The Wicked (Vampire Huntress Legend 8)

CHAPTER TWELVE

Cuernavaca lived up to its name as the City of Eternal Spring. Carlos hadn't lied. Damali kept her gaze sweeping for security hazards as the team walked through the outer grounds of Casa Del Cuernavaca. Lush bougainvillea ensconced by colorful trees and other blossoming vegetation surrounded the colonial-era hacienda that was more castle than fort. A quiet river flowed through the canyon and nearby natural mineral springs made the place feel almost like paradise. Almost, Damali noted, also seeing the profuse outer gardens that were resplen�dent with color as a good place for anything crazy to jump out of.

I know,Carlos mentally whispered.But chill. The team needs this. You need this.

You also lied about this not being were-jaguar country...uh, Maya, Toltecs, Olmecs, Aztecs, land of the puma-or did I get it wrong?Damali gave Carlos a half-smile as they walked.

Yeah, okay, so that was an evasion, but it's better than South America.He chuckled softly as Dan and Mike inspected the Jeeps in the wide, cir�cular driveway.Ididn't want the team to bug, especially going into the rainy season.

Damali hesitated but then kept walking.Aw, man...mudslides, tor�rential rains, floods-Carlos, come on, now...

In the evenings and nights, June to October...what can I say? That's why I asked Dan to secure a lot of ponchos, boots, and wet gear.

Damali inwardly groaned. But what could one do but deal with it?

Paradise came with a price: rain. It was a necessary evil to go along with brilliant, subtropical flora. The moment the thought crossed her mind, Damali stopped and briefly held on to Carlos's arm. There was so much that seemed constant and that one took for granted that it also seemed almost impossible for those things to simply no longer exist.

What if there was no rain...and after these blooms fall, no more were born? Have you noticed that there are a lot of blooms on the ground?

Carlos nodded.Another reason why we came here. The team needs to know that they're fighting for this-not just big, dirty, congested cities crammed with humanity, but the little things that mean everything...like the entire cycle of life. This. Take one insect out of the food chain, then the thing that eats that perishes, and the thing that eats that thing becomes extinct, and so forth, like huge, standing stones of dominoes crashing the whole system.

"That's deep," Damali said quietly as they began walking. "People definitely have to see what they're fighting for, to keep the image fresh in their minds."

Carlos just nodded as members of the team followed them inside. They walked through the massive foyer that rose in impressive Moor�ish arches above hexagonal-patterned stone floors. "I want the floors mopped with colloidal silver so if anything puts down on 'em, they'll fry. Same with the stone walls."

"Cool," J.L. said. "I can get up to the ceiling with Jose and we can hit exposed beams, the chandelier, and over all the windows, door-jambs, and vents."

"Better split the joint in half," Bobby said, gawking. "Me and Dan can take the west wing, you guys take the east wing, or you'll be at it all day long."

"Cool, just work fast, y'all," Damali said as they passed heavy Baroque-style furnishings in the parlor.

Heather lagged a little, making the group come to a halt. Her gaze silently roved over the massive mahogany mantle above a huge stone fireplace and lingered on the heavy crimson velvet tapestries and drapes before becoming consumed with the fine, ivory-hued, silk-embroidered seating. She allowed her palm to gently caress the ornate woodwork of each sofa, teakwood end tables, and Queen Anne chairs, and then she got down on her hands and knees and touched the fibers in the thick, multihued Turkish rug.

Pressing her hands to the stone floor, she glanced up quickly to find the team curiously staring at her. "I was drawn," she murmured. "This feels like... a master's lair."

"Oh, shit!" Dan shouted, beginning to walk in an agitated circle.

"The girl is on," Carlos said with a sly smile. "No further com�ment."

Damali shook her head and chuckled. "Tell me this isn't-"

"Yeah, yeah... okay, people, chill. It used to be mine a very long time ago. Familiarity breeds contentment," Carlos said with a widen�ing grin. He watched shoulders around him begin to relax. "I had bought it for you when I was in the life, and put it on the market-of course," he said, giving Damali a sheepish sidelong glance. "But after the joint I saw in Australia, my pride wouldn't even let me show it to you. Humans bought it, so don't worry. This never passed through another vamp's hands."

"Carlos, man," Shabazz said in a cautious tone. "You ain't backslid�ing on us again, right, brother?"

"Naw," Carlos said, chuckling. "This isn't an ego move, it's a strategic one." He allowed his line of vision to go around the anxious group. "How much sense does it make for me to take y'all somewhere in the blind? I know this joint like the back of my hand, every crack and crevice in the walls, every vent, and every pipeline and basement access point. The windows and skylights have leaded beveled glass with metal running through them-so they can be charged. Get the ladies on that. The pipes are old lead pipes, not PVC, so they can be charged. Mar, you and Damali are on subflooring and exterior wall barriers. Pull the garden hoses out and spray the exterior walls... af�ter you bless the house tanks... and make it holy water." He looked at Shabazz, Berkfield, and Mike. "I want a cleric to do a walk-through and then the fort walls sprayed. Find us a local parish priest."

"I feel better," Marjorie said with a tense smile.

"Marj, this used to be my house," Carlos said with a wink."Mi casa es su casa, literally, as they say, and I wanted you all to be somewhere that you could really rest until it was time to rumble again."

"The man is making a serious point," Marlene said, her eyes glanc�ing around to the long, polished dining room table in the adjacent room that could easily seat twenty-five guests. "Me and Shabazz were sorta worrying about all the dark corners and back stone stairwells, plus all the glass windows with no way to seal them properly at night."

"We can always stand at the top of the steps and throw a bucket of water down them, and sweep 'em off, old school, Mar," Damali said, smiling. "This joint probably has multiple escape routes and secret passageways throughout the house, if Carlos bought it." She gave him a glare with a smile as she arched an eyebrow. "That's a benefit for our side. Anything that tries to run behind us inside the house will torch as soon as it materializes or tries to set a foot on the floor."

