Since he didn’t want to be sliced and diced like he had during his first encounter with these merciless creatures, Will had taken the precaution of wearing his protective composite under armor, which he’d designed himself. It was a metal-like fabric, a composite of Nomex, Kevlar, and microscopic threads of titanium. He would be much harder to cut tonight. Maybe if he got lucky, one of them would break a nail and have a terminal hissy fit.
Two of the shedemons came swooping down out of the trees overhead, their talon-like nails extended. Fightin’ Falcons, indeed, thought Will as he tucked and rolled under a marble bench, a defensive move that caused the shedemons to shriek and hover above him, slashing uselessly at the marble. Rolling onto his back, Will used his all his leg strength to kick the stone top, propelling it up so that it slammed into the duo, knocking them backward and out of the air. They landed on their backs on the ground a few feet away.
Will jumped up, and with one smooth motion threw four Series 301 Taser Darts—two with each hand—at the shedemons, who were just springing back up. One ducked, completely eluding the 301s, then bounded back up into the trees. But the other took a dart right in her forehead. As the taser did its work, she shimmied like a freaky Halloween prop, her whole body convulsing as her eyes rolled back in her head and her howls of agony filled the night. When she toppled over, Will rushed to her body. He wanted her alive: he had questions, lots of questions. The shedemon knew this, and when her eyes opened she tried to spit a toxic stream at Will, but he was expecting it, and ducked. Then he quickly zipped the tiny steel wire from his watch and wrapped it around the creature’s neck, ready to behead her.
“The Dark Lord,” he demanded. “Where is he? Tell me and I might let you live.”
She was gagging and her voice was raspy as she screeched her response. “I don’t want to live!”
The shedemon spit at him again; he caught a bit on his scalp and it burned. The pain angered him, and he allowed the red rage to flood through his body. It amped up his strength, and his muscles expanded and became more powerful. He tightened the wire around the shedemon’s neck.
Will didn’t see the next move coming. With her last bit of strength she pulled out a shiv and stabbed it into her own heart! Blood spurted from her chest. Will let her go and stood up, watching as she chanted a demon death mantra—some gibberish about being with him now—and then disintegrated in a shower of sparks.
Will heard a scream and whipped around. Loreli. Visibility was terrible; the fog was like a dull gray blanket draped over the cemetery. But he could make out Loreli’s form forty yards to the west, moving from headstone to headstone, ducking down as shedemons lunged at her. One used a lance axe to rake at Loreli, but she was fast on her feet. Even so, she just barely avoided getting her head lopped off. The other threw a pipe chain, which hit its mark, wrapping around Loreli’s neck. She went down hard. A third had a Bowie knife out and was advancing, clearly planning to behead her. Will’s red rage flared up and he bent time and ran toward them, traversing the forty yards in two seconds, arriving just in time to whip out his Megashocker and drill Knife Girl in the ear. She went down shrieking in pain.
Loreli shot a quick look at Will, acknowledging that he’d just saved her. Then she uncapped one of her vials and slung the contents at the other attackers. The liquid seared their flesh with a sickening sizzling sound. Screaming loud enough to raise the dead, they lurched into backward airborne somersaults and, like wounded birds, took refuge in a towering Douglas fir tree. One of them was so badly wounded that she was unable to retain her balance and toppled out of the tree, landing head-first on a spire and impaling her brain. She shuddered and spewed blood until her body glowed yellow and then crumbled into glass dust.
His pulse racing, Will knelt to help Loreli. The red rage was ruling him now. He knew he should be scanning the cemetery for his enemies, but he was succumbing to a vortex of anger. He wasn’t sure he trusted Loreli, but he did know it filled him with fury to think of her getting hurt.
Loreli whipped the chain pipe from around her neck. Will helped her to her feet.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about me! Just focus on—”
Loreli didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence. The other she-demon swooped down from above holding a headstone, which she flung at Will. He ducked, but the corner of the stone clipped the side of his head, tearing a nasty gash in his ear. He fell to the ground, his head exploding in stars. Two shedemons attacked immediately, and Will rolled over in time to see Loreli battling both of them in hand-to-hand combat. She was wielding a double-headed dagger and was awesomely fast. Will’s brain swirled with confusion. He wondered again if Loreli was a demon herself and this skirmish was some kind of internecine battle.
