Guardians (Chosen Trilogy Book 2) (3 page)

My eyes were fixed on the car behind us where I thought I could see Lucy with her face pressed up against a window. My heart began to pound twice as fast. The T-Rex from hell was coming up fast, hammering down on the asphalt with two enormous, clawed feet, leaving craters the size of golf carts in its wake, and bellowing in supreme anger.

The vast jaws swung over toward the other carriageway, and I felt an instant of guilty relief, but then they quickly shifted back, snapping around as it sought more prey.

“Do we have time to hit it?” I heard Johnny say, clearly referencing our powers, but I had so much more on my mind by that point. The immense jaws had battered Lucy’s vehicle, teeth gnashing and grating across metal, the tongue covering the vehicle’s windshield like a slimy red ribbon. I saw a fang penetrate the roof, smashing down like a knife through plastic. I saw the entire vehicle shuddering in the grip of primordial power and pure evil.

In one terrifying display of brutal intent and strength the T-Rex tore away the vehicle
’s roof and part of the front door. Metal squealed and rasped. The driver—Marian Cleaver—swung the wheel hard in the opposite direction, severing any last ties to the beast. Cleaver was exposed, sitting beside only half a door, but kept his cool with style and efficiency, guiding the car slowly away. The T-Rex then had a choice: Continue its rampant, destructive dash or veer off toward the escaping car. It chose to continue, flinging the roof high in the air with a disdainful toss of its head. Giles veered in the same direction as Cleaver as the beast drew level with us.

I heard its terrible breathing, its nightmare snorting. I heard the whistling of wind passing between its racks of extended fangs. I saw the blood-red gleam of horrible malevolence in its slitted eyes. Then
unadulterated viciousness was swiping at us, stomping along at our pace, using the median and reveling in its unspeakable power. The great head swung like a wrecking ball, but it was a ball lined with long teeth that grew even bigger as they drew closer, dripping with saliva and blood and other fluids. Slime splashed the car window. The teeth clacked together less than an inch from the car’s door frame, the snap of jaws sending bolts of terror down my spine. Air snorted from the enormous nostrils. The callous eye blinked once. A roar blasted forth, forceful enough to send the car swaying off course. That sway was what saved us, for as the beast struck again, our vehicle was already beyond its reach; and it didn’t want to slow down or veer off course. It looked like it was having too much terrible fun right where it was.

Giles slowed and came to a stop. Quickly, we all jumped out. Lucy was being shepherded by a fully-cloaked Ceriden. Immediately, my h
ackles rose and I ran to her.

“Are you okay?”

My daughter held out her hand, eyes glistening and wide. I enfolded her in my arms. All around us cars and trucks either crawled by or stopped right behind us, giving the creature chance to move off ahead. Shocked expressions of disbelief marred every single face. I heard car radios blurting out the news—some kind of spin no doubt. But how could anyone make themselves
unsee
what we just saw?

“Did the dinosaurs come to life,
Mommy?” I heard a child ask. I remembered there was some kind of themed dinosaur world around these parts. No doubt existed in my mind that a simple ‘yes’ would be far better than the truth.

Giles was consulting with Cheyne and a map of the area. “Asmodeus was spotted here
,” he said, pointing to what looked like I-Drive. “And here.” He jabbed at a place called Silver Springs. “I think if we set up a base along I-Drive we’ll have everything we need.”

It made sense. Lodging, food and access to the big
interstate was just seconds away. I really wasn’t sure what to expect until we arrived, but as we drew closer I soon realized that the opening of the gates of hell or a skirmish with a being from before time began was not going to spoil people’s enjoyment of the world’s greatest entertainment venue. The roads that led to Disneyland were busy, that part of I-4 that ran past Disney and I-Drive was pretty much bumper to bumper. Clearly, the T-Rex hadn’t gotten this far. Maybe it had stopped off at the Magic Kingdom.