"The dark corners are for us, people-our ambush if the house gets sieged, and it's hard to burn down stone... I hate new con�struction," Carlos said, resolute as he folded his arms. "I learned from the best on both sides."

"I'ma give you a hug, my brother," Mike said, pounding Carlos's fist.

Hidden agenda? Talk to me.Damali shot Carlos a knowing glance.

This will also rub salt in Cain's wound and piss him off, which will hope�fully make him come at us sloppy again. Last time we did his lair, this time, he can do ours.

Excellent.Damali smiled. "I like it."

"The sooner we get the house swabbed down, the sooner y'all can go take showers and rest," Carlos said, feeling a sense of relief wash through him as the family visibly relaxed. "The casa is shaped like a bigH. Center hall on the second floor has eight bedrooms, each with its own private bath... huge beds, feather-down mattresses and com�forters, towels, whatever. Everything you need is in there. Dan's got supplies on the way so you'll have clothes and whatever else you need. On each wing are also two bedrooms, for a total of four-making twelve altogether. The west wing has a library between the bedroom-, and on the east wing is a conservatory and study between them. I was thinking about claiming one of the ones on the east side, for me and D... and maybe Shabazz and Mar... since that section of the house leads to a tower."

"Works for me," Shabazz said. "Us old-heads need to be on point, first, and maybe Hubert and his crew can take the other wing that has a tower, near the library, since that's his thing, and he and his boys can man the towers like gargoyles."

"That's where I was going with it, 'Bazz," Carlos said. "Put the newbies in the middle, with senior squad flanking them in the center hall-sharpshooters in rotation up in the towers."

"Cool," Jose said. "Y'all heard the man. The sooner we get sup�plies in and this joint protected, the sooner we can all crash."

"Then, if everybody is cool," Carlos said calmly, "while I've still got some energy, me, 'Bazz, and Berkfield can make a run to Nevada."

Rider looked at the threesome. "On this one, I'd like to come along, fellas."

"You sure you're up to it, man?" Shabazz asked with concern. "It's an in-and-out job-we go get Gabby and then come home."

"I need to do this," Rider said, checking his weapon clip. "I don't wanna stand around useless with Jack Daniel's calling my name."

The moment they entered the condo, the hairs stood up on Carlos's neck. Shabazz's locks crackled with static charge, and Rider hocked and spit. Berkfield was the first to move, holding up his hand, his de�tective instincts keened.

"Don't touch anything," Berkfield said as they slowly advanced on guard.

"There's blood everywhere," Rider muttered. "This ain't a good sign." He inhaled deeply and his attention shot to Carlos. "Your boy's signature is all in it."

Carlos didn't respond but advanced to the dining room table. Rider was right. Yonnie's definite blood signature was in the room. So was Gabrielle's. But something else was wrong. He touched the dried blood-splatter on the table that had thickened and crusted over, and then bent to sniff it better. He looked up. "Yonnie was here... but so was Lilith."

"Lilith?" Berkfield whispered. "I thought we flat-blasted that bitch in the Himalayas."

"Me, too," Rider said, rushing over to the table to deeply inhale the scent.

"Yonnie was here, but his signature is slightly altered," Carlos said in a far-off tone, thinking.

Old scent patterns near Yonnie's blood formed a maze in Carlos's mind. The male scent he'd detected didn't jive. If there was one vam�pire heknew was dead, it was Fallon Nuit-he'd neutered the bastard with his own hands.

"Lilith was definitely here, and so was Gabrielle," Carlos finally said, then walked away from the table and looked out the window.

"He killed her, too?" Rider said, crossing the room quickly to grab Carlos by the arm. "He murdered Gabby!"

"Don't jump to conclusions, man," Carlos said, forcing calm into his voice. "You know how this goes. Everything you see ain't always what it is."

"Why are youstill protecting that motherfucker after what you saw him do to Tara with your own eyes, Rivera?" Rider shouted. "The woman wasn't even in the ground yet, and he-"

"Hold up, man," Shabazz said, coming between Carlos and Rider. "All we got is circumstantial evidence on both counts, now that we know Lilith is loose. That's important info, and you know I loved Tara, too. She was one of us, so I ain't siding with anybody that could've done her. But you also saw some foul shit slam the inner team-us old-heads, right? I saw my own woman go were-jag with my own eyes, man. But I also knew something beyond that was wrong. Get a grip."

Rider lowered his weapon and began pacing while dragging his fingers through his hair.

"That's true, Rider," Berkfield said. "I'm no psychic, but I didn't have to be one to see Marlene, Mike, and Jose...and you turn back at the hacienda to know something went way wrong. That shit still gives me the heebie-jeebies. So, I'm going with two possibilities as a cop theory, all right?"

Rider begrudgingly nodded, standing down once both Shabazz and Berkfield had spoken. "Only because you weren't his friend and are both married men, I'll hear ya out and won't cap that sonofabitch on sight."

Carlos let the dig pass, knowing where Rider was. He kept his mouth shut, but gave Berkfield the go-ahead with his eyes.

"Okay," Berkfield said, rubbing a shiny spot on his bald scalp. "First theory goes like this. Whatever made members of our team flip was caused by an evil outside agent-Lilith, possibly the same one that made Yonnie accidentally flatline Tara. If so, the man is somewhere eating his own heart out right now... and I'd lay bets on that being why he can't send or receive messages from Carlos."

Carlos nodded. "A Level Seven communications block, just like they'd blocked all vamp turns before-seen it done."

"My point exactly," Berkfield said, his eyes on Rider's. "Yonnie may be a lot of things, but he never struck me as stupid."

Rider turned away from Berkfield to stare out the window.

"If dude figured out before we did that Lilith was on the loose," Shabazz said, going to Rider and putting a firm grip on Rider's shoulder. "And knew Lilith was somehow in cahoots with Cain to break this family's back, then he went to protect the only one in the fold who was outside the net-Gabby."

