The temple above the Basilica Headquarters had been considered holy ground long ago. Underground, it contained one of the only remaining catacombs in the country.
There was a huge difference between sacred and holy.
The catacombs were sacred, but not holy. They held an ancient, primal power tied to death. The temple above them, which was considered holy, celebrated life on the surface, yet hinged one of its core tenets on death and resurrection.
Seemed pretty much like the same thing to me.
The Seven didn’t use the catacombs proper. They were headquartered several levels below the catacombs, in an underground state-of-the-art base of operations. No one entered the Basilica without clearance. Those who tried, only tried once.
We left Liv in her office and headed downstairs to Eight. Becca gave us a large dose of stink-eye as we exited the Sweetgreen. Her gaze followed us until we got in Eight and started the engine.
“What is her issue?” I asked, once we pulled away. “Did you spit in her high-end kale or something?”
“She’s a guardian,” Acheron said. “They are a twitchy bunch when it comes to protecting those in their care. They usually err on the side of hack, slash, and shoot first. Ask questions never.”
“Well, at least now we have an idea of what she is.”
“Dangerous, is what she is.” Acheron said. “Well armed, too.”
“I don’t think I ever want to fight her.”
“Guardians are notoriously difficult to kill,” Acheron said. “They aren’t exactly immortal, but they are close. Makes perfect sense to have one at The Grimoire.”
“One that we can see,” I said, speeding down the street. “She said ‘we sensed a surge of energy in here’—plural. Means Becca is the one we can see, but maybe there are others on the premises?”
“Possible,” Acheron said. “Guardians have been known to gather in trinities.”
“In what?”
“Imagine Becca, three times as deadly,” Acheron said. “They serve in groups of three.”
“Seems like a fun bunch,” I said, swerving around traffic. I jumped on 6th Avenue and pulled onto West Houston. “Did you see how she just—bamf—appeared in The Grimoire?”
“Bamf?” Acheron asked. “What is a bamf?”
“Bamf. The sound of teleportation? Everyone knows this. Anyway that’s not the important part.”
“Since when do teleports make a bamf sound?” Acheron asked. “I think we have different definitions for this word. I thought bamf meant, bad ass motherfu—”
“Focus,” I said, heading down Houston until it intersected Mulberry Street. “She appeared there, without having to worry about any of the defenses. She just bamfed in. Can you do that?”
I made a right on Mulberry and drove down the street until I was behind the Basilica. The main entrance was located on the opposite side of the block, on Mott Street. The entrance to The Seven HQ was located in the catacombs. They could be accessed through a little private garden on Mulberry, which was walled off from the public.
The wall closing off the garden extended from the temple to a small building farther down the block, making the garden inaccessible to the general public. Sigils decorated the old doors to the garden. They gave off a subtle ‘keep away’ vibe that dissuaded anyone from examining the doors too closely.
Scaling the wall—if you could get past the sigils—would be met with excruciating pain. The kind that felt like iron spikes driving into your soft skin at odd angles as you bled out.
The Seven took their security seriously.
“Can I do what? Be a badass motherfu…?”
“Teleport,” I said, approaching the doors to the garden. “Can you teleport like that?”
“Why would I want to?” Acheron said, pulling down on his vest. “I’m a Demon Lord. I don’t need to bamf anywhere. Besides, Demon Lords probably don’t bamf. I’m sure if I teleported, it would sound closer to a heavily Christopher Nolan influenced BRAAAM, with plenty of bass and earthshaking.”
“Right, sure, bram,” I said. “Sounds just like you. Are you prepared?”
“Yes, proceed when ready,” he said, shaking his arms out. “I hate this part.”
“Just focus and move fast,” I said. “The entrance is only forty feet in.”
“Forty feet may as well be forty miles,” he said, waving me on. “Let’s get this over with.”
I pressed a series of the door sigils in sequence and opened the doors.
A wave of power spilled out onto the sidewalk where we stood. Acheron braced himself as we headed into the garden. Long ago, the Basilica had been attacked by demons. Ever since that incident, The Seven took measures to prevent another demon attack on their premises—ever.
“You…would think…Victoria…would make…a…concession…for me,” Acheron said as he walked, leaning forward as if struggling against hurricane force winds. “This…is quite uncomfortable.”
“You know she can’t,” I said as the large exterior doors closed behind us. “Just a little farther. You can make it.”
“Do not patronize me, Nyx. It’s bad enough I’m even setting foot in this place.”
“See? If you could bram your way in, this wouldn’t be an issue.”
Acheron glared at me and kept moving forward.
I moved ahead and stood before a large, white marble mausoleum which took up one quarter of the garden. It always reminded me of a small Roman temple. Another set of sigil-covered doors waited. I placed my hands on them. They gave off a soft blue glow as energy traced the outline of the symbols. A few seconds later, they opened silently.
“The things I do for you,” Acheron said when he reached the threshold of the mausoleum. “At least this part is tolerable.”
We stepped inside the cool building and sat on one of the stone benches. The fail- safes in this building weren’t as overt as the ones outside, but they were no less deadly. I gave Acheron a moment to catch his breath and mentally prepare.
