The Cursed Read online

CHAPTER ONE

 

  Standing on the Edge of Hell

  CHAPTER ONE

  Tahiti. . .

  He was lacing up his Tims in the living room of their ho tel suite by the time Damali opened her eyes, struggled to sit up, and half-stumbled through the doorway to argue. But there was nothing she could tell him. None of this was up for debate. It was a knowing that slammed his core, sat him straight up in bed, killed his libido, and sent him over the edge of the mattress, ready for war. Never in his life had he been so sure about what he had to do. What hit him felt like a white light ning charge direct from the archon's table of old.

  He'd mentally sent the call out to the brothers already. Twelve days of bliss and the honeymoon was over. The meeting was already scheduled - 2100 hours, sharp. Nary a man in the joint objected. They all knew what time it was. It was about protecting theirs -

  if the world got saved as a fringe benefit, cool. They all had something serious to lose. A preemptive strike was in order. An unmistakable energy jolt, throne level, had run up Carlos's spine, just like it hit Shabazz's locks and fucked with Mike's hearing in a low, re

  lentless buzz. Dan and J. L. felt it no differently than Rider and Jose smelled it. Pure sulfur was rising.

  Carlos stared at Damali. She lifted her chin and folded her arms over her chest. He would not be moved. Fine as she was, standing there half-naked and draped in white silk, that was the primary reason he was gonna do what he had to do. Unlike all the times in the past where the team sat back, hid, waited for trouble to come to their door, this time his squad was going in to blow the roof off the mother - first.

  "So, I guess there's nothing I can say to you?"

  "Nope," Carlos muttered, pulling his foot down from the white wall and collecting a snubnosed pump shotgun off the coffee table to stash in his long, black leather coat. Damali stared at the huge boot print he'd left on the wall for a second and sighed hard.

  "Don't you think we should have a full team meeting about this?" She stepped away from the bedroom door, worry blotting out the fury in her eyes.

  "Nope. "

  "Well, at least won't you tell me where y'all are going?"

  "Nope," he said, hoisting up an Uzi to sling over his shoulder.

  "Stop," she said, walking deeper into the suite, now talk ing with her hands. "Team protocol. One half of the team will not know where the other half is - not done, brother.

  And you all just can't up and leave Tahiti on a dime, no explanation, no nothing, Carlos!" He stared at the door. "You'd better go put some clothes on before the brothers get here. "

  "Carlos Rivera, are you listening to me?"

  His response was very simplistic and to the point as he went to the door. "Nope. " Big Mike was two steps from the door as Carlos swung it open. Carrying a shoulder launcher, Mike pounded Carlos's fist.

  "Ride or die, brother," Mike said in a low, ready-for-war rumble, and then nodded toward Damali. "Evenin', D. "

  Consumed with frustration, she raced into the bedroom, grabbed a T-shirt and her jeans, and hurriedly threw them on. She looked at her ten-carat engagement ring and matching diamond-studded wedding band and sighed, then slipped them into her small front jeans pocket. Clearly, the honeymoon was over for everybody, and there was no sense in getting her rings fouled by nasty demon gook if she had to go to war. Men! They'd lost their minds. She came out of the bedroom like a bee had stung her, just in time to see Rider roll through the door with Shabazz, both giving Carlos a silent fist pound and her a brief nod as though she were a civilian.

  Shabazz slammed a clip into Black Beauty, his eyes ablaze, locks lifted off his shoulders by two inches, blue arc crackling. Rider's forearms bulged as he carried some thing ridiculous that looked like a custom-made Gatling gun. Damali's eyes tore around the stone faces, hoping that the younger male members of the team would bring some sanity to whatever had set the senior brothers off. But as soon as Jose rolled through the door with a red bandana tied around his head, wearing a long leather coat, toting a crossbow with a snub-nosed welded to it, and J. L. stepped in behind him looking straight Samurai, her hopes considerably dimmed. By the time Bobby and Dan came in, she'd sat down heavily on the edge of the nearby dining room table.

  Dan strolled in wearing a leather coat that swept the ground and clutching dual AK-47s. Bobby gripped handheld Ingram semis in both hands. Berkfield was with them, his seniority providing no rational balance whatsoever. He was strapped with grenades on a flak-jacket vest like he was going to 'Nam and carrying an M-16. There would defi nitely be no reasoning with them.

