. No one moved for a minute, while the vehicles behind them did the same, and then the driver turned off the engine.

  “Raphael, Jared, and Ken’ichi are in place,” Nico reported softly. “We’re just waiting on Juro. He had the longest route.”

  Antonia had to concentrate to avoid holding her breath, because Nico was right. She’d watched a lot of battles from afar. But she’d never been in one.

  Finally, Nico said, “Juro’s set.” He paused, listening, then . . . “Let’s go.”

  Everyone moved swiftly, but quietly. Vehicle doors were opened with care, and closed with more. No one spoke once they stood outside. They simply gathered in the shadows and watched Nico, waiting for orders. Antonia did the same, wondering how the orders would be given, since he could hardly call them out to everyone. But then she remembered the comm system and cursed her own inexperience. She’d bet none of the others had forgotten.

  She knew her assignment, which was to sit in the SUV with Hana, as humiliating as that was.

  She took some small comfort in the knowledge that she was also tasked with keeping the hexagon handy, just in case. Yeah, right. Nico didn’t want her in the house, hexagon or not. And he didn’t want the hexagon in the house with or without her. He wanted her safe, and he wanted to fight Sotiris at the peak of his power, not weakened by the hexagon.

  So while she stood with the others, who were waiting to move out, she made a decision for herself. She could study a blueprint as well as anyone, so she knew where Sotiris was holed up. And since she was his daughter, and they shared blood, she could create a tracing spell and track him, every bit as well as Nico could with his power alone.

  Hana sidled closer and muttered, “What’s the plan?”

  Antonia faked confusion. “I thought everyone had their assignments already?” she whispered, glancing around to see if anyone—especially Nico—noticed they were talking.

  Hana gave her a knowing look. “Like you’re going to just sit in the SUV. Look, I hate him as much as you do. So what’s the plan?”

  She wasn’t sure how to respond. Admit she was going against orders, and maybe blow her only chance? Or trust Hana, whom she barely knew, but who’d been captured by Sotiris and had good reason to want in on the kill.

  “All right,” she said quietly. “Just follow me. We’re going inside.”

  Hana winked. “Fucking A.”

  RAPHAEL DIDN’T need to speak to command his vampires. Every one of them had been sworn to him for years, and most were his own children. His communication was telepathic, fast, and indetectable. And because they were vampires, they moved with a speed that no human could match, and in perfect silence, they made their approach to Sotiris’s residence unnoticed. This, despite the number of guards posted in what they probably thought was impenetrable darkness, except that the dark was no impediment to a vampire’s sight. They really were the perfect soldiers, but chose to serve only their own.

  Raphael was aware of his people moving in on either side of him, and could also sense the sorcerer and his warriors, poised behind them. They’d discussed having Nick or Antonia cast a spell to silence whatever small noise Nick’s second wave might make, but with Sotiris employing magic-users of his own, there was concern that the spell itself would be noticed and give them away. And since they had such small teams, it made sense to walk quietly, especially as they were all warriors and accustomed to covert movements.

  The go command, when it came, was a single word spoken by Nick, since his people were the last ones to get into position. “Go.”

  Raphael grinned in anticipation, and ordered his vampires to, “Go.” He heard his three commanders repeat the order, and sensed their bloodlust matching his. Vampires could appear sophisticated and modern when they wanted, but nothing could change the drive in their blood to kill and conquer. Nights like this, when they were set free, was a rush like no other.

  Next to him, Cyn’s grin reflected his own. She was his perfect match in every way. Yanking her close, he kissed her hard and fast, then ordered, “Don’t get hurt.”

  She snorted. “I won’t, if you don’t. Now let’s do this, fang boy.”

  ANTONIA WAS READY when Nick gave the silent signal to move out. Waiting until he was out of sight, she grabbed Hana’s hand, and felt power simply blast through her. Goddess, she thought. She’d thought it was incredible before, but when Hana touched her . . . . This . . . was this what Nico lived with day in and day out?

