by A and E Kirk
My hands glowed. I wiggled my fingers. Jagged tendrils of light buzzed like webs between them, bringing a faint tickle on my hands and arms.
“Beautiful,” Cristiano said, staring intently, then he grinned, opened the door, and led us through. “Now we are ready.”
I followed, hoping he was right.
CHAPTER 109
As the battle raged, noise crashed against me like a physical force. We stood on the metal walkway that lined the perimeter of the five-story space, its center was open all the way to the ceiling giving it a giant atrium feel. Groups of hunters and demons fought on every level.
Two haptogian mols came at us.
“Demons!” I said and stepped forward, pointing.
Without hesitation, Cristiano slashed one of the grotesque monsters to the ground. Ayden reached for me, but not before a thin white light sizzled from my finger and blasted the other demon onto its back. His smoking corpse smelled of sulfur.
“Nice,” Blake said, “but give me a chance first.” With a flick of his hand, the wristbands came off the demons, revealing their hideous selves before the bodies vortexed into black dust.
“How’d you do that?” I asked
“The wristbands are mostly metal, babe. If I’m close enough, I can release the latch. Or just snap in it two.”
“Oh,” I said. “Well, start getting close enough! At least the hunters can see what they’re dealing with.”
“Sure, babe, but I won’t mind killing a few myself.” Blake held out his hands as his eyes swirled in bright, spicy hues. Around us metal twisted and tore from the building and by the time the pieces shot into Blake’s meaty paws, they’d morphed into two huge, shiny battle axes. Blake tested the weight and feel, then twirled them with blurring speed.
Blake used his powers to fling the metal wristbands off the disguised demons fighting around us. As the demons were unmasked, Logan started blasting arrow after arrow like he was taking out targets in a carnival shooting gallery, while Blake buried the axes into their heads or torsos, slicing and dicing with an impressive, violent grace. They moved steadily down the walk, clearing the way.
“Time to call in the cavalry,” I said to Ayden.
He hesitated. “I still don’t think using Pearl is a good idea.” Yeah, Ayden wasn’t an admirer of this part of the made-on-the-run-in-the-stairway plan. He shook his head. “If she figures out who you are, we could be screwed.”
“Ayden,” I said. “Look around. We’re already screwed. These hunters are screwed. We can use all the help we can get, and Cristiano said the guardians are excellent assets in battle. Is he wrong?”
“No,” Ayden admitted. “They are. In fact, I don’t think you know how scary they can be.”
Scary? Annoying, maybe. “I hope you’re right, because I’ll take whatever help the little pixies can provide. Now call her!”
With one last worried glance, Ayden yelled, “Pearl!”
The guardian blinked to life in a puff of sparkling red dust, wings fluttering wildly. “I am here! I am here! What do you need? Tell me! Tell me!” She shot me an annoyed glance but then went back to flitting around Ayden with nothing but adoring smiles.
“Can you see through the demons disguises?” he asked her.
“Of course!” She spun a quick circle. “I can see through everyone’s horrible, ugly disguises.” I think she threw me a dirty look, but couldn’t be sure. “We all can!”
“Then bring everyone,” Ayden said. “And get to work.”
Five more puffs of sparkling dust in a rainbow of colors burst into the air. The rest of the Boys' guardians had arrived. I couldn't help but wonder what had happened to mine.
Pearl buzzed ahead of us, joined by a grey one. Then the two cute little pixies seemingly unhinged their jaws and opened mouths suddenly larger than their entire bodies. Yawning orifices that housed rows of sharp teeth and enormous fangs. They dive-bombed demons and snapped off wristbands, sometimes severing entire hands in the process.
Okay. A little scarier than I expected.
The four other guardians headed toward Jayden and Cristiano, zipping past them to jettison into the fray below. Jayden leapt over the railing, throwing ice daggers as he dropped out of sight.
Cristiano started to follow, but first stopped to grin at me. “Good luck!” he said, then vaulted over the metal rail after Jayden. The sounds of ferocious fighting coming from below immediately increased in volume.