Giles hit the off-ramp at Sand Lake Road, and I wonder
ed about the endurance of the human spirit—was it stalwart and strong, or just plain stupid? Of course, many families switched off completely on vacation and quite possibly hadn’t heard the recent news, but in these days of Android phones and tablets I somehow doubted it. Maybe they were just putting on a brave face—treating all this as a terrorist scenario.

As we passed the enormous Mickey D’s at the junction of Sand Lake and I-Drive, I saw first-hand that my thoughts were close to the real truth. Parents were walking their kids across the b
usy parking lot, driving into and around the drive-thru, holding the side doors open for each other and sitting in their cars with the air-con up high and their dashboards littered with ripped open Happy Meal boxes and drinks holders. Further up, a Popeye’s was bustling and, as we turned the corner, I saw an IHOP and then a Denny’s all doing brisk business. The sidewalks were crowded, the flashy billboards advertised all the newest rides and attractions. Surely the authorities couldn’t let this continue? Asmodeus was already here, for God’s sake. I voiced my concerns to Cheyne and Giles.

“What can they do? Declare a national emergency? They just don’t have the manpower to back it all up. And think of the panic it would cause, the tailbacks. Even riots
, looting and more murders. Sooner or later the psychos out there will get the idea they can blame every killing on some fiend from hell. It’s gonna get ugly, folks. And the sooner we can end it the better off we’re all going to be.”

“And they have no contingency plan
,” Giles added. “How could they? Everyone that already knew is busy fighting this thing on the front lines. No one has time to stop and start bickering with a bunch of politicians.”

“We have to save the world in the next few days
,” Cheyne said. “Or lose it forever. These hierarchy demons won’t mess around. They’ll be searching for those artefacts every minute, every second, and then they’ll come together for some kind of ceremony. After that you may as well head up into the hills and end it quietly.” The witch made a gun with her right hand and pointed it at her head. “Lights out. It’d be the easiest way.”

Giles pulled off the main route, spying a large hotel off to the right. “Enclave
,” he read out. “Looks big enough. Off the road. Plenty of flat land around it to keep a watch. Shall we see what Aegis can do?”

Whilst Giles
and Cleaver headed into the lobby and bartered for rooms, we exited the cars and stretched our legs. Cheyne wandered off to make a private call. The weather was cooler than I’d imagined, a chill breeze made goose pimples stand out on my bare arms. I nodded to Lysette and Jade, the elf, whom I hadn’t really seen since Miami Beach, then once again extracted Lucy from Ceriden’s shadow.

“I’d be careful
,” I said to the rather camp vamp. “Don’t want that cloak to fall off.”

“I’m positively
certain
it won’t,” Ceriden said. “Its human hide. Shapes and clings
perfectly
to the shoulders, love.”

I blinked, sure that he was joking but not sure enough to venture a rejoinder. We stood in silence for a while, the ten of us, and then Cheyne returned, her perfectly crooked nose practically twitching.

“Interesting news,” she said. “My coven traveled here separately . . .”

I felt Lucy’s tug on my arm and looked down to see the twinkle of laughter in her eyes and, through some kind of father-daughter psychic link, knew exactly what she was thinking
—
by broomstick?—
but we kept our mutual witticisms to ourselves.

“
. . . and very quickly. They have been laying some hard groundwork. Remember the wayclearer demons? Those ugly, little squat creatures with teeth growing everywhere and the distinct lack of anything even remotely resembling a brain?”

I nodded. We’d come across the
wayclearer demons several times already, chiefly during the attack on the Aegis HQ back in York.

“The
hierarchy seem to be using them as a kind of foot soldier. Their numbers are growing and they’re heading north. On foot, it will take time, but even a mindless beast can move fast if it has sufficient motivation and needs no rest.”

“Let’s hope they find a way to shut down that gate
,” Johnny said.

“Damn straight
,” Belinda agreed.

“Now, Asmodeus has been seen again.
The demon is definitely being drawn to something in this area, which can only be the artefact.”

“Where this time?”

Cheyne scanned the skies and then her surroundings with trepidation. “Actually, around here. International Drive and Sand Lake. It appears the beast destroyed a nearby establishment.”

