“You say that like it’s not a possibility.” I was forced to crouch because the ceiling was getting lower. It was a good thing I was wearing my lightweight helmet, because otherwise I’d have banged my head on the bricks a lot. When the Shacklefords had dug these tunnels, there hadn’t been very many 6'5" Hunters.
When we took the next turn, I saw something that made me freeze in my tracks. A hole had been ripped in the ceiling. Bricks and dirt had been spilled everywhere. From the dust hanging in the air, it was fresh. I went over, looked up and saw the night sky above. This must have been where the river of ectoplasm had zipped upwards to join with its final host through an existing crack, and the now empowered monster had clawed its way down.
“The last Drekavac is in here with us,” Trip whispered.
“Yep.” And the second-to-last one had been damned near indestructible and cutting his way through a bank vault until Earl had surprised him and, unfortunately for us, the king of the werewolves was currently indisposed. “Be careful.”
We moved cautiously, following our rat guide’s directions. Sonya had told me that she couldn’t see in the dark. Assuming that wasn’t a lie like everything else, she must have had a flashlight on her to make it this far.
Trip held up one fist. I froze. He tapped the muff of his ear protection, and then pointed at the last tunnel we were supposed to head down. He’d heard something. Rock music and guns had left me half deaf. I’d have to take his word for it. He kept moving that way, weapon shouldered. I was right behind him with Cazador at the ready. A moment later I could hear what he’d heard. A woman was talking. As we got closer, the sound got clearer.
“Come out, Sonya. I know you’re in here. I can smell you. Sonyaaa.” There was something about that voice that made me mighty uncomfortable and set off all sorts of warnings deep down in my caveman brain, because it was sensual and predatory at the same time. Like she’d screw your brains out but then eat your head like a praying mantis. That had to be the succubus.
I’d dealt with a few different kinds of demons over the years, but never that kind. Harbinger had warned us about the seductive ones. It didn’t matter how mentally strong you were. They were telepathic and designed to get into your head. I’m talking lust-based mind control shit. A succubus could supposedly charm her way through your defenses, mess with your thoughts, show you one hell of a good time, and then leave you as a desiccated corpse with a big smile on your face.
“Wish Holly was here,” Trip whispered.
“She’d be in danger too.” I was pretty sure succubi swung both ways. “No talk. Just shoot.”
“Got it. She can’t flirt if she’s dead.”
I didn’t want to correct him on that, because a couple of undead things had flirted with me over the years, but that was just semantics. I motioned for him to follow me, and then crept forward as quietly as possible. This tunnel was familiar. I knew where we were now. The voice was coming from the room where we’d stored our old Ward Stone. It was one of the bigger spaces down here.
“Why are you hiding, Sonya? I’m not trying to hurt you. I’m trying to save you. If you stay here, you’re gonna die. Come with me and I’ll get you someplace safe. I promise.”
A promise from a demon was about as trustworthy as gas station sushi. We stacked up on the entrance. Trip put his hand on my shoulder to signal he was ready to move. Silver worked better on traditional demons than lead, but cold iron supposedly worked the best. Sadly, I don’t think either of us had packed any iron bullets. So silver would have to do.
It was too quiet. The succubus had stopped talking. Had she heard us approach? Was she going to ambush us? But the longer we waited, the more likely it was the Drekavac would show up. Shit.
Cazador at my shoulder, I turned the corner. The beam from my flashlight filled the room.
Nothing. Where is—
I should have looked up.
The succubus kicked me in the head.
My helmet saved me from getting my skull cracked, but I still went headfirst into the brick wall. There was a crashing of wings. Trip got off a couple of shots, but then he cried out as he got flung across the room. I rolled over, lifted my rifle—only to have the succubus stomp on the muzzle, pinning Cazador to the ground.
She stood over me and, say what you will about demonic mind control, she was smoking hot, in a super deadly, wings and horns and fangs and red eyes, about to rip my face off kind of way. I drew my pistol. She swatted it from my hand.