"I think that could be part of the answer as to why you guys picked up three scents and three vibes," Berkfield said slowly, casing the room and looking at the toppled chair. "Here, she's sitting at the table trying to do a crystal ball divination to get info to warn us through Heather and Jasmine... something blows in and scares the bejeebers out of her, and she stands quickly, the chair goes down. Hopefully it was Yonnie in his right mind and trying to get to her fast. Lilith comes in, walks in on 'em, and there's a struggle... Yonnie gets her out of there in a black, master vampire's cloud. Blood is everywhere, but Gabby is somewhere recovering. The girl knows how to purge a vamp nick, running the joints she used to have."

Carlos just looked at Berkfield for a moment. Shabazz and Rider's eyes burned against his skin, waiting for answers. What he couldn't immediately bring himself to tell them was if Yonnie had rolled in there and Lilith had ambushed him and Gabby, then there should have been tracers of black blood from both demons-and no master vampire would have come out on top against a Level Seven entity... not to mention that Gabby's blood had Lilith's turn-bite saliva in it. The woman was most likely dead or dying from a serious bite with no going back.

"Yeah," Carlos finally said after a long pause, walking away raking his hair.

"That makes sense, right?" Berkfield asked, pressing for a more conclusive statement from Carlos.

"That's what you should tell Marjorie when we get back," Carlos said in a sad tone. "Krissy, Bobby, Jasmine, and Heather need to know she's probably somewhere with one of our people."

"You didn't say that with a lot of confidence, brother," Shabazz muttered and looked at Carlos hard. "I'm feeling a weird vibe coming off you, man."

"I ain't got a lot of confidence, right through here," Carlos admit�ted. "Since all of us are working from theory."

"So, let me ask you this," Rider said in a tight voice. "Since we're not sure if Yonnie's system has been purged of a Lilith influence, es�pecially since he didn't have the benefit of a healing nymph going up his nose... Ya think at least we should bar him entry to the castle, until we know for sure-or is it me?"

Carlos nodded and closed his eyes. There was no getting around it until he knew beyond a reasonable doubt that Yonnie was stable. "Sho' you right."

Her lower back felt like someone had been beating on it with a ham�mer. Adding to the body aches and fatigue, her forehead thrummed with a nagging headache behind her eyes. Damali slowly made her way to the huge stainless steel and white walled kitchen to find a gathering of women already there. Elbows leaned on the large, center island, and Spanish-tiled counter. Weary heads were bowed over cups of red raspberry teas and tinctures. Marlene was working the stove. Lights danced off large copper pots and pans that hung overhead, making Damali squint.

"I brewed a big pot," Marlene said. "Want some?"

"Yeah," Damali muttered, and dropped onto a vacant stool beside Inez.

"You all should have seen Dan negotiating forsupplies," Marlene said with a smile. "Usually Marjorie handlesthat kind of shopping, but under the circumstances..."

Damali looked around at the fatigued, ashen expressions. "Every�body came on at the same time?"

"Girl..." Inez sighed, sipping her tea. "Marlene has been trying to tell us about how in tribes and close family units, every woman in the group's cycle syncs up at the same time, but this shit is ridicu�lous."

"Like we need this right now," Juanita said with her eyes closed.

"You ain't sensitive to light, or nothing?" Inez said, giving Juanita a fishy glance. "I ain't trying to be funny, but right before the hacienda burned, Jose bit the shit out of you."

Juanita just held up her hand, "Don't start the drama while I'm PMS-ing, 'Nez. Youwill get your ass kicked today."

Damali groaned and accepted a cup of tea from Marlene.

"It was so much simpler when there was only one ovulating female in the house," Marlene said, glancing at Marjorie.

"Tell me about it," Marjorie said on a weary sigh.

"I'm just glad I'm not pregnant," Heather whispered, and then crossed herself as she took a sip of her tea.

Jasmine, Inez, and Juanita followed suit-Krissy looked out the window with an expression that said,Thank you, Jesus. Damali just looked down into her cup, staring for answers.

"I can't really rest, though," Juanita finally said, glancing at Damali. "Lemme be honest, sis. I'm scared."

"I feel you," Inez said, oddly agreeing with Juanita. "I don't think I'ma ever be right after seeing Mike change into a... a thing."

Juanita nodded. "Shit, let him sleep in the room with Jose. I'd rather be in a room with you until I know if they're gonna flip out again, or what."

Inez pounded Juanita's fist. "I ain't trying to play."

"All right, ladies," Damali said, jumping into the discussion. "Maybe that's not a half-bad idea. But I don't think it'll happen again... something kicked off that was abnormal, and-"

"I should have been covered," Marlene said in a tense voice. "Just like I should have married Shabazz a long time ago."

The group went slack-jawed and nobody moved for a moment. Marlene stood by the sink clutching a teacup between her hands so tightly that Damali hoped it wouldn't break. The group stared at Mar�lene, new awareness filling them as their matriarch broke down and cried.

"As many clerics as we've been around, as many priestesses in every culture that 'Bazz and I were around, and we never formalized it un�der a shield... don't matter what religion. Those astral visits wouldn't have been possible, nor would those old nicks have been able to break through... if..." Marlene's words trailed off as she looked at Damali for answers. "There's a shield to the union, isn't there? A special something you can't see with the naked eye-doesn't have to do with paperwork, it's the holy union, right?"

Not sure how to answer her mentor without divulging too much, especially when the other women had turned to stare in her direction, Damali chose her words carefully.

"Mar, there's a light that the Darkness can't see through within a union that's prayed over. But if one of the partners breaks the bond and lowers their energy around the marriage somehow, it can still get in to wreak havoc. You're right, though... it's not about paperwork, per se, it's the ceremony, the holy ritual in whatever faith you claim that puts the seal around the couple. It can be just you, your partner, and a cleric or judge, whatever, a witness-it's saying the words to each other in an affirmation of commitment that does it, I suppose."

"I knew it," Mar said quietly. "I poisoned-"

"Kamal was from the side of Light, though, Mar. Remember that," Damali said, trying to help Marlene deal. "Guilt is negative energy. Don't you always tell me that?"

