by Holly Hook
But I feared that feeling would fly away soon.
Allunna pulled open the door. "Your parents are within," she said in a tone that warned us to be quick.
Xavier ran inside before I did. The barracks was long, with two dozen cots on each wall. Each bed held a sleeping body. No one moved or even snored. The silence was deafening.
These were the people who had invaded the ATC building. They were the ones Allunna had betrayed to Thoreau. Everyone wore plain clothes, and I couldn't tell the Normals from the Abnormals. No one opened their eyes. All were adults. Xavier bolted into the room and stopped halfway down the row. He stood between a man and a woman who lay on their backs. He shook the woman's shoulder. She looked like an older version of Primrose but without the severe lips.
"Mom," Xavier begged. "Wake up." He shook the man, who had a pistol on his hip. "Dad. Come on." His father had Xavier's build. "You have to help us get Liliana back. The ATC took her. Wake up, damn it!"
Next to Xavier's mother was my father.
He was pale as usual. He had his black hair neatly combed as if he was ready to go to work at Ganges Insurance. Even his white work shirt had no wrinkles. He, like I, had passed as a Normal for fourteen years, until the day our blood bag supplier got in trouble and betrayed us to the ATC.
Emotion exploded inside of me, fighting back the darkness.
"Dad!" I shouted, running for him.
I threw myself at his cot, embracing him, hoping beyond hope that he would wake up. He was alive. I could feel it. But he was also very still. I grabbed his shoulder, ignoring the way my hand looked. I shook him, but Dad didn't even make a face.
"I need you!" I shouted. "You don't know how much I need you right now." I was plain old Alyssa again. I didn't want to let go of Dad. I knew what would happen once I did. The darkness would return.
"Alyssa?" Dad asked from deep in a dream.
"It's me," I said. "Don't freak out when you open your eyes. I'll find a way to make this better." What was I saying? I knew what would happen if he saw me like this. It was the story of my life. The thought made me want to leave him.
Dad remained still and said nothing else. I pulled open his eyelid, careful not to cut it with my fingernail. He still wore his brown contacts to hide his red eyes, but his pupils were unfocused. He was still unconscious.
"You two," Allunna said.
I faced her. She stood in the doorway and held up her arm.
It was transparent. Allunna was getting worse.
"Leon has started fading again," she said. "That means that Thoreau has entered the Infernal Dimension. He's tracking you as we speak."
Chapter Twelve
I stepped away from my father's cot. It didn't matter if he woke up. He would see what I had become.
Who wanted a daughter like me?
I shook my head. Already, I was starting not to care again. I faced Dad and Allunna, forcing myself to feel some affection for Dad. "We need to hide our parents," I said. "Thoreau will kill them. He doesn't need them anymore." I had already completed the Dark Pentagram. He needed no more bargaining chips.
That was very true if he caught me.
"How do you know that?" Xavier asked me.
"Because I know how he thinks," I said. I faced the succubus.
"How far away is the mayor?"
"I don't know," Allunna said.
"Look out for him!" I shouted. "Thoreau won't kill you. That would mean killing Leon, plus himself."
"Death can't stop him. It won't matter."
But Allunna did as I said, and I took Dad underneath his shoulders and dragged him off the mat. I still had the strength to make the task easy. Xavier would need help. I changed my mind and ordered Allunna to give him a hand. She lifted Xavier's father off the mat. We needed to hurry.
I dragged Dad outside. He muttered something again. I expected to run into Thoreau, but he wasn't out here. If we were lucky, he had come through the Water Adventure portal and had a walk ahead of him. If we were unlucky, he had used the ATC headquarters portal, which probably came through inside his castle. The castle seemed to correspond to where the ATC building was in the other world.
Either way, the Blood Amulet would point in my direction like a morbid compass. I had already wasted too much time on a parent who would never love me again.
