“Why would thisss vampire wage war here? Why not in the Civil Landsss? What isss it you’re not telling me, wizard?”
“I’ve told you all you need to know, Shadow King. Take it or leave it. Since when does it concern a demon the reasons why food is available?” Damn, the king picked a fine time to become curious. Dharean couldn’t let on how much they needed the help of the Shadow Demons. The Shadow King would demand much more than he was willing to sacrifice.
He knew the risks of traveling so far underground by spirit. But risks had to be taken to win this war. Risks that were now manifesting itself with horrifying speed. His tattoos protected his corporeal body but not his spirit. He was becoming weaker; when that happened, the demons would be able to devour his spirit. Dharean began to chant the words that would bring his spirit back to his body.
“Wizard.” The Shadow King tsk-tsked. An odd sound, given its sibilant voice. “I care not for sssuch thingsss.”
Surprised, Dharean stopped midchant and looked at the Shadow King. It dared to approach him closer. So close that Dharean could see its rows of tiny, sharp, bloodstained teeth. If one could label it as such, the thing was smiling. “Then why?”
“To kill time, asss the humansss sssay. I felt the ssshift in your power the ssame asss you. You will make a tasty dish.”
Before Dharean could finish his chant, Shadow Demons descended upon him. Though in spirit form, his mouth was plugged with something vile, and he was wrestled to his knees. The wards upon his skin, imitated from his body, still burned a few of the demons but it wasn’t enough to keep them at bay. “Feassst, my children,” the Shadow King said in malevolent delight. Dharean howled in pain and rage as teeth savagely bit into him.
*
How long had they been trying to keep the undead at bay? There was no telling. Sweat poured like rain down his body. Khaelen kept a wary eye on Allantra and Dharean when he could. But then the beautiful white light around Allantra began to flicker.
As he fought, he watched in curiosity as it flickered again, then the light completely extinguished. The effects were almost immediate and he knew why. Had Allantra lost her ability to send energy during the night, it wouldn’t have affected him so. But the sky boasted of the sun’s appearance. He felt his reflexes slow as fatigue set in. He looked around and took note of the remaining undead heading his way.
This put the battle at a great disadvantage, for without him, Masque and Minn would fight this end of the perimeter alone. The perimeter that kept the enemy from getting to Dharean and Allantra. But that was not the only disadvantage.
He had not the power to teleport to a safe dark place; more than that, he would never leave in the middle of a battle, even if it would surely cost him his own life. Already he could feel the effects of the coming sun draining him of precious energy. What was wrong with Allantra? Had she somehow been injured? Bespelled by Dominica? Khaelen couldn’t begin to guess.
His skin warmed to an uncomfortable degree and his mind searched for the memory from when he had last fed from Allantra. He had been so engrossed with the upcoming battle he had not seen to his proper nourishment. Nourishment that would have seen him through the rising of the sun. Without having fed from Allantra and being directly cut off from her energy supply, Khaelen knew it would be a matter of moments before the sun ended his long life.
And yet he could not make the decision to save his own life. He had committed himself to the battle, to Allantra. As long as he was alive to fight for her life, he would. Khaelen crushed another undead under his foot when a blow hit him from behind, then another. His senses were off and he was too slow to move. The sun made him sluggish. He tried to teleport a safe distance away to gather his wits but to no avail.
He felt greedy hands upon him, then grating, gnawing human teeth tearing at his skin. He fought hard with his remaining strength, but eventually the weight of his attackers was too much and Khaelen found himself being forced to the ground.
*
The moment Khaelen went under in the sea of undead attackers, Claudium signaled to the Blood Twins he was going to the other vampire’s aid. They couldn’t afford to lose a single person. With that thought, his eye quickly strayed to Minn where the sexy, luscious shifter fought back to back with her brother. Even spattered in blood she aroused him. He definitely wouldn’t want to be on her bad side.
