The Detective Inspectors (The Doorknob Society Saga Book 4) (20 page)

An explosion of crimson light illuminated the end of the corridor. Nightshade was trying to fight them off but three angry Gremlins were impossible for one person to handle. Jess and I ran faster, closing in on the battle.

One of the creatures had his huge claws wrapped around Nightshade’s neck and had slammed him up against a wall. Another Gremlin lay off to one side, smoke billowing from his chest where Nightshade had landed a hit. I didn’t see the other one, but no doubt he lurked nearby.

“You go low, I go high,” I yelled to Jess and flicked my wrist snapping my energy whip out and catching the Gremlin around the throat. A flash of crimson followed as Jess took my lead and blasted the beast’s legs out from under it, upending the Gremlin and sending it crashing to the ground. The floor shuddered and cracked and I dove away as the flooring began to collapse around me. I snapped my whip out wrapping it around a wall sconce and holding on for dear life. Nightshade rolled off to one side, avoiding the disappearing floor all together.

 Jess was on the opposite side of the beast and dropped through the floor with it. She turned and hit the floor with a roll, the grunt of pain from slamming against the cold stone told me it must have hurt. But she was up quickly, her Skeleton Key glowing crimson in her hand.

The Gremlin scurried backward and roared, it echoed through the rubble that separated them. My heart sank when from the darkness low rumbles joined in with the monster’s rage.

 Glowing red eyes peered from every corner and mouths hung open, drool running over sharp fangs... Gremlins surrounded Jess.

 “Hold on we’re coming,” Nightshade yelled down to her.

“Hurry!” Was her only response as she formed her Key into a samurai sword and took a fighting stance.

 Her eyes scanned the area watching the beasts she could see, but it was the ones that howled from the darkness that worried me the most. I placed my feet against the wall and pushed off swinging over to the edge where the floor had collapsed. Nightshade reached out slipping his arm around my waist and pulled me in.

The drop down to her was at least twenty feet and other Gremlins were moving in slow but steady. There was no room for us to jump in and help her.

One of the monsters leapt toward her, its mouth wide, fangs bared. Jess spun, swinging her blade and slicing a massive wound across the Gremlin’s chest. The beast screamed and recoiled in pain.

Jess reset and waited patiently, her sword tight in hands and her eyes scanning the darkness for the next assault.

“We need to get down there.” I paced back and forth anxious to jump in and save her before it was too late.

“I know,” Nightshade said sounding as anxious as I felt. “One minute.”

 He rushed back down the hallway where we had come from and I snapped my whip down at one of the Gremlins advancing on Jess. Two more Gremlins rushed forward and Jess spun in a complete circle cutting into both beasts with her sword. This time they didn’t run off, instead they circled, growling and slashing at Jess.

I snapped my whip at the biggest one’s back and he shrugged it off as if it was nothing more than an irritating fly. I recoiled the whip and flicked my wrist and this time the Gremlin howled at the annoyance, but kept its eyes on Jess.

“Nightshade, hurry!” I yelled over my shoulder.

It was too late, the monsters leapt forward attacking Jess. She pivoted, missing the first strikes by mere inches. She brought her blade up in a defensive position and was able to block a bite from the monster’s snarling mouth. But the other animals, sensing victory, rushed in wave after wave at Jess.

 My instinct did the only thing it could... I screamed for her. Her glance raced to mine for a moment, and then, as if accepting her fate, she jumped forward swinging her blade in a flurry of crimson light, meeting the Gremlins head on. Blood sprayed and howls pierced the air as she worked her blade like an adept surgeon with a scalpel.

“Little help!” Nightshade yelled as he flipped backward through the air in an attempt to avoid the Gremlin he was fighting. It raced after him, his pointed fangs snapping ready to devour him.

 “Damn it,” I mumbled looking for a way to help him.

Nightshade struggled to reach his Skeleton Key while Jess was being overwhelmed by the beasts below. I spun and cracked my whip hitting the monster across the snout that snapped at Nightshade. It yelped and jumped back, giving Nightshade enough time to activate his Key.

