Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (35 page)

“
Invocation?”
Ken gasped. “Why would they do that? If it’s a diversion?”

“Authenticity,
I guess
”
Cleaver glanced at him then said: “Cheyne, are there
any innocent people inside?
”
He couldn
’
t let it go unasked.

“
None,
”
Cheyne gestured to her coven.
“In our
casting we saw that the mall is
infested
with evil
.
”

“
And we
’
re the Raid!
”
Ken slapped Cleaver on the back.
“Hey, dude,
you ready to go save the world?
”

Cleaver
threaded
through more Kevlar-clad police and SWAT guys than he could count. They stood in rows, in ranks. Not a man among them knew what to expect. Did it provoke their quaking fear, or hone it to a keener e
dge? Cleaver moved through them
with Ken at his back. Most of these men knew
him;
some had traded sweat and blood with him at the gym. Some remembered his past and gave him dead eyes.

It was Miami. It was home. This was how it always was.

He stopped next to the bubbly
l
ycan,
Felicia. She
’
d told him earlier
how she’d
consistently
fought
for
his cause back in stuffy  old York
,
and that she wanted to strip naked and rub herself all over him like he was her favourite tree.

First things first, he’d told her
.

“
You ready?
”
he bent down to whisper in her ear.

Felicia turned those big blue saucer eyes on him.
“My
kind is
always ready,
”
she said.
“We are hunters. It is worrying,
though-
”
she trailed off.

“
Not knowing how our friends are faring at the beach?
”

Felicia nodded and repeated “My
friends,
” as if she clung to the word like a treasured locket.

“
So we focus,
”
Cleaver thought about the gym, the training,
and the
hour before you climbed into that ring.
“
Compartmentalize
it. Because there
’
s nothing you can do to change it.
”

Beside them, Ken was a
lmost hopping in his impatience. He
drew two short, hardwood staffs from inside his coat, letting them hang down by his side as he limbered up. Weapons, Jade and he had decided, were the icing on the cake of his special talent.

And then a figure appeared in the entranceway to the mall.

“
That
’
s Mena Gaines.
”

The Destroyer came forward, spreading her arms wide.
“
Tonight will be the greatest reckoning in human history!
”
she cried.
“
Your ultimate arrogance is that you think you
own
this planet. But you have pillaged it. You have plundered it. Tonight,
the Hierarchy will come,
the Gates of Hell will open and the World-ender shall be summoned forth! Cry
havoc!
humans, and let loose all
Hell!
”

Cleaver glanced to his right as one of the SWAT guys laughed.
“
Is this woman for real? She’s nuts.
”

“
Nuts
she is,
”
Cleaver told him.
“
But unfortunately she
’
s also telling the truth.
”

Ken shrugged.
“
Go figure.
”

They didn’t notice Cheyne’s face and body language reveal
first shock, then
raw terror at the mention of the Hierarchy.

Then
a
second
figure stepped out of the mall. There was a communal intake of breath from the gathered ranks.

Someone said, “I know her. Is that
Miley Cyrus?”

“No,” someone answered. “No. It’s
Avril,
I think. Or Amy Lee.”

“It’s
Emily Crowe,”
Ken withered them all with a glance. “Don’t you Florida
guys know
your rock chicks?”

“So what now?” One of the cops said. “We gonna have to pay to get in?”

Crowe came forward and pointed something at the sky that looked horribly like a human arm. Cheyne suddenly cried.
“
The time is now! Before they can gather!
”

At that moment
the mall entrance spewed out
a raving mass of bodies
. They charged at the gathered ranks of marines and cops, wielding a variety of sharp weapons, their
faces
twisted in hate.

Cleaver swept his duster aside
and unsheathed his shotgun. He heard Felicia growl low in her throat, saw Ken raise his weapons and take a deep breath whilst adopting a fighting stan
ce. The rows of marines
shot forward, running straight at the charging demons and voicing their own shouts of defiance.

There was a breathless moment
as
the opposing forces rushed together. The sound of bullets rent the air along with the dying expletives of men and demons alike. Cleaver could still see Emily Crowe, gesturing towards the skies with her ghastly wishbone. It seemed the escalating fear and violence was serving only to make her stronger.

“
Astoroth!
”
She
shrieked.
“
I summon you!
”
It s
ounded a convincing invocation for just a diversion.

