NINETEEN
Alec looked over the faces of his team members.
There was Conner, who looked more like a kicked dog than a handsome incubus. Most of his casualness was lost somewhere, and Alec could only hope that he'd find it again when he needed it.
There was Sarah, who looked like someone who was keeping a secret. What was she keeping a secret about, though, and why was it making her so happy?
Then there was Brittney, who finally belonged somewhere. He wondered how many places and cliques she'd searched, trying to find the place she belonged.
And Chloe! God, there was Chloe, looking vibrant and upbeat and all too proud of herself. And why shouldn't she? Hadn't she performed her very first exorcism, and hadn't it gone smashingly? She should be proud.
Finally, Harper. Harper, looking like she got her heart stomped on again. This time, it wasn't him that had done the stomping and he could be pleased with that, at least. But part of him wanted to take her and hold her and comfort her and -- no. He had made his decision about Harper Hawthorne, and he would take it to his grave. Ha-ha.
He was taking them underground where the flooding was the worst. It was time to chase down Bartholomew. His plan was simple; he was going to find some smaller demons that had to do with Bartholomew and kill them in order to draw him out. He thought it would work. Then they would fight, and he was sure it would be a good fight. A fight to go down in the history books for certain.
Was his team ready? Conner and Harper with their heartache, and Sarah with her secret? Brittney and Chloe, who belonged together because of some weird twist of fate? Would they make it out alive, or would they perish beneath the city streets, their bodies left to bloat in the water, found only when the waters someday drained?
He didn't know, and he didn't want to know. If he knew that one of them would die, he certainly wouldn't take them down there. But what choice did he have? People were dying, and it was time to put an end to it.
"Are you guys ready?" Alec asked, looking at their faces. Everyone had prepared themselves with the usual; they had stakes, holy water, guns, and pepper spray.
"We're ready," Conner said. "It's time to get rid of Bartholomew."
"We don't know if we'll get rid of him tonight," Sarah reminded everyone. "The plan is simple. We're killing his minions in order to draw him out. Drawing him out doesn't mean that he'll come running right away. He might attack at a later point."
"That's why we stick together from here on out," Alec emphasized. "Alone, we're too easy to pick off. We don't want to give him that chance. I think he'll come for us all at once, with his whole entourage. If it doesn't happen immediately, we'll be waiting in Afterlife, so we'll at least have the advantage of home turf."
Chloe nodded. "Then we take him down! This is going to be fun."
"You have an odd idea of fun," Brittney said. She looked down at her outfit. Like the others, she was dressed in waterproof pants and a yellow slicker. They looked like some kind of weird parade of sewer people. "We're going to smell forever. I hate going down to the sewers."
"It won't be so bad," Harper said. "We can take showers after."
"No showers," Alec said. "You want to get surprised by him while we're naked? No, after we attack his men, we wait in Afterlife. Together. The only time someone leaves the club floor is if they're going to the bathroom."
Chloe made a face at him. "We can't take showers?"
"No," Alec said.
"Fine," Chloe said. "I suppose we'll just have to deal with the smell. I'm going to wave lavender over you all, though, fair warning."
"Come on," Alec said. "Let's go."
Together, they went to the manhole cover that would lead down to the sewers. Alec went first, shining his flashlight ahead of him. Everyone else followed, with Brittney bringing up the rear. Even in his preoccupied state, Alec noticed how Conner and Harper kept people between them. He wished their argument had taken place after the fight.
Of course, he still trusted them to do their jobs.
Everyone was quiet as they walked through the sewers, though occasionally, he heard someone let out a gasp as they stepped on something or saw something flicker in the shadows. So far, they'd come up only against rats, though.
They came to a split. "Left or right?" Conner asked.
"Let's go left," Alec said. He glanced at Sarah. "You're marking the trail, right?"
Sarah, who was now in her panther form, bowed her head at him. She squatted and peed a little at the turn.
