"Wait a minute," Elyssa said, mouth dropping open. "You were one of Underborn's moles?"

Katie gave a miserable nod.

"The poor girl has been through hell," Bella said.

Elyssa walked up to Katie, mouth set in a firm line—and hugged her.

I felt my eyebrows try to climb off my forehead. I'd expected to meet a fairy riding a flying dragon before seeing this.

"Thank you," Elyssa said, and pulled away after a moment.

Katie's green eyes looked a bit shell shocked as she nodded. "I did what was right."

"You did good." My girlfriend looked at the other woman as if seeing some hidden potential. Or maybe she was just looking for a reason to punch her anyway.

"And now, back to me," Fausta said, pressing a thumb to her chest and gazing expectantly at the rest of us. "Got your attention? Good. The other rescue team just entered their tunnel. We've got to move out now."

I turned to see a large figure emerge from the shadows. The breath caught in my throat. Michael gave me his trademarked, calm look.

Offering him a nod, I said, "'Sup?" and tried to keep it real.

He grunted.

The gray man stood nearby, watching as Fausta began her descent into the tunnel.

"Can you stay and watch Katie?" I asked it—him—whatever.

"I will, Justin."

Katie offered me a tear-stained smile. "Be careful. Don't get shot."

I smiled. "You know me, I'm always careful."

Elyssa snorted and followed Michael and the others in the tunnel. Noticing I was the last person, I quickly followed her down.

"Uh, so we're gonna go in blasting?" I asked, trying to readjust the sword on my back so I could actually use it if need be.

Just ahead of Elyssa, Michael pulled something from a holster and passed it back to Elyssa who gave it to me. A gun. A big one. I looked it over, my night vision allowing me to see it with nearly perfect clarity. "A Desert Eagle. Nice." All my knowledge about guns came from video games. I'd blasted a virtual zombie or two with a gun like this. Thinking back to Katie's traumatic breakdown, real life promised to make it an unforgettable experience that would scar my very soul.

"I'm having flashbacks to El Dorado," Bella said. "You sure there aren't any shadow people down here?"

"Shut up back there," said Fausta in a harsh whisper.

Elyssa passed me a couple of clips for the gun. I shoved them in my pockets. We scurried down the tunnel in silence and drew to a stop right back where I'd come from—Maximus's godforsaken compound. I couldn't see much past Michael's over-muscled form, but caught a glimpse of Fausta climbing a ladder.

My nerves knotted. What if all the vamps were still waiting up there, guns drawn, and ready to blast anyone who came out? Then again, if they'd found the hatch, I felt certain they would have chased me. The line started moving again. Before long, I was able to climb the ladder. Three unconscious vampires lay nearby.

Fausta gripped one and motioned to Meghan. "Can you wake him up? I want to ask some questions."

Meghan nodded, made some flippity-do patterns with her wand before touching it to the vampire's head. His eyes jerked open. He opened his mouth wide. Meghan touched his throat with the wand and only a whisper emerged.

"Where are the others?" Fausta asked.

He clamped his mouth shut.

Meghan ran the wand along his skin, and blood seeped from the vampire's pores. He tried to scream, but again, only a hoarse whisper escaped.

Fausta gripped his shirt and put her knee on his groin. "You better speak up before I turn you into a eunuch for the rest of eternity."

A horrified look crossed his face. "They left us here to find the secret exit. Amanda left to report to Maximus."

My phone dinged. Everyone glared at me. I turned down the volume, and looked at the notification. There was a text message from an unknown sender. I almost ignored it since I was, you know, breaking into a vampire fortress and all, but satisfying my curiosity was only a thumb-flick away. The text appeared, and my stomach lurched.

I have Felicia. Return to me or she dies. –Maximus

Chapter 22

My heart dropped, bounced off my liver, and gave me a queasy feeling. I almost blurted out Maximus's demand, but one look at Adam's tormented face told me it would be a bad idea. He was already skirting the edge of sanity. I'd been there before and knew how it felt. Pushing him now might be the final straw.

I replied: Don't hurt her! I'll come back!

I hoped my text might give the rogue vampire pause. By the time the Templar surprise attack started, he might not have a chance to hurt her. My phone vibrated. I checked for a response.

You have thirty minutes, spawn.

I responded again and told him I would. Now all I had to do was hope Fausta's plan was brilliant.

Gunfire echoed from ahead, popping and snapping like fireworks.

