Rocked by Love (Gargoyles Series) (33 page)

Well, fuck it, she thought. She didn’t know enough about magic anyway. She’d had less than a week to practice the easiest of those spells, and Jews weren’t supposed to be doing magic, anyway. As a half-Jew, she shouldn’t be surprised if her magic turned out to be half-assed. Luckily, her brain was her most potent weapon, and it was still working at full capacity.

Pouring on a burst of speed, she flew toward the portal-opening
nocturni,
hands outstretched as if ready to trap him in a renewed burst of magical energy. He looked at her briefly and bared his teeth in a taunting smile, but Kylie had her own kind of magic. At the last moment, she dropped her hands, grasped the back of a hard, molded plastic and metal chair, and swung it with all her might at the
nocturni’
s head. There was a satisfying crack just before he crumpled to the concrete.

The vortex winked out with a shriek of protest. She didn’t know if the sound came from the aborted portal itself, or from whatever had been waiting to cross through it, but either way, it gave her the willies.

Dropping the chair, she looked around, trying to judge a path to Ella’s side. Unfortunately, a multiplying sea of demonic minions stood between them.

What was she supposed to do now? She’d try blasting the portal closed, but clearly magic was not the way she was going to win this fight. What other tools did she have in her little bag of tricks?

She still had the drive-away salt in the pocket of her jeans, but no way did she think the two small pouches’ worth that Wynn had provided would be enough to get her through all those monsters. She’d have a better chance with a handy trailing vine, a leopard-spotted loincloth, and a ululating cry. A better plan must be had.

The scent of blood had begun to taint the air, and although the back of the room remained safer than the front where Ella had been stationed, the murderous creatures had begun to push away from their portal and deeper into the room. This seemed to be keeping Knox and Spar busy, as they tried to take out the demonic minions while avoiding the innocent human bystanders who kept getting in the way. The poor clueless audience members just didn’t know where to run and a few of them inevitably ended up throwing themselves between a Guardian and his prey. Only quick reflexes and solemnly sworn vows kept those fools alive.

Maybe she would have to resort to her half-assed magic after all.

If there was one thing Kylie could do better than almost anyone in the world, it was tweak code. She could always seem to find the subtle little glitches in a string of computer commands that kept a system from operating the way she wanted it to, and she had become renowned for finding the simplest, sneakiest little twists that got her the perfect result. If her magic had first shown itself in this ability, maybe that meant she could turn it back onto the magic itself.

Narrowing her eyes, Kylie reached once more for her magic, letting it fill her up and tingle in her fingertips. Then she brought to mind the shield spell Wynn had hammered into her brain and looked for the code.

It almost jumped out at her. She felt like she had just landed in the Matrix, seeing data scrolling before her in endless streams. She could see the code of the magic and knew exactly where it needed to change to perform her will. A quick twist of her mind, and the spell that flowed when she raised her fingers was something a little different from Wynn’s protective shield. Instead, it became a battering ram of vivid, living energy that she held out before her and used to slice through the crowd.

Everything it touched slid away and to the sides. She felt a little like Moses parting the Red Sea, only she didn’t have the entire nation of Israel at her back, and she only needed to get as far as the other side of the room.

Not understanding exactly what she had done or how long it would last, Kylie held tight to her magic and ran. She didn’t bother to test herself too rigorously, ducking and dodging around the largest and hungriest-looking of the monsters and taking the path of least resistance to Ella’s side. That still amounted to a lot of resistance. Luckily, for the moment, nothing seemed able to cut through her supershield.

She took a detour to edge around the still gaping portal. The only mercy about the thing was that it remained its original size and shape, meaning only one entity could pass through it at a time. Any more and they’d end up clogging the drain, like some kind of preternaturally evil hair ball. Still, not something a living person wanted to get in front of. So far, everyone who had was dead.

Kylie averted her eyes and pointedly ignored the sticky slickness under her feet as she finally set eyes on Ella. The Warden lay under a row of chairs, unmoving, and bleeding sluggishly from a wound in her side. Luck had stuck with her, because without the chairs making her difficult to spot, she’d have wound up brunch for the forces of Darkness a long time ago.

