Deliverance

by Adrienne Monson

  “How? How could a baby survive the wrath of a god?”

  “He had become obsessed with finding them and used too many of his powers. When he tried to kill them, they were at sea and he used all of his powers to create a terrible storm. Using so much power in a world that was not his own weakened him terribly.” Liam sat back against the cushions, dust puffing behind him. “There are rules, and they must be obeyed. If not, guardians will seek you out and punish you. This god was powerful and came from a well-connected family, so he got away with a lot. But not this time. The guardians found him and pulled him back into his own world. He was stripped of most of his powers and is damned to live a life of servitude for eternity. But the mother and her baby were still in the ocean and should have drowned.”

  “Should have, but you said the baby survived.”

  “Yes, it did. I can’t be sure, but I’ll bet that the mother used all of her strength to swim her baby to shore. Since I can’t find any record of her after that, I assume that the mother may have been swept back out to sea when the tide rose or something. But the bottom line is that she most likely died saving her daughter’s life.”

  “The baby was a girl?” Samantha remembered a detail from when Leisha spoke of her childhood. I was washed up on the shore somewhere in Africa but was considered a bad omen because of the terrible storm.

  “Yes. You have it right.” He studied her expression. “Leisha was that baby. Her mother’s name was Iliana.”

  It was suddenly difficult to pull in a proper breath. “Why haven’t you told Leisha about all this? She needs to know! Ptah said he knew her father, but we never had any clue he was talking about a god from another dimension!”

  “Because she would feel guilty.”

  “You mean, because her mother died to save her, or because her dad was a complete womanizing jerk?”

  Liam chuckled softly. “Neither. This next part is what will make her feel so much guilt.”

  Samantha waited, her muscles tensing.

  “From what you and Leisha have told me, no one really knows how the Africans unleashed that chaos demon that later possessed Ptah’s body and became a master vampire.”

  “You know how? It has something to do with Leisha?”

  “When someone from our dimension stays in a single place on your world for a long time, it . . . affects things.”

  Samantha grabbed his arm until Liam was looking into her eyes. “You mean it was her fault? Somehow her powers pulled him toward her?”

  The boy’s gaze traveled behind her. “I’ll tell you the rest later. In the meantime, don’t say anything about this.”

  Samantha was going to prod further when Leisha and Tafari walked in, holding hands. Both of their eyes were puffy and bloodshot, but they seemed more relaxed than before. Samantha was positive Tafari was doing better now that he could lean on Leisha in his grief.

  “What are you two up to?” Leisha asked as they entered.

  Liam smiled. “I’m just trying to keep Samantha entertained while she’s recuperating.”

  “We should eat,” Tafari said. “The kitchen is just through that door.” He pointed for Leisha’s benefit.

  “How about we make dinner together?” Leisha winked at her husband.

  He agreed. “Do you want anything in particular?” he asked Samantha.

  She shook her head. “Whatever you make, I will eat.”

  Once they’d gone into the kitchen, she turned back to Liam. “Well? Aren’t you going to tell me more?”

  His strange accent sounded stronger. “I wouldn’t have brought this up if I hadn’t planned to explain everything to you, but we’re going to have to wait until there is more time to speak in private.”

  “Why can’t the others know about all this? What makes me so privileged?”

  “You’ll understand when I’ve finished.” He stood and walked in the direction of the armory.

  Samantha sat, trying to process everything the boy had just revealed. If nothing else, at least now I understand why he speaks with that strange accent and why Leisha grew up in Africa. But nothing else really made sense to her. The time she’d have to wait to get more answers was going to be brutal.

  Chapter 30

  Leisha noticed that Samantha was quiet as they ate and tried to get her to discuss it, but Samantha waved it off and asked if anyone wanted to play cards to pass the time.

  It was late into the evening and still all of them were sitting at one of the tables, playing Twenty-One. While Samantha seemed to force a cheerful presence, everyone else appeared relaxed. Nikita looked at Samantha periodically, as if he too suspected something was off.

  Leisha was shuffling the cards, getting ready to explain a new game to them when she heard something in the distance. It sounded like several cars driving over them above ground.

  Placing the cards down, she turned to her husband. “Are there any other entrances to this place?”

  Glancing curiously at her, Tafari shook his head. “There is just the one that you came through. Why?”

  Nikita answered for her. “Someone is here.”

  “A lot of someones,” Leisha added. “I can’t hear well enough to know who it may be, but there are at least eight vehicles. And it sounds like there’s more coming.”

  Tafari looked at his watch. “My guess is the immortals, since the sun does not set for another thirty minutes.”

  They each exchanged glances for a moment before springing into action. After rushing to the arsenal and gathering as much weaponry as each of them could carry, they headed toward the hatch.

  Leisha stopped when she spotted Samantha trailing after them. “I want you and Liam to go back to the main room and stay there.”

  “But we shouldn’t get separated.”

  Her hair flew as she shook her head. “If they get past us in that small space, then we’re all dead anyway. You’re injured and Liam needs to stay out of sight.”

  Samantha swallowed and nodded reluctantly.

