“What, then, is your purpose?” it asked.
“A trade,” she said, closing her eyes and breathing slowly to alleviate the lancing pain in her skull. “My sister has been kidnapped. Her captor demands the Eye.”
“Ah, it is he, no doubt, who wishes to raze civilizations.” It nodded, as if that explained everything. “Very well, pick up the case and let’s go. Chop chop. I’m dying to do something.”
“But we can’t just give you to the kidnapper. He’ll use you,” she exclaimed.
“That would be the point of my existence.”
She turned to Mick, searching for a voice of reason. “We can’t possibly take him to the kidnapper. I can’t be responsible for unleashing this on the world.”
“Then take responsibility,” said the demon equably. “Bind with me, use me to free your sister, and have control of my actions. It sounds like it would be rather boring as an existence, but my perspective has changed somewhat after being in a vault for the last seven years.”
Gods help her, she considered it. For a few long moments, she thought about taking the Eye and using it on the son of a bitch who had taken Liza. But then she’d be no better than he. And she’d be stuck bound to a demon for the rest of her natural life. Which, given her paternity, was likely to be a very, very long time.
She shook her head. “No. That’s not an option.”
“It seems, then,” said the demon, “that we are at an impasse.”
~*~
Judging by the rhythmic thump against the door of the vault, the zombies had renewed their efforts to get inside. They couldn’t get through the slab of steel, but still it shook in its frame with each great impact. Uneasy, Mick looked away from the door. He didn’t want to think about what lay between them and the exit and how it affected their chances of getting out.
The ground above rumbled.
His gaze shot to Sophie. Her face was strained, and blood trickled down from her nose.
“Sophie? You’re bleeding.”
“I’m alright,” she insisted, swiping the blood away with one hand. But she swayed as she said it.
“You are looking rather gray,” the demon observed.
Another look at her face decided him. “We gotta go.” He reached over, grabbed the titanium case from the dais, and shut it.
“Mick what are you doing? We can’t—” She broke off with a grimace.
He thrust it into her hands. “We’ll talk about what to do with it later. Right now I’m more concerned with getting out of here.” The sound of trickling water had him turning back toward the door. It was spurting in from the bottom edge. “Sophie! The water!”
“I’m . . . trying!”
Mick caught her before she hit her knees. Her body trembled with exhaustion, and her head slumped against his shoulder. He shook her. “Don’t you dare pass out on me.”
“Trying,” she said again.
Blood was running freely from both nostrils now, and the coppery scent coated the back of Mick’s throat. Across the room, water started to squirt a few inches along the side seams.
“Well that’s not good,” the demon said.
“Thank you Captain Obvious. Is there another way out of here?” Mick snarled. He yanked at Sophie’s belt threading the leather through the handle of the case and tightening it so that the Eye was held snug against her waist.
“How should I know? I live in a box.”
“Look, if you want outta here, then I suggest you find a way to help.”
“I seem to recall a shaft of some kind down the other branch of the tunnel. It might lead to the surface.”
Might. Mick didn’t like betting their lives on might. But they were out of options. The demon needed a host and they were its best chance of getting out of the vault to get one.