Dread Nemesis of Mine (26 page)

Bella knelt beside me and sent a globe of
light wandering down the tunnel. It turned into a pinprick before
finding the bottom. "I don't think this is a viable route."

Measuring the space with my eyes, I
estimated I could brace my hands and feet against the sides of the
hole and walk myself down, but the going would be painfully slow,
and one misstep would mean depositing my broken body into the
bowels of the earth. Bella was just too short to even attempt my
idea.

"Bella, Can you blend us in to the
surroundings?"

"Like camouflage? Of course. But I must warn
you, I'm exhausted. Dash took nearly everything I had."

"How long could you maintain the spell?"

"Perhaps half an hour. Beyond that, I'll
probably pass out." She sighed. "I do have a levitation spell that
might work to gently lower us down the shaft. How much do you
weigh?"

I shrugged. "I have no idea. Two hundred
pounds maybe?" I'd lost all of my chunky bits during my
transformation from nerd to incubus, but had put on height and
muscle, so my net weight had increased. But I hadn't exactly
weighed myself lately to see the exact results.

"Goodness." She looked up, muttering
calculations.

I pulled out my phone and gave Elyssa a
rundown on the situation.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me sooner?"
Elyssa said, and barked out commands to her comrades.

"What do you think you're doing?" I heard
Fausta say in the background.

Elyssa gave the other Templar a terse reply
and ended the call. I ran back to the overhead display and scrolled
to my companions just as Fausta threw up her hands like an angry
Italian, and motioned for Elyssa to lead the way. My phone chirped
with an incoming call from an unknown number. I'd added Maximus's
number to my contact list, so I knew it wasn't him.

I answered, and an unfamiliar voice said,
"This is Sergeant Itchi. Fausta gave me your number. She wants you
to guide us to the remaining OPFORs in the compound."

Since there wasn't much more I could do
before Amanda and her goons burst inside, I rattled out a list of
directions, took a couple of pictures with my phone, and sent them
to Itchi. At any other time, I would have also tossed in a few
jokes about his name as well, but decided to devote the time to
staying alive until help arrived. I looked at the display and
watched the main force of Templars enter via the side entrance
they'd secured and head toward their pinned-down comrades. I
noticed the squad entering via the other secret tunnel also moving
in and felt a wash of relief.

"Justin, my spell won't work." Bella's eyes
looked empty of hope. "You're too heavy for me to lower that far. I
don't know what to do."

I heard scuffling noises echo from outside
the door to the lab and panic took hold. If only we could hold out
for a few minutes, it might give Elyssa and the others time to
reach us. I spotted the huge pile of crates near the door and
zipped over to them. Despite the strength granted through my demon
spawn genes, the crates hardly budged. I resorted to pushing them
one at a time with more success until the door was blocked.

Someone pounded on the metal door. "Slade! I
know you're in there, you son of a bitch! Let me in!" It was
Amanda.

"I'm sorry, my mom told me not to open the
door for strangers."

She screamed a flurry of curse words at me,
pounding on the door. "Give it here, you idiot," she shouted at
someone. I heard her maniacal laugh. "Let's see how you like this,
Slade."

The echo of quickly retreating feet alerted
me something very bad was about to happen. I grabbed Bella and
jerked her away from the door. An explosion rocked the room. The
door blasted through the crates. Whistled through the air about a
foot from my head. Clanged off a support beam.

Amanda hooted with laughter and appeared at
the doorway. "Here, catch!" She threw a square package my way. It
landed on the floor and skidded next to my feet.

"Oh, fudge." I gripped Bella's hand and dove
for the tunnel left by the leyworm.

A hot blast ripped through the air, slapping
me like a red-headed stepchild. I lost my grip on Bella and skidded
down the tunnel, ricocheting around the corner. My frantic hands
grabbed at the rock. I shouted as the rough surface tore into my
skin. I hit the crushed rock at the back edge of the hole and
bounced off the rim in a shower of gravel. There was nothing below
me but empty air.