  "I got black-box vamp on all scents coming off artillery. Everybody's ammo demonreadied, hallowed-earth shells and shit?" Carlos asked in a low rumble, gaining nods all around. "Then let's do this. "

  "Hold it, hold it, hold it," Marlene yelled, running down the hall, breasts bouncing, barefoot, wearing only a purple lace-and-satin robe. Her eyes wild, she circled on Shabazz, breathing hard and pointing at him. "Not after all we've been through, and not without saying good-bye - ever. "

  Marjorie was on her heels, her eyes frantic, as she clutched the front of her pink silk negligee closed. "Richard, have you lost your mind?" For Damali, it was an out-of-body experience. She knew the delay might take a few minutes, but she wasn't even wasting her breath to argue. These men were already as good as gone. She knew her husband. There was that certain look that Carlos got in his eyes that she'd come to learn - that "no means no" stare. She sighed as Inez burst in behind Marlene and Marj, trying to make an impact against a stone wall. Before her girlfriend opened her mouth, she could tell by the look on her brother Mike's face that, audio-sensor

  or not, he wasn't trying to hear it.

  "Baby, don't do this. . . . Listen, we can figure out a plan, a team strategy," Inez said, tears rising quickly as she whirled around in a white silk teddy, vastly overexposed. "I heard you all the way down the hall talking that ride-or-die mess. " When he didn't move, she threw her arms around his waist.

  "Suga, stay with 'Mali, hear?" was all Big Mike said as he peeled her away from his body, brushed her mouth with a kiss, and gave her a gentle bear shove toward Damali. Stunned, Inez hugged herself and went to Damali, whispering thickly, "Say something to them, girl!"

  For a moment, Damali didn't answer her. Mike had spo ken like he always did, real low and quiet, almost subsonic when he's upset. How in the hell did Inez hear that all the way down the hall?

  "Ain't nothing to say," Damali finally muttered, shaking her head. "This is a testosterone thing, and obviously we wouldn't understand. "

  Juanita's voice hit a decibel as she was coming down the hall that made Mike, Carlos, and Jose cringe. "Oh, Jesus, no, Jose," she shrieked, red silk robe billowing as she slid into the suite, tears streaming. "I just got married and I'm not trying to be no widow. No, don't you leave me, Jose Ciponte, or I'll never forgive you if you die. " She stretched out her arms.

  "I'm your wife, por favor! You crazy? What am I gonna do without you, answer me that!"

  "That's what I'm saying," Marlene hollered, her voice breaking. " 'Bazz, you of all people in here know my heart can't take a move like this. "

  Shabazz never got a chance to respond. Krissy had swung into the room barely covered in an ivory Victoria's Secret deep-plunge sheath, holding on to the edge of the door like she was about to bust a Jet Li move. Damali started toward her, to catch her in case she fell, because the poor girl was obviously rushing down the hall so fast that she almost missed the opening and then barreled into J. L. 's arms. Jasmine and Heather were right behind her with jewel-green and aqua silk flowing, and threatening to accidentally set off ammo as they threw themselves into Bobby's and Dan's arms. All the guys could do was raise the weapons toward the ceiling and kiss the tops of their heads, repeatedly mut tering, "It'll be cool. "

  Tara strolled in shaking her head, eyes filled and glittering with unshed tears. There was resignation in h
er stride, a slow and deadly calm of a woman who'd seen way too much over many, many years. She tied the sash on her ice-blue robe and drew a deep breath, as though carefully measuring her words the way she carefully tied her sash.

  "I could smell the hysteria, Jack Rider. The damned testosterone jumping off your skins with the adrenaline. If you die on me, I'll kill you. Thirty years . . . thirty years, and I only get to have you to myself again for twelve days before you start up hunting sulfur trails?" Tara sucked in a shuddering breath. "I do not believe you. " She waltzed away. "I need a shot of Jack Daniel's, I swear. "

  "Now that the entire team is assembled. . . " Damali pushed off the table, walked over to the door, and slammed it hard. "I guess we can have a real meeting. " Madness was the only description her mind could scav enge. Damali allowed her hard gaze to rake the male Guardians. Every man was cloaked in a shotgun-concealing leather duster, black jeans or fatigues, black combat boots or Tims, and sporting a black wifebeater shirt or a vest. For a moment she wondered if they had previously discussed bat tle

  uniform, too. This didn't make no kinda sense!

  "Okay. I give up. You're men," Damali said, throwing her hands up as she glared at Carlos and then the others. "You're grown. Can't nobody keep you from a ride-or-die. " Her hands went to her hips when no one spoke to even be gin negotiating. "Fine. Do as you please. I just have one question though. Why? Why now, why so crazy, why without a group plan?

