Shadows of Fate (Shadow Born) (25 page)

Brenna cautiously walked up to it. The machine was foreign to her, in every possible way. She had no idea how shut it down. Thankfully, after several moments of searching, she found a large switch. It seemed to work. The low rumble of the equipment dissipated and silence filled the room.

Satisfied the machine was disabled, she approached the vampires. Despite their condition, she hesitated to release them. Once they got to their feet, they would try to drain the nearest food source—her.

The vampire closest to her was a woman. Her head was thrown to the side, eyes closed. Her extremities shook with her body’s effort to push what little blood remained to her organs. It would be only a matter of moments before her body shut down. Brenna gently placed her hands on both sides of the woman’s face.

“I’m here to help,” Brenna whispered. Her words echoed in the silent room causing some of the stronger vamps to turn their heads.

The hope in their eyes was heart wrenching. It would be impossible to save them all herself. She could only get them on their feet and try to move them from the compound. If they came under attack, she wouldn’t be able to protect them.

Sliding her athame across her wrist, she watched the blood well up then slowly fall across the woman’s lips. The vampire gasped as the liquid hit her tongue, her arms strained against her restraints. Brenna cut her off, then turned to the next victim.

But the vampire did not want to let Brenna go. With fresh power she snapped the restraints on the table and lunged. Brenna slammed her back down, her blade at the other woman’s throat.

“Don’t make me regret helping you.” She grabbed a vial from the table beside the bed and filled it with her blood. “Help me feed the others, so we can get out of here.” She handed the vile to the woman, who took it eagerly. “One sip each. No more. If you drink it, I will kill you.”

Weak from the sudden blood loss, Brenna fed the others just enough to get them to their feet. She was healing her wrist when Gray called to her. She felt his anger as they linked. She gave him a quick mental image of her location then broke the connection. There was no time to argue with him. The vampires she had fed were standing by their beds like lost feral puppies in desperate need of direction. There were almost twenty of them, too few to mount a good defense and too many to hide.

For a moment she stood in the doorway, considering her options. Her priority had to be Seraph. Claudius’ people were strong in their own right. They would have to make it out alone.

One of the older vampires, a beast of a man with a beard that nearly touched the floor, stepped forward. “All you have to do is tell us the way. Your blood allowed me to connect with Master Claudius.”

Remembering the maps Seraph had shown them, she laid out an escape route for them. The vampire gave a small nod then gathered the others. They disappeared down the hallway. She just hoped they would make it.

When she could no longer hear their footsteps, she moved further down the hall. “Seraph, where are you?” she whispered. Seeking with her mind, she stumbled upon a faint trace of energy. She couldn’t place its location, but sensed the direction.

She had reached the very last room in the hall when she felt it. The same muted surge of power. She pressed her hand against the rusty metal door and sent her power seeking inward. Just as she found what she thought to be Seraph, something stirred at her back. Running on instinct, she palmed her dagger and struck out at the shadows. Her arm was caught and someone rammed her up against the wall.

“Nice to see you too.” Gray released her. “Where’s Seraph?”

“I think he’s in there.” She motioned to the door as her heart slowed back to normal. “He’s weak, but still alive.”

“Any guards?” “Four. Two demons and two humans,” she said.

“I sent the others back, they’re providing cover so your prisoners can get out.”

“So we’re on our own?”

Gray nodded, freeing his katana. “Let’s get him.” Without warning, he kicked open the door and stormed inside.

The first guard attacked Gray as Brenna caught sight of Seraph. He was bound and gagged, strung up like a slab of beef, wounds trailed across his taut skin. Relieved he was still alive, Brenna turned her attention to the other guard. The demon was outside of its host. She needed to weaken it before the blade could work and shouted a simple freeze spell. Ice coated its body, slowing it down enough to even the odds. She slashed at its scaly flesh with her blade. Toxic smoke rose from the wounds she left on it. The demon lunged and grabbed Brenna by the forearm, pulling her off balance. Even now, the beast’s strength was incredible.

Brenna pulled back, but couldn’t break free. She pulled out a second blade with her other hand and slashed the arm held by the demon. Her blood rolled down her arm and across the creature’s hand, overwhelming the demon’s senses. The beast howled as she thrust the blood soaked blade into the demon’s heart, chanting the curse that would banish it. The demon burst into a ball of light then vanished. That was it. She didn’t have enough power left to light a candle now.

Gray had vanquished his demon just as quickly and still had some fight left in him. Two cowering humans were pressed against the far wall. Their hands had been tied behind their back with plastic zip ties and their legs had been bound together. Gray cut down Seraph, who groaned as he was lowered to his feet. Brenna rushed to his side.

Power spilled from Seraph’s wounds. “Can you walk on your own?” she asked as she slashed the restraints around his legs.

He nodded but pushed her away from him. “I need a minute.” Several deep breaths rattled his lungs as he knelt before them. Lifting his arms above his head, he took in a deep breath and began to hum.

The center of his bare chest began to glow with an iridescent light. It illuminated his entire body with radiant warmth. As it faded away, it left in its place a wholly healed Seraph. He jumped to his feet, face glowing with health.

As she struggled with her own battered condition she couldn’t help but be envious of his healing ability.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the clothing Gray handed him. “They bound me in iron.”

Brenna nodded. Iron restricted the use of magic, regardless of what world you were from. “I freed Claudius’ people. They are on their way out of the compound.”

“Alone?” Seraph finished dressing.

“I gave them some of my blood,” she said. “It was the best I could do.”

Gray stepped forward. “My team is helping provide them cover. But this operation is a bust. We need to cut our losses and regroup.”

