With that, he put his hand to the glass and it shimmered and congealed, turning into what looked like liquid mercury. Without another word he disappeared into it with Reuben holding onto his shoulder. Once they were through, the glass re-solidified. Ignoring the flurry of butterflies in her stomach and the fact she may be sending these people to their deaths, Caia placed her own hand on the glass and re-opened the portal. When it was ready she ushered them all through.
At last it was just her and Jaeden.
“You ready, Cy?” Jae whispered, her usually tan face pale with fear.
She shook her head numbly at her friend and clasped Jae’s hand tight. “Nope. We’ve got to be brave though.”
“I will if you will.”
At that they both drew in a huge shaky gulp of air and stepped into the mirror. She barely had time to get used to the feeling of travelling by portal when the shouts and screams hit her ears. On instinct she dropped to the ground pulling Jaeden with her, and a blast of power flew over their heads and splintered the wall at their backs. Heart pounding in her chest, Caia looked up to see the reception at the Center was a battleground already. Lykans were in the middle of chewing up magiks, battling it out with lykans from the Center and bouncing off of protective shields. Water, fire and earth exploded everywhere, mixing with blood and the pressure in the atmosphere created by air magik. She swung her gaze around seeing their way out of the reception was blocked by two magiks who were fighting off a lykan.
“Reuben!” Caia yelled to the vampyre as he choked the life out of a younger vamp as if he were merely a rabbit caught in a trap. He grunted in question as he shook the boy and let him drop. She indicated the blocked pathway and he nodded. His body was a blur as he crossed the room and shot his entire weight into one of the magiks. The warlock barely had time to scream as his body flew backwards into the wall with such force the brickwork cracked all around him. He stuck there almost comically for a minute before collapsing to the ground. Reuben seemed to say something to a lykan, Alexa it seemed, and she tore off after the injured magik to finish him off.
“Jeez, I never knew he could move that fast. The son-of-a-bitch never moved that fast, not once when we were out hunting,” Jae whispered loudly in her ear.
Caia smirked. She wasn’t surprised Reuben had been careful to keep quiet about how powerful he really was. It was probably one of the many reasons he had lived as long as he had. She waited and readied herself as he took the other magik in hand. “OK, you ready. We have to move fast.”
Jae braced herself like an Olympic sprinter and gave a determined nod.
“Go!” Caia yelled and off they shot, dodging fighting supernaturals and trying to ignore the howls and snarls and screams, praying that their side were the ones winning.
They never slowed, even as they made it out of the reception and into the quieter corridors.
“The elevator,” Caia puffed, already feeling the burn of energy in her legs.
They had almost made it when out of nowhere a tall, broad-shouldered vampyre came rushing around the corner, his lips drawn back so they could see his lengthened fangs. He swooped on Caia but Jaeden was already in front of her, unsheathing a steel axe from a belt she had strapped to her hip. Caia watched in awe as Jae ducked the vampyre’s punch and jumped his side swipe, smashing her elbow into his face in the same motion. Dazed he staggered back, allowing Jae a few more punches in, including an uppercut that sent blood spraying out of the vampyre’s nose. Caia was sure Jae was about to be declared the winner, when, with a terrifying hiss, the vamp blocked another of her punches and grabbed her arm, twisting it behind her back to secure her in a chokehold. Caia didn’t even have time to aid her before Jaeden used her telekinesis to thrust him from her and pin him to the wall. She was on him in a second, slicing the blade of her axe into his neck with such force it tore through his skin and bones and lodged into the wall behind him. His head rolled off his body and onto the floor before bouncing to a stop. Blood and all sorts of nastiness oozed out of the top of his decapitated corpse. A sudden need to upchuck overwhelmed Caia. She was never going to get used to the violent art of decapitation.
Jaeden meanwhile was whistling as she cleaned the axe off on the vamp’s leather duster and slid it back into place on her belt. She smiled brightly at Caia and headed towards the elevator. Caia followed her, glancing back at the dead vampyre in revulsion as his headless body fell forward. She hit the button on the elevator and turned to her friend. “You are way too comfortable with what you just did.”
Jaeden shrugged. “Vampyre Hunter, remember.”
“Uh, bringing up your foray into illegal activities is not reassuring.”
They stepped into the elevator and while Caia pressed the button that led to the containment center, Jae grinned. “You are too sensitive, Cy. You need to just shut down and get the job done. I thought you’d done this stuff before.”
“Yeah, but…”
“But what?”
“You were like… really good at it. You know quick, efficient. And you seemed to… I don’t know… like it.”
She shrugged, wiping the sweat from her forehead. “It’s kind of exciting.”
Caia snorted, “Yeah. Well I’m sure it’ll still be exciting in ten years’ time.”
Disgust and horror crossed her friend’s features. “You think we’ll be doing this in ten years’ time?”
“This or something like it according to Reuben.”
“What the hell do you mean?”
