Aftermath (19 page)

“Oh, don’t worry, I won’t do it again.” I pressed my .45 to her cheek as the surrounding gunfire rumbled to a trickle, and then stopped, the last of her people falling prey to the overwhelming force that charged down the tunnel behind us.

“Damn it, Frank!” Rahim growled as he stomped over to me. “What were you thinking?”

“That we were on a schedule and these guys can’t shoot for shit.”

“That was…awesome!” Thud shouted, earning a glare from Rahim. “Well, it was.”

The wizard shook his head and turned his fiery stare to Mia. “Where are Judas and the others? Which tunnel have they taken?”

She laughed. “You don’t really think I’m going to tell—”

I pulled my gun from her cheek and pressed it to the back of her hand where it sat against the ground, then pulled the trigger. She screamed and fell over, clutching at the bloody, oozing hole in her palm. I returned my gun to her face.

“You’ve already proven what you’re willing to do to survive,” I said, nudging her side. “Here’s your chance to survive again. Either tell us which way they went or your days end here and now.”

Both Rala and Rachelle looked away as I threatened Mia but we weren’t in a position where we could afford to be kind. Mia knew what we needed and she would either tell it us or die, simple as that. She knew it too.

“That way,” she said, pointing with her uninjured hand to the tunnel to the left.

I snatched her up by her neck and spun her toward the tunnel. “Good choice. Now lead the way and I’ll cut you loose as soon as we’re done with you. But whatever you do, don’t mistake this moment of kindness for anything resembling weakness. You so much as squeak without my say so and you’ll find an extra hole punched in your skull. We clear?”

She nodded and wisely kept her mouth shut, moving forward after I nudged her.

“Are there any more of your people waiting for us?”

“No,” she said, gesturing toward the corridor behind us. “That was all Judas had time to recruit.”

We walked on in silence for a long while, expecting an ambush every few feet but Mia had been truthful. Kit stalked ahead of us, searching every nook and cranny and making sure no traps had been set for us and waved us on every few dozen yards with the all clear. Finally the gloom began to recede as pushed on, the glowing mouth of a cavern shining ahead of us and illuminating the way. I could hear the sighs of relief from those who’d been stumbling along in the gloom, barely able to see a few feet past their faces.

“What waits ahead?” Rahim whispered to Mia.

“The Ice Chamber.”

As soon as she said the words I could feel the difference in the temperature, the tunnel cooling as we advanced. And sure enough, as we reached the mouth of the chamber, our breath misting in the air, there was no confusion as to why the place was named such.

The chamber was the size of Dallas Stadium and gleamed with a crystalline brightness, stars erupting across its icy roof. Giant columns as thick as the biggest redwood grew from floor to ceiling, each looking like frosted glass. There were easily fifteen of them or more. The arched opening of another tunnel stood at the far end of the chamber but there was nothing else but ice inside. We moved in with wary, quiet steps and started across the room. About twenty paces in, I stepped in a puddle, frigid water sending a chill through my socked foot, all the way up to my nuts, making me wish I’d remembered to get my boots back

The puddle grew deeper as we advanced, weaving our way through the mass of columns. I ran the back of my hand across the face of the nearest one, not willing to let Mia go, and the coldness sank to the bone almost immediately.

“I dare you to stick your tongue to it, Trigg,” Thud said, chuckling to himself.

I peeled my hand from the column and came to a halt as a flash of red inside caught my eyes.

“What the…?”

Doing my best to avoid actually pressing my face against the spot where I’d run my hand, I peered into the frozen column and spotted something buried deep inside it.

“Holy sheee-it,” I called out. “There’s someone inside this thing.”

Lance hurried over and wiped away a wider patch of frost and stared as if star struck. “This is Ishkur, the god of storms.” He stepped back, his expression torn between awe and disbelief.

I ran over to another column, dragging Mia through the frigid puddles, and wiped a space clear. A dark-skinned woman stood entombed inside. She wore little more than a loincloth across her wide hips and a golden crown-looking hat atop her dark hair, which hung damn near to her knees. There were a couple of silvery chains about her throat and wrists but there was nothing there that would allow me to identify the woman.

“Who’s the ancient stripper over here?”