Hurrying to her friend’s side, Kylie reached down to feel for a pulse, just to be certain. It beat strong and steady against her fingers, but that left their little army of good guys down one valuable soldier. And that
farkakta
portal to Demonland was still wide open.

Maybe it was time for a new plan.

For once in her life, being small was turning out to be a big advantage for Kylie. It made it a lot easier for her to hide and scurry and escape notice than most of the other people in the room, not to mention the ginormous winged Guardians who currently dove in and out of the fray, ripping apart any demonic creature they could lay their claws on. The continuously replenishing horde kept them so busy that no one had yet noticed Ella had fallen.

Certainly her mate, preoccupied with the big Demonic kahuna in the front of the room, had not. If he had, he’d have been at her side by now. That was a good thing, because Kylie and the rest of the innocent people here really needed him and Dag to keep Nazgahchuhl occupied, otherwise this battle would already be over, and Kylie would not have been on the winning side.

At the moment, she still wasn’t certain she was on the winning side, but she definitely wasn’t ready to give up. A survey of the room showed only the one active portal, so that was a heck of a lot better than the alternative, and it indicated that Wynn and Fil had fared better with their opponents than Ella had with hers. Go, team.

Right, a new plan, Kylie reminded herself. Number one had to be to close that portal. Cutting off the flow would mean Knox and Spar could concentrate on really taking out the summoned creatures, allowing Kylie, Wynn, and Fil to figure out a way to begin getting the survivors to safety. At least the ushers had abandoned their posts at the doors. Kylie had a feeling they had not been cult members, but staff bespelled to follow commands. Once a demon creature had taken one of them as a little snack, the rest had scattered into the crowd, leaving the doors locked, but unattended.

Kees and Dag would stick with the Demon she was really trying not to think about. With the other Wardens currently helping on the opposite side of the huge auditorium, that left Kylie to deal with the portal.

Easy-peasy, right?

Wynn had told her that while the
nocturni
mage would need to cast a spell that opened the portal and continue to channel energy to hold it open for a while, after a certain amount of time, it could stabilize sufficiently to remain for an unknown duration. Which meant that even if she took out the caster, the portal might remain open even after he was out of the picture. Double trouble. Always fun.

Oh, well. Sometimes it was better to just swallow the medicine and worry about the aftertaste later.

Rising into a low crouch, Kylie took aim at the back of the casting
nocturni’
s head and let ’er rip.

She knew none of the spells the others had taught her had enough juice to stymie one of the Order’s most powerful magic users, but once again she found the code in the spells she did have to work with and tweaked. This time, she didn’t bother with finesse, just grabbed, twisted, and plunked in her own addition and then sent the energy winging through space.

The little ping of green light hit the robed figure on the back of his hooded head and then exploded like a firework. Unlike a firework, however, these trails of sparkling light expanded outward and fused together to form a bubble just the way Ella had described. Or almost the way Ella had described. The bubble that Kylie created enveloped both the
nocturni
and his portal to hell, and it didn’t take the emerging creatures long to recognize there was only one food source available inside the magical trap.

Kylie looked away when blood splattered the inside of the bubble like water on a windshield at the car wash.

She looked around and saw Fil headed her way at a jog. The blonde looked bruised and bloody but intact and Kylie had never been so happy to see anyone.

“Ella’s down, but okay,” Kylie said, the minute she thought Fil could hear. “I cut off the portal for the moment, but I don’t know how long my bubble will last, and I don’t know if I can close the portal myself. That is one spell I do not want to try tinkering with. If I take down my spell, do you think you can blast the portal closed?”

Fil nodded, already turning her attention to the problem at hand. “Yeah, I’m with you. That was some nice work, though, Koyote. Very innovative. On the count of three.”

