Rise of the Fae (15 page)

“Come on,” said one. “We’ll take the emergency stairs the other way.”

He slid out of the room and she followed behind. All around, fire and debris fell from the ceilings.

A roar emanated from the floor above and she shuddered. Only one thing made that sound.

Selene and the two Vampires hit the stairwell, and had ascended half a story when the door burst in and four demons rushed down toward them.

“There she is,” one of them yelled.

“Down, down, down.” She tore down the stairs past the door they’d come through and down the last flight. They opened the door and stepped into a small gray hallway.

“Try the elevator. I’ll hold them off.” She placed her hand on the handlebar.
“Securus.”
The bar glowed white hot. She backed away a step.

“The elevator’s destroyed,” one of the Vampires called.

Damn.
They were trapped.

The demons hit the stairwell door from the other side, making her jump. They tried the handle and swore in Draconic. She swallowed hard. Her magick was waning. She needed to recharge. The gray metal door began to glow and the smell of burning metal tickled her nose.

“We have to get out of this hall.”

“Down into the arena,” one of the Vampires said.

She reached down and set her palm on the floor in front of the door.

“What are you doing?” the Vampire called.

“Ignis Laqueium,”
she whispered.

“We better move it, girl. That’s gonna be one hell of a fire.”

“I know. I know,” she muttered.

She stood and ran to the Vampires. They closed the door behind them to the small observation room. She sloshed through two inches of water to the window. On the arena floor stood a dozen people, weapons ready, scanning the upper area.

One of the Vampires banged on the door. “Open up! It’s Kirt and Jonas.”

The group looked at each other but she couldn’t hear what they were saying.

The Vampire banged on the door and yelled again and one of the vampyr on the floor broke from the pack and ran up the ramp. As he reached the door, an ear-splitting explosion blasted the side wall in from the observation room. Time slowed as pieces of the cement blew inward like a high-speed snow storm. Selene flew backward through the glass window. Gravity caught up to her and she fell to the dirt arena below with a thud. Her vision blurred once more. Dust flew all around her and she coughed and gagged, trying to suck in a deep breath.

A tremendous roar sounded above her and her vision focused enough to see what was coming for them. A gigantic brown beast with two dog-dragon-like heads lumbered onto the ramp that lead down to the arena. A hellian. Her father’s personal pet. The animal sniffed the air, trained its eyes on her, and then howled.

Crap!

“Move girl! Move, or let me take over!”

Pops of gunfire sounded around her as she stumbled to her feet. The hellian advanced and the ramp creaked and groaned under its tremendous weight. Bullets struck it everywhere making it stop and shake its head. It roared in rage and started down the ramp once more.

Selene’s mind whirled with despair. She couldn’t go back. She couldn’t. The darkness, the demons, the despair. Even as the daughter of Mephisto, she didn’t want to be back in that place. It was even worse than the fae realm.

The gunfire ceased as one by one the Vampires, vampyr, and humans ran out of bullets. In the upper window, several faces appeared with pitch-black eyes.

They were surrounded.

“Do something,” she shouted to her inner beast.

The voice cackled with laughter.

“About damn time girl. You have to say my name.”

“Seraphine!”

Fire ignited within her. Starting in her belly, the inferno blazed and travelled up to her chest. Selene backed down. Allowing Seraphine to take over but refusing to lose consciousness this time. Panic settled inside her as she lost control of her limbs and a cackle of laughter that was not her own rose from her throat.

Her fingernails lengthened like sharp knives and her teeth descended into her mouth. Her skin grew dark and her eyesight sharpened. Selene looked on as Seraphine took over.

“Back up,” she told the others in a voice all too low and strange.

The demons above gnashed their teeth at her. The hellian reached the bottom of the ramp and stepped off. The ramp collapsed behind it. The beast roared in the air and Seraphine lifted her head and answered its call.

“Hellian of the other plane, I call thee and bid thee obey,”
she yelled in the ancient language.

The animal pawed the ground and growled, showing row upon row of razor sharp teeth.

“The hellian obeys no one but your father,”
a demon yelled from above.

