Walter rammed open his door and raced into the room, his eyes like mercury, vamped out.
Konstantin rolled to his side and raised a silver blade, one so thin and slender it was needlelike as it flashed up. The blade pierced Shiloh before she landed.
EJ
(Before the Blast)
He stepped over the dead bodies from the first feeding frenzy, frozen stiff in the snow. Silently, he slipped past Raccoon and Boots and up to the alley door, which had a small window set inside. The glass was partially obscured by a pile of ice in one corner and a spray of blood across the lower half.
He subvocalized a low note. Nothing sang back to him. No ward on the door. This was too easy. Stupid easy.
EJ slid a minicam into the snow-free corner and got an excellent view of the large room through the small window. There had once been a wall hiding the former car bays beyond, creating a good-sized kitchen, but the wall had been ripped down and the kitchen appliances shoved against this entrance door.
Beyond the blockade was the circle. Four people at a six-person circle.
He released Delta Mode. It unfolded within him. His magic expanded into his subconscious, into his dreams, and loosened his perception of time constraints. Time slowed as his brain waves changed how he sensed it. He absorbed the room. The exits. The positions of each of the enemies. Angie and her team would enter from the ancient vehicle service door. Walter and Shiloh through the church door. His team from the alley. If they could get past the heavy commercial stove blocking the door.
The possibilities spun in his mind as if achieving orbit. He had needed to see the room itself to know what path was the most likely to lead to success without death.
The others were talking about the demon circle and whatwas happening inside. Voices at HQ chattered over comms, seeing and hearing everything. No time to deal with that.
On a private channel, Angie whispered, “They aren’t possessed right now? EJ?”
EJ breathed out, “No demon music.”
They kept chattering and he replied as needed, putting away the cam, studying the door. It was sealed with a padlock.
He took it in his hand to mask the click and hummed low, a vibration of two notes. The lock clicked open. He removed it from the latch and locked it back. With another note, he heated it until the lock mechanism inside melted.
Never leave a potential weapon behind you. Keep your egress open.Lessons of war.
Through his ear-patch, the conversation continued.
He touched the knob. It was locked as well. He held it, searching for telltale magical boobytraps. Nothing sounded. He repeated the same notes and the lock melted open. When he tried the door, it gave only a sliver, as expected. The oven was an oversized commercial one, and it probably weighed over a thousand pounds. No amount of muscle was moving it from this side. He’d have to clear the obstruction with a working, timed to his sister’s blast.
He had listened to the queen’s orders, learning that some of his family were at her residence. His mother, his aunts, probably his baby sister and dad. Aunt Jane had placed his family under protection. They were as safe as anyone could be, with EEBs around.
“Walter, Shiloh, kids, withdraw,” Alex shouted. “Now!”
Shiloh said, “Too late.”
Through the glass, he saw Shiloh fall from the ceiling, arms wide, dual swords out to the sides, legs whipping, twisting her body.
So much for a countdown.
Fractions of seconds became linear, each clear, precise, detailed. Each successive fraction of each moment broke open.
Walter shoved open the door to the church.
Angie blew the door at the back to both sides.
In the midst of it all, EJ sang out awyrdworking in midrange G. “Apriti Sesamo!”Open Sesame.
The door at his fingertips blew open. His ear-patch damped the sound. The oven tumbled toward the old car bay and the circle.
Midair, Shiloh twisted at the last fragment of a second. Brought down her own swords. Stabbed Konstantin with her shortsword. Mid-chest. Heart thrust. Cut backhanded into his neck, down against his collarbone with her longsword.
The queen’s assassin brought him down before anything got started, except as he died, his silver blade pierced her side.