  And what is this bullshit about only taking half the team - the men? Just answer me that and I'll stand down. No argument. We can lock on your coordinates and send in reinforcements if you get boxed in, whatever. I just wanna know, what detonated y'all tonight?"

  Surly glances passed between the men and they answered in unison, "Lilith. " Silence strangled the room and raised blue arcs of static to crackle up from the rug. For once, the female squad members were at a temporary loss for words. Carlos's eyes met Damali's in a hard glare and then he glanced at his watch as though he were about to bounce any second.

  Open a channel, Carlos, Damali mentally said, her voice more mellow. Baby, what happened?

  I'll go into it later, D, but trust me when I say that after twelve days of being with their wives, every man in here is ready to die tonight. No telling whose wife is pregnant - and to get a strong Lilith-topside vamp vibe, they were all hitting my brain with SOS

  messages like you wouldn't believe. Every brother had the same question - "Yo, Rivera, you feel that?"

  Then we all need to be involved, Damali's mind shouted back. You need to get with that!

  No, D, what you all need to get with is the fact that ain't nobody on the team ready for their woman to be battling or even linked to them in a way she could possibly get hurt -

  not even psychically. Berkfield is going because Krissy could be carrying his grandkid, just like Shabazz ain't never trying to lose Marlene again in this lifetime. Same deal with Rider about Tara. Every brother done prayed on it, had his own one-on-one with his Maker, and came to his own conclusion. I'm not forcing anybody to do shit, D. Case closed.

  "That's unrealistic!" Damali said out loud accidentally, the information was freaking her out so badly.

  "Is it?" Shabazz said, his gaze sweeping the group. "You heard the man, D. We're all ready to go out shooting. "

  "Whoa, whoa, whoa," Marlene said, quickly stepping into the center of the all-male circle and slowly walking around Shabazz. "You're a tactical. How did you hear what two telepaths were saying?"

  Shabazz stared at Marlene for a moment and slowly low ered his weapon. "I don't know. I heard it as clear as day, though. "

  "That's my department," Marlene said, pressing her hand to her chest, "but I was never strong enough to pick up from those two if they had a blocked, direct transmission going. "

  "Mar," Damali said quietly. "Your locks are lifting off your shoulders. " Marlene quickly touched her hair and watched the strong blue-white static current run over her hands. "Oh, shit! I'm not a tactical. "

  "I've got it, too," Heather said, staring at her hands and then at Dan. Krissy nodded, staring at the bluish, nickering wash that crept over her fingertips, and then

  glanced at J. L.

  "I'm scared," Jasmine said. "I admit it! All right. I don't want you to get killed so, Bobby, put down that damned gun and talk to me!" His weapon left his hand in a hard midair yank and hung suspended as Jasmine turned away and began to cry.

  "Oh . . . shit. . . that's a wizard move if ever I saw one," Bobby murmured. Juanita covered her nose and dry heaved. "The static discharge is messing with my sinuses. I need air. "

  Jose just stared at her for a moment. "Baby, just as a sensory test, tell me what's in the fridge down the hall in Marlene's room," he asked, stepping in close to Juanita.

  "I don't know, and who cares?" Juanita said in a tone close to a wail. "Champagne, some mango, watermelon, avocado sushi - without fish, some - "

  "Oh, my Father. . . " Marlene whispered. "The girl got a nose. "

  "Look, the club section is starting to fill up, people," Berkfield said, his eyelids fluttering.

  "We need to move. "

  "Sho' he right. About fifty big blood suckas at the bar. I got 'em," Mike rumbled and pounded Jose's fist.

  "Yeah, I got them punk bitches by the gaming tables," Jose said.

  "You saw something in your head, Richard?" Marjorie asked in awe.

  "Wait!" Inez hollered, putting her hands up. "You can see, Mike?"

  "Yeah, baby - "

  "Since when?" Inez shrieked, now walking around in a tizzy.

  "My point exactly," Juanita said, going up to Jose and stroking his cheek. "Baby, you couldn't ever see; don't you think something is way wrong up in this joint?"

  "Okay, fellas, just hold up for a second, okay - you all can go, we couldn't stop you if we wanted to, but check it out . . . don't you find any of this a little strange?" Damali's voice was strident as her hands went to her hips.

  "I need to do a divination," Marlene said.

  "We ain't got time for all of that right now, baby," Shabazz said, his eyes hard.

