Gods Of The Stone Oracle

by Krista Walsh

  His head started to spin with the revelation of the unending circle they’d ended up in.

  Vera grabbed Gabe’s arm. “We can get through the barrier.”

  “How?” Frank asked.

  She didn’t look away from Gabe. “Jermaine took your blood. Your DNA is already part of the project. And if Jermaine was on a mission to collect as many samples as he could, you can be damned sure he gathered up whatever I left behind when we fought at his apartment.”

  “If that’s true, your friend’s right,” Frank said.

  “Vera,” she said. She offered him a soft smile that Gabe wanted to hide from his father. Frank didn’t deserve her kindness.

  “Vera,” Frank replied, oblivious to Gabe’s growing anger. “If Vera’s right, you should have no problem getting in, though getting into the inner ring will be a challenge without a pass. I still think it’s a bad idea.”

  “Give me your pass, then,” Gabe said, and the words came out as little more than a growl. “Where are we going?”

  Father and son stared at each other, the will of one straining against the desire of the other, until finally Frank’s shoulders drooped. “If you’re going back in, I can’t let you go alone. I left because if Mayes succeeds in what he’s doing, I wanted to spend my last days with you. If you’re here, then my place is by your side. Come on. Though I don’t know how we’re going to find your friend.”

  Maybe it was a waste of effort to destroy the software, but Gabe couldn’t let it slide. Especially with what his father had just told him about Project Oracle, he couldn’t take the risk that someone would survive the Collegiate’s blast and take it with them. If they were finishing this, he wanted to make sure it was for good.

  Although his doubts were beginning to fade, Gabe still didn’t think it was wise to let Frank know they weren’t the only ones working to get into the prison. He wondered what luck Daphne and Zach would have getting through those barriers. Zach would be fine — his DNA was probably among the first on file — but Daphne… Had Jermaine taken a sample from her as well?

  They’d find out soon enough. At least now they had a guide, which would hopefully speed things along. A quick glance at his watch showed that they only had four hours to go before the Collegiate blew them all up anyway.

  They started down the corridor, but as they walked, a new and unexpected fear welled up in Gabe’s stomach, one that overwhelmed any remaining anger he’d been holding. He turned toward Frank and grabbed his arm. “You don’t need to come with us. You have your chance to get out while you can. The tunnel is clear. We have someone watching the entrance, and if you explain who you are, she’ll make sure you get out safely. There’s no reason for you to stay.”

  His father clapped his hand on his shoulder and squeezed. “If I can make up for any of the harm I’ve done, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be in my final hours. It’s the least I can do after abandoning my son.”

  Gabe’s throat closed, and all he could do was nod and turn his attention toward the darkness of the tunnel. His desire to get inside hadn’t changed with the revelation of Mayes’s plan, though it did put their failure into perspective. If they couldn’t step in and stop him, it wouldn’t just mean war — it would mean the end of the world as they knew it.

  26

  Allegra stood over the mouth of the trapdoor, staring into the darkness.

  “Do you think they’ve made it inside?” she asked Matthew. He stood on the other side of the door, his arms crossed.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “It’s not a short distance. But I don’t think they’ve been caught, or we would have heard. So that’s something, right?”

  Allegra released a huff of impatience and tapped at her earpiece. “Is this device even functional? I believed you were meant to be providing updates.”

  “We don’t want the comms too busy,” Percy’s voice filtered through her ear. “We’ve lost Gabe and Vera, as expected, but otherwise everything is fine. A few hiccups, but no real setbacks. Everything’s clear where you are?”

  “Do you think I would not tell you if something were happening?”

  She kicked her bare foot against the Valorin corpse.

  Matthew chuckled. “I never thought I would see you bored.”

  She quirked an eyebrow. “I do not experience boredom. Boredom is for the ignorant, for those who have no mental capacity to keep themselves interested. I am simply…frustrated.”

  “Because you have nothing to do?”

  Irritation warmed her cheeks. She paced the length of the trapdoor, paused in front of the ladder, and started tapping her foot. “Perhaps they would benefit from my assistance.”