The two shedemons managed to disarm Loreli and pounced on her like cats, their crimson fingernail talons extended. Clearing his mind, Will jumped up and grabbed one of them by her hair and yanked as hard as he could. The shedemon was strong but couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds. She went flying backward and her head slammed into a tree. Knocked senseless, she dropped lifelessly to the ground.
The other monster was swiping at Loreli, who was deflecting the blows expertly. But the shedemon was fueled by meth, her brain buzzing with madness, and, snarling, she used her jagged incisors to bite into Loreli’s forearm. Loreli screamed. Will swung at the she-demon but she ducked, turned, and kicked him backward. He flew against a headstone. It knocked the wind out of him.
Sucking air, Will watched as Loreli regrouped, exploding one of the porcelain balls on the ground at the feet of her attacker, who was instantly engulfed in a cloud of blue smoke. Loreli grabbed the shedemon’s throat as her eyes bulged out. With four swift kicks, Loreli brought the shedemon to her knees.
Will was in awe. Who was this girl? She must be a demon, he thought. She has to be! It’s not like he’d never seen demons fighting each other before. They did it for sport. But then why hadn’t Loreli attacked him? He watched as Loreli used her dagger to gore the shedemon in the eyes. The creature brayed in disbelief and pain before toppling sideways and exploding into tiny fragments of light.
Loreli looked at Will, eyes blazing with fury and the dagger held in a throwing position. She must have realized he’d found her out. She was wicked fast, and he knew she could sling the deadly blade at him in a millisecond. So he whipped out a Taser Dart and threw it sidearm at her, nailing the dagger, knocking it from her hand. She glared at him.
“Not a good move, Will!” she shouted, then broke a wrought-iron spire off a tomb and hefted it like a javelin. She had a crazy look in her eyes now, like she was looking not at him, but right through him. He knew she was going to throw the spire.
“No!” he shouted. But she flung the spire at him with all her might. It whistled as it cut through the air. With time-bending speed, he dropped flat on the ground as the spire rocketed past him, coming so close it sliced his right cheek.
The red rage swept through him and he leapt to his feet and flew at Loreli, knocking her backward and pinning her on the ground as he yanked out a Flareblade.
“You’re one of them! You tricked me! You lured me here to kill me! But it didn’t work out so well for you, did it?”
She was astonishingly, disarmingly calm.
“Will . . . look behind you.”
Will looked back and saw the remaining shedemon impaled on a tree, writhing in death. She must have snuck up behind him armed with a chop sword and been about to behead him when Loreli had thrown the spire.
It was clear that Loreli’s throw hadn’t been meant for him after all. But he’d seen the malice in her eyes, seen her move insanely fast. He knew she wasn’t human.
Will saw movement to his left. Blue Streak was jumping the wall, fleeing the scene. He heard the van start up and peel out.
He turned to Loreli. “This proves nothing!” said Will. “So you sacrificed one of your own. I know your kind. Your cruelty is sickening.
Tell me where the Dark Lord is, and I promise I’ll kill you quickly.”
“You don’t want to kill me, Will Hunter.”
“Oh really?” said Will, moving the Flareblade to within an inch of the soft flesh of her neck. “And why not?”
Loreli smiled. “Because I’m your sister.”
Chapter Fourteen: Sibling Rivalry
On the top floor of the mansion, Natalie paced, nervous as a cat on ice. She peered longingly out the window, replaying the conversation she’d had with Will earlier.
It’s that girl, isn’t it?
Yeah.
I thought so.
It’s not like that.
Natalie had run a gamut of emotions with Will Hunter in the time she’d known him; she’d practically been to Hell and back with him. But this was different. That girl made Natalie want to scream. Just the thought of her green eyes made Natalie’s brain feel like it was wrapped in rubber bands that were growing tighter with every tick of the clock. Her nerves were so jangled she was ready to hit something. When Emily approached her from behind, she jumped.