Lance came over and took a look and I heard the sudden intake of his breath. He swallowed hard, either out of reverence or he had a thing for frigid chicks. “This is Inanna,” he said. “Queen of Heaven, the goddess of fertility and love and lust and—”

“That explains why her hooters are hanging out.”

Rala pushed through the crowd and glanced inside the column, her eyes going wide.

“These are the Babylonian pantheon,” Lance continued, ignoring me. “They’re all trapped here, just like the stories told.”

“Not all of them,” Shaw said, pointing toward the center of the room.

Only the base of a column remained where she’d directed us. Its icy exterior had been melted down and was the source of the water we’d been sloshing through, barely a foot or two of the column left at the bottom.

“Want to take a guess as to who was hibernating in that one?”

“Marduk,” Thud answered.

“Rhetorical question, dumbass.” I was surprised he didn’t raise his hand.

Right then Mia twisted loose of my grip and bolted for the far archway. Kit raised her rifle but I stepped in front of her, blocking her shot and waving her off.

“Despite what I said earlier there’s no need to kill her.”

“But she’ll tell her masters that we’re here,” she argued.

“They already know or we wouldn’t have run into her and the greenies to begin with,” I said, turning to Poe. “Can you tag her psychically so we can follow her?”

Poe nodded, glimmers in his eyes telling me he was doing exactly that.

“She’ll run straight to her bosses because that’s all she knows. She’s not an independent thinker, that woman. Maybe she’ll slow them down some. Regardless, they got who they were coming for so it makes sense they’ll be hauling ass for the exit. There’s nothing left for us to do but to chase after them or we’ll return to Earth and find we’ve been evicted.” I glanced around at everyone to gauge their reactions and it was fairly clear they were all thinking more or less the same thing. Time was running out and we all knew it.

“Damn it,” Shaw grumbled. “Let’s go.”

We started off without another word, racing toward the tunnel at the far end of the icy chamber.

Our situation was coming to a head and we were preparing to squeeze. I only hoped the thing didn’t explode in our faces like some bukkake hand grenade.

Chapter Seventeen

As soon as we hit the tunnel it became clear we were on our way upwards again. I yanked my wet socks off and left them behind so I’d have some traction on the smooth surface and we hurried as best we could up the slope. There were hints of blood on the ground, remnants of Mia’s wound leading us on our way, not that there was any real choice in that matter. There was nowhere for her to veer off where we wouldn’t find her.

Unlike the first tunnel, this one zigzagged all over the place in order to make up for the dramatic increase in the gradient. It had the same alcoves cut into its sides but each one we passed was empty, speeding our ascent since we didn’t have to throw down every few yards. Still, if we were headed into another trap there wasn’t much we could do about it. We had to trust we were better armed and prepared than our enemies and we would win out no matter what they sprang on us.

Hope springs eternal, or some shit.

Fortunately we didn’t have to worry about that. Poe reported every few minutes that Mia continued on without respite, and so did we.

We ran on and on and on, for hours, until the mouth of the tunnel appeared, brilliant light gleaming in the entryway as if it were the sun, heat spilling into the corridor. I blinked away the tears it brought about and eased out into the daylight, guns leading the way.

Turned out it wasn’t sunlight. At least not entirely.

We came out high on a broad shelf in the sweltering heat and my stomach sank into my ass. I knew exactly where we were. Right on top of the volcano where we’d fought to escape the last time we were there, the rim bubbling and spewing steam into the air. Memories bloomed to life in my skull, remembering how it had been. This time there weren’t any swarming greenies or dragons tearing them into itty-bitty pieces and spewing them all over the stone flooring. There also wasn’t a great portal splitting the sky and a million soul devourers trying to climb through, which was, in my estimation, a good thing. We’d gotten there in time.

I turned my gaze down the shelf to see Mia’s green ass streaking toward the rocky outcrop that held the secret entrance to the mosaic, the mystical combination lock that opened the way to all the other dimensions. And there, right before it, stood masked boy and all his minions and a new addition to the party crew who could be no one other than Marduk. The group turned as one to watch her barrel toward them, and then glanced up the slope toward us but I didn’t see Mike with them.

“They’re too close to the exit,” I mumbled and started down the hill at a run.

