Imperium (Caulborn) (29 page)

“Careful,” I said as I gestured to the doorway. “There are innocents in there.”

She nodded and flicked her wrist again. Another gun appeared. “This one has rubber bullets.”

“How do I get one of those shoeboxes?” I asked.

She just smiled at me and inclined her head toward the door. “Let’s go.” We charged into the main treatment room. The overhead lights were blazing down on us and Megan let out a sigh of relief as we saw the kidnapped victims were still on their cots. I glanced over at Herrscher’s tube.

It was open and empty.

I cursed under my breath and gestured to the tube. Megan frowned and opened her mouth to speak when the doors to the hallway opened. Dr. Leevan and a pair of orderlies entered, hurriedly pushing a man in a wheelchair. Herrscher. Whatever Leevan had done to him, he was fully revived and looked like he was in his early fifties. Leevan’s eyes narrowed at us, and she commanded her orderlies forward.

The men were thicker than the vine golems, but I could see the glass orbs that were their eyes. Megan’s gun flashed out, and I threw my super soaker to the side as I readied a bolt of telekinetic force.

Something grabbed me from behind and threw me to the ground. Lucille was kneeling on me, her fangs bared. Her eyes were pure white, and there was a jerkiness to her movements that I hadn’t seen before.

I channeled the Urisks’ faith along my body, letting the blue light seep out. Lucille shrieked and lurched backward, the skin along her arms and thighs burning. I extinguished my faith light; I didn’t want to immolate her. Megan’s rubber bullet gun cracked a few times, and I turned to see the Delions, in full wolf form, charging her. Her aim was true and the wolves yelped and backed away.

Seeing that Lucille was the wrong attacker for me, Herrscher switched our dance partners. I tried to telekinetically push the Delions away, but I didn’t use enough force and the wolves slammed into me. I cried out as fangs tore into my shoulder, and I snarled as I telekinetically hurled them away. I fumbled the shock baton from my belt and powered it up. I held it before me like a sword, trying to keep it between me and my attackers.

Something small and green shot into my peripheral vision. Gears. I put up a wall of force between the gremlin and the Delions; if they got their claws into him, they’d literally tear him apart. He was waving his nail gun wildly, screaming at the top of his lungs in German, and I caught Axlesnapper’s name in there a few times.

The gremlin abruptly turned in mid-stride and charged over to me. He clawed his way up my back. I yelped. “Gears, what are you—” I turned and saw that Gearstripper’s eyes were pure white.

The gremlin fired off a shot at my shock baton, shattering it and snapping my wrist. I cried out and Gears vaulted deftly to the ground. He raised the nail gun at me, and I telekinetically threw him back, slamming him into Lucille, who had just wrapped herself around Megan and was moving in for a bite.

It was like hitting Lucille with a football, but it gave Megan a chance to roll away. I had seen Gears take falls harder than what I’d just done to him, so I knew he’d be all right, but I felt horrible just the same. I was going to owe him a trip through the Wonka factory after this one was over. Of course, first we had to get out of here alive.

Megan pulled out her other 9mm and sent a handful of shots at Dr. Leevan and the Dominator. I’m not sure what happened to the bullets. It’s like they winked out of existence just before hitting Leevan and Herrscher, and then reappeared on the other side of them. Megan’s aim was true, but the bullets lodged themselves in the wall directly behind her targets.

I threw up a telekinetic wall in time to deflect the smaller of the wolves, Casey, from hamstringing Megan. Megan and I went back-to-back and I threw a telekinetic dome over us.

“This isn’t exactly going to plan, Vincent,” Megan said as she reloaded.

“I know,” I said, nursing my wrist. “I hadn’t expected to have to fight the people we came here to save.”

The werewolves, Lucille and the orderlies hurled themselves at the dome, their bodies bouncing off the invisible barrier. I looked at the man in the wheelchair, who gave me a condescending smile. “We need to find a way to break Herrscher’s hold on them,” I said through clenched teeth.

Megan had her hand to her ear. “Jake, we need backup. Jake, do you read me? Say again, we need backup. Jake?” Her voice cracked. I could tell she was straining to keep it together. “I think our transmissions are being jammed or blocked, Vincent. I don’t know if I got through.”

“Wonderful,” I said.

