Annihilation Read online

  “The Arcanists are just as bad,” Cardinal Simons added. “Enough of them see auras and they are testing everyone continually since the destruction of the gate.”

  All eyes had to be on Senator Stanton, awaiting his response.

  “And yet, I do have a spy among them…imagine that.” She could hear Stanton’s smug smile in his tone.

  The Senator let the demon lords mull that over. A low mutter rose in the room.

  Bam! Once again someone pounded on the table, probably the senator.

  “Now go,” Stanton said. “Do your parts. Let the goddess and me worry about the Templars and the Arcanists. Once we have the masses under our control, they won’t matter anyway.”

  * * *

  Ryan closed his eyes for just a moment and rested his head against the door as he sat on the floor of the storage closet.

  A spy!

  Of all the things he’d hoped to learn on this little outing with Salina Fry, this hadn’t even been on his radar. Of course, Salina would think it was a Templar. Ryan had to admit it could be. Stanton had indicated they’d found a way around the Light of Truth and whatever the Arcanists were using to test their people. It could be any of them.

  Waiting was the hardest part. They needed to get back to headquarters and start the search before the spy could do any more damage. But he and Salina were powerless and trapped in the closet until the meeting ended and the demon lords left.

  It took another fifteen minutes for the demons to clear the room. “Let’s give them about ten more minutes to clear out of the building.” He didn’t want the demons to have the least indication they’d been overheard. Still, he itched to get moving.

  The energy block had come as a surprise. Ryan knew the demons had been working on the blocking technology, but he hadn’t realized they had it perfected. It would make everything harder.

  The big question that crawled up his spine was: did they turn on the energy blocker because of the meeting, or had their spy told the demon lords he and Salina would be here? Had the demons known who or what they were, or did they think they’d just been cheating at the gambling tables?

  The door opening in the conference room brought Ryan’s attention back to the closet door vent. A group of lesser demons entered, not even cloaked in their human illusions.

  “Well, they went somewhere,” a Falgolite said. The black, bat-winged demon led a force of eight lessers that included two Drogga. Without power he and Salina would have no chance of getting through this force.

  A Whargan started sniffing around the room. The wolf-headed demons had a keen sense of smell. It would be only a matter of moments before they were discovered.

  “Kiss me.” Salina threw herself on Ryan’s lap, taking his head in her small hands and pressing her lips to his. The shock of the small Arcanist on him, her lips warm and inviting on his, pulled his mind into a tailspin. Involuntarily his hands came up and pulled her in. What was she doing? Worse, what was she doing to him?

  All thoughts of the demons in the next room left him as Salina’s tongue slid between his lips. Twining, seeking, demanding. Ryan felt his body harden in response.

  At the same time, he felt the power. A pale greenish glow surrounded him—a mixture of divine and arcane energy.

  Salina pulled back, panting. “Sexual energy,” she was able to gasp out. “It won’t be much, but it will be something we can work with.”

  Ryan responded by recapturing her lips with his. Once again, he was lost in the kiss. Emotion, beyond anything he’d ever felt, was in control. The logical side of his mind was locked away, banging on its cell door, crying out to Ryan to react to the demons and not the woman, but he’d lost control.

  “Here.” The guttural voice had to be Whargan, and the exploding door threw Ryan and Salina into the back wall of the small storage closet. Ryan rose and pulled the waiting power into his personal pool. There was a slight tug of war, as Salina did the same. The energy split between them, still Ryan felt energized beyond anything he’d ever felt. Around him the power pulsed, encasing him in a shell that hardened into armor. From his right hand a sword coalesced into being, and on his left arm a large kite shield formed.

  The sword of truth? He’d never been able to manifest it before.

  Two beams of energy flew from behind him, striking through the shattered doorway and throwing the demons back. The blast took out a good chunk of the wall. Wood splinters and chunks of wallboard rained down around the surprised demons. Ryan looked behind him to see Salina staring at her still smoldering hands.