And Gaines stood before her, a formidable bodyguard.

It
’
s the Destroyers we need to kill,
Cleaver thought.
Take them out, and we-

A demon leapt over the backs of two marines straight at Cleaver, snarling and tearing at the air between them. Cleaver stepped back to make room, lowered the shotgun, then gave it a blast at point blank range. The headless body collapsed at his feet.

By his side Ken kicked, then spun into a meaty uppercut, easily taking out his opponent. Felicia pounced onto a demons back,
tearing its muscl
es
deep, making it rear up and howl in agony. She snapped its neck with an efficient twist. Beyond her, Cleaver saw Ceriden in a deadly tussle.

The world was chaos.

Bullets slammed into the mall’s
concrete
walls, sending sharp slivers in every direction. Windows shattered,
glass rained
down in jagged shards. In another second Cleaver saw a figure appear in a ruined window, a bulky object balanced over its shoulder.

“
Missile!
”
Someone shouted. There was a boiling hiss like a thousand angry rattlesnakes, a muffled explosion, and everyone hit the deck. A demon that decided to remain standing was struck head-on by the missile and accelerated from zero to 200 mph in less than a second. The missile, with demon still attached, impacted with a truck in the parking lot, its explosion blasting through the turbulent darkness.

“
Up!
”

The marines ran again, Cleaver following, struggling to keep up. Violence and death filled the night around him.

Crowe was giving the performance of her life.
“
By the power of the Almighty Lucifer, by Astoroth, by a thousand Fallen Angels, I bid you to
appear!
”

Lucifer?
Cleaver thought. Now
that
didn’t make any sense at all.

Time was running out.

Step by bloody step they advanced towards the mall.

4
7

NEW BABYLON - THE MALL AND BAY BRIDGE

Ken Hamilton fought with economy of movement. When a demon popped up he marked it, studied its bearing, its lean and drag- the w
ay it moved back and forth, and
exterminate
d
it. After the first two he forgot to point out to anyone who would listen how gross looking they were.

Anyway, he
’
d woke
n
up next to far uglier females
after nights
of beer
, endless
viewings of Point Break, and
a little
marijuana.

He kept close to Cleaver, and tried to
keep sight of Felicia
.
His heart told him
it was important to keep the Aegis members together. Was that some kind of companionship
thing
? It was new to him, an alien e
motion. But he had to admit
he liked it.

Ceriden was suddenly at his side, pale face glo
wing like a beacon, and
too jittery for a vampire
King
.
“
Problem!
”
he cried.

Ken teased his hair back into place with a well-trained finger.
“
How so?
Armani Exchange been looted?
”

“
God forbid!”
Ceriden cried, then
p
ointed at Cheyne and her coven.
“
They want you.
”

“
Now! Me? Why?
”

“
Too many questions,
”
Ceriden was all authority now, something Ken hated.
“
Just
go.
”

Ken turned away.
“
I used to like you, man,
”
he mumbled
.

Cheyne beckoned him over.
“
Our first random element has surfaced,
”
she said in her light voice. Then she paused
, seeming
reluctant to elaborate.

“
Which is?
”

“
Ahhh. . .
Dementia.
”

Ken felt a chill
fall
through him like a tonne of bricks.
“”
Where is she?
”

“
Bay Bridge
, for some reason
. Destroying everything and everyone sent against her. You are one of the Eight. The battle is being lost there. You have to go.
”

Ken
couldn
’
t even croak a reply.
Dementia!
The craziest demon bitch that ever walked the earth!

“To…to fight her?”

“
I will be going with you,
”
Cheyne said
, then raised her eyebrows.
“
I am able to conjure up a few surprises of my own, you know.
”

“
And I’ll go too,
”
Ken turned to see Ryan standing behind him.
“
At least, I might distract her with my rugged good looks.
”

Ken found his voice at last.
“
So let
’
s go wax that bitch
‘
s ass.
”
His voice, he thought, sounded far more confident than it had any right to.

Ryan drove this time. Ken sat in the back next to Cheyne. At firs
t he felt
intimidated
, but one
sidelong glance at that huge wonky conk tickled the child in him and calmed his nerves.

Ryan said,
“
I have never seen the streets of Miami so deserted.
”

“
It
’
s a blessing,
”
Cheyne said.
“
Do you know how to get to the Bay Bridge?
”