Cheyne glared up into the horrible visage of the great, onrushing demon.
Cleaver saw no way out for the Queen of the Witches.
Near the end, at the last moment, she turned briefly and shouted a command to all the humans gathered there.
“We are lost! We are lost! Retreat. Retreat. Get to safety and fight another day!”
Cleaver’s heart lurched. If Cheyne was asking for retreat then the day was well and truly lost. The Devil would come to earth . . . unless Logan had already killed Emily Crowe up top? Maybe that was it.
A split second later, Belial plowed into Cheyne, traveling at incredible speed, and Cleaver was able to understand the spell Cheyne had cast.
She’d conjured an illusion that spoke directly to the demon’s brain, telling it the ground was much further away than it actually was. Cheyne sacrificed herself to kill a hierarchy demon, and she did it with the greatest heroism. Belial smashed into her and the ground like a freight train hitting a mountain, breaking her body apart, demolishing the earth and creating a new, wide crater, then shattering its own body as it finally struck hard, ungiving rock.
The witch coven screamed as one. T-Rexes, wayclearer demons, humans and every other manner of creature were knocked off their feet. Everything hit the ground and lay there for long moments, stunned.
Cleaver was up first.
“You heard her!” he cried out. “Run! Retreat. Run for your fucking lives!”
*
I ran for Emily Crowe, seeing the chance to unleash a power strike before the three hierarchy demons closed in on us. Winged beasts flew above and behind me, distracted by the sheer amount of firepower being concentrated on them by ranks of soldiers. I was so close to Crowe I saw her cohort, Melissa, turn and could see the whites of her eyes. One enormous power surge would break them in two . . .
Suddenly, I tripped. I fell heels over head for several steps, knowing it wasn’t my fault. Instinctively, I knew Black Chapter were helping Crowe, conjuring up images from below but it didn’t help. My flesh was bruised and scraped. Even as I leapt up, I threw all my amassed force at the spot Crowe had been.
Crowe was gone, but another stood there. It was Melissa. My blast struck her head on, smashing into her chest and sending her flying out over the hundred-foot drop. The last I saw was her plummeting body and the last I heard was her terrified scream.
“Well done,” Giles said from my left. “Now for Crowe.”
Lysette was alongside us. “I can read her mind, using the new safeguards I’ve developed since Miami Beach. She’s close to Black Chapter. They’ve already started the ceremony to summon Lucifer. You have to hurry.”
The Devil was coming, a new hellgate was opening. I ran as fast as I could, and the blood pounded through my body.
We were at the edge of the cliff now, looking down to see Crowe and Black Chapter assembled on a rocky outcrop, with the vast salt flats below. The scene was so overwhelmingly stunning down there I hesitated despite myself. Pockets of soldiers and Chosen were surrounded by crowds of enemies. Bodies lay in piles on the ground. A thin fog hung above it all, diffused by the sun. Hierarchy demons and military helicopters fought in the skies. Demons sat on rotor blades, being spun round and round. Others hung from the skids, trying to haul the birds to the ground. A vast white slug creature glided over dozens of its fellow brutes as it slithered toward Furnace Creek, the intertwining of its passing like a complex, living puzzle.
I took a huge breath. I felt light-headed and it wasn’t the height. It was the enormity of it. The knowledge of what we fought for. It was the end of the world.
Or not.
Everything depended on the Chosen.
I chased after Giles and Lysette, Ceriden and Ethan at my heels. Giles pointed his machine gun at Crowe and didn’t yell out any warning. He just opened fire.
A hierarchy demon screeched and fell between them, striking the ground with its belly and bouncing in an ungainly way. The bullet struck it side on, not penetrating. It roared and then its terrible head came around, its blood-red eyes fixed on Giles. Flames flickered between its teeth and spurted out of its nostrils.
I ran at it. Giles, still wearing his suit and shirt, with a marine’s rifle held out before him, ran even faster, firing at the demon, transferring his aim to its eyes. Lysette must have accidentally sensed the beast’s thoughts, which were filled with chaos and mayhem, and fell to her knees, blood seeping from her nose and ears.