“Agreed,” Seraph said. He accepted the blade Gray handed him. Picking up a rag, he wiped the blade clean before sliding it into the sheath at his back. He leapt onto the examination table beside them, and pulled down the ventilation grate. “We’ll go back to the cabin and regroup.” He looked at Brenna. “You’re in no shape to fight,” he observed, motioning her to go ahead of him. “We need to get outside to shift. There are too many wards on this place.”

His nonchalant attitude was irritating, but she couldn’t argue. The darkness across her vision was only getting worse.

“Go on ahead,” Gray said. “I need to do something first.”

“Be fast. It’s only a matter of time before they retaliate.” Seraph gave Brenna a leg up into the shaft.

Brenna moved down the shaft to make room for Seraph. She could still hear the conversation continuing below.

“Don’t die.” Seraph said. “There is more to worry about than just demons and Brenna, remember. I need you in this fight. You’ve waited a long time for this, don’t screw it up.”

Brenna froze.

Seraph’s words held a familiarity that made her uneasy. There was no reason Gray would have a personal stake in this battle unless Seraph knew something she didn’t.

Gray stood silent as Seraph disappeared through the grate. Once out of earshot, he turned back to the two restrained men.

Fear stricken eyes stared back at him. Their blood splattered white cloaks had smeared blood against the wall. They were members of the Brotherhood. Most humans weren’t stupid enough to try and ally themselves with the demons. Those that were almost always regretted it.

He crouched in front of them. Allowing his incisors to lengthen, he smiled. “If you want to survive this, I need information.”

The bigger of the two men said. “You’ll kill us anyway.”

Gray’s smile grew. “Even if that is true, there are several ways I could kill you. How much do you want to suffer?”

The smaller man began to shake.

Gray pulled Claudius’ map from his back pocket. “Do you recognize this?”

The smaller man’s voice quivered. “He’ll rip us to pieces.” He frantically shook his head, spittle gathered at the corners of his mouth.

“Who? Adare?” Gray asked.

Hysterical laughter spilled from the smaller man. “We haven’t seen Adare in days.”

“They said he was too weak,” the other man said. “The demons brought our new leader with them.”

“Does he have a name?” Gray asked.

“He walks in the shadows.” The larger man said. “He doesn’t need a name.”

Gray rolled his eyes. Regardless of where they came from or what they believed, he would never understand religious extremists. Even bound and bloody they still felt loyalty to him. If Orien was pretending to be a god, his ego had grown to epic proportions. It made him even more dangerous.

“You should be concerned about what I’m going to do to you, not some creature whose name you don’t know.” Gray pulled a blade from the sheath at his back and let the metal glisten in the dim light. Once again he held up the map. “Tell me how to read this or I will rip the information from your mind.”

The smaller man struggled as Gray pressed his hands on either side of his head. His skin was heated and damp. Gray tickled his mind and the man jerked.

“No. Stop. I’ll tell you,” he cried out.

“Donald, shut the hell up,” the other man ordered.

Gray helped Donald to his feet. Stepping back, he held up the map. “What is this?”

“It’s all the possible entrances through the Veil.” He struggled against the plastic locks. “Release me and I’ll show you. I swear.”

Gray cut the zip tie. The man pointed to the map with shaking fingers. “Each symbol is a possible portal. The lines represent a series of passageways that run beneath them. Some portals are above ground, some below, but they all have a tunnel.”

“Where do the tunnels lead?”

He tried to shrug, but it came off more like a spasm. “They go everywhere, like an underground interstate.” He pointed to the elemental runes. “These represent landmarks.”

Gray studied it for a moment. He pointed to one of the runes. “That is a body of water.”

“Exactly.” Donald clenched his hands.

“Who is bringing the demons over?”

The larger man growled. “If you answer, I will kill you myself.”

Gray shifted his attention to the other man. “You can’t kill him, if I kill you first.” He turned back to Donald. “If you help us, I will protect you. You have my word.”

Donald gaze down to his feet. “Adare was my friend.” He closed his eyes for a moment as he gathered himself. “His name is Orien. He did something to make the Veil sick, they say. It lets him free the demons directly. They don’t need hosts. Not like before. Now they just use us for camouflage and food.”

He paused to steady his voice. “It’s not supposed to be like this. We were supposed to be joined with a demon. A partnership. A union. We thought Orien was a true believer, but he only joined the Brotherhood to feed us to them.”

Gray cursed. If Orien had weakened the Veil, things were worse than they ever imagined.

Grabbing the man by the wrist, he shoved him toward the ventilation grates. Let’s get outside, then I’ll get you out of here.

Donald nodded, his legs trembling as he complied. Gray watched him, bemused. So much for their grand plan. The demons weren’t just kicking their ass, they were ready to pour through the Veil en masse.

Chapter Sixteen

Brenna paced the hallway of the cabin, becoming more irritable. It had been stupid to leave Gray behind in a compound full of demons with no back up.

Two days had passed with no word. Visions of him dead and bloody played continually through her mind. She hadn’t slept. If he did make it back, she was going to kill him herself.

She blew out a breath. Her feelings weren’t rational, but she didn’t care. If Gray could embrace his stupid male bravado, she could react to it. Cursing, she kicked the wooden floor then winced at the hole she made. Cursing a second time, she went back into the living room and plopped down beside Seraph on the couch. She would do less damage there.

Seraph peered at her over the papers he had been studying. “If he were dead, you would feel it.”

She tapped on her leg with her nails. “Our link isn’t that strong.”

Seraph snorted. “If you say so.” He shook his head, turning back to his papers.

“Have you heard from Claudius?” She pulled a thick camouflage blanket around her legs. When he didn’t answer, she snatched the notes from his fingers. It earned her an irritated glance.