"We need to get to Damali. Mar, can you see anything down here?"
Marlene shook her head in answer to Big Mike's question. "We're in too deep."
"We need to move," Rider said quietly. "Jose doesn't look good."
"If he falls, I'll carry him... he ain't heavy - he's my brother." Big Mike slung his arm around Jose's shoulder as Jose struggled for air.
"I'm slowing you all down..."
"Shut up, Jose," Dan yelled. "We don't leave anybody down here to perish. We go back for our own, and bury them ourselves. Come on, I got his other side, Mike."
"While we were topside, did you give Damali that extra battery, J.L.?" Shabazz lit a concert torch as the one he was holding began to die.
"Yeah. If she can get to it fast enough, she might have a prayer."
"Let's hustle, folks. I hear movement again behind us," Rider urged. "The monk's blood and our body heat is drawing 'em out again."
Marlene touched the knight's shoulder. "I'm. sorry... but I have to say this. If they stop and feed, it gives us time. When we go topside, you tell them that your brother guardian gave his life so we may live."
The knight just nodded and swallowed hard as the group began to jog deeper into the pit.
The force of Carlos's push had landed her against a pile of gore with a soft thud, but she hadn't lost her blades. She instantly shrank away from the dead women who had cushioned her fall. The doors had flung open, and something worse, much worse than Carlos, was standing between the marble slabs now hanging from broken hinges, and it issued a threatening growl. Red, gleaming eyes peered at her through slits, as Carlos's golden ones glistened with challenge. Oh, shit...
The thing standing in the doorway was a head taller than Carlos, and it not only had fangs but claws to match. They squared off and circled one another. While the two vampires focused on each other, she scrambled low, undetected for a moment, into the larger space behind them. The room she had sneaked into was lit with wall torches, and had more space for her to maneuver within. The massive black granite slab in the middle of the floor was something that she could use to shield herself with, and she knew she could leverage her position to fight around it when the time came.
"My delivery is five minutes late!"
"We were attacked in the tunnels - four of my men went down."
She watched as the first creature withdrew with caution, and could only assume that it was Nuit. He let out a guttural roar, which drew the same sound from Carlos. But they had stopped circling.
"Unfortunate, but I left your dinner at the door as promised - now leave me my bride."
A bride... and Carlos asked for bodies to be left? She saw him glance at her, and the implicit threat in his eyes chilled her. Two masters in such close proximity were screwing up her telepathy. But she caught part of Carlos's response. Play the game. Right.
"Don't sweat me about the minor time lapse! She called you."
Carlos rumbled. "That should tell you something, despite my condition. You know the high-speed access portal has taken its toll - and as the courier, I was required to do battle, and then had to suffer holding her! Can you blame me?"
Damali was behind Nuit and could see his muscle-distorted shoulders begin to relax. She knew Carlos's style well enough to sense something was going on, and she locked in on his gaze. But she was too far from the menacing thing in front of her to wield the Isis, or effectively use the dagger. They would have to do this as a team, and Carlos was backing up Nuit in his lair.
"No, I guess this was to be expected," Nuit finally growled, stalking from the entrance to turn his attention on Damali. "You've done well," he said as she continued to back up, her glance going between Nuit and Carlos as she moved with Nuit, her sword cocked and ready to swing. "The package is wrapped in silver," he snarled. "Unwrap it."
"Are you insane?" Carlos said, shaking his head. "I held it, nearly caught fire. If I unwrap her, she's mine."
"You were to bring her to me without her barriers!"
"I lost my brother, my cousin, and two of my best friends to make this delivery - and fought in the tunnels... and didn't violate the package. We need to have a discussion about the territories, and my new, expanded cut. Then, maybe I'll unwrap her for you."
Damali glanced at Nuit as he tilted his head to one side, his gaze going between her and Carlos. Anxiety swept through her, as did hope. All she could do was pray that Carlos hadn't totally gone over to the other side, and that he wouldn't have turned her over for mere territory - and what did that mean, anyway? Territory? For what? She was afraid to fathom the definition as she thought of the dead women on the ground outside. But the thought of a prayer brought Nuit's attention back to her.
"Not down here," Nuit said in an even tone through his teeth.
Carlos cast a warning glance at her.
"You're frightening her," Carlos said carefully.
"Good - it just intensifies the lure."