I turned to Eli. “Why can’t they just open thousands all over the world and start their invasion that way? We could never have enough military or angelic forces to battle something like that, even if we could detect them when they came through.”
“If too many holes are punched through at the same time, the dimension will just collapse in on itself, and there would be nothing to invade,” Eli said.
“Hmm.” I tapped my chin. “Interesting. And scary. So, what about opening a portal under water or something? Would the portal sensors catch that?”
Hunter answered this time. “Yes, it would still give off a heat flux. And in the ocean, it would trigger various oceanographic sensors as well.”
An idea popped into my head. “So if the portal sensors read heat fluxes, what if—”
Hunter’s comm beeped. “I’ll be right back,” she said, jogging off.
“What if what?” Eli pressed, his brow wrinkled.
“What if the portal opened someplace even hotter than the heat flux, so the sensors couldn’t read it?”
“How hot would that have to be?” Riley piped in.
“Really, really hot,” Eli said.
“Like a volcano?” I asked.
Eli looked at me, comprehension dawning in his eyes. “Mt. Rainier.”
“But Mt. Rainier isn’t active,” Quinn said.
“It’s still hot enough down near the core,” Eli said, his jaw flexing.
“And if the demons could come in undetected, thousands could be coming in and waiting in the volcano. A whole demon army,” I said breathily.
“Well that’s a cheerful thought,” Donovan said, patting me on the back.
I grabbed Eli’s hand. “I think we should go scope it out. Hopefully I’m wrong.”
“What about us?” Riley asked with a slight tone of indignation.
“Me and Zyan will just pop over really quick, and if we’re right, we’ll come back and get reinforcements.” Eli was already pulling me closer to him to prepare for flight. I noticed Donovan’s eyes flick down to Eli’s hand on my waist.
“Trust me, if we’re right, and Hell is amassing in Mt. Rainier, you’ll get your share of the action,” I told Riley. “We all will.”
And with that, Eli and I blinked out of sight.
CHAPTER NINE
“That’s one big freaking volcano,” I whispered to Eli. We were standing on the lower slopes of Mt. Rainier in snow up to our ankles, looking up at thousands of feet of majestic mountain.
His lips twitched up in a small smile. “Well, yeah. Haven’t you been here before?”
“I’m a city girl,” I scoffed. But city girl or not, the mountain at close range took my breath away. In the moonlight the snowy hills sparkled like the afterglow of a spell. “Maybe I’m wrong about the invasion,” I said. “Everything seems quiet.”
“We’re not even close to the summit,” Eli responded. “So, there’s no telling. I just needed to get my bearings before trying to fly up there. We can go now.”
He opened his wings and launched us into the air. We skimmed up the side of the volcano, the icy air raising goosebumps on my skin. As we reached the crater rim, I noticed there was no smoke. Or any kind of disturbance whatsoever. Only a large disc covered in snow. But with a distinct smell of…
“Sulfur!” I wrinkled my nose. “I’ve never smelled it so strongly.”
Eli shook his head. “That’s from the volcano. It doesn’t mean there are demons around.”
“Well that’s not helpful. And what the heck? Where’s the lava and stuff?”
“Mt. Rainier hasn’t erupted since the 1800s.” Eli landed us in the snow with a soft thump.
“But there’s lava inside?” I peered down at the ground below us, wishing I had X-ray vision.
“Yep. Supposedly, it could erupt at any time.”
We fell into silence. I felt deflated. I guess I hadn’t expected the volcano to be all covered with snow. And there was a distinct lack of demons. “Well, what now? How do we tell if there are demons hanging out in there?”
I could tell Eli hadn’t really thought about this either, which made me feel a bit better. But he recovered quickly. “I read somewhere there are these glacial ice tunnels made by steam from the volcano. Maybe we could find one?”
“In the dark? If you haven’t noticed, this mountain is fairly sizeable.”
He glared at me. “Do you have a better idea?”
“Listen—” I paused, looking at a large black dot in the sky over his shoulder. A black dot that quickly grew in size as it headed in our direction. “Yeah, actually. How about we follow those two demons over there?”
He spun around, showering me with snow.
“Watch it!” I growled, but he yanked me down to the ground. “Ugh, it’s cold!”
“It’s snow, it’s supposed to be cold,” he hissed.
We watched the demons as they began to descend towards us. Then they dropped out of view beyond the rim. We crawled on our bellies to the edge and peeked over. I could just see the two winged shapes disappearing into the side of the mountain. Eli shot me a triumphant look.
“Way to go, Nature Boy.” I rolled my eyes. “You’re such a know-it-all.”
We climbed over the edge of the rim and headed in the direction the demons had gone. After a few minutes of scrabbling through the snow, we were standing right about where they had vanished. “I don’t see anything.”
