THIRTY-SEVEN
The signal from Leila’s tracker had led them to Northern California, a tourist destination named Mercer Caverns, a collection of caves that ran deep underground, filled with rock formations created by nature over millions of years, thanks to the mineral-rich rocks and underground flowing water.
Under cover of darkness, Aiden directed his colleagues toward the main entrance, examining the locking mechanism. It was untouched.
“He must have taken Leila in another way,” he said to nobody in particular.
Behind him, Hamish grunted. “Doesn’t matter. Once we have her, we’ll figure out which way to get her out. If need be, Logan can always break the door open later.”
“Right,” Logan confirmed.
Aiden turned back to them. In addition to Logan and Hamish, Manus and Enya were with them. Pearce had to stay at the compound, unable to move. Besides, he had to give them a constant update of Leila’s position in case she was moved again. In the meantime Pearce had also alerted Aiden’s father who was on his way. Jay, one of their other compound mates, had been pulled off his assignment and was going to meet up with Barclay, then join Aiden and the others at Mercer Caverns to provide more manpower.
“Let’s go,” Aiden ordered.
“We should wait for the others,” Enya cautioned. “You don’t know how many demons Finlay is meeting with. We might be outnumbered.”
“We can’t risk waiting any longer. The demons can show any moment if they haven’t already. And if they take her to the underworld, not even the tracker will help us.” Aiden would never allow this. He was so close to getting her back, there was no way he’d let this opportunity slip through his fingers just because they might be unevenly matched against the demons.
“Fine,” Hamish agreed.
“Then let’s move.”
One after one, they passed through the entrance and moved into the dark interior. Aiden smelled the damp air, the mustiness, as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Not paying the natural beauty of the caverns any attention as he moved downward into the belly of the earth, he kept his senses sharp and alert, ready to cloak himself from everybody’s eyes, even the Stealth Guardians’ behind him, should they encounter any demons or the traitor.
His hand tested for his weapons, making sure they still were where he’d stashed them: one dagger in each boot, two at his belt, and a sword in his right hand.
The descent was a long and winding one. As soon as they reached the first branch of the cave, they scanned their surroundings. It was empty. Slowly, they moved forward along the carved out path that led them through the labyrinth. Nobody spoke, knowing their voices would echo and give them away.
Aiden felt his heart beat faster with every step. He didn’t like the silence. What if it meant they were already too late? He tried to block the frightening thought from his mind. No, he would save her. She was here somewhere.
A hand on his shoulder stopped his progress. Then he felt Hamish’s mouth at his ear and saw his hand stretching past him.
“There. Light.”
Aiden nodded and edged forward toward the next cavern, holding his hand up to his friends to indicate they should wait for him. Then he reached for his power and cloaked himself.
In his invisible state, he approached and reached the edge of the walkway as it opened up to a large room. It was much bigger than the one before and illuminated by a ring of fire burning along the wall. His eyes instantly honed in on the two figures near one wall. Leila was sitting propped against a stone formation, while Finlay stood a few feet from her, scanning his surroundings, clearly waiting for somebody: the demons.
Aiden let his eyes run over Leila’s body. As she lifted her head now, he noticed a red bruise on one side of her neck. His hands clenched into fists, wanting to beat Finlay to pulp for having harmed her. But he refrained from following his urge. Satisfied that Leila was otherwise uninjured, he rushed back in silence.
He uncloaked himself when he reached his friends. They huddled around him.
“Finlay is there with Leila. Both are at the right wall, two o’clock. We’ll go in cloaked. Surround them. It’s a circular room. Enya, Manus, use the pathway on the left, make a loop; Logan stay at the entrance to block him from escaping. Hamish, you and I take the path to the right. Once I’m close enough to touch Leila I’ll give you a signal, we’ll uncloak, then attack Finlay.”
“No,” Hamish whispered back.
Aiden gave him a sharp look.
“We need to wait for the demons. If you attack now, the demons might smell a rat and not show,” Hamish continued.
“I don’t care!” Aiden bit back below his breath. They could always get the demons later. His first priority was getting Leila to safety.
“Think about it, Aiden. They’re coming for her. It’s our best chance of them coming close enough so we can snatch them. They’re our ticket into the underworld. We’ll get one of them and we can get in and find the pendant.”
Aiden contemplated Hamish’s idea. He’d thought the same at first, but seeing Leila sitting there in the damp cave, he couldn’t help but wish for this to be over fast.