Damali stood and gave Marlene a tender smile, then walked over to hug her. The nervous females on the team needed to see that she wasn't afraid of any were-demon jumping out of Marlene or turning her into a jaguar. Fear was poison, just like guilt, and jealousy, and everything else of that nature. They had to be a cohesive unit to sur�vive another attack.

"Well, I for one think we should all just go ahead and get married," Krissy said, looking at her mother. "Dan is already talking to people quietly about doing life-partner wills, anyway."

Damali hugged Marlene closer and shut her eyes. What else could go wrong? Possible demon incursion outside the fort; half the squad on the rag and armed inside the fort; a group of hybrids AWOL with�out a good navigation system and carrying the fallen; senior Guardians on a rescue-and-recovery mission to parts unknown in Nevada; a clerical and Neteru Council headquarters comm. blackout; a potential outbreak of old purge wounds making everybody jumpy; and now a team of male Guardians about to be descended Upon with marriage ultimatums. Mutiny was in the air. New flowers weren't blooming. Lady luck had thrown up her hands, leaving her as the only female other than Marlene who didn't need feminine hygiene products. There was no justice. No wonder she had a headache and lower back pains.

"See what you started?" Marlene chuckled sadly with a sniff, shak�ing her head. "The brothers are really gonna love you for this one."

He hated returning to the casa without better answers, but sometimes the bullshit just went down like that. Carlos briefly hung back on the wide sweep of front steps and kept his eyes straight ahead as Rider walked inside and poured himself a shot of Jack Daniel's. Shabazz had supposedly peeled away from the small squad to finish unpacking sup�plies and to assist with barriers. Although Carlos was pretty sure that the main reason Shabazz was laying low had everything to do with not wanting to deliver really bad news. It was somebody else's turn this time.

That left Berkfield as the decided spokesman. Gabrielle was, by rights, his sister-in-law, and his wife, Marjorie, would take the news poorly... as would his daughter, Gabby's niece, and Bobby, Gabby's nephew. Jasmine and Heather had also both loved Gabrielle dearly.

Sucking in a deep breath to steady himself, Carlos entered the ha�cienda and followed the sound of Berkfield's voice. He stopped briefly and stared up the wide antebellum-era staircase that curved off in separate directions, wanting sleep more than his next breath. But he had to go into the kitchen. As one of the team's cocommander-in-chiefs, it wasn't about not showing up for the postmortem. Rider raised a short rocks glass to Carlos as he passed.

"Two in one day, hombre," Rider said flatly, and downed his drink. "You want one?"

"If I didn't have to fly another recognizance around half of central Mexico to go look for lost hybrids, under any other circumstance, I would have said yes."

Rider flanked Carlos and they went into the kitchen and stood by the door. Marj took the news just as they'd expected, badly. First there was the flurry of questions, which Berkfield tried to finesse to stem alarm that was already there. Carlos watched the man ransack his mind for a way to put the indelicate as gently as possible.

"Well was there a sign of a struggle? Blood? Anything that would give us clues?" Marjorie stood in the middle of the kitchen, her panic-stricken gaze going between her husband and anyone in the room connected to Gabrielle.

"There was blood, Marj," Rider said quietly. "Honey, listen, we're gonna keep searching. All right?" He looked at Carlos when Marjorie slowly brought her hand up to her mouth.

"Yeah, in a few I'ma go out and look for Hubert and company, and as soon as it's dusk, I'll try Yonnie again... to see if maybe he might help us look, too."

"There's something else you're not telling us, Richard," Marjorie said, her hand dropping away from her face. "I have a very bad feeling." She spun on Heather and Jasmine. "I want to do a rock divination, me. Krissy, Bobby, and you guys. Right here, right now, we go touch some stones or something, however that works, andfind my sister."

"I want you to rest, first," Carlos said in a very calm voice. He could feel Damali's gaze boring into him. "None of you will be strong enough to protect yourselves and also pull info while you're this wrung out. Lie down for a couple of hours, then do it."

"But in two or three hours, the trail will have gone from warm to ice cold!" Marjorie shrieked. "And whatduya mean, protect our-selves? If they've got my sister-"

"Honey, we'll find her," Berkfield said, going to Marjorie to hug her.

"When I think of all the time we missed not getting along or un�derstanding each other, and then, this past year, we made up... but time ran out," Marjorie said, beginning to sob. "Richard, I can't lose her now-we didn't have enough time. I won't waste another minute not looking for her."

Berkfield rubbed Marjorie's back as her tears started a cascade ef�fect from Krissy to Jasmine, and then Heather. Clearly overwhelmed, Berkfield gave J.L. the eye and rare permission to take Krissy upstairs to calm her. Jasmine and Bobby were a mutual wreck and left the kitchen in tears, holding each other up. Shabazz had come in the back door to flank Rider. Mike's supportive arm over the shoulder guided Rider back to the dining room bar. Jose sat stunned between Juanita and Inez, holding both of their hands.

Tell her,Damali quietly urged.It's rippling through your skin, Carlos. The look on the rescue squad's faces, baby, says it all. Marjorie isn't stupid. Her instincts are dead-on.

Wegot there too late, D.Carlos looked at the floor.I picked up a turn in the blood. Lilith was in the mix.

Damali's gaze narrowed with rage.Ain't she always!

Yeah...which would make Gabby a master, if what I think went down, did. With Tara gone,Yonnie's probably got her-but I'm blocked to send or re�ceive from him. I picked up his tracer there, too.

Damali placed a hand on Carlos's shoulder.Then you better also tell Marjorie and anybody who ever loved Gabrielle...orYonnie...that the barriers are up against them until we know whether or not their blood hunger is under control. Don't have Gabby come to a window, Carlos, or Yonnie for that matter, and whisper to their loved ones. This team can't take it right now.

Carlos let his breath out hard and squared his shoulders. "Marjorie, honey, look at me," he said in a firm, gentle tone. He waited until Marjorie lifted her head from Berkfield's shoulder, and he stared into her teary eyes. "I picked up a turn scent while we were in there."

Marlene's gasp from across the room rattled his skeleton.

"I should have seen it," Marlene whispered.

