A Flicker of Steel

  Layla stood for a moment, reached out with her power, and found each and every blade that had been dropped by its dead owner. She wrapped her power around them all and flung them at the mass of blood elves. Dozens of weapons found homes in the flesh of their enemies, and half a dozen blood elves fell at once.

  “Move,” Layla shouted to Tommy and Zamek, who did exactly as she suggested just before she flung a second round of weapons into the remaining blood elves. Those still alive turned to run and found themselves between a rock and hard place, as Irkalla, Diana, Sky, Chloe, and Remy stood in their way. The thirty or so remaining blood elves were decimated in minutes.

  Hades and Persephone walked out of a nearby building after two sorcerers. Hades avoided a jet of flame, moved closer, and touched one of the sorcerers on the chest. A second later the sorcerer fell to his knees as Persephone opened the ground up beneath the second sorcerer, crushing him as he fell in.

  “Have I ever said how scary they are?” Chloe asked Layla as Olivia joined the group.

  “I think it could stand to be repeated,” Layla told her. “You okay?”

  Chloe nodded. “You?”

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “She maimed Jared,” Zamek said.

  Layla explained what had happened.

  “You pinned him to a wall with a rotor blade?” Remy asked.

  “I didn’t have a lot of other choices at the time,” Layla said. “He was trying to kill me.”

  “Even so, that’s badass. Remind me not to piss you off.”

  Layla smiled. “I’m sure that’s advice you’d only ignore.”

  “True, but that’s because I’m clearly more awesome to have around than Jared.” Remy placed a paw on her hand. “I’m sorry about what you had to do. That must have sucked huge amounts of balls.”

  Layla laughed. “You have a way with words, Remy. A terrifying way, but a way nonetheless.”

  Remy winked.

  “What’s the plan?” Tommy asked Olivia. He’d turned back into his human form, and she walked over and kissed him without a word.

  “This place is a torture factory,” Irkalla said. “They experiment on people—both human and otherwise. I had no idea Nergal had gone this far. He was trying to find the perfect candidate to turn into an umbra.”

  “There are several buildings we haven’t searched,” Hades said. “And the fighting appears to be centralized to the west and south sides of the compound. I say we look east, at that large building over there. It has several floors and is quite close to the runway. Hopefully, we’ll find some more scrolls, or more of the umbra we came for. The umbra we have found, we’ve sent to the Hercules on the runway.”

  “How many?” Layla asked.

  “Several dozen at the moment,” Olivia said.

  Everyone set off together and were soon joined by a company of Hades’ security force who had been clearing out several of the smaller buildings. They included Commander Fenix and Kase, the former of whom nodded hello to Layla. He told her that the explosions had been caused when a sorcerer had used a glyph to blow himself up with his own magic. It was an act that several of them had used in the past and was one of the ways Arthur and his people were able to convince humanity of the threat of his enemies and use their fear to come to power. To have humanity welcome them with open arms.

  Layla happened to glance over at a single-story building that was several hundred feet long, and saw her father go inside. “I’ll catch you up,” she told Kase and Chloe, who were beside her.

  “Layla, what’s wrong?” Kase asked as Layla began to head toward the building in question.

  “My father went in there,” she told them, feeling apprehensive about whatever was going to happen once she confronted him.

  “What’s your plan?” Chloe asked.

  “Take him down, bring him to the runway. Hopefully he’ll surrender.”

  “Is that likely?” Fenix asked.

  “I have no idea,” Layla told him.

  “You want backup?” Kase asked.

  Layla shook her head. “I need to do this alone. He won’t hurt me.”

  “You sure?” Chloe asked, not a hundred percent certain about that.

  Layla nodded. “Give me five minutes and then, if I’m not out, come get me.”

  Kase and Chloe looked at each other, but nodded. “Three minutes,” Chloe said, passing Layla a new earpiece. “I had a spare. Stay in contact.”

  “If you’re not out by then, my parents will drag you out,” Kase told her. “No arguments.”