“Well apparently we’ve all been naïve to think I’m somehow going to end a two-thousand year old war in a year.”
Jaeden grunted, “Well when you put it like that…”
“I know, I know. He’s right. I’m an idiot.”
“We’re all idiots. Look, let’s just get through this and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.”
The elevator binged and the doors slid slowly open. Caia moved to step out and looked up.
Oh crap. Her cheeks flooded with heat, and her entire body froze. Oh holy Artemis. Now they were in for it.
Without another thought, Caia shoved Jaeden back into the corner of the elevator, jumped out of it and hit the button to send her back up.
“CY, NO!” Jaeden screamed at her in outrage as the elevator slammed shut, leaving Caia to face Marita and the five magiks before her by herself. They had positioned themselves in the reception hall of the containment center. The center itself was locked tight behind them. There was no way she getting into it unless she went through these guys first. Marita’s face twisted with an amalgamation of emotions. Grief, hatred, disbelief… more hatred.
Caia’s mind raced with some way to stall, counting on conversation to somehow save her. But it seemed Marita was all out of conversation. Before she could even protect herself a blast of power sent her rocketing back into the elevator doors, her head jarring off the steel with a sickening sharpness that seemed to shoot all the way down her spine and into her toes. She began to crumple to the ground and hadn’t even made it there before she felt the world spinning, the air rushing through her hair and skin as she was thrown across the room, her feet brushing the ceiling before the energy released her and she dropped like a dead weight, her entire body smacking into the floor with enough force to ricochet her chin off the ground. With the impact the air rushed out of her lungs and she clawed at the floor in panic, desperately trying to pull in oxygen. Ignoring the throbbing of her chin and the blood that trickled out of her mouth, Caia spat a tooth out and wheezed in air. Through a curtain of her hair she saw the magiks approach.
“Have at her,” Marita said softly. “Make it slow.”
Fire erupted along her arms and legs, the flames licking her skin, the agonizing pain of her crackling flesh like nothing she had ever experienced before. Caia screamed in release, tears streaking her face, the vomit-inducing smell clogging her nostrils. And then the water began to fill her lungs and she couldn’t breathe, couldn’t scream from either pain but only writhe in unimaginable torture. Oh goddess, she couldn’t think. She needed to think!
“CAIA!” she heard Jaeden distantly and her heart almost stopped. No! She wouldn’t be stupid enough to come down here! She twisted in effort to catch sight of her friend and then watched her in utter amazement. Jaeden stood like an amazon, rage mottling her pretty features. Before Marita and the magiks even had time to blink they were thrown back by Jaeden’s telekinesis. And she threw them good! Their magik ceased to attack Caia as they themselves collided with hurricane force against the containment center entry doors, buckling the metal. And before they could even get to their feet, five lykans shot out of the elevator, their muzzles pulled back, some covered with blood and gore.
They looked ferocious and feral… and ready to rip Marita apart. With a howl from the leader, who Caia joyously recognized as Phoebe, they tore after the magiks. Marita’s eyes widened in shock as Phoebe headed directly for her. But the lykan never even got within an inch of her when, with one last look of determined retribution, Marita disappeared before their eyes. Three of the other magiks followed her, but two of the females weren’t quick enough and the lykans converged on them as a pack.
“Caia!” Jaeden ran to her as she tried to get up. Jae grabbed her arm and the pain set off another stream of screams and curses.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry… oh gods look what they’ve done. Oh, Cy…” her eyes swept over her helplessly.
Jeez, she must look a mess, she thought wearily.
“It’s OK,” Caia croaked, her throat rough from its recent asphyxiation. “Just give me a minute.” One of the lykans parted from the pack, her fur a beautiful raven black. She was a smaller version of Lucien in wolf form except for the streak of silver that ran from between her eyes to the tip of her black shiny nose. She whined as she approached Caia and stopped to nuzzle her face before licking her cheek.
“I’m OK.” Caia stroked the lykan’s head. “I’m OK, Irini. Really. Thanks for the help.”
The bing of the elevator doors startled them all and they spun around to face the next enemy, Jaeden’s hand braced in front of her, ready to utilize her telekinesis once more. A surge of pride ran through Caia. Jae was really getting good at controlling her powers. Her pulse slowed when Reuben stepped out, followed by Vanne and a couple of the Council members families. Reuben’s eyes narrowed as he took in the scene and then darkened on Caia’s near prone form with a menacing disquiet. He strode towards her, brushing past Jaeden rudely. “What happened?” he asked softly as he dropped onto his haunches beside her, his eyes taking in all her injuries.
“I’m fine.” She shook him off, unnerved by his concern. “I just need a minute.”
He nodded tautly and stood up to face Jaeden. Caia couldn’t see his expression, but Jaeden tensed so it couldn’t be good.
“Where were you?” he almost whispered his voice was so low with anger.
Jae’s jaw dropped. “Where was I-”