Infernal Father of Mine (48 page)

They were placing what looked like gray bricks
all along the edge. Two of the men wielded rifles. Between the back
of the flat roof and the dome was a long stretch without cover. I
slung the duffel over my shoulder and headed toward the dome,
keeping my head down. If Jarvis or his people saw my face, they'd
instantly know I wasn't their comrade.

"About time," I heard Jarvis shout as I came
into view. "Hotfoot it over here. We need to hurry."

I jogged forward, keeping my head low as I
dared, looking at the others from the corner of my eye. I realized
with a shock the bricklike objects his men were placing were
explosives. They planned to bring the roof down on the Templars. If
they succeeded, tons of granite would crush our people like
bugs.

They were planting the explosives all along the
ledge bordering the dome and the dome itself. Jarvis turned to look
up the structure and said something to a woman I recognized as Pat.
She seemed to be adjusting something on one of the brown packages,
probably an igniter module. I didn't see anything resembling a
detonator on Jarvis. He began to turn toward me. I lowered my gaze
to hide my face and saw a bag near his feet. I wondered if the
detonator might be inside it.

"Who the hell?" someone said.

The gig was up. I turned toward the voice in
time to see one of the men on the ledge levelling a rifle my way. I
ducked. Blurred forward, and gripped the barrel of the rifle just
as he fired. I tore the rifle from his grasp, swung it, and slammed
him in the side of the head. He bounced off the curvature of the
roof and fell over the side with a fading scream.

The other man with the rifle stood ten feet up
the dome. With his precarious balance it took him longer to aim. I
didn't give him time. With a shout, I shot a web of Murk at him and
jerked, sending him the same route to hell as the first guy. Pat
pulled a pistol and shot me.

The bullet slammed into my shoulder,
penetrating the damaged armor beneath Gavin's shirt. Searing heat
bit into my flesh as the impact drove me back a foot.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a foot of ledge behind me and found
open air.

Gravity took me in its unforgiving embrace
toward the hard, stony ground below. I tried to move my arm. Pain
blinded me.

Mom. Elyssa.

I couldn't let them down. Using my other arm, I
shot out an aether rope and snagged the side of the building.
Willing the coil to stretch, I let myself fall as if on a bungee
cord. As I felt the rope go taut, I willed it to collapse. The
effort threw me up twenty feet. I shot out another web and caught
the lip of the ledge. My injured shoulder slammed against the side
of the building. Agony tore through me and I lost my concentration.
The rope remained, but without allowing it to stretch, I couldn't
slingshot myself upward.

It was time to get creative. I willed the coil
to shorten, concentrating my efforts on the center of the rope,
lest I accidentally loosen it from the side of the building and
send me falling again. The rope dragged me up the side of the
building.

As I neared the ledge, I heard Jarvis shouting.
"One more row of satchels. Hurry!"

My injured arm was so stiff I could hardly move
it. I needed to feed on soul essence to enable my supernatural
healing. Despite the searing pain caused by moving my arm, I swung
it up and caught the ledge. It hurt so bad I thought I might black
out.

Releasing the aether rope, I reached my other
arm up. All the weight on my injured side sent consciousness
fleeing as black dots danced across my vision. I choked back on a
scream and flailed with my other hand. Somehow it found the ledge.
Using every last iota of willpower, I pulled myself up. I heard a
gasp and saw Pat draw the gun.

"No," I said, and held out my hand, fingers
splayed, as if that would stop her from killing me. Instead,
something entirely unexpected happened. Her eyes went blank and the
gun dropped, clattered down the roof and went over the side. Her
left hand rose straight up in front of her. Ultraviolet light
spilled from her fingers and into mine. I felt the urge to raise my
other arm. Despite the pain, I did so. Her right arm rose in time
with mine and milky white essence poured from her other hand and
into mine.

Strength roared back. I felt an odd pinching
sensation and looked at my right shoulder as the flesh pushed a
dented bullet from within the bloody T-shirt. The wound healed. I
felt flush with life and ablaze with power.

