He came to a stop in front of a plain-looking door, which looked out of place in the rococo rooms we’d passed, the ceilings hanging with golden chandeliers, gilt wallpaper and huge oil paintings depicting all the battles of France right back to the Napoleonic wars.
With shaking hands, he retrieved a large bunch of keys and proceeded to click, twist and turn the multiple locks on the door. Once it was open, another door stood behind it, reinforced steel with a keypad in the center. Furtively looking around to make sure we weren’t watching, he entered a code and the door released, sliding sideways.
“Wow,” Xavier breathed.
We all stared in stunned silence.
Forget what the palace of Nevertide provided—this was an armory.
“Don’t stop and admire,” Vivienne snapped, “get anything large enough to take her down—and hurry.”
Without needing more encouragement, we all rushed into the room at once. The officer looked mildly panicked at our enthusiasm, and even more so when Lucas and Lawrence both approached a table of hand-held missile launchers.
“This looks about right.” Lucas smiled.
There were five on the table, each held secure by locks, and a glass case over them which I imagined was fitted with an alarm.
Vivienne gestured to the officer, who hurried to unlock the equipment. I was half amazed that we were given such easy access, but we could already hear the tremors of the queen approaching…time was running out.
“All take one,” Vivienne announced when the weapons were freed. “But once we get out there, you fire on my command, not at will. Got it?”
“Got it,” we replied—Lucas somewhat sullenly.
“Let’s go.”
We raced back out of the room, past the halls and palatial surroundings of the school. We arrived at the courtyard with seconds to spare. The ghoul queen was gaining on us—knocking down blue-tinted barriers that the sentries must have tried to put up when they couldn’t stop her. She waved them aside like cobwebs.
“Back!” Vivienne shouted and gestured at the crowds of French officers. They all backed up hurriedly, creating an opening where we could stand and aim. We stood in a line, each of the weapons pointed at the ghoul. With a steady hand, I rested the butt of the launcher on my shoulder, peering through the sight. I aimed for her neck, presuming that at least in some respects she’d be similar to the rest of her species—only killable by dismemberment.
“Ready!” Vivienne shouted.
I clicked off the safety latch.
“Aim!”
Exhaling slowly, I lined up the aim of the vision cross bar with the tip of the missile.
“Fire!”
Five missiles shot through the air, trailing thin lines of quickly dispersing smoke. They all made their aim—two others hitting the neck along with mine, and one on each shoulder. For a split second nothing happened, then with an ear-splitting boom, the ghoul queen was lit up like a firework display. She screamed with rage before her cry was abruptly cut short. Black and grayish colored innards decorated the gardens, making horrid squelching sounds as they splattered against the trees and the once-smart buildings that surrounded the gates. The body started to tumble backward. I hoped that all the sentries would have had the good sense to have moved out of the way already…
The ground shook one last time, some of the windows breaking in the school behind us, as the ghoul queen landed on the ground—her body almost taking up the entire length of the Champ de Mars.
“That was a close one,” Lawrence breathed.
“I don’t think it’s over yet,” I replied, hearing the screams of an enraged ghoul army heading our way.
Before we could rush forward and attack, Ibrahim appeared out of nowhere, waving to get the attention of Shayla and the rest of us.
“Jenus—he’s in the In-Between—you need to move,” the warlock shouted.
“I need to tell the sentries they’re in charge,” Vivienne called out to Shayla. “Get ready to move us!”
She ran off toward the ministers that we’d left in the gardens, and then a few moments later returned, joining our group as Shayla got ready to move us. Ibrahim had already vanished.
“One down, one to go,” I muttered to Lawrence. “So much for our romantic dinner.”
Bastien
As we appeared in front of a large structure named the “Royal Festival Hall”, I took in our mundane human surroundings and was struck once again by how much my life had changed since I’d met Victoria. For the bulk of my years, I’d known almost nothing about lands beyond The Woodlands, and yet now here I was—a member of GASP who could be called to any end of the human or supernatural worlds at an hour’s notice. I’d learnt and seen so much of vastly different cultures in such a short space of time that I felt like a different person, and I guessed in many ways I was.
I didn’t have long to muse, and quickly focused on the task at hand. I noted that the weather was gloomy and grey, with no direct sunlight, which meant that the vampires could manage without shade. I glanced back to see Claudia and her daughter, safe behind me, her hand clasped in Ash’s. Micah and Kira looked ready for a fight, both of them casting their gaze across the river in anticipation. I could sense that the danger was already upon us. Families and groups of students were running alongside the embankment, pushing and shoving their way forward.
“Waterloo” bridge was covered in the dark, sprawling mass of the shadow. I could hear cars screeching and crashing into one another. A large truck, whose driver must have accelerated blindly through the shadow, spun out of control and went crashing down into the “Thames”.
Amid the mayhem, I turned to the group behind me.
“This is going to be a damage-limitation mission. We save as many as we can. The shadow is just going to keep coming until we find the entity, so focus on saving lives as much as battling his forces—understood?” They all agreed. The sentries looked slightly skeptical about my strategy, but I figured that human lives weren’t that high on their priority list. That was tough, because they were high on mine.