  Casting a particularly effective concealment spell—something which would work even on any magic-users Sotiris had in or around the house, given the double whammy of magic she’d used to drive it
, courtesy of Hana—she pulled the other woman toward a garden door she’d seen on the blueprints. It was shorter and narrower than was common these days, and she assumed it was left over from the original 1940s construction. When they reached it, she discovered it was so covered in vines and overhanging bushes as to be invisible, which was perfect. She took a minute to study it, deciding whether they should go over and cut their way through. She had a knife, and she assumed Hana did also, since she, unlike Antonia, was a trained fighter. But that would be slow and messy, and since she had all this power at her command, why not use it? Drawing a roughly blade-shaped image in front of her using nothing but magic, she took hold of it and sliced the gate free as if the vines were made of butter. Hana watched in bemused silence, but stopped Antonia when she would have reached for the gate.

  “Too noisy,” Hana whispered, pointing at the rusted hinges. Antonia grimaced, then followed Hana’s nimble climb over the gate, with grace if not the same level of nimbleness. She then led the way to the edge of the shrubs which blocked the house from the street on this side, and pointed at a large window, which was situated almost exactly in between two sides of the house, and behind an out-of-control oleander bush. Sotiris’s gardener was doing a crap job on several fronts. She hadn’t known about the bush, but had figured that since the “big boy” teams were entering through doors, she’d try a window. And this was the closest one to the tiny gate.

  Hana studied it for a minute, then looked both ways. “We should wait until the vampires start their attack,” she said, barely speaking loud enough to be heard. “They’ll hear us if we go now.”

  “Oh,” Antonia mouthed silently, and they both settled down to wait. But not for long. The vampires attacked with shocking speed and silence, until they encountered the first of Sotiris’s mercenaries. And then the screams began.

  Exchanging a quick glance, the two women took off running. Hana reached the window a half-step sooner, and without pausing, smashed her gun butt into the glass, then reached in, unlatched the old-fashioned frame, and raised the window enough for them to slip in. An alarm blared at the intrusion, but there was so much other noise that Antonia figured it wouldn’t even be noticed.

  Once they were both inside, she dropped the concealment spell, since Sotiris would sense it no matter how much power had gone into it. Actually, he might sense it easier, because of the power.

  Regardless, he’d know she was coming before she reached him, for the same reason that she could easily find him. He was her father. But hell, she hadn’t come here to slide a knife between his ribs from the shadows—she wanted him to know she was there. Wanted to face him down with the hexagon in her hands, so he’d know who’d killed him.

  Tiptoeing—which made no sense—to the door, she listened first, and then opened it. She could sense magic traps up and down the hall, but apparently Nick and the warriors hadn’t entered the house yet. She glanced back at Hana, who nodded, then walked down the hall, avoiding the traps she could and disabling the ones she couldn’t. Boy, all this power was great! They turned left down an interior hallway, then right on another, and stood outside a room where her father waited inside.

  Antonia had to pause then, to breathe, and to steel the strength that Nico insisted, and she knew, she possessed. She’d survived everything this man could throw at her—his cruelty, his contempt, his utter disregard for the fact that she was his daughter. And finally, she’d lost centuries of life because of him. He needed to die, and she needed to be the one to end him.

  With a final glance at Hana, she opened the door, saw a man sitting at the desk, and said, “Hello, Father.”

  NICK FELT AS though he was back in his own world, surrounded by the sounds of battle, the screams of the wounded, the unexpected and eerie sound of vampires howling with sheer joy as they fought their way through Sotiris’s mercenaries and the few magic-users unlucky enough to have been assigned to the outside of Sotiris’s house. There were far more mercenaries than vampires, and they managed to rally themselves into a counterattack, coming in behind the vampires who were occupied with those trying to use magic. But while it forced some of the vampires to turn and face the mercenaries, it didn’t help the magic-users. Nick gave them credit for doing their best against overwhelming odds, but Sotiris had kept his strongest people for inside the house. These were little better than apprentices, none with any real power, and they went down quickly, one after another.

  Nick made his move with Dragan by his side, the warrior’s sword flashing so fast and with such deadly grace that those who died didn’t know what hit them, until they looked down and found their torso had been split in two. Nick fought side-to-side and back-to-back with his warrior, whatever worked best as they focused not on killing the enemy, but on getting through to the house. The vampires saw them coming, and did their best to clear the way, before taking up positions facing away from the residence to make sure no one followed them in.

  Once he had the door open to the house, he paused to grip Dragan’s hand, then watched as the warrior leaped from the ground to the top of an arched doorway, then cleared the ground enough that he could leap into the air and spread those deadly wings.