  “And if more demons come along and our guys don’t have anyone here to hold them off?”

  “How long do you suppose it will take to get the girl?”

  “I hardly think this is the time and place, Allegra.”

  Her mouth fell open. “I was not suggesting—” She stopped when she caught Matthew’s grin and pressed her lips into a thin line. When she’d suppressed her outburst, she continued. “I was going to suggest we return to the RV and find a place to sit down. I am certain Percy and Emmett will be watching this house. We would know if anything approached.”

  “I don’t know if there’s room here for all of us,” Percy said, and Allegra scowled that he’d overheard her. “I could send Emmett over with some chairs for you.”

  “There is no need,” she said, and shifted her weight on her feet.

  She wasn’t used to waiting. Usually, she was the person who made other people wait. That was her privilege as a beautiful and powerful succubus. No one dared mess with her. To be among a group where she was not acknowledged as elite rubbed her pride and left her feeling uncomfortably small and irrelevant. And now to be left here with nothing to do, not trusted to be a part of the mission…

  She caught Matthew’s smirk and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I am aware of my fickleness. One minute I want to go home and now I feel as though I have been left out of the fun. But it is in my nature to be fickle. Just be happy that I have not changed my mind about you.”

  He winked at her, then tensed, his expression going slack. A current ran over Allegra’s skin, and for a moment, he flickered out of the room. Allegra’s heart jumped into her throat as panic swelled.

  She leaped over the trapdoor and was at his side when he returned to view. “Matthew? What happened? Where did you go?”

  “I—I don’t know,” he said. “Everything just sort of…glitched.”

  “Um, Allegra,” Emmett’s voice spoke in her ear. “We might have an issue here. Did you just sense anything strange?”

  “Yes,” she said. “There was energy, like a wave.”

  “It messed up our comms,” he said, his words cutting in and out. “Percy’s working to get everything back, but for now, we’ve lost visuals around the prison.”

  “They must have started whatever it is they’re doing,” Percy said. “Hopefully we’re not looking at the full show just yet.”

  Allegra’s mouth went dry, and she turned to Matthew, her heart still racing. He’d been taken from her. Whatever Mayes was hoping to achieve, he had stripped her of the one person whose company she could stand for any extended length of time. It didn’t matter that his removal had been temporary — if it had happened once, it could happen again.

  A golden haze filled her vision as her demon rose within her. Another wave of energy passed over her, and she dropped to her knees, nausea threatening to overwhelm her. Panicked, she wheeled toward Matthew. Again, he’d vanished, but a moment later reappeared at her side.

  “Shit, shit, shit,” Percy yelped.

  “What is happening?” she demanded.

  “The house is on fire. The goddamned house is on fire. The energy must have caused an electrical surge. We can’t stay here. Either someone’s going to come to put it out before it spreads or it’s going to spread to the RV in a matter of minutes. We’re driving over to you. T
he cameras have gone out, so keep an eye on the roads.”

  Allegra cursed and threw open the door. The streets were quiet, but a few blocks away smoke billowed up from the house they had claimed as refuge. Considering the state of the neighborhood and the unlikelihood of anyone rushing to put the fire out, she guessed it would only be a matter of hours before the entire row of houses had been reduced to ash. Good riddance. Perhaps when this was over, someone with money would come in and redevelop the entire area with houses worthy of the view.

  A few minutes later, the RV rounded the corner, speeding so quickly down the street it almost drove past Allegra.

  She wondered whether it would have been better if it had. Emmett had barely pulled the vehicle to a stop when three men in uniform sprinted toward them, coming from the direction of the main road. Their human faces were contorted with rage, their eyes revealing the demons lying beneath the surface.

  Allegra scowled and pushed off the cement steps, racing toward them. One of the demons had already reached the RV and was pulling on the handle of the back door, working to wrench the metal away to access the men within. She was on him before the door moved an inch.