“Emily, you scared me! Why are you sneaking up on me?”
“I’m not. Nat, what’s wrong?”
Biting a fingernail, Natalie said, “Will’s out looking for that girl, from detention. But he said he would text me. And it’s been hours!”
She looked out the window for the thousandth time, her eyes hungry for the sight of Will. But all she saw was darkness and rain. This was torture.
“If he said he’ll text you, he will. Don’t worry,” said Emily.
Don’t worry. Natalie had repeated those very words to herself over and over, trying to hammer them into her brain. But they just wouldn’t take. She would try to calm herself with her inner voice—He’ll be fine; he’s strong and he knows what he’s doing—but in her brain she saw devastating images. Like on a movie screen she saw Will with Miss Green Eyes, touching her, holding her. Then she saw him surrounded by demons, fighting for his life—and losing. The fear was strong and it was in control. There was nothing that Natalie could do except worry.
“It’s going to be okay, Nat,” said Emily.
“How do you know that? How do you know anything?” Her fear was making her crazy.
Emily winced and her eyes filled with tears. Natalie immediately regretted her words.
“Oh, crap. I’m sorry, Em. I’m just . . . not myself. I hate waiting. This is just not like him.” But Natalie knew this wasn’t true; it was exactly like him. He’d always been mysterious and often seemed to be distancing himself from her both physically and emotionally. And who could blame him? He had the future of the world on his shoulders.
She needed to stop thinking so much; she needed to clear her head. But fear prodded her again, the worry like a rash on her skin. What if something had happened to him? What if he wasn’t texting her because he was hurt, because he couldn’t move, because he was near death? She couldn’t pace back and forth in front of this window any longer. She wasn’t the kind of person who could just sit back and let life deal her the cards she’d have to play. She dealt her own damn cards. She had to do something. She pushed past Emily and walked into Will’s room.
“Where are you going?” Emily asked.
The keys to the BMW were on his dresser. Natalie picked them up.
“I’m going for a drive. You coming?”
Emily bit her lower lip. As much as she feared cruising around the city in the middle of the night without Will, the notion of sending Natalie out there alone was worse.
“I’ll get my coat.”
Will was still in shock, still trying to process what had just happened, as Loreli unlocked the front door of her mother’s house and led him inside.
“I think you’ve got some explaining to do,” he said.
“Food first. You want something to eat?” she asked.
“No, I’m fine,” he said, looking around. The place was depressingly ordinary, and somewhat unkempt, another unremarkable middle-class house with drab furniture and dull walls. All the slat blinds were closed and the house had a faint chemical smell about it. The sound of a TV played lightly from somewhere, but other than that the house felt unoccupied.
Will followed her into the kitchen and was pleasantly surprised to find that, unlike the rest of the house, it was sparkling clean and brimming with life, the counters jammed with appliances—coffee maker, food processor, toaster—and bowls of fruit and jars of nuts. Loreli reached into the refrigerator.
“Suit yourself, but I’m famished. A little kick-ass like that always makes me hungry.” She pulled out half a pan of cake, cut a generous piece for herself, and took a huge bite. Will’s stomach growled. He eyed the cake.
“What is that?”
“Apple pudding cake. Old family recipe.”
Will could smell the cinnamon. “On second thought, maybe I’ll have a bite.”
They polished off the cake and drank a quart of ice-cold milk. Then Loreli grabbed a can of V8 from the fridge and left the kitchen. Will followed. They made their way down a hallway and into the TV room, where a middle-aged woman was curled in a papasan chair and covered with an afghan. Family Feud was on TV. The woman’s eyes were closed and she was snoring raggedly. On the small table next to her were two empty 750ml bottles of Stoli and an ashtray overflowing with butts. The woman stirred as Loreli took the bottles and set the can of V8 down in their place, then emptied the ashtray. Opening her eyes, the woman looked blankly up at Will. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words found their way out.