  "This club," Marjorie asked. "Where is it?" Carlos looked around at the assembled male warriors, gave them a discreet nod, and they stepped in close to him. "Babylon," he muttered, then he quickly folded the group away into a silver splinter of light.

  Pandemonium broke out in the suite.

  "I cannot believe they did something like that!" Inez yelled, walking in a circle where the male team had been.

  Both Marlene and Damali glanced at each other as though to say, that was a Rivera move if ever they saw one. They let their breaths out hard at the same time and spoke in unison.

  "Puhlease . . . I can. "

  * * *

  their landing was silent right inside the main entrance - not a funnel cloud or a light burst, but rather a mere parting between the fabric of time-space density allowing them to never break stride. The message jettisoned from Carlos's mind to the brothers: Let me ask for her and Nuit, then we leave a calling card,

  Silent nods with angry eyes were the response. Carlos glanced at Rider first, the message

  clear: No matter what, Yonnie is still my boy. You won. Leave the man his dignity. Rider's response was one word as they began walking forward. "Done. " Leather coats dusted ankles, hair on backs of necks bris tled, and heavy weapons caused sweat to slick palms - not from fear, but from fury grips. They stood at the edge of the high crevice and looked down; their entry had been so smooth that even the darkside's border guards didn't see them. . . then again, it could have had something to do with the heat waves of pure rage rising off each man that blinded them. Right now, the Guardian team fit right in with the population at Hell's gate.

  The team stared down at the six-hundred-foot drop to the main floor. Designed for a spectacular entry, the only way in was to demon-scamper over the crags, tunnel up from a portal, or touch down vampire-s
tyle in a funnel cloud.

  They'd entered ground zero through a small cave slit that opened out to a wider cavern. Glittering gold-laden bars serving blood and human flesh provided an endless demon feast before them. Writhing, naked bodies twisted in every imaginable carnal act littered the floors as well as the plush, crimson surfaces swathed in Bedouin silks and black drapes. Persian rugs covered gleaming black marble floors as musclebound servers brought fresh golden goblets of blood to sate the enraptured. Massive gold leaf-covered fountains with depraved images spiraled in orgies spewed human blood for bathers reenacting the last days of Sodom and Gomorrah. Huge gaming tables with world territories and human lives at stake in the gold chips were heavily loaded with gamblers. Carlos motioned with his chin toward the pit bulls walking the perimeter at the top of the cavern with Harpies riding their backs.

  Everybody got the layout? Carlos's steely gaze roved over the group. Don't sleep on nothing down here.

  Stone-jawed nods were his answer. With that, he folded the team away, and opened them out onto the floor as though coming in for a vamp landing.

  Seven battle-ready males wafting adrenaline and more approached the bar, drawing hisses of admiration from nearby female entities.

  "Lilith send you boys to join the party?" a long, lithe, snakelike female asked Big Mike, beginning to coil around his legs. Her skin was made of glistening almond-hued scales like that of a yellow boa, and her eyes were an eerie shade of hazel that bordered on greengray-gold. Each of her long platinum tresses seemed alive, as though they were tiny snakes, as she swayed invitingly before Mike. "And you're dinner, too . . . she thinks of everything. "

  The moment she pulled back to strike, Big Mike whipped out a snub-nosed pump shotgun and shoved it into her mouth as she lurched forward, fingering the trigger. "Baby, if you're gonna give me deep throat, do it like a pro - don't bite. " She gagged and eased off the weapon. "I like your style," she murmured, uncoiling from his leg and stroking his groin. "What you're packing under the belt is to die for, lover. My bad, on jumping the gun with a first strike - shoulda known a man like you would wanna be the aggressor. Let me make it up to you?"

  "Later," Mike grumbled, keeping the barrel of his gun trained on her. "Get off me, bitch. " Carlos cut a glance at the bartender as the Amanthra withdrew from Mike with sad eyes. A sexy female vampire had blown him a kiss, and he could tell she'd telepathically told the bartender to give him whatever he wanted. Although she remained on her barstool, she

  shot random erotic images his way, then licked two fingers and dragged them down her cleavage.

  "Keep dreaming, baby," Carlos muttered as she slid her hand up her shirt and released a soft moan. He glanced at Bobby and Dan to be sure that the redhead with crystal green eyes and double-D cleavage hadn't messed up the younger brothers.

  "She has to do way better than that," Bobby said, totally unfazed. Dan pounded his fist, chuckling when she flipped them both the bird and strode away.

