Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) (33 page)

Elyssa shook her head. "We have a better chance sneaking around with two of us."

"I suppose." Bella pursed her lips. "You won't need to hide your blood scent from the vampires with so many other warm-bloods around, so that will simplify matters." She snapped her fingers. "Ah, and if the areas are completely empty of patrols, keep a close eye out for ward traps." She looked to me. "Remember, your incubus vision can spot some of those."

"Thanks, Mom." I smiled. "We'll be careful, Bella."

She gave us each a firm hug and a kiss on both cheeks, one of her Colombian traditions. "If Stacey wasn't pregnant, she could have done this for you."

"Stacey would probably do it while she's pregnant," Elyssa said with a chuckle. "So don't give her any ideas."

Bella laughed. "I believe she would try."

I checked my phone every few seconds in case Grundwig replied, but still saw nothing. I took Elyssa's hand. "We should go."

She nodded. "We'll see you soon, Bella."

Shelton came up behind us. "You two be careful." He held his compact staff in one hand, as if eager to use it on something. "Maybe Bella and I should come along and watch your backs."

"We'll be duck-walking through a long tunnel for at least a mile," I said. "You'd have to leave your hat behind."

"We can watch the tunnel," he said. "Make sure nobody finds it. That means I get to wear the hat."

"That wouldn't be a bad idea," Elyssa said.

Shelton walked over to the rack, grabbed his hat, and slapped it on his head. "It's settled, then. We're going."

"Going where?" Zagg asked.

Shelton shrugged. "Just a top-secret covert mission to pull one over on Daelissa."

"I want to go," Zagg said.

Acworth and Natalie came down the hall, presumably from settling into their room. The big man looked a little browbeaten as his girlfriend talked about all the women she knew who were getting married.

"Did someone say something about a mission?" Acworth looked at us hopefully.

Zagg was already putting on a belt with his staff and wand holsters, while Kayla slid into a svelte purple robe and accessorized it with matching wand and staff.

I felt Elyssa's grip tighten on my hand.

"This is supposed to be covert." I looked at the crowd readying themselves for action.

"We can be covert," Acworth said, showing his teeth. "We'll sniff the perimeter."

"I'll help Harry ward the place," Zagg said.

"Bella and I can look for enemy wards," Kayla said. "This is gonna be the best covert operation ever."

Elyssa caught my arm before I face-palmed myself. I managed a smile. "Great. Let's go."

We went into the cellar and opened a portal in the omniarch that took us back to the location of Grundwig's tunnel. I checked my phone and saw no messages. "Shelton, you're in charge while we're gone." I spotted a huge wolf and a daintier one sniffing the ground as they wandered into the woods nearby.

Shelton looked at the hole in the rock. "You leading the way through that small tunnel?"

I nodded. "Yeah, and I'm not looking forward to it."

"I have a special technique that makes ducking through confined spaced a lot more bearable," he said.

"Any advice is good." I wondered if there was a special way to walk that made it easier on the back.

He nodded sagely. "Don't fart."

A laugh burst from Elyssa's mouth.

I squeezed Shelton on the shoulder and nodded seriously. "Great advice, man." I looked at Elyssa. "I hope you take it to heart."

She punched me on the shoulder. "I'm not the one who needs that advice."

"Don't you know women do not poot?" Bella said.

Elyssa folded her arms. "Even if we did, it would smell like roses." She raised an eyebrow as if daring me to challenge that statement.

I shrugged. "Now that the scatological portion of this mission has been resolved, I say we make like the seven dwarves and hi-ho it out of here."

Elyssa rechecked her equipment. "I'm down to hi-ho."

Bella gave us hugs and cheek kisses again. "Be careful."

Shelton opened his mouth to say something. Bella nudged him in the ribs. He winked at her. "Yeah, good luck."

My stomach filled with a leaden uneasiness as I contemplated the tunnel entrance. Had Grundwig completed the tunnel, or had she been caught? I flicked on my incubus night vision and entered the oval entrance. Once inside, the ceiling rose gradually, allowing us to walk only slightly bent over. The air felt dry and cool and smelled faintly of earth and rock. The path sloped downward at a sharp angle and was a little wider than my shoulders for the most part, though the stone walls had bumps and outcroppings I had to avoid from time to time as we made our way as quickly as possible into the depths.

