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Wait—it wasn’t 8 P.M. yet! Frantically I looked around. They weren’t due to start for another ten minutes—but here Lowestar was already beginning the incantation to wake up Suvika.
Frantic now, I burst out of my hiding place, followed by the others. I went barreling directly toward the group and—as they turned in unison—started to sail over their heads, only to go thudding right into a force field.
I slid to the ground against the invisible wall, landing in a heap on the floor. As I did so, Lowestar laughed and resumed his incantation. His followers, however, turned and pushed back their own hoods. Fuck. They looked like businessmen—not daemons—but it was impossible to tell whether they were FBHs or not. We couldn’t just outright slaughter a bunch of humans, could we?
Smoky sent a blast of winter their way, the chill wind freezing against the ground, running below the force field to drive a blinding wall of snow toward them. The men seemed confused, at least most of them, but a couple broke away from the pack and moved to the front, their eyes now glowing.
“Daemons—at least the ones in front are!” Camille’s voice echoed through the hall.
At that moment, Morio managed to find his way around the force field, moving to the side. Ah, so it wasn’t all-inclusive. I raced to the other side and, sure enough, found myself in the fray. Vanzir was on my heels, and it looked like Morio and Camille were cooking up something. As they cast their spell, a purple bolt shot forth, striking the heart of the force field, and then—all hell broke loose.
“What the hell—” Delilah’s scream was cut off as thunder split the air and the marble statue behind the throne began to fracture, cracks racing through like windshield glass shattering after a cold snap.
Lowestar’s voice rose, his incantation deep and reverberating now.
“Stop him—focus on Lowestar!” I pushed through the force field where Morio and Camille had broken through. Little sparks of lightning still flared out from it, but I ignored them, driving on. The men behind the field scattered, save for the two that were daemonkin, and now they cast off their robes and turned to face me. I leaped between them, leaving them for the others. I was after Lowestar.
The statue continued to fracture, and beneath it, I could see the form of someone—crap. Was that where Suvika had been sleeping? Was this his tomb deep in the ethers? Or was this just his new godform, waiting for him as he broke free from his slumber?
I managed to reach the girl on the altar before Lowestar turned on me. He held out his hand and a flash of light drove out, aiming for my heart. I dove for the side. Screams behind me told me that the others had engaged the daemons and the good ol’ boys’ club.
The streaming light hit somebody, because I heard a shriek and turned as I came back to my feet. One of Lowestar’s cronies had a gaping hole in his chest, burned through and cauterized at the same time. A look of surprise on his face, he toppled face first to the floor.
Lowestar grabbed for a staff that was lying on the altar stone next to the girl. He brought it up as I did a spin kick, aiming for his chin. He met me with the staff, but I managed to break it in half and a crack of light burst out of the broken ends. He tossed it aside as I met him, hand to hand.
Lowestar was horribly strong—I hadn’t counted on how strong the daemon might be, and he managed to get hold of my neck. Aha, he didn’t know I was a vampire. He could break the vertebrae but they would heal. I let him pull me close, then flashed him my fangs.
“Oh, so that’s how you want to play?” His eyes flashed and he let go of me with one hand to reach for the broken end of the staff.
Fuck—makeshift wooden stake!
I thrust myself forward into his arms. Caught off guard, he wasn’t able to stop me. As I sank my fangs deep into his neck, he let out a startled shout and dropped the staff. I took him down, feeding so fast and deep that the blood was making me dizzy.
I was sucking him in, drinking him deep, when a noise shattered the chaos in the room. Glancing up as a shower of dust sprayed over me, I saw the rest of the marble on the statue crack and fall away as a tall, gorgeously handsome man leapt off the dais.
“Suvika!” Camille’s voice echoed from behind me. I pulled away from Lowestar and began to back up as the demigod turned my way. No way did I want to get caught in his grasp. I glimpsed the mayhem that had been going on—both daemons were dead, and the FBHs were scattered, cowering against the floor as if hiding their heads was going to save them. Turning back, I noticed the girl was gone—as well as the young man. They had vanished from their chains.
Lowestar turned on his belly and began to crawl toward Suvika. The demigod’s hair was glowing black, long and luxurious, falling against a well-muscled chest, and a thin Mandarin mustache accentuated the sharpness of his chin. He truly was glorious in looks, and I found myself magnetized by the gleam in his eyes.
He looked at Lowestar, who—weak from my attack—dragged himself one inch at a time toward the god. A fire began to burn in my belly, and I realized the daemon blood was starting to have an effect on me. I wanted to touch the god, to feel that chest under my skin. Maybe have a taste of—
“Menolly, get back!” Vanzir had hold of my arm and he was dragging me away. I struggled but he was as strong as I was, and the next thing I knew, he had those damned neon feeding tubes emerging from his hands and he fed them straight into my mind.
I screamed—the feeling of being mentally violated was sickening. Now, I understood why Camille had done what she did—why she had offered him her body instead of her mind. But then, just as I started to beg him to stop, the horrible intrusion vanished and I could think clearly again. Vanzir had left my mind.
He gave me a wan smile. “Sorry, but you needed to come down from that high, and fast.”
I nodded, then turned back to see the demigod approach Lowestar. Would he heal him up? Stand him as his general? But Suvika cocked his head, staring at the daemon, then lifted his foot… and crushed Lowestar Radcliffe’s skull with his boot with a simple, light step.
“Fuck! Get the hell out of here!” Delilah was backpedaling toward the door.
“The yew wand ain’t gonna do shit against that freak.” Vanzir backed away. “He’s big and he’s bad.”
“The girl—” Camille lunged forward.
Smoky caught her. “Shade got her! He moved through the shadows and I saw him taking her and the boy upstairs. Now get the fuck back from there. Can’t you feel how powerful this creature is? Suvika could bring this place down around our heads.”
Even as Smoky spoke, Suvika looked over at us, smiled, and raised his arms. The temple floor began to shake, rolling under our feet. All too close to what had happened in Elqaneve for comfort.