 I ran along the edge of the broken floor and shot the whip out again, catching it off the far side of the opening and jumped off. Air rushed past me as I sailed over the snapping jaws of the Gremlins below.

“Jess!” I yelled and stretched out my free hand toward her. Jess took one last slice at the beasts, and then ran and took a dive toward me. Her fingers slipped into mine and I latched on to her for dear life, yanking her up to me. She rose off the ground swiftly and I knew we had enough momentum to get her to safety.

One of the Gremlins snorted with rage at seeing its prey getting away and vaulted into the air slamming into Jess and tearing her from my hand. A scream tore from my lips as I watched her slip from my grasp and fall back down into the hole, a look of pure terror widening her eyes.

“NO!” The word escaped from my lungs leaving only a searing pain in its place.

Jess crashed to the floor and scrambled with difficulty to her feet as she tried to get away from the falling Gremlin. But the beast bounced to the floor only a few feet from her, its claws reared back ready to strike and emitting a howl that echoed eerily all around me. In seconds he tackled her to the ground. The other Gremlins, smelling blood, rushed in from all corners piling on top of Jess and the beast who had taken her down.

I vaulted to the other side of the opening and rolled up into a kneeling position, then crawled to the edge to see the wreathing mass of monsters beneath cackling, howling, and snapping at one another.

My body shook as I watched the scene unfold in slow motion before me. Yelling from across the chasm, Nightshade jumped on the back of the Gremlin he was fighting. He had a black clamp in his hands and slammed it against the monster’s neck, snapping it closed with a loud click that cut through me like fingernails on a chalk board.

Nightshade hopped off the monster and it stopped moving, its shoulders sagged and it turned and tilted its head looking toward him like a puppy waiting on its master’s command.

The Gremlin Collar my uncle and I had been hunting for... Nightshade had it after all.

“Save her,” he commanded and the beast didn’t hesitate, it rushed forward and dove over the edge launching itself into the nest below. It roared and ripped into other Gremlins with a zeal that shocked me.

I wanted to believe it would work, that the creature would save Jess, but I had seen her disappear into a sea of vicious Gremlins and they weren’t known for being easy on their prey. I wanted to jump down into the melee, but it would be suicide and I still had a damn mission to accomplish. But how did I save one friend while leaving my cousin to the Gremlins?

The controlled monster cut into the first few beasts quickly, but the others soon turned on it and circled their new prey.

Crimson light flashed, forcing me to raise my arm to block the bolt of power. From the end of the room two Gremlins fell dead to the ground, their bodies sliced to ribbons. Jess stood in front of them, her body covered in blood from head to toe. And her mouth set in a tight line as she positioned herself with her samurai blade.

“Who the hell is next?” she shouted and the Gremlins around her hesitated. Her eyes lingered for a moment on the beast that Nightshade had sent to help her and the collar that glistened around its neck. She let out a scream that startled even me as she advanced toward another beast slashing across its neck and then twisting and bringing the blade up into the stomach of another.

The room hummed with new energy and the sound of locks clicking as Nightshade activated his abilities and one door after another opened in the floor beneath the beasts. Gremlins disappeared into whatever abyss he had decided to send them to. Gremlins, however, weren’t as stupid as they appeared, so the trick only caught the first few off guard, the rest dodged the openings and began moving toward Jess once again.

I leaned back spinning my whip above my head and snapped my wrist out toward my cousin.

“Jess!” I yelled and she rushed forward and her sword transformed into a whip of its own and the two met in mid-flight. Electricity arced out sending the surrounding monsters scurrying away in fear. I threw myself backward using my own weight to help lift Jess off the ground and yank her out.

She soared out of the broken floor and rolled across the ground. I rushed forward and threw my arms around her, pulling her to me and hugging her like I never wanted to let her go. She was covered in blood and her breath came in ragged gasps.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

“No, but I’m alive,” she replied with a quiver.

“Chloe!” Nightshade screamed and I moved swinging my whip out without thought and caught the Gremlin who was crawling over the edge toward us in the throat and sent it tumbling backwards. A second Gremlin popped out of the hole and I was up on my feet ready for another fight.

