“Oh, hell.” Ryan stared at her, then turned to speak to the SWAT team leader. “You’ll need the body bunkers and fireproof face masks. And call the fire department.” He returned his attention to Ari. “I say we still storm the door, as soon as SWAT is equipped. Unless you have a better idea. I only see this situation getting worse the longer we wait.”
“I’m not sure charging in is the answer.” She looked doubtful. “Are these body bunkers fireproof?”
Ryan shrugged. “Normal fire, maybe.”
“This has become kind of dicey for us,” Steffan said. “My pack won’t be much use against fire.”
“Then you bring up the rear,” Ryan said. “Try to stay behind the bunkers.”
“This isn’t normal fire,” Ari reminded him. “But I’ll do my best to keep him distracted, if you’re determined to do this.” She raised the megaphone. “Warin, what are you getting out of this?”
“So you’ve decided I’m Warin, the anti-social Kirsch brother.”
“Does that mean I’m talking to Gerhard?”
“The charmer? I don’t think I’m going to tell you. Depending on what happens tonight, we may meet again, and I’d rather leave you guessing.”
“Oh, we’re going to meet all right. Sooner than you think.”
Ryan tugged on her sleeve again. “SWAT’s ready.”
“I’ve been thinking. Rather than leave SWAT exposed while they’re battering the door, why don’t I try my witch fire first? SWAT could still lead the way, but we’d get inside much faster if the door was already open.”
“Try it.”
She lifted her hands and crimson fire shot from her fingertips to the door. It sizzled and popped as the metal grew fiery-red under the continuous onslaught. It began to buckle and finally exploded, leaving a blue shimmer in its place. She dropped her hands, eyeing the blue energy barrier as SWAT charged forward, jogging toward the entrance but staying behind the bunker shields. She waited to see if they could pass through the shimmer. They’d almost reached the door when a stream of witch fire from the building halted them.
“No, don’t stop,” she muttered under her breath. When they didn’t move forward right away, she yelled, “Move! Dammit!” Forward or backward, but they couldn’t stand there. They were depending on their shields to protect them, but nothing could withstand witch fire for long. They were leaving themselves at the warlock’s mercy. And he had none.
They began backing as fast as they could, but one of the shields was hit twice by fire, and the officer went down in a burst of flames. His team dragged his body with them and scrambled to safety.
Ryan cursed angrily, his face turning red. “Now what? I want this guy.”
Ari straightened. “We’ll meet fire with fire. I’m going in with SWAT carrying a bunker shield for protection. We’ll go as fast as we can, and I’ll try to back the warlock off.”
Ryan’s face registered his opposition. “You’re not immune to fire. It’s too dangerous.”
“We just have to move faster.”
“I don’t like it,” he said stubbornly.
“Noted. Now, let’s move.” She turned away.
The SWAT officers picked up their shields and pushed toward the front of the group again. Even faced with supernatural magic and the death of a comrade, the team didn’t hesitate.
“Hey, wait! We can help you with the barrier.” The shout drew everyone’s attention. Brando ran toward them with Nathan and Bodie, followed by Claris and Mangi. “We can bring it down with a relatively simple counter spell.”
“What’s Claris doing here?” Ryan took a step toward them as if he wanted to wring somebody’s neck. “This is no place for her.”
“We couldn’t leave her behind,” Brando said matter-of-factly. “She’ll be safer here than home by herself, and Mangi will watch out for her.”
“I still don’t think she should be here.”
“I don’t either.” Ari wasn’t the least bit happy. “Claris, you have to stand way in the back. OK?”
“I’ll just watch. Believe me, I have no desire to get involved.” Claris warily eyed the SWAT team.
Ari pressed her lips tightly. Claris had never been on the scene of an Otherworld fight or anything worse than a schoolyard skirmish, but there wasn’t much Ari could do about it now. She pulled her attention back to Brando. “You say you have a counter spell?
“I think so.”
Nathan nodded. “It’s a wizard spell.” He eagerly waved his wand.
“OK. Let’s see you guys do your thing.”
The wizards put their heads together. After they murmured a series of words in unison, Nathan waved his wand and blew a fine, white powder from the palm of his hand toward the warehouse. It drifted in the air, forming ribbons that curled and rippled across the intervening space.