I fell into the dark. Somehow, my hand
caught on a shard of rock protruding from the side of the shaft.
Agony sliced into my hand. Blood dripped into my face as it
dribbled down the rock from this latest injury. I heard a crack.
Pebbles skittered from beneath my handhold, falling into the pit.
With my free hand, I reached for the lip of the hole. Too far. I
swung out my feet, trying to brace against the sides. The tiny
ledge crumbled, leaving only enough room for my fingertips to hang
on.

No. It can't end. Not like this!

Using all my concentration, I summoned my
focus and willed myself to rise toward the ledge. Something tingled
in the back of my mind, working its way forward until it seemed to
press against the inside of my skull. A presence brushed against my
feet.

Up. Push me up
.

A slight pressure grew against the soles of
my shoes. It was working! I willed it to push harder and harder.
The weight of the world seemed to drop onto my shoulders. My focus
vanished at the shock. The strain on my shoulders vanished.

The ledge gave way. Gravity grabbed my
ankles and jerked. My stomach lurched and I stifled the scream
threatening to rip from my throat. Eyes squeezed shut, I waited for
the end.

"Justin, I can't hold this for long," came
Bella's strained voice. "My fight with Dash tired me more than I
thought."

I opened an eyelid and looked up. Sweat
beaded on her forehead and her hands trembled. Instead of falling,
I hovered. Bella held her staff tight as she raised her hands
toward the ceiling. My feet didn't feel like there was anything
solid beneath them. I tried jumping, but my legs kicked against
thin air.

"Please…don't do that," Bella said in harsh
whisper. "Wait for the ledge."

I looked up and stretched out a hand. The
lip of the hole remained at least an inch away.

Amanda's voice echoed down the tunnel.
"Bring me the bodies."

The sound of feet tramping through the room
reached my ears. Bella clenched her teeth. Sweat beaded on her
forehead. A low moan scraped through her throat.

The ledge grew inexorably closer, each
second feeling like an hour.

"What the hell?" someone said from very
close by. "There's a hole here, but part of the wall collapsed on
it."

"Well clear it and check it," Amanda said.
"Now!"

My fingers grasped the lip. In one big
heave, I pulled myself to solid ground. Bella moaned in relief. Her
staff clattered to the floor. The dhampyr toppled straight toward
the hole. I dove to the ground and barely caught her arm before she
slid over the edge.

Voices grew louder from down the tunnel. We
were screwed. I dug with desperation into my magical education,
grasping at straws. On the other side of the hole, I noticed the
crushed rock was partially gone, leaving a divot and a pile of
rocks. There was just enough room for us to crouch on the other
side of the jumbled stone and, with any luck, hide. If I could
camouflage us, it might just work.

"I heard a noise in the tunnel," someone
shouted.

With Bella held tight under one arm, I
jumped the gap and ducked under the unbroken shelf of stone just
above the ledge. I scraped the remaining stones into a higher pile.
It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. I put Bella down,
and ducked beside her, praying the pile of rocks would hide us,
willing with all my might for it to happen.

A familiar tingle touched my mind, as it had
when I'd tried to push myself out of the hole. I knew I was capable
of magic, but how in the hell could I stop an onslaught of
vampires? Unlike Shelton, I couldn't form a magical barrier. I
couldn't zap vampires with a magical light beam like Adam. Unless I
could figure out how to summon a fireball like I'd done while
Maximus's prisoner, Bella and I didn't have much of a chance.

Then again, who said magic had to be all
about brute strength? Maybe I could cloak the two of us. But if a
vampire jumped the hole, they'd land right on us, and that would be
that. I might be able to fight off a couple, shove them down the
hole, but if they had guns, I might as well jump down the shaft
with Bella.

In a flash of inspiration, I raised my head
and focused. The tingling grew stronger, thicker, and nauseating in
my stomach. It was all I could do not to heave. Footsteps echoed
ahead. I didn't have time to see if my little spell had worked
before two vampires rounded the corner and came straight toward us.
I ducked, forcing my mind to concentrate on my intentions instead
of the panic welling inside me.

"I know I heard something back here," said a
male voice. "Clear as day."

"You know what I'm going to do,
hermano
? I'm going to drill a bullet right through that
spawn's demon skull." The unseen speaker made a popping noise.
"Gonna drop him like a sack of dirt, man.

