Fallen Angel of Mine (42 page)

"They don't have any energy in
them?"

"They have only the dark energy. They
crave the bright."

"Will they return to normal with bright
energy?" Bella asked, her face still blanched and sickly. "Is there
some way sate them?"

Vadaemos burst into condescending
laughter. "There is no way to restore these things. Not even all of
the bright energy within us would provide enough sustenance for a
single one to return to normal." He spread his arms wide. "And do
you see how many there are?"

By now, the cavern echoed with pitiful
wails. The edges of the circle flared black and white. Pokito
gripped my arm. "Even with ley lines underpinning the magic in this
place, the circle won't hold up much longer. We must retrieve the
arch."

"How exactly do you propose we do it?"
I asked. "Won't the circle break the second we cross the
line?"

"Not if you don't rub out the chalk,"
Pokito said. "The barrier is passable for us."

"Fine, but even so, I
couldn't wade two feet through those creepy little freaks." The
moment those words left my mouth Elyssa hopped from the circle and
ran on
top
of the
husks, using their tightly jammed bodies as a walkway. "No!" I
shouted, my voice frantic. What the hell was she
thinking?

Nubby little T-rex arms grabbed for her
by the flickering lights of the flares, but she was too fast.
Unfortunately, it didn't take the intellect of a genius to figure
out where she was going to get into trouble. The shattered boulder
Beck had pointed out as the landmark for finding the fanny pack was
fifty yards out. The crowd of husks thinned considerably by then.
Not enough to run on, but too many to dodge for long.

Only a split second passed in my
assessment. I didn't need any more time than that to reach a
decision. I leapt from the circle, using the wobbly heads of the
cherubs as stepping-stones. It was a lot harder than Elyssa made it
look, especially by the flickering lights of the flares I'd thrown
into the mob. I was much more coordinated now than I'd ever been,
but it was nothing compared to the ninja training Thomas Borathen
put his daughter through. A tiny hand snagged my shoe but couldn't
hold on. I slipped on the slick surface of one husk and barely
avoided tumbling into the mob.

I tried not to think about the horrible
fate awaiting me should I find a hole while crowd surfing these
creatures. Elyssa reached the rock and scanned the ground, all the
while dodging the scattered cherubs wobbling her way. Those
toddlers massed at the back turned her way, sensing life force or
whatever drew them like moths to flame. I almost lost my footing
again and narrowly avoided a gap in the heads. The crowd thinned to
the point where I'd no longer be able to use their
heads.

Brilliant light exploded across the
massive room. I looked back for a split second and saw Pokito
pressing his staff into the floor. Bright, yellowish light lanced
to the ceiling like a giant laser and coated the ceiling. The
cherubs didn't seem to notice.

Elyssa snatched something off the
ground—a black nylon pack. She dug through it, all the while
dodging husks and racing back for the circle. Her hand emerged with
something in it. The arch, she must have found it. A spark of dark
violet energy burst from within her clenched hand. Her eyes shot
wide and she cried out in pain, but her hand only clenched tighter
around the prize.

The ground rocked beneath our feet. I
tumbled into the roiling mass of husks, shouting, punching and
fighting my way back to my feet as they weeble-wobbled and
collapsed to the floor. A huge crack rumbled down the cavern wall a
hundred yards away. The rock groaned. Shifted. Exploded outward in
a cloud of dust and rubble. Two nostrils set in the end of a narrow
muzzle burst through. A ridged forehead and glowing crimson eyes
followed shortly after. The giant creature reared back its head and
bellowed. A sound like a tuba on the deepest possible note vibrated
every molecule of my being and a hot sulfuric odor filled my
nostrils.

Our friend, the leyworm had
returned.

Elyssa rolled left as a chunk of
ceiling smashed into the floor mere feet away. A cherub grabbed my
pants. At first, I thought my clothing was protecting me. Then an
icy feeling stabbed into my leg. I grunted and kicked the creature,
sent it crashing against more of its comrades.

I sprang to my feet and ran, dodging
and kicking the little monsters out of the way. By now, even more
were turning from the protective circle and coming our way. Another
slab of rock fell two feet from me, crushing cherubs beneath it,
and spraying rocky shrapnel in my face. Half blinded, I tripped
over my own feet. Jagged rocks dug into my chest. Inches away, a
tiny arm flailed from beneath the fallen rock. It was still moving,
and I had to wonder if the husks could even be killed. I sprang to
my feet as another boulder narrowly missed me.

A scream of pain drew my attention back
to my goal. One of the smooth columns of rock running from floor to
ceiling had toppled, pinning Elyssa to the floor. The reptilian
worm writhed straight for her at a lumbering pace. I put on a burst
of speed, plowing through anything in my way. By the time I reached
her, Elyssa had freed herself and her broken leg was
healing.

"Are you okay?"

"Why did you come out here?" she asked,
her eyes blazing. "Now both of us have to make it back."

"Because—" I didn't have a chance to
finish my thought. The leyworm continued toward us in what seemed
like slow motion, it shiny, black scales scraping the rock with
every serpentine undulation of its massive body. Its long narrow
muzzle unhinged and widened, scooping up a pile of rubble in its
path like a giant reptilian dustpan. Why had it returned? I grabbed
Elyssa's arm and ran as fast as she could limp. But the mass of
cherubs had broken into a loose swarm—too scattered to use as a
path to safety, especially with her injured leg.

"This way," I shouted, pulling her
around the massed bodies. "They might be packed tighter on the
other side."

The tunnel ahead shattered wide.
Another leyworm rumbled through. Elyssa and I ground to a halt.
Looked back at leyworm number one. Back at his brother. At the
swarm of wobbling husks coming from all directions, arms grasping
for sustenance. I stretched my cursing abilities to the max. There
was no way out. No way back into the circle. Not across that deadly
expanse of ravenous monstrosities.