"You were spent," Damali said, trying to stem any additional hys�teria. "That's why Carlos is right; all the seers have to rest for a few hours and recharge their batteries."

"This... this turn scent," Marjorie said, blinking as quickly as she spoke. "Carlos, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying that, this evening, if Gabrielle shows up at a window, a door, or calls to you from a vent... unescorted by a Guardian, even if she's with Yonnie-youdo not, underany circumstances, let her in this house. We clear?"

"Oh, my God." Marjorie's voice was a lifeless whisper.

"Berkfield, you get it straight with everybody that went out of this kitchen in tears. I want all of you in the same room, barriered-up," Carlos said. "This is the hardest part for the family and the new turn... night one."

"My sisteris dead? You know this?" Marjorie broke from Berk-field's hold and stood in front of Carlos with her hands wrapped around her waist, shifting from foot to foot. "How do you know?" she said, her eyes pleading, and then she suddenly flew at Carlos, slap�ping his chest and shoulders, as though trying to swat away the ugly truth as she screamed at him. "She could just be abducted! You won't maim her with a stake or cut off her head-I won't allow it! She might be fighting her way to us! She's a witch-she can see into a crystal ball and would have escaped! Yonnie wouldn't do that to her. He's family and wouldn't make her the walking dead, Carlos! It's a lie!"

"Marj, no," Berkfield said, struggling with her as she fought him to slap Carlos again.

"Let her get it out," Carlos said, taking the blows as Marjorie broke Berkfield's hold when he tried to move her away.

Damali blinked back tears and swallowed hard but didn't move. "She has to get it out and be clear now, because if she sees her later..."

Jose pulled Juanita's head to him and rubbed Inez's back as tears streamed down her cheeks.

"It's the truth, Marjorie," Rider said, coming back into the kitchen with Mike and Shabazz. His calm delivery made Marjorie go to him and leave Carlos. "I was there, Marj. I smelled what I have learned over the years... is what it is."

Rider set his drink down on the side counter and opened his arms. "I loved her, too." When Marjorie barreled into his arms, Rider stroked her hair. "But if you see her tonight, sweetheart, for the love of your children, don't let her in. We all have to be strong."

Damali stood outside on the front steps with Carlos and touched his back. "Com'ere. You look like you need to lie down before you fall down." She pulled his rigid body into a hug and rubbed his back. "Baby, why don't you go rest... save it for tonight."

"If I lay down right now, I'm so beat I might not get back up."

"I'll stand watch."

He kissed her head and kept his eyes on the sky. "I gotta go get Hubert. He's lost. I can feel it."

"Me, too. But give him an hour-so you can get an hour. Do that for me?" She looked up at Carlos. "Just stretch out on the couch and I'll bring you some water, something to eat... you need fuel. Every�body does."

"Maybe for a half, on the sofa. Then I gotta go." She touched his face. "How's your head?"

Carlos closed his eyes. "Fucked up."

"I'll meet you in the living room with some spring water and OJ, and some fruit and whatnot... You need to get something with sugars in you. I'll watch the sky."

He was so tired that he was practically staggering like a drunk by the time he reached the sofa and fell down on it face-first. There was no way he could argue against Damali's point. Rest was imperative, or he'd be slow and sloppy, and could put the entire family at risk.

But preternatural heat in the room made him push up and look around, readying for something to attack. Adrenaline shot through him, even though he was running on fumes. When a gold obelisk opened in the room, Carlos almost shouted.

"We need to talk," a disembodied male voice said. Immediately recognizing Adam's familiar baritone, Carlos was up and off the sofa in a flash. He slipped into the golden light as it closed away, and was face-to-face with Adam in a distant glen he didn't rec�ognize. Renewed energy washed over Carlos as he stared at the more senior Neteru king.

"I am not supposed to be here, but under the circumstances, Ausar was gracious enough to turn a blind eye." Adam paced, his white and gold court robes billowing behind him. "I need a personal favor. My sons, Abel and Seth, cannot be involved. They could jeopardize their pure light by doing vengeance-even on behalf of their mother's honor." He stopped and looked at Carlos hard.

"I got you, man, if it has anything to do with slaughtering Cain's foul ass, you know-"

"That goes without saying. We have discussed that ad nauseum. I need to get word to your Neteru Queen, Damali."

Carlos folded his arms over his chest to keep Adam from seeing that the request had sucker punched him. If anything else had hap�pened to Damali..."Aw'ight," Carlos said in a tense voice. "What's the problem?"

"Last night, Queen Eve went into a violent seizure." Adam's voice hitched. "My wife is in a coma. The other queens are at her bedside, sitting vigil. Aset tried the Caduceus, to no avail. We were wondering if we could ask Damali whether or not... anything happened to her womb? We cannot fathom what could have stricken Eve so badly, and without her consciousness pulsing, we have no way to find out. We began to wonder if the sudden loss of a grandchild could have killed what was left of Eve's hope."

Tension wound its way up Carlos's vertebra. "Naw, Damali's all right. She didn't get injured that way. I can ask her for you and send word, if you'll accept a transmission, but she didn't purge her womb or sustain a mortal injury like that."

Adam let out a heavy breath and rubbed his palms down his face. His complexion was ashen as though his spirit had been tortured without relent.

"Thank you, brother. I had to ask. That's the only thing I could imagine that could have Eve so distraught. Her energy literally went into arrhythmia and then began to sputter out." Seeming as though he was on the verge of losing his mind, Adam raked his long locks with his thick fingers and looked off into the distance with tears in his eyes. "Do you realize what will happen if her energy completely folds in upon itself?"

"World annihilation," Carlos said in a gentle tone, "but more im�portantly, you will die a thousand deaths and still won't be able to get over losing her."

"Yes," Adam whispered thickly. "What could have traumatized her so completely, after all she's already been through?"

"Sometimes it's just the final straw, man," Carlos said, staring at Adam, remembering the times when Damali had been close to that state. "It's always the emotional wounds that never completely heal with women."

"And men, too," Adam said quietly, searching Carlos's eyes.