  "Good night to you, too - skank. "

  "I guess after being called by Lilith, everything else in here is a minor temptation?" the bartender crooned, his handsome caramel-hued face flawlessly boyish as he smiled at Carlos. He lowered his luminescent brown eyes, delicate black lashes shadowing them as Carlos gave him a hard grit. "No response, strong silent type?"

  "Your problem, dude?" Rider said in a half-snarl, leaning closer to a second-gen vamp than was normally advisable. "You wanna ease up off my brother before my trigger finger gets itchy?"

  The bartender flinched to attempt a quick snatch at Rider, and six barrels pointed at him with distinctive clicks. He eased back with a sheepish grin and held both hands up in front of his chest.

  "Like I said," Rider muttered through his teeth. "Wanna fix the man his drink and fuck off?"

  "My apologies," the bartender murmured sensuously. "But the testosterone and adrenaline trail you gentlemen have is captivating the whole bar. . . with well-fed human blood as the foundation carrier, too - whew . . . a damned delicacy that only the vixen herself could provide. Tell me, are you all off limits and only hers for dinner - is that why you're all so touchy - or did she send you as a gift for us? If she gave explicit orders, then no one would dare cross her. . . but if not. . . "

  "Private label, neat," Carlos said in Dananu, ignoring the probing question.

  "Yes, sir" the bartender said with an awed gasp. "And she trained you in the mother tongue, too? Do you all speak it, or just the hunk that smells incredible?" He drifted away and came back with Carlos's order. "Oh, wait 'til I tell the crew. " His gaze perused the seven stone faces that were ig noring him and staring out on the floor, scanning the scene before them. "After she's done, you have to stay for a while and talk that nasty Dananu to me. "

  Carlos didn't respond, but made sure the horny vamp stayed in his peripheral vision until he moved away to serve other revelers. He kept his eyes roving for any signs of Yon-nie. In his mind, as much as this was gonna end up as a drive-by, he wanted to let his boy know that he was still family and had a haven - if things hadn't changed. But Car los quickly shook the futile thought. Any emotion considered soft and accidentally picked up on in here would get a man immediately smoked.

  The team looked up in unison to see something they'd never seen before. A fine, brunette, female vamp still mov ing as mist had sidled up to Rider from behind. But before her hands slid across his shoulders, he'd vamp-snatched her and slammed her head against the bar, holding her by the throat.

  "Never in the throat without my permission," Rider growled, a 9mm at her temple. "We clear?" He flung her away from him and eyed her with disdain. "Seconds. I hate 'em. "

  The team tried not to gape. Rider's speed was something they could talk about later, as well as how he'd seen her be hind him at the bar without turning around, as though he had vamp three-sixty sight line. Regardless, their cover was holding; the old-heads had it on lock. Female were-demons were smiling a little too much at Shabazz and Big Mike for Carlos's liking, but he had to let it go. Old tracers, he told himself. Carlos kept everybody in his peripheral vision. Lilith's lair was heavily fortified and the bouncers patrolling the upper rims were no joke. Standing seven feet tall with ten-inch fangs and barrel chests to rival WWE wrestlers, he knew they'd have to shoot those big bastards first, along with the Hell dogs they held by long chains. But any minor bar fights, even mortal combat down in the main pit, was nothing more than a floor show - and the spec tators would applaud the victor and eat the scraps when it was done. Therefore, for the moment, Carlos took a gamble that they could press for answers without causing a complete riot.

  As soon as the bartender leaned over his drink and licked his lips at Carlos, offering him an Ecstasy-laced joint, Carlos snatched him over the bar hard and punched him in the face, breaking off a fang.

  "You got something else to say after my boy told you to back the fuck up and stop sweatin' me?" Carlos had placed a 9mm at the bartender's temple so quickly that he couldn't mist out of his grasp.

  The bartender put both hands up in front of his chest, his nervous, red glowing eyes darting between Carlos and eight menacing pairs of Guardian eyes. "Hey, hey, hey, you gen tlemen never said she'd sent you just for her bed and her dinner - we didn't know. "

  "So, where is that slimy bitch, anyway?" Carlos said, his lips curling into a snarl as battlelength fangs began to lower.

  "She went below to give her husband his due," the bartender said, swallowing hard as his eyes went to half-mast. "Damn, I see why she sent for you, though . . . are you sure you don't want anything, sir, until, she uh, returns?"

  Fury tightened Carlos's grasp on the bartender's throat as he hurled him back against the glasses, breaking several bottles and shelves. "Get that motherfucker out of my face," he muttered and spun toward his team. "She ain't here Damn!"

