Darkness Wanes (44 page)

“Take this and help Yerik,” I said, handing him the blade. The path was too narrow for me to get around him and reach the daimoun myself. Despite the distraction of the sprites, Lucas had seen what I’d done to kill them.

He nodded and turned away from me. I took out another throwing knife and sliced a fresh cut on my palm—the previous one having healed already. As soon as the weapon was coated with blood, I went after the two sprites tearing into Micah, hacking and slashing until he was free of them.

“Take this and help Kerbasi,” I ordered.

He grabbed the blade. “Thank you.”

The guardian was shrieking and jerking about, but Micah managed to finish off the three swarming him. I sighed a breath of relief as the presence of the sprites faded from my head. The way they’d buzzed against my senses had been more than a little irritating.

Yerik was sagging against the cave wall when I turned to check on him and Lucas. He sucked in a few breaths and looked at me. “How did you know your blood would help?”

“The sprites wouldn’t touch me, and since they’re mostly made of magic, I thought it was worth a try,” I explained. Sometimes, all you could do was go with your gut instinct.

“Can I switch places with you?” Kerbasi asked Micah. “I want to be closer to her from now on.”

“No,” Micah said, turning away from the guardian.

“Most of the demons here have a physical form,” Yerik said, drawing our attention back to him. “Melena won’t be able to kill everything that way.”

I adjusted the strap on my rifle and got the weapon into the ready position. Before we’d left, I’d coated all our bullets with my blood. When I’d faced demons possessing humans in Juneau a couple of years ago, it had affected them. Hopefully, it would continue to make a difference today.

“I’ll just be happy if I can slow them down,” I said.

“You and me both,” Yerik answered grimly. “Let’s go.”

We continued down the walkway until we reached the tunnel. Yerik paused and glanced back at me. “Let us know if you sense anything coming. Otherwise, I’m going to keep us moving as fast as possible.”

“I will.” I waved him on.

Yerik took off at a jogging pace. The tunnel started out flat, but then it veered sharply to the right and began an upward ascent. I stayed close behind Lucas but kept my mind on my internal radar. At least a hundred demons were within a half-mile radius of us, maybe more. The trick was figuring out when we were getting too close to any of them inside a large tunnel network. I was becoming grateful for my two incursions into Purgatory. Those trips had taught me how to gauge distances and depth more accurately.

“Stop,” I hissed.

Everyone came to a sudden halt. Yerik and Lucas glanced back at me. This particular demon was getting too close to risk making any more noise. I held up one finger, then mimed a big hulking creature, which was the impression of him that formed in my head.

Recognition dawned in Yerik’s eyes. He put a hand up, indicating for us to stay put. Everyone held their breaths as the daimoun crept forward until he reached the next bend in the tunnel. Yerik left his rifle hanging from the strap over his shoulder and gripped his sword instead.

The demon’s heavy footsteps were loud enough that no one needed my help to recognize when it was getting close. As soon as it came around the bend, Yerik’s blade swung through its neck, cutting until it stopped at the spinal cord. The huge creature with red and black skin and a large snout fell to the ground, twitching. Everyone gathered around it.

“He’s not dead,” I said.

Yerik shook his head. “No, we don’t have a weapon that could finish these beasts—unless we use explosives.”

“I might.” Lucas drew his blade. The gleaming sword had been forged in Purgatory by one of the nerou and presented to him as a gift. “Someone hold the demon’s head up.”

Kerbasi reached down and grabbed it by one of its misshapen ears. The guardian stood back far enough that he wouldn’t get caught by the swinging blade. Lucas arced the sword and cut right through the creature’s spinal cord. The demon’s life forced extinguished in my mind.

“That did it,” I confirmed.

Yerik stared at the blade admiringly. “I don’t suppose you’d let me use that.”

“No,” Lucas answered. “But I will be happy to kill anything in our path.”

The daimoun considered it. “Very well, but these tunnels are too confusing for you to take the lead. When Melena alerts us to more demons approaching, we will switch places.”

We began jogging again. Minutes passed before I detected a couple more hulking demons coming our way. I called for us to stop in a hushed voice, then held up two fingers and made my miming impression once more. Lucas worked his way around Yerik. Technically, the tunnel was wide enough for us to move in pairs, but it would have made for rather close quarters.

I wanted to use my gun, but I understood why we were using blades. They were quieter and less likely to draw attention. Before we’d left, we’d agreed only to resort to firepower when the enemy outnumbered us or we reached open ground. There was also the risk that explosions could cause a collapse in the tunnels, which would really suck.

The first of the hulking demons came into view. Lucas dispatched him with one slice of his sword. It must have said something about my life that watching a head roll across the ground no longer bothered me. The next demon charged Lucas before he could get his sword back up. It swung a fist out, connecting with my husband’s jaw. Lucas hit the wall. I winced, knowing it had to be a powerful strike.

Yerik leaped forward, impaling the demon in the stomach. It’s ferocious face twisted as it made a gurgling sound of pain. Lucas shook off his discomfort and stepped forward. While the daimoun kept the creature in place, my husband sliced its head from its shoulders. The two men gave each other pats on the back. Of course they felt good about their kills while they forced the rest of us to stand around watching and doing nothing. It was hard to sit on the sidelines every time danger approached. I was an action-oriented person.

We moved forward again, coming across a demon or two here and there. Yerik and Lucas took care of all of them. I had to keep reminding myself it wouldn’t stay this easy for long. The rest of us would have our chance soon enough.

Finally, the end of the tunnel came into view up ahead. Harsh, red light filtered down from the opening and washed over us, making everyone’s skin appear flushed. We stopped about thirty feet from the opening.

“How bad is it out there?” Yerik asked.

