"You know what I'm going to do, hermano? I'm going to drill a bullet right through that spawn's demon skull." The unseen speaker made a popping noise. "Gonna drop him like a sack of dirt, man.
"Not if I do it first, bro."
"Do you see anything?" Amanda yelled from somewhere down the tunnel.
"Not yet," one of the men yelled back.
"That is one ugly chick," said the first guy and chuckled.
"I wouldn't even put a bag over that chica's head and fu—w-w-hoa!"
"What th—"
The vampiric wonder twin's screams faded into the distance as they plummeted down the shaft.
I glanced over the pile of rocks hiding us and saw with pride what looked like a solid floor. My spell had worked!
More footsteps rushed down the hall. I ducked back down.
"Where'd they—ahh!" The latest newcomer joined his comrades.
"Holy mother! Oh my god," said another voice, this one sounding much younger. "They just dropped straight into solid rock."
"You idiot," Amanda said, "They're using magic. Probably set up a trap and hid somewhere. Throw rocks at the wall to see if it's solid."
"Yes sir." A rock clattered off the wall behind me.
"Keep testing the walls you morons! First one to find that little spawn bastard gets a taste of his blood." Footsteps stomped away from us.
Several more rocks clacked against the floor and walls before the guy tossing them shuffled away. Sweat beaded my brow as I tried to hold my concentration, but it was like grasping a slick rope with sweaty hands. As my focus waned, the tingling subsided along with the nausea.
I heard a soft gasp. Bella's eyes lit up in the dim light and looked into mine. She pressed her hands against my chest. "Where are we?"
"Hiding." I glanced over the makeshift stack of rocks. The hole was visible again. "I think we're safe for now." I couldn't help but brag about my little feat of magic.
A smile lit her face. "I'm proud of you. It is true when they say necessity is the mother of magic."
Someone shouted. Gunfire echoed from the main chamber.
"Justin!" Elyssa shouted.
"Maybe you should stay here," I told Bella.
She tried to rise and groaned, pressing a hand to her head. "Perhaps you are right."
I jumped the hole and sneaked around the corner to the chamber. Several vampires lay unconscious in the middle of the floor. The rest had taken cover behind the columns in the back of the room, popping out at random and spraying bullets toward Elyssa's position. The vampling and cherub strained against their cages toward the nearby vampires. It would be very bad if either got loose. The infant-like cherub would drain the light out of anyone it caught and turn them into a shadow person. The vampling might start an epidemic if it bit anyone.
How Dash had procured the cherub, I had no idea. Daelissa must have done it. Why she'd done it was a mystery. The leyworm made sense, being a source of magical power, but why a cherub? Had he been studying ways to harness the power of these creatures? To enslave them? No, there had to be another explanation.
"Where's Maximus?" someone roared in anger. I poked my head out and saw Adam, his face red as he emerged from behind cover, staff held out in front of him. "Where's my sister, Felicia?"
A vampire sprayed bullets at Adam. Inches from hitting him, the air rippled with the impacts. Bullets clattered to the floor.
"Felicia is your sister?" Amanda laughed. "Maximus found out she'd betrayed him. Taught that bitch a lesson."
Adam's face went white. His jaw clenched and rage burned in his face. "Where is she?"
"Dead, you idiot!" Amanda threw something at Adam, a blur of brown that hit his shield and fell to the ground at his feet.
It only took me a split second to identify the rectangular package. It was the same explosive she'd thrown at me.
Chapter 25
Adam looked down. That was all he had time to do before the blast.
"No!" I shouted, arm extended toward him as if I could prevent his death with the force of my will. Nauseating sickness swept through my body and I felt as though I were holding a superheated bubble of molten liquid in my hand.
Adam flew back a foot, landing in the ruins of a crate. The air in front of his shield rippled like water disturbed by a thousand tiny rocks.
The pain and pressure in my hand increased. Almost by reflex, I flicked my hand away from Adam and toward Amanda's position.