Unhidden (The Gatekeeper Chronicles Book 1) (34 page)

The scorpion stinger scraped along the skin of my right arm. The venom initially set my skin on fire, and then the paralysis began to spread down my arm. I had to act before it reached my gun hand.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, and then pulled the trigger.

Lockien fell on top of me, his bloody head resting on my shoulder. My arm fell uselessly at my side. Then Alex was there helping to roll the body off me.

“Manticores,” he said, referring to the beast, not noticing its face. “As soon as the elves run out of bullets, they’re done for. These things will eat them alive.”

“Then let’s finish this,” I responded, gritting my teeth in determination. They were brave words, though difficult to execute in our condition. Alex was weakened to the point of uselessness. I had a paralyzed right arm and an injured left shoulder. We didn’t make the most threatening pair, and it looked like we might be too late anyway.

Zane was fully thawed now and had Sharur lifted over his head, rich blue light pulsing through the blades like a living thing. My breath caught as he swung the axe downward. I was anticipating some dramatic opening of a doorway between worlds; instead, the axe thunked to the ground at Zane’s feet. Zane doubled over, clutching his head, struggling to stifle a scream through clenched teeth.

I made a move toward him; however, Connor got there first, snatching up the axe in a flash. “Well, it looks like Plan A is a bust. On to Plan B,” he said, giving me a sly smile. “I know you want this, and I want to give it to you, but …”

“I am not going to use it,” I said. “And now that I know you can’t use it, either, I don’t need it after all. I think I’ll just go home to get a good night’s sleep and kill you another day,” I said, returning his smug smile.

“I’m willing to bet I can change your mind about using the axe,” he said. “Bring him out,” he yelled over his shoulder.

Two soldiers stepped out of the Mets’ dugout, dragging a third figure between them. Their prisoner was thin, weak. He couldn’t even walk under his own power, head hanging on his chest, wrists tied behind his back.

As they dragged him into the light, I recognized his blond hair immediately, even before Connor grabbed his hair, jerking his head up so I could see the prisoner’s face.

“Daniel,” I choked, taking a step forward. All of my bravado evaporated, and cold terror flooded my heart.

Connor put a gun to Daniel’s head, and I stopped in my tracks. “Use the axe or he dies.” Daniel’s eye and cheek were bruised, his lip and forehead split, face coated in dried blood. His eyelids drooped, partially hiding a glazed look, like he had been drugged.

I didn’t even waste a moment to debate it. “Give it to me,” I said. Connor thrust the axe into my waiting left hand as I tried to ignore the pain in my shoulder. “When the rift is open, you will hand over Daniel to me, unharmed. Understand?”

“You have my word,” he replied, as if his word meant anything to me.

My fingers closed around the shaft of the battle axe. It was surprisingly warm to the touch, and I could feel that familiar thrumming against my palm. The vibration ran up my arm, soothing my wounded shoulder until the pain was nothing except a dull ache. The blue light that had dimmed when Zane had dropped the object, flared to life even brighter than before. Sharur felt good in my hands, not too much weight, only enough at the head to make for a powerful blow.

I stepped past Zane who was still kneeling with his forehead touching the cool grass, taking deep breaths. I moved onto the dais and lifted Sharur above my head like I had seen Zane do. My eyes shifted between the men who held pieces of my heart: Daniel, Zane, and even Alex. I had to help them all get out of this alive, but I didn’t know what I was supposed to do.

Focus
, came a faint voice from so far away I thought I had imagined it. I looked sharply at Connor, but his eager expression didn’t falter. He hadn’t heard it.

I closed my eyes and concentrated, shutting out the sounds of gunfire, screams of terror, moans of pain.
Focus
, the voice said again, a little louder this time.
Hold in your mind the image of what you want
.

Maybe I was going crazy, or the stress was finally getting to me, but I found myself actually doing what the voice had said. Holding the image firmly in my mind, I let the axe fall, carried by the weight of the blade. Unexpected resistance met the blade, forcing me to put my body weight behind the downward stroke. It felt like cutting through cold butter with a plastic knife—not clean and easy, though not impossible, either.