“Then it shall die as a message to you all. I am Seraphine, daughter to Mephisto, Lord of Destruction, and I will be slave to no one.”

She ran at the hellian. The animal charged at the same time. She leapt into the air and landed on the beast’s back. The animal’s two heads swung in different directions, both trying to get at her, but she dug the nails from one hand into its spine and held fast. With the other hand, she swiped at the right head. Deep wounds dripped onto the dirt floor as the animal gnashed at her and spun in circles.

The animal made a wild attempt to bite her leg and she slashed at its exposed throat. The hellian gurgled and acid poured from its throat, hitting the ground with a sizzling, popping sound. The second head reared back and roared then the beast let forth a burst of fire from its gullet. She slashed through the animal’s throat.

“Get down!” She jumped from the animal and ran for cover, but they were in an arena, and there wasn’t any.

* * * *

Neeman’s phone buzzed in his pocket again. The first call from Selene had dropped. The reception down in the compound wasn’t that great in some areas.

Then Riley’s phone buzzed, and Stephos’ as well. The hairs on Neeman’s neck prickled.

“What’s going on?” Danika asked.

“Neeman,” he said, hitting his Bluetooth. The line was fuzzy and he couldn’t make out the words. He looked to Riley and Stephos. They too were having a hard time understanding their calls.

Just then Mason lurched and gasped. His hands shook and he grabbed the back of his chair, his nails lengthening.

“Mason, what’s wrong?” Danika moved to his side.

“Trouble,” Mason panted. He locked eyes with Neeman. “You need to go. Get to the compound.”

“How do you know that? What kind of trouble?” Danika looked around the group. “Someone better tell me what the hell is going on!”

Mason’s skin darkened and the bones in his face shifted violently. Danika bent over Mason’s large frame and spoke softly into his ear.

“Come on.” Neeman motioned to Riley and Stephos. They ran for the exit and stopped when the ground shook and an explosion sounded somewhere north of Coven House.

Selene!

“What was that?” asked Danika.

“Go,” Mason bellowed. “I’ll follow.”

Panic drove Neeman’s instincts into overdrive.

He exited the back of the atrium at top speed, raced around Coven House through the garden, with Riley and Stephos in tow. Above the trees, a plume of smoke came from the direction of the compound.

He reached the driveway, pulled open the driver’s side door, and hopped in. The other two slid in as well. He turned the engine over and backed out.

“What’s going on, boss?” asked Riley.

“I don’t know. But whatever it is, it isn’t good.”

* * * *

Selene coughed and sucked in the dusty air. She tried to shimmy herself out from under the piece of fallen ceiling, but it was no use. Her ankle screamed in pain as the cement stone crushed it. The pain traversed up her leg, throbbing till she couldn’t think straight. She had little magick left.

All around the humans and trackers helped each other to their feet. The inside of the arena was destroyed. The sounds of the crumbling building reverberated around them. She didn’t know how much longer the structure would hold.

Her demon self had retreated for now. Too bad, she could use the extra strength at the moment. But her demon had done enough for one night. Killing the hellian had been a feat, but not thinking through the repercussions of what would happen hadn’t been so great.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?”

Above, in the broken window of the observation room, the remaining demons were nowhere to be seen.

She touched her leg and a bolt of pain shot up it.

“
Exsurdo
.”

The pain dulled to a minor ache. It was the biggest pain spell she could manage.

“We need to get out of here,” said a Vampire who sported a large gash across his torso and was leaning heavily on another Vampire.

“We have to search for survivors first,” a second one coughed.

The ceiling shook.

“We have to go,” said the first. “We’ll take these to the surface and come back for the others.”

“What about me?” she asked.

The group looked at her.

“We’ll come back,” said the first.

“Come back? I just saved your lives. You can’t just leave me here.”

“Saved us?” said the first. “You’re the one who caved this place in.”

“If it wasn’t for you,” said a human. “These things wouldn’t have even been here. They were looking for you.”

“Don’t even go there,” Selene retorted. “You have no idea who I am.”

“No,” said the human. “But I can guess. You’re a demon.”

“Don’t leave me here,” she said. “You won’t like what happens if you do.”

