by Mel Odom
“He’s going to be fine,” Lyra answered. But she thought, He’s going off to die. When she’d heard what the Templar planned, and why, Lyra hadn’t been able to feel it was all a waste. But the demons knew that the Templar were going to be their hardest battle. It would be better if they thought they were all dead.
Somewhere deep inside her heart, though, Lyra hoped the Templar succeeded.
“I saw them,” Jessica said. “I saw them.”
“I know.” Lyra ran through the dark church with the child at her side. They were scarcely more than fifty feet from the stage where the entrance was supposed to be.
Outside in the church cemetery, gun blasts and frightened voices continued to echo. It sounded very much like the war that it was. Lightning flashed through the large stained-glass windows.
“Grandfather always told me about the demons,” Jessica said. “I knew he wasn’t lying. He’s never lied to me.”
Except for tonight, Lyra thought. When he told you that he’d see you soon.
“But I just didn’t expect to see the demons,” Jessica said.
“I know. Try not to think of that now. Come on. We’re almost there.”
One of the high stained-glass windows suddenly exploded inward. Bright, colorful glass spun across the church. A Reaper demon—huge and winged, man-shaped but clearly a demonic thing with horns, talons, and fangs—came through the window holding Keira Skyler.
The First Seer of the Cabalists looked incredibly demonic herself. Thick pieces of demons’ horns stuck out on both sides of her head. Her skin was pale against the demon hide she wore as armor.
The Reaper demon bit into Keira’s chest and pulled out her heart. It tossed the organ into its mouth and chewed as Keira slumped dead in his embrace. Then the demon turned its attention to Lyra and her young charge.
Lyra hauled Jessica to temporary safety behind one of the heavy pews. She pulled out her machine pistol and stared at the evil thing. Its ruby eyes focused on her. Hiding wasn’t an option.
“Keep going, Jessica,” Lyra encouraged the young girl. “Keep going!”
True to her heritage, Jessica bravely got her feet under her and ran toward the hidden entrance.
Lyra pointed the machine pistol and opened fire. The demon, almost three times her size, swung a hooked sword that cleaved through the pews and reduced them to splinters. Lyra kept firing, but it didn’t seem to do any good. She hid behind a pillar as the Reaper charged after her.
It growled and swung the massive sword into the pillar, shattering it. Lyra kept firing and running, ducking the wicked blade as the demon swung it again and again.
Across the church, Jessica reached the hidden entrance and opened it. Lyra took solace in that, then one of the Reaper’s wings lashed out and caught her, knocking her to the floor and almost robbing her of her senses.
“Lyra!”
Hearing the child’s voice, the evident panic and worry, focused Lyra. She pulled her head together just as the Reaper yanked its blade from the stone floor and turned in Jessica’s direction.
“Jessica!” Lyra screamed as she pulled a grenade from her hip. She activated it, and the blue glow stood out bright and sharp against the darkness inside the church.
“Lyra!” Jessica stood waiting in the tunnel leading to the Underground.
“Jessica! Get down!” Lyra heaved the grenade at the Reaper.
Jessica dived for cover just before the grenade exploded against the demon. Growling incoherently, the Reaper dropped to the floor like a felled redwood.
“Hit the switch!” Lyra ordered. Her right arm was injured. She cradled it as she limped toward the opening as fast as she could.
After a moment, Jessica found the switch and threw it. With a grinding noise, the section of flooring started closing at once. Jessica ran for it as best as she was able. There was just enough time to reach the opening—
—then something grabbed her ankle and yanked her from her feet. She fell hard against the floor and grabbed the lip of the opening. The Reaper had regained consciousness. It growled as it tried to haul her in.
Incredibly, Jessica grabbed hold of Lyra’s wrists and tried to pull her into the opening.
“Go on!” Lyra ordered.
“I won’t leave you!” Tears tracked down Jessica’s scared and determined face.