We hadn't travelled more what seemed like half a mile when I felt an unmistakable tingle on my skin. I stopped, fists clenching. The prison was enclosed in an interdiction field. If we had an emergency, I wouldn't be able to use magic to get us out of it.

Chapter 30

"What is it?" Elyssa asked, hands pressing against my shoulders.

"We just entered an interdiction field. I won't be able to use magic."

She pressed a small satchel into my hand. "Maybe these will help."

I opened the satchel and withdrew several rings. "You brought the rings from the battle mages?"

"Duh. I figured we might run into an issue like this." She gave me a gentle shove forward. "Put them on and get going."

I put rings on the fingers they fit best as we crouch-walked. Now was probably the best time to test the things, so I drew in a trickle of energy. I didn't feel sick, so I sucked in more, channeling it into a globe of white light.

"Ouch," Elyssa said. "You realize how blinding that is with my night vision on?"

I'd automatically flicked mine off. "Oops, sorry. The rings seem to work." I released the channeled light.

"Great, now I have a big spot in my vision." Elyssa pinched my butt hard.

I yelped and bumped my head into the ceiling. "You're mean."

"I'm not the one who just blinded his wonderful girlfriend."

I chuckled, despite the dread continuing to build in me as we moved forward and no word yet from Grundwig on her status.

We walked down, reaching a level area where water trickled from the walls. The tunnel sloped steeply up. A figure appeared. My heart began to beat faster. I tensed and channeled a shield to block the corridor. Hand-to-hand combat would be difficult in these confines.

"It is me," said Grundwig as she stepped into range of my night vision.

I released the shield and took a deep calming breath. "You scared the life out of me. Why didn't you answer my text?"

"Apparently, my fingers are too"—she paused as if searching for a word—"fat to do this text." She rolled her shoulders in an approximation of a shrug. "Plus, I was too busy digging and did not realize you had communicated until a short time ago."

"A string of garbled text would have worked." I waved the issue away and gave thanks she was okay. "Did you reach the prison?"

She nodded. "The flooring is very hard. Magic, I think. It took longer to break through, but this goes where you asked me to put it." She turned and headed back up the tunnel. "Come, I will take you."

"I'm glad you're okay," Elyssa said. "We were worried."

Grundwig turned her head and looked at us. "Thank you for your concern." Then she started walking up the tunnel.

We followed her for what felt like ages. I gave thanks for the comfortable Templar armor. The uniform looked like gray skintight footsy pajamas, but the padded foot soles made walking long distances comfortable. At long last, we reached a wall. Above us, a hole beckoned. Grundwig went first. I pulled myself up after her and into a basement with large pipes running through it. Just above a large pipe, I spotted another hole.

"Stairs above," the troll said, pointing up.

"Are you certain this is the right spot?" I asked.

"Yes."

I didn't ask her how she knew that, but figured trolls must have a sixth sense when it came to tunneling to specific places.

Elyssa climbed onto the pipe beneath the hole and poked her head through. Apparently certain the coast was clear, she pulled herself up the rest of the way.

"Wish us luck," I said to Grundwig. My mind ran through a few horrific scenarios—vampire hordes finding us, deadly magic wards ready to blow us to bits, battle mages on patrol—and my stomach clenched in reaction.

"Luck is wished," she said, her head tilting as if noticing my apprehension. "I will dig the tunnel to the west stairwell."

"Thanks."

I climbed onto the pipe and pulled myself through the hole. Elyssa stood with her back against the wall, her head turning back and forth as she surveyed the hallway beyond. The stairs led up to a landing behind me. She turned and nodded. Calling upon my inner Zen for calm, I headed up the stairs to the first landing, looked around the corner. Seeing no present danger, I continued upward and onward.