  Smiling to give reassurance, she turned to her son. She bent down and gave him a hug. Leisha was surprised when Liam squeezed her back tightly. Pulling back, she looked into his eyes, so similar to her own. They were shimmering with something that she could only guess was anxiety. Seeing her unflappable child nervous made her core shake.

  “Don’t worry. I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.”

  “I know. Thanks for being such a wonderful mother, Leisha. I love you.”

  Emotion suddenly clogged her throat. I don’t know if I could survive losing you, too. She kissed his cheek. Her arms didn’t want to obey her when she tried to let him go. Bile climbed up her throat and she refused to recall watching Rinwa die. Reluctantly, she forced herself to straighten and catch up to Nikita and Tafari.

  They were taking their places at the bottom of the ladder, their guns trained on the hatch above them.

  “It’s definitely immortals,” Nikita said.

  “I placed a reinforced seal on that hatch from the inside.” Tafari informed them. “They will probably break through it, but it will take some time.”

  Leisha kept one gun in her right hand while pulling out some hand grenades that she’d found with her other hand. “This should at least take out a small chunk of them.”

  The wait was nerve-wracking. Tafari shifted several times while keeping two guns pointed at the entrance above. Nikita didn’t budge, his face stoic.

  Sounds above them told Leisha that the immortals were probably using a high powered torch to break in. The stench of hot metal wafted down to her nostrils.

  Cocking her head, the vampire listened to the many heartbeats above them. Her lips felt suddenly dry. “There’re hundreds of people up there,” she whispered.

  “At least we only have this opening to defend,” Tafari said, his tone determined.

  The b
lade cut through a part of the hatch. Air from the bomb shelter hissed through the small hole.

  “They’ll have that open in just a few minutes,” Leisha said, gripping her gun tighter.

  “We are ready for them.” Tafari shifted his feet again.

  “Wait,” Nikita tilted his head to the side.

  Leisha’s eyes unfocused as she tried to listen for what the vampire was hearing. “More cars.”

  Nikita nodded. “A lot more.”

  Just then, the hatch screeched open and two immortals leaned in from above. Leisha pulled the pin from her first grenade and tossed it. The small bomb landed next to the immortal on the right. His eyes widened and he grabbed the grenade to throw it out of harm’s way.

  Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time before it went off. The explosion sent dirt, debris, and body parts down their way. Cloying smoke filled her lungs and she decided to stop breathing for a while. Leisha squinted through it all and waited until she saw and heard more immortals rushing to the opening and then threw another one.

  Most of the immortals were able to scramble away before it detonated, but it still took down a handful of them.

  An unexpected sound stopped Leisha from reaching for another grenade. Steel clashing against steel. People screaming battle cries and flesh tearing.

  Cursing, she looked at Tafari. “Vampires are here, too. Sounds like they’re fighting the immortals.”

  “Maybe they’ll kill each other off while we stay bunkered down here,” Nikita suggested.

  “I am afraid it will not be that simple,” Tafari said, his face grim. “Not all of them will engage in battle. We are the primary target, and they still believe that if they can exploit the prophecy child, then they can defeat their foe. We now have two enemies to fight off.”

  Leisha studied the hatch thirty feet above. “Is there any way we can reseal it?”

  “I saw tools in the armory,” Nikita offered. “Maybe we could try and weld it shut with a blow torch.”

  Staring at her sword as she thought, Leisha came to a conclusion. “Tafari, you stay down here and try to get that hatch sealed again.” She double-checked that the machete she’d grabbed earlier was still in its spine sheath. “Nikita and I will go above and fight off anyone that comes near the entrance.”

  Tafari shook his head. “That is suicide.” His silvery blue eyes looked like stone.

  She knew he was thinking of losing Rinwa. It was the same emotions she’d suppressed when she thought of losing Liam. I’d rather die protecting Tafari and Liam than have to witness their deaths.

  Touching his hand, Leisha leaned in and softly kissed his cheek. “We’ve survived these odds before. I can survive this. And I’ll be waiting for you when you guys are ready to come up to the surface.” She brushed her fingers under his jaw, noticed that he held still like a statue, his face lined with betrayal. “Liam will be able to tell you if it’s safe. Besides, if we fail, they’ll break through the hatch again.” She said. “You know how to contact me when you emerge. I’m going to try and lead them on a chase away from here.”

  “It may not work.” As if speaking shook him from his stillness, Tafari turned his hand until it was gripping hers tightly.

  “We don’t have a lot of options here. Besides, this is the best plan I can think of to keep Liam safe.”

  The immortal looked as if he would protest, but Nikita started working his way up the ladder and Leisha squeezed Tafari’s hand before following her companion up to the battle ground.

  Once on the surface, she pushed the hatch back in place and hoped that welding it shut would keep them protected.

  There wasn’t time to worry. An immortal rushed toward her and Leisha used her handgun to slow the woman down. Then Leisha pulled out her machete and decapitated her attacker. The immortal fell like a sack of grain with blood spraying over the dry dirt. Leisha moved on to her next opponent—another immortal. His reflexes were almost as fast as a vampire’s, dodging every shot she fired at him.