  Layla sprinted across the open space, almost barging through the door, into a long, empty chamber where floor-to-ceiling red and black drapes covered the tall windows, bathing the room in gloom.

  “Hello, Layla,” Caleb said. He sat on a chair at the far end of the chamber, two dead men at his feet. He dropped a bloody knife onto the floor, making enough noise for Layla to hope that no one else came to see what the problem was.

  Layla tapped her earpiece. “I don’t think my dad is in the kind of mood to come quietly.”

  “We’ll be there,” Chloe said.

  Caleb started to get up, but Layla wrapped the metal in the chair legs around his arms, dragging him to a kneeling position on the floor. “We wait,” she told him.

  “Whatever you wish,” Caleb said with a smile.

  The rest of the team burst through the doors behind Layla. “Are you okay?” Chloe asked Layla, who nodded.

  “Do you know where Abaddon is?” Irkalla asked.

  “Dad?” Layla said.

  “Sorry. No idea. She really wants to tear this whole place down, though.” Caleb looked over at Layla. “We have things we need to talk about.”

  “You guys go, I’ll stay,” Layla said. “I need to talk to him.”

  Chloe sat on a chair next to her. “Don’t you dare tell me to go, too,” she said. “It’s not happening.”

  “Get what you need, then meet us at the airfield,” Hades said. “If we’re not there when you arrive, wait. Don’t split up again. I’d rather we didn’t hang around.”

  “Be careful,” Layla said.

  “You, too,” Persephone told her. “Irkalla, you feel like staying here and helping?”

  Irkalla picked up a chair and sat down.

  Layla waited until everyone had gone before she relaxed the bonds keeping her father in place. “You’re coming with us,” she told him.

  “Just so you know, your mother is alive. Sort of.”

  Layla didn’t remember sitting down, but the next thing she knew, she was. “What?” Her emotions ran from disbelief to confusion, and then finally settled on anger. “Don’t you dare start making up shit about her.”

  “Abaddon found your dead mother, forced her spirit back into her body, and then made her an umbra. She looks like your mom, but . . . but she isn’t.”

  “Abaddon did that?” Layla asked, not wanting to believe him. “Why? How?”

  “The how is because she’s a powerful necromancer. The why? I don’t know. But I am going to kill her for it.”

  “Is that how you deal with people who hurt you?” Chloe asked, taking a seat beside Layla and holding her hand.

  “It’s what I’m good at. Killing my enemies is the best way for me to get the job done.”

  “You won’t kill Abaddon,” Irkalla said.

  “I’ll try.”

  “You are an arrogant little prick,” Chloe snapped.

  “You are not the first one to tell me this,” Caleb said. “I am sorry for all the hurt you’ve gone through in the last few days. It seems that removing me from prison was meant to go a lot smoother than this.”

  “Good people died because of you,” Layla said. “Don’t belittle them.”

  “I’m not,” Caleb said with a slight sigh. “One thing you should understand, though: your mother, Elizabeth, she knew all about my crimes. She was scared of me, yes, scared that I’d go too far and kill an innocent, but she always helped me cover up what I did. Helpe
d me remove evidence and gave me alibis if needed. She wasn’t innocent; she just didn’t wield the deathblow herself. Honestly, I think she found it a little exciting to be married to someone like me.”

  “You liar,” Layla shouted, almost jumping to her feet with fury.

  “I’m not, Layla. You were young, but you can remember your mother telling you to say I’d been there when I hadn’t, wanting your help to move things. The amount of time you spent digging up the back garden with her.”

  Layla opened her mouth to argue, but found that she couldn’t. She remembered little things her mom had done, things that over the years she had ignored, but looking back they now felt like things that might add up to something unpleasant. Layla remembered finding blood-stained clothes, and her mom telling her that her father had cut himself, but that he was okay. She remembered whispered conversations, remembered her mom telling her not to go into her father’s locked room; but then seeing her mother go in and out of there herself. “You were both monsters.” The realization of those words threatened to push Layla over the edge, and she leaned up against the wall, feeling as though the weight of the world were pushing her down.

