Camille turned to him. “You really know how to fight, don’t you?”

He smiled faintly. “I can hold my own. As I said, I’ve protected myself over the years in more than one skirmish. And I’ve destroyed more than one monster. I will tell you more later, if you are interested. For now, let’s search for Violet.”

“I’m least likely to be harmed by a sneak attack. Let me take the lead.” As I moved in front with Delilah, Roz and Tanne swept in behind us. Camille and Morio came next—they worked in unison with their death magic and needed to be able to clasp hands for some of their spells. Smoky played rear guard.

The door led to a darkened hallway. The air was musty, as if nothing had stirred through it for a long time, so I was hopeful we’d make it through to the basement without incident. But we needed light in order to see.

From behind, Morio whispered something and a glowing orb of green light suddenly appeared in the air behind me. Foxfire. One of the youkai-kitsune’s natural abilities. It hovered alongside me, lighting our way enough to see a few yards in front of us.

The passageway was like any hallway that had been let go for some time—a feeling of abandonment permeating the air, both in sense and in smell. Our movement stirred up dust from the floor, and the ceiling was covered with cobwebs and spiderwebs. By the looks of things, nothing had ventured this way in a long time, which was a good thing for us. But then again, ghosts didn’t stir up dust usually, so I didn’t want to get too cocky in case we were surprised by an unwelcome spiritual visitor. The hall ran on for some distance, forking off to the right along the way.

“We want the third hall to the right,” Delilah whispered in a falsetto voice. “That should lead us to the basement.” She gestured to the next turn. “That one. Turn right.”

“Where else would we turn? There is no left turn.” I gave a little snort, but turned where she’d motioned to. We were facing another long hall, but it jogged to the right up ahead, after ending at a door. “Is that it? The door to the basement?”

Delilah nodded. “I think so. We’ll find out for sure soon enough.”

As we reached the door, I stood back to allow Tanne room to examine it. He shook his head. “No lock. Not locked. And I have no ability to tell if it’s trapped. That would be one of my sisters’ specialties.”

Morio took his place. “No traps that I can sense,” he said after a moment. “That doesn’t mean there isn’t one, but if there is, I can’t place it.”

“Well, here goes nothing.” I reached out and turned the knob. As the door inched open, a dark hole appeared and I realized this was, indeed, a staircase leading down. So probably to the basement. But something stopped me before I stepped into the passage.

Get out. Get out now.

“Did anyone hear that besides me?”

“I did,” Camille and Delilah said simultaneously.

“Oh fuck. Please, please don’t tell me we’re dealing with ghosts here.” But at that moment, my plea went unanswered because a whooshing sound erupted from the open door as something rushed by on a gust of air.

The next thing I knew, Rozurial was struggling as something was yanking on his coat. He tried to shake it off, but the material was flapping in some astral wind and then—before any of us could do anything—one of those damned magical bombs he carried exploded and the hall was filled with ice crystals, a hail of sleet raining down on us.

Camille let out a shout as Morio stumbled and his foxfire vanished. Behind them, Smoky let loose with a blue streak of cursing.

But before any of us had the thought or time to move, another explosion from Roz’s magical bomb stash rocked the air. This time fire ripped through the passage, the magical flames lighting up the corridor with an unnatural glow. The explosion sent me reeling, almost deafening me, but through the ringing in my ears I made out one other sound—the sound of Rozurial screaming as flames consumed him and the hallway filled with smoke.

Chapter 12

“Fuck! Roz, are you all right?” I scrambled in the darkness that followed the fiery blast. The magical flames had exploded, then burned out within seconds, as frozen rain pelted the hall through the darkness.

“Roz! Rozurial!” Camille and Delilah were calling his name, too, but there was no answer. A moment later and the foxfire suddenly blossomed into view again, lighting the area. Morio was focusing on it, and the flames kept growing until there were several of the lights dancing around us.

“I don’t see him anywhere.” Smoky raised his hands and the sleet began to die down. “Is he on the ground? Did he fall?”