“Arwen, Eli, can you both get in the water and see about that truck driver?” I asked. Without a moment’s hesitation, they both started running toward the river. “Micah, Kira, I’m worried about the boats,” I continued, watching the tourist guide boats coming to a halt in the river. Their slow-moving engines were trying to pull back and turn around, but the river was starting to resemble a traffic jam. “The rest of us need to get up on that bridge.”
Yuri, Ash, Ruby, Claudia and I fought our way through the crowds, jumping up the steps that would lead us to the bridge. When we got there, the road was packed with abandoned cars. Flashing vehicles—ambulance and police—were trying to get through, but most of the medics had run on too, realizing that all the potential victims had run on ahead, surrounding the large movie theater and bringing more of the traffic to a standstill.
The shadow crept toward us slowly, its tentacles of mist wrapping around each of the cars and feeling inside the windows and open doors, hoping to claim human lives.
I jumped up on the back of a car, and heard the others doing the same. Using them as stepping-stones, I ran forward, swords at the ready.
We attacked the shadow as best we could—Yuri using abandoned cars as weapons to hurl at the mists, giving us a few moments’ respite between each fresh wave of the enemy’s onslaught.
I glanced over the side of the bridge. Micah, Kira and the rest of my group were all hunched low on the rooftops of the boats, waiting to leap to defend the humans below. Most of the tourists and locals recognized us as GASP. For once I was glad of our fame—it meant that we didn’t have to worry about terrifying civilians while trying to protect them.
We continued to slice through the shadow army, but before long the mists had started to seep over the sides of the bridge, looking for easier prey.
They weren’t going to find it.
The werewolves tensed, watching the shadow’s approach. The humans started screamin
g, no doubt feeling the dark, oppressive dread that the armies could inflict.
Arwen and Eli were dragging the truck driver from the water, making their way to a small emergency boat that was zipping around below the bridge. The emergency team helped the driver climb aboard, and embraced Eli and Arwen, trying to get them to step into heat-retaining blankets.
“Build a barrier!” I called to the sentries behind us. “Make sure it doesn’t get any further inland.”
If we could isolate them here, saving the humans who were gathered by the massive movie theater, and fight our battle on the boats, we’d have a larger chance of success. The ministers and the guards leapt into action, using the tall buildings to stretch the barrier over one end of the bridge.
Yuri and I jumped off the railings, both landing on a tourist boat beside Micah. A second later, Arwen had helped Claudia, Ash and Ruby to do the same from the emergency boat, sending them flying through the air to join Kira.
The shadow was quick to surround us. I abandoned my swords, finding it easier to rip and tear with my hands. Soon we had quite an audience. The humans below us yelled out helpful tips like, “Behind you!” and, “Yeah—get ’em! Get ’em!” I rolled my eyes at Yuri. Somehow our battle had turned into a spectator sport—but at least the crowds were no longer screaming in horror.
“I hope they hurry up and locate the entity,” I called out to Yuri. “This isn’t going to stop otherwise.”
I looked over to where the sentries were lined up at the end of the bridge. Their barrier was holding up well—the shadow had mostly merged down into the water—but there weren’t enough of us to hold it at bay forever.
“We need to evacuate these people!” I called to Arwen, hoping she could hear me. A moment later I heard the emergency boat pull up alongside the bigger tourist yacht.
“What can I do, Bastien?” Arwen asked, sending out spells toward the shadow while she spoke. The mists leapt back momentarily, but didn’t let up on their assault.
“We need to get the people out of the boats. If we get called to another location because of the entity, all these people are going to be left defenseless.”
“I’ll think of something,” the witch replied. “Cover me, Eli?”
Eli, who was positioned nearby, nodded, moving at the speed of light to make sure that the younger witch was protected.
She took over from the driver, speeding the little boat out into the middle of the river. There, she cut the engine. She rushed to the side, her hands stretched out over the water.
I continued to fight off the shadow, but kept one eye on the witch. The river water, previously fairly still, was now growing choppier by the second. It was rocking our boat and some of the others, sending the werewolves skittering around the covers of the yachts, unable to get a good grip.
“Careful, Arwen,” I warned under my breath, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to hear me.
The waters started to rear up. The witch was creating a whirlpool, its force so strong it was practically starting to drain the riverbed. The boats knocked against one another, juddering on impact. But it was working. The mists were getting drawn into the water. A typhoon-type spiral reared upward, slowly becoming level with the skyscrapers in the distance. It sucked in more of the shadow till the waters became as black as night—the howls of the soldiers could be heard emanating from the mists. It wasn’t destroying them, but it was holding them at bay.
The spectators from the boats started to whistle and cheer. The mists that surrounded us and the werewolves were drawn away. Eventually, Yuri dropped his swords—there was nothing left to fight.
My only concern now was how long the witch could hold her elemental control.
“Dad!” Arwen cried out, as the warlock appeared in the emergency boat next to her. She didn’t break her hold over the water, but grinned broadly as her father looked up at the whirlpool in amazement and gave her a nod of approval.
“I need to take you to the In-Between,” Ibrahim called out. “The rest are already there. We found Jenus.”
Finally.