There was a rat-tat-tat sound as Gears scrambled forward and let loose with his nail gun. His shots bounced harmlessly away, but holding the dome like this was burning through my faith reserves. It’s one thing to make a quick shield, it’s another to maintain something for an extended period of time, and around two people at that. I glanced around. There had to be a way out of this. Something I could do to disrupt Herrscher’s control over the paranormals, some way to distract him.

And then suddenly, the possessed paranormals stopped their attacks and stepped back a few paces. They parted and I saw that a man clad in a gray business suit had stepped into the room. He was tan and had a tattoo of a sun on the left side of his neck. He grinned at us condescendingly and began clapping.

“Robert Maxwell,” Megan said.

“Treggen,” I snarled.

The bastard actually smiled at me. “Well done, Vincent Corinthos, God of the Urisk. I truly commend your efforts. I would not have suspected that a half-breed such as yourself would be able to figure out my plans.”

“Pound sand, asshole,” I said. “So fill in an unenlightened person such as myself. What’s this all about? The experiments, the abductions, the attacks on the Urisk?”

Treggen blinked. “Why, I want to conquer the Urisk, of course. Perhaps you aren’t as smart as I thought. The Urisk are a powerful resource on the Bright Side, not as plentiful as trolls or hobgoblins, but one Urisk psion is worth fifty, no, a hundred hobgoblin soldiers. With them at my command, taking the rest of the realm will be easy.”

“And that’s why you wanted Herrscher? To compel my people to war?”

“Quite right, Corinthos.” He nodded. “The Urisk, unlike many of the Bright Side’s denizens, have no malice toward humanity. They actually like humans, and even accepted you as their god.” There was scorn in his voice. “But I need their psychic firepower in my armies, one way or another. So reviving Herrscher here became my top priority.”

He took a step toward me. “But you did something on the Bright Side, didn’t you? That dome you put up. I’ve been watching you for some time now, Vincent Corinthos, and I think I know how your mind works. If I’m right, Herrscher’s mental control won’t penetrate that dome, either. So I need you to open it for me.”

“No chance.”

Treggen shook his head. “Ah, Mr. Corinthos, I admire your bravado. Perhaps you think that we’re at an impasse here, you behind your telekinetic wall, and us out here. What you don’t realize is that Dr. Leevan’s treatments have improved Herrscher’s powers.” His smile was slow and wolfish. “He can dominate humans now. Even Caulborn.”

To illustrate the point, Megan turned toward me slowly. Her eyes were white. Before I could do anything, her left fist flashed out and caught me on the side of the head. The world went black.

Chapter 24

Begin Coded Transmission
In the 1800's, the area around Park Street was nicknamed Brimstone Corner. The official history is that gunpowder was stored in a local church’s basement during the war of 1812, and it gave off a constant scent of sulfur. The truth is that the Caulborn had trapped twelve demons that had been employed by the British and imprisoned them beneath the church. The scent has faded, but the demons remain bound. Their bindings are quite strong, but given time and access to the appropriate incantations, it should be possible to free the demons in accordance with Dodici Prophecy.
-NS
End Coded Transmission

I woke up in a dim room. The walls were concrete and the only light was coming from a single bare bulb above me. I was stripped to the waist and strapped to a metal table. A golem and three neo-gremlins surrounded me. A television on a cart was about ten feet to my right. Otherwise, the room was bare. One of the neo-gremlins saw I was awake and hustled out of the room.

I felt at my bonds. If I was fast, I’d be able to Open them, get off the table and immolate the golem. Then, if I was very lucky, I might have enough faith left to fight my way past the neo-gremlins. It wasn’t much of a plan, but it was all I could come up with. As I focused on the bonds, Treggen came into the room, carrying a folding chair. He pulled a remote control out of his pocket and pointed at the television. It snapped to life and showed me a picture of Megan. She was stripped to her underwear and tied to a table like mine. Neo-gremlins surrounded her, each one holding a serrated knife.

“Now then, Mr. Corinthos,” he began as he seated himself. “I want you to understand a few things. I have no desire to make this any more difficult than it already is.” His tone was business-like, but pure hatred blazed in his ice-blue eyes. “All you have to do is open your dome on the Bright Side, and we’ll let your lovely partner go. If you refuse, things will get painful for both you and her.”

