Unhidden (The Gatekeeper Chronicles Book 1) (35 page)

His initial rage turned to angry amusement. He snorted. “Who do you think you are, making demands of me? I should have Cressida take your head and be done with you. But I think you’ll learn this lesson better if I take their heads instead.” He waved toward the fighting elves, soldiers, and manticores barring the exits.

As if on cue, dozens of dragon-like creatures with great, leathery wings flew out of the rift, high into the night sky above Citi Field. They were beautiful, with scales of shimmering green.

“Take her,” he said to the vampire.

“With pleasure,” she hissed, dropping Daniel.

I didn’t see Cressida move, but I knew she was coming. I fell to my knees, barely avoiding her grasp. Swinging Sharur, I buried the axe in the vampire’s thigh. It certainly wasn’t a fatal blow, although I hoped it might at least slow her down. She barely seemed to notice, painfully pulling me up by my long braid. I kept my grip on Sharur, yanking it free from the bone.

Bearing her fangs, Cressida pulled my head back and sunk her teeth into my flesh. I cried out at the initial bite, but then the pain subsided. Soothing warmth flooded through my body, calling on me to stop struggling and simply give in to that peaceful sensation. My fingers started to loosen on the axe handle when I heard that strange voice push its way clear of my muddled thoughts.
Kill her!

I struggled to focus, but looking skyward, all I could think was how beautiful those dragons were, breathing arcs of orange flame. Everything moved in slow motion. Then I was falling. The ground rushed up to meet me and jarred me back to my senses.

Zane and the vampire were nose to nose, Zane breathing heavily and the vampire not breathing at all. “He said to take her home, not to drain her dry,” Zane snarled.

“I had no intention of draining her,” Cressida said calmly. “I was simply making her more docile for transport. Although, I now see why you find her so irresistible,” she goaded.

I staggered to my feet, using the axe as a crutch. With a light toss, I spun it in the air, catching it so the handle was facing forward. I pulled back and threw it like a javelin straight at Cressida. The spike at the end of the axe handle pierced her rib cage and sunk deep into the vampire’s heart. Momentary shock crossed her face before she exploded in a spray of blood and gore, all over Zane, but he didn’t look too upset about it.

Before Zane could take up the call to drag me home, he was hit from behind by a barrage of icy blasts that came in rapid succession, preventing him from doing much more than try to protect himself. The ice was coating his skin faster than he could melt it off. Alex was buying me the time I needed to end this thing. I knew by looking at him that he had rallied all of his strength for this one last act.

Marduk was walking purposefully toward the exit from the stadium, trailed by a menagerie of his devoted followers. Although some creatures had immediately made a run for the exit when they had come through the rift, the majority had stayed within the stadium, following Marduk’s commands. At this point, they were ready to march on New York City by his side.

I hesitated, not wanting to leave Alex, knowing he didn’t stand a chance against Zane. But Marduk was making his way toward Jason, and the small group of defenders. Would Zane kill Alex or remember their old friendship and spare his life? I didn’t want to take that chance; however, I couldn’t let Marduk go. My mission wasn’t yet finished.

W
ith vampire and manticore venom still flowing through my veins, it felt like I was moving through molasses. Though, the vampire venom must have somehow counteracted the manticore venom because the feeling returned to my right arm.

I snatched up the now slippery axe from the puddle of vampire goo and took off after Marduk at a sprint, pressing through the inertia and throwing my body into overdrive.

Creatures threw themselves in my path, and I cut them down easily with Sharur, the axe blade slicing through flesh like Jell-O. Yet, even as the bodies piled up behind me, I knew the odds weren’t in my favor. Only a handful of elves were left fighting. The rest were either dead or wounded. Alex would be incapacitated soon, and dragons were descending from the sky.

One well-placed blast of dragon fire would end me well before I could hope to reach Marduk. In the openness of the baseball field, there was nowhere to hide. I was a perfect target. Firing a gun into the sky at moving targets while running was no way to actually hit anything; therefore, I simply kept sprinting and hoped the dragons would ignore me, since I had no other options.

I closed in on Marduk’s rear guard, chopping and hacking at them from behind. I took the first few creatures by surprise and was able to slice off heads and limbs without much of a fight. Blood and brains flew through the night air, splattering my face as I pushed through the throng. When the creatures finally took notice of me, they parted like the Red Sea at the sight of Sharur.

Marduk stopped walking and turned to see what was disrupting the group. I stood between the parted rows of creatures, covered from head to toe in gore, holding the axe at the ready and breathing heavily.

“We’re not done here yet,” I said.

“On the contrary, I believe we are. If you hadn’t noticed, you are defeated. All of your elven and human friends are dead or will be very soon. Have some sense, girl, and join me.”

“Actually, I invited some other friends to the party. They were just fashionably late.” I removed a small stone from the pouch at my waist. Alex had given me the pink oblong crystal for exactly this moment. I dropped it at my feet and ground my heel into the object, crushing it. When it cracked open, a spark of light was released high into the night sky. It only lasted for a moment, but it illuminated the stadium as if it were daylight.

When the light faded and nothing more happened, Marduk laughed. “My dear child, you are going to have to do better than that.”

“Oh, I did.”

Just then, a blast of energy slammed into the crowd of creatures immediately surrounding Marduk, scattering them like so many bowling pins. Alcina, Ronin, and two other mages, all in flowing white robes, were blocking the exits from the stadium, holding glowing staffs.

Marduk spun to face this newest threat, and when he saw who it was, screamed into the sky in anger. “Alcina, you little bitch!”

The little girl merely smiled sweetly. “Don’t tell me the big, bad Lord Marduk is afraid of little girls.”

“Kill them!” he commanded his army.

