City of Demons

by Debbie Cassidy

  I turned to Noir. “Why did Arcana board up the Underground?”

  Noir’s eyes twitched. “Once our world went to shit, it was only a matter of time before new monsters crawled into our city. The Underground was too ripe a place for them to hide. Sealing it off was a safety measure ... at least that was the official line.”

  “You don’t believe it?”

  “I believe it was a sudden and drastic measure. The work was completed overnight. But if what you say is true, if these rogue Shedim and Immigrant Others are using the Underground as a home, then The Collective failed, and they will be taking action.”

  “You think they already know?”

  He snorted. “Of course they would know. They make it their business to know.”

  Could the elite team Fran had been talking about be related to this?

  Noir led the way down the steps into the darkness, and a soft light accompanied his steps. He was using his mojo again, and there, bathed in the glow of the light he was creating, was our breach, a neatly pulled back sheet of metal with inky black darkness beyond.

  “It looks like we found our way in,” Noir said.

  How could he sound so calm? “Let me go first.” There was no way I was playing the damsel, no matter how much I wanted to. Azren was my responsibility, and I was getting him back.

  “It reeks,” Noir said.

  The smell hit me a moment later, decay and death.

  Not good.

  The light he’d produced flickered and then flared a little brighter, illuminating tiled platforms and grimy posters. The acrid stench of urine stung my nostrils.

  “Oh, man. The Shedim must have zero sense of smell.”

  “Desperation makes us do desperate things.”

  “In that case, they are definitely desperate.”

  A second flight of stairs took us into the bowels of the Underground where tunnels and platforms waited, once alive with the bustle of human activity, now dead silent. We came to a standstill in front of a tunnel that would lead us to a choice of platforms. Even with Noir’s light, the maw was a threatening abyss. My pulse, which had been steadily climbing, reached epic thunder and sweat broke out all over my body.

  “One sec. I just need one sec.” Hands on hips, I leaned over, taking deep breaths then gagging, because, oh, God. That was gross. This air was gross.

  “Wila? What’s wrong?” Noir’s hand made circles on my back.

  I shook my head. “Fine. Just a little claustrophobic.”

  His hand stilled. “You didn’t think to mention that before we entered? We need to get you out of here.”

  “No. Azren needs me. I can’t abandon him.”

  “He could already be dead.”

  “No. If they wanted him dead they could have killed him back at the house.” The conversation, the focus on other stuff, helped. The rush of blood in my head ebbed. “I’m okay. I can do this. Just ... keep the light on.”

  The light grew brighter, drifting into the tunnel to illuminate the dirty yellow interior.

  “You sure you want to do this?” Noir asked.

  “The sooner we check out the place, the sooner we can get out of here.” I stood tall and exhaled. “I’m ready.”

  His hand slipped into mine, sending a jolt of electricity through me. Warmth expanded in my chest. “What did you do?”

  He frowned. “Just held your hand. I thought it might help.”

  I blinked up at his face made of shadowy planes. “It helps.”

  He smiled and then turned to the tunnel. “Come on, Miss Bastion. Let’s go save your demon friend.”

  The tunnel closed in around us, squeezing, sucking the air from my lungs, but the light pushed back the clawing darkness, and Noir’s hand in mine was an anchor pulling me along. Please, don’t let this take long, please ... How long had we walked? How long was this tunnel? Shadows reared up and pressed to the tunnel walls, and Noir jerked me to a stop, his finger tightening around mine.

  “What the fuck?” My voice was a whisper that echoed around us. Shit. The acoustics in this place were a musician’s wet dream.

  Noir was positively vibrating with tension beside me. “We’re going to back up slowly.” His voice was a gentle hush. “No sudden moves, okay?”

  “What are they?”

  “Not here. Are you with me?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay, back up, one step. Yes. Another.”

  We took two steps back and then the humanoid thing pressed to the wall to my right raised its head, its movements jerky, like a clockwork thing. It sniffed the air.

  “Noir?” My voice trembled.

