Chapter Twenty-Six
Bryce followedJesse through the archway. There was an odor he couldn’t place, which was odd, considering how new the building was. In some ways it smelled, and felt, older. Nothing he could identify, just his gut reaction to the place.
Though he was also trying to calm down the reaction he’d had to Jesse’s searing kiss. Bryce had never gone into battle against unknown forces with a hard-on. So. That was making this adventure extremely unique.
He couldn’t help liking how easy of a time he had chasing away the creepy feeling after the kiss, though. Even as they made their way down a hall and a second staircase, he relished the tingle on his lips, and the memory.
As they reached the bottom of the second set of stairs, Jesse motioned for Bryce to stop and move even more quietly. Chanting filled the air, along with a buzzing sound. It screeched through Bryce’s senses. Jesse went to one side of the door, and Bryce went to the other, ready with his shotgun. Jesse opened the door, and Bryce nudged it open further. It swung silently.
The room beyond was made of concrete, and there were odd angles to the walls and random protrusions in the floor. Some were as high as three feet and served as the base to large speakers.
In the center, six gray-cloaked figures stood around a concrete gate. The three devourer statues were part of their circle. For lighting they used a few electric lamps—camping equipment from what Bryce could see. The lights flickered, and they were too poor to provide much in the way of illumination. Everything had a gray overcast.
Including Jesse. Just before his mind had gone on a walk the last time, he’d turned that color. Bryce needed him to stay with him. He couldn’t rescue him and he couldn’t walk in there alone. Not with six potentially armed suspects. Even with him, Bryce didn’t like their odds. He grabbed Jesse’s shoulder, and Jesse managed a tough, weary smile for him.
“Speakers and statues,” he whispered. He flicked off the flashlight, but kept it in his hand. “That should stop them, right?”
“My best guess.” Bryce counted down from three and then stepped into the room.
Something was moving in the concrete archway. Bursts of white mixed in with the gray shadows. One of the chanters grew excited, and the slight change of voice altered the pitch of the whole chant. Another figure made a quick motion, and the chanter went back to the proper tone.
Shit was that delicate. Bryce scuffed his foot against a protrusion he couldn’t see in the poor lighting, but he reached a speaker without tripping. The sound from it warbled, and another whining sound was added to the mix.
The process was unsustainable. They wouldn’t be able to open a doorway to anywhere. Tiny relief, considering they would only try again. Bryce wondered how many efforts they’d made before.
He could ask them in the interrogation room. He grasped the end of the power cord plugged into the speaker.
One of the figures on the opposite side of the circle spotted him.
No time to waste. Bryce yanked on the cord, only the speaker came back on him. He barely got out of the way before it crashed onto the ground. It continued making a horrible noise, so he shot the damn thing.
Jesse moved, training his gun on the nearest of the figures. He turned on the flashlight as he stepped around a protrusion. “FBI. Hands up!”
No one listened. Bryce pumped the shotgun, chambering another round. He moved forward, careful to stay close to Jesse while still providing more coverage. “Stop chanting! Hands up!”
One of the statues had definitely changed position. It was crouched on the pedestal. None of the devourers had been in a crouching stance.
The chant picked up speed, that much Bryce could decipher. Jesse swayed, and he blinked too hard.
Bryce stepped forward. If the people wouldn’t stop, he’d shove them out of position. That should be enough to alter the resonance make-up. As he reached the closest of the figures, Jesse shot at one of the statues.
The devourer statuecaughtthe bullet, and then the bullet was gone. It slithered down its pedestal, and the other two abandoned their posts as well.
“Shit, shit, shit,” Jesse muttered over and over, his fearful voice adding its own note to the chant.
Which was when the devourer in the doorway solidified.
As terrifying as the statues were, Bryce had been able to shove them into the part of his mind where he kept all the odd artifacts he’d seen. The actual devourer was so different, and yet the same. Valless had crafted perfect likenesses. The devourer had at least six appendages that Bryce could count, each a tentacle covered with suckers. It had an elongated, bulbous head that shifted to a more humanlike shape. Sickly white skin covered it, though the skin had a sheen. Sweat? Secretion? Just the way the light bounced off of it?
The devourer snapped at the room, long pointed teeth gnashing together as it made the first swoop around the circle. Not one cloaked figure moved, except to keep chanting.
Jesse scrambled back. One of the statues was coming after him. The motion drew the attention of the actual devourer, and it flowed toward Jesse.
Another forming of shadows started in the concrete arch.
The odds were stacked too high against them. Bryce didn’t have enough explosive power to destroy the arch, backup wasn’t coming soon enough to save them, and the cultists continued their chant without hesitation. He wasn’t sure they could win.
But he could save Jesse.