I closed my eyes, allowing my mind to focus easier. The closest I’d ever been to this many supernatural entities at once was in the battle against Zoe to regain control of Fairbanks. In that case, though, there hadn’t been so much negative energy and magic. It was all I could do to distinguish one demon from another until they got close enough to us.

“Three of the hulky guys are near the entrance that we’ll need to take out first,” I began, then took a deep breath. “At least a dozen of some other breed are flying out there, and a bunch more are on the ground farther out.”

Yerik’s lips thinned. “I suspected it would be something like that. It is completely open out there with nowhere to take cover.”

“Then we use range weapons first,” I suggested, letting my rifle drop to hang from its sling and pulling the RPG over my shoulder. “I’ll concentrate on blowing the flying demons from the sky. The rest of you shoot at the ones on the ground. When any get too close, Lucas can use his sword to finish them off. If a cluster of them approaches, whoever spots them first should toss a grenade at them.”

“That’s as good a plan as any,” Yerik said, adjusting his rifle from where it hung. “I would add that we must make every effort to keep moving, or we’ll get bogged down. There is a half-mile stretch before we reach the location where the new arrivals are kept. It is a large, rectangular structure made of stone. Glamour conceals it from a distance, but once we’re closer, it should become visible.”

Lucas ran his gaze across everyone’s faces before lingering on me. “I would recommend we take a moment to prepare ourselves. There will be no chance for breaks after this.”

He was right. I grabbed my canteen from where it hung off my belt and took several gulps of water. I’d already drained part of it on our way up. Though the heat wasn’t quite as intense near ground level, it had been unbearable in the lower tunnels. Everyone else followed my lead. We might be immortal, but if we were going to pull off this battle, we needed every bit of our strength. Allowing ourselves to get dehydrated wouldn’t do us any favors.

Yerik waited until everyone had finished checking their gear. “Ready?”

Kerbasi leaned around Micah and whispered to me, “If we survive this, you owe me a cake.”

“If we survive,” I grinned at him, “I’ll even get it from a store instead of baking it.” Everyone knew my cooking skills left something to be desired and that it was best I stay far from an oven.

“You are most generous.” He gave me an approving nod and fell back to his position.

I checked my watch and saw it was just after nine. Our pace wasn’t too bad so far, but Yerik was right that we needed to keep moving fast. It wasn’t going to be easy, considering what waited for us outside.

“Ready,” I said, lying through my teeth.

Chapter Thirty-six

Melena

Yerik and Lucas excited the tunnel first, each spraying gunfire at the nearest demons. I ran out next, entering a grassy plain tainted red by the crimson sky above. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the strange hue distorting everything around me.

Blinking against the light, I caught sight of some sort of frail creature covered in black leathery skin in the sky. It flapped its wings gracelessly and made a scratchy cawing sound. The demon’s body couldn’t have been much larger than mine.

As it swooped lower, I sensed its overwhelming hunger. This creature didn’t know rage or malice—only the need to eat. I aimed my RPG at its emaciated chest and fired. The demon exploded mid-air with flaming pieces of its bone and skin falling to the ground below.

“Keep moving!” Yerik called out.

The men had cleared the area closest to us. We dashed forward a couple of hundred feet, working our way through tall grass that reached my knees. A dozen more demons ran toward us. The nephilim opened fire on them, and Kerbasi tossed one of his grenades. His aim was impressively accurate. When it exploded, taking out several of the hulking creatures, a grin spread across his face. Rather than giving him rockets, I’d loaded him up with two dozen grenades. It appeared that had been the right call.

I scanned the sky and spotted a pair of the flying creatures coming toward us. I pulled a warhead from my pack and reloaded the RPG. They were just far enough apart that there was no way to hit them both with a single shot. I targeted the screeching one with its jaws gaping open and revealing sharp, jagged teeth. The rocket exploded on impact.

The other creature was closing in on me fast at only a couple hundred feet. I kneeled down and struggled to get another warhead from my pack, cursing when it caught on a strap. There was no time. As demonic red eyes homed in on me, I ducked and covered my head. My back trembled as I prepared to be torn by the long claws jutting from the creature’s feet. This was really going to hurt.

Lucas flashed next to me at the last moment and swung his sword, slicing clean through the demon’s body. Part of its lower half landed on me, oozing something sticky and dark. I grabbed one of its legs and chucked the whole piece away in disgust. Lucas gave me a hand, pulling me back to my feet.

“Thanks. I see you got your flashing ability back.”

“It appears to work for short distances now,” he said, his gaze running up and down my body. “You are unharmed?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.” I surveyed the area around us. Chunks of dead demon bodies littered the ground, many of the creatures decapitated. The men had made quick work of our attackers, but I could sense more in the distance coming our way. “Are you alright?”

Lucas’ golden eyes were intense. “I’ll be fine as long as you are not hurt.”

“You say the most romantic things, Lucas.”

He grunted. “I’ll show you romantic later.”

The other men began running again, and we turned to follow them. After a couple of minutes, I caught sight of a monstrously large stone structure a few hundred meters across the field. It glimmered with the magic concealing it.

Yerik was right that it was designed so that most people couldn’t see it until they were close. Considering the distortion it created, I was willing to bet the guys couldn’t flash near it, either. We could probably make it there in less than five minutes if we ran straight there, but more demons were closing in on us.

Kerbasi stopped to aim his rifle at several of the hulking creatures lumbering through the tall grasses a short distance away. He sprayed them with a succession of bullets. They jerked as they were struck, but they continued to advance even after he’d emptied his clip. He grabbed a grenade and tossed that at them.

“Die, you unclean heathens!” Kerbasi yelled, appearing to enjoy himself a little too much. I made a mental note to never let him near modern weapons while back on Earth.