Ari watched the entrance. When the white energy touched it, the blue shimmer began to vibrate, causing the building to shake, then the warlock’s spell winked out. The warehouse returned to normal, except for the missing door that Ari had destroyed. She turned to Brando with a high five. “Great job! I always knew you’d come in handy someday.”
“I have my moments.” His boyish pleasure was written all over his face. “Have you talked with the sorcerer?”
“Yes, he’s a German warlock. One of the Kirsch brothers. I’m not sure which.”
“Kirsch. I’ve met them.” Brando frowned and pointed to Nathan. “We both had drinks with them at the last conference. Why would one of them be involved in this? They’re scientists like us, not warriors. Maybe this guy would listen to me.”
“We’ve tried talking, Brando. He’s committed.” Ari laid a sympathetic hand on his arm. “You’ve only seen one side of the brothers. Their public side. They come from a warrior clan and are much more deadly than you think. Whether it’s Warin or Gerhard really doesn’t matter, because the warlock inside the compound is a traitor and a murderer. He’s already killed a police officer today.”
“I know it looks bad, but what have you got to lose by talking?”
“Time. We need to get in there before he thinks of something else to throw at us.
Nathan ignored her and took up Brando’s argument. “He’ll listen to us. I know it. This is a huge misunderstanding.” Without warning, he raised his voice. “Hey, Warin? Gerhard? This is Nathan, and Brando’s with me. From the Boston conference. Do you remember? We’d like to talk.”
There was no answer from the building.
“Nathan, he’s not going to listen,” Ari said. “Please step back and let SWAT move up here. You’ve done your part. They’ll take over now.”
He threw her a half-angry look. “I can do this.”
“Nathan, it’s not our decision. She’s probably right.” Brando frowned at the other wizard’s growing agitation.
Nathan allowed Brando to pull him away, then whirled and ran toward the building with his hands raised. “It’s me, Nathan,” he yelled. “I came—”
“Nathan!” Brando made a lunge to catch his friend, grabbing his arm just as witch fire erupted from the building. Nathan was hit, his clothes burst into flames, and fire engulfed both men. Claris screamed and bolted toward Brando, but Mangi tackled her, dragging them both to the ground. Ari returned fire toward the building while SWAT pulled the two men behind cover and smothered the flames with their jackets.
Ari pulled back and ran to hover over the burn victims. The officer tending Nathan shook his head, but she didn’t need the confirmation to see he was already gone, killed instantly by the blast of scorching, magical fire.
Brando was covered with burns, much of his clothing charred by the super hot flames.
“Brando!” Claris screamed and struggled to break free from Mangi’s tight hold, and Ari gestured for him to let her go.
“Oh, Goddess.” Claris’s voice was soft, stricken, as she dropped beside her fiancé, tears already trickling down her face.
Ari knelt beside them, emotion choking her. Brando’s burns were dark and deep. “You idiot,” she whispered. “How could you risk yourself like that?”
His eyes flickered with confusion, as if he was trying to comprehend what had happened in the past few seconds.
Claris repeatedly murmured, “I love you. I love you. Please be OK.” She was trying to comfort herself as much as Brando, and it nearly broke Ari’s heart.
The paramedics from the fire department arrived and pushed between the two women. “Let us take over,” one of them said. “We’ll take good care of him.”
“Claris. Love you.” Brando held out a burned hand which she cradled in her own. “Doesn’t hurt, not really.”
“I’m glad,” Claris said.
Ari’s chest tightened. The worst burns were often the least painful. “You’re going to be fine,” she said, automatically offering her own reassurance.
He tried to smile with lips that were already cracking. His brown eyes caught hers. “I’m not sure Clare is listening…later, tell her…tell her I love her.”
“I know you do. I’m listening.” Claris’s tears choked out anything else she might have said.
Oh, Goddess, help me. “I’ll tell her.” Ari swallowed her own grief. “You know I will, but you’ll have plenty of time to tell her that yourself.”
“We have to go.” The medic’s eyes were too sympathetic.
They moved Brando onto the stretcher, and Claris released his hand. “I’ll see you at the hospital,” she promised. She turned away, gasping for breath, and Ari squeezed her in a tight hug.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Claris whispered.
Ari tried to swallow the lump in her throat and answer her, but all she could do was nod. She had a horrible feeling Claris would never be Brando’s bride.