  “Holy shit!” The surprise in her eyes must have been mirrored in his own. She glanced up and shot him a quirky smile. “We might get out of this yet.”

  “More power than you expected?” Ryan turned back to the demons and charged into the group, swinging the sword. He had very little experience fighting with a sword, but this one felt natural, and so well balanced it seemed to dance in his hand. Logic and control took over, driving the incredible emotional flair Salina’s kiss had ignited to the back of his mind.

  “Okay, so maybe we’re more compatible than I thought,” she said flinging another bolt of energy.

  Strike, spin, dodge. Ryan caught a blow from the huge Drogga on his shield. He expected the impact to jar his arm, but the shield took the strike, turning it and allowing Ryan to counterattack with a slash. The Drogga stumbled back clutching a midsection that dripped green ichor. Drogga were incredibly hard to take down, even with an elite force of Templars. Could he have defeated this creature with just one swipe of the mysterious sword?

  Ryan shot a beam of energy from his fist, focusing through the tip of the sword in his hand. The ray struck a descending Falgolite, burning a hole through the demon’s torso. The power was so raw, so different from the divine energy pulled from Templar power pools. It felt wrong, yet so incredibly right.

  A blast to his left threw back a half-dozen demons. “Way more power than I expected.” Salina said. “What brand of toothpaste do you use?”

  “Toothpaste?”

  She shrugged. “It had to be something in that kiss.”

  Where had all this power come from? One little kiss?

  Well, it had been more than a little kiss and certainly something he’d have to think about…later.

  Ryan took a step forward, swinging at a charging Whargan and taking the demon’s arm off at the elbow. “Let’s get out of here.” He fought his way toward the doorway, swinging wildly at anything that got in his way. Salina followed his lead.

  He kicked down the door and they scrambled out of the meeting room. He could hear Salina’s blasts behind him. She was doing a great job covering the rear. Ryan concentrated on the three Whargan at the end of the hall, guarding the arched doorway. These were cloaked in human illusions but showed up clearly to his true-sight.

  A swipe of his blade threw the creatures back. He and Salina found themselves bolting into the great gambling hall of the casino.

  The patrons must have thought it some sort of floorshow at first, turning to smile and applaud politely, but when the hoard of demons burst through the doorway, the casino floor erupted into complete chaos.

  “Everyone, clear the building.” Ryan shouted as he dismissed the sword and armor. Hopefully, they could lose themselves in the crowd. Salina managed to throw up a barrier of some kind between the casino patrons and most of the charging demons.

  “Nice.” Ryan hoped it would buy people time to escape. He hated the thought his actions could get an innocent bystander injured or killed.

  He smelled the smoke before he saw the flames. One of the idiot demons must have somehow managed to set the place on fire.

  With everyone racing for the exit, a bottleneck developed at the doors. Ryan was afraid people would be trampled in the chaos. Panic and fear reigned in the casino as people pushed to escape the building.

  Salina held up her hands, palm out, aiming toward a large section of the exterior wall. “Tsomus Incridumos,” She intoned and
the wall disintegrated, offering the mob a large, easy exit to the outside.

  A woman in front of him stumbled, tumbling to her hands and knees. He pulled her to her feet.

  Salina gestured and helped others exit the building as well.

  Behind them, her barrier dropped, releasing the demon horde. The demons again surged toward them. The creatures were out for blood, any blood. People would be massacred.

  “Get everyone out,” he shouted at Salina, then turned back toward the advancing force. The sword and armor were gone. Could he call them back? Did he have enough of the strange power to fend off the demons?

  Salina strode to him and grabbed his arm. “No, you get the car. Let me take care of the demons.”

  Before he knew what she was doing, her lips were again on his. As flames and smoke filled the air and a mass of frightened people surged around them, Ryan found himself lost in the sensual enigma that was Salina Frye.

  Then she pushed him toward the opening in the wall. “Go. Get the car.”