  "Fallon ain't either," Jose said, glancing around at the ap preciative vampire gazes as phantoms slipped between succubae and incubi
, whispering. "So, brother?"

  "Let's leave a calling card," Carlos said in a low, lethal voice. "Like right about now. " Weapons came from under coats, double-handed firing in an automatic spray. Hallowedearth shells whizzed by like tracers, burning the very air as they met targets to incinerate. Guards from the upper levels hurled down to the floor as sulfur rose and screaming demons unprepared for the on slaught took cover, some dying in their mating frenzy only to look up at the last moment. Bat-winged Hell dogs swooped off the ledges bearing aciddripping fangs, their twelve glow ing eyes roving the floor with rage while their razorsharp spaded tails lashed wildly in the air. Mike dropped to one knee and pulled the compact shoul der launcher out of his coat, mounted it on his burly sinew, shoved in a shell from a hidden coat pocket, aimed, and fired. The splatter and cinders from one airborne pit bull ignited an other that accidentally flew through its path. Rider had gotten four bouncers in a single shell shot right through their heads with his right hand while firing the Gatling gun with his left.

  Dan mowed down anything moving behind the bar and then advanced on the gaming tables. Jose was his tandem street sweeper with a snub-nosed pumping dead-aim, serving chest blasts into high-roller demons and splattering the gam ing tables' green felt. J. L. had run up the side of a cavern wall and balanced on a precipice in a Ninja move on the edges of his toes to draw a flock of Harpies to him. Blue-arc tactical charge held him in place as he lifted his weapons and took steady aim. As soon as they got within range J. L. released a hail of bullets from an assault rifle, dropping burning bodies, then pivoted off the cliff edge to land on his feet with Bobby covering him.

  Berkfield had run into the teaming throng of an orgy, nulled the pins on two grenades with his teeth, hurled them, and dove for safety behind a bar. But a were-demon looked up at the same time he did. In two seconds, Berkfield had drawn and blown the back of the demon's skull off. Bobby was over the bar in a blink, and reached down to yank his fa

  ther up. They stood back-to-back, firing at anything coming their way, blowing demon guts out and spattering gook everywhere.

  Carlos flung his spent weapons to Big Mike and Rider, his goal now to run deep into the cavern, headed for Lilith's shrine - her bed. The outer area was like her foyer; he had to go in deep to make an impact in her house.

  Hand-to-hand combat brought him surreal pleasure. All the shit they'd taken him through

  . . . Raw battle-frenzy rippled through Carlos's system as he heart-snatched stunned male sentries and neutered drone lovers on the way to Lilith's golden, demon-headed sanctuary. To defile that car nal place would definitely send her a message: her primary lair had been breached after all these centuries, the squad that did it went for broke, and she was vulnerable - thus weak, and her reinforcements weren't shit against the Guardian forces. But the moment he neared the high monument that sat alone on a steep crag of black malachite almost a half-mile deep into her lair, a giant black cobra - her regular lover and familiar - uncoiled from under her bed in a jealous rage, green eyes glowing, black scales gleaming, fangs dripping as it hissed. He could feel the thing before him hesitate, clearly not sure if Lilith had sent him as a new playmate, but furious at the invasion. Carlos outstretched his arm and drew the blade of Ausar into his grip.

  "You tell that bitch that Rivera was here!" Carlos shouted. "And the next time she fucks with my family, or brings that punk bastard, Fallon Nuit, with her to my door, it's her head and his nuts!"

  The serpent swayed its huge, Hyundai-sized head and snapped, its eyes narrowed on Carlos from its position above him. Then from beneath the bed, several more heads emerged, until the thick body came out to reveal that it was a hydra, not a serpent. The tricky question for Carlos now was which head was the main one? Plus the damned thing moved like greased lightning. He could still hear gunfire report behind him, which meant his team was holding its own. From his peripheral vision, he saw Shabazz and J. L. racing in to assist.

  Not even waiting for the command, Shabazz was liquid motion and had stunned the beast with a tactical charge from his locks and right hand. The blue arc rippled right down Black Beauty's barrel and discharged the shell with it to blow away one head. J. L. flipped out of the way of a strike to dig one of Dan's spent AK-47s into the monster's eye, only landing to blow out the other, firing from 9mms with both hands.

