the group of flanking vampires with a finger, lighting them up on the display. Using the method I'd seen Dash use, I streaked a finger across the map, leading them back to Elyssa and the others. One of the vampires stopped, pressed a finger into his ear and nodded. He waved his finger in a circle in the air and motioned the vampires toward the route I'd indicated.
"Elyssa, I know how we're gonna win this thing."
"Oh?"
I told her my plan. "Can your people handle it?"
She nodded. "What happens if the bad guys catch on?"
I shrugged even though she couldn't see me. "Let's hope they don't."
The first group of vampires I'd re-routed closed fast on Elyssa's position. Using my finger, I drew a new circuitous route while Elyssa filled in the others. I panned the view until I found a side entrance and group of fifty armed vamps guarding it. I highlighted a few at a time and sent them to various places in the compound until only a few remained. Then I located any sentries on that side of the compound and sent them to the top of the wall opposite.
"Ready?" I asked Elyssa.
"Reinforcements are on the way."
Flicking the view to the side, I spotted a small squad of Templars sneaking up to the now lightly guarded entrance. Within the space of a minute, they downed the guards with lancers and secured them. I sent small groups of vamps to the entrance, one at a time, watching as the Templars secured each squad in a quiet, efficient manner. I lost count of how many vampires I sent to their non-lethal doom, but no matter how many were out of action, scores more remained.
Maximus had organized his people into military squads, and the leader of each one seemed outfitted with some kind of device enabling Dash's gizmo to give them orders. In fact, the level of organization was almost frightening. True, most of the vampires were just untrained kids, but it reminded me a lot of the dog soldiers in Africa. How long until Maximus brainwashed even more people into killing for no other reason than he simply wanted them to? Vampires already held a considerable advantage over noms with their supernatural strength and agility. If he decided to use his army against a civilian population, they'd be hard to stop.
The size of the vampire force had shrunk by almost two-thirds, thanks to my redirection, when I saw a sizeable group break off from the main force and head away. I zoomed in and saw a familiar face—Amanda. She looked pissed. According to my aerial view of the compound, she was headed for Dash's hideout. Toward the only way into this place.
And it was too late for us to escape.
Chapter 24
I looked around Dash's super-secret lab and saw no other way out. There was, no doubt, a hidden passage lurking around here somewhere, but I didn't have time to find it. Scrambling over the wreckage of crates and equipment left after Dash's fight with Bella, I approached the hole the leyworm had made. The edges of the stone cracked and broke off, brittle to my touch where the creature had slammed through it.
"What are you doing?" Bella asked.
"We've got about five minutes before thirty vamps storm this place."
Her brow furrowed. "But how—"
"Amanda. I think she figured out Dash wasn't in control anymore."
"Oh dear."
"Yeah, you could say that." I peered into the dark gap. My night vision popped on, granting me a better glimpse of the path the leyworm had left. About ten feet into the solid rock behind the stone wall, the creature had taken a sharp left before diving straight down to parts unknown, leaving a neat round hole and a terrifying drop my night vision lacked the range to fully see. Across from the hole was a wall of crumbling rock, probably where the leyworm had made the turn.
Bella knelt beside me and sent a globe of light wandering down the tunnel. It turned into a pinprick before finding the bottom. "I don't think this is a viable route."
Measuring the space with my eyes, I estimated I could brace my hands and feet against the sides of the hole and walk myself down, but the going would be painfully slow, and one misstep would mean depositing my broken body into the bowels of the earth. Bella was just too short to even attempt my idea.