Another bellow of pain echoed from somewhere in the room, but a quick glance revealed nothing, thanks to all the stone columns holding up the ceiling. The bellow sounded somewhat familiar to me.
"Does he have a crazy supernatural animal guarding him?" I thought back to Yolo, Vadaemos's companion beneath El Dorado. The strange animal turned out to have more bark than bite, and I hoped Dash hadn't captured the poor thing.
Bella shrugged. "I don't know. But whatever is powering the coil must be attached to it somehow." She pointed to a thick cable running across the floor and behind a thick column. "It must be behind there. You sneak up to it and detach the cables." She held a hand out as the tesla coil spilled another flash of energy into the air. "Dash has attuned his focus, the coil, so it benefits only him with the energy. If it's not disabled, he'll be able to replenish his magical energy at a rate I can't hope to compete with."
I nodded. "I'm on it."
Hard-soled shoes echoed in the hallway we'd just come through. I grabbed Bella and pulled her behind the closest stack of crates.
She whispered something and waved her wand. I hoped she was cloaking us in invisibility, though it didn't seem to be the case.
"Why haven't you moved our forces in for the kill?" said Maximus.
I poked my head up and saw the rogue vampire towering over Dash's seat.
Dash looked up at him. "I guess it depends on how many soldiers you want to lose. They're cornered but still dangerous."
"We have far more soldiers than they do. Send them in. This isn't one of your games where you have to get it perfect." Maximus's eyes wandered somewhere to his right. "Have you finished with the potion?"
"It came out perfect. Even though we didn't have much of the spawn's blood left to work with, it diluted a lot better than I thought it would."
Maximus nodded. "Excellent." He motioned at the screen. "Finish them off. I'll deliver this batch of potion to Atlanta."
"Is the next attack still on schedule?"
Maximus paused in his turn. "Two more days. By then, we'll have the spawn back and can resume production of the potion."
"He has a weakness for weakness." A grin split the vampire's red lips. "The girl is broken and worthless, but I have no doubt he'll return to claim her."
I sure didn’t like the sound of that and hoped Felicia was really okay.
He checked his watch. "I'll be back soon. I expect the Templars to be in body bags when I return. "With that, Maximus walked behind a column.
The Tesla coil hummed louder and louder, energy flashing off it in waves. The air crackled and the smell of ozone permeated the place. It flashed bright one last time and the hum faded and died.
"What the hell?" I said in the lowest whisper possible.
"An arch," Bella whispered back. "Good heavens, they have one here."
If that was true, Maximus was gone, probably back to Atlanta. No wonder Christian's people hadn't seen him using La Casona. This was bad. Really bad. This meant Maximus could set up arches in other cities. He could distribute the vampire potion all over the world. I gritted my teeth. Not on my watch, damn it.
I motioned toward the Tesla coil and made a breaking gesture with my hands. Bella nodded. Slipping out from behind the crates, I stayed low and skulked my way toward the other side of the thick columns in the middle of the room. I probably could have stalked over with a marching band behind me and Dash, absorbed in annihilation, never would have noticed, but I took no chances. Using a column for cover, I peeked around it and saw the arch. It wasn't a large one, just wide and tall enough for a car to drive through, embedded in a pedestal of polished black stone like the huge ones. Obviously, it wasn't like the portable, expanding ones Kassallandra and Pokito had used.
Either Dash knew how to make the things or, more likely, Daelissa had helped him move one from another location, and showed him how to attune it. Hopefully disabling the power source for the Tesla would render the arch unusable. I didn't want to worry about Maximus returning with reinforcements.
"What the hell?" Dash said.
I glanced at the holograph and saw him zoom in on Elyssa, perched on the wall