Darkness Shatters: Book 5 (Sensor Series) (32 page)

“Aim for the middle guys,” I ordered. “If we hit them it should injure the ones on the outside. Bonus points if you damage their wings.”

“We’re facing immortal guards who can’t die and she’s talking about bonus points.” Micah shook his head.

“Glad I can amuse you in the midst of a battle,” I said, aiming my RPG.

The guards saw it and began spreading out, but their wings didn’t let them move fast enough. I fired at the second one to the right. It hit him in the chest and the resulting explosion knocked down the guy next to him.

Lucas, Yerik, and Micah each sent a round down range, hitting the rest of our targets or at least knocking them out of the air. Their aim was surprisingly good for it being their first time using the weapon. The guards were sprawled on the ground, skin and wings burnt.

“Those were younger guys,” I informed the group. “That should be enough to keep them out of the fight for a while. But we’ve got more coming in from two directions this time.”

I pointed toward the mountains where a group had come from them and were now flying over the open sandy plain. Then I nodded toward the sea where more were advancing. It was going to be difficult to hide behind boulders with them coming from opposite sides. There was nothing but open ground around us with no other cover.

“How many?” Yerik asked.

“Seven from the mountains and five flying over the water. They’re about equal distance from us either way.” Definitely a coordinated plan.

Lucas knitted his brows. “We’ll take down the guards over the water first. Then face the ones coming from the mountains.”

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

We moved around until the boulders covered our backs, then reloaded our RPGs. Everyone took a knee and aimed their weapons. The guards coming from the sea were visible, but too far for a clean shot.

I put a hand on Micah, who looked like he was about to fire. “Wait for it. We can’t afford for even one of our rounds to miss. I’ll tell you when.”

The guards got closer. Still, I didn’t let anyone engage. No one was firing until I could almost make out their faces. Our attackers spread their wings as they descended for a landing on the beach. We needed to hit them before they touched ground.

“Now!”

Four warheads went sailing through the air. They all struck their targets in a spectacular display of fire and burning flesh. The guards fell to the ground in heaps right at the water’s edge.

“Behind us,” Lucas called out.

We spun around and found the other group running toward us across the sand. They’d spread apart enough there would be no two-for-ones.

“Reload,” I commanded.

We pulled our second to last warheads from our packs and slid them into our RPGs. The guards were close enough I could make out the glow in their eyes. Their wings were folded behind them and invisible to anyone but me.

“Yerik, take the guy on the far right. Micah, aim for the one next to him. Lucas, you get the one on the far left and I’ll target one of the guys in the middle.” Assuming we didn’t miss, that would only leave us three to fight. I wanted to save our last warheads for anything else that might come up.

We fired our weapons and once again the rounds shot through the air. Every guard was hit except one who dove to the sand. Dammit. Smart man. He was up and running as soon as the warhead sailed past him.

“Grenades,” I said, pulling two from my pack.

Our attackers were less than fifty feet away as we threw them. The exploding shrapnel tore through the guards’ bodies, but it didn’t affect them nearly as much as the RPGs had. They stumbled and bled, but kept coming.

“Are there any more than this?” Lucas asked.

I shook my head. “None that I can sense.”

“Then it is time we fight. I’m feeling the need to sink my blade into something.” His gaze ran toward Yerik and Micah before shifting to the guards.

The men leaped over the rocks and came down the other side just as the guards got close. There was a clang of metal as swords clashed. One attacker remained for me to face and like Lucas I was ready to spill a little blood—but do it my way.

I pulled my gun and leaped to the top of the boulders. My opponent had to stumble up the lower rocks, facing me from lower ground. I aimed the .45 Sig and fired repeatedly at his face. His head jerked like a piñata as I drilled the bullets into him at a close range, taking out his eyes and nose.

He stumbled backward. I holstered the gun and pulled my sword. Jumping down to his level, I thrust it straight into his heart. The others might prefer old-fashioned weapons but if the Musketeers could use guns and blades together, why couldn’t I? The combo had worked well for me so far.

The guard fell to the ground. I let my sword slide out of him as he descended and reached around to my pack, pulling one of a dozen throwing knives I’d brought along. I sunk the blade into the wound in the guy’s chest and buried it in his heart. He slumped, all the fight gone from him.

I looked up and found the other guards slashed to bits. All of them lay on the ground in pools of blood, unconscious. The men had made a mess of them.

“Stick knives in their hearts. It’ll keep them down longer,” I said.

Their expressions said they were humoring me, but they did it. We had at least an hour or so before they’d heal enough to yank them back out—even longer before they’d be in any kind of shape to fight.

“Let’s head to the cave entrance.”

“No one else is coming?” Yerik lifted a brow.

I shrugged. “Not yet, anyway.”

We headed toward the mountains. Now that the fight was over I felt the heat again. Beads of sweat ran down my face and soaked my clothes. Since it was cold in Alaska at the moment and it would be cool inside the mountains I had chosen to wear thicker clothing. It had seemed like a good idea at the time.

Now with all the gear strapped on me I couldn’t even pull my jacket off unless I wanted to waste precious minutes. The only consolation I got was everyone except Yerik—who only wore his kilt and black vest—had dressed in as many layers as me. Everyone looked hot and miserable.

“If I could only have one magical ability, it would be to control the temperature,” I grumbled.

Lucas gave me a grim smile. “Would that I could give it to you, sensor.”

“I’m afraid we’ve got more company,” Yerik announced.

I squinted and caught a large group by the cave entrance where we were headed. They were far away enough that my senses hadn’t picked up on them yet. None of them moved toward us. They just stood there, waiting.

“This is going to be ugly.” I could make out enough to know we were severely outnumbered this time—and our weapons supply depleted.

