Pax Demonica (20 page)

“Her mother told her where it was hidden?” I asked.

“No. That was a secret your grandmother took to her grave. I do not know how the truth was discovered, but it was.”

“So the black hat demons are the ones who messed up the altar?” Allie asked.

“Black hat demons?”

“You know. The bad guys. And he would be one of the white hat demons,” she added, nodding toward Signor Tagelli.

“I see, but no. Deborah retrieved the key. Your grandmother had broken it in two and placed each piece in a different part of the altar. One was cemented into some mortar holding the marble together. The other was incorporated within the scrollwork. Disguised. Camouflaged.”

“And Debbie got both pieces?” I asked.

“Yes. She kept half, and the other half was entrusted to one of your white hats,” she said with a nod toward Allie.

“Thomas Duvall,” I said with sudden understanding.

“Indeed. They were to travel separately to Rome so that the keys could—finally—be destroyed.”

“The black hats were on to him, though. And so he decided to hide his part of the key with us,” Allie said.

“So I believe,” Mrs. Micari said.

“But why not just destroy them in San Diablo?” I asked. “For that matter, why didn’t my grandmother destroy them?”

“I do not believe she knew how,” Mrs. Micari said. “There is a ritual for destruction, lost until only recently. And a place where that ritual must occur—the same place that the key must be used to open the portal.”

“At the gate you mean?”

“No.” This time, it was Tagelli that spoke. “The ritual chamber is miles away from the portal.”

“I don’t understand,” Allie said. “I thought we were going to the gate.”

“We are going to the catacombs,” Tagellis said. “Where the key is to be used or the ritual performed. Where the girl Eliza must be.”

Allie shook her head. “But—”

Father Corletti put his hand on hers, then spoke for the first time since our ride began. “The ritual location exists in a duality. Either for the destruction of the key or the opening of the portal. If you obtain the key first—even one of the pieces—and perform the ritual of destruction, then that is the end. But if the black hat demons place the key in the lock, then the portal will begin to open. And that will be the end as well.”

“Oh.” Her voice was very small, and I was reminded of how terribly young she was to have seen all that she had seen.

“But the gate doesn’t open at the ritual site?”

“No,” Tagelli said. “The key operates one of the gates, but that gate could be anywhere. Once activated, hell will begin to leak out. Slowly at first, as the crack will be small. Then faster as the portal expands.”

“But where?” Allie said.

“As I said, it could be anywhere. Here in Rome. Back in San Diablo. Moscow, Queensland, beneath one of the Pyramids of Giza. There is no way of knowing.”

“But that means . . . ” Allie trailed off, too horrified to say the rest.

It had to be said, though. Because we all needed to know what was at stake. I looked at each person in the car in turn, then drew a deep breath. “It means that if we fail right now, then this really is the end of our world.”

Chapter 16

A
s it turned out
, I did know these catacombs. I had come to this very chamber as a teenager on my first big mission. We’d been sent to stop a powerful demon, Abaddon, and though we had succeeded, the price had been high.

Abaddon had been using a secret chamber within the twisting, winding maze of catacombs that snaked beneath the ancient city. At the time, that chamber had been locked, and it had been a minor miracle that Eric and I had managed to get inside before we were attacked by a horde of approaching demons.

Now, though, that door stood open.

Frankly, I didn’t consider that a good sign. As far as I was concerned, a demon about to perform a horrific, world-destroying ritual would want to lock the door. Just in case any overeager Demon Hunters were rushing to try to stop them.

“We go in fast,” I said, “but watch your back. Who knows what we’re going to find in there.”

Beside me, Tagelli and Allie nodded. I had debated letting Allie come, but the truth was I needed her. Father Corletti and Mrs. Micari had stayed behind, the first because he was too old and had never worked in the field, and the second because I feared that she would be more hindrance than asset.