We probably could have hit them with gunfire from where we were but that would simply drive them inside the hallway that led to the mosaic where we couldn’t reach them. Once they got inside they could hold the entryway against us forever and there’d be nothing we could do. Rather than give them the chance to realize that, I decided to play to masked boy’s ego.

“Did you really think you were gonna get away from me?” I shouted as I hurried toward them. The Nephilim with him raised their rifles—mostly World War II tech—and aimed them at me as I approached. The few demons and angels remaining in his entourage postured up and spread out, looking to defend their meal ticket. I wondered if they had a dental plan. “You talked a lot of shit about wanting to kill me in person. Well, here I am…
again
. If I were you I’d be getting real tired of seeing me. Shit, I’m tired of seeing me.”

Judas whispered something to him but our masked villain blew him off and pushed his way to the front of his people, the fire giant looming beside him. Morgan le Fay remained by the traitor whose face looked as if he’d eaten a sour lemon. He clearly didn’t want to be there any longer, his eyes burning holes in my face. If shit went south he knew he was in for a rough time.

Abaddon was just the opposite. He looked as if his rough time had already started. He stared off into space with blank eyes and a dull expression slathered across his face. A hint of drool bubbled at the corner of his mouth and he stood swaying, like he’d forgotten how to keep his balance.

Marduk, however, stood with a smirk on his face, apparently amused by me. I wasn’t all that sure what to make of the guy but he hardly gave off the vibe of a world-conquering monstrosity. Of average height, maybe 5’10”, 190 pounds give or take, he looked like an extra on the
Lawrence of Arabia
set. Dark of skin and hair, his black goatee strangled in a stone clasp, he had a sandy complexion that spoke of a lot of time hanging out under the sun in a part of the country where that was ill-advised. He wasn’t overtly muscular
or
weak looking, but had I passed him on the street—other than his being completely and utterly naked—I wouldn’t have noticed the guy.

“Triggaltheron,” the masked man said, drawing my attention back to him. “Once more you’ve proven to be a thorn in my side. Perhaps you are right. This would be the perfect opportunity to choke the life from you.”

The combined forces of DRAC and the DSI came up behind me then, weapons up and at the ready. I grinned.

“Not gonna be as easy as you’d like, unfortunately.”

“Nothing worth the effort is,” he said with a shrug.

“Sometimes easy is best, but maybe that’s just me. Anyway, I have a couple questions before you go through all the trouble of trying to murder me.”

“By all means, Triggaltheron, please ask so we can get on with it.”

“First off, where’s Mike? The telepath you stole from us.”

He chuckled. “I found him to be quite useful.” Masked boy gestured to Abaddon, who looked ready to piss himself. “He did such a wonderful job sedating our troubled friend here that I decided Michael would be worth keeping. You won’t be seeing him again, I’m afraid.”

I growled but there wasn’t any real threat behind it. Masked boy had us over the barrel. We’d have to kick his ass to find out where Mike was but I was okay with that. “All righty then,” I said, moving on. “I’ve spent the vast majority of my life pissing people off so, as you can imagine, I’ve amassed a sizable list of those who want to kill me. As such, I’m curious to know who you are so I can scratch your name off the list.” Plus it might help us find Mike.

Masked boy chuckled. “I don’t suppose hiding my identity matters any longer.” He reached up and yanked off the balaclava to reveal his face.

It felt like someone gut shot me.

Standing there was someone I hadn’t seen in ages; someone I never expected to see again. His hair had been cut short since I last saw him but it still glowed with gold, flowing naturally and perfectly in order despite the mask he’d worn. His face was flawless, the model of all models, and his smile shone brighter than the bubbling volcano. I felt my legs tremble and barely managed to keep from falling over.

“Gabriel?” Rahim asked, just as surprised to see the archangel as I was.

“In the flesh,” he said, offering up a snooty little bow.

“I thought you were—”

“Dead?” he asked. “Indeed, it was what I expected as well but Heaven’s mercy truly is limitless. After they stripped me of my magic I was condemned to await His holy judgment, should He ever return, of course. My brethren are ever so hopeful He will, but I am far less inclined to believe it.” Gabriel looked to me and winked. “Unless of course you know something I don’t, Triggaltheron.” His eyes took in the secret entrance to the mosaic before returning to me.