"Classy," Brittney murmured. Sarah shot her a look.
Eventually, after several turns, they found themselves wading through water that was waist high. Everyone seemed quite put off by this. Alec couldn't blame them. There was debris floating in it, and dead, drowned animals. The only one who didn't seem to mind this entirely was Sarah, who seemed quite unconcerned. He supposed it was her animal state.
Out of nowhere, came a flying demon that attacked Harper. It was small, like a bat, but red, with scales. She shot it out of the air, and it fell with a splash into the water.
"We're going the right way," Alec said.
For the next two hours, they picked off demons one by one as they came out at them. It was a nightmare. Everyone was covered in stink, and green demon blood and regular blood from any wounds they sustained.
Finally they came to a circular room. "Bartholomew's," Harper said, nodding to runes on the wall. "I've been studying glyphs," she said to Alec's curious look. "I thought it might come in handy."
"Be careful," Alec said. They began looking around. It was deserted. The water was up to the bottom of his chest at this point. Chloe, the shortest of them, had water up to her arms. There would be no way they could fight in this.
"Okay," Harper said. "Now to send a message."
They all took out spray cans and began writing messages on the walls. It was a messy job, and Chloe couldn't help at all, so she stood back and stood guard. As soon as they finished, they headed back out.
Sarah led the way, smelling for her own urine trail as they hit every corner. More demons attacked, and Alec and Conner did most of the fighting, as they were the tallest and had the most accessibility to their weapons.
It wasn't until they reached the beginning of the sewer's maze that they came across something that really mattered. It was a tall demon with horns, and a red tail.
"Limpex!" Harper cried out. "Chloe, duck!"
Chloe ducked down just as a ball of fire shot over her head. It landed against the wall, fell into the water, and sizzled out. It threw another, at Conner this time, and Harper threw herself into him, knocking him out of the way. They both landed in the water with a splash.
The limpex lunged at Alec, who was already in his vampire form, and they began fighting. He felt it's claws rip into his chest, but ignored the searing pain. He tried to get hold of it's neck, but it was difficult in the water. It pushed Alec against the wall where he hit his head with a loud thump. It turned, ready to throw another fireball, but Sarah dove at the demon, knocking it down into the water where they began fighting in the muck.
Another one came flying out of nowhere, and threw a fireball at Brittney. Brittney dodged it and raised her gun, trying to get a clear shot. There was too much going on, though, and she couldn't risk hitting it without hitting one of her friends.
Conner was in his incubus form and began fighting the new one. Harper ran over to Alec. "Are you alright?"
He muttered something.
"Alec!"
"I'm fine, Harper!" he said. "Get down!"
She ducked, and a fireball hit right where her head had been a moment before. She swung around, lifted her gun, and fired. The limpex that had thrown a fireball at her took the bullet straight in the head. It fell over with a loud splash.
"Good shot," Brittney called out.
Sarah popped up, her mouth bloody and grimy. She transformed into her human form. "That was disgusting," she said, shaking her head. She had evidently torn out
the throat of the other one. "I'm never biting one again."
"Never say never," Conner said. He massaged his left arm, where a large wound was. "Let's get out of here before more show up."
One by one, they filed up the ladder and back onto the street. It was still raining, and they all reveled in it for once, allowing the clean rain water to wash away some of the disgusting grime from the sewers below.
Alec looked around, and saw that nobody was hurt too badly. He nodded.
"Let's get back to Afterlife," he said. "It's going to be a long night."
TWENTY
Sarah understood why they couldn't leave the floor to go wash up, but it didn't mean that she liked it. She was in her wolf form now, and she could smell everything exponentially well -- the members of Afterlife all reeked. They smelled of public bathrooms and the dead.
Up in Alec's apartment were Peter, Janice, and James. They'd decided it was best to put them all together while they waited out Bartholomew. In order to get to the apartment, the demons would have to come through the club, and none of the members of Afterlife were going to let any get through to their unprotected families.
