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“But they can if necessary,” Cain reminded. “It’s not like it hurts them.”
“Or they’re trying to fool us.” Beau remained stubborn.
“I think Cain’s right.” Vance sprang to his defense. “The tracks only go in one direction.” He pointed to the scat on the floor, the prints with the distinct toe marks.
“I’m not dunking myself in shit water to check.” Beau grimaced, and Vance couldn’t blame him. Swimming in the sewers wasn’t anybody’s idea of fun.
“Then don’t. You can stay here,” Vance stated, even as he also didn’t want to get in the murky, smelly channel of grossness. However, nobody ever said being heroic would be clean. Besides, his entire outfit was already ruined. What did he care at this point? A woman’s life was more important than being squeamish about shit water.
Before anyone else could argue, Vance jumped in, the splash being a little more than needed to prove a point—and drenched the kid arguing. Vance waded a few paces, far enough to show the fluid stopping at his waist. “Watch your step,” he advised. “It’s slippery.”
Cain sighed. “Why can’t demons ever stay in clean places?”
“Because they’re demons. I’ll go first and crush a light bulb to light the way.”
“As if I’m opening my eyes in that,” muttered Silas, an older reaper.
Vance steeled himself against the knowledge of the mire in which he’d be submerging his head. It would suck. It would be gross beyond belief. He’d live. Sadie might not if he procrastinated.
He sank into the murk, mouth sealed, eyes shut, huffing through his nose as he traversed the hole in the wall. He stretched out his hands, one to trail on the tunnel to his left, one overhead to feel when he passed far enough to find an air pocket.
It didn’t take long. He popped his head out of the other side to pure darkness. He immediately crushed a magic bulb to illuminate the space.
And cursed as eyes reflected the light.
The gathered demons hissed before diving for him. He didn’t have time to grab the mini dagger in his pocket or warn the others before getting dunked by two monsters. He ended up back underwater, blind and under attack. He did his best to fend off claws and teeth.
When rescue came, it took a second to realize he could stand and breathe. Cain had arrived and swung his scythe with difficulty, given he stood in the narrow channel and the demons had the high ground.
Cain lopped off enough flesh the monsters retreated out of reach to the far end of the tunnel, where yet another hole passed through a concrete wall. As the reapers all gathered, Cain muttered, “It’s almost like they’re guarding that entrance to the next section.”
“Not like. They are.” Meaning that was where they had to go.
“Let’s go see what they’re protecting.” Cain slogged through the channel. Vance remained close with his dagger out. The narrow confines of the tunnel worked for and against them.
The good? The demons had to cluster and couldn’t flank. The bad? The demons had clustered, and the reapers couldn’t flank. It came down to Cain and his long-bladed reach, slicing through the monsters who had no sense of self-preservation. They ran almost headlong into death.
“Shit, there’s more!” Beau squeaked.
A glance behind showed more demons surging from the hole they’d just crossed, bobbing up and throwing themselves to the narrow ledges on either side of the channel, a few choosing to cling and scuttle across the low ceiling.
Surrounded by three times their number, the reapers could only fight. Vance stood with his back to the swinging Cain and waited for the first ceiling-scooting demon to drop. When it did, Vance was ready and slashed.
The next few moments were a chaos of battle as the numerous demons threw themselves at the reapers, but given they couldn’t swarm, killing them proved easy.
In short order, the demons lay dead or dying, and Cain glanced back at him to say, “Thanks for watching my back.”
Startled, Vance nonetheless managed a nonchalant, “Whatever.”
“This time, since I’ve got a better reach with the scythe, I’ll go first.”
“I’ll be right behind you,” Vance promised, while at the same time mentally conceding that perhaps he should invest in a pocket-sized weapon a little less useless than the dagger. The gun, his favorite weapon, wouldn’t have been ideal in this tight space. Not just because of the water fucking with the mechanics of it but the noise, which would have deafened.
Having dunked once in the muck didn’t make the second time any easier. At least when they surfaced, they didn’t have many demons to contend with. A handful threw themselves at their heads. Slashing with the dagger protected his face and drew his attention from the menace in the water.
It was Nasir who screamed, “Something bit me.”
Then Silas added, “What’s that glowing in the water?”