On the other side of the room, Sonya crawled out from a crack in the wall, saw all the bouncing flashlights as an opportunity, and ran for it. The succubus saw her go.
“I don’t have time for this shit.” Lana promptly balled up one lovely fist and slugged me right in the face.
As Newbies we had been taught that succubi were dangerous because of their seductive powers, but physically they were one of the weakest kinds of extradimensional beings. Apparently this one hadn’t gotten the memo, because she had a right like Evander Holyfield. I saw stars.
Trip was staggering to his feet, so the succubus got off me, took a couple of steps to reach him, and then spin-kicked him so hard that Trip did a flip. Then she went after Sonya.
I lay there for a moment, dizzy. I think she might have broken my nose.
Trip groaned. “That didn’t go as expected.”
“I’m getting really tired of magic kung-fu bitches this week.” I sat up and waited for the room to stop spinning around. “You okay?”
“Yeah.” He shakily stood up. “She’s getting away.”
That’s what I liked about Trip. Quitting never even entered his mind. “Let’s go.” I didn’t have time to look for my pistol, but I still had my rifle, and worse come to worse, a knife, and I was in a mood to shank somebody. Trip took a step and then cried out.
“What?”
“My ankle.”
“How bad?”
“Sprained.” He winced as he put weight on it. “Don’t worry. Even hopping on one foot I can keep up with you.”
That was probably true. I hurried after the succubus. It was a dazed wobble of a hurry, but at least I thought we were going in the right direction . . . which, unfortunately, was away from the main building. Once we were away from the elf runes there would be nothing stopping the succubus from magically whisking Sonya and the Ward away.
Gunfire echoed through the tunnels. The Drekavac screeched. A man roared in agony.
“Vatican guys?” Trip shouted.
“Probably.” But I couldn’t tell from what direction that had come from.
There was another Y ahead, but we didn’t have time to wait for a rat. We had to be getting close to the compound’s edge.
“We have to split up,” Trip said.
“You’re hurt.”
“So are you. Pick one.”
There wasn’t any time to hesitate. Shit. I went right. “Be careful.”
“You too.” Trip limped down the left fork.
This stuffy, dark, claustrophobic place got even more unnerving once I was alone. Last time I screwed around down here I’d almost been eaten by some werewolves and had shot Franks by accident. I moved as fast as I could crouched over, because the tunnel got smaller until it was only about five feet tall and wide enough that my shoulders were scraping brick on both sides. That stirred up a dust cloud that made it hard to breathe. I could taste copper and was blowing bloody snot bubbles out of my damaged nose.
The tunnel felt like it was sloping upward though. No. I was sure of it. I was climbing toward the surface. I could smell smoke. There had to be an exit to the compound nearby. There was a light ahead.
Except the light wasn’t the compound, it was a flashlight lying on the ground. The Combat Exorcist was still alive, sitting on the floor, bloody hands pressed against his stomach.
“Gutterres.” I knelt next to him. “What happened?”
“We had to split up. The Drekavac surprised me. That doesn’t happen often.” He coughed and
I got hit in the face with bloody droplets. “This last bastard is very quick.”
“How bad are you hit?”
Gutterres moved his hands to show me the puncture wound in his abdomen. It was slowly leaking. “I’ll probably be fine.”
There was blood everywhere. From the angle, it looked like the sword thrust would have pierced his liver. Surely, he had to know that kind of wound was going to be fatal. “I’m sorry.”
“No, really. I’m no Franks, but there are some blessings that are bestowed on those who hold my office. I’ll heal, but not in time to get the stone.”
He might be lying to himself because he was in denial, but I’d seen enough weird, implausible shit in this business that I took his word for it. “I warned you you’d get lost down here.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. But you still don’t understand how badly we need that Ward.” Gutterres started pulling the gloves off his shaking hands. “Is it true what the rumors say about you, about you having the gift of being able to see other people’s memories in times of desperate need?”
