The Immortals After Dark 11: Dreams of a Dark Warrior

Natalya hissed, "Are you mad?"

"What's she gonna do? Vivisect me? Imprison me? We've got a pact to fulfil , remember?" To Dorada, she cried, "Seriously, sweetheart, shake that mummified ass over here." Regin kicked the glass. "Lemme the f**k out-"

La Dorada swung her head around, peering at Regin with her one eye.

"Okay. That's freaky. Lookit, Gol um, if you spring me, I'll help you find your Precious."

Regin could have sworn the sorceress's mouth gaped with a toothless smile. Then she slinked away.

"No, no, no!" Regin cried. "I'm about to do evil! Help a bitch out!"

But she was gone, leaving Regin and Natalya trapped like sitting ducks, still wearing their torques, while Pravus soldiers began prowling the ward. Once they'd eliminated the humans, they'd be coming for their true adversaries.

They'll come prowling for us.

As Declan marched out of his sanctum into the sealed-off research ward, he swept an assessing glance over the area.

Down the corridor in front of the multi-ton bulkhead, three dozen soldiers had set up a secondary barricade, just as he'd instructed them in repeated exercises.

They'd improvised with lighting, il uminating the ward with randomly placed outdoor spotlights and chemical glow sticks.

At this end, farthest from the bulkhead, dozens of terrified scientists and other support staff huddled.

They'd evacuated here as per the contingency plan he'd made them dril again and again. He dimly noted that they looked relieved to have spotted him.

Dixon wasn't among the evacuees. Had she been, he would've tossed her to the f**king wolves.

Vincente was absent, the loyal guard who'd apparently been trying to tell Declan about Regin.

But Fegley was here. And I don't have time to kill him right now.

The need to defend his base burned within Declan. My land. My territory. He ruthlessly drove thoughts of Regin-and of Webb's revelation-from his mind. If he didn't secure the facility, all would be lost.

Including her.

Declan pointed at Fegley and said simply, "You're as good as dead." The man cringed. At the barricade, Declan cal ed for the senior officer. "Where are the breaches?"

"In ward two, Magister. Soldiers trapped behind the bulkhead radioed that there are at least twenty confirmed cel breaches. There's some kind of foreign miscreat in there, a being from the outside.

Nothing can stop her. None of our weapons. She's somehow removing the torques from specific prisoners."

Impossible. But then, how the hel had she even gotten in here? "Which prisoners?"

"The most violent ones, sir."

Regin was in that ward. "Why haven't the soldiers gassed the place?" Each guard carried canisters of nerve gas and a breathing apparatus as part of his standard gear.

When the radio crackled with hoarse yel s, Declan snatched it up, ordering, "Deploy your canisters.

Now!" No response. "Confirm the order and carry it out!"

"Sir, the Sorceri ... raising a ... and fire ..." In the background, screams of terror rang out. Glass cell wall s continued to shatter.

"Goddamn it, gas them!" Gurgling sounds fol owed. Then utter chaos.

The guards flanking Declan went bug-eyed. The floor began vibrating. Then came a sound Declan couldn't believe.

The steel cel wal s in ward two were groaning as they ... crumpled.

Just then some force battered their bulkhead, denting the six-foot-thick metal.

The civilians screamed; Declan clenched his slackened jaw, then ordered, "If it goes, fire at will ." The guards clutched their weapons-MK 17s, TEP-Cs, grenade launchers. "Steady ..." He cocked and aimed his own rifle.

These were hardened soldiers, handpicked by the Order, but they knew what awaited them if they fell into the hands of these enemies.

A fate worse than death.

Another pounding of unimaginable power. Then another. "Steady ..."

The bulkhead flew open in a rush of sparks, like a door kicked in. A shock wave of air and sound clouded his vision, deafening him. Dust and smoke every-where.

Through the murky gap left behind, winged demons soared above. Cerunnos slithered in.

"Hold them back!" Declan yel ed, firing at the demons, burning through a clip in seconds. He grounded four of them, then stormed to the opening to meet the threat head-on. A vol ey of bul ets whizzed past his head as his men covered him.

Declan fought his way past the onslaught, but as soon as he caught his first look at the facility, his breath left him. Dozens of prisoners ran free. The bulkhead to ward two had also been breached, and a ... a mountain was rising within.

Two Sorceri females stood nearby; Declan recognized Portia and Emberine-the Queen of Stone and the Queen of Flames. Neither wore a torque, which meant both possessed their ful ungodly powers.

With a wave of her hand, Portia continued to draw up that colossal pediment of rock.

Emberine was beside her, incinerating any soldiers who'd had been caught outside the research ward.

One shot to the chest rendered their bodies to ash.

If that stone rose any higher, the entire facility would be demolished. Declan wouldn't be able to save anyone on this island from the self-destruct. He wouldn't be able to save Regin.

Regin. Declan finally understood what his victims had felt when he'd tortured their mates.

A madness to protect.

Have to eliminate the Sorceri. He yel ed once more to the guards, "Hold the line!" then charged straight into hel .

As he tore through the riot, he dimly realized that the creatures without their torques were uniformly those from the Pravus all iance.

That "being" had come from the outside to free only one army.

Now the Pravus preyed on their weakened Vertas enemies.

Regin was injured and likely still wore her torque. If the glass of her cel shattered, she'd be left unprotected. As a Vertas, she'd be targeted. ...

Final y he garnered enough room to raise his rifle and take a bead on Portia. He squeezed the trigger and held it, but before the spray of bul ets could hit the female, Emberine melted them in midair.

Then the Queen of Flames turned on him, eyes fil ed with malice. A firebal blazed in her raised palm.

He leveled his aim at her, emptying a clip, but she'd already hurled the bal at him with the speed of a rocket.

A kil shot.

It took him right in the chest, exploding him across the facility.

Chapter THIRTY-TWO

Dorada is in the building. Lothaire mused. Here, just as he'd predicted.

His nemesis Nix might have her foresight, but Lothaire had insight. He could calculate what Loreans would do with exceptional accuracy.