Devil's Eye (6 page)

Oh gods.

She had known the Eye was powerful. The Council wouldn’t have gone to all the trouble to hide it in the catacombs if it weren’t. But this… Her mind boggled at the ramifications. Had they known what the Eye was capable of? Did the kidnapper truly know what the Eye could do? And if he did, what exactly did he plan to use it for?

“
You said before you needed a host,” said Mick. “Like a parasite?”

Its face shifted into lines of distaste, but it inclined its head in acknowledgement.

“
All who use the Eye become bound to it, as I am.”

Sophie remembered their orders on the retrieval mission.
Don’t touch the Eye. Never touch the Eye.

The demon continued. “Their life force is as much a source of power as my magic. He who uses the Eye does not give it up without death.”

“
By you or someone else?” asked Sophie.

“
I cannot kill the host.”

Sophie felt the strain of the water in her head and swayed. Powerful or no, this demon still wasn’t the one keeping them dry. Curling her hands, she dug her nails into her palms, using the pain to focus.

“
What about now?” she demanded. “When you aren’t connected to a host. Do you have limitations or can you use your powers at your discretion?”

It gave her a look that clearly questioned her intelligence. “If I had full use of my powers, do you think I would still be down here in this pit? I cannot control the minds of the living unless bound.”

“
So the zombies…” started Sophie.

“
A poor attempt at entertainment.” It waved its hand dismissively. “I sincerely hope you have a far more interesting option because I’m getting fairly desperate. So one of you pick me up and get me out of here, and I will make all your problems go away.” It smiled and gestured at the Eye like a game show host showing off a prize.

“
That’s not why we’re here,” said Sophie, flustered. This had gone so far beyond a mere retrieval.

“
What, then, is your purpose?” it asked.

“
A trade,” she said, closing her eyes and breathing slowly to alleviate the lancing pain in her skull. “My sister has been kidnapped. Her captor demands the Eye.”

“
Ah, it is he, no doubt, who wishes to raze civilizations.” It nodded, as if that explained everything. “Very well, pick up the case and let’s go. Chop chop. I’m dying to
do
something.”

“
But we can’t just
give
you to the kidnapper. He’ll
use
you,” she exclaimed.

“
That would be the point of my existence.”

She turned to Mick, searching for a voice of reason. “We can’t possibly take him to the kidnapper. I can’t be responsible for unleashing
this
on the world.”

“
Then take responsibility,” said the demon equably. “Bind with me, use me to free your sister, and have control of my actions. It sounds like it would be rather boring as an existence, but my perspective has changed somewhat after being in a vault for the last seven years.”

Gods help her, she considered it. For a few long moments, she thought about taking the Eye and using it on the son of a bitch who had taken Liza. But then she’d be no better than he. And she’d be stuck bound to a demon for the rest of her natural life. Which, given her paternity, was likely to be a very, very long time.

She shook her head. “No. That’s not an option.”

“
It seems, then,” said the demon, “that we are at an impasse.”

~*~

Judging by the rhythmic thump against the door of the vault, the zombies had renewed their efforts to get inside. They couldn’t get through the slab of steel, but still it shook in its frame with each great impact. Uneasy, Mick looked away from the door. He didn’t want to think about what lay between them and the exit and how it affected their chances of getting out.

The ground above rumbled.

His gaze shot to Sophie. Her face was strained, and blood trickled down from her nose.

“
Sophie? You’re bleeding.”

“
I’m alright,” she insisted, swiping the blood away with one hand. But she swayed as she said it.

“
You are looking rather gray,” the demon observed.

Another look at her face decided him. “We gotta go.” He reached over, grabbed the titanium case from the dais, and shut it.

“
Mick what are you doing? We can’t—” She broke off with a grimace.

He thrust it into her hands. “We’ll talk about what to do with it later. Right now I’m more concerned with getting out of here.” The sound of trickling water had him turning back toward the door. It was spurting in from the bottom edge. “Sophie! The water!”

“
I’m . . . trying!”

Mick caught her before she hit her knees. Her body trembled with exhaustion, and her head slumped against his shoulder. He shook her. “Don’t you dare pass out on me.”

“
Trying,” she said again.

Blood was running freely from both nostrils now, and the coppery scent coated the back of Mick’s throat. Across the room, water started to squirt a few inches along the side seams.

“
Well that’s not good,” the demon said.

“
Thank you Captain Obvious. Is there another way out of here?” Mick snarled. He yanked at Sophie’s belt threading the leather through the handle of the case and tightening it so that the Eye was held snug against her waist.