“It’s over here,” Eli called.
I followed him over to a crevasse I had thought was simply two interfaces of rock joining together. “You’re joking.”
He turned to me with a grin. “You’re not claustrophobic are you, Zy?” He disappeared into a hobbit-sized tunnel.
“Of course not. I love crawling into tiny, snow-filled tunnels,” I muttered into the wind.
My eyes quickly adjusted to the deeper dark of the tunnel, and I could see Eli moving effortlessly over the icy floor ahead, a small light from his wrist-comm illuminating the path. We traveled for what seemed a long time, and I was pretty sure my scuffling and tripping along the tunnel would alert every demon in the mountain. Then, abruptly, the tunnel opened into a large room. The walls glistened in varying shades of blue, from light turquoise to deep midnight.
“It’s beautiful,” I said in a hushed voice.
Eli nodded, and we crossed slowly to the other side of the room, cramping back into the tunnel. A few minutes later we began to feel an emanating warmth. And then the tunnel opened rather alarmingly into the volcano’s core. We peered over the edge.
“Look down there,” Eli whispered. “There’s a little ledge. Since I’ve gotten a visual, we can cut through the dimensional paths, land on the ledge and get a closer look.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Eli grabbed my hand and we blinked out and in again, reappearing on the ledge we’d seen from above. We crouched down and peered into the smoke. I could see a few other ledges inside the volcano walls. And on the furthest one down… was something. The smoke cleared a bit and my fears were confirmed. “Alexander. He’s down there.”
Me and Eli looked at each other, the gravity of the situation sinking in. “So, the demons are gathering here—”
“And then they’ll march on Seattle,” Eli finished.
“Where are all the demons, though?”
We looked back down into the shadows of the volcano. “Is it just me, or does the lava look strange?” Eli asked.
I stared down into the orange pit at the bottom of the volcano. “It’s not just you. It looks oddly lumpy. I think some of the demons are in the lava.”
Eli looked thoughtful. “This is actually good. We can go get Commander Hunter, and get the NHTF to drop one of their big bombs down here and finish them all off.”
I shrugged. “Seems easy enough. If they all stay put until Hunter gets here.”
“I guess we’d better go then so they can get underway as quickly as possible.”
I shook my he
ad. “I’m staying here to keep an eye on things.”
“I’m not leaving you here on this ledge. You’d have no way to get out if something went wrong.” He gave me a look that indicated I was clearly delusional.
“Fine, then leave me on the rim. But I don’t think we should leave things unattended here. If something changes, I can call and give you a heads up.”
Eli looked torn. “I guess—on the rim only. Don’t try to crawl back in here. And if something comes out of that volcano, you run like hell.”
“Okay, thanks Dad.” I rolled my eyes.
He smiled and in a blink we were standing back at the rim again. “I’ll see you in a few,” he said, and disappeared.
I really did fully intend on behaving myself, and certainly had no intention of climbing back into the volcano to investigate. That was just something somebody stupid would do. Unfortunately, the universe had its own sense of irony. Because at that moment, something streaked up the side of the volcano and came to a stop right before me. The blur materialized into a familiar shape. Anna.
“You’re supposed to be trapped in Faerie,” she snarled.
“Nice to see you, too, sis,” I said wryly.
“So, here to save the world? Is that it?” She had her hands on her hips, looking startlingly like me. I was just glad she was showing some sort of emotion.
I crossed my arms over my chest. “Yes, as a matter of fact. I like the world. And if you don’t snap out of this demon allegiance thing, the government’s going to bust in here and you will be destroyed. Do you understand?” All I got in response was a frosty glare. She was starting to ice over again. “I’m serious, Anna. I know you can break free of their control.”
She narrowed her blue eyes. “What are you talking about?”
“Down in Lucifer’s palace? You let me go.” My voice carried the certainty I felt.
“Don’t fool yourself,” Anna snapped. “My concentration broke, that’s all.”
We didn’t have time for a long, drawn-out argument right now. “We both know that’s not true,” I said. “Now cut your shit and let’s go. You don’t have to like me, but we need to get out of here.”
“I don’t think so.” Anna started backing away from me, closer to the rim.
“Don’t do it, Anna. What do you think Alexander’s going to do when he finds out you ran into me up here and did nothing?” I didn’t know what the hell was coming out of my mouth, just anything to stall her. If I could just distract her a few more minutes, reinforcements would come and I could get her out of here.
“Fine. Would you like to pay him a visit?” And she lunged at me.
Expecting it, I dodged. “Come on, this is clearly half-hearted.” I inched away from the rim, trying to draw her down the side of the mountain.