  Sinking her teeth deep into his neck, she savoured the spill of blood over her tongue. The blood itself was thick and acidic, but the energy that came with it poured through her system, seeping into her muscles, reaching the place deep within her that found pleasure in every whim.

  The glamor fell away from the demon as it collapsed to its stomach, still writhing to get her off. Fur ticked the insides of Allegra’s lips as she dug her teeth in deeper, and her extended talons pierced a thin layer of what felt like fish scales.

  When its muscles slackened, she leaped off it and bounded to the other two demons that had now reached the vehicle. She positioned herself between them and the RV, arms outstretched, talons curled, teeth bared.

  Her heartbeat thrummed, pumping bloodlust through her veins. A breeze blew past, cooling the blood drying on her chin. The pain of a stone lodged deep in the heel of her left foot shot through her with a burst of stimulation that converted itself into pleasure.

  She flashed the two men a grin as they stepped forward. They didn’t get any closer than that. Pouncing at one, she used her momentum as she grabbed him around the neck to swing her legs and kick the other in the gut. From the way her feet struck against what felt like pure muscle, she was certain that in a fair fight she wouldn’t have stood a chance against these beasts. She’d taken them by surprise, though, and she was determined not to lose the advantage.

  As she found her balance and began to pull away from the demon she’d jumped on, it attempted to wrap its arms around her torso and trap her arms against her chest. She raised her feet and went dead-weight. When he sagged down to keep hold of her, his head was perfectly angled to receive the blow aimed at her by his colleague. He released Allegra and staggered backward. She used her moment of freedom to bounce off her feet and wrap her legs around the other demon’s waist, scoring her nails into its eyes. It released a roar that sent Allegra tumbling, and she landed on her back in the puddle of blood left by the first demon.

  The screaming demon’s glamor gave out, and she found herself prostrated in front of an enormous, foul-smelling Pimsin, its gray leathery skin stretched over a wide chest clad in nothing but feathers. Black horns protruded from the sides of its hideous face, as though it were part-bull, part-ogre. Unable to see her, it raised its fists and slammed them against the earth. The asphalt crumbled where his blows landed, but Allegra had already rolled out of the way — right into the arms of the other demon, who yanked her up from behind.

  A beet-red tongue licked a strip of blood from Allegra’s cheek. She grimaced, her stomach churning as she struggled to regain her breath, and rammed her elbow behind her. She hoped to catch the demon in the chest, but missed and hit what felt like armor. Shooting pain traveled up her arm, numbing it. The demon chuckled, but she refused to allow it the last laugh. She swung her head back and caught it in the nose, then wriggled out of its grip and ran toward the blind Pimsin. The other demon gave chase, and the Pimsin, unable to tell friend from foe, swung its fists down again. It caught the other demon on the top of the head, its knuckles cracking through its skull. The pursuing demon collapsed to the ground, its empty eyes staring toward the RV.

  Allegra followed its gaze and found Percy and Emmett gaping back at her through the passenger side window.

  She rolled her eyes, but the distraction was enough for the Pimsin to find her. Its snuffling sound caught her ear, but didn’t give her enough time to dodge before it grabbed the back of her neck and slammed her facedown on the ground. She tried to roll her body away to loosen the grip, but all that did was add more strain to her throat.

  She froze. The risk of moving so much that he ripped her head from her body was too great. Better to remain calm as she figured out what to do. Pressed against the ground, her heart slammed against her ribs. A heavy foot dropped onto her tailbone and began to squish her harder against the cement. Air burst from her lungs, and her efforts to suck in more only achieved breaths of sand and pebbles from the street beneath her.

  Matthew? She hadn’t seen him since their fight began. Had he disappeared again? Black spots danced in her eyes. Her head felt thick, her legs and arms growing numb as the Pimsin cut off all circulation and continued to apply pressure. In another few seconds, she was certain her spine would snap, and she would be left lying on the street — either dead or wishing she were. There was no one here to help her.

  At least I held them off. She was relieved to have that solace. And the Pimsin wouldn’t be able to see where he was going. Gabe and Vera still had their chance.