Sarah was just glad that Elizabeth and Regina were out of town still. She'd called and made sure they weren't coming back until the rains had ended. Elizabeth had wanted to come back right away but understood the danger and was fine with staying away until it was safe.
She'd argued with Peter on his place in Afterlife long and hard before they went down to the sewers. He'd wanted to come with them. He'd argued that he could shape shift and therefore was a help to them, but Sarah pointed out that he was actually a liability. He was still injured and he could only transform into a small dog. How would that help?
She'd finally won the argument, by threatening to tell everyone about his newfound ability, and had convinced him that he would be better of helping guard Janice and James. She'd given him a gun after he'd assured her he knew how to use it. If he was any kind of shot like Brittney, he'd be more helpful with the gun then with his transformations.
Sarah paced around, on edge, waiting for the attack to come. It would come, she was sure of that much. Bartholomew wouldn't be happy they'd taken down his minor demons, desecrated his chambers, and taken out his limpexes.
Everyone else was on pins and needles as well, waiting. Eventually, Sarah wandered over to Chloe, who scratched her behind the ears. She was sitting next to Brittney and Harper, who had been conversing in low whispers. Sarah knew they were trying to keep their conversation private, and it had worked for the most part, except Sarah had exceptional hearing.
She knew they were talking about Conner and what Harper should do. Sarah knew it was hypocritical of her, but she thought Harper was making a mistake not moving in with Conner. She found love; she should grab hold of it and keep it tight. Not like Sarah, who'd wasted every opportunity she'd had for love.
Her eyes flickered over to Conner and Alec, who were sitting together in silence. They had been discussing strategies but the subject had worn out. She wondered how Alec felt about the fight between Harper and Conner. She knew he was doing his best to accept their relationship, but it still couldn't be easy. Was he secretly glad that they wouldn't be moving in together?
It didn't matter. There were more important things going on right now. She wandered over to the bar counter where a fresh pot of coffee stood. She transformed into her human self and poured a cup, adding cream and sugar.
"That looks good," Alec said, quickly getting to his feet. He went over to get his own cup. Sarah sat down next to Conner.
"Hey," she said. "How's the cut on the arm?"
"It's fine," Conner said, showing his arm to her. There were long gashes from the limpex claws, but nothing that couldn't heal on its own, and his demon blood would help it heal faster. She offered him her cup of coffee and he took a small sip and smiled. "Thanks."
"For what it's worth," Sarah said in a low voice, "I know Harper cares about you."
Conner blinked at her, surprised. "She's upset that I'm spending so much time with Janice and James. I tried to explain that he's my son, but she just doesn't care. She thinks it's about Janice."
"And is there any part of it that is?" Sarah asked.
Conner hesitated. "I love Harper. I have since I met her, but Janice is the mother of my child. There's a bond there that can't be ignored. I'm not saying that I care about Harper less because of Janice, but it's been... different, having a family. Eating at home at night, tucking my son into bed..."
Sarah nodded.
"What am I saying?" Conner said. "I sound like a jerk. Of course it's been nice, but I care about Harper more than I care about curtains on the windows and finished homework. I'm not going to abandon James, but I'm not going to lose Harper either."
"You don't sound like a jerk," Sarah said. "You sound like a man who's confused, and who wouldn't be? James complicates things. I understand."
"You do?"
"Yeah," Sarah said. "If I had a kid, I would want to be with the father of that child. But sometimes it doesn't work out like that. You're with Harper, not Janice."
"I know that," Conner said. "I know. I asked her to move in with me. She responded by saying that I was just feeling guilty about Janice, and that I didn't know what love was. She said I was only in love with the idea of her."
"I'm the last person anyone should take love advice from," Sarah said. "God knows I've screwed up every relationship I've been in, but if you love Harper, you'll make things work out with her. I think you truly love her. I think you also care about Janice, though, and you're going to have to work out which one gets priority in your life."