“Mom, this is Will, a . . . friend from school. Will, this is my mom, Tanya.”
“Nice to meet you,” said Will. Tanya said nothing, but shifted in the chair and reached for a bottle. When she saw that she’d grabbed a V8, a complaint bubbled up inside her. But then her stomach told her she needed something other than alcohol, so she drank the juice. Then she lit a cigarette. When she spoke, it was nearly a whisper.
“Thanks, honey.”
“No prob, Mom. We’re gonna go do some homework.” Tanya was obviously too out of it to realize it was so late at night.
Loreli signaled to Will and he followed her out. She led him down a flight of wooden stairs into a musty basement filled with books, cardboard boxes, paint cans, garden tools, and other junk. She moved to an antique wooden armoire with an oval mirror on the front. She swung open the doors, pushed aside some hanging clothes, and stepped inside.
“You coming or not?” she asked Will as she disappeared.
He followed her into the armoire. The back had been cut out, so the armoire was actually a doorway to another, secret room. Loreli’s lair.
Will stepped in and was immediately taken aback by the size of the room, which was considerable, perhaps fifty feet square. Clearly she’d had some construction done to the original floorplan of the house. The walls were lined with shelves, stacked with canisters and bottles and beakers filled with a bounty of colorful powders, liquids, and herbs. A central workbench held microscopes and Bunsen burners, scales, and myriad other chemist’s tools. A bank of computers hummed, and Will’s game, Demon Hunter, was alive on one of the monitors. He stepped over to the station and touched the keyboard. An avatar he recognized—the green fox—popped up, and his spine tingled.
“You’re Jade16.” He shook his head slowly with the realization.
“The one and only,” said Loreli proudly.
“You’ve been kicking ass. You’re amazing at it. Off-the-charts good.”
“What do you expect? I told you, I’m your sister.”
Will’s eyes continued to explore the room. There were crystals and feathers in abundance, and aquariums stocked with exotic-looking fish, and terrariums full of snakes, frogs, salamanders, and lizards. There were also cages holding mice and one that was home to a black-footed ferret. The ferret padded back and forth in his cage, his suspicious eyes never leaving Will.
“Hey, Sebastian, how’s it goin’?” Loreli smiled at the fer
ret, then opened the cage and pulled him out. The little guy immediately ran up her arm and perched on her shoulder. It barked a tiny, high-pitched bark at Will.
“He’s okay, Sebastian. You don’t have to claw his eyes out. At least not right now.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” said Will.
“You’re welcome. Just don’t mess with him. He can be mean if he wants to be.”
“You mean if you want him to be.” Will eyed Sebastian warily. Not exactly a demon-level threat, but Will wasn’t exactly keen to get into a tussle with a feisty little carnivorous mammal.
“He sleeps eighteen hours a day,” she said. “But when he’s awake he’s kinda perky. He loves to play. Hey Sebastian, you wanna play hidey-seek?”
Sebastian’s head bobbed up and down and he chattered loudly. Then he hopped off Loreli’s arm right at Will, landing on his shoulder and using it as a launching pad to spring onto an overhead pipe. He scrambled down the length of the pipe and then jumped down behind some wooden barrels, then darted around on the floor, looking for the optimum hiding place. Will heard him skittering around but couldn’t see him.
“He’s not going to leap out and claw me, is he?” asked Will.
“Not unless you make a threatening move toward me.”
Will saw a dish of small white balls on the lab counter and picked one up.
“Um, unless you want to see spots for the rest of the night, that puppy is something you will want to set down verrrry carefully,” said Loreli.
Will thought following her advice would be prudent, so he set the small white sphere down gently.
“It’s a simple flash orb,” said Loreli. “Here, put these on.” She handed him some dark goggles and put on a pair herself.
Will put the goggles on, then Loreli picked up one of the orbs and tossed it hard onto the concrete floor, where it detonated, causing a powerful blast of white-hot light that filled the room for a full five seconds. Even though he was wearing the goggles, Will had to close his eyes, and even then he had spots floating.
The Rising Page 15