  Sword raised, Carlos took a running leap forward into the air with a Neteru battle cry, his

  coat billowing out from him, propelled by fury. His silver glare burned the creature like lasers had been trained on it, making it flop and screech to be out of his line of vision, and then he released the blade swing. A huge head crashed to the cavern floor as Carlos dropped onto Lilith's bed. Serpents hidden beneath her red silk sheets wriggled and scampered away at his intrusion, and he pulled a handheld Uzi out of his shoulder holster and began shooting the bed, making it bleed black and green blood. The hydra went down slowly, the other heads whining and hissing as the mortally wounded creature nuzzled the gushing site of the main beheading. Fury still had a choke hold on Carlos, and he rammed his sword into the center of the bed, wishing Lilith had been there versus her sumptuous mattress, and then unceremoniously lopped off the golden heads of the four posts.

  But he jumped back amazed as they bled red blood and the little gargoyle figures at the tops of each post grappled at their cut throats.

  Down beside his teammates in seconds, Carlos nodded as they picked up the pace to rejoin the battle on the main floor. Gunshots had ceased, only occasional bursts. Each man's heart slammed into his chest as he ran, hoping for the best, trying to prepare for the worst - only to see the entire team standing in the middle of sulfur plumes rising in hot, yellow smoke from the floor.

  A sea of decapitated and mutilated demon bodies stretched out before them on the ground, piles of ash and cinders cov ered the bars, littering the crevices and crags where they'd dropped. Golden furniture and gaming tables were shot to smithereens. Glass was everywhere from exploded bottles. Guardian eyes briefly studied the carnage knowing that if anything twitched, it could still get up and bite.

  "Raze the place," Shabazz muttered.

  Carlos lifted his blade, ready to send a blast of white light from it, when a cavern opened behind the far wall, sucking the whole bar and half the shelving behind it down into it. Instantly, Carlos spun. J. L. was up on the golden surface of another bar in two flips, flykicking Harpies back, and then balanced on the edge of a sliver of remaining shelving to flip off and send two Harpies right into Carlos's blade. Shabazz threw his head back, released a warrior's yell, and suddenly upper and lower canines ripped through his gums. His clothes had been left in a pool of fabric where he'd been standing. Liquid feline motion, Shabazz's body elongated into a huge, sleek jaguar, his claws ridding Harpies of ap pendages and entrails as he went to J. L. 's aid. The team froze for a moment, stupefied. Berkfield flung a hallowed-earth grenade down into the cavern that had opened, and the team jumped back from the explosion that sealed the hole.

  Bobby was blowing away miscellaneous Harpies that had escaped out of the air with Dan standing at his flank and Jose on the other side. A swarm of Harpies came at Big Mike, and the gunners couldn't get a shot off without hitting Mike. He reared back, hauled off, and threw a cinder-block punch into the eye of the small whirl, causing Harpies to fall out of formation and bounce to the ground, stunned. Bobby, Dan, and Jose picked them off like they were shooting pigeons. The moment the team fell back into formation, all in a line near Carlos, he lowered the blade of Ausar, raised the disc of Heru as a shield, and released a cannon jolt of white light from the tip of the blade to flash-burn everything demonic in their wake.

  "Move out," Carlos said, slowly lowering the shield and watching Lilith's main lair burn

  with great satisfaction.

  Shabazz swept up his clothes, and team members shared incredulous glances but remained mute as he hurriedly robed.

  Suddenly a deafening cl
ap of thunder knocked them to the ground and scattered them like bowling pins. The sonic boom made boulders begin to fall in on the cavern, pelting the team with dangerous projectiles. He had to get his team out of there - had to get them all into a centralized group so he could burn through the universe's fabric without leaving any of his men behind. Carlos gathered his Guardian brothers with ef fort, straining to shield them with a stretched Heru discus and helping them up quickly with his energy so they could run toward him.

  Dangerous energy fatigue was setting in as he tried to fo cus. In the midst of the chaos, a massive, blinding, white-winged stallion snorting blue-white flames, eyes glowing silver, its silver hooves razor-deadly, dropped down. The rid ing warrior owned a familiar face. His dark arm was out stretched to the team, the other held a huge crossbow with a silver stake that glinted off his gold, Kemetian crown.

  "I told you we had your back, brother," Adam said, as several more Neteru kings dropped down to collect Guardian soldiers. "We'll seal your home in black-box safety - go to your queens. Rest. This battle is won. Tomorrow, however, is another day. "

  * * *

  "okay, we have already established that they're crazy," Damali said, losing patience with the group's insistent questions, mainly because she couldn't answer them. "I want a prayerline grappling hook on each man in there. White light, pure everything you've got, to bring

  'em home. You ladies got that?"