“I don’t know! Did you cause the storm?” Camille turned to him.

“Yes. When I saw the flames engulf him, I did the only thing I could think to do in order to smother them.” Smoky was about to say something else when a force slammed past me, into Delilah. She flew back, as if whatever it was had punched her in the stomach. As she landed on her butt, up against the wall of the passage, a low laughter echoed along the hallway.

“That’s not demonic. I can’t sense demon anywhere.” Camille grabbed for Morio’s hand. “Ghost?”

I was about to say, “What else?” when Tanne sprang forward.

He pushed us to the side. “I know what it is! Let me through to face it.”

Reaching up, he clasped an amulet that was hanging around his neck, and fell into a soft whisper—again, a tune that was as magical as the chant he was invoking. The rush of power that surrounded him was immediate, and dark, and felt like predatory dogs on our heels. In fact, I thought I could hear the baying of a hound—not a wolf—but some large dog, hungry for blood.

“What the fuck—” Camille started, but then fell silent.

Morio stared at Tanne. “I know what you are.” His words were soft, but I caught them, and Camille did, too, by the look on her face.

Delilah and Smokey were working their way along the side of the wall, trying to sneak behind Tanne and whatever the fuck it was he had engaged. If they could make it through, they could check on Roz.

Tanne started backing up, but he didn’t look afraid. No, he was fishing—luring the thing toward him. As he coaxed the thing toward him, it began to materialize and take shape. What had been a misty field, a ripple in the air, now formed into a dark, winged shape, slowly moving forward. Its wings were arched, oddly reminding me of a spider’s jointed legs. The creature looked like a miniature dragon, only bony, murky, and blurred. Its eyes glowed, a neon green that bordered on blinding, and they were focused on Tanne.

He continued to sing—whatever the invocation was, it seemed to be mesmerizing the thing. As he drew it away from the door, Smoky and Delilah were able to slip past and inside.

I glanced at Tanne, wondering if he wanted us to attack, but until he gave the word, I wasn’t going to interfere. Morio and Camille were holding hands, and I had the feeling they were prepping a spell.

As Tanne backed it down the hallway, I glanced over at the door. Relief swept through me as I saw Smoky emerge with a soot-covered Rozurial. He looked a little shaken, but was on his feet. The next moment, Tanne raised one hand and began drawing a rune in the air—his fingers leaving a trail of glowing light behind them as they traced the sigil. I had no clue what spell he was casting but it looked like nothing I’d ever seen before, curled and coiling, with smooth, rounded strokes rather than angular.

A moment later and the creature froze, hanging in midair. Tanne held his hand steady, keeping the rune alight.

“Attack now, while it’s paralyzed. Hurry—it can be attacked with silver or death magic.” His voice echoed through the hall.

That left me out, but Delilah immediately readied Lysanthra, and Roz pulled out a short blade from his duster o’ weaponry. But before they could move in, Morio and Camille held out their hands, a purple flame encircling them—they were the hub in a wheel of crackling electrical fire.

They moved forward, hand in hand, until the edge of the flames was just on the outskirts of the creature. Then, with a loud “Mordente elektris!” they surged forward, engulfing it with their spell. A loud crackling filled the air, then the sound of shattering as the smell of ozone filled the hallway. A moment later, the winged beast shattered into dust and vanished, as soot showered the floor. The flame vanished, and we all stood there staring at the powder that dusted the hall.

“First things first, Roz, are you okay?” I turned to him, eyeing him up and down. “You hurt?”

He shook his head. “Nothing a little ice and balm won’t cure. I was lucky, though. Any more and the rest of the fire bombs I’m carrying would have exploded on me. Then I would be looking at hospital time.”

“What was that thing?” Delilah poked at a pile of the shattered cremains.