  “Yes, to one degree or another. Your mother was a good woman, though. I loved her very much. This new version of her is not your mother. She will kill you. I’m sure you’ll be seeing her before long.”

  “You didn’t know all this time?”

  Caleb shook his head. “Sorry. Wish I had—I’d have broken out and dealt with it. Did you kill Jared?”

  Layla shook her head.

  “Hard to kill people you care about, isn’t it? Even when that person betrays you. My uncle betrayed me when I was only twelve. He attacked a woman in our street. I thought he was this awesome guy who would never hurt anyone, but I found out that he was just a thug. He got away with what he’d done. Not enough proof, they said, even though they had evidence. He was my first kill. I was fifteen. I beat him to death with a metal bar while he slept. I found out he was friends with the arresting officer, and that certain items of evidence had vanished. The cop was my second kill.”

  “And it never ended,” Chloe said.

  “It probably never will,” Caleb told her, before looking at Layla. “Good to see you again.”

  Layla re-formed his metal restraints. “No more chances, no more games. I’m done with this shit.”

  Caleb beamed as if proud of his daughter.

  The door to the building burst open and Kristin entered, firing a rifle. Layla stopped most of the bullets mid-flight, flinging them back at her, riddling her with her own ammunition. Layla saw another Kristin creep slowly outside of the building; she also had a rifle slung over her shoulder.

  “We’ll be right back,” Layla told Irkalla, who nodded.

  Chloe motioned for Layla to move to the rear window and climb out. When Layla opened the window, it made a squeaking noise and the Kristin who was outside spun around toward her, rifle raised high. Chloe dove through the window onto Kristin, tackling her to the ground, and then kicked the rifle away.

  Four of Kristin’s clones appeared around Chloe and began stamping on her as Layla charged forward, smashing her forearm into the face of the Kristin she’d tackled to the ground: the original Kristin. One of the clones vanished as Layla followed the hit with a knee to Kristin’s gut, before smashing her face into the brick wall.

  Layla went to use her ring, but Kristin blocked her hand and punched her in the kneecap, dropping Layla to one knee, where Kristin applied a quick arm bar, threatening to snap Layla’s limb.

  After finally getting to her feet, Chloe blasted the nearest clone in the chest with enough power to put a giant hole where her heart should be. A second blast was aimed at the original Kristin’s head, but Kristin released Layla, rolled to her feet and fled.

  “I’ll get her,” Layla said, already giving chase as Chloe dealt with the last two clones.

  Layla tackled Kristin to the ground, where she smashed her forehead onto the concrete, giving Layla time to straddle Kristin’s back and rain down punch after punch on the back of her head and neck.

  Kristin’s body began to change as she allowed the drenik to take control, but Layla rolled off and used the ring on her finger. Suddenly, she lost her power. But thankfully so did Kristin, judging from the confusion on her face as the other clones vanished. Just in time, as Layla saw several blood elves join the fight against Chloe.

  “I’m going to tear that damn thing off,” Kristin snapped.

  Layla motioned for Kristin to come try.

  Kristin roared with fury as she ran toward the younger woman. Layla blocked her punch, grabbed her wrist and stepped in, twisting to lift Kristin off her feet and dump her on the ground.

  Layla kept hold of Kristin’s wrist and broke it at the joint, ignoring her opponents’ scream of pain as she wrenched back on the elbow joint until she heard it crack.

  Layla released the limb and drove her knee into the side of Kristin’s head. Kristin rolled to her side, her ear bleeding, and Layla punted her in the ribs with as much power as she had. She did it a second time as Kristin tried to crawl away toward a dagger that she’d dropped.

  “You want this?” Layla asked, picking up the sliver dagger and turning back to a still prone Kristin.

  “Bitch,” Jared screamed as dozens of marble explosives suddenly littered the ground near her and Kristin. The bombs sizzled and vanished the second they touched the field of powerlessness that surrounded Layla.

