by John Corwin
"Whew." He wiped away sweat with the back of his hand. "I didn't realize summoning an elemental demon would be so hard here."
"An elemental?" I asked.
"They're more like spirits, really, but you do not want to mess up when you summon them." He stepped toward the hole in the wall and whistled. "This thing must be ten feet thick."
I shoved some of the larger chunks of rubble out of the way to reveal a hole large enough for a horse to walk through. "What happens if you lose control of an elemental?"
"In the case of an earth spirit, you might just get buried alive."
I shuddered. "I don't know if I want to learn how to do that."
He slapped me on the back. "We're part demon. We have it a little easier than human Arcanes."
I stepped outside and felt my butt cheeks clench. The wall of the arch room faced the quarry pit. Only a ledge about a foot thick offered room to move. Thanks to the pounding we'd given the wall, a good portion of the ledge outside had crumbled into the quarry. Pressing my back firmly to the wall, I edged along the ledge to the left. "Hopefully we can go in through the quarry entrance."
Dad gripped my sleeve. "No way. All the Nazdal and ghoul reinforcements are coming from the pit. That door will be jammed with enemies."
I looked at him and tried not to look down. "What do you suggest then?"
He motioned his head to the right. "The front door."
"We'll have to run all the way around the building."
"Better than forcing our way through an angry mob of monsters." He sidled to the right.
I sighed and followed. It took several minutes of pant-wetting ledge walking to reach the part where the arch room curved back to wide-open ground.
The fortress stretched into the distance. It would take twenty minutes just to race around the perimeter. I aimed a hand at the surface and shot a strand of Murk far up the wall. "Take my hand," I told my father. "Whatever you do, don't let go."
We locked grips. "What now?" he asked.
"Jump off the cliff on the count of three."
"You sure know how to have a good time," he said with a grin.
We counted down and jumped. I willed the aetherial rope to stretch as we plummeted toward the bottom of the quarry. Ten feet off the ground, we slowed and stopped. With tremendous force, the rope shot us upward. We flew up the wall and landed on the ledge.
Dad was beaming. "Can we go again?"
"Let me clean my pants first," I said, surveying the top of the fortress.
Large turrets with huge crossbows occupied the flat roof, forming a grid. Jarvis obviously took his fortress building way too seriously. We picked an aisle leading to the front and ran between rows of turrets. Unfortunately, the further we ran, the weaker we became thanks to the distance between us and the open arch. By the time we reached the front of the massive building, Dad was puffing. I had less problem thanks to my newfound abilities, but picking up my father and running wasn't an option.
When we reached the front edge of the fortress, Dad gripped my shoulder. "Look up there," he said, pointing to the sky.
At first I thought I saw a small cloud descending on the fortress. As it grew closer, I realized it was a flurry of minders swooping down toward us. One of them detached and floated toward me. A tentacle reached out and touched my head.
The cavalry is here, Minder Justin said.
I almost whooped but didn't want to draw the attention of any enemies that might be lurking nearby. The sentinels are tearing us apart. Can you and the other minders dreamcast something to keep them at bay? We made a hole in the rear of the domed building. I pointed toward it.
You got it. My minder detached and led the others toward the opening.
I dared to hope we might actually survive this.
"They're here to help?" Dad asked.
"We have a chance," I said. "Let's go."
I found a stairwell leading down. We quietly made our way to the ground floor. The main entrance lay a few yards to our left. We went right, racing through the maze of kill zones Jarvis had shown us. No sentinels manned those positions now. Since the threat came from inside the fortress, Serena apparently hadn't bothered to fortify the approach.
As we ran through and gained proximity to the Shadow Nexus, Dad and I grew stronger. I was thankful Jarvis had given us such a thorough tour of the facility. Even though the layout was sterile and monotonous, we managed to take the same path our imprisoner had led us through and arrived outside Serena's lab. Ghouls and Nazdal packed the back left side of the huge room, their numbers flowing in from the corridor that led to the quarry door.