“Searching the
n.” I nodded. “So they can’t pin down an exact location on these artefacts?”

Cheyne
shrugged. “It appears not. If they’re merely
drawn
to the item then I guess it would leave them with a large search area.”

“Let’s hope.”

Giles reappeared in the lobby’s entrance and beckoned us over. From the smile on his face I guessed the Aegis name had done the trick, not to mention its bottomless wallet.

“Good news at last
,” he said. “Ethan, on the desk there, is a vampire and has extensive local knowledge. He has agreed to help us. Ethan is a loner, but was in fact made by the vampire king of Europe.” He blinked. “A good pedigree.”

Ceriden’s demeanor soured. “You mean Strahovski
of Vienna, Austria?
That
king of Europe?”

Giles nodded.

“Pah. Knew him a long time ago. And my guess is—once a blunted fang, always a blunted fang. Strahovski is weak. Compromised.”

Giles blew out a sigh. “Well, that said, Ethan is young and vital and we need his help. So a bit of discretion would be welcome, my friend.
I doubt that he could even offer a respectable army as of now.”

I filed in behind them as they pushed through the dark doors and into the air-conditioned lobby.
Lucy was to my right and I distinctly heard her sharp intake of breath upon sighting Ethan. One look and she was smitten. The kid had jet-black hair and piercing eyes, a sharply chiseled face, and rippling muscles made all the more apparent by his tight Hollister t-shirt. His gaze swept across us all and settled upon my daughter.

I tend
ed to notice these things.

Ethan smiled. Lucy took another breath. I stepped in between the almost silent exchange. “You booked us some rooms?” I asked Giles.

The Englishman shook his head. “No. I booked us the entire building to the far left.” He shrugged. “Twenty floors.”

I shook my head a little. Talk about overkill.
But the distance between the lobby and the building would be a nice buffer zone. “Shall we go?” I asked. “The sooner we set up a HQ and get organized on tracking these things down the better.”

Cheyne seemed to agree. “Let’s grab our things. My cove
n are close by. I will call them over.”

I smiled as we all started to move out, leaving the vampire kid, Ethan, with a surprised look on his face. “Maybe this time you’ll let them take their hoods down, eh?”

“A witch is forbidden to reveal her identity until she ascends to a certain level,” Cheyne said gravely. “It is one of our laws.”

“Oh? Why?”

“Many reasons. Secrecy. Anonymity. Safety. Protection from each other, if required. Preservation of focus through the whole initiate period. Preference.”

Lucy cast another glance back at Ethan as we walked out the doors. I urged her onward. Don’t get me wrong, if the youth hadn’t been sporting a sharp set of fangs it wouldn’t have bothered me. Not so much anyway. Back home we had youths
that drove five-hundred-dollar cars and fitted them with booming exhausts and an eight-speaker stereo system. If one of those guys ever turned up to collect your daughter then, in my opinion, the baseball bat was an acceptable deterrent. Over here they had vampire receptionists with muscles and winning smiles. I wondered which was worst.

We headed over to the rearmost part of the hotel. The attractions and wonders of I-Drive were just a road away, visible over the trees even from here. Some kind of Pirates Dinner Adventure sat across the street. A brightly
lit strip mall promised everything from soft drinks to suitcases.

And Asmodeus the demon waited too, even now searching for part of the puzzle that would enslave all mankind.
Soon, we would have to face him. But better that than a slow death in bondage and captivity.

Better that than the experience of
hell on earth.

Ken
decided to forgo the pleasure of the vampires—lame joke, he thought—and try his luck with Felicia. Just because he was tramping through hell itself didn’t mean a dude had to stop practicing the art of seduction. And besides, the bouncy lycan was a playful little thing. Maybe she would welcome the opportunity.

Ken drifted over as she ranged ahead. When she spotted him she took a quick scan of her surroundings and then dropped back, walking quickly through the thigh
-length grass.

“Everything okay?”