"Damali cut Cain pretty badly on the beach. She sliced off his tail and left a quarter-part stub... Maybe he bled out, and that's what Eve is feeling?"

Both men stared at each other for a moment.

Adam slowly shook his head. "His death in Darkness would have simply severed the cord... then there would be a period of grieving when all fertility and replenishment would be slow, but it wouldn't have sent her into a seizure. This much both councils are sure of."

"Then, let's be honest and speak as men," Carlos said, holding Adam's gaze. "You came here to ask me to take a day trip down to Hell and see what's up, right?" He hung his head back and closed his eyes. "Just give it to me straight."

"World annihilation is my paramount concern and-"

"I said let's talk as men," Carlos said, straightening and coming in close to stand before Adam. "No bullshit between brothers! I'm down, but I need to go strong. I'd do that for your wife, but I'd expect you to do that for mine, one day-we clear? Not because of a debt but becausewe're brothers."

"Understood." Adam grabbed Carlos's arm in a warrior handshake. "Any day, any night. We just need a map."

Carlos tightened his grip on Adam's massive arm. "I know my way in and outta Hell like I know the back of my hand. Just gotta lower your vibrations." He released Adam's forearm and stared at him. "You ain't never been where we have to go to do this thing-ain't pretty, hombre. Ain't the Garden of Eden by a long shot. You down?"

Adam lifted his chin higher. "Given Eve's condition, we have just cause, and the realms of Light will sanction it. Ausar cannot go, but would. He is coruler and should I perish-"

"Me, you, Hannibal. Small squad," Carlos said, cutting off the se�nior Neteru King. "We step to that motherfucker, Cain, old school. Let's ride."

Damali slowly set the tray down on the living room coffee table and stared at the empty sofa. She closed her eyes and let her breath out hard. "Oh, baby... what did you go and do now?"

"What is his condition, Lilith?" Nuit said as he slowly entered Cain's inner sanctum.

He looked across the flaming moat that surrounded the ailing monarch's high crypt pedestal. Cain was sprawled out on his stomach in his massive black marble bed, black serpents twining around the solid gold posts, hissing for Nuit to stay back. The black silk sheets were glistening not only from the flickering glow of wall torches, but black blood seepage. Nuit glanced up at the nervous warning bats that clung to the crevices in the vaulted ceiling, teeth bared. Harpies sat sentry with their muscular arms folded over their small barrel chests, anxiously shifting on side altars. Two pit bulls lay at the foot of the bed and had looked up at Nuit with a snarl.

"Still unconscious," she finally said, walking away from Cain's bed�side to go stand by the door with Nuit. "He's in a coma, and I tried all night to raise him."

Both she and Nuit looked up at the vaulted ceiling at the same time the bats screeched and began flying.

"Move the Chairman to Level Seven. Do it now!" Nuit yelled, and dashed out of the room.

The white light spiral that Hannibal hurled hit the Earth's crust so vi�olently that it took the entire Neteru Council of Kings to prevent a tsunami in the Mediterranean Sea. Three silver stallions thundered into the abyss that parted the water, their wings razor sharp at each feathered edge, nostrils snorting blue-white fire, gleaming hooves crushing demons by the hundreds as blades took heads in passing. The moment the black cavern closed over, all light was extinguished. Laserlike eyes cut a swath in the darkness as hooves crushed rock and then silver, armor-clad blurs spiraled down into the void.

"Don't touch down in the tar pits!" Carlos yelled over his shoulder. "Keep those steeds airborne!"

Giant serpents immediately uncoiled and began to drop from the wet foliage overhead as stallions of Light pivoted and tried to find a way in wide enough to keep them airborne.

"Put down in the mud! Not the swamps!"

Thick-bodied Amanthras hissed at the invasion and striking fangs made horses perilously rear. Stomping serpents, the war horses gal�loped forward, but the hind legs of Hannibal's steed became tangled in a nest that anchored its back legs.

He was off his mount in seconds, desperately using a Claw of Heru to clear his horse's legs. Silver blood splashed and singed the writhing coil, making cinder at the bucking stallion's feet. Serpents foolish enough to bite the steed went to instant embers.

"Leave me if you must!" Hannibal shouted.

"Like hell!" Carlos shouted back. Then he felt a presence coming before it materialized. "Overhead, at your six!"

Hannibal pivoted, swung his blade, and severed the throat of a multiheaded hydra. Adam rushed in, his horse stomping the agile ser�pents that lay screaming on the ground near Hannibal. In a lightning-quick move, Adam glimpsed a thick-bodied threat above him, and caught the belly of a fast-moving black reptile that whirred pass them with the tip of his blade, spilling entrails on the three-man squadron. Hannibal remounted and spurred his steed forward. Black maggot rain and wriggling pests burrowed into the horses' wings, making them shriek in pain and take off in lopsided, frenzied flight.

Carlos held on tightly and wrapped the reins around his fist.

"No! Use your legs! Only to steer-keep your hands free for weapons!" Adam called out.

"Duck!" Carlos shouted, and pushed his horse into a low under�pass. "Three men! The barrier guard ain't no joke!"

The moment Carlos spoke, a huge black head the size of a minivan lifted from a border-pit abyss between Level Four and Level Five with the swiftness of a cobra. Its dripping fangs were longer than a man's body and there was no way to judge its true width. Instinct kicked in, and Carlos's shield of Heru became a discus.

The serpent swayed, snapping first at Adam and then Hannibal, but reacted too late to dodge the gold blur with a silver edge. The shield went right through its throat. The Amanthra's jaws were still open when its eyes turned to embers and the head fell into the pit. The ex�plosion that followed sent the three warriors into the wall, their horses' chests pelted with shrapnel. Stunned for a moment, the team watched their mounts struggle to right themselves. Each man slowly got to his feet to protect his steed from quickly approaching adders, praying that all three horses could stand.

Carlos motioned with his blade, breathing hard. "It blew the doors off Level Five. Were-realms-big cats will come first-gotta flythrough."