  Ryan stumbled toward freedom, assisting those he could help on the way out. He reached for some power and reality smacked him square in the face. The kiss hadn’t renewed his power. Salina had drained off every last drop, taking it into her own pool.

  He turned back to see Salina glowing with energy and rising in the air above the crowd. Bolts of power flew from her outstretched hands.

  Are you getting the car?

  It was Salina’s voice, speaking in his mind. The voice was commanding, compelling. When had he lost control?

  Damn the woman. She hadn’t even asked. “We are so going to talk about chain of command…later.” He raced through the shattered wall, out into the parking lot. It was quickly emptying out. Many of the casino patrons had found their rides and were speeding away down the road.

  Outside the building, he could access the Templar power pools again. There had to be something the demons did to dampen their access to power inside the building.

  Ryan slid into the Mustang’s driver’s seat. Tires smoking and gears complaining, he tore across the parking lot, back toward the burning building. Flames were already leaping toward the rooftop. The last of the patrons were streaming past him. He prayed they’d all gotten out safely.

  Salina stood in front of the shattered wall. She looked to be holding an invisible force field in front of it, keeping a horde of demons from exiting the building. It would be sweet justice if they perished in the fire they started. Ryan skidded to a halt just as a flight of Falgolites burst from the upper windows. The night sky was suddenly filled with black, leathery wings.

  Ryan reached over and shoved open the passenger door. “Get in.”

  Salina dove for the seat, slamming the door as Ryan jammed the vehicle into gear.

  “Sorry…I took all the power. No time to ask permission.” Salina was panting. Ryan risked a quick look. Her head was lolled back on the seat, her eyes closed. She looked done in. Her beautiful face looked strained.

  “It’s all good. We wouldn’t have had any power if not for your…initiative. The power was kind of yours to take.”

  Thoughts of that kiss had more than the Mustang’s engine racing as they sped down the road.

  “There appears to be a price to pay…for creating and using energy like this.”

  Ryan could hear the exhaustion in her voice. He felt a weariness creeping through his body as well. But there was also a tremendous sense of satisfaction. He almost smiled. It reminded him of the afterglow after really great sex.

  “It was worth it. I was very impressed with you.” When he didn’t get a response, he risked another look. Salina was asleep. She really must have burned herself completely out.

  An explosion tore up the road in front of him, causing him to swerve and bringing his mind back to their current situation. Checking his mirror, he saw the swarm of Falgolites in pursuit. One of them threw something toward him, causing him to swerve and hit the accelerator to avoid it. Still he felt the concussion of the explosion behind him.

  “Great! Faltolites with hand grenades.” Nothing could go wrong with that.

  The flock of flying demons were on his tail. Obviously, his car had been marked as their target. And with grenades, their aim didn’t need to be spot on, just close. But if he dared stop, they’d be all over him.

  Traffic on the highway was light, still there were some cars in danger. He turned down a lonely looking, tree-lined road, hoping the foliage would block the Falgolites’ vision, or at least their aim. He heard some explosions above him as grenades struck tree branches. The road ahead began to rise, winding its way around a hill.

  At a critical point, the right side of the road dropped off as the car climbed the hill. The foliage around him vanished, leaving the Mustang vulnerable. Ryan gunned the engine, racing for the tree cover ahead, but the moon must have given the Falgolite just enough light to target and launch.

  The back end of the Mustang disintegrated in a ball of flame. The heat washed over him, singeing the back of his neck. His hair caught fire as the car spun out of control and tumbled down the side of the mountain.

  Somehow, amid the chaos, he located a Templar power pool. The pain was excruciating. Flames filled the backseat compartment. All he could think of was water…cold water…very cold water. He threw power into the thought. With a sudden chill, the seating area of the Mustang filled with ice cubes. Flames died around him with a violent hiss just as the Mustang tumbled and bounced down the steep hillside. Water and ice sloshed around him, soaking him to the bone.