  Layla ignored the seriously injured Kristin and sprinted toward Jared, who was limping badly and still bleeding from the horrific wounds he’d sustained earlier. He looked like something out of a zombie movie that just wouldn’t die. The marbles in his hand disintegrated as Layla got closer and panic hit his face. The look didn’t last long as he threw a weak punch at Layla, who easily avoided it before driving the dagger up under his chin and into his skull, killing him instantly. She pushed Jared away and noticed that she was covered in his blood. It was all too much, and she spun back to Kristin with thoughts of rage, but discovered her gone. She searched around, expecting to see her wounded frame limping off, but Kristin was nowhere to be found.

  28

  Kristin was seriously hurt, and she knew it. Even when she was out of range of Layla’s blasted ring, her body was going to need a lot of time to heal itself. Time she didn’t have.

  She limped along and spotted several blood elves coming toward her, each of them bloody from battle. She instructed one of them to give her a silver dagger before ordering them to stop Layla from following her, so that she could report back to Abaddon. They did as they were commanded, and Kristin wondered just how much time she’d bought herself.

  She made it to the building beside the runway, just able to stay upright without swaying, but she was still forced to stop every few steps and cough. She was bringing up a lot of blood.

  Kristin leaned against the wall to rest for just a moment as a Hercules sped past her and took off at the end of the runway. It started to climb until a blast of energy leapt up from the ground and smashed into the plane’s engine and wing, causing them to explode. The Hercules continued to gain altitude as a second bolt of power smashed into its rear stabilizer. It lost control and plummeted toward the ground, just out of sight. The explosion lit up the sky and thick black smoke billowed into the air.

  For a moment, Kristin stared in disbelief; she’d seen some unbelievable things since becoming an umbra, but nothing quite like that. She couldn’t imagine just how much power it must have taken to bring down an aircraft of that size. She looked over to where the energy had come from and found Abaddon walking across the tarmac toward her.

  “You did that?” Kristin said, still partially impressed at the enormous display of power. Another part of her, a part she tried to ignore, was telling her to run, to get as far away from Abaddon as she could. Kristin knew that was pointless. This was where her path had taken her, and this was where she would see it through, no matter
how it ended.

  “I killed an oni,” Abaddon said. “Needed to get rid of the power from its spirit somehow.”

  Kristin noticed her bloody hands for the first time and a need for answers crept up inside her. “Did you set me up?”

  “Excuse me?” Abaddon asked, incredulous that someone would take such a tone with her.

  “With Nergal? Did he really try to kill me, or did you just set it up so I’d betray him?”

  Abaddon laughed as if she’d been told something hysterical.

  Fury at being mocked filled Kristin and she dove for Abaddon, driving the silver blade toward her stomach. “Don’t you dare laugh at me,” Kristin screamed at the necromancer. “No one gets to laugh at me.”

  Abaddon punched her in the face, sending Kristin to the ground. She kicked her in the ribs, before picking the silver dagger from the tarmac and tossing it further away. “Yes, I set you up,” Abaddon told her. “You were wasted working with Nergal. He didn’t value your contribution, he didn’t care that you had so much more to give. He just used you as an extra body, and when he eventually got tired of you, he was going to discard you like he has so many others.”

  “He treated me like dirt,” Kristin said. “You didn’t have to lie to me. You could have just told me that you wanted me to help you.”

  “I had to know that you would be loyal. Unfortunately, it seems you allow your anger to override your common sense.”

  “The clone died,” Kristin said with a slight laugh, as she summoned three of her clones, who all appeared between her and Abaddon.

  “The one you sent through the gate?” Abaddon asked, anger in her voice for the first time. “You didn’t tell me.”

  “Wasn’t sure how’d you’d take it. Jared is dead, too,” Kristin said. “Most of Nergal’s forces are dead. The umbra are missing.”

  “The umbra were on that Hercules, along with the scrolls. If I can’t have them, no one else will.” Abaddon took a step toward the clones. “As for these.” Abaddon moved toward the first and blasted it in the face with her necromancy power. The clone died before it hit the ground, followed a moment later by the second as Abaddon tore out its throat. The third clone, Abaddon punched, knocking it to the ground; then she stamped on its knees, breaking its legs. The clone screamed in pain before it died.