Pat groaned. Veins strained against her skin.
Darkness and light pulsed beneath her skin. I cut off the
connection. Her body toppled toward the ledge. I caught her and
threw her over a shoulder. There had been too many deaths today. I
spotted Jarvis standing on the flat roof adjacent to the dome. He
leered and held up a red trigger.

"Too late, boy. You lose."

I opened my mouth to speak but it was too late.
His fingers tightened. I had nowhere to go so I leapt the gap
toward him, expecting to feel the burn of an explosion behind me.
Nothing happened. I landed on the roof, dropped the woman to the
surface.

Jarvis cursed like a sailor. I dashed across
the open space toward him. He looked up, saw me coming and flicked
something on the device. With an evil sneer, he pressed hard on the
trigger.

"No!" I sent a beam of destruction. It
incinerated the trigger and punched a hole through the man's chest.
He went down without a sound as steam boiled from his mouth and
nose.

I heard dozens of simultaneous beeps and turned
to face the roof. Red LEDs atop the explosives blinked. I
simultaneously thought there was nothing I could do, and did
something about it anyway. I channeled Murk, scraping explosives
off the roof and into a huge bubble just as they detonated.
Pressure swelled in my hands as the shield blossomed with
fire.

It was too much to contain. Like a boy flinging
a live firecracker, I shifted the entire shield. It warped into a
sphere boiling with contained energy. I swung it down at the mass
of Nazdal and ghouls standing outside the building, and released
it. The shield hit the wall of the building below, warping like a
soap bubble. The ultraviolet surface cracked. Orange flames spilled
from inside like a dying sun. With a tremendous boom, the shield
shattered. The explosion demolished half the wing of the fortress
and sent remains of monsters scattering like ghastly rain. The side
of the quarry caved in, and cracks ran beneath the fortress. I felt
the dome shake beneath me. Saw the earth shift a fraction and
realized with horror the cliff beneath the arch chamber was
crumbling.

If that happened, everyone inside would still
die. I hadn't saved anyone, I'd just killed them all.

I ran to the back edge of the fortress and was
about to leap off it when I remembered Dad.

He's gone. I can't save him, but I
can still save everyone else.

I had to leave Dad's body. I knew coming back
for it later would probably be impossible. His tombstone would be
this cursed place.

The ground lay far below. It didn't matter. I
jumped. Just before I hit the ground, I shot a coil of ultraviolet
Murk at the wall and rode it to the ground.

Not allowing fear to control me, I raced along
the back ledge and through the hole in the back of the arch
chamber. Two Templars flashed steel at me, then checked themselves
when I shouted Elyssa's name.

"She's over there," one said, pointing toward
the battlefront. I raced in her direction. A chasm had formed near
the front of the cavernous chamber. Nazdal scurried away from the
widening gap, trying to get through the exit, but it was jammed
with bodies. The creatures fell to their deaths as the ground
vanished beneath them. Any enemies trapped on the side with the
Templars were quickly dispatched with swords and spells.

A circle of minders hovered near the back of
the army. Faceless black warriors—our very own dreamcasted
warriors—helped the Templars squash the remaining
enemies.

A horn sounded and Templars retreated at a
steady pace toward the arch. Arcanes climbed down from their
platforms, and joined in the general retreat. The minders broke
their loose formation and floated toward the hole in the back of
the chamber. One drifted over to me and touched me with a
tentacle.

We saved your asses,
Minder Justin
informed me in a smug voice.

I appreciate it.

Any time.
He flashed the mental image of
a grin.
We're getting out of here before this place collapses.
If you're ever in the Gloom again, look me up. We'll grab a
beer.

I would have laughed if not for the trembling
ground signaling imminent death.
I'll be sure to do
that.

By the way, Elyssa's minder is hot. I'd
totally hook up with her if I didn't lose my free will once you
leave the Gloom.
With that final pronouncement, my minder
drifted after his retreating brethren.