  “Miss Bastion, forget about taking it slow. Run!”

  We turned and ran just as the thing emitted a sonar scream that pierced my brain, bringing me to my knees.

  Noir tugged me up. “Move!”

  Stumbling, righting myself, hand still clamped in Noir’s, I ran. We exited the tunnel and ground to a halt. The things, the humanoid, twisted black creatures, were everywhere, hanging from the ceiling, stuck to the walls, climbing up from the tracks to our left with jerky, eerie movements. The light flared, and they screamed in unison, falling back.

  Noir pulled me against him. “It’s all right. We’re safe in the light. They don’t seem to like it. Just stay close.”

  With the light acting as a cocoon we began to run for the stairs that led out. We never made it. The things cut us off, making a wall to block our exit.

  “They seem to be over the light thing.” I reached for K. “We’re going to have to kill our way out.”

  “Aim for the heart,” Noir instructed, and then let out a blast of energy that hit the nearest creature in the chest. It exploded into ash with an angry screech. I let a bolt fly, hitting another right in the sweet spot. It had barely exploded, and I’d already loaded up K for another kill. The runes on my baby flared to life. He was ready, he was hot. Fingers tingling, I went into auto mode, bolt after bolt, hit after hit. There was no missing, no stopping me, because K and I were one. Something leapt at me but K tugged, pulling me forward into a roll that saved my ass, but Noir was down. The black creatures lunged at his neck. Not for long. A bolt straight under the thing’s arm went straight through its chest, and it rained ash on Noir.

  The Arcana stared at me in shock.

  “Heads up, more incoming.” I aimed and fired over his head, taking out two with one bolt. My bolt bag grew heavy as the bolts re-materialized. Yes. This was the beauty of K. The fucking awesomeness of my baby.

  Noir was back on his feet and at it with the light bolts. Where the fuck were these things coming from? They were an infestation, drawn to the carnage, to life, our life. To blood ... Motherfucker!

  The heart, go for the heart, he’d said. A flash of white, elongated fang cinched it for me.

  Sanguinata.

  These were Sanguinata, and we were super screwed because Noir’s light was dimming and my night vision was good but not that good. My heel hit the bottom step. Somehow we’d made it.

  “Noir, come on!”

  He was mere feet away, holding them back.

  “Go now. I’ll cover you,” Noir ordered.

  “With what? Goodwill? I’m not leaving you.”

  “I’m right behind you.”

  “Bullshit. Move it, now!”

  Another bolt. Another bloodsucker down. And then a body hit me from the side, slamming me into the ground and knocking K from my grasp. Sharp fingers dug into my flesh and rotten breath blasted me in the face.

  “Wila!”

  A roar reverberated off the tiles and then the Sanguinata was knocked off me by a massive shadow. Noir’s light went crazy, bouncing off walls and sliding off the newcomer, but it was enough for me to catch a glimpse, to know it was the same hound that had saved my arse with the Lupin.

  It tore the Sanguinata in two and then turned its head my way, eyes flashing violet. I grabbed K and then Noir was hauling me up and we were barreling up the stairs and out of hell.r />
  “What the fuck, Noir? What the actual fuck?” I shook my head, hands braced on the hood of the Mini. “Those were bloodsuckers, Sanguinata. What the fuck?”

  Noir had used his mojo to push the sheet of metal back into place, sealing off the entrance temporarily, because they’d manage to peel it back eventually. The whole seal-up was shoddy. You’d have thought they’d have made more of an effort, bearing in mind what they were sealing up, unless ... unless the seal-up crew hadn’t known. Unless they’d taken shortcuts on the job. The woman at the Petting Zoo had thought there were Others down here. Had other neph thought the same? Had they peeled back the seal to get inside, unwittingly giving the monsters a way out?

  Noir paced in a tight back and forth circuit. “They lied. The Collective lied. They said they’d rounded all the Lost and incinerated them.”

  “The Lost?”

  “The Sanguinata who drank from other nephs lost their minds, they lost their grip on reality, and they were lost to us. They were supposed to be dead.”