The right side of the room looked mostly empty, though we spotted a few ghouls and Nazdal wandering through the maze of contraptions as if they had nothing better to do while a battle raged. I heard the din of battle emanating from inside the arch room. I heard a huge cheer erupt and wondered if that meant the minders arrived and were locking down the fortress sentinels.
I heard a stern female voice nearby. Dad and I ducked behind a large silver box and peered around the corner. Serena was speaking with Jarvis and some of the other humans who Dad and I had seen during our first escape attempt from the Gloom. "…do you understand?"
Jarvis nodded. "We'll take care of it. The Templars will never know what hit them."
The others in his group hefted bulging duffel bags. I strained to get a look at them, but could only make out rectangular forms pressing against the fabric. Jarvis and his gang ran toward us. Dad and I ducked around the other side of the box. I peered around and watched as they left the same way we'd come in.
"What do you think they're up to?" I whispered.
"Nothing good," Dad replied. "We have another problem." He slid his back to the opposite corner of the box and nodded toward the front of the room. "What do you see?"
I shrugged. "Nazdal and ghouls."
"That's right. The minders are gone."
"Serena must have moved them." The fortress was massive. It would be like finding a needle in a haystack, and we had no time to spare.
Chapter 39
"Why would she move them?" I asked.
Dad shrugged. "Maybe to get them out of the way of her army."
I blew out a frustrated breath. I felt at a complete loss as to what we should do next.
"They might still be in this room," Dad said.
"What makes you think that?"
He nodded his head toward the arch chamber. "They might need to be close enough to the battle to dreamcast the sentinels."
"Maybe." I hadn't thought of that.
Dad's eyes lit up. "We're being dumb about this. Let's use our incubus abilities. The minders have a pretty distinct aura."
"Of course." I resisted the urge to snap my fingers as was usually appropriate when a bright idea hit me. I probed the area with my senses, extending them further and further. They drifted over a nearby Nazdal. I recoiled and felt as though the mere contact had drained a little life from me. An odd tingle sent a shiver up my spine.
"I found the minders," I said. "Not too far from here."
"I feel them too." Dad, looked around, and then dashed to cover behind what looked like a steel coffin standing on end. I followed him. We made our way across the room, hugging various contraptions along the way until we found our targets.
The minders hovered close to one another, tentacles drifting. They were so tantalizingly close but impossibly far away. We couldn't simply drag them inside the disruptor. The second they touched us, we'd be immobilized, caught in their waking dreams.
"How are we supposed to move them?" I asked.
Dad hissed out a breath between his teeth. "We need bait."
I felt my eyes widen. "That would be suicide."
"No, not suicide, just a very risky gambit."
"I'll do it," I said. My insides writhed at the thought.
He gripped my arm. "No, Justin, I'll do it."
"But—"
"Listen to me," he said in a stern v
oice. "I'll present myself to them, lure them into the disruptor. They'll know I'm not with Serena and should come after me. You activate the control panel. At the last second, use one of those magic ropes you used to scale the building and jerk me out of there."
"I don't like this plan."
"Neither do I, but it's our only shot." He bit his lower lip. "Get to the control panel, and be ready."
A lump formed in my throat. "Look, I know we didn't get off to the best start, but I kind of like having you around."
He grinned and put a hand on my back. "I'm proud of you. No matter what happens, never give up."
I took his hand and shook it. "Good luck, Dad."
"Good luck, son." He released my hand and nodded toward the hexagonal ring of Tesla coils comprising the disruptor. "Time to pull off a caper."
We sneaked to the closest Tesla coil and hid behind it. The control panel sat atop a platform against the wall just outside the ring of pylons.
"Any idea if the minders can see me sneaking up behind them?" Dad asked.
I shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine."
"Here goes nothing," he said, and made his way toward the targets, hiding behind crates and other contraptions spaced around the room. The bulk of the Nazdal army swarmed far enough away I hoped they wouldn't spot him.
