The Darkening (34 page)

"So that's your plan," Darius whispered just loud enough for Lexi to hear.

"What?" she asked, turning to him.

"Amadja's plan." He grabbed her by the arms. "That isn't just any portal. I have to stop them before they get the gate open."

"What gate?" She was confused.

So much living magic was flowing through, the crack in the portal opened wider.

He started running for it. "Satan's Gate."

"Oh, my Goddess," she swore. "Wait," she shouted, running after him. "You can't go in there."

"I have to," Darius shouted back. "Stay here." He reached the portal and dove through the opening.

When he landed on the other side, he jumped to his feet. White light stretched out all around him. He squinted against it and finally spotted Amadja and Tain at the back, where the prison holding 666 demons had been built. Already, Amadja looked pale and drawn. Being trapped in a living-magic portal was taking its toll. Sadly, it wouldn't destroy him. It would just deplete his strength, which explained why he'd needed Tain.

The prison, like the portal, had been built by Re and could only be opened by another deity-or by someone with strong living magic, like an Immortal.

Darius raced forward to stop Thin, but before he could reach him, the prison gate opened and the first demon slipped out, a formless dark shade that sailed past him, sending tendrils of cold evil prickling along his skin. Two more demons followed, and then more poured through. Darius had no idea how he could possibly stop them all.

An ache over his chest told him that Fury was straining to get free. Darius knew the Bocca demon would track down each shade demon he could and destroy it.

He touched his chest, and Fury sprang to life, growing to the size of a large dog. Then he darted off after the nearest escaping demon. Darius was only half aware of Fury snapping up the first shade and swallowing it. His attention was concentrated solely on reaching the prison. Amadja and Thin, however, stood blocking his way. Without pausing, Darius stormed forward and punched Amadja, catching him by surprise.

The demon lord staggered but didn't go down. He retaliated with a formidable strike of his own. As Darius fell back, Amadja gathered his magic and let loose a black bolt of power. Inside the living-magic portal, the death magic's impact was muted, but still it seared every nerve in Darius's body. Dragging his hand along the wall of the portal, Darius scooped up a handful of magic and returned fire on the demon lord. The blast knocked him across the narrow opening and he lay there, dazed.

Darius sprang for the gate, intent on closing it, but Tain stepped in his way.

"I can't let you do that," he said.

"What?" Darius could hardly believe what he was hearing. "Step aside."

Tain shook his head. "I can't."

"You have no idea what you're doing," Darius said. "If those demons get out, most of New York City will die."

"That's the plan, big brother," Tain said. "To end this miserable, fucking existence

At that moment, a recovered Amadja stood, wiping a drop of blood from his split lip. The glare he gave Darius was so evil, Darius felt a chill. He reacted with all the anger in him-anger for what Amadja had done to his brother and Lexi, anger for what Amadja was trying to do to the world.

"I'm going to destroy you," he vowed to the demon, promising him so much more in his gaze than words would allow.

"Then let's get to it," Amadja said.

Out in the chamber, Lexi watched the opening, wondering what was happening inside. She moved closer, thinking maybe she could find some way to help. Just then, she heard a sound on the other side of the chamber. She turned to see Daphne walk in. Her skin glowed with a brilliant radiance from the living magic she'd stolen from her unfortunate partners. Lexi's own heightened state of magic paled by comparison, and she felt sick thinking about how many men had been sacrificed. She seethed remembering how this creature had targeted Darius. It was payback time.

Lexi didn't move as the pink-haired seductress approached the collection pool, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings. Moving with the grace of a practiced lover, she stroked her hand down the length of her arm, starting at her shoulder. An opalescent substance gath

ered and clung to her fingers, and when she reached her wrist, she released the magic into the pool.

Sounds of fighting erupted from the portal, and the succubus jerked her head up, finally seeming to notice a brilliant vertical beam of light hanging in midair. She stared at it for a long time before stroking her arm once more. A swooshing noise was followed by a flash of black as a dark shadow escaped the portal to sail about the room.