He teleported close to the mass of bodies and began to pull them off Khaelen one by one, crushing their brains through their skulls with the strength of the Elder vampire that he was.
As soon as he saw the bloodied Executioner he grabbed him by the nape and teleported him away from the spot. He landed within feet of the synergist, who stood before them shocked, tears in her eyes. Anger welled up in him as he looked upon her. Yes, she was young and inexperienced, but they all needed her to be strong. “Fix this, or he dies. In fact, we all do.” He popped out, taking Khaelen’s spot to guard the triad. He hoped they were worth all the hype. Then he dived back into the fray.
*
The sight of Khaelen’s unmoving, bloodied body brought her out of shock and self-pity. Claudium was right. She needed to fix this. She was the cornerstone to all of this. She could not fail them. She was Allantra, a Low-Ender, expected to do nothing with her life. But she had been given a destiny. Allantra checked the position of the stone and closed her eyes and opened the pathways in her mind.
Mates. Hear me. Come back to me. I faltered once but will not do so again. Dominica grows tired, but we will not. There is more to us than the destiny before us. I love you, come back to me.
Over and over Allantra repeated this in her mind. Waiting for a response, something that would tell her she had not lost both of her mates. The energy in her coalesced and poured from her as she thought of them both. Willing the energy to go into them. Then…
Flammulae, I have business to attend but will join you shortly. I love you as well.
Little one, I am here. I would never willingly leave you.
Joy spread throughout her at the sound of their voices. She kept her concentration even when she heard Khaelen and Dharean rise near her. Dharean began to chant, then she felt coolness upon her skin. She dared open her eyes to see clouds had covered the fresh morning sun.
“We are expecting guests, and they are sensitive to the sunlight,” Dharean explained. Allantra gasped at the sight of him, bloodied with small teeth embedded in his skin. She looked to Khaelen, who had not fared any better.
“I could have used a little bit of that earlier,” Khaelen grumbled to Dharean.
“What have I done?” she asked out loud. Their numerous bleeding wounds made her cringe with shame. She had done this to them as if she had stricken them with her own hand. Their deaths would have been her fault.
“We are in the midst of a battle, flammulae. In battle there is nothing to be sorry for but cowardice. You overcame your fears and that is why we are both here. There are more pressing matters to concern our attention.” Dharean ran a reassuring hand warmly down her back.
“Think of it no more. You have done well.”
“Fine, for now. But shouldn’t you two be helping the others?”
A rumbling sound came from the ground. Small fissures opened and dirt spewed violently out. An eerie, spine-chilling, hissing noise wafted from the fissures.
“Ah, here comes the cavalry,” Dharean announced, his gaze glued to the ground. Allantra watched in fascination as dark figures erupted from the openings. They swarmed upon the undead, causing the Blood Twins, Minn, Masque, and Claudium to draw back in stunned surprise.
“Well, it seems now that they are taken care of, we can focus on the real problem,” Khaelen drawled as his gaze settled upon Dominica. “Let us tear that she-demon apart.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
She wanted to howl in frustration. Those wretched, bothersome Shadow Demons were wiping out a major part of her plan! Dominica shook it off. They were meant to be sacrificed anyway. She had much bigger designs.
Dominica spun around and looked at the entrance to the caverns. While the others had been busy with her undead, she had made much progress. True, the Noir Brujo was a talented one. His ward had been most difficult to break. But break it she would; she had the key now.
Dominica closed her eyes and concentrated. She blocked out the malicious stares from the triad as they tried to figure out how to break her ward. But they wouldn’t. They couldn’t. Breaking the ward was simple enough; however, none of them would be able to do it. They simply didn’t have what it took. And if, miraculously, somehow they did … She laughed at her own private joke and got back to the matter at hand—killing the remaining shifters that dwelled inside. She was moments from achieving her goal.
Not one shifter would be spared. No shifter to destroy the life of the superior species on the planet. They would finally be eradicated for the vermin that they were. She lifted her hands gracefully as she articulated the words of the spell. Yes, the wizard had been clever. She mimed the words with her hands unweaving the ward’s delicate pattern and slowly began to render it useless.