Ayden, Matthias, and I followed in the two guardians' wake, as the mini-psychos continued their brutal attacks. As demons changed to their hideous forms, Ayden and Matthias took them out, fire blazing, shadow whips snapping through the air. I had the advantage of true sight and shot my white light even before wristbands dropped, but only when I was close enough, too scared to risk taking out a wall, part of the building, or some innocents.
It was a cautious balancing act, because we weren’t the only ones fighting. Mandatum hunters battled for their lives, but as more and more demons were exposed, the hellions’ advantage vanished.
We fought our way around the perimeter toward Madame Cacciatori’s office where my Nex tracking still had a lock on the demon holding Sophina. But the going was slow, and the office seemed far away.
Then my tracking changed.
I got back-to-back with Ayden and said, “They’re on the move. At least the demon is.”
And since my connection was with the demon, if it separated from Sophina, we’d be in trouble.
Across the room's massive, open-air center, Sophina’s office door opened. The haptogian mol came out first, Sophina over his shoulder. Dubois followed, shouting orders. They were bottlenecked like we were, so to clear the way, the hellion simply began tossing bodies over the railing. Then they made a beeline for an exit and would be gone long before we could get to them. Unless we started flinging bodies as well.
“Ayden!”
“I see them! Matthias!”
“On it!” The Aussie shot up a shadow whip and wrapped it around one of the metal beams across the ceiling. He climbed onto the railing. “Get up here and hang on!”
Ayden scrambled up the railing and reached a hand down for me, but I balked, I’d had enough of heights for today. “Come on!”
Ayden grabbed my arm and hauled me up. We put our arms around Matthias, me in front, Ayden in back.
I took a deep breath. “Give me a second to—awwwck!”
Matthias jumped into the abyss. My face squished against his chest, it was easy to hear the laughter rumbling inside. I would’ve let loose a snide remark, but my stomach had sunk, taking my breath with it.
We dropped for what seemed forever before tension lurched the whip, and we swung smoothly over the mad mass fighting below. There was a sound I now—because of my new normal—recognized as gunshots. Matthias jerked. Something warm splattered across my cheek and when I looked up, I saw a hole in the Aussie’s shirt. A bullet had torn through his bicep on the arm holding the whip, blood spread out over the fabric. He gave a startled, sharp grunt and lost his grip.
We plummeted like a stone. I grabbed on tighter for no apparent reason other than I didn’t want to land in the pit of monsters alone. Several of the demons were already jumping and snapping their jaws, waiting to be the first to get a piece of us. Not that I’d have to worry about them after I went splat.
A half a lifetime later, or maybe it was half a second, a gust of wind buoyed underneath us and slowed our fall, which gave Matthias a chance to shoot out another whip using his uninjured arm. The black rope wrapped around a beam and swung us up and over the fifth floor railing on the same walkway as Dubois, her demon, and Sophina. We landed with a loud crash and sizzling array of sparks, taking out a bunch of electronic equipment along with demons and hunters.
I struggled to my feet, then helped Ayden lift a chair off Matthias. He groaned, rose slowly, grimacing as he looked at his arm. “Bloody hurts.”
Ayden ripped open the blood-drenched sleeve. “It’s a
through-and-through, but the bleeding’s bad. We have to stop it.”
“Later,” Matthias growled. A hunter rushed him from the side. Matthias slammed a fist in his face, knocking him cold.
Dubois and the demon holding Sophina were almost to the door, and there was still a crowd of unfriendly individuals between us and them. Matthias raised his good arm and from the darkness above the metal rafters, shadows swirled then writhed together like a nest of angry vipers.
“Matthias, no.” Ayden pulled at the Aussie’s arm. “It’ll take too much out of you.”
Matthias shook him off. His eyes had gone black. Sweat dripped off his face, and the blood from his wound flowed down the length of his arm and rained off his fingertips, leaving a growing red puddle on the floor.