The light Pokito cast dimmed slowly but
surely. I saw him kneeling in the center of the circle, all
concentration on his staff. I thought about the arch in the pack.
Could I activate it, use it to send Elyssa to safety? Then I could
throw it to those in the circle. Maybe they'd escape.

"You've got that look," Elyssa said,
delivering a crushing kick to a cherub as it wandered too close and
sent it flying to smack off the scaly hide of the leyworm as it
inexorably crept its way toward us.

"I can get you out," I said, digging in
my pants for a bit of chalk. "I'll activate the arch and you go
through it. Then I'll get it to the others."

Her gaze hardened. "And what about
you?"

"I'll be fine." I was lying. But she
didn't need to know.

Elyssa wasn't stupid. "You have the
worst ideas and you're a terrible liar." She face-palmed and shook
her head. "You're absolutely hopeless."

"I know. You're the planner. I was just
learning to rely on you, too. And then—" I waved my hands around at
the chaos. "And then this has to happen."

"I have bad news," she said, punching
another husk as we backed away from the encroaching horde and ran
left toward a clear area. The leyworms both re-oriented, following
us like needles on a compass.

"I can handle bad news. Anything is
better than this."

She smiled. "I don't have a plan,
hotshot. I can't think of a damned thing to save our
asses."

I pulled my pockets inside out. No
chalk. "I don't have any chalk, so I can't use my brilliant plan
either." I gripped her hand. Kissed it. Considering how close death
was, I figured she might not punch me.

Her eyes lingered on mine before
drifting down to my lips. She sighed. "We can run for it. Maybe
we'll make it. Maybe we won't."

We dodged to the left as a line of
husks worked its way toward us. The leyworms shifted again. Why
were they following us? What reason could they have? Did I stink? I
sniffed an armpit. Somehow, my deodorant was holding up.

"This thing is creeping me out," Elyssa
said, digging a tiny black arch the size of a big earring from her
pocket. It looked identical to Kassallandra's. She dropped it into
my hand. "When I grabbed it, it started pulsating."

The instant it touched my skin, I knew
what she was talking about. A prickly sensation ebbed and flowed
from the thing. A light bulb flickered on in the dark recesses of
my cranium. "Go over there," I said, pointing to a non-infested
spot in the cavern, some thirty feet away.

"What are you going to do?"

"Test something."

"You'd better not do anything
stupid."

A grin broke out on my face. "Don't
tell me you actually care."

She narrowed her eyes and opened her
mouth to say something. Closed her mouth. Grabbed me by the collar
and jerked me in for a kiss. When she pulled away, we were both
breathless. "If you die, I will hunt down your soul and beat the
crap out of it." With that ultimatum, she dashed away toward the
place I'd indicated.

The leyworms didn't alter their path. I
took five steps left. They followed. Twenty steps right. They
turned again. I put the tiny arch on the ground and ran a few yards
to the side. They stayed their course. Somehow, Elyssa had
triggered the arch. Turned it on by touching it, maybe. I didn't
know or care, but I knew how we were going to get back to the
circle now.

I waved Elyssa over.

"What was that all about?" she
asked.

"They're attracted to the arch," I
said.

"Why?"

"Was this thing pulsing when you pulled
it out?"

She shook her head. "Not at first. It
only started after I grabbed it."

The leyworms undulated closer while the
cherubs wobbled blindly in their paths. The giant worm scooped most
of them into its maw as it moved along while others were shoved
aside. Maybe the little horrors would drain the leyworm from the
inside out or, at the very least, give it diarrhea. Using this
arch, I planned to use the worms as giant vacuum cleaners to clear
us a path. Elyssa saw my intent before I could brag about
it.

"I have to admit it." She chuckled as
she followed close behind me. "Sometimes you're actually kind of
smart."

"And you're lucky enough to be here for
one of those rare occasions." I motioned her to follow me along the
circumference of the cavern. The leyworms twisted and rolled to
follow me, sending waves of little bodies flying and scattering. I
ran back the other way, using the giant beasts like oversized
windshield wipers to clear a path. It didn't take long until the
black husks were scattered like ants from a kicked anthill. But
while the path was clear of husks, the worms were still smack dab
in the way.

"Get to the circle," I said.

"No, we'll do it together."

"I've got to draw them further out
before we can go. The moment I make a run for it, they'll spin
around and probably crush us. I need room to maneuver."

"And then you'll run into the husks."
She shook her head. "We're doing this the wrong way."

"What way should we be doing
it?"

"The others should come to us. They
have a clear path now."

She was right, but not everyone was in
any shape to run. Somehow, I had to make it work. "Okay, go tell
the others and bring me some chalk when you come back."

Elyssa gave me one last look before
sprinting for the circle. She appeared so tiny compared to the
hulking leyworm as she dodged past its twisting body. I shifted to
the right, trying to keep the thing from her path. Elyssa reached
the circle seconds later and wasted no time slinging Bella over her
shoulder. Beck and Fausta each took Curtis and Alejandro and
sprinted back to me while the massive worms closed the distance
like lumbering giants. Bella staggered to her feet and began
drawing a circle.

"Beck, help her," I shouted and set the
arch in the middle.

He didn't argue.

It was then I noticed Vadaemos. He was
making a beeline for one of the other exits.

"Son of a biscuit eater," I
growled.

Elyssa dropped my backpack at my feet.
She noticed Vadaemos too. "We either escape, or we go after him,"
she said. "He's a lot stronger than he looks and we're out of
time."

"No," I said, pounding a fist into my
palm. "I can't let him go. He's my only—" I broke off before
finishing that thought.

"Only what?"