Father Corletti had pressed to come, but I’d held fast. If what Tagelli said was right, the gate opened slowly. If we failed, maybe there would still be time to close the portal. I didn’t know. But I was certain that without Father Corletti on the outside, even that slim hope was dead.

“Don’t worry about me,” Allie said. “I’m ready.”

“I know you are,” I agreed, pushing down both pride and fear. Both emotions were useless to me now. And sentimentality could get us both killed.

We were on a thin ledge by the open door, but from this angle there was no way to see inside the ritual chamber. In front of us loomed a seemingly bottomless chasm, which meant that we had to hug the wall until we reached the opening.

The risk, of course, was that as each of us rounded that corner, a demon would emerge, give us a shove, and send us tumbling down into the chasm.

It was, unfortunately, a risk we had to take.

“You,” I said, pointing to Tagelli. “You’re on deck first. Then Allie, then I’ll bring up the rear.”

I wanted someone to draw fire before Allie entered, but I also wanted someone after her in case she got shoved toward the chasm. It was hardly a foolproof plan to keep her safe, but at the moment, it was the best I could come up with.

Thankfully, Tagelli didn’t argue, and as Allie and I watched, he edged toward the opening, then burst into the room. At first I heard nothing, then the echo of a woman’s scream followed by a thud.

“Shit,” I said. I grabbed Allie’s hand. “We go together.” Right then I didn’t care if that wasn’t the safest way to enter a room. I needed to see what was in there before she burst through that doorway, and at the same time I couldn’t leave her alone.

“Together,” I repeated. “We rush in, then you break left and I break right. If anyone is targeting us, that may throw them off. I know this chamber,” I added, “and there’s a chasm on the far side that you need to avoid if you get that far across the room. And there are stone columns that can provide cover for us or can hide an attacker. So be careful.”

She nodded, and we hurried forward. I mouthed out the count, and on three, we rounded the corner, then immediately shifted low and rolled in our assigned directions—and I didn’t even have time to applaud my own cleverness before the knives were flying.

We had the advantage, though, and Allie had her own knife out and airborne even before I was up and steady on my feet.

A few yards away, a female demon I’d never seen before toppled to the ground, Allie’s knife protruding from her eye.

I didn’t waste time thinking about it—or even examining the room more closely. There was another demon—a child—sneering at us from beside the newly-dead demon. It had a crossbow aimed at Allie, who rolled sideways as the demon let his arrow fly.

I aimed, released my own knife, and watched as the blade buried itself in his temple.

Unfortunately, all that did was piss him off.

I hurried forward, hoping to both retrieve my knife and reposition it in his eye. That’s when I saw Tagelli’s body behind a large stone urn. I felt no regret. Yes, he’d helped us, but he was also a demon, and once the threat of an all-consuming hell was alleviated, I had no doubt that he would have eagerly killed me and Allie and any other human who crossed his path.

I did, however, have one more use for him. I dove toward his body even as the young demon took aim on me. His arrow flew and I hit the ground, landing on Tagelli’s prone, dead form. I grappled for his hand, then pried the knife he still clutched from his fingers.

I was in an awkward position, but I had to make it work. I had no leverage anymore, and the kid had already reloaded and was ready to release a fresh arrow. I’d dodged once, but this time I was certain I was in his sights.

I had one chance, and as I let the knife fly, I prayed this would work, then sagged in relief when my blade sank deep into his eye, and his falling body disturbed the trajectory of his arrow so that it missed me by a good three feet.

I glanced around, but didn’t see Allie, and a new burst of fear had me leaping to my feet. I was just about to call her name when I heard her sharp cry of, “Mom!”

I ran toward her voice, then found her standing next to Eliza, who was bound to a stone column, her ankles tied with a thick hemp rope, and her hands above her, similarly bound at her wrists.

“Oh, god, Mom, she’s barely conscious.”

Allie’s words were unnecessary. I could see for myself what they’d done to the girl. Her wrists were slashed and she was bleeding slowly, the process taking longer because her wrists were above her head. Still effective, though, and if the puddle of blood on the ground was any indication, the poor girl had very little time left.