“Whatever delusions you’re holding, you should let them go, Zyan. I have no feeling of sisterly bond towards you. I never will. Do you hear me?” She seemed really mad now, shaking with anger in fact. Or was that…
The ground rumbled under our feet. I tripped, but caught myself on the tips of my fingers. “Hate me if you want! But leave them before it’s too late!”
“It’s already too late!” she shrieked back at me as another quake shook the ground.
“Are you saying you’d leave if you could?” I tried to catch her eyes again from where I’d fallen on the rocks.
“You know where my allegiance lies,” she said coldly, rising to her feet.
I opened my mouth to respond, but someone popped into view before me. Not Eli, as I had hoped. Alexander.
Alright, the games were over. Time to end this. I launched myself at him.
And was promptly frozen in place.
Except my mouth this time. “Are you too much of a fucking coward to fight me, Alexander?”
He laughed elegantly. “Oh, Zyan, when will you realize that I am your better? I’m not going to waste my time fighting you when we both know how it will end. Visit a therapist if you can’t see the truth, because I won’t indulge your feeble attempts.”
“Is that why you had me lured down to Faerie?” I hissed. “Because I’m such an inconsequential threat?”
Alexander’s face became very still for a moment before twisting into his usual smile. “All just part of the plan, dear Zyan. Now, before we execute our invasion of your realm—which you have no chance of stopping, by the way—I think we have a little unfinished business.” His eyes moved down my body, resting on my demon mark.
“Isn’t that Lucifer’s unfinished business?”
His eyes flickered. “I am sure he would be relieved to have you under our control. He was so very disappointed when you escaped before.” His eyes moved to Anna. “Isn’t that right, my love?”
I saw Anna flinch ever so slightly. She must have been punished severely.
Turning back to me, Alexander pushed up the sleeve of my shirt and pulled a wicked looking blade from his pocket. “This will only hurt a little. You remember, I’m sure.” He smiled, as sharp as the blade, and pressed it down against my skin.
As agony ripped through my arm, Anna took away the use of my mouth, so the scream flying up from my solar plexus died in my throat. My tattoo began to glow vividly. I would not be bound to Alexander. I would rather die. I would do anything. Anything…
And then a desperate thought occurred to me. The thing I’d wondered horrifyingly in the brief moments of respite since leaving Lucifer’s palace. Did I have a connection to Lucifer? Could he hear my thoughts, know what I was doing? Maybe if I just reached out…
Lucifer! I screamed inside my head.
A burst of light illuminated the night sky, and the Devil stood before me.
“You called?”
CHAPTER TEN
Even though I’d seen him before, Lucifer’s beauty still astonished me. He stood there in the night with skin of moonbeams and hair like sunlight.
“Yes, I called,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. I may have hopped out of the frying pan, and I was definitely in the fire now. “I thought you might be interested to know that Alexander was attempting to demon bond me.”
Lucifer’s smile faded, a blooming flower falling in on itself. He turned to Alexander with dangerous eyes. “Is that so?”
“I thought it best to make the bond while she was in our grasp,” Alexander said, his words enunciated very carefully. “Before she escaped again.”
“You could have called me.” Lucifer’s eyes glittered, their amethyst hue touched with ice. “She did.”
“My deepest apologies, Master,” Alexander said, bowing.
“We will discuss this more later,” Lucifer said. His tone held dark, dark promises I didn’t even want to imagine. “But now we have a realm to invade.” He turned back to me. “And I’m so glad that you’re here to see it all happen, Zyan.”
“It’s a brilliant plan,” I commented, gesturing towards the top of the volcano. “Using one of the few active volcanoes in the States to bring in your demon army undetected by the portal sensors. But what next? Are you just going to march down the road to Seattle? Disseminate across the country?”
Lucifer smiled. “Well, Zyan, if you would allow me to finish the demon bond, I would be happy to tell you everything. But until then, you’re not privy to my plans.”
“That really hurts, Lucifer.” I frowned mockingly.
“You know, we probably have excess time. Why not finish your bond now?” Lucifer reached out, faster than I could follow with my eyes, and grabbed my arm.
“It won’t work on me,” I said. “I won’t be one of your mindless robots. I’m going to fight it, and I’m going to break it.”
Lucifer flashed me a smile of utmost condescension. “And it’s that spirit that makes you so valuable to me.” He pulled out his jagged shard and lowered the tip towards my arm.
“Unfortunately, Zyan’s already employed elsewhere.”
Four heads whipped towards the new voice. Eli stood there in the darkness, looking al
most as brilliant as Lucifer. He wore a silver breastplate and protective braces over his arms and legs, like some kind of celestial knight.
“Is this your angelic protector?” Lucifer asked with a chuckle, his eyes on mine. “I can see why you’ve taken sides with the HR. If all you need is a couple boy toys to keep you occupied, I’m sure I can arrange something.”
Martinis with the Devil, Part Two Page 10