"Not if I do it first, bro."

"Do you see anything?" Amanda yelled from
somewhere down the tunnel.

"Not yet," one of the men yelled back.

"That is one ugly chick," said the first guy
and chuckled.

"I wouldn't even put a bag over that
chica's
head and fu—w-w-hoa!"

"What th—"

The vampiric wonder twin's screams faded
into the distance as they plummeted down the shaft.

I glanced over the pile of rocks hiding us
and saw with pride what looked like a solid floor. My spell had
worked!

More footsteps rushed down the hall. I
ducked back down.

"Where'd they—ahh!" The latest newcomer
joined his comrades.

"Holy mother! Oh my god," said another
voice, this one sounding much younger. "They just dropped straight
into solid rock."

"You idiot," Amanda said, "They're using
magic. Probably set up a trap and hid somewhere. Throw rocks at the
wall to see if it's solid."

"Yes sir." A rock clattered off the wall
behind me.

"Keep testing the walls you morons! First
one to find that little spawn bastard gets a taste of his blood."
Footsteps stomped away from us.

Several more rocks clacked against the floor
and walls before the guy tossing them shuffled away. Sweat beaded
my brow as I tried to hold my concentration, but it was like
grasping a slick rope with sweaty hands. As my focus waned, the
tingling subsided along with the nausea.

I heard a soft gasp. Bella's eyes lit up in
the dim light and looked into mine. She pressed her hands against
my chest. "Where are we?"

"Hiding." I glanced over the makeshift stack
of rocks. The hole was visible again. "I think we're safe for now."
I couldn't help but brag about my little feat of magic.

A smile lit her face. "I'm proud of you. It
is true when they say necessity is the mother of magic."

Someone shouted. Gunfire echoed from the
main chamber.

"Justin!" Elyssa shouted.

"Maybe you should stay here," I told
Bella.

She tried to rise and groaned, pressing a
hand to her head. "Perhaps you are right."

I jumped the hole and sneaked around the
corner to the chamber. Several vampires lay unconscious in the
middle of the floor. The rest had taken cover behind the columns in
the back of the room, popping out at random and spraying bullets
toward Elyssa's position. The vampling and cherub strained against
their cages toward the nearby vampires. It would be very bad if
either got loose. The infant-like cherub would drain the light out
of anyone it caught and turn them into a shadow person. The
vampling might start an epidemic if it bit anyone.

How Dash had procured the cherub, I had no
idea. Daelissa must have done it.
Why
she'd done it was a
mystery. The leyworm made sense, being a source of magical power,
but why a cherub? Had he been studying ways to harness the power of
these creatures? To enslave them? No, there had to be another
explanation.

"Where's Maximus?" someone roared in anger.
I poked my head out and saw Adam, his face red as he emerged from
behind cover, staff held out in front of him. "Where's my sister,
Felicia?"

A vampire sprayed bullets at Adam. Inches
from hitting him, the air rippled with the impacts. Bullets
clattered to the floor.

"Felicia is your sister?" Amanda laughed.
"Maximus found out she'd betrayed him. Taught that bitch a
lesson."

Adam's face went white. His jaw clenched and
rage burned in his face. "Where is she?"

"Dead, you idiot!" Amanda threw something at
Adam, a blur of brown that hit his shield and fell to the ground at
his feet.

It only took me a split second to identify
the rectangular package. It was the same explosive she'd thrown at
me.

Adam looked down. That was all he had time
to do before the blast.

"No!" I shouted, arm extended toward him as
if I could prevent his death with the force of my will. Nauseating
sickness swept through my body and I felt as though I were holding
a superheated bubble of molten liquid in my hand.

Adam flew back a foot, landing in the ruins
of a crate. The air in front of his shield rippled like water
disturbed by a thousand tiny rocks.

The pain and pressure in my hand increased.
Almost by reflex, I flicked my hand away from Adam and toward
Amanda's position. A concussive blast shattered stone and wood,
sending vampires flying back against the cages. Adam sat up on his
elbows and looked at me with pure astonishment.