It wasn’t something I liked to blab about to strangers, but these were exigent circumstances. “Sometimes. If the stakes are high enough to concern the big cosmic beings who’re calling the shots, I can.”
“Good. I bet this qualifies.” Gutterres smacked one bloody hand against the side of my face. “Then witness.”
* * *
The evil that moved through the jungle below was like nothing I’d ever seen before. The entity filled the valley, flickering in and out of our reality. Everything touched by its tendrils became tainted . . . plants, animals, even people, all cursed and twisted into horrible parodies of what they’d once been.
“What is that thing?” I asked Fedele.
The ancient warrior crouched next to me, carefully watching the distortion in the distance. “I don’t know its name, if it even has one. But it’s of the Great Old Ones, Michael. Of that much I’m sure.”
Fedele would know that better than anyone. I was sure he could feel their presence in his bones.
We had tracked it from its lair, through ruined villages picked clean. We’d found the spot where it had fought the Brazilian Monster Hunters, but all that had been left of them was bloody scraps. The trail was easy to follow. Simply look for death and then go in the direction that damaged your sanity the most. The creature was collecting biomass, growing, but for what purpose we did not yet know.
The squad of elite Swiss Guard who had accompanied us deep inside the corrupted zone were dead. Our priest had committed suicide during the night. Fedele and I were the only ones of the recon party left. I hadn’t slept in days. Fedele didn’t need to sleep, but even he had been pushed past the breaking point. We needed to return and report, to beg for help, to gather resources and assistance, but still we watched, hoping to figure out some way to damage the thing.
Our minds could barely perceive it, let alone harm it. How do you kill a color?
At the end of the valley was a small town. From the look of things, it hadn’t been fully evacuated yet. A military encampment had been set up there. The troops were unaware that this danger couldn’t be stopped by bullet or bomb. There was no way for us to warn them what was coming, and that made me sick to my stomach.
I had seen how it took its victims. Some it took quickly, warping the very fabric of reality, bending biology and chemistry to its whims, to remake them in its image. Such spawn were what had killed most of our escort. Yet we’d seen that it could be insidious as well, gradually influencing minds with dark thoughts, subtly changing people for its mysterious purposes. We’d learned the hard way that it had sunk its tendrils deep into this region long ago, converting many of the locals to worship it in secret. Our expedition had been beset with treachery, sabotage, and murder from the cultists.
Only instead of flooding in and consuming all the living matter like it had last time, this time the thing crept in and settled into place—almost gently—around the encampment. Its latest victims didn’t even know it was there.
“What’s it doing?” I asked.
Fedele was somber. “It’s recruiting.”
* * *
I slammed back into reality. Only a few seconds had passed in the real world.
“Did you see it?” Gutterres asked.
“You should’ve told me.”
“Oath of secrecy. You know how that goes. But if I die, someone has to stop it.”
“I thought you weren’t going to die.”
The warrior monk looked down at his wound. He should’ve already been dead. “It might be fifty-fifty. What you just saw, that was almost a week ago. It’s still spreading, but very slowly. I went for help. Fedele stayed to observe. He’s not like us. He’s incorruptible. Our wisest scholars think a Ward Stone might be the only thing that can destroy a being like that.”
“Did you figure out what that thing was doing to those people?”
“It’s building monsters.” Gutterres coughed again, so hard that I cringed in sympathy. “Only then its creations vanish into the jungle. We don’t know where they’re going or what it is using them for, but it can’t be for good. Now go. Please. Get the Ward to Fedele. He’ll know what to do.”
I left him there bleeding and went after Sonya.
Chapter 23
The tunnel got narrower and narrower until I was really struggling to fit. The bricks stopped and it was just dirt and rocks and tree roots, but there was night sky ahead. I noticed something white on the ground and snatched it up. It was a piece of notebook paper with a map on it, like what Atticus had told me about. Sonya must have dropped this on her way out. I’d gotten lucky.
