Page 85 of Hellfire

“There are few soldiers manning the battlements,” Talon advised, squinting, his gargoyle powers giving him advanced sight from a distance.

“My sources tell me that most were destroyed in the battle with the djinni,” I relayed. “Camus has less than fifty Sanctuary and specters left.”

It paid to collect intel on your enemy. Know their strengths and weaknesses to devise a battle plan.

Talon clapped me on the shoulder, then told his brothers where to aim, and he and Cole took the guards out with their weapons, several bodies tumbling from the castle’s curtain wall to the ground.

Meanwhile, I stripped out of my clothes, passing them to Blaze. My body rearranged as I shifted into my naga. At my hiss signal, he readied himself on my back, joined by Talon and Cole when they finished. Stone scraped my underside as I carried them up the battlements, sliding over the top, where they leaped off, waiting for me to change back. While I got back into my gear, Talon eyed the area for clues.

“This place is worse for wear,” Talon commented on the stone and wood scorched from our previous battle. “Move out.”

Spells throbbed on the doorway to the tower’s stairwell. I broke them easily with a light charm.

“Camus’ protective wards are weak,” I observed, feeling them out with my hands and naga senses. “His magick is failing him.”

“Or the Ghul curse is killing him,” Blaze reminded, handing me one of Cole’s prototype weapons.

Unlikely. The Dark Lord stole Blaze’s djinn powers and most likely used them to heal himself. Much as I wanted to clarify, I kept my piehole shut and didn’t rub salt in the wound after Blaze’s low moods.

“Stay alert,” Talon warned, prying the door open slowly and quietly. “It could be a trick, and I’m not taking any chances.”

He took the lead inside the blackened stairway, steps swift and light for such a big guy. Weapons raised, we trailed behind him, reaching the bottom, and sidestepping a fallen beam torched to high hell. We hadn’t made it more than a few steps into the castle’s inner skin when the air chilled and shadows buzzed over the walls, preceding the arrival of eight Sanctuary carrying serpent-headed staffs.

I smirked. “A welcoming committee? For us? Camus, you shouldn’t have.”

Talon and Blaze popped off shots, taking two down. I wasn’t as good with a gun and my shots went astray. Cole picked up my slack, releasing his boomerang gadget, and it whirled through the air and slashed into the chests of two guards, who collapsed to the floor.

“And then there were four.” I did what I did best and blocked bolts of power from two soldiers.

Talon’s spear stabbed one guard through the chest, hoisting him from the floor and throwing him across the hall, where he crashed on stone and didn’t rise. Cole and Blaze dealt with the rest, and I wiped my hands, grinning.

“Move before more come,” Talon ordered, pure soldier.

We charged down the hall where our attackers came from, searching from chamber to chamber.

“Something’s not right,” I whispered to my brothers-in-arms. “There should be more guards than this.” I fisted the tether stick in my pocket and recited an enchantment. Darkness sparkedand puffed black mist near my pocket. “I don’t think Camus is present in the castle.”

“If that’s the case,” Talon replied, “he might have taken a contingency of soldiers with him.”

“Guess we’ll find out.” Cole clutched his boomerang to his chest and moved deeper.

We came to a chamber guarded by two Sanctuary, who turned their weapons on us, firing dark bolts of power our way, hindering any chance of us getting close.

While my brothers went to town with their weapons, I let my fangs descend and spat venom their way, hitting them in the face. An opaque fog clouded the soldier’s eyes, a process that happened when a snake shed its skin. Blinded, their blasts went wide, allowing my brothers to pick them off.

Cole stared at me, dumbfounded. “Where did that come from?”

I smiled with wicked satisfaction. “I’m more than just a pretty face.”

Talon thumped me on the back of the head. “Two of you check inside the chamber.”

Blaze blasted the lock on the door and threw it open, swinging his gun from side to side like a cop clearing a room. Sidestepping our enemies, he and Cole entered the chamber, while Talon and I played sentry duty. Edgy and listening for motion or gunfire, I patted the butt of my weapon. After a painstaking minute or five, Cole carried Luna from the room in his arms.

“Put me down,” she protested. “I can walk.”

That was our princess. Right now, she needed our love and strength to remind her of the good inside her, so we didn’t lose her to the darkness. This was the last time Camus got his filthy fingers on her. I’d make sure of it.

CHAPTER 29 - LUNA

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