Dancing With Raven (The Young Shakespeareans Series) (37 page)

“When I call the goblin, he’ll burst into the room in a murderous rage. As soon as he moves past, we slip out. Are you game?”

“Let’s do it.”

They positioned themselves next to the closed door. A ball of anxiety formed in Tori’s stomach, and she took a deep breath.
Here goes nothing.

“
Macbeth
.”

The reaction was immediate, swift, and horrifying. The door nearly flew off its hinges as the goblin broke through, roaring like a pack of howler monkeys. The creature flailed around, if the sound of breaking furniture was any indication, and Tori froze with fear. Nicholai yanked her out of the room, down the hall, and to the stairs.

“Hold on to the railing so you don’t trip,” he said.

With the sound of destruction and thunder in their ears, Tori and the young vampire ran down the stairs at breakneck speed. Although Tori couldn’t see much in the inky blackness, she kept hold of Nicholai’s hand. He stopped suddenly after they reached the bottom and his fingers convulsed.
Something’s wrong.
Before she could voice the question on her lips, the entranceway was flooded with strong illumination—halogen flashlights, she guessed. When her eyes focused, she realized she and Nicholai were surrounded by vampires clad in black, hooded robes. Her heart sank.

Oliver clucked his tongue and stepped into the circle of light. “Where are you two going in such a hurry?”

Nicholai dropped Tori’s hand, as if it disgusted him. “The security goblin went crazy and I was trying to save the girl’s life. I didn’t think you wanted her dead before the sacrifice.”

Oliver lanced Tori with an accusing gaze. “Mentioning the Scottish play does have the unfortunate tendency to make demons go berserk.” The roar of the goblin could still be heard, even over the thunder. He sighed. “Somebody put that creature out of its misery. I don’t want his histrionics interrupting the ceremony.”

Several vampires brushed past Tori, training their flashlights toward the stairs as they sped to the task of dispatching the goblin. Oliver crooked his finger at Tori. “Come along. We’re ready to begin.”

She blanched. “But it’s not midnight!”

“Your concern is laudable, but unnecessary. According to Greenwich Mean Time, where you were born, it’s well past midnight. Happy birthday, Tori.”

Nicholai was pushed aside as a surge of vampires propelled Tori down the hall and through a pair of double doors. The halogen torches revealed a crystal chandelier overhead and several plate glass windows overlooking the pool. The floor was covered with highly polished wood, set in an intricate herringbone pattern. Any furniture or rugs which might have been in the room had been removed, except for one heavy chair. Tori tried to dig in her heels as she was dragged toward the chair, but her athletic shoes could gain no purchase. She drew in a deep breath to scream “
Macbeth
,” but Oliver clamped an ether-soaked rag over her nose and mouth.

“None of that, Tori,” he whispered.

Although she clawed at the back of his hand and rammed her elbow into his stomach, the vampire would not release her. Her struggles became increasingly feeble until she couldn’t hold her breath any longer…

Raven crept across the lawn. A flash of lightning revealed a massive knot of goblins dead ahead. When the next streak of lightning lifted the darkness, Shakespearean arrows flew. One lucky shot vaporized a goblin immediately, but the others merely yelped in pain as the silver-tipped darts pierced their thick hides. Several shafts of light shone in Raven’s direction.
The goblins have flashlights!
Although the demon hunters dove to the ground, their prey apparently caught sight of movement and charged. Raven emptied his crossbow of arrows and then reached for his throwing stars.
It’s going to be a long night.

When Raven charged forward along with the others, something caught his ankle and he fell hard.
What?
His throwing stars and backpack full of weapons flew into the grass as he hit the ground, leaving him vulnerable. Unaware of his difficulty, the others left him behind. He sensed rather than saw the denizen preparing to stomp on his head. At the last moment, Raven rolled to one side, narrowly escaping disaster. He recognized his attacker immediately. “You!”

The red-mohawk demon cursed and tried unsuccessfully to nail him again with boots.

“Die. Nasty. Smelly. Mortal.”

A lightning bolt crackled the air nearby and the stench of ozone filled Raven’s nostrils. The boom of thunder distracted the demon long enough for Raven to scramble to his feet. He dove toward the creature, grabbing him around the waist in a football tackle. Once Raven had the demon on the ground, he walloped him across the face with a powerful punch.

“You die first, bloody woodpecker.”

Something stung Tori’s upper arm. She flinched away from the pain, only to discover her arms and legs were immobile. Her eyes snapped open. Misty withdrew a needle from Tori’s bare upper arm, and untied a rubber tube around her bicep. A woozy, warm sensation flooded Tori’s veins and made her muscles heavy.