“Ready?” I said. “I’m not hurrying you, but I’d rather tell Vic first, before Liv calls her about The Grimoire.”
“If you had gone to Victoria first, like I advised, you wouldn’t be rushing me now.”
“I’m not rushing you,” I said, “but you can’t get down there on your own. You know that.”
“I’m aware of the defenses employed by The Seven to protect their precious Headquarters from my kind,” Acheron replied, with thinly veiled venom. “They used our own defenses against us.”
“Can you blame them?” I asked. “Demons breaking in here would be a disaster. The artifacts and tomes of knowledge they could acquire—”
“Artifacts and tomes that were stolen from us in the first place,” Acheron added, his anger increasing by several levels. “Let’s not forget that little fact. The Seven appropriated power that didn’t rightfully belong to them.”
“Winners and spoils,” I said. “You know how that goes and why.”
“We never should have trusted them in the first place. That was our downfall.”
I nodded.
“I’m not arguing with you,” I said. “I’m stating facts. We still have to navigate the labyrinth. Ready?”
“Bloody hell, I hate this.”
“Me, too,” I said, taking his arm and heading to the stairs leading down. “Let’s go, old demon. I got you.”
TEN
“The blindness should set in momentarily,” Acheron said, reaching out with his other hand as we stepped downstairs. “Ah, there it is. Right on cue.”
The dimly lit, eternal labyrinth was a devious defense created by Rodrigo the Sigilsmith. In simple terms, it was a labyrinth with endless permutations. The corridors shifted and changed each time you entered it and on every turn.
To spice things up even more, Rodrigo had embedded, into the stone, sigils that caused blindness to the uninitiated, or to demons. These sigils didn’t work on Otherkin—which made me a threat.
Most of the time,
I felt Vic tolerated me under the whole ‘keep your friends close, but your enemies closer’ policy. I certainly never felt like her friend, which, in my mind, only left one alternative—enemy.
Getting lost in here was easy if you used normal senses. Even though the sigils barely affected me as a hybrid, I still had to move slow. If Acheron and I got separated, there would be no way for me to find him, even with our bond. That sorcery was ancient and powerful enough to block even my abilities in these passageways.
The irony wasn’t lost on me. Having this labyrinth under a catacomb was about as subtle as a brick to the head. The Seven were sending a message. Any demon that made it this far would wander here endlessly…forever.
We walked down the passageways, waiting at the intersections for the configuration to change. Being an Otherkin gave me the uncanny ability of never getting lost. I had an internal compass and eidetic memory that allowed me to navigate any labyrinth without losing my bearings.
Acheron, on the other hand, hated this place. With good reason.
The blindness was only the first layer. Any and all demon abilities were immediately nullified. In this place, he was about as vulnerable as demons could be. My attention was completely focused on keeping Acheron close and on the permutations of the labyrinth…I missed the shift in energy until it was too late.
“Hello, freak,” a voice said behind me. “Your demon can’t save you in here.”
“What the—?” I managed as I turned in time to catch a bright red orb to the face.
It blasted me off my feet, but I managed to hold onto Acheron, dragging him back with me. Being an Otherkin meant I was naturally resistant to attack magic. That didn’t mean it didn’t hurt like hell.
“Nyx,” Acheron hissed as we fell backward. “Who is it?”
“Fuck, I don’t know,” I hissed back, rubbing my face. “I didn’t get a good look due to the orb punching me in the face.”
“I can’t help you in here,” Acheron said quietly. “Seems like whoever this is, counted on that fact.”
“That would mean they are informed about your kind.”
“And my weaknesses,” Acheron added grimly. “Which also means whoever it is, is dangerous.”
“I just said that,” I snapped. “Shit, that hurt.”
“Calm down,” Acheron said. “They’re counting on the attack unsettling you. Are you damaged?”
“Only my ego,” I said. “I don’t enjoy being sucker punched. I didn’t expect an attack down here.”
“What have I always told you?”
“Always expect an attack—”
“It’s how you stay alive.” he finished. “Now, get your bearings.”
“I got this,” I said, keeping my anger in check and moving down the corridor. “Whoever it is, they’re going to regret waking up today.”
“Don’t let them bait you,” Acheron said, gripping my wrist. “They’ll want to separate us. Divide and conquer. It’s what I would do.”
“You’re right,” I said, stepping back until I was next to Acheron. “How did they even get in here? We’re in a literal labyrinth.”
“Excellent question—perhaps one you want to ask Victoria, if we get to have a word.”
Another red orb raced down the passageway. I pushed Acheron down and deflected the orb with my arm.
“Dammit,” I said with a grunt of pain. “That one hurt less.”
“What happened?” Acheron asked, trying to orient himself and failing. “Can you see them?”
“They’re sniping,” I said. “Trying to pick us off.”
“We need to move,” Acheron said. “Before they—”
A low rumble filled the passageway as I barely made out the silhouette of a Minoras in the dim light of the corridor. Dragondogs and tight spaces usually meant instant, gruesome death.
They were fast and agile. Indoors, they could scale walls with ease, which meant I had to be ready for several different angles of attack. Facing a Minoras was bad. Facing one in a cramped corridor was suicidal.