  “Yeah, well, they’re not. Someone shoved them into the Underground and then sealed up the whole system. Who knows how many more of them are down there.”

  Noir stopped and met my gaze. “A whole population, Miss Bastion. A whole fucking population.”

  It was the first time I’d heard him utter a curse word with such vehemence, and for some reason when he said fuck it sounded more like an invitation than a swear word.

  I cleared my throat. “But why? Why let them live?”

  He pressed his lips together. “I have no idea, but I’m going to find out.”

  A thought hit me. “Wait. I think you were right earlier. I think they must know something. Fran, my friend who works for The Collective, said that they were forming an elite team. That, coupled with the missing neph reports for Southside, makes me think they’re already on the case.”

  “Yes, well, if they’re attempting to clean up their mess and stop it going public, they’re doing a piss poor job of it. The first point of call should have been resealing the damned breach.”

  “What are you going to do?”

  He took a shuddering breath. “Allow them to do their job.”

  Indignation stole my breath for a split second and then the words spilled out in a rush. “What? We can’t just let them brush this under the carpet. They lied to us for decades.”

  “Yes, and trust me, I intend to get to the bottom of this cover-up, but exposing the truth would only cause panic and discord. With a rogue faction of Shedim hiding out in our territory, and all the uncertainty and fear surrounding the Others’ integration into our society, such a betrayal is the last thing the citizens need.”

  “Spoken like a true politician.”

  His jaw ticked. “I am no politician, Miss Bastion. I’m simply a man who can see the bigger picture, and right now, we need to focus on your lost Shedim colleague.”

  He was right, of course. “The Shedim can’t be down there. It would be suicide.”

  “Agreed. So, where else could they have taken him? There aren’t many places such creatures could hide without being noticed.”

  No, there weren’t. Northside was out. Eastside was way too busy. The hustle and bustle could mask many things but not the existence of creatures such as Azren. Even with his glamour, he cut an imposing figure and emanated a certain presence that caught the attention of passersby. If they’d been spotted, we’d have heard something on the radio or in The Daily Vine. So, where could they hide? Where could they have gone to ground? Somewhere cut off and abandoned. Somewhere neglected and avoided. Somewhere like the cemetery where a huge Other hound had come slinking out of a mausoleum.

  “Miss Bastion?”

  Man, he looked pale. And there was a fine sheen of perspiration on his forehead. “You look wiped out.”

  He winced. “Is it that obvious?”

  “As obvious as a baboon’s arsehole.”

  “You certainly have a way with words.”

  I gave him a single shoulder shrug. “It’s a gift. How long before you recharge?”

  “A couple of hours or so until I’m running on a full tank again, but there are more to my skills than Arcana, Miss Bastion.”

  “I’m sure there are.”

  Pitch black sojourns into cemeteries where you’d killed a two-headed hound less than a week ago should be undertaken at your own risk, and preferably with backup, except my backup was flagging. He’d used up a ton of juice to fend off the Lost in the Underground, and if my hunch was correct, if the rogue Shedim were down there, then we were going to need Noir in top form. Taking him down there any other way would be irresponsible, regardless of his other skills. If anything happened to him, it would be on me. He’d saved my arse in the Underground, now it was my turn to save his.

  I patted the hood of the car. “I’m going to head back to the office, make a few calls, see what I can dig up. You should go rest up.”

  His eyes narrowed. “Miss Bastion, you cannot go up against these creatures alone. Make sure you call me.”

  My stomach quivered. “I’m not an idiot, Noir.” I yanked open the car door. “Come on, I’ll drop you off wherever you need to go.”

  He took a step back. “I think I’ve had enough of small spaces for one day. I’ll walk to the main road and hail a taxi.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  He rolled up his sleeves and began to walk off down the road. “Call me, Miss Bastion.”

