by A and E Kirk
“I don’t want the whole Mandatum savior job and the office with no view.” I stopped and sucked in a few breaths. “Are you telling me you’ve ruined both our lives because you didn’t bother to ask if I wanted Mandatum protection?”
She pursed her lips. “…No… No!” she hollered with renewed conviction as she clattered down the steps. “Your existence prevents the Mandatum from its full potential. Without you, they must adapt! Must change! The Divinicus doesn’t save the Mandatum. It destroys it!”
“Oh. My. God! Argh!” I jumped down five steps at a time. “You’re insane!”
“By destroying you, I save the Mandatum. I save the entire human race!”
“Then run back up here and destroy me, coward!”
“Aurora!” Tristan yelped. “Stop chasing Dubois!”
Suddenly, in my ear, a fierce female voice commanded with utmost authority, “You will not dare to stop chasing Dubois!”
“Oh, God,” Tristan squeaked.
Why did I know that voice?
“To whom is it that you are speaking, Tristan?” the woman demanded.
“Uh— No one,” Tristan said. “I mean, I’ve never met her before in my life.”
“Then provide me access to that comm immediately!”
Whoa. Talk about a haughty tone.
“No, wait! I— Ow!” Tristan let out a loud yelp.
There was a scuffling sound and static, then the woman came on, her voice low and ferocious. “Listen to me, whoever you are. I am in charge. I am Sophina Cacciatori, and from this moment on, you are mine.”
Oh. Crap.
CHAPTER 111
In my shock and terror with speaking directly with my would-be warden, I missed a step and tumbled down the last few onto the nearest landing. My head spun, aches and bruising flaring across my limbs, chest, and back. But Sophina kept blaring in my ear.
“Do you understand?! You answer only to me and you will do exactly as I say. Now speak and identify yourself at once!”
Oh, me? I’m just the Divinicus Nex, object of your desire for the past seventeen years.
“I said identify yourself!” When I didn’t answer immediately, she huffed. “This is ludicrous. Does she not know who I am? Or,” her voice turned calculating and full of venom, “is she part of Dubois’ takeover?”
“No!” Tristan said. “She wants to stop Dubois. That I know for sure.”
“At least you know something. Tell me, can she be trusted?”
Tristan rushed his words. “Who knows? Never met her before. She sounds trustworthy, though. And like I said, she's no fan of Dubois.”
“Then listen to me, girl,” Sophina growled in a low, deadly voice. “If you are not part of this, I will let you live, but only if you follow my orders. Now, where is that filthy traitorous turncoat, Dubois? And if you do not answer me at once, if I lose her because of you, I will make it my personal mission to hunt you down and make you pay with your own life to atone for the many innocent souls of my people which have been lost today!”
Wow. She was intense. I could see where Cristiano got it. The whole “hunting me down” speech was kind of humorous considering our situation, but at the moment, I didn’t think she’d appreciate the irony.
There was a pounding noise. “Tell me Dubois’ location!”
“Uh…” I cleared my throat and used the rail to pull myself up. “She’s just reached the bottom of the rabbit hole.”
I didn’t want her to know where I was and be able to track me.
There was more pounding. Tristan yelped again as Sophina shouted, “What absolute drivel she spouts! Is she attempting to confuse me? Attempting to hide Dubois? From me!”
Yes on the first, no on the second, I just wasn’t sure how to make this work.
“No! No!” Tristan squeaked. “She’s just a little confused herself. She, uh, got hit in the head. I think she meant Dubois reached the bottom of a stairwell.”
“Well, why did she not say so? Which stairwell, girl?”
Tristan said, “Uh, girl, who I don’t know, maybe you should just speak plainly and answer Madame Cacciatori. Do you know which geographically labeled stairwell you are in?”
“Geo-what? No!” I said. “But I do know Dubois is going down, and I’m losing her.”
“Do not lose her,” Sophina commanded. “Follow her. We will track your location and get a visual on you momentarily.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
“Sure,” Tristan said. “Let me get these cameras set up to—what! Oh, no!”