Half of the monsters hesitated, not wanting to go up against the Mage Council, though some of the more confident or maybe more stupid creatures rushed forward.

I took advantage of the distraction and headed for Marduk. His back was to me, and I had a clear path right to him. I wouldn’t get a better chance than this.

When I came within three leaps of Marduk, a brick wall slammed into my side, sending me reeling away from my target. Arms wrapped around me like a vice as we hit the ground, tumbling. I slammed my head back and heard the satisfying crack of a nose breaking. My captor grunted and loosened his grip enough to allow me to break the hold. I found my footing and spun around, swinging Sharur, but pulled back at the last instant when I saw my opponent was Zane.

“What did you do to Alex?”

“I didn’t realize you cared about him so much. Are you trying to make me jealous?” he mocked, wiping blood from his nose with the back of his hand.

“Did you kill him?”

“And what if I did?”

“I would have to return the favor.”

He gave a sharp, humorless laugh. “I don’t think you would or could. After all, you still
love
me. Fortunately, I don’t have such emotional weaknesses and plan to kill you without any remorse whatsoever.” He lifted his hand, gathering that familiar orange glow I knew meant a fireball was on its way.

Before he could fully form it, I swung Sharur and smashed him in the temple with the flat of the axe blade. He fell to his knees, stunned, blood running down his temple.

I threw a roundhouse kick and knocked him fully to the ground. He tried to get his hands under him and push himself up; however, I sat on his back and put the shaft of the axe to his neck, pressing it into his throat. “Doesn’t feel so good to have your air supply cut off, does it? Consider this payback for our meeting in the alley,” I snarled close to his ear.

He tried rocking from side to side to throw me off, but I only pulled back harder on the shaft. His face turned red then blue. He gasped and gurgled, making weak wheezing sounds, before his eyes fluttered closed.

As soon as he lost consciousness, I released my hold. He took a shallow, rattling breath yet didn’t awake. I could have killed him, but he had been right. I was still in love with him, and I had promised him I would try to find a cure to bring him back to me.

I stood and looked toward Marduk. A chaotic mass of writhing bodies blocked my view. I turned back toward centerfield, searching for Alex, but there were corpses everywhere, and I couldn’t pick him out. I hoped that meant he wasn’t among the dead or dying, but if he wasn’t with me, where else would he be?

Alex might be past saving, and stopping Marduk was my priority; as a result, I decided my best course was to fight alongside the mages. I started to move in that direction when pain exploded across my back, causing me to stumble forward.

“Hurts, doesn’t it?” came Zane’s growl.

I turned and saw him wielding his staff like a baseball bat. He took another swing, aiming for my knees, and swept my legs out from under me. I fell hard on my ass, agony shooting through my hips. Zane stood over me and lifted the staff for the final blow to my head. He brought it down as I brought up Sharur, and the two weapons collided, sending a shocking jolt through my hands, though I managed to maintain a grip.

Zane stomped a foot down on my stomach, and I doubled over with a breathless “oomph.” He began raining kicks on my sides, cracking a rib in the process, while looking for an opening to swing the staff again. I was in a terrible position, prone on my back with my hands full, trying to block his staff, unable to protect my vulnerable body from the vicious blows of his heavy boots.

“You were too weak to kill me; now I’m going to make you regret that decision,” Zane said with a hint of glee in his voice.

Maybe he was right. It wasn’t like me to show mercy. Maybe I should have just finished him, but the point was moot. I would die at his hands.

The pain wracking my body was unbearable. I couldn’t take a breath without searing torment in my chest from the cracked rib. I was taking fast, shallow breaths to avoid the rib pain, but dizziness overcame me from the lack of oxygen.

I couldn’t focus through the haze in my brain. I felt a great distance arise between the fighting and me. Even the pain was starting to feel farther away. Blackness crowded the edges of my vision. All I had to do was let it in, and I would be free from this agony, from this battle, from Zane, Marduk, and the Mage Council. Maybe it was time to lay down the axe.

Then Zane was gone, and the blows stopped. I blinked into the night sky, and hovering above me was a dragon. Zane was sprawled on the ground a few dozen feet away after being body slammed by the great beast. The creature let loose a stream of fire in Zane’s direction, but Zane threw up a shield. Then another dragon flew in low and plucked Zane from the ground, carrying him off into the night sky.

The dragon that stood next to me began to transform, shrinking. It’s bright green scales turned to smooth pale skin until a naked man was on all fours, leaning over me with concern.

“Hey, love. Don’t give up on me now. I haven’t even had a chance to shag you yet.”

“Eddie?” I managed to squeak. His unremarkable features came into focus. I had never been so happy to see anyone in my life. Tears sprung unbidden to my eyes.

“Yeah, love, it’s me. I always could make the girls cry,” he teased.

“But Alex killed you.”

“Nah. Shifters are damn hard to kill. Your bloke and I had planned the whole thing. He needed to know whether you were telling the truth about your memory loss and which side you were really on. Me and my shifters have been wanting to get free of Marduk without raising suspicion, and Alex needed to know whether I could be trusted. The whole thing on the train was a good, all-around test, and we all passed.”

I was struggling to follow his words. I was unbelievably freaking tired. “What’s happening? Marduk?”

“Let’s get you on your feet.” Eddie gently put his arms around me and helped me up. I leaned heavily on him, barely able to stand under my own power. We looked at the crowd of battling creatures and mages. It had thinned out quite a bit. Bodies littered the ground, but many more of the creatures were retreating. The group was steadily being driven back toward the rift.

Then the dozen dragons that had been flying in circles above the field swooped down and turned against their former allies. They dove into the masses of monsters, biting, clawing, and burning. The shrieks and wails grew louder, and many turned tail and rushed headlong back through the rift.