A second later, another shadow joined the first, flying haphazardly. Then a third and a fourth, and so on, until a dozen or more shapes swarmed around the room like dark ghosts. When one sailed past Lexi, she felt the icy cold of death magic and realized these were the shade demons that had been trapped for centuries.

A cry brought her attention back to the succubus just in time to see a demon fly by and brush against her arm. Daphne cried out again, and this time, Lexi caught the odor of burnt flesh. As the demon flew back to the others, Lexi noticed that it was no longer as transparent as it had been. In fact, it seemed to be taking on substance and form. Then it hit her: The shades were feeding off the succubus's living magicjust as she had done with her human victims.

Soon the succubus was ducking to avoid the demons as they dove at her. There were so many. Like bats rushing from a cave at the first sign of light, they swarmed all around. Daphne turned to run out of the room, but Lexi stepped into her path.

"Going somewhere?"

Daphne's eyes widened at the sight of her, but she quickly recovered and offered a friendly smile. "Hello, love," she said in dulcet tones.

Lexi felt her gaze pulled to the deep blue eyes of the woman before her. She'd never noticed how beautiful the woman was. She was feminine perfection, and Lexi ached to be close to her.

"I could make you so happy," Daphne said in a seductive tone that promised to deliver everything Lexi was looking for in life. "Let me make you happy," she continued, taking another step toward her.

"Yes," Lexi whispered, oblivious now to the demons around them.

Daphne reached out to her, and her fingers brushed across Lexi's cheek. Lexi smiled tenderly-then grabbed the succubus by the wrist and hauled her forward while planting her fist in the creature's jaw. "That's for all the men you've killed," Lexi said.

The succubus recovered quickly and shot a bolt of magic at Lexi, trying to get her to let go, but Lexi held tight and kicked her in the ribs. "That's for messing with my man," she muttered.

"I'm going to kill you," Daphne screamed. She twisted and jerked, trying to pull free, but Lexi held on and delivered another kick to Daphne's kidneys. Then she needed both fists to deliver punches. She was driven by a primal need to get even with the woman for all the times she'd seduced Darius. It never occurred to her to use magic. She was a she-wolf, defending her territory with her bare hands.

With her next punch, she shattered Daphne's nose, and blood poured forth. The light in the succubus's eyes took on an unnatural glow, and the beauty that had been so obvious faded. "I'm going to kill you, bitch!" Daphne screamed in an inhuman voice that was accompanied by a violent blast of magic. Lexi felt like she'd been slammed into a wall.

She shook her head, trying to clear her vision. "Don't count on it." Pooling her lupine strength, she hit the succubus so hard in the head that she thought she'd broken the bones in her hand.

Daphne's head snapped back, and for a long second she seemed to totter on her heels. Then she collapsed on the floor, unconscious. Before Lexi could do anything, the circling demons dove from the ceiling to cover the body. Soon all Lexi heard was the sound of scores of demons sucking the life force from the succubus.

It was over almost as quickly as it started, and when the demons scattered seconds later, all that was left of the succubus was a dried, withered shell.

Lexi stared at it, feeling no remorse. "That'll teach you to fuck with a bitch in heat," she muttered.

Then a burning pain in her arm distracted her, and she swatted at the demon who had bitten her. Now that the succubus was dead, Lexi was the next best source of magic. They still hadn't discovered the collection pool.

A roaring sound temporarily distracted her, and Fury shot from the portal in hot pursuit of a demon. Even as Lexi watched, the beast caught a shade and swallowed it whole. It seemed to her that Fury then grew a bit in size, but wasn't weighed down at all. In the next instant, he was shooting after another shade.

Then she had no time to watch Fury because the demons started attacking her en masse.

Instinctively she placed the palms of her hands together and fashioned a hasty fireball, which she hurled at the approaching demons. She hit one and it burst into flames. Encouraged, she formed another ball and threw it. Fortunately, her aim didn't have to be the greatest. There were so many demons flying about that almost anywhere she threw the ball, it was bound to hit one.