  Nick couldn’t wait to see Dragan begin taking down enemies, although it had always been a glorious sight. But instead, he entered the house, closed and sealed the door behind to make it harder for anyone else to enter, then after giving the agreed upon signal to Raphael, took his bearings and strode toward his rendezvous with Sotiris.

  RAPHAEL HEARD the barely audible click of the command frequency and knew what was coming before he heard Nick utter what he considered a pathetic go command. “It’s time.”

  Rolling his eyes, he nonetheless replied, “Ten four,” then sent a far superior and wordless telepathic message to his vampires all around the house, letting them know that the battle was about to enter its next phase. Looking around for Cyn, he strode over to where she was gleefully shooting and reloading, thankfully having enough sense to shelter behind a massive stone sculpture of the modern variety that required more time than he had to decipher. Calling her name via their mating bond’s mind link, he waited until she could safely disengage enough to look at him, and held out his hand. He didn’t need her to be standing next to him when he took the next step, but he wanted her there, since once he exerted his power, he would be separated from the others to a large extent, and wanted to be sure she was with him.

  He’d warned her in advance what he was going to do, and although she’d complained that he was spoiling her fun, she now took his hand, and held on tight when he squeezed her fingers.

  Then, diving deep into the heart of all that he was, deeper than he’d gone since the time he’d used everything he had to save his Cyn’s life, he gathered every trace of magic that his vampire blood granted him, and created a huge magic force that roared around the house in a controlled wave, remaining close to the building to block defenders from escaping within the house, while sliding inside through doors and windows, to kill anyone trying to escape.

  Raphael’s undertaking was such that it took every shred of his attention, but he still felt Cyn squeeze his hand that little bit harder that told him his gambit was succeeding, and gave him the strength to continue.

  NICK HAD TO LAUGH in reluctant admiration for the fucking vampire who’d accomplished something that even he wouldn’t have been able to sustain long enough to work. Though if asked, he’d never damn admit it. So far, he’d encountered more than a few of Sotiris’s magical flunkies—some with a respectable amount of power, though none who could defeat him. He disarmed the traps and spells with a wave of his hand, until he reached the hallway that was one away from Sotiris’s office. There he met surprising resistance, as if Sotiris had pulled back everyone worthy of the title of sorcerer—no matter their relative strength— to defend this one hallway.

  Ducking back around the corner, Nick listened to the repo
rts of his warriors as one by one, they progressed through the house. He knew Kato was making rapid progress, because he’d sensed the dark power of the warrior’s magic as it rose to kill. Sotiris’s people didn’t have a chance against the Dark Witch’s son. They’d probably never even encountered such deadly black magic before.

  He listened for Damian next, though with Casey by his side, the big warrior would be warned long before any magical attack manifested close enough to do harm. And though Damian was very much human, he was also the creation of Nick’s magic. He’d deserved to be worshipped as a god of war, and was a one-man army once he got riled up. And it certainly sounded as if he was riled now. Oh shit, Nick thought. Apparently, Casey had been wounded. Damian would destroy his way through the house now. He wasn’t an army anymore, he was a supernatural, fucking tank, plowing his way forward through friend or foe. Good thing there weren’t any friends in his path until he met up with Nick, and hopefully recognized him.

  It was Gabriel that Nick was most concerned about. He was a vampire and was feeding off Raphael’s magic, effectively turning him into a Raphael duplicate in terms of power. He had centuries of experience on battlefields in his own world, both before and after meeting Nick. And if that wasn’t enough, he’d defeated every one of Raphael’s vampires who’d challenged him with a blade since he’d arrived in Malibu, as well as a certain visiting vampire lord who would remain anonymous. Gabriel wasn’t counting solely on magic, however. He was carrying one of Damian’s specially modified HK’s, along with enough spare magazines to start, or win, a war.

  Nick hadn’t heard from Gabriel yet, other than the expected sounds of men screaming or pleading, sometimes both, magic spells being shouted, and guns firing, which gave Nick hope that his warrior was still alive and the one firing.

  While waiting to hear from Gabriel, Kato came over the comm saying Nick’s name, which was the agreed upon code meaning he needed Nick’s attention. The others heard and tuned down, but not off, their own comms, so that Nick could hear what Kato had to say.