Claris climbed into the ambulance, and the rest of them watched the rescue vehicle pull away with the siren on and lights flashing: emergency, life or death. Ari turned away to find several eyes on her; others deliberately looked away. She shoved her emotions deep, way deep, and squared her shoulders. “We still have a job to do.”
The SWAT leader nodded. He’d just lost a man too. Perhaps more than anyone else, he knew they needed to successfully resolve this so their friends hadn’t fallen in a lost cause.
“Do you want me to take over?” Bodie asked. “I may not have the same skills, but I can hold my own. The Magic Council has authorized any sanction necessary.”
“Thanks, but if you don’t mind, I’d rather stay. There isn’t anything I can do for Brando, and this is my fight. The warlock will respect my fire.” Bodie nodded, and she turned to the others. “Is everyone ready?”
The SWAT team lined up again, with Ari behind the first bunker shield, and at the SWAT leader’s command, they ran across the open space toward the warehouse. Half-way there the first stream of fire arced out of the compound’s door striking the shields, and she realized they still weren’t moving fast enough. She broke away, using her Guardian speed to sprint for the entry, returning fire the moment she caught sight of the warlock. He ducked into an interior hallway; Ari and the team burst into the building. Soft growling and the clicking of claws from behind told her Steffan and his pack had joined them.
She crept forward with the Walther in one hand and peered around the corner. No one was in sight. SWAT moved past her, attracting another bolt of the warlock’s fire, which Ari returned, driving him back again. How much more fire could they risk before burning the building down around them? She tightened her grip on the pistol, ready to use it in the next exchange.
SWAT led the way again, and the entire group entered the compound’s security offices. They were empty. Ari turned to check the knotty pine wall, which held the concealed entrance to the court’s inner chambers, including the sleeping quarters.
The entrance stood ajar.
She fought down the sudden surge of fear. Had all her friends been killed in their sleep? Was witty, charming Gabriel really dead?
“Where’s this go?’” Ryan asked.
“Sleeping chambers.” Her voice was curt. “If the warlock has gotten inside… Can I borrow a light? The tunnels aren’t wired. And they’re narrow,” she warned. A SWAT officer handed her a flashlight, and the team discarded most of its heavy gear. She stepped inside, and the others followed.
At the second branching of tunnels, the SWAT leader stopped and held up a hand. “I hear something.”
She paused to listen. In the instant silence, she heard a faraway pounding.
“There’s someone down this way.” The officer pointed to a side tunnel and motioned for the only officer with a bunker shield to lead the way. “Let’s find out who it is.”
Ari nudged Steffan. “Can you and your pack stay here and watch our backs?”
He nodded, swinging the assault rifle off his shoulder and motioning the wolves into defensive positions. Ari and the police crept forward.
She quickly figured out that they were angling toward the main audience chambers, a vast room often used for community meetings. The sound of pounding grew louder, and when she rounded the next corner, she saw the chamber doors ahead. They were splintered but impassable by vampires because they were crisscrossed with massive silver chains.
“Who’s in there?” she called. “This is Ari Calin.”
“Ari? Oliver here. Can you get us out?”
“Give us a minute.” She turned to Ryan. “Can someone go back and get the wolves? They’re strong enough to tear this down, and handling silver doesn’t bother them.”
An officer took off at a run, Steffan’s wolves arrived quickly, and within minutes the chamber doors were open. Hundreds of vampires were inside. In fact, most of Riverdale’s population. The first vampire through the door was Oliver, Andreas’s third-in-command.
“Where’s Gabriel?”
“We don’t know.” As usual, the older vamp was all business. “The warlock claims he’s holding him prisoner, but when I last saw Gabriel, he and a small group were retreating toward the sleeping quarters. If they got inside, they might be able to defend it.”
Hope flared in her heart. She knew for a fact the quarters were fireproof. The issue had come up two years ago during an attack when Daron was still the Riverdale prince. If the vampires had gotten inside, Kirsch would have to starve them out or dismantle the thick walls rock by rock. They might be in time. “How many are with the warlock, and who are they?”
“I saw three vampires and a couple of heavily armed werebears. Not many, but the warlock has witch fire.” A cloud settled on Oliver’s normally impassive face. “He burned Glorius and dozens of others. It was bad.”