“I promised!” Lyra shoved the girl back into the opening, and she fell out of sight. She plucked another grenade from her combat webbing and rolled over to face the Reaper. “For the living!” she’d said, remembering Lord Sumerisle’s final salute. Then she’d banged the grenade to activate it.
“Lyra!” Jessica yelled.
When the event had actually taken place, Lyra had managed to kill the Reaper just in time. Tonight, though, the demon lashed out a big hand and knocked the grenade out of Lyra’s grip.
“No!” Lyra yelled, not believing what had just happened. That hadn’t ever occurred.
The Reaper grinned at Lyra, knowing she was almost helpless, and dove for the opening. Before Jessica could get back out of the way, the demon was upon her, scooping her up in one big hand.
“Jessica!” Lyra pushed herself to her feet, but she knew she’d arrive too late.
The demon’s jaws distended as it lifted Jessica. Bravely, the little girl faced her end without a whimper, exhibiting all the steel that went into being a Sumerisle.
“No!” Lyra shouted. “This wasn’t how it went!”
A figure leaped past Lyra. The familiar blacksuit the agents wore identified the person at once. The agent grabbed one of the demon’s wings, planted feet against the Reaper’s back, and shoved a machine pistol against the base of the creature’s skull. A full-auto burst ripped into the demon’s head.
Without a sound, the Reaper dropped Jessica and fell face forward.
Lyra limped up to Jessica and took the girl in an embrace.
The agent turned and faced Lyra, then ripped her mask off. Leah smiled tiredly at Lyra. “So this is your tie to the Templar.”
Lyra held the girl. “Yes.”
“No wonder you want Simon back in the Underground. That’s Jessica Sumerisle, right?”
“Yes. But I don’t understand what you’re doing here. I’m dreaming. I have to be dreaming. This happened four years ago, and you weren’t there.”
“No.” Leah shook her head. “I’ve been taken captive. The demons are using me to locate people—any people now—and fill their sleep with nightmares.”
“We’ve had a huge outbreak of nightmares and sleepwalkers,” Lyra said. “A few people have died in their sleep.”
“You’ve got to come to the Apple store,” Leah said. “That’s where I’m being held. The demons have a machine there. I came looking for you tonight. I didn’t know if it would work. If you hadn’t been sleeping, I guess it wouldn’t have.”
“Can’t you stop this?”
“I’ve tried.” Leah shook her head sadly. “God knows I’ve tried since I’ve been in here. There’s nothing I can do. And I’m not the only one. The machine has to be destroyed. You’ve got to—”
Panicked, breathing hard, Lyra woke up in her quarters at the complex. She took a moment to gather herself. Then she got out of bed, showered, and got dressed in her blacksuit.
By the time she reached her door, she had a strike team assembled and leaders awaiting her in her ready room.
FIFTY
Y ou know, mate,” Nathan said, “this is possibly the craziest thing I’ve ever done.”
Peering through the helicopter’s cargo doors, Simon looked down at the city. Despite the tension of the moment and the stakes, he couldn’t resist saying, “Doesn’t even make my Top Ten.”
“Yeah, well not all of us were born with a death wish.”
“Does that count the demon-infested landing zone?” Danielle asked. “Because I think that should get it in the running.”
“That doesn’t count the demon-infested landing zone,” Simon said. He checked the parachut
e harness one last time. “So I’ll give you the Top Ten.”
“Maybe they can put that on the headstone,” Nathan said.
“Aren’t you optimistic,” Danielle chided. “Thinking there’s going to be enough of you left to bury.”
“They gotta put my memories somewhere,” Nathan said.
Simon thought about Nathan for a moment. He had the baby on the way. Before they’d left the redoubt, Simon had told him to stay there. Nathan had refused.
“It’s still not too late to turn around and go back,” Simon said over a private link.
“The only way I’m turning around,” Nathan told him, “is if you lead the way. Are you ready to do that?”
Leah’s down there. “No.”