Hannibal checked his mount, steadying his injured stallion. "Easy easy..." he murmured, looking at the damaged wing. "He's lame."

Adam dismounted. "We won't leave him down here to suffer."

Hannibal touched the whinnying horse's nose and then backed away, gripping his blade tighter.

"Yo! Hold up! Can it still fly?" Carlos's horse was prancing in an agitated circle. "Nothing down here goes to waste-they'll eat it."

"The horse cannot carry my weight," Hannibal said, his tone flat with grief.

"But topside, you can heal it?"

"Yes, Brother Rivera. Topside all is possible."

"Then send it in first as a decoy. The big cats will try to attack, and send a flood backward looking for the rider-chaos theory, man." Carlos extended his arm and pulled Hannibal up onto his mount be�hind him. "We've got maybe sixty seconds before that hole seals over again and another border guard comes up outta that pit."

Hannibal nodded and whistled through his teeth, pointing the way with his blade toward the wide void between Levels. His horse backed up, took a running gallop over the edge of the abyss, and flew through the Level breach on sheer faith, listing to one side. Just as it crossed, two more Amanthras the size of the one they'd just slaughtered sped across the damaged wall blocking the opening. Adam and Carlos re�leased shield discuses at the same time, splattering the three riders with demon guts as they rushed to the narrowing hole and made it through.

The screams of Hannibal's horse shot adrenaline through the other stallions that instinctively followed the sound and entered the fray. Al�though the animal might have been injured, it fought like a knife of lightning, using its sharp hooves to stomp low-crouching were-jaguars and panthers, slashing at predators with its blade-sharp good wing.

Carlos rode hard to bring his steed next to the frightened mount. It calmed and became more centered as soon as Hannibal jumped off Carlos's horse onto its back.

"Away, demon!" Hannibal shouted, slashing at snarling beasts.

Adam caught a were-lioness in a two-handed swing, taking her head off clean, but the momentum of the leaping body knocked him off his steed. The male was right behind her and stalked forward with a roar. A shield in one hand and a blade in the other, Adam round�house kicked away a were-jag, breaking a fang off with his boot, gored the were-lion behind him in a hard, fast pivot, and then spun to throw his discus to sever in half the one stalking Carlos. Hannibal rode up to Adam, pulled him up on his crippled mount, and trotted his horse next to Adam's.

"You need to ride with me," Adam said through deep breaths, helping Hannibal onto his stallion. "Just like before. Let your stallion fly first, then we follow."

Hannibal nodded, panting, and slapped Adam's shoulder, both men looking at Carlos.

"This way," Carlos said, wiping burning demon splatter out of his eyes, breathing hard.

The sound of werewolf howls filled the cavern as they rode through the gravel pit of bones and skeletal remains. Just as they'd ex�pected, the portal to the next Level was covered by an army of were�wolves and all manner of were-demon manifestations, legions deep. Hannibal's steed had turned back, desperately trying to keep airborne over the snarling mass of muscle-bodied demons. Without needing to speak, three Neteru minds synced, three blades touched to become one, blowing a white light arch into the rock solid wall, showering blue-white energy sparks against it and sending were-demons scream�ing away from the deadly light.

Carlos and his fellow warriors were through the other side in an instant, but flight within the initial entry to Level Six was impossible. The vamps had designed the passages to be narrow enough to allow only vamp mist and bat tornadoes through. Even a seven-foot warrior angel wingspan would find an obstacle here, so a thirty-seven-foot sil�ver stallion wingspan didn't stand a chance.

The stallions put down hard, avoiding stalactites and stalagmites. Carlos turned to Adam and Hannibal.

"Messenger demons will fill this area in seconds. Scythe bearers. You got me? The bats are still stunned from the light. If they fly at you, use your eyes. Light is the deadliest weapon down here; the vamps move too fast for the blade or the discus unless they're right up on you."

Adam and Hannibal led their mounts behind Carlos, weapons ready. Hannibal turned just in time to duck from a scythe swing. Knowing messenger vamp energy patterns like the back of his hand, Carlos sent a white-light charge at the seemingly invisible space from the tip of his blade, lighting the entity up and charring it. But the quick flash re�vealed how many more of them were behind it. Thousands.

Three minds met, a black wall went up.

"Charge it," Carlos said through his teeth.

Instantly, silver light radiated off the black translucent wall, and flashes of burning messenger demon bodies combusted behind it, sending up dank plumes of billowing smoke. Turning away from the carnage, the three-man squad grabbed their stallions' reins and ran forward, blades raised. Bats had recovered and were beginning to dive at them, and the Neterus and horses pivoted in a circle looking up with silver laser sight, sending the flying vermin into crags and voids in the cavern, burning and screeching. Huge sentries dropped down before them and hurled black arc energy that made each Neteru warrior raise his shield. The force from the black blasts backed them up ten yards, but as soon as there was a break in the ray, the shields belched it back as cinder-producing white light.

Forging ahead, the Neterus ran as the ground beneath them sud�denly heated up. Choking sulfur spiraled to attack them. The bottoms of their boots began to smolder and the armor they wore began to sizzle their skins. It was nearly impossible to keep the horses grounded as their silver hooves began to melt and anything metal began to heat, causing the animals to rear in pain and confusion.

"Hold up. Not further than this." Carlos stopped at the edge of the narrow stone footbridge and leaned on his knees, breathing hard. "Blast chamber doors. All I've gotta do is sense the power in there, then we're out."

"We must ride across the bridge to-"

"The horses won't last three more minutes," Carlos said, leveling his blade at Adam. "We came for info, not a head, much as we all want one. These motherfuckers on Six are smart. Thirty more seconds and you'll be stripping your armor!"

"Blow the doors," Hannibal said, and looked at Adam hard.

Again three blades touched and the Vampire Council Chamber doors blew off the hinges to fall into the molten Sea of Perpetual Agony below. Screams from the torture pit were deafening, forcing the Neterus to cover their ears. Using seconds and his old ties to a throne, Carlos scanned the chamber, his laser line of vision leaving a deep scar on every throne as it passed. But he hesitated when he saw the one name he never thought he'd see there again: Fallon Nuit.