I turned and crept to the control panel and waited as Dad sneaked to the brain. When he closed to within a few yards, he stepped from behind a crate. As one, the minders turned toward him, tentacles writhing. He backed away a step, the creatures closing in, drifting almost languorously after him. I pressed the symbols on the control panel in the order Cinder had shown me. Each one stayed lit as I touched it. Holding my finger above the final symbol, I ducked behind the control panel, breath locked in my throat, and peered over the edge.
Dad walked backward, leading them until finally he reached the perimeter of the disruptor, his position about fifty feet from me. The minders stopped, seeming to realize his intent. He waited for a moment, but they didn't advance. David took a cautious step forward. Tentacles strained for him, stopping just short of his face.
I wanted to shout at him, tell him to come up with another plan, but a calm look of resignation came over his face. He looked at me and said, "Get ready." With that, he stepped forward. The minders swarmed him.
A cry swelled in my throat. Clenching my teeth, I cast a strand of Murk at Dad. It caught his waist. I jerked him inside the disruptor, his body trailing the minders with it. Then I pressed my hand on the final symbol.
Static crackled. A whining noise like a jet engine powering on vibrated the air. The Tesla coil on the ceiling glowed blue. The whining sound grew louder and louder until it overpowered every other sound in the room. I knew it was only seconds away from discharging into the structure with all the rings directly below it.
I had no idea if the disruptor would kill my father. I only knew I had to pull him out of the ring before it engaged. To do that, I'd have to pull him out at the last second without dragging the minders with him. Unfortunately, the minders seemed to realize their peril and released their prey, making for safety outside the perimeter of Tesla coils.
Dad slumped to the floor, unmoving. I remembered Minder Justin telling me minders couldn't phase through solid objects. I channeled Murk and threw up a wall around the creatures, trapping them. Dad pushed himself unsteadily to his knees. His unfocused gaze met mine as the whining noise reached a fever pitch.
In my panic to block the minders, I'd released the Murk rope. I shot another strand at him. Something pounded against my back. I crashed face-first onto the platform. The raspy breath of a Nazdal warmed my ear. On instinct, I reached back and flung the creature off, throwing him inside the perimeter of the disruptor. I still held the lifeline to my father. I saw the Nazdal preparing for a lunge at Dad and pulled the rope with all my might, but the creature pinned him to the ground.
A brilliant bolt of blue energy blasted from the Tesla coil on the ceiling. It pulsed into the sphere in the center of the rings. They spun to a blur. Dad threw his attacker off. Azure beams lanced out from the rotating orb in five directions, each one intersecting a pylon. I gave another pull on the rope, but a kinetic barrier whirled around the pylons and sliced the bond, trapping my father inside.
Dad looked at me. A devilish smile curled his lip just before a blinding flash sent me reeling backwards. I squeezed my eyes shut saw the shadow of my father in the afterimage. The disruptor wound down, fading to silence.
Dad lay on the floor, eyes closed. The minders drifted down, brainy heads shriveling like deflating balloons, tentacles limp and unmoving. They settled onto the floor and started to fade. The Nazdal trapped inside the disruptor lay on his back, all fours straight up in the air, twitching.
"No," I said in a whisper, looking at Dad's still form. "No!" I staggered to my feet and raced across the space between us. I knelt and shook his shoulders. "Wake up, Dad. Wake up!" I peeled back his eyelids. I saw just from looking at him, the light was gone from his eyes. I'd failed to save him. I'd killed my father.
I heard a huge cheer from inside the arch chamber, probably because the sentinels were decomposing with the minder brain defeated.
"We did it, Dad." I choked back a sob. "We did it."
But the cost had been staggering.
Chapter 40
More Nazdal appeared, apparently drawn by the noise from the disruptor. I roared and shot a beam of Brilliance, severing limbs and incinerating them before they drew close. Slinging my father over a shoulder, I raced from the lab, back the way we'd come until I reached the stairwell near the front. I paused, panting, and listening for anything following me, but heard nothing.