  The world spun, and Ryan fought for control, but it was all too much. He couldn’t concentrate—couldn’t control the power. His last vision was out the side window. The car was heading toward a massive tree trunk. He heard the crunch and felt the impact, before everything went black.

  It is the struggle within that dictates the events of an external conflict. Win first the battle with yourself. Refuse to give in or give up. It is the first step toward victory. – Translation from an ancient Hebrew scroll, author unknown.

  Chapter 5

  Salina’s legs throbbed. She was alive, but the pain was enough to make her wonder if that was a good thing. Cold, dark, and wet she tried to piece together where the hell she was.

  She remembered diving into the car and Ryan speeding away from the casino. She’d been exhausted and must have passed out. That kiss…the power. It all came back to her in a dizzying wave.

  When she tried moving, blinding agony shot up her right leg. The limb appeared to be broken. Also, blood trickled down her right shoulder. She was lying in a puddle of icy water. She couldn’t see anything in the blackness around her and the ringing in her ears was deafening.

  Forcing concentration through the whirling in her head, she searched for a power pool. A shimmering pond was close, its energy readily available to anyone who knew how to draw on the mystic arcane power. The comforting flow helped to center her. She began a healing process and blessed relief flooded her body. Still, her leg was worthless, refusing to respond when she tried to move it. But at least there was less pain.

  Now she needed some light—nothing really bright, in case there was something out there that that would attract. She called a wisp. The small, green ball of energy floated in the air above her. Its glow illuminated Salina’s immediate surroundings.

  The scene was not pretty.

  The twisted wreckage of the Mustang surrounded her. Icy water dripped from piles of melting ice cubes and pooled beneath her. The trunk of a huge tree seemed responsible for much of the wreckage. It spread massive limbs out over her, blocking out the night sky.

  She waited as the magical energy began to soothe the pain and repair her ravaged body. So much damage; it was a miracle she’d survived at all.

  Eventually she felt strong enough to rise on her elbows and attempt to drag herself from the wreckage and icy puddle. Though dulled by her magic, pain still lanced its way throughout her body with every movement as she inched forward
into the gloom.

  Finally, she managed to drag herself to higher, dryer ground. Exhausted, she lay back and let the healing energy flow through her. She just needed to rest, distract herself, and shunt her worry, no matter how desperate her situation appeared. Worry only created negative energy.

  Think of something pleasant, something nice, something like…that kiss.

  Goddess, that had been one hell of a kiss.

  Warmth flooded her. The sensations, the intensity…all that power! Where had it come from? She’d studied the theories behind sexual energy, but they hadn’t even had sex. It had just been a kiss. Granted, it had been an intense kiss—an incredible kiss. And she was distractingly attracted to him.

  But it had been even more than that. Ryan had touched something deep within her soul—opened…something. A connection? It would certainly require more research.

  Pain returned, and the negative energy began to flow, as new worry trickled through her system.

  Ryan. Where was he?

  The wisp seemed to sense her concern. It sparkled, making a tinkling sound, then sped off into the night. Salina lay, once again, in darkness. She searched for balance in the arcane energy surging through her system. She needed to regain the use of her shattered leg but couldn’t let the energy flow too quickly or she risked blacking out from fatigue. Sleep would do her body good, but she had to stay awake. She didn’t know where she was or how she got here. Demons could be searching the area.

  The wisp came back, flying in circles around her head, then bounced toward the left, up the hillside. Salina knew there was no way she could walk, but the break in her right leg appeared to be below the knee. Maybe she could crawl.

  Thankfully the ground was soft and grassy most of the way. Still, the climb was steep and grueling.

  The wisp hovered just shy of the hill’s crest.

  A few more yards. You can do it.

  She pushed herself forward. The wisp floated over a depression in the tall grass. Her legs gave out, making it impossible to crawl. She had to drag herself the last ten yards using just her arms but she reached Ryan’s body without passing out.