When the tip of the blade touched the ground, I opened my eyes. In front of me was the doorway I had pictured in my mind. It started as a thin tear in the air that would have been unnoticeable in the dark, but then it began to separate. I could see no lands or armies inside the tear. There was nothing other than blackness. Yet the thick stench of smoke assaulted my nose. The thunder of footsteps, crash of steel, and growls of beasts reached my ears and grew louder with each passing second. The ground shook with their impending onslaught.

I stepped back, moving away from the rift. Turning to Connor, I shouted over the din of the battle and approaching host, “It’s open. Now give Daniel to me.”

While Connor was assembling what remained of his troops to storm the gateway, I reached into the pouch that hung at my waist and pulled out the device Benjamin had given me. I positioned myself to toss it into the rift the moment Daniel was out of Connor’s grasp to collapse the gate before anything could get out. Connor barely glanced at me, waving to his soldiers to release Daniel.

They let go of Daniel’s arms, dropping him to the ground at their feet. Doing my best impersonation of Mets hall-of-fame pitcher Tom Seaver, I snapped my arm forward with all the force I could muster. It would have been a perfect throw if Zane hadn’t slammed into me with his full body weight right as I released the object, sending my pitch wild.

The device landed in the seating area where it imploded. In a split second, every seat, manticore and elf that had been standing within a hundred foot radius of it got sucked into a void. The void then collapsed upon itself, leaving behind a vast section of nothing except broken concrete.

Connor and his soldiers hesitated, uncertain whether I had any more of those devices.

Hot, angry tears sprung unbidden to my eyes. That had been my only chance of closing the rift, my only chance to save Earth. My murderous gaze landed on Zane; however, he was staring rapturously at the procession stepping through the gate onto Citi Field.

A team of scouts came through first. They looked like overgrown wolves with coarse gray fur and sharp eyes. They took in the sights and smells around them, but judging from their bored look, clearly didn’t feel the elves, manticores and a human army were much of a threat. The largest wolf threw his head back and gave a long, keening howl, signaling the all clear.

One black boot stepped out from the darkness then another. Zane went to his knees at the sight of the man who stood on the dais. He didn’t cut a very imposing figure: average height, average build, with neatly cropped black hair. His face was pale and weathered, but it was clear he had been very handsome in his youth, and some of that attractiveness remained. He wore a black tunic with a silver belt and a gray cloak on his shoulders.

Although he wasn’t physically intimidating, his cold, black eyes were those of a highly intelligent and calculating individual. They darted around rapidly, landing on every point in the stadium, taking in the entire scene within moments. And, for a reason I didn’t understand, he terrified the ever-living shit out of me.

His eyes landed on me, a slow smile spreading across his face, and it was all I could do to fight the urge to run. My stomach roiled at the sight of him, and all I wanted to do was find a closet to cower in.

So, this was the infamous Gabriel Marduk. I was so distracted by the sight of him that I almost missed the figure standing behind and to his right.

The woman was tall and slender with porcelain skin and pale yellow eyes that matched the color of her golden hair hanging in long, loose curls about her shoulders. She wore a white gown that fell to her feet, clinging to every feminine curve of her body. Over her gown was a rich, red cloak. A small smile played on her full lips, and when those lips parted, I could see bright white fangs. A vampire! Was there no end to this menagerie of creatures?

Connor came scurrying out of the shadows, like a rat out of a sewer. “As an emissary of the United States government, I order you to stop. If you take one more step onto U.S. soil, it will be seen as an act of war, and we will wipe you and your people from existence.”

Marduk took one very slow and deliberate step forward. I fully expected Connor to transform into a cartoon character, with steam coming out of his ears and his eyes bugging out of his head. Connor opened his mouth, most likely to spew another impotent threat, when Marduk tired of him and gave the blonde woman a quiet order.

She moved faster than my eyes could follow, nothing more than a blur in the night, and she was at Connor’s throat. He managed to get out a girlish shout of surprise before her fangs plunged into his jugular. I expected blood to gush from the wound, like I had seen in
True Blood
, but it was neat and clean. The vampire drank deep, not about to waste even one drop of blood. Connor’s skin turned so pale he was almost translucent. His cheekbones sank in and his breathing became erratic.

