***
A quick gasp for air and Barb drew herself back from her trance. She dropped the book on the table and blinked a few times, allowing her mind to adjust to the normal surroundings of the room. Using her ability sometimes made it hard for her to focus once she drew herself back, and yeah, she should be using it more, but Aslin’s instructions were just too tedious. Why couldn’t she just use them every now and then and call that practice?
She picked up another book and stared at the spine. These things were a goldmine of information, but there was so much here. It would take her weeks, if not months, to travel the timeline of all of them, but if what she saw in the timeline of just one was true, they were going to need details.
She took a deep breath and smoothed back a few strands of hair. Jezryall will want everything taken back, so she better start dividing them up for transport. She looked down at her designer boots. A thin layer of dirt covered the tip and up the heel. She bent one leg and wiped off some of the dirt with her hand, then rubbed her hand on her jacket. The sooner she got out of this place, the better. This place was a mess and wasn’t doing her hair or her boots any good.
The candles in the room flickered as the air raced out under the door. She tensed as frightened screams and yells echoed down the corridor. A chill ran up her spine. As much as she cared for her boss, the whole demon thing scared the hell out of her. She trusted Jezryall to keep it under wraps, but she feared one day the Boss Lady would let it slip.
He better be around when that happens!
Then everything was quiet. Barb lowered her head as she whispered a small prayer.
She looked down at the books and papers in front of her. Well, that was that. The battle was short and sweet. Might as well start piling all this stuff in boxes. She took out her cell and called the office.
“Hi, Lizzy, it’s me. Get a hold of Lucian and tell him to put together a Level Two evac team, and send them to the Russian Embassy.” She picked up a sheet of paper and gave it a quick glance. “No, nothing dangerous. Mostly documents, books, that sort of thing. Tell him to come when they’re ready, and be quiet about it. I want to be out of here with as little publicity as possible.”
The door to the room burst open and a strong gust of wind hit Barb dead on. Dust blew up in her face, but it was the strong odour of rotting flesh that irritated her eyes and she closed them and turned her head away. Her eyes snapped open when she heard someone run in. An old man dressed in the tackiest black robe she’d ever seen, darted into the room. He was a wrinkled, ugly thing, and Barb was pretty sure the rotting flesh smell was coming from him. She took a good look at his face as he ran past, and her eyes grew wide.
“Hey! I’ve seen you before!”
Shadows danced across his face as he glared at her, and Barb wished she’d kept her mouth shut. A scowl formed on his lips as he summoned a fireball and sent it hurdling toward her. She threw herself to the floor as the ball hit the table and engulfed a small portion of the area around her. She felt the heat of the flames lick her hands and face as the force of the impact threw her back against the wall.
Her head slammed against the stone wall sending paralyzing bolts of pains racing through her body. She could barely focus as she tried to crawl to a safe place. She saw the old man wave his hand along the wall in front of him. Like a curtain drawing back, an opening appeared with stairs. Running footsteps from the corridor came closer and the old man formed another fireball and paused at the foot of the stairs.
Barb shifted her focus to the corridor and saw Martin running toward her. She grabbed the closest object and hurled it at the old man.
“Martin, look out!”
The object struck the old man on the calf, and it was enough to distract him from Martin’s approach. He shifted his attention from the door back to her.
A wax ball went flying across the room, landing a few feet up the staircase. The globe burst on impact and the old man released the fireball at it, disintegrating it and its contents.
Martin hid behind the partially open door, several more globes in his hand. “I got a whole pile of those babies right here, old man,” he said, holding up his hand. “You might be able to duck out one or two, but what about four or five?”
The old man snarled and headed up the stairs.
“He’s gone!” Barb said, and tried to stand. “Ran up the stairs.”
Martin darted into the room and over to her side. “Are you all right?”
She took a hold of his arm and pulled herself up to her feet, rubbing the back of her head. “I’m fine--just go after him. He’s the key to all of this!”
Martin nodded and headed toward the stairs. “Get back to Aslin. Jezryall is down and Daniel is hurt bad.”
Barb’s heart leapt into her throat. “Oh my God!”