“Tristan, what have you done to my security feeds? I can see nothing! Move aside.”
Tristan mumbled something unintelligible. With a grunt and groan, I spiraled down the steps. Dubois was out of sight.
“Tristan,” I said, “I know you said there’s nothing down here, but would Dubois know about the tunnels out through the catacombs?”
“Of course, she would know,” Sophina snapped. “The question is, how is it that you know of them?”
“Yeah,” Tristan said. “How do you know? I didn’t know.”
“Not really important now, folks,” I said. “What is important is that it’s probably not a good thing if Dubois gets to them and makes her escape.”
“Exactly,” Sophina said. “You must not let her reach the tunnels.”
“Little late.” I hit the bottom landing and saw a massive arched door made of old, weathered wood and crisscrossed with heavy strips of black iron. Several weird symbols were carved on the surface. Now this reminded me of Flint’s place. “You people really love your secret tunnels. ”
“Do not hesitate,” Sophina ordered. “Go after her!”
I heaved the door open. It led to a long corridor lined with stone, smooth and dry, and too thin to house a horde of hellions. If I bent my arms and flapped like a duck, my elbows would brush the sides. Wooden torches lined the space, blazing a bright golden light and smelling of kerosene. I took one tentative step in and stopped dead at the vision that flashed in my head.
It wasn’t encouraging.
“What if,” I said, “hypothetically speaking, she has a bunch of demons down here waiting at the end of this tunnel? Hypothetically.”
“Hypothetically?” Tristan said.
“Yes, Tristan, she has made that clear. Are we sure English is your first language?” Sophina made a frustrated noise. “Girl, are you trained in combat?”
I chuckled. “Graduated top of my class.” Class of me and me only.
“Really?” Tristan’s voice climbed a few octaves. “You don’t sound very trained to me.”
“Then you must go,” Sophina spoke over him. “Dubois possesses the master wristband. On it is a kill switch which has the ability to destroy all of her demons in this facility, and thereby save every hunter that remains alive.”
“I really don’t think you want her to go in there,” Tristan said.
“Go now, girl, or we all die.”
Yeah, I just didn’t want to die in the saving process. I swung the door back and forth. Creak, creak. “Did you mean go hypothetically or—”
“That was not a request,” Sophina said in a steely tone. “That was an explicit order from the Director of the Divinicus Nex Task Force. An order to be executed immediately. Now go!”
And I could see where Cristiano got his bossy nature.
“I will send every team at my disposal to offer you assistance,” Sophina promised.
“No!” Tristan and I shouted.
“But if you fail,” she added quietly. “They will arrest you, and bring you to me.”
Gee. Talk about a killer incentive program.
CHAPTER 112
Tristan managed to talk Sophina out of sending the whole Mandatum after me. Only the ones we were sure we could trust, although she did assure me that, upon failure, I would still answer to her. Not ominous at all. But then she’d lightened up, at least in comparison to vaguely threatening me, and once I’d described the entry and corridor,
she’d pinpointed my location.
“That entire wing of the building was shut down many years ago,” Sophina said, annoyed. “And that door has been permanently sealed for decades.”
“Well, not anymore.” I stepped slowly into the doom-inspiring corridor. “So you want to give me a heads-up on where this leads?”
“Ah, yes,” she said. “You will be entering the Pit of Hell.”
“The what?” I gulped.
“It is not as dire as it sounds,” Sophina said. “The Pit of Hell is the imprisonment facility for housing hundreds of the utmost savage and dangerous of demonic entities.”
“Ah, for the record,” I said. “That is as dire as it sounds.”
“I’d have to agree,” Tristan said.
Sophina made a dismissive noise. “The prison is empty and no longer operational. It is considered antiquated even with the impressive improvements Flint made in his time. But today, we have many other more modern and secure facilities elsewhere.”