Fausta motioned us close. "The vamps have two Templar squads pinned down. We'll sneak up behind and take out the attackers."

"How many OPFORs?" Elyssa asked.

"No idea. A hundred or more. They've got the place warded against fly-eyes, so I can't get exact positions."

Adam's lip curled into a snarl. "I'll take care of that." He pulled out his arcphone. Several long seconds passed. "Damn it. Whoever set up these wards knows what they're doing. Looks like there's a magic power source keeping me from overriding it."

Bella's hands, wrapped tight around her staff, eyes closed in concentration nodded. "Maximus has a very powerful source of supernatural power somewhere below us." Her eyes opened. "The wards are barely draining it. I have a terrible feeling there is an Arcane working for them, and whoever it is might have even more in store for us."

"Dash Armstrong," I said. "At least, I think that's his name. It sounds almost too stupid to be a real name."

Adam wrinkled his forehead. "You've got to be kidding me."

"I kid you not. The dude's name really sounds like some kind of action figure from the fifties."

"No, that's not what I meant," Adam said, shaking his head. "Dash is one of the Dream Team from the Arcane Tourney. He studied under Aston Beaumont himself."

"Why does that name seem familiar?"

"Beaumont is the one who lost an arm as payment to Underborn."

My mind flashed back to before I'd ever met the slimy asshat. "Beaumont's the sorcerer who won the tourney every year, right?"

"Yeah, until Folder Reeves came along, and Beaumont had Underborn kill him."

Fausta held up a hand. "Can you stop this Dash Armstrong?"

Adam's eyes blazed with determination. "If he stands between me and Felicia, he's a dead man."

Bella extended her wand and turned in a slow circle before stopping, the tip angled slightly down. "I have the source located." She looked at Adam. "You stay with Fausta. I will take care of the source. Get a fly-eye up the moment I do."

"Why don't we do this the old-fashioned way?" Elyssa said. "And use our eyes. Chasing after that power source might be a waste of time."

"Maybe," Fausta said, a distant look of concentration on her face. "But there are other reasons to take down the wards."

I waved off their arguments. "I'll go with Bella. If we don't have the power source down within fifteen minutes, go ahead with the attack."

"I'll scout around the old-fashioned way," Michael said, his eyes meeting Elyssa's. "We need to know their positions and numbers if this doesn't work."

Fausta narrowed her eyes. Nodded and pointed at the wall. "Okay. Recruit Borathen, it looks like you could climb the wall and keep cover behind the buildings. Use it for a scouting position and tell me what you find." She looked at Michael. "See if you can find our trapped squads. If you can take any attackers out without detection, go for it. Meanwhile, I'll sneak around to the left side of the courtyard and see what I can see. Meet here in fifteen and we'll go with whatever option is left to us."

Elyssa gripped my hand and squeezed three times. I love you. It was our top-secret code.

I squeezed back and smiled. "Kick ass, baby."

She raised an eyebrow. "Don't I always?"

I motioned to Bella and led her to the exit of the dumpster corral. The area was clear. We sneaked down the stairs. The same groups of noms were still below, partying it up, somehow oblivious to the battle raging topside. One kid with a mop of curly hair offered us a toke on a joint the size of a cigar as we passed. I waved him off.

"How interesting," Bella said as we made our way down a side hall. "Instead of donkeys, these kids turn into vampires."

"Donkeys?"

She led me around a corner and shook her head. "Kids these days."

"Did I miss some reference?"

She rolled the wand between her fingers in an absent-minded motion. "What do you think about Harry?"

Women and their ability to change the subject. "You mean Shelton?"

"Who else, dear?"

"Uh, well, he's quite a character." I wasn't sure what she was getting at. "I mean, I think you can trust him even though he definitely has secrets."

"Hmm." Bella stopped all of a sudden, and I almost bowled her over. The hall terminated in a stone wall. The short Arcane said a few words, and let go of her wand. Instead of falling, it hovered in midair. She thumped the narrow end, spinning it. It spun slower and slower until, like a compass drawn to the north, pointed right at the wall.

"It must be on this level," she said. "Or it would point down."

"Illusion?" I asked.

She picked up a loose bit of mortar and tossed it at the wall. It bounced off with a convincing thunk. "It could be a solid illusion." She sighed. "I could use the path-finding spell I used under El Dorado, but it might give us away to the Arcane."