I shut my light off to not give away my position. There had been a metal grate over this exit to keep the racoons out, but Sonya must have knocked it open because it was lying in the weeds. The tunnel exit was on a little hillside covered in bushes. I crawled out and gasped in a lungful of fresh air. Blessed, blessed air.
Standing up, I got my bearings. I was about ten yards on the other side of the fence, but at the far end of the compound, out of sight of the main building where all the Hunters were. However, if the cameras were still working, they’d see me for sure and send help.
It was cold. I’m talking that same unnatural super cold as when I first ran into the Drekavac. It was like we’d come full circle. He was close. At least there was no fog this time, but that was because he’d sucked it all in to become crazy powerful. On the bright side, his still being here was a good sign. If Stricken’s succubus had already whisked Sonya away, he was too mission-oriented to stick around. He’d go after his prize. This meant Sonya was here somewhere.
There was an angry shout deeper in the forest. It sounded like Sonya. I ran in that direction.
Crashing through the trees, I saw a blue fire glow ahead. I stepped into a clearing and into the middle of a standoff.
Sonya was stuck in the middle. In front of her was the last Drekavac, and his twisted, metallic caricature of a face burned with fury. Behind her was the bedraggled succubus who was clearly tired of chasing her through the woods, because she lifted one hand to unfurl a bullwhip. When she snapped it, the whole thing burst into orange flames.
I couldn’t figure out why neither of the two monsters had made a move yet, until I realized that Sonya was holding a hand grenade to her chest and had already pulled the pin. The only thing keeping her from blowing herself and the Ward up was her hand pressure on the spoon.
I slowed down. I’d done something like that once as a bluff because I’d only been armed with a smoke grenade. That was a frag. Sonya wasn’t about to get dragged down to hell alive. Couldn’t say I blamed her.
“She’s coming with me,” the succubus said.
“You are nothing to me, minor spawn,” the Drekavac rumbled as he pointed his blunderbuss at Lana.
“Oh, I’m no pushover,” the succubus said. “This body has gotten some serious combat upgrades recently. I’m working for this human who h
as got some serious connections.”
Sonya glanced nervously between the two creatures. “Do I get a vote where I go?”
“No,” said the Drekavac. But he didn’t get any closer to her, because as much as he wanted to punish the thief, his contract must have specified that he had to retrieve the Ward undamaged.
“Either of you come any closer and I swear I’ll blow this thing to bits! I’m not messing around!”
“I’m trying to save your life here,” said the succubus.
“I can’t imagine why she doesn’t trust you,” I said as I walked into the clearing with my rifle on the Drekavac. I probably could have just started shooting, but I didn’t know how tough the final body would be so I didn’t know if I could drop him by myself or not. I was really hoping my friends were on the way and needed to buy them some time to get here.
“Owen?” At least Sonya had gotten my name right that time. She was now boxed in on three sides, but MHI was by far her best option. We were mildly inconvenient and didn’t want to give her bags of money, while the blue guy wanted to condemn her to eternal torment, and the sex demon with the flaming whip worked for the spy Sonya had robbed. In that equation my team seemed downright boring in comparison.
“Yeah. Let’s all remain calm.”
And then things got even more complicated as Agent Franks stepped into view across from me, which meant Sonya had no direction left to run. From the looks of him, he’d had about as rough a night as Earl, with his armor covered in scorch marks and bullet impacts. Despite going after the succubus, it appeared that Franks had taken care of a whole lot of Drekavacs for us along the way.
“Franks!” Lana didn’t seem too upset to see him. “I was really hoping you’d show up in time for this.”
Despite her enthusiasm, Franks aimed his rifle at her. “Where’s Stricken?”
“Well, this is awkward,” she said, coy. “You wouldn’t shoot me.”
Franks just grunted in annoyance. I figured the list of all the sentient beings in the universe Franks wouldn’t shoot would fit on a Post-it note, and I sincerely doubted any of us assembled here had made the cut.
Monster Hunter Bloodlines - eARC Page 30