“What is that?” Already Tori could barely enunciate, but Misty seemed to understand.

“Just a little joy juice to calm you down.” She drew a fingertip across the tiny bead of blood raised by the needle, and stuck it into her mouth. “Mmm. Delicious.”

Tori’s desire to excoriate her former foster mother gave way to a fascination with all the pretty lights in the dark room. Her chair was positioned inside a large pentagram inlay. The lines of the occult symbol were throbbing with a reddish glow. On each of the five points, a large candle burned brightly. Oliver voiced an incantation, in Latin. Although Tori had never studied the language, she had no trouble guessing the blood sacrifice ceremony had begun.
I told Raven midnight, but the world will be completely different by then.
As Oliver droned on, Tori strained at the duct tape encircling her wrists and ankles.

One of the hooded vampires offered him a velvet-wrapped dagger. Similar to the lines of the pentagram, the haft of the blade was pulsing red…in time with Tori’s heartbeat. Oliver brandished the eight inch dagger and gave her a wicked smile.

“I’m afraid this is going to hurt…a lot.”

Tori couldn’t find Nicholai in the crowd, but Misty was in her direct line of sight.
Help me.
She couldn’t tell if the plea made it to her lips, but her expression was clear enough. A little line formed between Misty’s eyebrows, but she remained where she was. Oliver licked his lips as his eyes traveled up and down Tori’s arms.

“I think a nice deep slice from the wrist to the elbow should give us what we need.”

Misty flinched and stepped forward. “Um…you said only a
little
blood was necessary, Oliver. Just a drop or two.” She gave him a nervous smile and reached for the dagger. “Maybe I should do it.”

He pushed her back. “Don’t be concerned. I’ll turn her just before she bleeds to death.”

Oliver rested the flat of the blade against the soft skin of Tori’s forearm for a tantalizing moment. Then he gripped the haft in both hands and raised it overhead.

“A new world order at last!”

Nicholai jumped in front of Tori, shielding her with his body. The blade plunged into his shoulder in a vicious strike that surely would have severed Tori’s arm had it connected. Nicholai cried out and slid to the floor with the dagger protruding from his back.

“Stupid, sentimental boy.”

Oliver freed the blade. Before he could raise the dagger again, however, the point of a katana appeared in the vicinity of his sternum. Blood sprayed from the wound, across Tori’s face and clothes.

“That’s for my father, you evil fiend!” Chase cried.

The dagger dropped from Oliver’s fingers. Chase withdrew the katana, and as the vampire bent double, the Nephilim beheaded him with a clean stroke of his sword. After Oliver exploded into dust, the hooded figure bent to retrieve the dagger. As he straightened, he dropped his hood back to reveal his face.
It’s Mime, here with Chase to rescue me!
Tori’s relief was short-lived. The warlock beckoned to several goblins in the back, who plowed through the surrounding vampires like charging bulls. Although many screaming vampires managed to flee, the demons trampled the rest. When the goblins reached Chase, he managed to kill two of the massive creatures before he was knocked into the corner by a blow from one of their meaty fists. He didn’t move after that.

Mime beamed at Tori as he reached for a leather-bound grimoire on the fireplace mantle.

“Now it’s time for the main attraction. The Apocalypse.”

Tori tried to scream, but could only manage a breathy moan. As the warlock opened the book and recited an incantation, the fireplace shimmered like the surface of a lit pool. Mime began to call out the names of demons, and as he did so, all manner of hideous demons began to emerge from the curtain of light—a literal parade of horribles.
A gateway to the underworld.
Every unclean thing Tori had ever imagined slithered, walked, or crawled out of the fireplace. After the demons bowed to Mime in homage, each took its place in the circle surrounding Tori. The scene was so horrible and nightmarish, she felt hysterical laughter bubbling to her lips. Unable to make a sound, tears slid down her face instead.

The ground beneath her chair trembled, almost as if a subway train were passing underneath the house. Unlike the previous quakes Tori had experienced, however, the vibration continued long after the tremor would have been expected to subside. The quake increased in magnitude. The sound of shattering glass echoed throughout the room, and the chandelier overhead began raining crystal pendants.
It’s the end of the world.

She finally managed to scream.

The red-headed demon lay still in the grass, as much as the earthquake would allow. Raven stood and bent to retrieve his throwing stars. A cry of warning made him turn just in time to see the demon jump to his feet and whip out a knife. Cody turned a cartwheel, landing on top of the demon with his silver horse shoes. The demon exploded into dust.

“Thanks.” Raven noticed the Satyr was covered with blood and bruises. “What happened to you?”

“Never mind that now. I got here as soon as I could. My
Tata
is a bad man, Raven. He intends to bring the Apocalypse.”