While Ayden used fire to deal with two demons charging him, a human hunter came at me with some serious martial arts moves. I didn’t want to hurt him. I dodged, then took a hit to my gut and went down on one knee. A kick came at my head, but I caught the hunter’s ankle and twisted. He went down screaming and grabbing his leg.
I smelled burnt flesh. The lower part of his pant leg was smoking. The heat from my glowing hand had charred his clothing and skin.
Well, whoops.
Matthias shook with effort as the shadows above weaved into a net and started to congregate toward Dubois and company, but she was already opening the door. Ayden lobbed a fireball up and over the crowd in front of us. It slammed into the door, flames and embers bursting into the air like fireworks.
Startled, Dubois released the door and jumped back, slapping away the fire that sparked off her clothing. She turned around to sneer at us, then she became puzzled and raised her eyes. At the sight of Matthias’s shadows, she leveled a venomous look toward us and said something to the demon.
The creature nodded, and with as much effort as tossing a towel, he lifted Madame Cacciatori from his shoulder and launched her over the railing.
CHAPTER 110
“No!” I shouted. Not that anyone heard me over the roar of the ongoing battle.
As Sophina plunged out of sight, Dubois twisted her lips in an ugly smile.
Matthias’s hand slashed down and the net of shadows he’d created to catch Dubois dived like a magic carpet and wrapped around Sophina’s falling body.
She was still falling, but the Aussie had already lunged and reached over the railing to send out another whip from his wounded arm. It cascaded down and latched onto the net. The tension yanked, and he screamed. Slumped over the metal bar, his armpit acting as a fulcrum, his knees seemed to give out, but he refused to let go.
“Dammit!” Ayden rushed to Matthias, who was still hanging on to Cacciatori. Blood spurted from the two holes in his straining bicep.
Ayden grabbed Matthias’s wrist and helped the Aussie hold the woman dangling below. “Aurora, cauterize the wound.”
“What?” I sputtered. “You’ve got the fire.”
“I’m a little busy.” He strained with effort. “The heat in your hand, use it to stop the bleeding. Stick your fingers in the holes.”
“Oh hell no!” That didn’t sound like a good idea. Not only gross, but I was no doctor and could make things even worse. Although, if the Aussie kept pumping more blood out of his body, the worst would happen. “I’ll put pressure on it. Get a tourniquet. Or I can help hold her up while you cauterize—”
“Do it or he’ll die!” Ayden ordered.
Matthias gave me a cold look, his face was ashen, dark circles ringed his sunken eyes. He’d already begun to resemble a corpse.
The Aussie rasped out, “Maybe I’d rather die than have her save my life.”
“Good,” I said. “Then we’re agreed.”
I plunged my two index fingers into the holes in his arm. One finger into the entrance wound, one into the exit. They slipped easily into the bloody slime. So disgusting. Flesh smoked. Blood steamed. Matthias’s body went rigid. He bellowed. I screamed. Then I yanked out my fingers and wiped them on his shirt.
Matthias blew out a long breath. The bleeding had all but stopped. While I ripped away a piece of T-shirt and secured it around the injury, he unfurled another whip from his good hand and wrapped it around Cacciatori, who was still hanging unconscious.
“Yes, Tristan, I can hear you,” Matthias said through gritted teeth. “What do you see?”
Tristan must have made it to the main security room. The plan was to take over the video feeds and also try to get us out of lockdown. Or at least get out a phone call or some other SOS to summon help. Matthias was listening to him with one of Bill and Ted’s earpieces.
“Dubois is doing what?” Matthias said. “Crap. We’re a little busy. Watch her and keep me posted. We’ll be there as soon as we can.” He and Ayden began hauling up Madame Cacciatori. “Tristan says Dubois is making a break for it, slicing up hunters on her way out.”
Glancing at the door confirmed that Dubois and her entourage were gone.
I lifted the hem of my shirt to wipe Matthias’s ear. “You’ve something on your—”
He jerked his head. “Get away from me.”