“
How should I know? I live in a box.”

“
Look, if you want outta here, then I suggest you find a way to help.”

“
I seem to recall a shaft of some kind down the other branch of the tunnel. It might lead to the surface.”

Might
. Mick didn’t like betting their lives on
might
. But they were out of options. The demon needed a host and they were its best chance of getting out of the vault to get one.

With one arm around Sophie’s waist, he half carried, half dragged her through the inch deep water on the vault floor. With his free hand, he spun the lock. The wheel vibrated beneath his hands as something hit the door again. With a clank the lock disengaged. Muttering a silent prayer and using the door as a shield, Mick yanked it open.

The Karu rushed through the door, bony feet skidding on the metal floor. As it crashed into the opposite wall, Mick slipped around the door with Sophie, dragging it shut behind them. He got the lock just barely re-engaged before the door trembled again with the force of the enraged bear-shifter.

“
Smart,” muttered Sophie. She was fading fast. He could hear it in her voice. Water lapped at their ankles now.

“
Just hang on. Keep your focus.”

He lifted her into his arms and began to move. He was running blind, his eyes not yet adjusted to the dark. The splashing of his feet covered the noise of any approaching attackers. He relied on speed alone.

Claws raked his flank and back, but still he ran, clutching Sophie tight to his chest. He found the juncture by nearly plowing into it, turning at the last second to take the brunt of the impact with his shoulder. Remembering the demon’s words, he took the right fork. The ground seemed to slope up slightly as he ran and the air smelled slightly less rank, though that might have been from sheer lack of carnage.

Sophie went limp.

Behind them something snapped, like a dam breaking. The sound of an unnatural tide was deafening. Mick poured on the speed, but even he wasn’t fast enough to escape the wall of water that came crashing down the tunnel. It caught them up, tumbling them head over feet, slamming them hard into walls.

He kept a hard grip on Sophie as he struggled against his own panic at not knowing which way was up. The current of the water carried them, and he tried to relax and let it. He bumped up against the roof of the tunnel and rolled, using one hand to drag them along, feeling for some kind of opening. One foot. Another. Sophie floated limp in the crook of his other arm. His lungs were burning, and he thought his ears would burst from the pressure.

The demon had lied. Of course it had lied. That’s what demons did. They were going to die down here because he took a calculated risk, and it was the wrong one.

Spots of color danced behind his eyes as his brain started to short out from lack of oxygen.

Something like a giant hand shoved them hard further down the tunnel, and what little air he had burst out of his mouth in a shock of bubbles. He kicked hard, trying to fight, but hit nothing.
Air! Air!
Bands of pressure squeezed his chest, urging him to breathe.

His hand groped toward the ceiling again . . . and met no resistance. Frantic, he felt again, found an opening about three feet across. He kicked, shifting to bring Sophie close to his chest and began to swim up the shaft. He expected a ceiling or blockage at any moment., but he kept moving up, up, feeling the motion of the water helping them along, moving, speeding them to the top.

He broke the surface with a gasp, getting a mouthful of water as gravity slammed them back into the water. Kicking back to the top he coughed out the fetid water and shifted Sophie’s head up. She didn’t move.

Damn it!

He kicked across the small pond, snarling as they tangled in lily pads. Ripping through the roots, he dragged her onto the bank. Her skin was waxy, streaked with mud. She wasn’t breathing. Mick’s fingers fumbled for a pulse, couldn’t find one.

“
Sophie! Goddamn it!”

He tipped her head back, breathing into her mouth.
One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.
Another breath.
One Mississippi. Two Mississippi.

“
You are not going to die on me, damn it. You’re not going to die on Liza.”

Breathe. Count.

“
I’m not going to lose another one,” he growled.

Her body bucked with a choking cough. Quickly he rolled her onto her side, so she could get the water out of her lungs, then he collapsed on his haunches beside her. When the hacking subsided, she lay gasping, curled in on herself. Mick found his hand stroking her wet hair.

“
We made it out?” she asked.

Mick looked around, taking in the iron gates, cobbled streets, and old fashioned atmosphere around them.. “If we didn’t, then Hell looks a whole lot like the Garden District.”

“
How?” she coughed.

“
I don’t know exactly. You passed out. The water broke through. Felt like something shoved us up the tunnel. Then we came out here.”

Mick thought she was having another coughing fit and laid a hand on her shoulder. Then he realized she was . . . laughing?

“
Thanks, Dad. Way to come through in a pinch.”