Balance (The Divine, Book One) (24 page)

I
focused my will and sprang forward, launching up the steps like a rocket, the
momentum carrying me over Obi as he turned onto his back with the Desert Eagle
raised above his chest. I heard the gunfire, and felt the bullet rip through my
leg, but I didn’t pay it any mind. I reached out with my hand and caught the
demon’s
bald head
, slamming the creature down onto the
steps, its skull shattering beneath the force. Before it could recover, I
twisted and pulled, ripping its head off.

Once
it was dead, I recognized the pain the bullet had caused. I looked down at my
leg, watching it knit back together, the process slowed by the silver. Then I
looked at Obi. He was still sprawled out on the steps, his forehead covered in
sweat and his breathing ragged. He gawked at me with huge, relieved eyes.

“Holy
crap man, sorry about the leg,” he said. “You picked the right time to show up
though. There are two more incoming. I shot them in the head but these assholes
don’t stay down long.”

“How
did they find you?” I asked.

He
started pulling himself to his feet. “You got me, man. Maybe triangulated the
Wi-Fi access points? I thought I had done enough variance, but maybe they have
some giant brain demons or something.”

“There
are no giant brain demons,” Rebecca said, reaching down lifting the muscular
ex-marine to a standing position. “The Cthulhu are incredibly intelligent, but
they don’t get involved outside of their own affairs.” She smiled, showing Obi
her fangs.

He
had been giving her the oh-my-god-you’re-so-hot stare before she smiled. The
effect was like breaking a spell. I’m sure mortals would see a perfect set of
pearly whites, until they were being drained at least. I could see his throat
move as he swallowed his heart and backed up a few steps.

“What
the,” he cried. He started raising the Desert Eagle, but I put my hand over it.

“Obi,
this is Rebecca.
Rebecca, Obi-Wan.
She’s on our side,”
I told him.

Rebecca
scrunched her face. “Obi-Wan? Like Star Wars?”

He
rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Man, even vampires make fun of me. My
parents,” he said.

I
cleared my throat to interrupt them. I could feel the shifting heat of a
Hellish mass pressing down on my soul. “Now that the introductions are out of
the way, we need to move. Those two you shot either brought friends or called
for backup.”

“If
you can get to your room, I went back to Grand Central yesterday and got your
sword. It was sitting on the tracks.” He looked over at the half-dissolved
headless demon. “Not that you seem to need it.”

“I
could use it,” Rebecca said. “I don’t have the strength to rip skulls off
spines.”

I
could feel the demons getting closer. “Okay,” I said. “Obi, stay back and cover
us. Try not to shoot me again.”

Rebecca
and I hopped up the steps and out into the hallway.

“Do
you know what those things are?” I asked.

She
nodded. “Standard grunts. Reyzl makes them. They’re all brawn, no brains. They
can survive for short times in the daylight, but they’re especially vulnerable
to water. Make sure to mind your neck, they can remove your head with one
finger.”

She
reached down and pulled her dagger from her boot, never breaking stride. Obi
stayed ten feet behind, his Eagle aimed between us. I didn’t doubt he was an
excellent shot, but I hoped that if he did miss, he would miss to the right. I
could take the silver bullet, Rebecca couldn’t.

“He
makes them?” I asked. “Get ready.”

The
demons came rushing around the corner, spittle flying from their fangs as they
changed direction. They had two more holes in their skulls before Rebecca and I
could even move. I grabbed each by the head and twisted, becoming more
comfortable with the sickening crack each time I caused it. I looked back at
Obi, who just shrugged.

“How
many bullets do you have?” I asked him. Silver wasn’t cheap and making bullets
from it couldn’t have been easy.

“About
fifty,” he said.

“Hold
your fire unless it looks like we’re in trouble. I have a feeling we’ll need
those later.” We reached the corner and I pointed to the room down the hall.
“My room is down there. Grab the sword so we can get out of here.”

I
reached out and felt for the demons. They were coming down the stairwell. I
heard breaking glass. They were coming in from the windows too. Rebecca took
off for my room at a sprint. I turned around to see a grunt bearing down on Obi
from behind. He didn’t know it was coming.

“Obi,”
I shouted. I couldn’t reach him in time. Desperate, I focused on the floor
right behind him, pulling the nails from the wood and sending them hurtling
into the demon. It stumbled backwards as a hundred tiny spears checkered its
chest. Obi stopped next to me and looked to see what I had done.

“Nice,”
he said.

The
demon recovered in a hurry and began rushing towards us again. I hoped I was as
fast a learner as Obi had said I was.

It
arrived as a mass of swinging claws, strong, powerful muscles driving me
backwards while I tried to find a way to maneuver around them. I felt the heat
of a wound to my shoulder and another to my leg, but it was nothing that
wouldn’t heal. It snapped and growled, trying to get to my face with its teeth.
I ducked in close enough to smell stale, hot breath, then slipped around behind
it, reached around its neck and twisted my arms, hearing its spine shatter. I was
going to remove its head, but three more grunts had filed out into the hallway.

Obi
downed one of them, but couldn’t get a shot off on the other two. I grabbed him
and pushed him to the ground to get him out of the way of a set of claws, then
took hold of the monstrous arm and broke it at the elbow. The move would buy us
seconds at most.

I
heard the snarl of the second demon, and then smiled when a blessed sword
severed its head from behind.

“This
way,” I said, motioning to the nearest room. “We can take the fire escape to
the ground.”

Rebecca
took a moment to stab the other two grunts, and then followed us into the empty
room. I blew out the glass with a thought.

“This
is going from bad to worse,” I said. I could feel the gathered mass of evil
growing, their power pushing in on me. It felt like the Belmont was on fire. “I
think they’re trying to surround us.”