But still, I carried Dad two barracks away. I scanned the crates and found another one filled with guns. I dropped Dad and toppled the container, dumping out the weapons. I would have to leave him here. There was no time to take him through a portal with us. I picked Dad up and placed him on the bottom of the crate. I piled guns upon guns on top of him.
Allunna followed my lead and did the same with Xavier's father, burying him under the firearms. The man would be ecstatic when he woke in a pile of machine guns. I helped Xavier carry his mother to a third crate, and we buried her, too. None of us spoke.
"We can't hide them any better," Allunna said. "We must get inside the castle. He may already be inside."
"I was afraid of that," I said, regretting that I had wasted this time.
She led us to the back of the barracks, trying to keep us out of sight. The castle was as tall as the ATC building, pointing into the sky. There were no smooth lines. It was all sharp rocks with equally jagged windows.
Xavier slipped his hand into mine again. I wanted to flick him away, but he squeezed, and a bit of warmth blossomed. My battle partner was holding a bit of the darkness back, just enough for the old Alyssa to breathe.
A thought hit me. "Can I fly?"
"You can glide," Allunna said, "if you jump from any height. You're not going to be soaring through the clouds or anything."
I wasn't going to get into the castle the easy way, then. "What else can I do?"
"Summon fire. Work some very dark magic. Bind people to you."
"Do not mention fire," Xavier said. He was sweating profusely again. He didn't have long before heat stroke announced Round Two. I was sure there was no fridge packed with Mountain Dew in Thoreau's castle.
"That sounds pleasant." I broke into a jog. One of the lava falls gave off a faint roar as it merged with a narrow river that cut away from us. A couple of Fire Wraiths rose from the river, eyeing Xavier, but they dove back down again when I sent them a glare.
It hit me.
Thoreau's castle was a volcano.
"And for the record," Allunna said, "You might be able to throw your weight around the Infernal Dimension, but Thoreau is still the leader. Whatever commands you give, he can trump them."
"Got it," I said.
Xavier drew another can of warm Mountain Dew from his baggy jeans pocket. He had packed the other three cans away. My battle partner sucked it down in one gulp. He was going to need it.
We ran along the side of the castle. The darkness was returning, filling my mind. I shook my head. I had to fight it. Allunna picked up her pace. "We will go in through the front door."
"That's stupid," Xavier said.
"Thoreau won't expect that," she said.
"But he can track us," I said. "He could be using the amulet right now, and he knows we're circling the castle."
"We have to take the risk."
That was big coming from her since she had given my blood to Thoreau in the first place. But Allunna didn't have much to lose. She had two outcomes here: death and fading out of existence. There would be no happy endings for her.
We circled around to the front. The mouth of Thoreau's castle was more like the opening to a cave, with very sharp stalactites that looked like teeth. I couldn't see inside very well, but I detected a cave-like environment with a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling. It was one of those that multiple people could stand on, forged from iron. Candles flickered.
"It's too empty," I said.
"I know," Allunna said. "There are usually guards. Either he has called them to search for you, or they are preparing for the invasion."
"I don't like this," I said. I drew my sword
for good measure, trying not to balk at the sight of my hand. I would never get used to that. I had a hope that as soon as I left the Infernal, I would return to my normal state, but no one had given me any reason to believe in that.
My state wasn't the biggest of our problems right now. Until we saved the world, I would have to suck it up. I still wanted to save the world, right?
I had a question. "How many Nobles are there?"
"You and Thoreau are the only two known to me. He always has any others killed, including his descendants. He has murdered many of his children and grandchildren, often before they have the chance to become Nobles in the first place."
Xavier shuddered as we neared the entrance. "That's disgusting."
Allunna continued as if murdering your offspring was natural. "Thoreau does it to protect his rule over the Infernal and to protect all his contracts. Other Nobles, even potential ones, can cause problems. Once he merges the worlds, he may want you dead. You are a calculated risk. Thoreau needs you, but you are capable of dethroning him."
"I just want to stop him," I said. "I don't want his throne."
