Page 26 of Camael
"Screw this," she announced. The artifact hummed against her palm like it had been waiting for her to get with the program. "Time to do this the old-fashioned way."
Power gathered around her hands as she channeled both light and shadow through the ancient metal. The spell that followed would have made the Rowan sisters take notice. The Key blazed to life like someone had caught twilight in a bottle and told it to point them in the right direction.
"Son of a bitch," she breathed as the energy crystallized into a clear signal. It wasn't leading them to some fancy historic building or tourist trap. Instead, it pulled her toward a storm drain that looked older than sin. "He's using the old tunnels. The network runs beneath the entire Quarter. Some of them pre-date the city itself."
"It’s the perfect place to hide actions that you don't want to be discovered until it's too late," Rami observed as he checked his blade.
Amelia cut her eyes to the clueless humans strolling by, their civilian asses locked and loaded with smartphones, capturing bullshit tourist pics of old-as-dirt architecture while being straight-up blind to the shitstorm that was about to explode. True fact. The battle brewing in their midst was the kind of violent spectacle that would've made their fragile human brains short-circuit, but they just kept right on with their worthless photo op, completely deafand dumb to the predators circling each other mere feet away.
"We're going to need some serious magical cover for this. Unless we want to end up as the French Quarter's newest viral TikTok sensation."
"I've got the humans," Camael rumbled as he moved closer. His massive frame radiated the kind of power that made her hormones sit up and take notice. "You focus on masking our entry point."
Their powers merged like they'd been doing this dance for centuries instead of days. His divine energy created a zone of supernatural don't-look-here while she wove light and shadow into a veil that would make most cloaking spells look like amateur hour.
The manhole cover didn't stand a chance against angelic strength once their own cover was secure. It came up with a screech of protesting metal that their spells muffled. The shaft below was darker than a demon's soul and promised to smell worse than Bourbon Street after Mardi Gras.
"Ladies first?" Rami offered with a warrior's grin as he held the heavy metal disk.
"Such a gentleman," Amelia drawled before she started down the ancient ladder. "Just remember to seal this shit up tight behind us. Last thing we need is some drunk tourist deciding to go urban exploring in Hell's favorite subway system."
"Ladies first?" Izzy's voice rang out as Amelia dropped into the darkness without hesitation.
Amelia's hand flew to her chest as she hit the tunnel floor. Her heart did the supernatural equivalent of a gymnastics routine. "Holy mother of magic!" She spun toward the vampire princess's voice. "Way to give a witch a heart attack. I didn't expect to encounter you so soon."
"Make some noise next time. Preferably before I accidentallyturn you into supernatural confetti,” Amelia continued. Her magic crackled defensively around her fingers before she got it under control. The Key at her throat pulsed with answering power like it was equally startled by the vampire's sudden appearance.
"Please." Izzy's sapphire eyes glowed in the darkness as she flashed those perfect white fangs in a predator's smile. "Like you could catch me even if you tried. Vampire speed, remember?" She gestured to the tunnel she'd emerged from. "We heard you guys talking and decided to follow you so we could join the party."
"The more the merrier,” Amelia agreed as the Dark Warriors emerged from the darkness like they'd been born from it.
Aison's massive form rippled with barely contained shifter energy as he took point. His muscles bunched beneath a shirt that was as tight as Camael’s. The Pacific Islander moved like a predator despite his size. Every step promised violence to anything stupid enough to get in their way.
Slate was darkness given form as he slid closer to Izzy. His movements were so fluid they barely registered to human eyes. Behind him, Luke's sorcerer magic crackled blue-white around his hands and provided additional illumination that painted the ancient walls.
Her eyes went to the ladder as the angels descended the ladder one by one. Their wings were still hidden. Amelia craned her neck and looked up right as Camael dropped through the opening. He tucked his arms tight to his sides in the confined space. He gave her a smoldering look that made her wish they were alone. There was something seriously wrong with her. She’d become a mindless fool over a male.
Rather than think about that, she gestured to one of the dark tunnels. “Follow me." She held up the still-glowing Key.The artifact pulsed with twilight energy that made the tunnel walls dance with shadows. "The tracking spell's got a lock on whatever Lucifer's cooking up down here."
Camael was right next to her as she moved forward with purpose. She let the Key guide her through the labyrinth. Its power lit their path like someone had captured faded starlight in a bottle. She was able to use it as a supernatural flashlight. The light caught movement in the shadows.
The combined presence of Heaven's elite and the Dark Warriors should have been enough to make any demon think twice. Should have been. The first ugly bastard emerged from a side tunnel like it had been waiting for them. The thing looked like someone had tried to mate an alligator with a scorpion, and then given it anger management issues. Its multiple eyes gleamed with hellfire as it launched itself at their group.
It wasn’t going to be easy to fight in the confined space. Rami's blade sang through the air and separated its head from its shoulders before it could reach them. Black ichor splattered across century-old brick like the world's worst abstract art installation.
"Lucifer's got the tunnels guarded," he observed as he flicked demon goo off his blade.
"Ya think?" Amelia's sarcasm was automatic as she channeled power through the Key. Light and shadow combined into something that turned two more demons into supernatural chum. The display of power had Slate whistling low while Aison's approving growl echoed through the tunnel.
"Save some for the rest of us," Izzy called out as she moved deeper into the darkness. "Some of us need the workout."
Amelia chuckled as they pushed deeper into the maze. Each junction brought new challenges as Lucifer's power spread through the ley lines like cancer. The energy wasdifferent from last night's assault. It was subtler and harder to track. Instead of trying to overwhelm the city's spiritual foundation all at once, he was trying to change it from within. Their progress was slow going because Amelia and Luke removed the seeds as they went so it couldn’t spread.
After what seemed like hours, Camael stopped and said, "We need to split up. We can cover more ground before this shit gets too deep to clean out." He waved to the various spokes of the intersection.
Amelia wanted to protest, but he was right. The corruption was spreading faster than they could track it. "I can sense the affected areas," she said as she pulled out her phone and mapped what she was feeling. "There are three major concentrations. One beneath Jackson Square, another under Bourbon Street, and the third beneath the river side of the Quarter."
"Izzy, take your crew and handle Bourbon," Camael ordered. "Rami, you're with them. Jo, Az, Remi, and Malachi can tackle the riverside. Samil and Zach will go with Amelia and me to Jackson Square."