Ken rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah. I just never realized chasing a demon with a chick dressed in black leather could be quite so . . . dull.”

Felicia’s mouth turned up at one corner. “You expected something more? From Eliza?”

“I guess not.”

“The lowliest gutter vamp rates himself a hundred times better than the best of humanity. What exactly did you expect to get from Eliza, a queen?”

“At this point I’d settle for a friggin’ smile.”

“Don’t hold your breath.
It’d be easier to find a lycan that didn’t like to run naked through the woods.”

Ken fell in beside her, warming to her openness. “I see. And is that something
all
lycans enjoy?”

“Every chance they get.”

“Excellent. Maybe we could do it together one day.”

Felicia looked amused. “
You really want to run naked through the woods with me? Has the pot gone to your head, surfer-boy? You do know you’re human, right?”

“I’m up for anything.” Ken tried to sound indignant.

“I’ll bet.”

Felicia gave him a wide, infectious smile. Ken grinned back.
“So what else do you lycans like to do?”

“Whatever we like. That’s part of the beauty of being a
lycan. We’re beholden to nothing and to no one. The world is our playground. And that’s why we’re helping out, of course.”

“No rules?”

“None that aren’t worth breaking.”

“Awesome.” Ken liked her more and more. She didn’t sound the least bit complicated, something he was always on alert for. He was about to speak again when Felicia stiffened.

“What?”

“Look.”

He stared ahead. What he saw brought him to a dead stop. The whispering grasses finally ended, against what appeared to be a craggy rock face that rose out of nowhere. Among the rows of crags and outcroppings, the high, dark reaches, Ken made out caves; entrances to unknown realms. Many of the caves at ground level were high, wide and arched, but above them stood many more, some smaller than a human and others just large enough to admit a man. Darkness pooled inside every entrance invitingly, ominously. As Ken watched, several creatures squirmed out of numerous entrances, then stopped suddenly as if seeing the light of day for the first time in many moons. Others moved off along the already trodden path toward the gate that led to Miami.

Felicia pulled him down. “Careful. We need to get by them. N
ot mate with them.”

The vampires and Lilith joined them. Eliza was in the middle of quizzing Lilith about the cave entrances.

“There is not much to say,” Lilith told them. “Creatures are free to come and go above the sixth level. Take your time and you should slip past them. There are no guarantees.”

“Time is something we don’t have
,” Eliza said. “We need a distraction.”

“Even then
—”

“I hear you.” Eliza raised a hand. “But I need suggestions. Not
skepticism. Anyone?”

“Or,” Ken said, pointing up at the skies
, “we wait for the dark.”

The day was waning overhead, passing into night. Whatever passed for light down here was about to give way to utter dark, and Ken for one was somewhat anxious.

“Humans.” Milo shook his enormous head. “So naive. How have you lived so long?”

“Me?” Ken said archly. “Or my kind?”

“Both,” Eliza put in. “Vampires can see in the dark. Do you not think the creatures of hell might be able to do the same?”

Lilith came to his rescue. “Still
, it is harder for most of them to see through the full dark. It will be better than purposely making a distraction that might give away our presence.”

They crept closer to the crags.
As the grass grew sparser and details became clearer, Ken saw that a wide lake fronted the high rock faces. Its waters were black; obsidian waves rippled from end to end. Ken fancied he saw something undulating under the surface, a great spiny back that occasionally broke the waters, but it could have been his imagination.

“We can skirt around this way.” Felicia pointed off to the left where the grasses swept in a wide arc and ended up against the lowest reaches of the caves. “There’s no activity. No
recent spoor or smells. And the dark is coming fast.”

When they reached the rough-hewn cave entrances, Felicia turned to Lilith. “You’re up. Which one?”

Lilith pointed to the top. “The higher the better. Most of these spawn take the easy routes in and out.”

Up they went, finding simple handholds in the rugged surface and clinging close to the cliffs. At first it was easy, but as he climbed higher Ken chanced a look down.
The first thing he saw was the silent lake, its waters swelling away from the center where something briefly rose. The spiny back heaved and rolled, its long bristling vertebrae catching the last of the light before sinking into the depths.