“Cut her down,” I said, though the words weren’t necessary, as Allie was already sawing at the ropes. “Then cut some strips from her shirt and bind her wrists.”

I was hurrying toward them as I spoke, but also looking around. I saw no other demon, but did spot the bodies of four that I didn’t recognize sprawled across the floor.

“Your kills?” I asked Allie.

“Two are,” she said. “I guess Eliza got the others. Quiet,” she said gently as Eliza stirred in her arms. “We’ve got you.”

I helped her finish sawing the ropes free, then we got Eliza to the ground. As Allie cut strips off her shirt and started binding her wrists, I stroked the girl’s cheek. Maybe she’d betrayed us and maybe she hadn’t, but right then she was simply an injured girl edging uncomfortably close to death.

“Eliza, it’s Kate. Can you hear me? Where’s the key? What happened to the key?”

Her eyes fluttered open. “Kate? Sorry . . . so sorry.” Her voice was thin, so weak I had to lean close to hear her. “Didn’t mean . . . said they’d let her go if . . . and I didn’t, couldn’t . . . ”

“Shhh. It’s okay. You don’t have to talk.”

“Gotta,” she said. “Was supposed to bring the key from San Diablo. Supposed to destroy the key.” She sucked in air and seemed to gain a little strength. “But they took her. They tortured her. They got the key from her.” Tears spilled from her eyes.

“Your mom?” Allie asked. She was standing now, looking around the room.

She nodded, just a tiny motion. “She had one half . . . other half was missing . . . they told me I had to find it. That if I found it, they’d let her live.”

I rocked back on my heels and sighed.
Shit
. Of course she’d kept the secret. Of course she would try to save her mother. What child wouldn’t?

“You realized where Duvall hid it,” I said.

“Yes.” Another tear escaped to cling to her lashes. “I thought—I thought we could fight them before they used it. I thought they’d let Mom go and we’d still have a chance. Stupid.”

“Where are they now? Where’s your mother?”

The tears flowed freely now, and her whole body trembled with grief. “Killed her. They killed her anyway,” she said as fresh grief and anger flooded through me. “They made me watch as they sl-sl-sliced her throat. And then, and then they said they were going to make me die slowly, watching as the world ended. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so incredibly sorry . . . ”

She relapsed into sobs, and I stood up, fury bursting from me with nowhere to go and no demon to pummel.

“Where?” I asked Eliza. “Tell me where the demon is—the one who has the key. Where is the lock to open the gate? Eliza, honey, you have to tell me. They killed your mother. Don’t let them win. Help me stop them.”

“I don’t know,” she said. “They were here. They were right here, and then they just disappeared.”

Oh god, oh god.

The demons had the key. Any minute now they were going to use it. And I had absolutely no clue where they were or how I could stop them.

“Mom?” Allie asked. “What are we going to do?”

But I didn’t have a chance to answer. Instead, a voice rang out, rising from below to fill the chamber. “Going to do? You’re going to die, of course.”

And then, as we watched, an eerie red light burst out of the chasm at the far side of the chamber. Shadows cut through the light, and I realized that something was rising up from below. “Get Eliza,” I said, as all the walls around us began to glow red, as if they were on fire. “Get her, and get out of here.”

“I’m not leaving you,” she said.

“
Allie
.” But the rest of my words died in my throat when I saw the demon standing on the chunk of rock that was rising like a column bursting from the miles-deep chasm. And there, sprawled at his feet, lay my dead aunt.

I recognized the demon immediately. He’d almost killed me in an alley by the Spanish Steps. Would have, in fact, if Eliza hadn’t thrown that canister.

“You tried,” he said. “But you have failed.” He indicated the glow of lights around him. “It is already done. The key has been used. The portal has been opened.” He took his foot, then shoved at Debbie’s body. “Even now, the glory of hell seeps into this weak and ugly world.”