“Before they do something like that?” I asked warily. “That sounds—”
“Sounds like the growl of a Minoras,” Acheron said, getting to his feet. “It will be hindered, but still deadly in here.”
“No shit,” I said, letting my claws grow. “This is the last place I want to face a Dragondog. There’s no room to maneuver.”
“For either of you,” Acheron answered, reaching into his coat. “How close are we to Victoria?”
I closed my eyes for a few seconds, reoriented myself, and got my bearings.
“About two permutations behind us,” I said, getting a feel for the labyrinth again. “The first one is just a few feet away.”
“Lead me to the next permutation,” Acheron said. “Are we close?”
“Yes,” I said, stepping a few meters to the next intersection. “Here. We can make it.”
“No, we can’t, but you can,” Acheron said, feeling for the wall. “I’ll only slow you down.”
“No,” I said, my voice final, grabbing him by the wrist. “I’m not leaving you here. That thing will shred you.”
He twisted his hand around toward my thumb, using the move to break free of my grip. As he stepped back, he used the sudden momentum to send me down the corridor, and past the intersection.
“It’s touching that you care,” Acheron said, feeling the wall and heading back down the corridor. “You need to go…now.”
“Don’t do this,” I yelled. “I can help you, what are you doing?”
“Saving your life…again,” he said. “Find Victoria, tell her it’s time to give you the Darkin.”
“Darkin? What the hell is a Darkin?”
“She’ll know what I mean,” Acheron said, moving back toward the Minoras. “Get moving before they decide to take matters…”
A barrage of red orbs filled the passageway. There was no way we could avoid all of them in time. Several of the orbs slammed into Acheron, bouncing him off the wall and spinning him into another assault of orbs. A second group of orbs missed Acheron completely and zeroed in on me.
I raised my arms as the orbs crashed into me.
ELEVEN
I landed in a roll and stopped my momentum with my claws. The permutation kicked in, and the corridor shifted, separating me completely from Acheron.
I was alone.
Acheron was out there, blind and defenseless. I tried to sense him through our bond.
Nothing.
“Sniping orbs. The cowards,” I said, shaking out my arms. “Acheron?”
I punched a wall in fury, cracking the stone, and screamed my frustration. It was no use—I couldn’t go back and find him, not this deep in the labyrinth. The only way out now was forward.
I ran down the next corridor and waited at the intersection, cursing The Seven and Rodrigo for his sigils. The permutation kicked in a few seconds later, shifting the corridor again. When it finished, I saw the door that led to The Seven HQ.
I ran down the corridor and came to a stop before the door.
Emotions were tugging at me in different directions. Fear for Acheron, anger at the defenses, all layered with the mistrust I always kept warmly stoked for The Seven. If I didn’t get myself under control, I was going to enter and attempt to shred everyone in sight. That would last all of five seconds, as one of The Seven—or even Victoria herself—blasted my rampage to a screeching halt.
I took several deep breaths and placed my hand on the door, activating the security sigil. The door slid to the side and into the wall. It was a setup very much like the door at The Grimoire.
I stepped into a cavernous reception area that would have made more sense in an office building downtown. Plush, brown carpet covered the floor. Sconces hung on both walls to either side, providing pools of warm light at even intervals. At the other end of the floor, behind a massive desk, sat Mura the Receptionist.
Mura was, in many respects, the first line of active defense for anyone unlu
cky enough to make it this far. As far as I knew, she wasn’t a sorcerer, and no one had made it past her for as long as The Seven had had their HQ on this site.
She sat behind an immense desk, easily ten feet across and half as tall. The desk was one large slab of granite. I didn’t know how they got it down here, and frankly I didn’t want to know. I was sure it involved some kind of earth sorcery.
Behind the desk, embedded into the wall I saw the large copper VII that graced every one of The Seven’s base of operations and main offices. They were subtle at not being subtle.
Mura was currently proportional to the desk. She sat behind it, peering down at me, like I had stepped in mud and was tracking it all over her clean carpet.
We weren’t exactly friendly with each other.
Mura looked like an oversized human, until you got close. Then you could see that her skin was actually brown stone. She was dressed in business attire—if that business happened to be obliterating large groups of enemies. The combat armor she wore was almost as intimidating as the enormous hammer that sat next to her desk.
The first time I had seen it, I had thought it was some kind of abstract office sculpture. It wasn’t until I had seen her relocate it one day that I realized it was her weapon—as if her fists weren’t enough. Her short black hair was cut in a bob which was stylish and offset her features nicely. Rumor was: she was a stone giant Victoria had saved. I never had the opportunity or inclination to ask Mura the truth.
Mura wasn’t the chatty type. Creatures that were extra-human didn’t readily divulge their origins. In some cases, it could give away weaknesses. This meant most of them had poor social skills or just didn’t play well with others.
Some creatures were just cranky, angry asses. I was a combination of poor social skills and angry crankiness. This didn’t mean I wanted to tangle with Mura—angry didn’t mean suicidal.
Mura always treated me politely but her priority was always The Seven.
They Bite: A Nyxia White Story (They Bite-A Nyxia White Story-Book 1) Page 6