Nightshade pointed his Skeleton Key at the gaping hole and shot out a bolt of energy forming a new crimson floor and blocking out and silencing the howls and screeches of the remaining monsters.

The last Gremlin growled and scratched frantically at the ground. When it realized it was cut off from its nest, it howled and rushed toward me. I pivoted away and came up behind it.

Nightshade brought his Key up and a stream of crimson energy erupted in a blast headed for me; I dropped like a stone, which is what he figured I’d do. The howl of the Gremlin echoed over me as the blast slammed into the creature’s shoulder and flipped him over.

“That was kind of close,” I yelled over my shoulder.

Nightshade shrugged. “I figured you could handle it.”

Once again we were on the same page and it felt like old times.

 The beast was up in no time, snorting and pawing at the ground, and then he rolled its shoulders like a bull shaking off an injury.

“I think you pissed it off, Nightshade.”

 Jess was up and circled around me, so that we flanked the creature. She was covered in blood and I wasn’t sure all of it was the monsters. We needed to end this quickly and check to see if she was all right.

“So it seems.” He moved up to join us as together we faced off against the Gremlin.

“Now what?” I asked.

“Maybe this will help.” Jess tossed Nightshade the Gremlin Collar.

“How?” he asked with a look of surprise.

“I grabbed it on the way up, I thought it might come in handy.”

“Good girl,” Nightshade praised.

 The Gremlin Collar was black and circular with a small rectangular piece of metal jutting out of the locking mechanism and had several small dials and knobs on it.

“Is that what I think it is?” I asked, eyeing what looked like a collar for a buffalo.

“What’d you think it was, Masters?”

“I think it’s the Gremlin Collar you bought from Greenstreet.”

“Ding, ding we have a winner,” Nightshade announced in his familiar sarcastic tone that I had missed so much.

 The Gremlin backed up, baring its teeth and growling. It was obviously used to prey who didn’t fight back or just ran as soon as they saw it.

“Why’d you bring it?” It seemed a little convenient that he would know we might be able to use something like that. The little voice inside my head reminded me of everyone’s doubts about Nightshade still working for the First Kind.

“I don’t remember much from when the First Kind had me, but I do recall that wherever we were they were always worried about Gremlins. I thought having one might come in handy, if I ever got a chance for payback.”

“You were right,” Jess said.

“We have the element of surprise and this,” —Nightshade waved the collar in the air— “will just add to it. Plus we could use a distraction as we make our way to the tower.”

“What do you think? Want to turn one of these damn things on the First Kind?” Jess asked tilting her head in my direction.

“It sounds about as good as any of our plans.”

“That doesn’t inspire confidence,” Jess said with a laugh, though her shoulders began to sag.

“I think it could work,” I nodded, realizing a shot of confidence was needed. “We’ll make it work.”

“Lucky us.” Jess smirked.

“I don’t know about lucky, we still need to get the collar on the beast,” Nightshade reminded.

“Just how the hell are we supposed to do that?” I asked.

“I would suggest very carefully, the last one didn’t like it very much.” Nightshade rubbed at his throat that had turned red from where the first Gremlin’s claws had latched onto him.

The beast let out another roar, trails of spittle dripped from its fangs and it clawed at the floor in frustration or was he ready to attack? I didn’t wait to find out, I flicked my wrist snapping my energy whip with a loud crack and the beast backed up.

“Okay, I am going to circle around the side and distract it. Nightshade since you brought that collar, you get to try and put it on him.” I sidestepped and walked past Jess who’s Key still glowed with power as she eyed the monster.

Its eyes followed my every step and a low rumble emitted from its chest as it realized I was up to something. I lifted my energy whip and twirled it, keeping the creature’s attention as I moved. He shifted cautiously, turning its shoulders toward me and dropped back on its hind legs pushing down into a crouch. I’d seen Gremlins do that before; it meant they were preparing to attack.

I didn’t wait. Acting quickly, I let out a fierce yell as I jumped forward and brought my whip around in an arcing motion. The animal reared back meeting my yell with a terrifying roar of its own. Its arm shot out and connected with my whip, blood splashing from its hand as the energy sliced into it. The creature held firm to my whip and brought its other arm up for a quick strike.