Gradually, she noticed the intensity of her fireballs was getting weaker. It took a great deal of magic and energy to form a fireball, and, thanks to Darius's efforts to keep her from imploding on her own magic earlier, she no longer had that much left in reserve.

The thought of Darius fighting alone in the portal stiffened her resolve, and she released another fireball into the demons circling above. It hit its mark, but didn't kill it. The demon came straight at her, its face a twisted mask of fury.

Lexi lashed out, desperate to divert the creature. Although it looked nearly transparent, it wasn't. The impact of her punch knocked the demon into the collection pool.

Horrified, she watched the shade splashing around, drinking the magic. It showed no signs of stopping; any minute she expected to see it grow into a formidable beast.

Then she heard a loud popping noise as the demon burst like a huge water balloon, spilling magic back into the pool. She waited to see if it would emerge, but after a second, there was still nothing. She jumped when she felt a burning on her arm, the result of another fly-by. The demon in the pool, however, never reappeared. Perhaps the living magic had been too powerful. Instead of feeding the demon, such a large dose had killed it. The thought filled her with hope.

Lexi started trying to knock the demons into the pool, but there were just too many. They continued to swarm around her, burning her wherever they touched,

further draining her magic. She fought them as best she could, but she was weak and growing tired.

Just then, the door to the chamber opened, and Ricco walked in, followed by Mai, Heather and at least twenty vampires.

"Thank the Goddess," she sighed. "Hurry," she shouted at him. "Darius is in the portal. We need to help him."

Ricco sprang into action, ordering several of his men to follow him to the portal's opening. But without a powerful creature of living magic to help, it repelled them. "We can't get in," Ricco shouted.

"I'll go," Lexi hollered. "You stay out here."

She reached Ricco's side, covering her head to keep one of the demons from burning her face. Ricco's hand shot out and smacked the offending demon back.

She was about to tell Ricco and his party about the pool when an arrow buzzed by her head. It had to be Mai's thornalis. Instead of killing the demon, the arrow passed clean through its body. "No, no," Lexi told her protectors. "Knock them into the pool. It'll kill them."

When the next shade reached them, Ricco hit it again, adjusting the angle of the blow so the demon shot away and hit the water with a resounding plop. It started lapping at the magic and in less than ten seconds, it burst into nothingness.

"Cool," Ricco said as another demon flew at him. Ricco's vampire reflexes were much faster than Lexi's, and he had no problem connecting with the shades as they darted about. Ricco's team quickly picked up on the technique, and soon demons were sailing into the pool.

With Ricco and his boys busy dealing with the shades, Lexi motioned to Heather and Mai to join her. Maybe together they could open the portal enough to help Darius.

Amadja was winning. That was the thought that raced through Darius's mind as he lay paralyzed in a heap against the far wall of the portal where the demon's latest magic bolt had sent him. He tried to catch his breath as he struggled to his feet. He glanced at Thin, but knew he'd get no help from that quarter. He was on his own.

He turned back to Amadja and saw the demon was already preparing his next attack. When the next volley of magic came at him, Darius dove out of the way.

The bolt flew past and hit Tain, who hadn't moved fast enough. He cried out in pain, and Darius knew from personal experience that the magic was spreading through Tain's body, searing every nerve. He felt only a moment's remorse for his brother's agony. Tain's eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed, unconscious.

Amadja roared with anger and hurled another bolt of magic at Darius, hitting him in the chest. He fell back, nearly tripping over Tain's body. When he touched the side of the portal, living magic poured into him, giving him the strength to fire a return volley at Amadja. He could tell it stunned the demon, but that was all.

As Amadja gathered his power to unleash another bolt of magic, Darius reached up and pulled off the shield, wishing he'd thought of it sooner. He almost had it in front of him when the black magic struck his arm and sent the shield flying. Before he could react, Amadja began a continuous assault.