"Okay, we're out!" Carlos shouted, backing up, mounting his stal�lion with the others, and pointing his sword up in a three-way, hard clang of metal.

Bloody, dirty, and covered with ash and demon slime, the kingly Neteru team came to a thud landing in the hills of central Mexico near Popocatepetl volcano.

"He's injured," Carlos said, trying to calm his horse as he dis�mounted. "She severed his tailbone at the midpoint, which is like cut�ting off half a man's dick."

Hannibal winced then shook his head. "I like your wife's style. Be�fitting of a queen."

"Yeah, the problem is, they're desperate now. Raising old, previ�ously exterminated motherfuckers like Fallon Nuit."

"But..." Hannibal said, his voice trailing off as he sucked in deep breaths of clean air. "He was killed by an Isis blade."

"Yeah, but I found out much later, and so did she, that unless you behead the bastard, they have a workaround going on down in Hell. This is where Lilith comes in. We were aiming for the heart only, be�fore we knew. Learned a lot going up against Lilith before. Girlfriend had been all up on the table and in Cain's throne with him. No telling what deal she cut or why. He definitely fucked her, though, and made a deal in Dananu-which, by itself, would be enough to send Eve into apoplexy. I didn't get the full lowdown; just that Cain and Lilith were working as a team."

"But if Cain was severely injured, surely he will die from the mor�tal Isis wound." Adam's silver gaze sought Carlos's for confirmation, but Carlos shook his head.

"I have to give it to him, the man's got heart, even though he's nuts. He's attempting to rule the vamp empire and beyond with hy�brids, but doesn't wanna be the walking dead. Rather than die slowly or take an instant turn strike, he tried to stop the Neteru blade burn by cutting above where Damali sliced him." Carlos hocked and spit, trying to get sulfur out of his sinuses. "They did a black blood spell on him, and he passed out from the pain. He's in a coma. So he ain't dead, just fried, and while still linked to Eve, she felt the trauma. That had to be what sent her into a seizure."

"We should have killed him while we were down there," Adam said through his teeth, looking at the volcano.

"Yeah, we should have, but Lucifer would have come up himself just to see what crazy bastards tripped into his wet dream. One living Neteru and two more of the spirit, the first one ever made in the cap�ture, too? Are you crazy, man? We hit 'em so hard and so fast that Harpies hadn't even had a chance to swarm. Without backup, we're lucky to be standing out here in the daylight. As it is, we're all gonna have to get a good purge done, the horses, too. Everybody got nicked and cut the fuck up. So let's just chill and count our blessings."

"This is truth, Adam. We must be rational. We have collected vital information and now know the genesis of Eve's condition-thus we know better how to focus healing energy toward her," Hannibal said, cleaning off his blade against his huge, bare thigh. "While we all have a valid grudge," he added, looking up, "the goal of this swift mission was information, not vengeance."

"We needed to send a permanent message-"

"We did, brother. We just let Hell know that if they mess with our queens we'll come down there, riding hard, and blow the mother-fuckin' doors off the hinges-will drop demon bodies without blink�ing. My brother, this was anawesome drive-by, if I do say so myself."

Carlos petted his horse's shoulder, which was a full arm's length above him. The panting stallion nuzzled his hair gently and whin�nied, flapping its wings and still snorting and frothing at the mouth. "Nice ride, too. But even you gotta go to the shop and get detailed after that thunder run." He looked at the ash and splatter that covered his horse, then patted the large silver stallion on its heaving side and leaned on his blade. "They let us use these in earth-plane battles?"

"No," Hannibal said with a smile, checking over his horses. "These haven't been released from Ausar's stables in centuries."

"Shame..." Carlos said, walking up to Adam. "I'm not making light of your wife's condition, I just wanna be real. When you guys go back, now I have a serious problem."

"I think I can persuade the Council of Kings to, uhm, intervene when it becomes dire," Hannibal said, glancing at Adam.

"Thank you," Adam said. "We will-how do you say-watch your six."

"Appreciated," Carlos replied, suddenly feeling every blow and every blade swing. "Could use a lift home, an energy boost, and a cleanup beforemy wife sees me like this and goes ballistic. Things are real tense aroundla casa, feel me?"

"Yes," Adam said, his tone still frustrated. "I just wish we could have brought an end to it all while we were so close. My hope is that Cain dies quickly from his self-inflicted injuries." Adam spit. "De�mon bastard."

"True dat, but I wouldn't bank on it," Carlos said, spitting again. "And now, since fair exchange is no robbery, no doubt they'll send us a nice message in return once Cain recovers. I've gotta prepare for that, and I'm letting y'all brothers know now-don't jerk me around. I'll be expecting some backup from you guys. Even got some hybrids that escaped from Nod working our side of the yard. So if you see 'em, don't smoke 'em."

"Send us their images, so we are clear about your allies," Hannibal said.

"We missed our opportunity," Adam said, and spat again. "Damn!" He looked at his blade and tightened his grip on it. "One swing at that foul demon's head and my wife would have been free of him for all time."

"First off, she'll never befree of what he was to her; she'll maybe at best just be able to accept the loss in time. You need to get with that, once and for all, man." Carlos looked at Adam hard. "Second off, Cain wasn't just sitting on a throne waitin' on our little visit-if a Chair�man is injured, they'd have dude in so deep that his lair headboard is probably leaning up against a Level Seven wall. Nah... You're talk�ing a Council-level vamp breach, and you boys ain't exactly sanc�tioned to start the Armageddon." Carlos raked his damp hair with his fingers. "Shit, the way we bum-rushed that joint, we probably just did."

The moment Carlos entered the house, she felt him. Damali ran into the living room and stared at him hard. He dropped to the sofa.

"Where have youbeen?" she said in a tight, worried voice and then stooped down beside him to stroke his hair.

He couldn't even lift his head from the sofa; his bones felt like jelly. "Just open a channel and watch the video. I'm too tired to tell you about it right now, baby."