| |
––––––––
Texas
––––––––
EMERGING FROM THE STAIRWELL into a hallway, Emelia listened intently. An alarm was blaring somewhere on the third floor, drowning out all other noise. Cells lined the passageway on both sides, just like on the fourth floor. She took off, passing the rooms without bothering to glance through the windows.
Hands beat on the glass and voices shouted at her, pleading for her to let them out. She ignored them all. Once the witches and warlocks were dead and the spells shorted out, the inmates would have to fend for themselves. They weren’t here to rescue all of the prisoners. Rudy was the only one they were concerned about.
“Guards are coming from both ends of the hallway,” Asha called out.
“Harley, you’re with me,” Emelia ordered. The young hunter had proven to be proficient with his assault rifle and she trusted him at her side. The witch’s potions were surprisingly helpful at battling their foes and the dryad knew how to shoot fairly well. The two women worked well together and would have to guard the rear. The pixie wouldn’t be of much use. She clung to the dryad’s shoulder, trying not to fall off.
Asha had exchanged her nearly spent magazine for a full one and held her Glock ready. Pru was glad she’d brought so many of the potions that she’d crafted. She’d studied hard to create the spells that didn’t need magic to activate them. Knowing there were enchantments that could cut off her ability to cast spells had prompted her to begin making the potions. So far, they’d proven to be even more effective than she’d hoped.
Armed guards spilled into the hallway, shouting at them to drop their weapons and to lie down on the ground. They intended to take the intruders alive, probably at Sheridan Harwood’s command. Pru responded by hurling three potions at them. One was shot out of the air by a skilled shooter, but the other two landed among the troops. Coughing and hacking at the sulfurous cloud of gas that blinded them, they were helpless against Asha’s bullets as she aimed for their faces. It was the only vulnerable area thanks to their helmets and body armor.
Harley and Emelia faced the guards that rushed at them from the other end of the hallway. The kid’s vest saved him from a bullet to the chest, but he grunted in pain and stumbled back a step before opening fire on them. The fairy warrior lashed out with her sword, severing arms and skewering the torsos of her enemies. Killing these men did nothing to lessen her inner rage. She doubted she would ever be able to heal from the torment she’d gone through while being held prisoner in the Unseelie palace.
When the guards were all dead, Pru bent over with a gasp of pain. “What’s wrong?” Asha asked.
“I’ve been shot,” the witch replied and fumbled for her purse.
“Which vial do you need?” the dryad asked, taking the heavy purse from her friend.
“One of the small brown ones,” Pru replied. She’d never been seriously injured before and had never felt pain like this in her life. It felt like a hot poker had been thrust through her stomach.
“That one,” Irindal said helpfully, pointing at a brown vial. Asha grabbed it, unscrewed the lid and handed it to Pru.
The witch swallowed it down, then grimaced. “Ugh, that tastes horrible,” she complained.
“Yeah, but it’s better than being dead,” Harley said with a grin. She’d given him a few healing potions as well. He’d placed them in his pockets where he could easily reach them.
Reloading their guns, they continued down the hallway until they drew closer to the room where Asha could feel the sorcerers were gathered. “They’re in there,” she said, pointing at a door just near the far end of the hall.
Emelia strode over to the door and touched the handle, then yanked her hand back with a hiss. “It has a spell on it,” she said, shaking her hand in pain. Her palm and fingers had turned bright red and blisters had formed. They healed within seconds and she didn’t need a potion to fix her wounds.
“We need to break the spell before we can try to open the door,” Pru said and gently shouldered her way through them. Delving into her purse, she took out a yellow vial. “This little beauty should do the trick.” She took the lid off and poured a small trickle of liquid on the door handle. With an audible pop, the enchantment dissipated. “My coven used to make fun of me because I enjoyed making potions,” she said as she put the cap back on the vial and tucked it away again. “I guess I showed them.”
“That you did, Mamma,” Harley agreed and pulled her in for a quick hug. When she stepped back, he gingerly touched the doorknob. “It’s clear,” he verified, then nodded at Asha. “See if one of the keys fits this lock.”
“Once we step inside, the sorcerers will hit us with a barrage of spells,” Emelia predicted. “It will be very dangerous to enter that room.”
“It’s just as well I came prepared then,” Pru said primly and took a much larger vial out of her purse. This one was clear and was filled with a violet colored potion.
“Do we even want to know what the spell does?” Irindal asked.
“This one isn’t actually dangerous,” the witch told her. “But it’ll give everyone in that room a heck of a fright,” she added with a chuckle.
She explained what it would do and Emelia nodded in approval. “If the spell works as you intend, I will enter first. With luck, I can kill most of the sorcerers before they realize what is happening. Try not to shoot me when you cut the rest of them down.” That was directed at Harley and Asha.
“We’ll try not to,” the dryad said, then began inserting keys into the lock. When she found the right one, she quietly turned it, then stepped aside.
“Wait,” Irindal said before Harley could open the door for the witch. The pixie fluttered over and beat her wings, shedding magical dust. Most of it dissipated, but some landed on the vial, making it glow brightly for a few seconds. “I’m not sure if that will give the potion a boost or not, but it can’t hurt,” she said, then zoomed back to Asha’s shoulder.
Pru held the vial ready as they all moved out of the way. At her nod, Harley turned the handle and pushed the door open. She tossed the potion inside and alarmed shouts rang out. Then the screaming began. “Go!” the witch shouted and Emelia went on the move.
If Pru hadn’t told her what would happen when the vial broke, the fairy would have run at the sight of the swarm of wraiths that filled the room. Far worse than mere ghosts, wraiths could suck the life from their victims by latching onto them and leeching their warmth away. The witches and warlocks knew what the dark phantoms were. They threw spells at them while trying to run for an exit at the back of the room.
Emelia ignored the frighteningly real looking illusions that were moaning and swooping around the room and focused on the humans. Her blade cut through them like they were made of paper. She decimated ten of them before they realized where the real danger was coming from.
Harley and Asha appeared in the doorway and opened fire on the remaining five men and women. When they were down and were no longer breathing, Emelia felt the enchantments around the building lessen. She could almost feel her magic now. Soon, she would have access to it again and so would every other supernatural creature in this place.
Blood had sprayed everywhere. The floor was drenched in the slippery, still warm fluid. “Where’s a brownie when you need one?” Irindal asked wryly.
Harley snickered and Pru gave him a withering look. “What?” he said in self-defense. “It was funny!”
Leroy would have laughed along with him if he’d been here, but the ghost was stuck guarding Rudy. He just hoped the ex-pimp would be able to react fast enough to shift the leprechaun from this prison to the one Emelia had created before he could escape.