  The door of the RV opened, and she wanted to raise her head to scream at the men to stay inside. To drive away while they still could. She refused to have any more human deaths on her conscience. Not in her final moments.

  But she couldn’t get enough air to move the words from her head into her throat.

  “Hey, asshole!” Percy shouted.

  The weight on Allegra’s back shifted as the Pimsin demon turned toward the call. There was a sound of smashing glass, and Allegra squeezed her eyes shut to avoid the shards skittering toward her face.

  What had the foolish man done? Thrown a bottle? Did he honestly believe that was all it would take to drive this demon away?

  The deep growl that followed the smashing glass stole Allegra’s breath. She wished she could see what was happening. But she wasn’t left to guess long before the sound of slavering barks filled the air.

  The Pimsin demon’s foot left her back, and it released its grip on her neck. She sucked in a deep breath and curled onto her side, desperate to slow her heartbeat and regain feeling in her limbs.

  Snarls, growls, and more barks filled the air. She tried to raise her head to see what Percy had unleashed, but the muscles in her neck were too stiff. A yelp, and then more barks from another location. The ground shook as the Pimsin demon chased after what sounded like a hound.

  One of Vera’s dogs? Allegra wondered.

  A cold hand brushed over her shoulder, and she turned her head enough to see Matthew kneeling over her. He flickered in and out a few times before once more turning as solid as he would ever become. A warm rush of relief soaked through the chills of her returning circulation. A warmer hand rested on her other arm, and she glanced toward Percy, who helped her slide backward along the glass-and-blood-spattered road closer to the RV, out of the path of the rampaging Pimsin demon. She couldn’t get her legs moving well enough to stand up, but Percy helped her sit with her back resting against the vehicle.

  Finally, she got a view of the scene. A strangely familiar wolfhound was attacking the demon, but it wasn’t one of Vera’s. It reminded her of the guard dogs she and Gabe had seen at the jinni’s mansion. Impossible.

  It wasn’t even corporeal. It moved like a gray mist, taking form when it stopped moving. Its teeth flashed bright under the glow of t
he streetlights, but whenever the Pimsin demon made contact, the hound vanished, appearing elsewhere, forcing the demon to pursue.

  How long would it take for the demon to tire or the hound’s energy to be expended? While this was a wonderful way to keep the Pimsin demon busy and away from the tunnel, Allegra didn’t want to think what would happen if they were joined by more sparring partners while they were out in the open. Each second of exposure increased their risk of being caught.

  She wriggled her toes, relieved to find there was no pain or numbness. From there she windshield-wipered her legs, cringing at the tingles that sparked through her nerves as feeling returned. But she could move. Using the RV behind her, she rose to her feet and watched for an opening.

  “What are you doing?” Emmett asked. “That thing’ll kill you in the state you’re in.”

  Allegra ran her fingers through her hair to smooth it down and wiped the back of her arm across her mouth to clear the blood. Her features had returned to normal, and she didn’t think she had the strength to draw her demon out again, but that didn’t mean she was useless.

  “Do not allow your perceptions to fool you,” she said, ignoring the way her voice rasped. “I am not as weak as I appear.”

  She tried to believe it herself, though the way her legs trembled beneath her wasn’t doing wonders for her confidence.

  Pushing her fear aside, she took a deep breath and stepped toward the demon. The hound had it fully engrossed in the chase. It swung its arms down to try to wrap them around the spirit, but the hound vanished and reappeared behind it, driving its teeth into the demon’s calf. It roared and turned around, and as soon as its back faced Allegra, she ran and leaped onto it. It threw itself backward, intending to crush her beneath it, but she managed to release her hold in time. It landed hard on its back, cracking the pavement, and she sprang onto its chest.

  “I tire of you now,” she said. Grabbing hold of one of its horns, she exerted enough strength to rip it free. The Pimsin demon bellowed and tried to roll away, but she gave it no time. With one last effort, she drove the horn into its throat, impaling it all the way to the base. Its feathered body shuddered, and with a last rush of foul air, it fell still.