When she opened her eyes she took a deep breath. She looked around and summoned one of the dead bodies of her servants. With a small flick of her wrist she guided the body through the opening. The body entered without resistance. The ward was completely gone. Dominica smiled and turned to the triad as they stared at her. Let them follow her if they dared. It was exactly what she needed. What she wanted. She definitely had a gift for them all. She bowed to them. Then very slowly she waved good-bye to the three and went inside.
*
“Fuck!” Allantra said the one word they were all thinking. “I hate that bitch.” She turned to Khaelen and Dharean. “We have to get to the other side. We have to find a way. They are all sitting there like ducks in a barrel.”
Khaelen raised his eyebrow in confusion as he holstered his knife back into the sheath on his ankle. “You know that thing humans say.” She threw her hands in the air. “You know what I mean.” She turned to Dharean. “Get us in there.”
“I’m still trying,” Dharean responded through clenched teeth.
“Try harder,” Khaelen added, looking at the rest of their party as they approached.
Dharean let out an exasperated breath. “She’s good.” He walked the perimeter of the wall, looking at it closely. “I’m missing something vital here. It’s like this spell is meant to trigger something. But I’ve never seen this before. I can’t be sure.”
“How much time do we have before she finds them?” Allantra asked.
“Depends. She could send out a seeking spell to find them easier, which I suspect she will do. However, because the catacombs have many paths, even the spell leading her will slow her down a bit.” He cocked his head to the side, thinking. “Worst case she’ll find them in about ten minutes.”
“That’s unacceptable,” Masque said calmly as he walked up to them. “She could massacre them in less time than that.” He moved toward the wall. Dharean stopped him with a hand to his chest. “Let me go, brother; I have to stop this.”
“Noble indeed, brother, but you are forgetting. This wall is meant to kill anyone who tries to pass through it. You will do no damage as a corpse.” He looked at the others as they gave him incredulous looks. “Despite what happened here you know what I mean. There is a way around this; just give me a moment.”
“What is the problem exactly?” Khaelen asked.
“The ward she used is fairly simple. A pup could conjure this up.”
“Then what is the problem?” Claudium asked as he carefully looked Minn over. Allantra suspected he was looking to see if she’d been injured. She stifled a smile and pretended not to notice.
“I can still feel the trap being active even after I deactivated it,” Dharean answered. “She means to lull us in with a false sense of security. But I know the moment any of us—” Dharean stilled then.
“What is it?” Allantra asked as she caught the tension in Dharean’s demeanor.
“That’s what I was missing.” Dharean swore under his breath.
“You’re going to have to be clearer than that,” Allantra suggested as they all looked at Dharean with a bit of irritation.
“The spell is deactivated. At least part of it is. Only none of us can walk through it.”
“It would make things a lot clearer for the rest of us if you could just tell us what obviously only you know.” Claudium’s voice now took on an edge.
“Any creature could walk through that right now. Except one of us: a being of magic.”
“So the spell can sense our supernatural abilities and kill us. Great. I knew she was evil and a genius, but she never ceases to surprise me.” Claudium snorted. “I should have had her killed when I had the chance.”
“Can I enter from the sky?” Masque asked.
“Can we not—” Braelius began.
“—teleport in?” Draelius finished.
Allantra’s heart sank as Dharean shook his head. “This ward is absolute. I fear trying it will get one of you killed. It has to be some sort of an animal or human. She specifically designed it this way.”
“That bloodsucker turned every human around here into the undead. I’m sure there’s not another around here for miles,” Minn chimed in derisively.
“So, if a human were here what could he do?” Khaelen directed this to Dharean.
“Simply walk through. I’m uneasy about this. If I had more time, I could tear it apart.”
“And all a human would have to do is walk through and deactivate the whole ward?” Khaelen looked at the ward a little more closely.