Still didn’t make me feel better, because from what I could tell from my vision, it may not be as empty as she seemed to think. As far as I was concerned, the Hex Boys couldn’t get here fast enough. At least my power was on point, hands glowing and ready to go.
I found courage—cowering behind panic—gathered it to me and moved forward with caution. The corridor opened into a room several stories high with torches that cast menacing shadows flickering over the different levels carved from rock. As I entered, Flint’s old-fashioned lights ca-chunked to life.
In the center of the first floor was a table made out of one solid slab of stone big enough to hold my entire house. In the swirling pattern of ridges and lines was what looked like fresh blood. Thick, rusted iron shackles were attached to chains embedded in the surface. Looking out of place was a cardboard shipping box sitting open on the table.
At the far end of the space was a room encased in glass.
“Holy moly,” I said quietly. “It’s Flint all over again.”
“What are you talking about?” Sophina said. “What do you know about Flint? Tristan, are you sure you do not know this girl? Nathan Flint is your domain.”
“Uh, I really don’t. Remember I said she got hit on the head.”
“I’ve read about him,” I said. And seen his work up close, just like now.
The interior of the glass enclosed room resembled a Victorian Era spaceship. Control panels rimmed the perimeter and were full of old-school radio dials, copper buttons shaped like nuts and bolts, brass typewriter keys, and lots of small round red, green, and yellow lights next to switches, knobs, and levers. Totally steampunk.
We had one of these in Gossamer Falls. Ours was bigger, I thought with a silly sense of pride, and controlled a lot more than one room and a few tunnels. It powered Flint’s house, Lizzy’s sanctuary, the treasure room, and all the inner workings of the security system he’d built underneath the town.
But he’d started small, in this creepy, dungeony place made even more creepy by the fact that floor after floor was lined with prison cells. And shocker—they weren’t empty.
Every manner of demon, hundreds of them, glared out at me from behind thick metal bars. All ugly, all scary, and all really ticked off. They snarled and snapped, slobber flying as they rammed themselves against the bars, clawed arms reaching out to rip me to shreds. Their manic rage shook the foundation. I cringed back but had nowhere to go because the cells surrounded me on all sides.
“What’s that noise?” Tristan said.
“I think I just found Dubois’ stash,” I whispered, advancing slowly. Inside the cardboard box were dozens of the wristbands the demons wore to mask their true form. “The stockpile of monsters she’s been using to infiltrate the headquarters.”
Sophina spat out a very unladylike remark, then said, “Stay alive, girl. All the help you need is on his way.”
At least all the hellions seemed to be secured in locked cells. Across the room, a shadow sprinted out from behind a pillar and headed for one of the arches at the other end. Blonde hair, white pants. It was Dubois.
“Stop!” I shouted.
Surprise, she didn’t.
I shot out a hand. Lightning flashed and sparked into the top of the archway ahead of her. The stone detonated and crumbled, blocking her path with a pile of rubble. While she reeled to a stop and tried to determine her next course of action, arms raised to shield from the falling rubble, I was already running.
I leapt through the billowing dust and tackled her from behind. We hit the cold, gritty ground with a skidding crash. I ended up on top of her, sitting on her stomach and grabbing at her wrists.
“Where is the stupid thing?!” I said.
Blood oozed from her forehead and down the side of her face as her blue eyes opened, unfocused and vague. Yanking her sleeves, I found the wristband. It was more of a cuff, made of thick copper and embedded with lights that sparkled like jewels.
Dubois’ eyes suddenly cleared, and she threw a fist. I dodged and rolled, swinging one leg up between us and curling it around her neck, pinning her down while struggling to hang on to her arm.
“Sophina!” I yelled. “There’s no button marked ‘kills all demons and saves the world.’ ”
“Of course there is not,” Sophina said. “Why does she say the most ridiculous things? And at the most inappropriate times? Who is this girl, and who is responsible for her atrocious training?”
“Hey! Cacciatori!” Tristan yelled. “Tell her how to find the switch!”
“No need to shout, Tristan. The kill switch, yes. Girl, you must look for a latch or hidden compartment.”
