Lure Academy

The Count forgot about Sophie for a moment, his mind invaded by the image of incubi, succubi and cambions cornering him and draining him of energy until he turned into a sock puppet in their hands. No, he had managed to hide from them for too long, he would not allow them to catch him now. He had no intention to spend an eternity in a cell. He took hold of Sophie’s arm and dragged her after him, out onto the porch, then to the back of the chalet.

“You’re coming with me, little cambion.” He shoved her down the steps of the cellar, then turned to Berith. “Make sure no one follows us.”

The demoness swallowed heavily, but didn’t say anything. She had hoped the Count would take her with him. She had no idea how she would hold back a small army of incubi, succubi and cambions, but an order was an order.

?

Kain and Alexi met at the edge of the clearing and started towards the chalet with Irvene in tow. The hellhound had helped Kain track down the prisoners and take them to the safe place Tengu and Nyame had prepared for them at the foot of the mountain. The incubus and succubus would wipe their memory of the Count and everything that had happened at the mansion, and then let them return to their homes. The shaman had already recovered his phial, and thanked Kain and Alexi for their help. Now, the only thing left to do was to drain Casimir and take him to Lure Academy.

Alexi saw the door of the chalet open and started running. He had a sinking feeling they were too late. Kain was right behind him, so when Berith’s demon aura attacked Alexi, the blond backed him up. The demoness had no chance of defeating them both. They soon had her begging for mercy, so weak and exhausted that she could barely speak.

“Where are they?” demanded Alexi. “Where did Casimir take her?”

Berith clenched her jaw and refused to talk. Kain rolled his eyes and knelt beside her. His hand went to her throat and he squeezed just enough to make her shake with fear.

“You’re going to tell me where he took Sophie right now,” Kain said slowly, carefully articulating every word and letting it sink in. He didn’t expect the Count’s assistant to betray her master willingly, but he knew she was too drained to resist his compelling. He could practically feel her resolve melt under his blue gaze.

“The cellar,” she rasped. Kain relaxed his fingers around her throat. “There’s a hidden tunnel at the back… it leads deep into the mountain.”

“So he has a secret escape route,” concluded Alexi. He was at the door before Kain even decided what they should do w

ith Berith. “Leave her here,” said Alexi. “Irvene will guard her until Tengu or one of the cambions comes to check the chalet.”

Kain nodded in approval and left the demoness on the floor. She tried to crawl away from the hellhound, but Irvene cornered her strategically, then sat on her hind legs, prepared to wait for as long as it took for someone to come and take care of her ex-master’s assistant.

It didn’t take Kain and Alexi long to find the cellar. They each grabbed a torch and started towards the back of the main gallery, the flickering light painting dancing shadows on the stone walls and iron bars. The cells were empty now, the only sign people had suffered there being the clothes and blankets scattered on the floor. Alexi was leading the way, his attention focused on every little noise. Kain would look back from time to time, not necessarily to make sure no one was following them, but to check every single corner for clues, anything that could tell him if Sophie had, indeed, been here.

“This is it,” Alexi whispered, as if he didn’t want to disturb the silence and stillness of the underground structure. He moved the torch up and down the wall and squinted his eyes. He couldn’t see anything unusual, but he was sure there must have been something about this stone wall. Berith hadn’t lied to them. Under Kain’s spell, there was no way she could have lied.

The blond stepped beside his partner and his palm touched the cold stone. His fingers started looking for dents that shouldn’t have been there, and he soon came across a thin line which he followed a couple of inches down, where it connected with another one. Four more inches to the left and five up, and Kain came to the conclusion that he had found some sort of button which was so well hidden that it was almost impossible to see.

“Let’s see what this does,” he said and pressed it gently. His palm sank into the stone and the wall creaked and moved.

“Well, I’ll be damned,” murmured Alexi.

The tunnel that opened in front of them was long and narrow, and there were no torches on the walls. It was just a dark, humid gallery that led deep inside the mountain, maybe directly into hell. Alexi waved his torch around and stepped through the opening only after he made sure there were no traps or surprises waiting for them on the other side. Kain followed him carefully, leaving the door open behind them.

“I wonder how long this thing is,” whispered the blond.

“Shh… I think I heard something.” Alexi stopped and listened. He held his breath and he would have even stopped his heartbeat for a couple of seconds only to be able to better focus on the silence surrounding them. “Did you hear that?”

Kain gasped. “Yes. It can’t be too far.”

They increased their pace. They would have started running, but they knew they were on unfamiliar territory and it was clever not to make any sudden movements or rash decisions. The noise they had heard was getting louder and it began to sound uncomfortably close to crying and sobbing. Alexi’s heart clenched at the thought that Casimir might have hurt Sophie. He could hear Kain breathing heavily beside him, and he knew it wasn’t because of their race to catch the demon. He was just as afraid for Sophie’s life as he was.

“Damn echo,” Kain cursed under his breath. Because of it, they had the impression they were getting close, when in fact it seemed like they weren’t getting anywhere. His steps became even more determined, and he soon passed Alexi and took the lead.

“Be careful,” Alexi almost shouted. “You don’t know what’s waiting for us there.”

“Oh, I know what’s waiting for us: a demon who will rot in the cells of Lure Academy.”

They walked for what seemed like forever. Time seemed to stretch and expand down here. They couldn’t have found the secret door more than half an hour ago, but they felt like they had been walking for hours.

“It’s getting louder. We’re definitely close,” said Kain.

“And that’s Sophie’s voice.”

It was clear now: she was crying. A small light came into view, and Kain threw all caution out the window and started running towards it. Alexi cursed and ran after him. Out of the two, the Russian was more careful and calculated, but there were times when Kain’s quick temper was the better option.