  I’d taken the dirty fighting classes, and my body was naturally powerful. Solo was my middle name, and there hadn’t been a case that I’d had to call in backup for, but for some reason, right now, staring at the black maw of the mausoleum, my stomach tied itself into knots and my bladder screamed for release. This case was forcing me to break my solo streak, and if Taylem and Mack weren’t in Slumber I’d be on the phone right now recruiting them to join me, because the mark of a good investigator was to know when to call in help. I’d just never needed it before. Waiting wasn’t an option, but rushing in all gung ho wasn’t ideal either. Playing it by ear was the usual MO, but not this time. This time my gut advised extra caution. I’d go in, scope out the place, then call Noir once I knew what we were dealing with. Hopefully, he’d have had a chance to recharge by then.

  K sat snug in my hand, runes glowing softly, reassuring, comforting. We can do this, he said. We can take the fuckers out. But in the back of my mind was the tiny voice that whispered, What if he’s dead already? You could be risking your life for nothing? For a Shedim that you were forced to harbor, who means nothing in the grand scheme of things. But that was where the voice lost me, because that wasn’t true. He did mean something to me. What he meant was still a mystery, all confused and muddled and shit. But it was there, a tenuous connection that was impossible to ignore. And, yeah, I could tell myself I was doing this to avoid getting ripped to shreds by Elora for losing her pet, that it was a selfish motivation to save my own life, but that lie left a bitter aftertaste on my tongue too.

  Azren mattered, and until I knew for sure he was dead, I wasn’t giving up on him.

  I took a deep breath, then K and I entered the stone structure.

  17

  Panic was an instant vise around my chest, brutal and unforgiving. K flared to life, providing a momentary reprieve from the darkness that pressed in on me. Breathe. Focus. You can do this.

  The vise eased and musty air rushed into my lungs. Okay, now we were cooking. Reedy fingers of light slipped through cracks in the masonry, providing enough illumination for my night vision to kick into gear. The space was large enough not to feel claustrophobic, plus it was above ground. Bonus. But the Shedim base wouldn’t be so easily found. I walked deeper into the house of the dead. There had to be an entrance to the lair, some secret passageway, some—

  The ground disappeared beneath my feet, the air locked in my throat, and I was falling, butt scraping earth, boots scrambling to gain purchase, down a sloping rabbit hole, and oomph, shit, that
hurt. But, hey, I’d kept hold of K. I raised him to scan the cavern I’d slid into—an underground hidey-hole made of stone. Beams crisscrossed the ceiling, adding support to the structure. What was this place, and how many of these did Arcana City have? None of these spaces showed up on any maps. It was almost as if there was a hidden side to the city no one knew about, a side someone had buried.

  Time to explore.

  Mental maps weren’t my thing, which was why I’d had Barnaby equip K with a mapping rune. As long as the crossbow was in my hand, I’d be able to find my way. The darkness receded as we moved through the tunnels until we were following the weak light that filtered down the walkways toward us. K dimmed to allow us to track the light and then voices drifted down the walkway. Chanting—guttural, harsh, and primal—filled the tunnel.

  My pulse spiked. This was it. It had to be. K went dark in my hand. He knew what I needed.

  Stealth.

  The tunnel was getting wider, we were approaching a chamber, and the light intensified. Sidling up to the entrance, I peeked into the room. The entrance led to a balcony, the room was below. Okay, just a peek and then we were out of here. I’d call Noir and wait for backup. Shuffling forward in a crouch brought us up against the bars to the barrier, and keeping low, I peered over the ledge into the room below. A ball of light sat in the center pulsing softly, and inside the light, on his knees, hands fisted and wrists bound in shackles, was Azren. Alive. He was alive. Relief bloomed warm in my chest. The symbols that appeared when his glamour was gone slid across his skin even though his glamour was holding. What were they doing to him?

  A female figure glided toward him, huge, powerful, and carrying a silver whip. My body tensed. The light caught the side of her face. It was the Shedim that had gotten away, and then she pulled back her arm and lashed out with the whip. It smashed into the light with a crack like lightning, and Azren threw back his head and roared in pain.