Tanne shook his hands, as if to shake off excess energy. “A daeflier. The creatures are from the Subterranean Realms, and although they are not daemonic—or demonic—by nature, they are vile tempered and enslaved by daemons and demons to be guardians. It was a sentinel, placed here to guard against anyone going in that basement. They can only be harmed by silver and death magic. Fire—actual flame—will empower them. Ice and water won’t faze them. Physical attacks—unless made with silver—just bounce off.”

Silver had a natural ability to both harm and repel a number of demonic creatures, including myself. Vampires, incubi, succubi, we were all considered minor demons, and while we hadn’t been conscripted to the Sub-Realms along with all the other demons, we were still affected by the essence of the metal. Each metal had an elemental energy to it, a primal force that was considered a god by some people, and each of those forces had its own attributes. Silver hated demonic energy and could bite it. Badly. Just like unalloyed iron hated the Fae.

“Then we are on the right track. If Lowestar is using the tunnels beneath this building and in the area to hide where he’s keeping his slaves, then it makes sense that he would use the—you called them daefliers?”

Tanne nodded. “Yes.”

“Then it makes sense he would use the daefliers to guard the way. He’s a daemon, after all. But… do you think there are more, and what can they do to us?” I glanced at the door, nervous. I had nothing to use against these critters. And I had no clue how many times Morio and Camille could cast their spell without draining their energy.

Tanne shrugged. “As to whether there are more, I cannot tell you. It depends on how much he values his operation. I suppose, we have to be prepared for the possibility. Therefore, let me go in front with you. I can hold them. As far as what they can do to you? You saw the blast—that was no trap. That was the daeflier. They can be lethal, and they have claws that can rip open the aura and let the life force bleed out.”

“Lovely. Just what we need.” I motioned to the others. “Regroup.”

We shifted positions, and then Morio cast another foxfire spell and we headed into the open door.

The doorway led to a stairwell, leading both up and down. We, of course, chose the downward route, though Roz silently slipped up a half a flight to scope out whether anybody—or anything—was waiting on the upper level. After a few tense seconds, he returned, shaking his head.

Tanne and I in the lead, we headed down the steps. They were wide, like most stairwells, and the steps were smooth, concrete, with a solid railing. Each level ran two flights deep, each flight turning back on itself. Unlike a spiral staircase that was open, we couldn’t see all the way to the top or bottom.

We’d come in on the main floor, and we descended two floors down without incident to reach the basement level. The door at the bottom, however, made me uneasy. Was another daeflier lurking behind it? Had the one we’d destroyed triggered an alarm that we didn’t know about? Any number of possible scenarios flashed through my mind, none of them good.

Morio tapped me on the shoulder. “Let me look for traps. I might be able to find something.”

I moved back as he took my place. Tanne knelt by the base of the door. Just what he was examining, I didn’t know, but he was intent on something. The others nervously shifted on the stairwell. Smoky stood at the back, guarding the rear. He had a stern, almost alarmist expression on his face.

A moment later, Morio tapped Tanne on the shoulder and pointed to something—I couldn’t see what. Tanne scooted over next to him, looked, and then nodded. They stood and Morio motioned us up the stairs.

When we were crowded on the landing above the basement door, Morio let out a long sigh. In a low voice, he said, “No magical traps per se, but we have a security system rigged to trigger if we break through the door. And I sense a similar setup on the astral level if we attempt to gate through the door using the Ionyc Seas or anything else like that. The magical system is set to trigger if the door has not been disarmed. See that panel down there that we uncovered? That’s the panel for the Defense One system.”

“Oh great. Without the code, we can’t get through?” Camille frowned. “And you’re certain there’s something similar on the magical level?”

Morio nodded. “Yeah. Tanne agrees with me.”

“The magical system is bad enough, but the Defense One system? A real bitch.” The Black Forest Fae looked unusually grim. “I’ve dealt with these before and they’re bastards to disarm. I know I don’t have the knowledge.”

“I can take care of simple locks but nothing like that.” Delilah leaned against the wall.

Tanne glanced at her. “Somehow I doubt any of us is going to have the know-how to disarm it. Without the code, we’re screwed.”