  "Yeah," Juanita said, "but what's going on, maybe it's from the darkside - like how do we know about them being able to do things they hadn't before - "

  "It's got to be the marriage merger," Marlene said, her voice quiet and reverent and her gaze distant. "Of one flesh. . . seven joining seven, strengthened by the bond that joins mind, body, and spirit as one under the auspices of white light. " She brought her gaze to the team. "They got us in them, and they're in us. I'm calling Father Pat. It's time to get the Covenant back involved anyway, if they went after Lilith buck-wild and crazy. "

  "Whoa," Krissy said, and stumbled backward 'til her back hit the wall. "The marriage merger can do that?" she asked, totally ignoring the second part of what Marlene had said. Heather and Jasmine just stared at each other as Marjorie slowly brought her hand to her mouth. Inez began walking in a tight circle, fanning her face.

  "This is too crazy," Inez said. "If we're getting juiced up like this, it's gotta be for something scary-big, anybody feeling me? I'm with Marlene; we need all them guys from the clergy up in here, too. Like what if I find out I'm cock-diesel like Mike, and he's fast with a switchblade, like me? Oh, shit, y'all. You hear what I'm saying?"

  "Yeah . . . completely," Tara murmured, her gaze distant. "This isn't like times before. They're acting like it's a last stand, and I don't even think they know why. " Damali walked in a circle raking her locks, total frustration claiming her as the puzzle numbed her brain. As much as she hated to admit it, fear for the safety of one half of the team had a headlock on her as well.

  "Do you know where the capital city is for ancient Babylon?" Damali finally blurted out,

  unable to control the volume of her voice as her nerves frayed and snapped. "It's on the Euphrates River, south of Baghdad in modem Iraq!"

  Unable to contain herself, Damali paced faster as the group's eyes widened before her.

  "Pray and pray hard, sisters - they're walking right into part of this whole Middle East madness. There's ground troops from however many nations over there, civilians . . . tanks, tracers, land mines, God only knows what, and our squad could accidentally come out of a whirl right in the middle of a firelight - who knows! And I haven't even begun to think about what demons are over there right now screwing with everybody, keeping the conflict going, holding humanity in a death struggle against itself. . . hell. . . Level Seven might be topside, for all we know!"

  "I'll see if I can get maps, something to give us a geographic visual as we pray white light around where they are. It helps. " Krissy jumped up and dashed down the hall, returning quickly with her laptop.

  Jasmine, Heather, and Marjorie linked hands, making blue-white static zing between them with Tara in the middle to draw her vamp-locator knowledge to the fore.

  "The old stones are screaming," Heather said quickly, looking up at Damali. "The region is not just white-hot topside, but underground. The holy cities . . . with the conflict going on near Beirut, Jordan, and north - Christian and Muslim and Jewish strongholds are hi flames. "

  "But they went to Lilith's bedchamber," Tara said with a shiver. "To her main lair that has never been breached in history - even warrior angels couldn't find it. . . it is an insane move, a fool's quest. " She covered her face with her hands and breathed into them deeply as though trying to keep from hyperventilating.

  "Yeah, but Carlos is the only fool I know that ever sat in the Chairman's throne and lived to tell about it as a living human being," Marlene countered. "Even warrior angels didn't do that. . . and if he had an old link to Cain that didn't all the way die out, then if anybody could find Lilith," she added, glancing at Damali, "it's him. " Damali briefly closed her eyes, trying to find the silver lining in the mayhem surrounding her. "There's always a reason, there's always a reason . . . there's always something good that comes out of every bad for the greater good," she murmured like a mantra, trying to remind herself of that and calm her nerves for the sake of the team as another wave of panic threatened to sweep through her.

  "Ohmigod," Krissy said, beginning to rock. "From where we are in the South Pacific, they're already into the next day, fourteen to sixteen hours ahead of us, just before midnight there by an hour, perhaps. What if. . . oh, shit, they're outta their minds!"

  "I know, I know," Damali said, pacing. "They're nuts. "

  "Just like the prophecies," Juanita murmured, holding her hands up in front of Inez as both women's eyes rolled back into their skulls, showing only the whites the moment each seer went under.

  "And I saw the Lamb open one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, come and see. . . and I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him; and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. " Inez's head snapped up with a gasp. Her voice had been a gravelly, chilling tone that was not her own.

  "Revelations one and two!" Marlene screamed, running into the bedroom and searching

  Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer for Damali's stones. "Where're your stones, child? Your divination tool! This is the big one! The first seal is opened! Call Father Pat - this is not a drill!"