“Then neither am I. Let’s kick this in the arse and get it done.”
A few minutes later, the helicopter pilot let them know they were on the final approach path. The craft sank lower and became a target for small flying demons at once. They couldn’t catch the helicopter. It couldn’t slow or it would become prey for the Blood Angels.
Simon looked at the Templar with him, then opened a channel to them and the Templar in the two other cargo helicopters. “Tonight we strike back for the first time. Let the demons know that we haven’t been completely beaten. Let them know that they won’t get this world without a fight.” He paused. “For the living.”
“For the living!” the Templar echoed.
The pilot cleared them for the drop.
Simon was the first through the door. He threw himself into the familiar starfish dive profile and watched the altitude drop away on his HUD.
“Initiate parachute,” the suit AI called out.
Reaching across his chest, Simon hit the parachute release. The canopy belled above him. He grabbed the guidelines and tracked his descent onto the Apple store. Fifty-three Templar landed on the building’s rooftop. Four missed and ended up in the street below.
Without a word, the Templar set up the rooftop charges while Simon and others climbed into rappelling lines. He checked his weapons a final time.
“Lord Cross,” a female voice said over the comm-link.
The intrusion didn’t come as a complete surprise. Simon had deliberately used a frequency he knew Leah had access to. He’d hoped that somewhere along the way they could connect up.
“Yes,” Simon answered.
“We haven’t met,” the woman said. “My name is Lyra Darius. I’m a friend of Leah’s.”
Simon smiled. “I take it you’re not out after an evening constitutional.”
“No. I was in contact with Leah earlier tonight. I learned where she was. We’ve surrounded the building, and we’re prepared to go in after her. Failing that, we’re determined to blow it up.”
“And kill Leah?” Simon didn’t like thinking about that.
“If we must. I have to say, when I saw the helicopters and then those armored suits, I started to feel more optimistic about our chances.”
“I didn’t come here to kill Leah.”
“Nor did I. I have hopes it won’t come to that.”
“It won’t.”
“How do you want to do this?”
Simon watched the Templar step back from the rooftop charges. “By now the demons have to know that we’re here, so I thought we’d try the direct approach. See how much confusion we could stir up along the way.”
“You’re going through the roof.”
That surprised Simon. “Yes.”
“If we carried the armor you do, we might have tried that. We don’t.”
“We do,” Simon said. “We’re going inside, getting Leah and the others, doing as much damage as we can, and then we are going to get out of there.”
“You’re going to have the demons at your heels.”
“Probably.”
“It’s a good thing we’ll be set up in the streets ready to defend you.”
“That sounds good.”
“We also found a few of your stragglers that missed the building. We’ll take care of them until you’re able to care for them again.”
Simon smiled again. “If we make it through this, I’ll stand you to a drink.”
“I’ll do the same. I’ve got a feeling that we’re going to need it by then. Good luck.”
Simon thanked her, then gave the order to blow the rooftop charges. The explosions rang out in quick syncopation. Plumes of dust jetted into the sky, and the roof came apart.
Before the Hellgate had been open, one of the Cabalists had been a city worker who had used HARP technology to clear some of the collapsed tunnels under London to make more routes possible. His name was Jernigan, and he was a wizard with the portable HARP trenching tool that they’d liberated from the city offices.
Almost sick with fear, Warren trailed the man as he carved a new passage from a utility tunnel that ran across the street. With the HARP carving the way, taking out all inorganic matter in seconds, they made good time.
After measuring the distance a third time, Warren knew they were under the Apple store. Since the woman had contacted him in his dreams, Warren had thought about her a lot, wondering what she was like. The plan to get her had come relatively quickly to mind.
Warren directed the Cabalist to take them up. That was harder because he had to cut the tunnel at a slope that took them up without making the incline too hard for them to climb.
The Cabalists followed somewhat eagerly. All of them now had something from Kareloth that enhanced their powers. They wanted to know how strong they’d be in a fight. None of them wanted to die, but they were willing to risk death.