I slowed. Ceriden and Ethan pounded past. I laid a hand on Lysette’s shoulder.
“You okay?”
“Yes, just go! This is our only chance.”
I gathered power. I turned. I saw Emily Crowe’s face as I had a hundred times on the TV before, when I’d watched clips from her rock concerts or TV appearances. It felt surreal. She was chanting. Behind her the members of her twisted coven were screeching, crying and beating their own skulls with stones. They bled from their eyes and noses and ears. They ripped at their own shawls. They were both men and women and they were livid, possessed and crazy.
The Devil was coming.
I flung a power strike. Black Chapter raised an invisible shield to deflect it. By chance, it hit a group of wayclearer demons that had been preparing to attack us, breaking their limbs and bodies, destroying them all.
Emily Crowe was on her knees, arms raised in prayer. Her lips moved ceaselessly. To my horror I saw a shimmer form in the air just beyond her, a shimmer that hung almost seventy feet off the ground. The hellgate was coming and it would bring the worst fate imaginable to millions.
But Giles was incredible. Showing bravery beyond measure he darted under the wings of the felled hierarchy demon and ran past its snapping jaws. It was still a little stunned and probably shocked to see this small human suddenly so close. Lysette gasped at my side. Giles evaded the huge demon and was suddenly right at Crowe’s side.
He raised his gun.
The members of Black Chapter squealed and threw themselves at him. The hellgate fizzled out as their chanting stopped. Four struck his middle just as he fired. The bullet flew away into the air. Four others were trying to join the fight. I smashed them with a quick strike. Ceriden and Ethan were trying to skirt the demonic dragon, but it was shaking off its stupor and flicked a spiny tail at them.
I was joined by Lysette, Lucy and Natalie. We ran past the demon’s head as it concentrated on its rear. We came around the side, face to face with Emily Crowe and a bunch of Black Chapter who were attacking Giles.
It was horrendous. Even as they fought, the dark coven chanted. The hellgate was blinking back into life. Crowe ripped at her own flesh and pulled out chunks of blond hair, offering them to the new god. Her eyes were closed.
Through Lysette’s mind-reading capabilities we all suddenly heard Cheyne’s last desperate cry.
“We are lost! We are lost! Retreat. Retreat. Get to safety and fight another day!”
It was heartrending. We knew she had died. I prepared a vast power strike with Natalie Trevochet and I sensed a second immense power to my left. When I looked, I saw a determined face and eyes I’d looked on with joy since the day she was born.
Lucy.
Even now, in vampiric form, she had power. Ahead, Black Chapter swarmed over Giles. Lysette plucked a gun from a marine’s holster and fired point blank at several members of Black Chapter. They were so rapt in their torturous ceremony they didn’t notice, didn’t stop. They felt nothing.
I held out my hands.
There was an incredible burst of air, as if the atmosphere had exploded. At first, I thought it had come from me but then I saw the most unbelievable thing happening right in front of my eyes. A rip traveled through the air, about a hundred feet in length. The air shimmered. A tear opened right in front of me and knocked me clean off my feet.
I hit the ground hard, bruised. When I looked up, a new darkness hung in the sky, surrounded by the normal day. Cheyne must have known, or felt its coming. She knew the hellgate was open
ing and how many hell-beasts it would bring.
If we didn’t run now, we’d all die. There were no plans, no known strategies, no means to beat the Devil.
I shuddered. Lysette screamed in agony. It was then I saw Black Chapter climbing off the figure of Giles, which allowed us to see our leader’s dead body. I fought an urge to scream myself, to run away from all this apocalyptic madness, but managed to unleash my mixed fear and frustration at the hierarchy demon behind us.
It rolled away, screeching. There was nothing else for us to do now except run. The air tore apart behind us with a dreadful ripping, rending sound. My feet hit the earth at full pelt. We were all running, headed back to the vehicles and covering our escape.