The
building shook from the force of so many monsters moving through the old
structure, all converging on our location. Reyzl was using more force than I
had expected. I leaned out through the window and looked down. There were more
grunts waiting in the alley, covering the exit. I looked up. The roof was
clear.

“Up,”
I said.

“Up?”
Obi asked. “Are you crazy, man?”

I
pushed him out onto the fire escape. “Go up sergeant,” I shouted back. He
started climbing. “Rebecca, go.”

“You
first,” she said.

I
shook my head. “Someone needs to cover our escape.”

Rebecca
smiled and winked at me. “Escape? You’re leading us further
into
them.
Now go!”

I
started climbing, hearing the sword thunking into flesh behind me. I doubted
the roof was the safest place to be either, but it was open, and I wanted the
breathing room. I caught up to Obi, and we dropped over the side of the
building onto the roof together. There were already six grunts waiting for us,
and three more came up behind Rebecca when she joined us a few seconds later.
They didn’t attack right away, choosing instead to surround us. I assumed they
were waiting for greater numbers, knowing they had us trapped.

“Now
what?” Obi asked, spinning in a circle to keep an eye on all of the demons.

More
of the grunts were reaching the rooftop every second, and three weres came up
from the stairwell, joining the throng. They cut their way through the hissing
demons, coming to a stop in front of me. The largest of them took two more
steps forward and spoke.

“Diuscrucis,”
the were
said. “Master Reyzl demands to meet with you.
Come with us, and we’ll let your companions go.” I didn’t need any special
power to know he was lying.

“Landon,”
Rebecca said, sounding worried, and looking ashen in the sun, “tell me you have
a plan. I can’t stay out here like this for long.”

“I
have a plan,” I replied. Okay, I didn’t have a solid plan, but I had one idea.
I closed my eyes and reached inward, calling out for Ulnyx. I could feel the
Great Were’s strength forming in the base of my spine. This time, I could drink
from it and stay in control. The power was his, but my mind was my own.

I
smiled at
the were
, my mouth growing, elongating, and
filling with razor sharp teeth. I could feel the rest of my body changing as
well, shifting form into the monstrosity of skin, muscle, and bone that was
Ulnyx’s morphed form. I lifted my middle finger and aimed it at the demon, then
used it to beckon them towards us. The weres hesitated, torn between the risk
of death at my hands or Reyzl’s. There was no doubt he wouldn’t be pleased if
they returned without some piece of me. The grunts weren’t smart enough to know
any better, and they rushed to close the circle.

I
dropped down to all fours and launched myself at the demons; claws ripping and
tearing, powerful muscles tossing them aside like matchsticks. There were at
least fifty of them squeezing in on us. I grabbed one of the grunts and threw
it back at the frightened weres. They moved aside and it disappeared down the
open stairwell. While I was watching its path, I noticed the water tower behind
the door.

I
raked my claws through three more grunts, and then paused to focus on the
tower. Even with Ulnyx’s massive strength there were just too many of the
creatures to deal with this way. I might be able to kill them all in this
powerful form, but not without risking Rebecca and Obi.

 I
let loose a massive roar, feeling the tug in my mind and demanding the water in
the tower to set itself free and join me on the roof. I pulled at it, forcing
it through the wooden planks that contained it, causing it to geyser out
through the weakest seam. The grunts had been frozen by the roar, and now they
cried out in agony as the water splashed downward from the sky, soaking
everything on the rooftop.

“Damn
that’s cold,” Obi cried. I swung my head around to check on him, and he
stumbled backwards, away from my gaze.

Rebecca
wrapped an arm around him to steady him and winked at me. She looked like crap,
the sunlight and the water taking their toll. The grunts behind them were
dancing across the rooftop, desperate to shake the water from their bodies.
Their skin puckered and oozed, their life force seeping out from everywhere.
Many had already dropped lifeless to the ground, and I was sure the rest would
follow.

I
heard claws on the blacktop and turned back around in time to see the three
weres had made up their minds. They had morphed into their demon forms and were
charging towards me, teeth
bared
. I let out another
roar and shot forward to meet them. Blood blossomed from them and I heard the
echoes of gunfire in the sky. The weres stumbled and rolled, coming to a rest
right under my feet. I brought up a massive foot and slammed it down on one
skull, then another. The third were, the leader, I let live.

I had
felt Ulnyx in my mind, his presence a pressure in my skull as he sought for a
way to overpower me. I pushed back against him now, kicking him back down into
my soul, dismissing his power as if flipping off a light switch. My body began
changing, shrinking, returning to my human form. My clothes were rags hanging
from my neck and I pulled them back into shape, then reached down and lifted
the still stunned were to his feet. I grabbed his face and brought it in line
with mine.

“Tell
Reyzl I’m coming for him,” I said.

I
would have sent him on his way, but Rebecca had other ideas. Without a word,
she stepped up next to me and ran him through on the blessed sword.

“Send
that message and Reyzl will come for you himself,” she said to me. “You may
control the Great Were, but his power can still pollute you.”

I
knew she was right. I could still feel my adrenaline pumping from the
experience of being the terrifying killing machine. He might not have been able
to overtake me, but the promise of his power was an intoxicating temptation
that I would be at risk of accepting every time I called on it, opening the
door to the Great Were’s dominion. Everything had its price, and I would have
to reconsider the cost before calling on Ulnyx again.

 Rebecca
looked awful, her skin a translucent white, her hair dull and greying. The
water had done its damage, drying her out to the point that bits of her skin
flaked off with every movement she made.

“Let’s
get you out of here,” I said.

“That
was so awesome,” Obi said, walking up behind us. “You guys kick complete ass.”

Rebecca
gave him a weak smile. “You were pretty good yourself, for a mortal,” she told
him. He laughed off his adrenaline as we headed for the stairs.