Grunting against Dubois’ struggles, I ripped the cuff off her arm and shoved her away, pushing and pulling on the metal until a flap gave way under my fingers. I caught a glimpse of something tiny, shiny, red, and round. I jammed my finger in the secret space and pressed the button.
“I did it!” I yelled.
Nothing happened. Seriously?
“Sophina? Tristan? What’s going on?” I started pushing the button again and again. “Talk to me, people.”
The cardboard box on the table jumped and jerked like it was full of popping corn. The wristbands flared with electricity and exploded, shooting angry red and gold sparks like fireworks, setting the box on fire, the flames reaching high into the air.
There was shouting and whoops of triumph in my earpiece. Ow.
“You did it Auro—girl I don’t know!” Tristan cried. “The demons are going up in smoke! Just bursting into fire and zapping into dust! Woo-hoo! That is awesome!”
I closed my eyes and sagged with relief.
“Yes, girl, well done,” Sophina said. “Your success is admirable despite your limited abilities and questionable execution. But have no fear, I will assure that you receive the most adroit Mandatum instruction in the future.”
Thanks, kind of, but no thanks.
“Nothing happened with the demons here,” I said looking around.
“If they are not wearing wristbands there may be no affect upon them,” Sophina said. “We will have hunters dispatch them shortly, but you are not yet done. Get me Dubois.”
Oh, right. I looked up and…ah, man!
Dubois was woozy, but on her feet and headed into the control room. I sprinted forward. She jumped inside and locked the door with a click, then sneered at me through the glass and calmly walked toward the control panels.
I made what I thought would be a useless gesture of trying to open the door, slamming against it, pounding like crazy. However, as my palm yanked the handle, the door clicked open and I went flying through. And fell on my face. If there was a way to do that gracefully, I have yet to find it. Shocked by my entrance, Dubois squealed, jumped over me, and ran out the door, but not before flipping some switch.
That couldn’t be good.
I scrambled to my feet and bolted, catching her a few strides out the door, wrapping her in a bear hug and bringing her down. As we tumbled, my Ne
x vision reversed behind us giving me a clear view of a cell unlocking and something huge ripping its way through the bars before the door finished opening.
The brute came at us hard. A neckless, noseless, hairless humanoid about three stories tall and thick as a tank, it had red skin, blistered and covered in charred black patches curling at the edges. He looked like he’d been slow roasted for centuries over Hell’s barbeque spit. Sadly, that assessment could be entirely accurate. My vision snapped back to my body. Dubois was underneath me, fighting to wrench free.
Sophina was squawking in my ear. But I didn’t have time to listen.
Hell had arrived.
CHAPTER 113
I waited until the demon’s shadow fell over me, then I spun off of Dubois. The giant brute landed on her instead.
Dubois screamed, “Kill her!”
The demon batted Dubois aside and wheeled to face me, hunched over, snarling, fists clenched in fury.
“What’s happening?!” Tristan said.
I jumped onto the stone table to get some height on this behemoth. “My Flight Mode is very close to winning out over Fight Mode.”
“Flight!” Tristan said.
“Fight!” Sophina countered.
The demon’s fists slammed into the ground, stone cracked and cratered as he stomped toward me. My skin itched with the desire to exit stage left, right, or anything in between. But there wasn’t time.
Dubois headed for that panel of buttons again. I sent one bolt of electricity at her. It hit her shoulder and spun her back. She went down and stayed there.
I shot another bolt of energy and disintegrated a chunk of the demon’s side, but he kept coming, grabbed my shirt, and slammed me down on the stone table. Well, that probably hurt, but my body went numb so I couldn’t be sure.
As he leaned over to roar in my face, I brought my arm up again. Looking like layers of heat rising off asphalt baking in the desert sun, a silvery blue-white light undulated around my hand and forearm. As the creature snarled down at me, its chest made contact with my fist. I locked my elbow, bracing for a bone rattling jolt.