  When he got close enough, the man kicked the gun from her hand. Leisha spun with the kick and brought up her machete, hacking his shoulder. He parried with his own sword. They danced in their fencing for several minutes. The immortal did more thrusting while Leisha had to keep defending herself. Finally, she found an opening and stabbed him in the armpit. He sucked in a breath from the pain. Leisha was already geared up for her next move and used a high, arching kick to knock his sword out of his hand while moving forward to cut off his head.

  He stood there for a few seconds before his headless body crumpled to the ground.

  Leisha had half of a second to survey the chaos raging around her. The sounds of battle were nearly deafening. She gasped at the large horde. She surmised that every vampire and immortal in the world must have been there, fighting to reach her son.

  Nikita was fighting an immortal and a vampire at the same time. He dispatched the vampire quickly and took a little more time to kill the immortal.

  A vampire and immortal lunged at her with their swords in unison. Leisha jumped to avoid their blades and noticed another immortal running to the hatch as she landed. She jump-kicked the vampire to her left and took his sword as he fell. She then turned and used both weapons in her hand like scissors to cut the immortal in half just as his blade nicked her neck.

  Leisha knew the vampire would be up and attacking her again, but she had to stop the immortal from getting inside the shelter. She ran and caught up to the man just as he was easing the hatch open. She kicked him in the face and sliced his neck all the way to the spine, not quite decapitating him.

  As she leaned over to close the hatch, she met Tafari’s gaze, the blow torch blowing out intense waves of heat. Leisha sent him a fierce smile and then closed the hatch again so he could continue to work on it.

  Chapter 31

  The large room was hauntingly quiet, but Samantha knew there was absolute chaos above them. She could feel all the aches in her body and understood why Leisha wanted her to wait down here, away from the battle, but it was difficult to sit and wait.

  Liam sat next to her on the couch with a sword in his hand.

  “I thought you didn’t need weapons,” she observed. “Your claws seem much more dangerous than any sword.”

  He gave a small smile. “It’s always good to be prepared.” He lifted the sword. “I think it’s fate that I found this in that room. The steel is more than a century old.”

  “Then how would it have ended up in a military shelter from the forties?”

  The enigmatic look the boy often wore surfaced. “You never know how fate works, just follow it when it’s trying to tell you something.”

  Samantha hesitated, then blew out a breath before asking, “Are you trying to tell me something, Liam?”

  When he looked at her, Samantha felt as if his green eyes could see right through her. “Shall I finish that story I was telling you?”

  “I don’t know if that should be considered a story, but you never did answer my question.” She paused and met his gaze. “Was it Leisha’s fault that the chaos demon went to their village?”

  He teetered his hand in the air. “Sort of. She was born into a human society. She didn’t know that she had powers to use. And since her father was so strong, she probably had a lot lying dormant for a long time. So the world around her was trying to create a balance. Her adopted father became the most revered shaman in history.”

  She straightened. “I didn’t know he was that good of a shaman.”

  “He was. That’s the only reason he had enough magic to pull the demon into Ptah’s body in the first place, and then later create the immortals.”

  Forehead wrinkling, Samantha glanced down to her feet in thought. “But they’ve continued to make immortals even after Leisha joined the vampires and the shaman died.”

  Liam nodded with approval. “T
hat’s right. You’re catching on quickly. I’ll bet you can guess why they could still create immortals after that.”

  Samantha shook her head. “No clue . . .” But then a thought struck her. “Rinwa. Because she’s Leisha’s . . . I mean, was Leisha’s daughter and holds some of that power.”

  “Yes. It’s also why she was such a skilled warrior and why she healed faster than the other immortals.”

  “I didn’t know she healed faster.”

  The boy grinned. “She never knew it herself, but it’s true.”

  Samantha was overwhelmed with all the new information, and it hurt to talk about Rinwa, but she tried to stay on topic. “So Leisha is the reason her adopted father was such a good shaman. But how did she bring Ptah’s demon spirit over from another dimension?”

  “Well, like I said before, nature was trying to balance all this power lying around. So, yes, the shaman was blessed for loving Leisha, but the village was cursed because of her. Nature brought that big drought because it was trying to equalize. The demon you knew as Ptah was able to zero in on the pull Leisha’s power was creating.”

  “So he was trying to find her?”

  “Not exactly. He wanted to come into this world because he wasn’t very powerful in the other. When the humans crucified this world’s Christ, the protection that the god of this world usually provides faltered. Ptah used that window and Leisha’s location to get through.”

  Samantha breathed in deeply. “Just when I think you can’t blow my mind anymore, you prove me wrong.”

  Smiling, Liam squeezed her leg. “I don’t mean to. But now is the time to explain everything.”

  “Why now?”

  He hesitated. “In Italy, you asked what happens now that I’m here in this world.”

  Nodding, Samantha recalled everything he’d said. “Yes, but you didn’t answer because it was time for us to meet Nik.

  Liam placed the sword on the cushions between them. “You heard the prophecies about me.”

  Eyes squinting, she tried to recall everything she’d studied before he was born. “They were really vague. All I remember is that you’ll be connected to the vampires and the immortals in some way. Your parents explain that part easily enough.”