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His resonance whispered through me, and I steadied. We were as one, with everything attuned to me. If I had the ability to enter the pocket unaided, I’d have the ability to exit. Besides, I was too close to the gimkrah to wimp out now.
Decision made, I let my hand sink into the wall, then I was inside the pocket with only the barest sensation of movement. A shiver ran through me, and not only because the air was as cold as a meat-locker. Though I was several feet from the chains, their effect smothered my arcane senses like a thick blanket of wet cotton.
After taking careful note of precisely where I’d entered, I approached the podium. The core of the crystal globe had been dull brownish red when I arrived, but as I neared it flashed with scarlet lightning, giving the unsettling impression it was snapping at me. I unslung my backpack and pulled out a fleece jacket. I couldn’t risk direct contact with the makkas bands on the gimkrah, and who knew what the runes on them might do. Using the jacket like oven mitts, I lifted the globe from the podium and stuffed into the backpack. Mission accomplished.
To my relief, the return to the main chamber proved as simple I’d hoped. But how was I supposed to get out of the column? The room had a serious lack of glowing EXIT signs.
“Doesn’t Mzatal know about fire codes?” I muttered. Sign or not, a way out existed. All I had to do was find it.
I checked each wall in turn but found only more dimensional pockets—some empty, some like arcane attics filled with stored furniture and miscellaneous objects, but none with another living being. My gaze fell on the pedestal. Could it be that simple? As I placed my hands on the cool stone, a mild sensation of being inside an upward swirling vortex permeated me. This was it. I closed my eyes and envisioned the top of the column then let the vortex lift me.
Chapter 29
“You all right?” Pellini called out from below.
I gave him a thumbs up then scuttled down the column steps. When I reached the grass, I kept going and beckoned him to hurry away with me. “I got the gimkrah, but Xharbek was there,” I panted. “That asswipe is the puppet master behind everything.” As we hustled down to the ravine path, I briefed him on the highlights. “I’m sure he wants me to get shredded in the summoning, but he practically gave the gimkrah to me, which makes me suspicious as all hell. I just want to be home. Now.”
“You won’t get any argument from me.”
To my relief, our little group and Janice were waiting across the ravine on the path to the grove. Michael grinned and waved, but Turek let out a furious roar. Alarm swept over Michael’s face as he pointed above my head. Hand on my Glock, I spun to see four reyza hurtle from a rift high in the sky. The instant they were clear, the rift snapped closed behind them.
“Pellini, incoming!” I shouted, drawing my weapon. Gold adorned one of the demons. Jontari.
“Sonofabitch,” he growled, already sighting on the approaching threat. “Not a single goddamn place to take cover.”
And no way in hell could we make it to the palace before they were on us. “Then we stand and fight,” I said, copying his stance.
As I sighted on the lead demon, an arc of lightning incinerated it. A killing ward of Mzatal’s. No time to celebrate, though. The other three reyza shot through the dispersing ash-cloud of their dead brother, taking full advantage of his sacrifice and the brief hole in the defenses.
Kehlirik let out a fierce scream of defiance as he arrowed toward us from atop the palace. That evened the odds a bit, though it would be a race to see if he could reach us before the Jontari. A dozen feet ahead, the earth heaved upward and resolved into a hulking humanoid shape. One of Michael’s golems. I breathed a thank you, hope for survival rising as Pellini and I ducked behind its bulk for cover.
“This is going to be brutal,” Pellini muttered, eyeing the quickly approaching Jontari.
“Good thing we’re awesome.” Working the arcane at turbo-speed, I prepped six makeshift shield-busters. The quartz spheres that Idris used held the potency better than brass and lead, but my buster-bullets had done the trick against Big Turd in Siberia. I gave Pellini three, and we each loaded them into our respective magazines and chambered a round.
Peeking from behind the cover of the golem, I fired twice at the closest reyza then cursed as the rounds flashed and pinged off his shielding. “No good!” I said. “The demons can tap full potency here for shields.”
And then we were out of time. The reyza dove at us and raked claws over the golem, scattering dirt, but the golem snatched it out of the air, giant earthen hands twisting to break one wing. Demon and dirt limbs flailed as the two skirmished. Pellini and I scrambled away, and the other two attackers took immediate advantage of our loss of cover. A scarred yet agile reyza hit Pellini like an airborne freight train, sending both of them tumbling over the edge of the ravine.
“Pellini!” I cried out, running toward where they’d disappeared. I’d barely closed half the distance when the demon rose into view then swooped on me. I dodged and rolled, but he caught me with pathetic ease then tossed me in the air like a rag doll before slamming me face down on the grass.
My breath whooshed out with the impact, and my gun tumbled from my grasp. I struggled to fill my lungs then wheezed out a scream as the demon gripped my calf and wrenched, sending pain exploding through my knee. I scrabbled for my gun, but he pinned me down with a foot across the back of my thighs then ripped the backpack from me. With a scream of triumph, he pressed down harder on my legs. Heart racing, I steeled myself for the downward slash of claws that would finish me.
Kehlirik bellowed in fury. The weight on me disappeared, and the sting of arcane fallout rippled over me. He just saved my ass. I lifted my head to see my attacker fend off Kehlirik with a vicious claw kick and tail lash then leap into the air with my backpack in hand. The other Jontari sent an arcane blast sizzling over me to strike Kehlirik, then both climbed high, wings beating hard.
Dazed, I flopped onto my back and sucked in precious air. Twenty yards away, Kehlirik struggled to get to his feet while ugly red arcane flickered over him. Nearby, the broken-winged demon thrashed out from beneath a pile of dirt, but Turek streaked toward it and swept two sets of claws out to lay open its throat. High above, a new rift swallowed the two departing Jontari then closed after them.
Despair squeezed my chest. In mere seconds, a single Jontari had not only dispatched Pellini and me with ease, but stolen the gimkrah as well. Bam, bam, bam.
Pellini! I pushed up and limped to the ravine edge, knee threatening to give way with every step. He lay at the bottom of the ravine, crumpled on his side. It was clear he was hurt, but I couldn’t tell how badly. His legs jerked, and he had his arms clutched around his middle. But he was alive.
“Pellini!” Gritting my teeth against the pain, I clambered over the edge and slid-staggered down to him. “Hey, man, did you break something?”
He rolled to his back, breath coming in short, agonized rasps. For an instant I thought he was cradling a small, bloody creature—a mishmash of lumpy dark yellow and rust brown and whitish-pink coils.
“Oh fuck,” I breathed. Abdominal fat and liver and intestines. A vicious gaping wound ran from just below his right ribcage to his left hip. Several feet of intestine lay in the dirt beside him.
He focused on me with effort, eyes glazed and shocky. “Kara,” he wheezed. “I think this is bad.”