“We’ll manage it.” Lucas gripped his sword tighter.

We came to the half-mile range and I stopped in my tracks. “Those aren’t guards.”

“How so?” Yerik asked.

“Those are nerou, but none of them are familiar to me.” I looked at Lucas. “Your friend Ivan isn’t among them.”

It might have been a while, but I had a pretty good memory for supernatural signatures. I was certain the group waiting for us was a different one than I’d met the last time I’d come to Purgatory. What that meant for us, I didn’t know, but I hoped we didn’t have to fight the very people we were trying to rescue.

Lucas worked his jaw. “Let’s meet them first and decide what to do from there.”

We resumed walking. As the distance closed between us, I grew more worried. These nerou held blades in their hands and stood in a line, blocking the cave entrance. As soon as we got within speaking range—about a hundred feet away—we stopped.

A muscular nerou, wearing nothing but buckskin pants stepped forward. “Leave now and you can go in peace. If you choose to fight, you should be aware we will overcome you and imprison you. The choice is yours.”

“I was afraid he’d say something like that,” Micah said.

“We’re here to take you and your brethren back to Earth,” Yerik called back. “It is not our desire to fight you.”

The leader flexed his chest. “We are not interested in leaving. This is our home.”

I didn’t say anything. More nerou were coming out of the mountain so that the numbers were climbing to about thirty of them. One in particular drew my attention. He was different than the others with traces of demon blood in him—and he was only about fifty years old. I couldn’t see him, but he was definitely in the crowd.

“Yerik, your son is there with them. Somewhere in the back of the group.”

The daimoun glanced at me. “Are you certain?”

“His signature and age are right—unless there’s another like you who bred with a sensor at the same time.”

Yerik addressed the nerou. “This is not your home. You were born on Earth and some of you have family who misses you. It is your right to return to where you truly belong.”

The leader glanced behind him at his group, then returned his gaze to us. “There is nothing you can say that will change our minds.”

They were brainwashed and sheltered. We should have expected this.

I sighed. “This would be so much easier with Ivan here.”

“There are other entrances we could use,” Lucas spoke at a whisper. “If Micah and Yerik are willing to keep this group distracted we could search for an alternate way inside and locate Ivan. Perhaps he could convince this group to lay down their arms.”

Yerik moved closer to us, keeping his tone just as low. “It is a good plan, but you will need to move quickly. We will have a difficult time holding them back.”

“But we will do our best,” Micah added.

I reached into my pack and took out all but two grenades. “Take these. It won’t kill them, but it’ll slow them down and help even the odds.”

Lucas handed over his as well. “You’ll need these more than we will.”

“Thank you,” Micah said, tucking the spare grenades away.

“We will return as soon as we can,” Lucas vowed.

The brothers’ gazes met and for a brief moment the animosity was gone. It was simply two men who’d known each other their entire lives and fought many battles together. They had a long history that couldn’t be wiped away—even by a seeming act of betrayal.

Lucas pulled me into his arms. “Apologies, sensor, but my way will get us there faster.”

I was off my feet in the next moment and speeding with him across the sand. I’d had no idea he’d been holding back for my sake. Lucas wasn’t moving as quickly as he could on Earth, but enough the air whizzed past us. I sensed the nerou racing toward Yerik and Micah, who were already tossing the first grenades. How well could they hold up against such a force?

Chapter Thirty-three

Lucas raced us alongside the mountains, slowing as the exertion wore him down. We’d gone what I estimated to be over a mile when my senses picked up a protection ward surrounding a cave entrance. Magic spells didn’t come to me until I was close.

“Let me down,” I shouted in his ear.

He came to a stumbling halt. Sweat covered him and his face had reddened under the hot Purgatory sun. If my chafing skin were anything to go by, I wasn’t in much better shape.

“Where?” he asked between heaving breaths.

“Just over there.” I jutted my chin at an entrance cut from the mountain up ahead, maybe fifty feet.

“There’s no one guarding it, but I sense we’ll run into trouble once we get into the tunnels.”

He nodded. “I’d hate for it to be too easy.”

We sprinted toward the entrance. There was a magical force field covering the opening. I could have walked right through it, but Lucas needed it down to go inside. I took out a pocket knife and cut one of my fingers. Once enough blood welled up, I pressed it to the invisible wall that was supposed to only admit Purgatory natives. It shimmered and broke.

As soon as we stepped into the tunnel the temperature dropped. Once we were out of direct sunlight, it cooled to about forty degrees. Water dripped along the walls, making the floor wet and slippery.

We hurried as fast as we could through the darkness lit only by a slight glow emanating from the silvery walls. The tunnel wound around, making it difficult to estimate when we’d run into the guards I sensed. With each turn, we went deeper into the mountains and the air cooled further. Shards of ice began to appear on the ceiling and the sweat covering me began to freeze. It was still nowhere near as bad as Alaska. I could handle it.

“Wait,” I whispered, putting up a hand.

My senses told me the guards were going to be around the next bend. I rubbed my healed hand on my pants and grabbed a grenade from my pack. Keeping a solid grip on the lever, I pulled the pin out. As long as I kept my blood off of it, the grenade wouldn’t damage the magically protected walls when it exploded—only my living targets.

Lucas watched me and silently drew his sword from its scabbard. He didn’t say anything as I crept up ahead until just before the tunnel veered to the right. By now he had to hear the guards’ soft footsteps coming along. They were close—twenty feet, then fifteen.

I whipped my arm out and tossed the grenade at them. We flattened our backs to the walls and covered our ears, waiting for it to blow. A few seconds later the blast reverberated through the cavern, eliciting screams from the guards. No debris or rock fell, but some shards of ice flew past us. The magic spell protecting the walls had held.