The roar that came through the new hellgate made my veins run ice cold and all the hairs on my body stand up. It made my heart beat so hard that I felt I might be having an attack.
Emily Crowe screamed in her passion.
“My Emperor!” she cried out. “My King! God of demons and all Hell! Lord Lucifer, is here!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Lucifer emerged from the new tear in the world and stepped down into Death Valley. He wore a business man’s suit and appearance, everything from the polished shoes to the bowler hat and cane. The only clue that he was anything but human, were the black eyes and the forked tongue that occasionally flicked between his lips.
He saw the forces of earth arrayed against his minions and laughed. They would be swept away like reeds before a storm. He saw them run as his shoes touched dry, sandy earth.
Emily Crowe supplicated herself before him along with the surviving members of her coven, Black Chapter. He saw the hierarchy demon, Beelzebub, picking itself up off the floor. He knew Belial was dead down below, which meant only five of his lieutenants were left alive. But he was here now. The long exile was at an end.
Lucifer had visited the earth many times during the last 2,000 years. But he had only ever been able to come as a man, with limited power. He’d visited countless women and the best, most salacious places, from the filthiest dives to the grandest palaces. He’d coerced the strongest, most regal minds, inciting murder, warfare and savagery. He’d changed the course of history where he wanted and taken down kings.
But he had never visited with every single particle of his strength available, unfettered, able to do bloody deeds and unleash instant wrath on a whim. He thought about the millions of subjects that were now his to torment and slaughter. He was finally free.
Lucifer surveyed Death Valley. He knew his way around this world. He studied the creatures arrayed below, all of whom stood in place, staring up at him in awe instead of chasing their enemy down.
This once, he’d allow it.
For this once, he stood in all his glory, ready to turn earth into the eighth hell, ready to enslave the rabble that occupied it and brutally murder all its feeble leaders.
The five remaining hierarchy demons flew up, prostrating themselves in the sand near his feet. Emily Crowe did the same.
“You have done well,” the Devil said and saw her shudder with pleasure. “The rest of the pit and the seven hells is on its way. We will spread across this world, taking it country by country, city by city. We will fly, walk and crawl, east and west, north and south. Nothing can stand in our way.”
His demons roared. The crowd below roared. An exultant noise filled the valley and streamed all the way up to the blue skies above. He turned once more to Crowe.
“The Chosen and their helpers,” he said. “I want them to suffer the most. I want them to live for thousands of years on the edge of death, in agony, in torment. I will have them beg 10,000 times to die. Now,” he raised his hands, “we will lay waste to this earth!”
CHAPTER NINE
Our two leaders, Giles and Cheyne, were dead. We had suffered many other losses. Tanya Jordan was badly injured. The rest of us were at our lowest ebb, bleeding and bruised and faced with our worst scenario.
Where do we go from here?
There were no plans beyond Death Valley. We didn’t even have a HQ. But we were together – all the remaining Chosen and their helpers and many soldiers, and we headed for the closest, most defendable place we knew.
Area 51, I remember it used to be called.
It wasn’t called that anymore. And it wasn’t so secretive, it seemed, as we were all allowed in without preamble. We were a dilapidated, desperate convoy, drained of all hope. We exited our vehicles and filed into an empty warehouse and then gathered at its center. Someone handed out food and water. We milled, we stared into space, we waited for someone to step up and lead us. For a new plan. In truth, we were waiting for the end of the world.
I sensed everyone around me without really seeing them. Ceriden, Ethan and Lucy. Lysette Cohen. The wounded Tanya Jordan. Natalie, Leah and Belinda. The elves, Jade and Amber. Cleaver. Cheyne’s witch coven, or what was left of it. We were standing in misery, frustration and despair, closing our minds to any progress.
“We lost,” Lucy whispered. “How could we lose?”
Her words seemed to galvanize Ceriden. The tall vamp shrugged his dusty coat off his shoulders and let it fall to the floor. Then he walked into our midst, finding the center.