Personally, the woman—Leah—was the one that drew Warren there. The nightmare he’d had about his stepfather was different than anything he’d ever had before. He didn’t want to repeat that.
Then there was Merihim. If this was something truly put together by the demon, as Lilith said it was, there was a debt owed that only blood could pay.
He followed the tunneler up the grade, finding it steep enough to be difficult. A moment later, the final layer between the floor and the store beyond evaporated. The way was clear.
Warren fully expected that they’d come up in the middle of the Darkspawn that had put the machine together. That didn’t happen. The Cabalist group came up in the back of the building where merchandise was stored.
At the doors, Warren peered out and found that most of the demons had their attention locked on to the ceiling. They surrounded a large machine that was nearly as tall as the store’s interior.
In the next instant, thunderous blasts echoed throughout the building. A large section of the roof tumbled down. Behind it, dangling from rappelling cords, eight Templar descended into the building. They opened up with their weapons at once.
Attacked from above, the Darkspawn quickly got hammered before they could set up into positions and free their own weapons. The Templar rappelled to the floor, drawing fire, but even as they got set up in defensive positions, another wave of Templar descended the rappelling lines.
Even so, the Darkspawn weren’t giving up without a fight.
“We’re going to be trapped between the Templar and the Darkspawn,” Warren said.
“The Templar aren’t our enemies,” Daiyu said. “The demons are. If this is as important as you say it is, we have no choice. The Templar will only benefit our efforts.”
Unless they kill us, Warren thought. His own experiences with the Templar hadn’t been stellar. Still, he waded into the battle.
Simon was one of the first Templar on the floor. He saw the machine ahead of him, less than fifty feet away. It had been located almost in the center of the building. Now all they had to do was find Leah, destroy the machine, and get out alive.
If he hadn’t been taking heavy fire from demon weapons, he might have almost been optimistic.
“Simon,” Danielle called. “We’ve got Cabalists inside the building as well.”
Simon accessed her HUD view and saw the Cabalists
, their tattoos and dress identifying them at once. “Where did they come from?”
“A hole in the floor. They just cut their way in.”
“Awfully convenient, don’t you think?” Nathan asked sarcastically as he fired a rocket into a knot of Darkspawn grouped near the machine.
Simon thought about that. “Leah said she was walking through the heads of a lot of people. Her friend Lyra is here. I wasn’t the only one she got a message out to.”
“Maybe we should have baked a cake,” Nathan said.
Simon readied his weapons. “You ready?”
“Yeah, mate. I’m ready. You lead and I got your six.”
With his sword in one hand and the Spike Bolter in the other, Simon stepped out from cover and marched into the face of the Darkspawn. The Spike Bolter chewed into their ranks and knocked them down. Before they could run, he was among them and he swept the sword through them. Limbs, heads, and entrails quickly covered the floor. He holstered the pistol and gave himself over to the bladework.
Nathan mirrored him, working in tandem to everything he did. Between them, they became a destructive force.
A Darkspawn threw itself at Simon, hoping to catch him on his blind side. If he’d had a blind side, if the 360-degree view of the HUD hadn’t been possible, the attempt might have succeeded. Instead, Simon met the effort with the crashing blow of his huge left hand and caved the demon’s skull in. Then he caught the falling corpse and heaved it into more demons in front of him, temporarily clearing the way.
He took more of the ground, moving closer to the huge machine. Darkspawn fired from gantries that surrounded the mechanism.
In the next second, a roiling ball of fire from a Cabalist hit in the center of them and sent them flying. Most of them were in flames and probably dead before they hit the ground.
“Do you see a door on that thing?” Simon hacked more demons and kept moving forward.
“I do,” Nathan said. “While I was dawdling around back here, I marked it.”
Simon accessed Nathan’s observations through the HUD and spotted the door. “Once we get inside,” Simon said, “getting back out again could be difficult.”