Thoreau wouldn't have any use for Xavier or me after the end. Sure, he liked my sense of humor, but I was dangerous. I'd think of it that way. It gave me a selfish reason to care about saving the world.
And then if the worlds merged, my mom would also become a Noble, and he would want her dead, too. Maybe that served her right--
"Keep holding my hand," Xavier said.
I did.
We took our first bold steps into Thoreau's fortress.
I listened, missing my old hearing. Brimstone roared somewhere deep within the castle. I checked Xavier. Sweat still poured down his temples. He couldn't survive here for long.
"Where's this Orb?" I asked.
"By his portal," Allunna said. "I've seen it. He keeps it in the same room. It makes it easier for him to Bind people in the regular world."
"What if he moved it?" Xavier asked.
"He won't. You'll see why."
A pair of spiral steps rose in front of us, flanked by a pair of skull candles on stands. The stairs rose up into the castle, and another brimstone flow lit the space between them. I felt like I was staring at the DNA of the Infernal Dimension itself. A wave of dizziness swept over me from looking up into the volcano. It was all jagged, black stone lit with liquid fire and lined with crazy balconies.
"Is that lava flowing upwards?" Xavier asked.
"I think it is," I said. The fiery column bubbled and rose towards the top of the volcano. The castle was the source of the rivers and the moat. It was no wonder I felt dizzy looking at this.
"We're not going that way," Allunna said, waving us around the steps. "Remain quiet and follow me."
Her arms had faded a little more. Leon must not be fighting anymore. Or he couldn't. The fact that Thoreau still had to spend some time in the other world for his mayoral duties might be the only reason Leon still existed at all.
"I'm so glad we don't have to climb that," Xavier whispered to me as we skirted the stairs.
Allunna shushed us. "We're approaching the meeting hall," she said.
I wanted to ask her what that was, but I knew better. I walked as quietly as I could along the dark brick of the floor. Ahead, a large corridor lined with heavy stone doors stretched towards a large room at the end. I heard voices, speaking in a gross-sounding, guttural language. They were hard to make out.
Allunna tapped my arm. "We will go up the servants' stairway. Be silent. If we are lucky, Thoreau is addressing his court."
None of us spoke. I itched to be out of here more than anything. Allunna pulled on a nearly-hidden handle on an otherwise plain wall, pulling open a secret door that groaned just a tiny bit. She knew this castle. I had the sense she'd been Thoreau's girlfriend off an on for a very long time.
The door led to a very narrow corridor with stone steps. Faint candles lit the way. I let Allunna lead the way. The voices continued. Xavier came up behind me as if he were trying to keep me from running away in panic. I tended to do that, but I was doing a little better now. Maybe.
I was...
I closed my eyes as another wave of horror washed over me.
"Keep going, Alyssa," I told myself. There might be a way to reverse this transformation. If rites existed that could merge worlds, something like that wouldn't be a huge deal. Right?
"I'm right behind you," Xavier said. He had moved his hand up to my forearm, which was awkward in the limited space. I didn't want him to let go. I could sense that I still had a connection with him. His emotions were mushy. They made me want to roll my eyes.
No. I wouldn't think like that. I would never come back from this if I gave in.
We made it to a landing a minute later. Allunna waved us out of the claustrophobic staircase and put one finger up to her lips. I nodded.
There was light. We stood on a balcony, overlooking a huge, round room with a lava fountain in the center. We must be fifty feet up and shrouded in darkness. The fountain spewed molten rock from the middle, making fiery light fill the round room. The dark marble shone as if some of the brimstone had splattered onto it, but it was an illusion.
The room below was a large dome filled with badness.
I spotted Marissa first, Thoreau's Dark Mage. She wore her low-cut black dress and stood next to the vampire who had once bitten Janine's mother. I had forgotten his name, but he was one of Thoreau's officers. Marissa fanned herself in the heat.
The rest of the room was demons.