“You can’t give up now,” he said. “We can’t give up. Did my great friend David Beckham give up in injury time against Greece? No, he scored one of the best goals of all time. Did Ferruccio and Enzo give up when they faced bankruptcy? No, they went on to create some of the best engineered vehicles the world has ever seen. It is now time for the Chosen to follow the examples of others and dig deep, find even more courage and resolution, and fight back.”
I don’t know if it was the food and drink, or Ceriden’s off-the-wall speech, but a trickle of energy flowed through me. I wasn’t injured, or dead. The Chosen, apart from Ken, were all here in this room – Tanya, Lysette, Natalie, Lucy and me – and all we needed was a good plan.
“How can we fight the Devil?” Lysette asked, her voice raw with emotion. She wept as she spoke, her face twisted with pain, with the loss of the man she loved.
I wanted to comfort her as she had comforted me before, but I had too many problems of my own right now. I missed Giles and Cheyne too.
“The library will help find a way,” Ceriden said. “I’ve already contacted them. Much hope lies with Ken and the others returning from hell and bringing the Lionheart blade with him. And the Chosen have not yet been fully unleashed. We don’t know what they’re capable of.”
“You believe that, don’t you?” Lysette said with some surprise. “You really do believe that.”
“I have a strong conviction in the Chosen Few, dearest. Of course I do. That’s why they’re here. Kinkade will help keep us informed of the advance of hell’s armies. I am sure they will meet opposition at every city, every town. Humanity will not fade away into shadowlight. They will not abandon their homes when they know that, today, they face their last stand.”
I pushed aside my grief and stepped closer to Ceriden. “Do you have a plan?”
“Well, Logan, I see no option other than to split our forces. Strahovski, my European counterpart, must hold Vienna. It is the birthplace of all vampires and cannot be taken or we risk losing all hope for our kind. And as you know, he is a stubborn, boorish leader. But everywhere on earth will be assaulted soon. The trick is to find the most significant battles to make our final stand.”
“We can force them back to hell,” Amber said, and Jade nodded along with her. “We can do anything together.”
I looked at the sisters. They were right. Everything was better if you had help and we had some serious help. Even now I saw newcomers entering the building and I recognized them straight away. It was the group that called themselves the Dino Hunters and traveled in their fully loaded Dodge Ram, firing harpoons and heavy caliber bullets at every demon they could find. And they were very welcome.
“All of hell is coming through that hellgate, and five others that have opened a
round the world,” Belinda said, grimacing. “We don’t have enough soldiers or Ubers on earth to save us.”
“I’m open to suggestions,” Ceriden said, looking around.
“I believe we may be able to help,” Amber said. “Belinda is right. We elves are so few. The lycan populations are in double figures. Powerful witches are few in number. Even the vampires, though in their thousands, are not enough. Your military might – it is puny compared to all the demons of hell.”
I coughed. It wasn’t much of a pep talk so far.
Jade continued where Amber left off, staying in perfect flow: “Other Ubers are negligible in number. Trolls. Nymphs. Faeries. They’ll be keeping their heads down during this.”
“We have a ton of weapons,” Cleaver put in.
“And Lucifer has a ton of cannon fodder. Incalculable tons. Seven hells of it. He will overwhelm your positions within a week.”
I couldn’t stop my face twisting in dismay. I hadn’t realized we were so close to total enslavement.
“I’m assuming you have something in mind?” Ceriden prompted the sisters.
Amber nodded, her golden hair falling across her face. “There are stories of the Old Ones, as you know,” she said. “Incredible stories, passed down through history. The Old Ones grew tired of this world and faded away. They no longer wanted any part of it. You see, beings like elves, vampires and werewolves don’t die. They barely age. It’s true, some do literally fall apart but that’s very rare. Ubers have been active on this planet for about 10,000 years, long after man evolved. But . . .”
As she paused for breath, Jade finished: “Imagine how many the Old Ones number. They could sweep away the fiends of hell in one mighty charge.”
I remembered from my early days in the House of Aegis talk of the Old Ones, of Ubers having grown so disillusioned with the world they left it. Nobody knew where they were or if they’d be interested in us anymore.
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