When she was done, she unceremoniously dropped him onto the ground where he lay unmoving, and returned to Marduk’s side. I didn’t know whether Connor was dead or just really close to it, but I didn’t care either way. He got what he deserved.

Marduk lifted his arms and spread them wide as if to embrace this new world. He said in a clear, booming voice, “Earth is finally ours. Take what you have been promised!”

Stomping, braying, fluttering, and howling erupted from the gateway behind him. All fighting between the elves and manticores froze as their attention was drawn to the rift. A terrible onslaught of creatures poured forth: ghouls, shadow demons, vampires, and other creatures I had no name for. They swarmed around and past me, heading straight for the exits.

Although they had been killing each other only moments before, the elves, manticores, and soldiers now stood side by side to prevent this new threat from escaping into the city. Jason emerged onto the field and joined in the efforts to keep the creatures at bay. They fought hard, blocking the exits, but it was fruitless. The number of creatures was overwhelming.

I looked down at the battle axe in my hand. Where was all of the power I had been promised when I really needed it? How could I possibly ever hope to stop this?

Looking around in confusion, my eyes landed on Marduk, who was approaching me with a satisfied smirk, keeping his arms held wide. He stopped in front of me with an expectant look. When I didn’t respond, he said, “What, no hug for your father?”

The world spun out of control. I couldn’t focus, couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe. What had he just said to me? The destroyer of worlds was my father? If so, what did that make me? A part of me thought the revelation explained a lot about why I was the way I was. The other part of me rebelled against the idea. He was lying; he must be. He was trying to manipulate me. But, then, why did it feel like the truth?

“Wh-what are you talking about?” I asked, swallowing hard.

“Ah, yes. Zane told me you lost your memory, but I thought for sure you would remember me. Not to worry, I am certain that can be remedied when you come home with me.”

That shook me out my stupor. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Of course you are,” he laughed.

Turning to the figure in the red cloak who still shadowed him, Marduk said, “Cressida, I would like you to meet my daughter, Ashnan. Ashnan, this is Cressida Lebeau, my advisor. She will see to it that you arrive home safely while I deal with things here.”

The vampire stepped toward me, and I took a step back.

“I said, I am not going anywhere with you, or your advisor.” I hefted Sharur and fell into a fighting stance, making my point crystal clear. I was significantly less effective fighting with my left hand, but Marduk didn’t know that.

The smile dropped from his face, his lip curling up in a menacing snarl. I noticed his hand twitch, though he didn’t follow through on the move to hit me. “Cressida, if you would be so kind.”

“With pleasure,” the vampire drawled in a husky voice. When she came to an abrupt stop back at her designated place behind Marduk, she was cradling the semi-conscious figure of Daniel in her arms. She made it look as if he weighed no more than a feather.

“Put him down, or I’ll cut your undead head off,” I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.

The vampire merely chuckled softly. Given the speed in which she had moved, I would never get close enough to hurt her, and even if I did, I wouldn’t be strong enough to beat her.

“Don’t be foolish. You belong in Urusilim, and you belong with me. If you truly care for this boy and want to keep him safe, you will come with me, and I will leave him here, unharmed.”

“Why do you want me so badly?”

“You’re my daughter. Isn’t that enough of a reason?”

The answer was a resounding no; however, this wasn’t the time or the place to argue the point. It didn’t really matter anyway.

I looked around me at the dwindling numbers of defenders. The bodies of elves, soldiers, and beasts were strewn about the stadium; dark pools of blood mottled what had been a neatly groomed baseball diamond. I was relieved to see that Jason was still standing and looking uninjured, but for how long? I couldn’t leave Earth behind and allow it to fall into the hands of these monsters.

“I will go with you …” Marduk looked like the cat that ate the canary. “
But
…”—I enjoyed watching that self-satisfied smile slip off his face—“only if you recall all of your creatures back through the rift, and Sharur stays here in the keeping of the Mage Council.”