“Sure thing.” I ripped off a foot-long metal rod that was hanging from some shattered and sparking piece of equipment. I swung it a few times to get the feel, then used it to fight my way down the walkway, through hunters and demons and out the exit Dubois had taken.
As I went through the door, something blurred at my side. I dropped to one knee and spun, shoving the jagged edge of the rod up hard and burying it into the gut of a haptogian mol. He grunted in pain and shock, but reached for me with its claws. My hands lit up. The rod sizzled hot, sparks running up the metal and into the demon’s belly making it spasm as if hit with an electric shock. Then the creature teetered and dropped to the floor. Dead.
He wasn’t the only one. I was in a long corridor, grey, stark, tasteful artwork on the walls, and lying next to the demon on the formerly pristine carpet were three dead hunters.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered to the two men and the woman who were fallen victims of Dubois' insane scheme.
“Why are you sorry?”
I gave a startled squeak in response to the voice in my head. No, I wasn’t going crazy. Yet. I’d stolen the earpiece from Matthias and stuck it in my own ear.
“Hey, Tristan,” I said, running down the hallway. “I’m following my connection to the demon, but I don’t know if he’s still with Dubois. Do you have a visual on them right now?”
“Aurora,” he said warily. “Why do you have the ear comm? Where are Matthias and Ayden?”
“Busy with Madame Cacciatori.”
“You’re on your own? This isn’t a good idea.”
“Better than letting Dubois escape and miss out on getting answers. You going to help me or what?”
I heard him sigh. “Fine. But be careful and don’t do anything stupid.”
“You know me.”
“That’s why I said be careful and don’t do anything stupid.”
“Hardy-fricking-har-har.”
Using what he could of the security system, Tristan helped me avoid hunters and demons. In a matter of minutes I had a visual. Dubois and her demon henchman slipped past the elevators and through the door to the stairs.
“What the heck are they doing?” Tristan muttered.
“You tell me!” I slammed through the doors.
Dubois’ labored breathing and clicking heels echoed through the stairwell.
“They’re going down?” Tristan said, and I gave chase. “But there’s nothing down there. They’re cornering themselves. Aurora, just stay there and— Gun!”
I threw myself against the wall. The rail dinged and sparks flew as Dubois took a shot at me from below.
“Don’t move and wait for back up!” Tristan said.
“I’m not waiting for backup!” I panted and started back down. “She probably has an escape plan!”
Dubois shouted, “Wait for backup, Aurora!”
“You stop r
unning, Dubois!” I peeked over the edge.
Dubois was also peeking up at me. Gun raised, she pulled the trigger. I whirled away and wrapped my arms around my head as the bullets spurted up. A moment later, I heard nothing but a series of hollow clicks.
“You might be out of bullets, but I’ve still got plenty of blasts!” I descended with renewed gusto. Knowing your opponent is defenseless is a huge confidence booster.
I swung an arm over the rail, closed one eye to help aim, and released a blast of energy. It struck down like one of Zeus' lightning bolt arrows. Dubois' demon companion incinerated on the spot. The stench of sulfur wafted up from below. No time for nausea.
Dubois yelped and ran faster. “You did not have to make this so difficult!”
My body trembled with fury. “Me? I wouldn’t be here if you’d left me alone! I never would have even known you existed!”
“Of course you would have. Ah!” Dubois slipped, but she grabbed the rail to steady herself. “Eventually!”
“No! I wouldn’t! This is all your fault!”
“Ow! Not so loud,” Tristan said.
“The Divinicus always appears,” Dubois snapped. “They were so close to finding you!”
“I wasn’t even in Gossamer Falls. You knew what I was before I ever met Mandatum!”
“I knew before you ever spoke your first words.”
It was my turn to slip. I thudded on my butt a few steps—ow! Ow!— before finding my feet and clambering down.
“That’s impossible! I-I didn’t even have my powers then!”
“I didn’t need to see your powers to know what you were to become. That you would seek the protection of the Mandatum.”
“I don’t want to be protected by the Mandatum!”
Dubois paused and leaned over the rail to look up at me. “What?”