“And what’s that?” asked the first. “You’re trapped.” He turned to the second vampire. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

“No,” said the second. “She saved us more than once. I’m not leaving her.” The second Vampire came over and looked at the fallen debris on her leg. He tried to lift it but the cement shifted and she cried out, so he stopped.

The rest of the group headed to the part of the arena with a hidden panel. They opened it and disappeared.

The remaining Vampire looked over the rock and tested it here and there, but couldn’t make it budge.

“What’s your name?” She tried to get her mind off the eminent doom coming her way.

“Jonas.”

“I’m Selene.”

He stopped pacing and sat on the ground next to her. He looked up at the ceiling, his eyes scanning the damage. “At least the sprinklers aren’t going off in here.”

“If they were, we could have a mud-wrestling contest.” She laughed and he looked at her perplexed.

“What are you doing here anyway? Are you with Neeman?”

Was she with Neeman? Well...she’d
been
with Neeman but that wasn’t the same thing. “I’m—”

“Selene!”

The call came from far away. There was a hail of gunfire and then a roar.

Maelstrom!

“Uh... You should probably go now.” Her eyes trained on the escape panel.

“No, I don’t think it’s right—”

“Really. Go. It’s fine. The guy coming for me sounds like he’s not having such a good day and I can’t guarantee your safety.” She hadn’t seen Mason as Maelstrom in a long time. And as protective older brothers went, he was the worst.

“No. I won’t.” Jonas laid his arms over his knees.

She blew out a breath. “Okay, I’m going to tell you a secret. You know Mason?”

“Lord Danika’s Mason?”

“Yeah, him.”

He shrugged. “Everyone does.”

“Have you seen what he turns into?”

Another cry of her name rang out, shaking the ceiling.

“Yeah. I was there when they found the humans in the warehouse.”

“Okay, so he’s my brother. And that’s him. Not the Mason him, but the Maelstrom him.”

Jonas’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, you should go. Just tell him where I am.”

Jonas got to his feet and swallowed.

“You know what, I’ll tell him. You just go.”

Jonas was reluctant but headed for the door. When he was gone, she laid her head on the ground and centered herself. She reached deep within, to the place she hid her magick when she’d been with the fae.

She centered what was left of her energy and let it flow from her, sending up a signal as to where she was. The floor above shook with a roar and then heavy footsteps sounded from the concealed hallway. She stared at the hole, waiting for him to burst through. Instead, out stepped a tall, tan-skinned man with long white blond hair. His piercing aqua eyes made her heart thunder in her chest and her whole frame shake. Seeing him in a pair of jeans and white t-shirt was the oddest thing.

Her inner demon roared.
“Let me have him!”

Selene swallowed and tried to pull her leg free. The man walked to where she lay. Her demon screeched in her brain, commanding her to get free.

He stopped next to her face and crouched beside her. Though panic coursed through her, she stayed entirely still.

“Hello, Selene.” He brushed the hair from her face.

She couldn’t bring herself to say his name. Not after what he’d done. The pain he’d inflicted.

“You were supposed to contact me.” His eyes held restrained anger. “Do you not remember the reason you were sent here?”

Once again she was tied to the altar in the other plane and he was standing in front of her with a demon stick, marring her.

“I didn’t know it was you,” she said, surprised that the tremor stayed out of her voice. “How...how did you find me?”

He laughed. “My sweet, I was there when you arrived. I’ve been aware of you every second you’ve been here. I just wanted to take this moment to remind you of your job. Your job isn’t to worry about the Vampires or the humans or the other demons. Your job is to get Danika Chekov and lure Maelstrom into our world so he can be contained. With him and you gone, the demons will go back to their plane and we will seal the rift between our fae world and this and we will be safe.”

“What if they don’t leave?”

“Well it won’t matter, will it? Because we will be safe in our own plane.” He stroked her cheek.

“And what about me? What will you do with me?”

He smiled and her gut clenched.

“You will be mine again, as a reward for your service.” He leaned in and inhaled the scent of her hair. “Your mother told you what we intend to do if the plan fails, didn’t she?”