“I believe so.”
“What are you thinking, Executioner? Do you have a plan?” Claudium peered at him.
“Most certainly,” Khaelen murmured as he stepped closer to the wall.
“You mean to try and walk through that?” Claudium laughed. “It’s suicide.”
“Would you say, Elder, that you’ve shared every one of your abilities with us?” Khaelen challenged. Allantra watched as Claudium stiffened. “Don’t get offended; I’m not accusing you of anything. Merely pointing out that none of us has been totally forthcoming.”
Khaelen closed his eyes but a moment. Then looking at each of the group, he stepped through the ward. “I believe you all can enter now.” The moment they all stepped through the entrance a solid wall of stone immediately sealed them in.
*
They were all rats! Dominica looked about in distaste as she walked deeper and deeper into the catacombs. What manner of species would live in an environment such as this if not rodents?
She followed her Seeker, the glowing orb of light, as it led her to her prey. They were cowering from her like the infidels that they were. She would put all of their miserable lives to an end. Except for one. Now that she’d thought it over, death would be too good for him. No, she would allow him to live, so that she may punish him for the rest of his life.
She could smell their blood now. Her stomach growled in anticipation of feeding. When had she fed last? It didn’t matter; with all the magic she used she needed to feed frequently. And right now she felt ravenous.
A small pebble skittered her way and she halted and listened. She followed the sound of the uneven raspy breaths. The orb had manifested to locate a group of shifters … Dominica spotted her prey and slowly approached. She knelt down slowly and smiled. “Well, hello, little one,” she said sweetly to the little girl.
*
“We will worry about this later.” Dharean felt along the wall. “That vampire is very thorough. It’s another type of barrier that will take me a moment to figure out. Hopefully we don’t have death at our heels when it’s time to leave.”
“There is another way out, I’m sure,” Minn offered.
A faint wave of screams reverberated through the tunnels. “What was that?” Minn asked. Dharean listened a moment before he answered. “A victim of Dominica. We need to pick up the pa
ce.” He started to run, following the sound of the scream.
Allantra ran as fast as she could through the tunnels. The uneven dirt floor, peppered with rocks and holes, made it a bit tricky. She didn’t want to lose the battle because of a sprained ankle. Briefly she wished the dark halls would light up and make it easier to navigate. The orb of light that Dharean produced was better than nothing, but…
Allantra faltered just a bit as the tunnel lit up with a bright light. It was almost blinding. “Turn it down a bit. We still have to follow the Seeker Dominica is using.”
Dharean turned slightly midstride. The smile on his face spoke volumes. He was proud of her. She still couldn’t control her powers, yet at times like these she was glad for whatever luck she could get.
Something lay in their path up ahead. Dharean was leading, with Khaelen close behind. She and Minn were in the middle with Claudium and the Blood Twins pulling up the rear. Masque had taken an alternate route and no one had questioned him.
They all stopped and stared down at the child. She resembled a broken doll that someone had forgotten to put away. Minn wept softly as she knelt next to the child. “This shouldn’t have happened. No child should die this way.”
“No child should die.” Claudium’s voice echoed in the halls. “Let’s keep moving.”
Minn stood and as they looked at the child, Allantra could feel anger well so deep inside her for a moment she wondered if she would lose control.
Dominica had to die.
They continued forward, following the orb. At last they spilled into the heart of the catacombs. The smell of blood hung heavy in the air and Allantra could see bodies crudely sprawled on the dirt floor. A slender figure, her back to them, stood in the midst of the carnage. Dominica had been killing them without mercy.
Dominica turned, obviously sensing their presence. Her damaged cheek gave her an eerie look that spoke of both beauty and death. Her fingers were poised in the air, ready to kill more of the shifters.
“Ah, more to the party!” she exclaimed, and cackled as she focused her attention to them. Allantra had never hated anyone so much in her life. Dharean and Khaelen stepped in front of Allantra, blocking her view of Dominica.
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