“Oh God.”

Felicia prodded him from below. “Hurry. What are you doing?”

“A freakin’ sea monster.”

“Meh. I’ve seen one before. Now catch up to Lilith before she disappears on us.”

Ken started up, trying to stay close to the young girl’s heels. As the night closed in
, sounds began to travel further, and the grunts and screeches of the traveling terrors filled the high, empty cavern of the night. Ken scraped his fingers against the rock and tried to keep his sword from clanging too loudly. Felicia urged him on and then came the vamps, scuttling up from below like poisonous spiders. Ken fought off a chill of fear. What the hell was he doing here with these creatures? It wasn’t as though any of them were good friends.

At last, Lilith moved into a cave. Ken followed her quickly, ducking his head as the ceiling lowered. Pitch blackness surrounded them. Sounds were limited to grunting and breathing.

“Come forward carefully,” Lilith whispered. “We are near a ledge.”

Ken joined her.
The interior was dimly lit, the faint light filtering down from high above. Maybe another plain existed up there, but he didn’t care. He stared down and around, taking stock of the place. The inside was like a high chamber that descended lower and lower, far past the limits of sight. In every rock wall was a warren of passageways, all twisting and looping and snaking lower, passing over great drops and breaks in the path, arching over each other. In the center of all this chaos rose a grand staircase, hewn out of stone, impossibly high and steep, full of sharp turns and switchbacks, a pillar of permanence at the heart of this random warren.

Lilith pointed vaguely through the gloom. “Down there is the gate to the sixth
hell. We should go quickly before we are seen.”

Eliza was close enough to Ken’s shoulder to make him jump when she said, “Why can’t we just descend straight down to the first
hell?”

“It is easier, and safer, to find the ways between
hells. The grand staircase and its warrens are too dangerous and full of spawn. Some even live here. But the ways between, the lesser known paths, are both quicker and less populated.”

Eliza made a noise that managed to convey both understanding and impatience. Lilith slipped over the ledge and crept down the wall and, for a few moments, she was exposed. Ken examined every angle, every shifting shadow. None of them turned in her direction, nor made any sound of surprise. By the time Lilith had crouched in the safety of a little wall nook the Californian was holding his breath.

Felicia nudged him. “Now it’s your turn.”

Slowly, carefully, they traversed the veritable burrow that circuited the staircase, stopping once to let several pale white forms slither past and another time to
give some space to a shambling ogre with curved horns that scraped sparks off outcrops every time he turned. Eventually, they reached another ledge and a cave entrance, and Lilith nodded in anticipation.

“Let’s go.”

The sixth hell spread out before them as they exited the cave, tentatively at first. Somewhat confusingly, a silvery light still illuminated this place, bathing the landscape in stark relief. The scene was depressing and quietly threatening. A low plain stretched away from the lowest foothills of the caves, barren and wasted except for several ragtag huddles of abandoned and derelict buildings. From vacant sheds to crumbled houses and deserted office buildings the nightmare scenario reminded Ken of some doomsday movie he’d caught at the Cineplex.

“What was this place?” he murmured. “It could almost be
Earth.”

Lilith shrugged. “It is said that all the seven
hells were once an
Earth.
Each time Lucifer and his brethren overthrow one it is absorbed into the current hells and another Earth is born. Your own Earth could well be the eighth level of hell if Lucifer has his way.”

“Wow.” Ken drank in the scene, tasting ashes. “How do you know all this?”

Lilith shrugged. “I went to school.”

She moved off, climbing down, leaving him scrabbling around
the question of her education. A cold wind blasted past his face as he regarded the appalling ruin of the sixth hell. Could his own land end up this way? As nothing but decay and debris, not even the faintest spark left to show what beauty had gone before?

This was the Devil
’s ultimate victory—to leave hope in ruin.

Ken bent harder to the task, girding himself for a hard slog and an even harder battle.