“Megan wouldn’t want me to give up the Urisk to you, Treggen. And if you think I’ll sacrifice my followers like that, you don’t know me very well.”

Treggen laughed. “Mr. Corinthos, I know you so much better than you think.” He clicked with the remote, and the image changed. I was looking at an office. My office. I could see the whiteboard, the computer screen, my collection of action figures. The place was still a mess from when I’d lost it after Petra was shattered. He clicked again and I saw Gearstripper’s workshop. He clicked a third time and I saw the conference room.

“You see, Mr. Corinthos, I know you quite well. The original gremlins had their uses, indeed. Axlesnapper was quite loyal to Ms. von Hassen, and agreed to install a few things for me in your office. Did you realize that Millie still held a grudge against you Caulborn for not letting her see her father before he died? She had a chip on her shoulder for a very long time, and was most willing to exact a bit of revenge on you.” He chuckled. “And so I’ve been getting to know you ever since.” He snapped his fingers. “Grenlori. Gateway to the Urisk City.”

A phasilion opened on the wall opposite me, giving me a clear view of Aegeon. I blinked. Grenlori was in the room and I couldn’t sense him? Treggen must be masking his presence somehow. I filed that away for later as Treggen turned his attention back to me.

“Now then, Mr. Corinthos. You will open your dome, or my new friends will begin cutting.” He flipped the TV back to Megan. I stared at her for a moment and set my jaw. “I see,” Treggen said quietly. “You are not taking me seriously.” He removed a small walkie-talkie from his pocket. “Begin,” he said coolly. On the screen, one of the neo-gremlins drew a five-inch line up Megan’s left calf with its knife. Blood began to run immediately. Megan thrashed, and while no sound came from the television, I could hear her cry out nearby.

“Perhaps you think that if you can stall long enough, the cavalry will come. Is that it, Corinthos? That your other precious Caulborn agents will come to your rescue? Did you really think I’d give them that chance? Once I knew you were here, I sent golems and my own gremlins to deal with them. They’re either all dead now, or they’ve been captured and are being brought back here. That’s why your office was deserted. Or did you not notice that when I was channel surfing?”

To illustrate his point, he flipped back through the screens of the Caulborn headquarters. The place was deserted and there were signs of a fight. He flipped back to Gearstripper’s workshop. Petra’s table was empty. Had been empty the first time around. I believed him when he said he’d sent golems to the office. I wasn’t so sure they’d been successful. Still, I had to play along.

I ground my teeth and did my best to look both angry and upset at the same time. “You bastard,” I snarled. “When I get out of here I will—”

“Tear out my eyes and piss on my brain. Yes, yes, I got the message from the envikan. You have quite a way with words, Mr. Corinthos, but I don’t think you really appreciate the direness of your situation.” He spoke into his walkie-talkie, and Megan’s cries of pain began anew.

I looked at the dome through Grenlori’s gateway. Megan screamed again.

“All right,” I snapped. “All right. Stop hurting her.”

Treggen spoke into the walkie-talkie again and Megan’s screams subsided, but I could hear her sobbing. I ground my teeth. “It’s going to take a few minutes to do this,” I said. “The dome is only supposed to be opened from the Bright Side.”

“I have time, Mr. Corinthos,” Treggen said. “You do not. If that dome is not open in five minutes, I will kill your partner. If you try anything cute, I will kill your partner, and then you. Is that clear?”

I nodded. Then I stretched out with my mind to Aegeon. I hadn’t built him with this in mind, but since Aegeon had mentally connected to Petra while she was on the Bright Side, there was a chance I’d be able to contact her through him. I screwed my eyes shut.

Petra?

Vincent?
Her mental voice was far away, and sounded like it was coming through a metal tube.

Are you all right?
I asked.

Yes. Ga…and I...soon. We...

She broke up. Inside, I was turning cartwheels. Petra was alive. It also meant that Treggen’s forces hadn’t killed the remaining Caulborn. With Petra there, they would’ve been more than able to handle a few golems and gremlins. I opened my mind to my followers.

Lotholio, gather as many of the faithful as you can. Bring them to the south side of Aegeon’s wall. I don’t have time to explain. Begin channeling as strong of a telekinetic burst as you can. There’s a phasilion open just southwest of the city. When Aegeon opens, send the burst through.