We reached the top landing. A ladder led up to a trap door in the ceiling. I climbed the ladder and saw a hasp where a padlock might have once secured the opening. Pressing gently and wincing in anticipation of a squeak, I eased open the door. The hinges rasped but otherwise didn't protest. The door folded all the way over until it rested on the roof. I poked my head up and looked around. The roof was flat except for large, metal, gooseneck vents. The first statue would be inside the box near the middle, according to Kassus's information. At the center of the roof stood a tall rod with a copper ring a third of the way from the bottom, and another the same distance from the top where it terminated in a copper ball. Tarp-covered rectangles encircled the device.

A Tesla coil. It must be the interdictor.
I sneaked to one of the canvas-covered shapes and peeked underneath. It was an aether generator. Elyssa touched my elbow.

"This interdictor must require a lot of power," I said.

She put a finger to her mouth and pointed toward the vent to the right of the interdictor. Using the aether generators as cover, we made our way to the target. The gooseneck vent bent to face the roof, thus preventing rain from leaking inside. A grate covered the opening but I could see where someone had previously bent it.

I pulled on the bent corner and fished my hand inside. It felt a statue held in place with some kind of tape. I pulled it out and saw silver duct tape stuck to the starburst statue. I was just about to comment on it when Elyssa pressed a finger to my lips and gave me a stern look.

She pointed to the vent and mouthed, "They can hear you through these."

Hiding my disappointment, I headed back for the trap door. Something whooshed overhead. I looked up and saw a flying carpet speeding into the dark. Apparently they hadn't seen us or hadn't cared. After all, who could penetrate the army surrounding this place? They probably figured we worked here like everyone else—or so I hoped.

We climbed back down the ladder, closing the trap door behind us. I took out my arcphone to play the deactivation tune, but Elyssa shook her head.

"We'll do both at the same time," she whispered.

"Can you believe Kassus used duct tape?" I whispered back.

She rolled her eyes. "I just knew that's what you were going to say."

"Wow. Even people who can do crazy things with magic still rely on duct tape." I peeled off the strips and balled them up. "Good stuff."

We took the stairs back down and dropped through the hole into the basement then climbed off the pipe and back down to the hole leading to the tunnel. I dropped through and found the new tunnel leading toward the west wing. Motioning Elyssa to follow, I headed through.

This tunnel wasn't as tall so we had to lean down. We found Grundwig working on the concrete slab of the basement. Her claws didn't seem to be doing much, especially compared to what she'd done to solid rock.

The troll took a break and looked at us. "Magic protection." So far, she'd dug a fair-sized divot in the concrete. The slab in the other basement had been about a foot thick, which meant she still had a little ways to go.

Elyssa checked the time on her phone. "We don't have a lot of time to spare. How much longer will this take?"

"Last one took a lot of time," the troll said. "I would have drilled this one already, but I went back to tell you it was almost finished."

I took a close look at what she'd done so far. Small cracks ran through the gray surface. They weren't much to work with, but it couldn't hurt to try. I channeled a thin beam of Brilliance at the concrete. The surface blackened and turned bright red as it heated. A few drops of molten cement dripped down, narrowly missing me. Elyssa and Grundwig backed away.

At this rate it would take a month to cut through the concrete.
I need more cowbell.
Summoning extra power, I doubled my efforts—and hit a wall. The rings had a limit to how much I could channel.

"This isn't working," I grumbled. The charms protecting the concrete were able to diffuse most of the energy and prevent major damage. Taking a different tact, I channeled Murk, filling all the tiny cracks with ultraviolet power, and then willed them to expand. "Try digging now," I told Grundwig.

The troll resumed her work. Sparks flew from her claws as whatever magic she used to dig activated. While she dug, I expanded the energy in the cracks, willing it to press hard against every weakness in the concrete. The surface crumbled. I took every ounce of energy the rings allowed and hit with one big burst.

A cloud of gray dust filled the small space as the floor above dropped down. I pressed the neckline of my Templar armor and let it grow over my neck and head so it could filter the air. Grundwig ignored the dust and clawed out the edges of the hole. Thick, rusty rebar jutted from the sides. She sliced the metal bars without much effort. Apparently, they weren't protected by the charms.

"Is the concrete on the basement ceiling protected?" I asked her.

"No." She leapt up the hole in a blue flash.