The mission wasn't over yet. Not even close. Dad had killed the brain, but Jarvis and his people were up to something. My lips trembled with grief as I looked down at Dad. I couldn't just leave him here. I had to get his body back to Mom. The fighting had weakened me. Supernatural strength or not, I was tired as hell.
I climbed the stairs and sat down next to one of the large turrets. Fumbling my phone from my pocket, I called Elyssa to warn her about Jarvis.
"You did it, Justin!" she said. The sounds of yelling and fighting nearly overwhelmed her voice.
"It's not over." I almost told her about Dad, but decided now wasn't the time. "Some of Serena's men are up to something, I don't know what. I suspect some kind of sneak attack."
"I don't know how they could sneak in here unless there's a secret entrance," she said.
"There's the hole Dad and I made to get out."
"They won't be getting in there," she assured me. She shouted a command to someone else. "I have to go. You and your father be careful coming back."
I swallowed a lump. "Okay."
I bent down and picked up Dad. Just as I took my first step, I heard running footsteps from somewhere ahead. Someone cursed. I set down my human cargo as carefully as possible and ducked behind the block.
"Send me running like his errand boy, will he?" someone growled as he approached.
I looked and saw Gavin with two empty duffels slung over either shoulder. His shirt was soaked with sweat. As he passed the turret I was using for cover, I jumped out, grabbed him, and knocked him out with a swift punch to the jaw. He went limp. I dragged him down the stairs and left him on a landing. When I ran back up to the roof, I peered toward the domed roof of the arch building. I saw silhouettes climbing around on it. From this vantage, the Atlanta skyline stood against a gray sky. It had to be nighttime in the real world for all the fog to be gone. I figured with the brain minders dead, the fortress would once again be filled with fog during the daytime.
I made sure Dad was lying comfortably on his back and looked toward the dome. Whatever Jarvis and the others were up to, I would put a stop to it. I'd already gotten Dad killed today. I wouldn't allow anyone else to die.
Mom will be heartbroken.
I choked back a sob. Mom was still in love with him as much as he wa
s with her. It was so obvious when they were together. Every time he said her name, he sounded so vulnerable. I couldn't imagine the pain it had caused them to decide he should preserve the alliance and marry Kassallandra. I'd hated him for that. My god, I'd even told him he was dead to me. And now he really was.
My eyes watered with tears and the world blurred. I wiped them away with the back of my hand. Now wasn't the time to turn into a big crybaby. I had to protect the others. There was no way I could ever atone for what I'd let happen to Dad—Stop dwelling on it!
I knew I wouldn't get close to the dome without Jarvis and the others seeing me. Gavin was a little shorter than me, but he had black hair. Mine was slightly longer, but I hoped they wouldn't notice from a distance. I ran back to Gavin's unconscious form, took off his T-shirt and put it over my tattered Nightingale armor. Grimacing, I pulled off his shoes and pants and stuffed them into a duffel bag to make it look full as possible. Then I raced back toward the dome, focusing my supernatural vision on the people there.
They were placing what looked like gray bricks all along the edge. Two of the men wielded rifles. Between the back of the flat roof and the dome was a long stretch without cover. I slung the duffel over my shoulder and headed toward the dome, keeping my head down. If Jarvis or his people saw my face, they'd instantly know I wasn't their comrade.
"About time," I heard Jarvis shout as I came into view. "Hotfoot it over here. We need to hurry."
I jogged forward, keeping my head low as I dared, looking at the others from the corner of my eye. I realized with a shock the bricklike objects his men were placing were explosives. They planned to bring the roof down on the Templars. If they succeeded, tons of granite would crush our people like bugs.
They were planting the explosives all along the ledge bordering the dome and the dome itself. Jarvis turned to look up the structure and said something to a woman I recognized as Pat. She seemed to be adjusting something on one of the brown packages, probably an igniter module. I didn't see anything resembling a detonator on Jarvis. He began to turn toward me. I lowered my gaze to hide my face and saw a bag near his feet. I wondered if the detonator might be inside it.