We jumped boats, moving closer to the warlock.
“Are you going to be okay on your own?” I asked Arwen, worried about leaving the young witch in control.
“Yeah, it’s fine. I’ve got the sentries as well,” she added, glancing up to the bridge.
“Okay,” I replied, squeezing the girl’s arm in gratitude.
I turned to Ibrahim.
“We’re ready.”
Sherus
It was good to be home. The moment we exited the swirling portal walls and stepped out into the peaceful expanse of the In-Between, my heart leapt. The great void of stars and eternal night was just as it should have been—I could see the planets of the fae glowing brightly in the distance, and the red hue of my own home beckoning to me. As much as I feared what might be following us—or might have already arrived—I couldn’t help but feel a certain amount of pride to be welcoming Queen Nuriya to my home. I wanted her to witness the splendor of the fae—the beauty of my planet with its red rivers, its glowing stones that matched the colors of her eyes.
“Not long now, brother.” Lidera smiled at me as we transported the rest of the team toward the fire planet. The sentries muttered at the back of the line, all fearful of the wide expanse of space, but they had enough sense not to break the chain. I had to admit, the deafening silence still took some getting used to.
I sped up our passage, and a few moments later we were standing in the courtyard of my palace, the ice fires dancing merrily from their fountains and a few soldiers and guards going about their business as usual. As they saw us, each and every one of them bent low in greeting.
“I think we might’ve pre-empted the arrival of the shadow,” Ben murmured to me as I ushered my subjects to rise. I agreed—certainly there didn’t seem to be anything amiss here.
“Let’s not be too hasty,” Queen Nuriya added. “Something doesn’t feel right—it’s too quiet.”
She was right. It felt like the kingdom had taken a collective inhale of breath—that the entire planet was in mid-motion, paused as it waited for something to happen.
The danger came so quietly and calmly, we were in the thick of it before I had time to realize what had actually happened.
One moment I was looking around, trying to put my finger on the source of the disease, the next Jenus ambled toward us from the doors of the palace, a smile across his face, his posture relaxed and open, as if he were greeting old friends.
“Stand back!” Ben ordered.
We froze, waiting to see what Jenus would do next. For once the wretched creature was clean, and elaborately dressed in fae clothing. He must have been here for a while, making himself at home in my chambers. Why had no one stopped him? Guards were ambling about everywhere, but they almost seemed completely oblivious to him.
“What have you done to them?” I growled.
Nothing, king of fae. I informed them we were old friends—I can be very persuasive, you know.
I felt sickened. He’d obviously manipulated my men into letting him in the palace. I couldn’t imagine what kind of devastation he would have left in his wake within the walls of my home.
“Airos is in there,” Lidera gasped, referring to her favored man-servant. She went to move forward but I held her back. She struggled in my arms, tears pouring down her face. I didn’t let go. I could practically smell death leaking out of the doors behind Jenus.
Jenus watched us struggle, smiling to himself.
“Ibrahim, you know what to do,” Ben murmured to the warlock. A moment later the man vanished—on his way to fetch the others. I hoped that he would return in time. Jenus was like a cobra, his deadly calm evidence of the vicious strike that would shortly follow.
“Why here?” I asked, unable to help myself. “Why are you so bent on destroying the land of the fae? What is it to you?”
It was this aspect of the entity that puzzled me most. A creature who had resided in
Nevertide since the dawn of time, fixated on the In-Between—it was strange. How had the two dimensions ever collided? I had never heard of Nevertide until recently, and its distance from our lands made it seem illogical that the entity would choose this as the location to wreak its revenge.
Nothing but your arrogance, mighty Sherus. The fae have long believed themselves the superiors of all other supernatural beings—you trick and manipulate, you squabble among yourselves over the immense riches of your planets combined. It is your home that I choose as my seat of power, your home where the greatest of the fae bounty lies in your precious stones of fire, your home where my children will once again grow and prosper, annihilating all that would stand in our way.
I fell silent at his words, and Lidera stopped her struggling.
“It’s not true,” she whispered pitifully.
But it had been.
Perhaps not now, with our less than easy alliance with the other planets, but I knew the reputation the fae had within some of the other dimensions. That we had managed to garner such hatred from one species—whatever the entity and its shadow was—surprised me. But perhaps it shouldn’t have.
“You are hardly one to cast judgment on us,” I spat out.
I don’t pretend to be your moral superior—I just wish to destroy you.
Jenus grinned.
“Guards!” I called out to the fae armies. “Seize him!”
They rushed toward him, spears held aloft and their armor gleaming. Jenus knocked them away like insects, sending them sprawling backwards with a slight move of his hands, like they were a minor inconvenience.
“Sherus,” Ben warned me. “Don’t send more of your men to die. We need to wait till the others arrive—remember; defend not attack.”
He repeated what Derek had said to each group before we left Nevertide.
“He’s alone,” I hissed, “it’s our chance.”
“No—I don’t think he is. Can’t you feel it?” Ben replied, looking anxiously up into the clear skies. There wasn’t a cloud in sight—the only feeling I was experiencing was rage, directed at the repugnant creature standing at the doors of my home as if he already owned it.