They ran through the numbers aloud, and on three, Kylie reached out, grabbed her magic, and yanked, flinging it down into the earth. Sort of like pulling the tablecloth off a table and hoping the place settings stayed where they were. In the same instant, Fil threw a bolt of bright light at the portal. It hit with a shower of sparks, and then the whole thing collapsed in on itself like a dying star. Minus the black hole, which was kind of the point.

She flashed Kylie a cheeky grin. “Hey, Wynn was right. Practice makes perfect!”

“Duck!”

That was all Kylie had time to say before the two creatures released from the bubble came flying at them like ravening wolves on tasty-looking elk. Once again, Kylie went the old-fashioned route. She lifted another chair and swung for the fences, knocking the first creature into the second and sending them both skittering across the concrete floor. An instant later, a huge shadow passed over them and Spar dove on top of the monsters, grabbing them in his enormous talons and literally ripping them to shreds.

Kylie had to look away, but next to her, she heard Fil heave an exaggerated sigh.

“My hero,” the blonde teased, then yelped out a muffled laugh as her Guardian dragged her close for a brief fierce kiss before wading back into the fray.

“Oh, get a room,” Kylie mumbled.

“Oh, we will. Just remember you said that. After all, we’re staying with you.”

Kylie rolled her eyes and tugged her friend’s arm. “We need to either get Ella back on her feet, or find someplace safe to stash her. She’s over here.”

The pale brunette was already stirring when they reached her side, and Kylie heaved a sigh of relief. Maybe the tide was finally turning in their favor.

“Don’t sit up!” Fil warned as Ella began to stir. “You’re lying under a chair, and the last thing you need is to give yourself a concussion.”

“I think I already have one.” Ella groaned, lifting a hand to her head and wincing. “Concrete is really hard.”

“We’ve still got stuff to do, Ellabella. How are you doing? Can you stand?”

“Give me a hand and let’s see.”

They each gave her one, first sliding the chairs that had concealed her out of the way to make room. Then they grasped the woman from either side and swung her to her feet. Ella swayed for a moment, then smiled wanly and gave them a thumbs-up. “All systems are go. Go slowly, but go.”

“Good,” Kylie said grimly, “because Fil was right. We do still have a lot to do.”

She nodded toward the front of the room where the two Guardians and the Demon on stage had been joined by a slightly battered and wholly defiant witch. A witch who currently knelt at the Hierophant/Demon’s feet with a pissed-off expression on her face and a short, sharp knife to her throat.

Chapter Nineteen

A finstere cholem auf dein kopf und auf dein hent und fiss.

A dark dream on your head, hands, and feet.

Dag had approached the Corruptor with rage and with caution. The one he could not help, but the other he had to work hard to remember.

Every instinct he possessed wanted him to throw himself on the vile Demon and rend it limb from limb, but he recognized the impossibility of victory. The body of the Hierophant was simply the host for Nazgahchuhl, not the Demon itself. Destroying the host would merely inconvenience the Demon, and with all the death already filling the hall, that action might provide the last bit of strength needed to return the Demon to its natural form.

Knowing this, he forced himself to stay back, to give the Demon a wide berth even as his claws stretched and ached to feel the tearing of muscle from bone. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Kees approaching as well. The other Guardian moved in from the opposite side, keeping the Demon in front of and between them as they closed the distance across the stage.

Dag did not fool himself that the Corruptor didn’t feel his presence, didn’t know down to the last inch where each Guardian in the room stood or flew at that very moment. It knew Dag and Kees approached from the sides; it knew Spar and Knox waded through the bodies on the floor of the auditorium while battling the evil creatures that had poured through the portal, the
nocturnis
had managed to open.

It knew where the Wardens stood, knew how fiercely they fought to vanquish the cult’s magic users and turn the tide of the battle. It knew about Kylie.

“Yes, Guardian, I know all sorts of interesting things,” the Demon purred, its voice reverberating in a range a human could never have achieved. The host’s vocal cords would never be the same. Not that it mattered; no human could survive the taint of hosting one of the Seven for more than a moment. “I know you and your brothers think you can win this little war of ours, so of course I know that you have found these females you call mates.”