There were probably two hundred of them, standing in a large ring around the fountain. A good number of them looked like bald men and women with short horns, pure black eyes, and scaly red hands. Some of them wore butler uniforms and maid outfits, which I would have laughed at under other circumstances. But others wore army uniforms complete with guns that had come from the other world. A few of them held--I kid you not--pitchforks. I wondered if it was some joke in the Infernal Dimension. I even spotted some succubi and incubi mixed in with their scaled necks and equally scary eyes. Some of them wore military uniforms, too.
I must be staring at a bunch of imps. I had never seen them before, but their faces reminded me of Beatrix.
And Thoreau stood next to the lava fountain, his human glamour completely gone. He looked as he had in my nightmare. He still wore his black suit and even had a cell phone strapped to his pocket. His sunglasses hung next to the phone, ready for use.
He faced away from us. I watched, transfixed, as he spoke in that Infernal tongue.
I realized that I now understood it.
"My court," he began. "The time of our rule is near. In thirty-six hours, our march to victory begins."
He was holding the big pep talk meeting. It was the only reason he hadn't tracked me down yet.
Thoreau raised his voice and walked around the fountain. "The Dark Council is once again complete for the first time in a century. The God of War has, of course, been reluctant, but thanks to you, we have him in place."
"I have chosen you, my most valued soldiers, to lead the march," he continued. "It is a great honor, and you will receive ample rewards. When the Bound awaken, it is your duty to organize them. I am also pleased to announce that the one who will open the rite is very near."
The mayor took something out of his pocket, and Xavier tightened his grip on my arm.
I had no time to react.
Thoreau held a reddish amulet. A Blood Amulet. It defied gravity and pointed up to the balcony we stood on. The baron's gaze followed and his black, fire-filled eyes locked with my own. He knew I was here.
He snapped his fingers. "The second level," he said.
The mayor didn't have to say anything else. The roar of trampling feet followed as two hundred demons rushed to intercept us.
Chapter Thirteen
"I told you this was a stupid idea!" Xavier shouted at Allunna.
We bolted down the balcony and towards another set of steps. Panic fi
lled me. I wouldn't be able to stop these demons, not with Thoreau's commands over them. The roar of footfalls continued.
But still, Xavier did not let go of me.
Allunna said nothing. It was obvious what we had to do.
We followed her up one servants' staircase and then another. There was no way Xavier and I could fight two hundred enemies, one of which was a Dark Mage. I thought of grabbing Xavier and trying to glide away from the castle. I could jump out a window, but that was too dangerous. Testing out these wings on a fatal jump wasn't a good idea.
We climbed another story...another...and another. I had the feeling this castle had as many floors as the ATC building. The portal would be on the very top one, then.
Xavier huffed and puffed as he took the stairs two at a time. My legs burned with the effort. Why couldn't Thoreau have installed elevators? Below, the soldiers shouted. They had reached the balcony we had vacated seconds before, judging from the sounds of it. War Magic flared around Xavier's hands, and I felt some of that power surging through me. I wasn't sure if he had the strength to be fighting after passing out. A battle might hurt him.
"We have to go all the way to the top!" Allunna shouted, confirming my worst fears.
I focused my thoughts on the portal. I could use a glamour once I got through. I wouldn't have to look like this. Now I was thinking about myself again. I turned my thoughts to Xavier and tightened my grip on his hand.
Another flight. I gasped for air. We weren't going to make it. More stone steps spiraled up into the castle, and the flights were getting narrower. That might be an advantage. Two hundred soldiers would have trouble with that. I sucked in a breath and bolted up another flight, one that barely fit Xavier and I side by side. Allunna stopped. She pulled open a set of double stone doors, a pair decorated with dozens of carved demon faces. It was a grisly reminder of what was coming up behind us.
The three of us climbed through the doors, panting, as the thunder of footfalls echoed behind us. The room we had arrived in looked exactly like the one on the top floor of the ATC building: marble floors, torches, and pillars lining the walls. It was complete with a portal in the center. This portal was full of the mystery reddish-black liquid that wasn't water. It reflected nothing. That was merciful because I was standing right next to it.