"James is my--"
"--I'm not talking about James," Sarah said softly. "Janice. You're going to have to decide if Janice or Harper has priority. If it's Harper, then things will work out. If it's Janice, then you're going to need to think about what you really want."
Conner sighed.
"It's hard right now," Sarah said. "But a month from now, everything will be clear, and you'll wonder how you ever doubted your intentions at all. You'll know exactly what it is you wanted, and you'll be surprised at how easily everything fit together."
"I hope so," Conner said.
Before they could continue the conversation, the doors to Afterlife burst open. Sarah jumped to her feet, transforming into her panther form as she did. Conner got up, becoming an incubus. Alec was already in his vampire form. The others got up, preparing their weapons.
An onslaught of demons poured in; there were more limpexes, harpies, goblins, vampires, incubi, succubi, and other creatures that Sarah didn't recognize that looked frightening. She had a brief moment to wonder how they were going to fight them all when Bartholomew appeared.
He was a tall man with dreaded hair and a black goatee. He stared at them all and then laughed. "So this is Afterlife. You are the people that I've heard so much about. You are the ones who came down and killed my men. Who is your leader?"
Alec stepped forward, his eyes glistening black. "That would be me," he said. "You must be Bartholomew."
"That's right," Bartholomew said. "Now what are we going to do? You want to fight us? All of us?"
Sarah let out a loud growl. Bartholomew spared her a half a glance. "Be good, kitty. The grown-ups are talking." He turned his attention back to Alec. "I assume that you have been brought to heel by my good friend Akain. Did he tell you why he couldn't attack me himself?"
Alec shook his head.
"He is bound by his deals," Bartholomew said. "We had such a deal back in the day. He can't personally cause me harm. So he sends you." He laughed. "You."
Sarah didn't like the way he said that, as though he could hardly believe they were much of a threat. She glanced back at the others. Harper and Brittney had their weapons up, and Chloe was holding a stake in one hand and pepper spray in the other. Conner was preparing to fight.
"Yes, us," Alec said.
Bartholomew studied Alec for a
moment. "You're brave, I'll give you that."
Then he transformed, and it was like nothing Sarah had ever seen before. He was twelve feet tall, with four sets of wings that wrapped around his scaly body. His legs were the only part of him with any hair; they were goats legs that ended in hooves. There were horns protruding from his forehead, and he had a long, spiked tail that flicked casually behind him.
In that moment, Sarah knew they had no chance.
The attack started at once, and it was brutal. In the end, they had no choice. They fled upstairs, Chloe in the lead, and Harper bringing up the rear. They piled into the apartment and barricaded the door closed.
"It will only hold for a moment," Alec said.
"What's going on?" Janice demanded, coming out of the bedroom. "What's happening?"
"We have to figure something out!" Conner yelled. "My son is in here!"
James came out and Janice shoved him behind her. "Conner, what's going on? Tell us what's happening."
Peter showed up next, a hand on his chest. "Guys?"
"Grab hands," Chloe said.
Everyone hesitated. They heard commotion outside the door. Soon it would break down, and the demons would come in and finish them off. Sarah wasn't ready to die, but she would go out fighting. She growled, preparing to kill once more.
"Grab hands!" Chloe screamed. This time, everyone looked at her. "Now!" The Afterlife crew, Janice, James, and Peter all linked hands. Chloe was on one side, and Harper on another. Chloe took in a deep breath, and turned.
Suddenly, there was darkness. Sarah couldn't breathe and it felt like air was compressing down on her, suffocating her, and she was sure she was going to be dead in an instant...
Then they all stumbled forward, in a forest, the forest of the fey. Chloe had brought them there, using long forgotten magic. She stumbled away from the others and collapsed to her knees.
"We're safe here," she said, and then passed out.
TWENTY-ONE
Make it Rain (Afterlife Book 10) Page 10