I spotted Elyssa and ran over to her. "This
entire place is about to fall into the quarry."

She gripped me in a tight hug. "Oh, Justin. I
tried calling you but you didn't answer." She wiped away a tear. "I
thought—"

"I'm fine," I said in a brusque voice.
But
Dad's dead.
I told her Jarvis's plan to drop the roof on
them.

"I should have known the explosion had
something to do with you," she said, sounding proud.

"Yeah but now this entire place is going to
take everyone with us." As if to underscore my point, the ground
buckled beneath us, and a large chunk dropped into the
earth.

"We'll be out of here before that happens," she
said.

Templars streamed at top speed through the
arch, moving with such order and precision, I dared to believe her.
I spotted blonde hair and saw Mom standing next to the arch. Her
hand extended toward the rune. It spun from its socket in
answer.

"Where are Ivy and Nightliss?" I
asked.

"Through the portal already," Elyssa said.
"Your mother has prepped the rune for removal. Once everyone is
through, she'll remove it."

"And trap herself here?" I shook my head. "Not
without me."

"Justin, she has a flying carpet. Even if this
entire place collapses—"

"The building will fall right on top of her!" I
shouted. "She doesn't have time."

"Alysea!" A woman screamed in a voice that
overpowered the sounds of destruction. "Betrayer!"

I spun and saw something right out of
nightmares flying across the collapsing chasm. Daelissa had
returned.

Mom looked up at her former BFF, and her face
blanched.

Daelissa glowed with unholy light. "I'll kill
you and your family, you filthy whore!" White hot beams speared
from her fingers and into retreating Templars, reducing some to
ash. She raked the streams of Brilliance across the back
line.

Without thinking, I threw up a wide shield of
Murk and blocked her attack. Light washed across my barrier. I felt
the heat traveling down my hand and into my arm with a painful
jolt. Blazing blue eyes settled on me.

"You insignificant speck!" Daelissa screeched.
She pointed a finger and bolt of lightning speared toward me. My
shield blocked part of it. A loud crackle nearly burst my eardrums.
The blast threw Elyssa and me back onto the floor.

She pointed her finger again. I willed a bolt
of my own. Brilliance burst from my finger and met hers. The two
forces exploded, sending a disc of destruction shearing into the
floor and ceiling. The shockwave shook the chamber and knocked me
backwards. A huge chunk of earth near Elyssa dropped into the
ever-widening chasm. I saw the dome above Daelissa crumble as she
crossed to our side. I aimed a bolt of Brilliance and punched
through the weakened structure. It fell toward the crazed angel.
Insane as she was, though, she had the presence of mind to throw up
a shield and deflect the massive debris.

She couldn't stop it all. A huge curved section
of roof slammed to earth right on top of her. A roar went up from
the retreating Templars.

"Did you kill her?" Elyssa asked. "I can't
believe—"

A scream of pure rage echoed from beneath the
section of roof. Granite shrapnel exploded in all directions.
Daelissa burst from within, a halo of bright white glowing all
around her. I grabbed Elyssa's hand and raced for the arch. The
ground tossed and shook. A bolt of lightning blasted the ground
just in front of us.

"Hurry!" Mom shouted. "Hurry!"

I made a snap decision as I ran toward her.
Another beam of Brilliance nearly turned me to burnt toast. I threw
up a shield of Murk behind us, channeling enough energy so it would
self-sustain for a few precious seconds. As I raced through the
arch, I grabbed Mom and dragged her through after me. The other
Templars were already through. I spun. Daelissa streaked toward us
on wings of cloudy white. She raised both palms and sent a meteor
of Brilliance toward us.

The ground just outside the arch fell into the
chasm. The deadly pulsar streaked toward us. Before I could
deactivate the portal, chunks of the Shadow Nexus fell to the
ground and the gateway winked off. The arch must have broken apart
or fallen into the quarry. Daelissa wouldn't be able to follow
us.