Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,107

tunnel, we couldn’t afford to take any chances. If I lost Mo now, I wasn’t sure what I’d do, or how I’d even recover …

I swallowed heavily. Given what she’d said about being swept away, she obviously had a good idea as to when death would finally claim her. Unexpected accidents could happen, of course—my parents were proof of that—but that just meant I had to remain a little more alert.

Mo had stopped a couple of feet short of the ley line. After taking a deep breath, she flung her arms wide, as if in welcome, and stepped into its river. It flared so brightly in response that I had to raise a hand to protect my eyes. For several long minutes, there was no sign of Mo; the light had completely engulfed her. When it finally faded and she reappeared, she was without clothes. Her silvery hair was unbound and flowing around her like a cape, totally ignoring the laws of physics and the directional flow of the energy. Her skin, like her eyes, glowed as brightly as the force through which she now waded, giving her the appearance of otherworldliness. Of godliness.

I shivered, both awed and frightened by the sight. But I now knew what she’d meant when she’d said it would be easy to be swept away by the power; she hadn’t meant by the strength of the energy flow itself, as much as the fact that it literally passed through her. By entering that stream, she’d become something more than mere flesh.

But as her hands came down on the altar, a scream rent the air, distant and angry.

They knew. They were coming.

And if the number of footsteps echoing through the air were anything to go by, there wasn’t just one or two but twenty or more. And that suggested there was a gateway down there somewhere.

If there was, we were in deep trouble …

I stepped away from the wall, Nex and Vita held at the ready. As the scent of ash and evil grew stronger, the daggers reacted. Their blades glowed, and sharp whips of lightning snapped through the air; they were ready and eager to fight.

All I wanted to do was run.

I shifted my feet to strengthen my stance. Closer and closer the demons drew, until all I could smell was their wretched scent and all I could hear was the pounding of their feet.

A lone demon shot out of the entrance. He was obviously a scout, because his gaze swept the area before coming to a halt on me. He screamed something to the unseen multitudes behind him, then attacked. I unleashed the lightning, and he was ash in an instant. So were the six who immediately followed.

But there were many more deeper still in the tunnel.

I stepped closer to the entrance and speared the lightning inside. A thick wave of ash rolled out, momentarily cutting visibility but not sound. The demons still screamed, but their steps had momentarily stopped. I pulled back the lightning, sucked in a breath, and glanced across to Mo. Light flickered from her fingers and spun up the copper pole, though I didn’t immediately understand what she was—

A scrape had my gaze snapping back to the tunnel. A red demon flew out into the cavern, moving so fast, his wings were a blur. I backpedaled and raised Nex, slicing across the claws reaching for me even as I sent a weave of deadly light spinning from Vita. He flicked his wings and soared up and over the net; it continued on, ashing those behind him, sending a thick cloud of black dust into the air. The red demon did a sharp roll through it and slashed at me with wickedly barbed feet. I ducked away, but not fast enough. His claws scoured my back, slicing through coat, sweater, and skin. A scream of pain leapt up my throat, but I somehow held it in check, not wanting to frighten Mo. I leapt upward with Nex, stabbing the red bastard deep in the crotch before twisting the blade sideways, cutting through his genitals and leg with equal ease. As his blood sprayed through the air, I twisted around and unleashed more lightning at those in the cavern. Their screams were abruptly cut short.

But the red demon wasn’t finished yet. He swooped low, coming in fast, his eyes afire with determination and his blood a black stream behind him. I raised Vita; another net of energy formed in front of me