“Hamish is right,” Logan said quietly. “We’ll never have such a great opportunity again.”
Aiden closed his eyes for a moment. Could he take this risk? Did he have a right to use Leila as bait to get to the demons? His heart screamed ‘no’ in the loudest of voices, but logic dictated otherwise. He knew this was the best chance they would ever have to catch the demons unawares.
Slowly, reluctantly, he nodded. “But we’ll still go in cloaked now and wait with them.”
“Agreed.”
“Positions?” Enya asked.
“Station yourselves in a circle close to the cavern walls. Logan at 6 o’clock, Enya at 9, Manus at 11, Hamish at 12. I’ll be at 4 o’clock. It’s the closest we can get to Finlay and Leila, otherwise Finlay might sense us despite our cloaked state. Nobody attacks until they hear my command. Understood?”
All nodded, then lined up on the walkway, a safe distance between them.
“Cloak now,” he ordered and his friends disappeared in front of his eyes.
***
The wait seemed to stretch forever even though Aiden’s watch indicated that only a few minutes had passed before he finally heard a sound. He watched as Finlay’s ears perked up too.
Relieved that the wait was over, Aiden gripped his sword tighter and scanned the room for the spot where the demons would appear.
Without warning, a shockwave pushed him back, knocking him against a limestone formation. Black fog rose before him, blocking his direct line of sight to where Leila sat.
Shit! He realized instantly that the demons had thrown up a vortex right in front of him, and he was caught at the back of it, cut off from reaching Leila. Panic roared through him. He couldn’t step through the demons’ portal, knowing that it could hurtle him into the underworld instead. While that was the ultimate plan to get Leila’s research data back, he would only do so once she was safe.
Frantic, he pushed past the edges of the vortex, trying desperately not to connect with it as he slid along the wall. His hand slipped on the damp stone he was grasping, and his body jolted forward. His arm and shoulder dove into the black fog, the iciness shocking him to the core.
An array of voices assaulted him. Yet it wasn’t his ears that perceived them, but his mind: he heard the demons’ thoughts as they stepped through the portal on the other side.
. . . some good killing tonight.
. . . new leader, my ass . . .
And then he heard the thoughts that could only come from one demon. Finlay is a fool to think the Great One is going to make him our leader. I’m their next leader. Once I bring him the scientist, he’ll make me his heir.
Zoltan’s thoughts, no doubt. And it confirmed another thing: Finlay would not get the power he craved.
With all his strength, Aiden pulled from the vortex. He’d had no idea that a connection with it would make him privy to the thoughts of the demons. But as much as this was great news, he had to wonder whether this could backfire. Had they heard his thoughts too?
As he cleared the vortex and reached the position where Logan was supposed to be at, he could finally grasp the entire situation: several demons had stepped out of the vortex and now crowded around Leila and Finlay. He counted nine, maybe ten, recognizing Zoltan easily from the back. He was slightly taller than the others, bulkier, and his entire form oozed power and domination. And clearly, he’d gotten smart, surrounding himself with a small army this time and not only with two demons as he’d done on the previous occasion they’d met.
The demons’ voices now echoed through the cavern, bouncing off the walls, the sound magnifying.
“We meet again,” Zoltan said calmly.
“I brought her to you just as you asked,” Finlay said.
“That you have.” Zoltan made a movement toward his followers. “My associates will give you what is due to you.”
Chuckles went through the assembled demons. Aiden felt the tiny hairs on his arms stand up in dread. He knew what Zoltan’s words meant, but Finlay still smiled. What a fool, indeed.
“Let’s go,” Zoltan ordered and grabbed Leila’s arm.
In horror, Aiden watched as he dragged her toward the vortex, while she tried to dig her heels into the ground.
“Wait!” Finlay called. “Haven’t you forgotten something?”
Zoltan turned to face the traitor. “Forgotten? Oh, right!” Then he laughed. “Deal with him!” he ordered a demon next to him and turned.
Aiden couldn’t stall any longer. He could only hope that his colleagues had been able to approach the demons in stealth and were close enough to attack before Zoltan had a chance to get away.
“Uncloak now!” he screamed, his voice filling the cavern.
Zoltan’s head shot to him, just as Aiden uncloaked himself.
Yet Aiden didn’t look at the demon’s furious green eyes, instead his gaze fixed on the diamond studded pendant that hung around his neck.