“Is it my imagination or do her eyes look red?” Jones asked.

  Anabella squinted at the screen to focus her eyes. The woman in question had red motes sparking off her, and her eyes were indeed red. They looked like red pinpricks of light from where they sat. “Send it. That’s the sort of thing command wants.”

  “What’s she looking at anyway?” Jones asked as she quickly typed a message on her console and established an uplink to the satellite above Charleston.

  “East. She’s looking out into the harbor.” Anabella watched the woman called Camilla Blackmore until she stepped away from the railing.

  With a beep, Agent Jones’s console came to life, and a woman dressed in what appeared to be combat fatigues appeared on the main screen. “Is the subject still in sight?”

  “And you are?” Anabella asked. She’d fought her way up the chain of command for years and didn’t put up with others that tried to take over at the drop of a hat.

  The woman on the screen smiled for a split second then replied, “Director Madeline Mills. I’m the liaison with the Pentagon and other agencies concerning this case. And you?”

  Anabella showed her military background by almost coming to attention and saluting. “Special Agent in Charge Anabella Smith, ma’am. This is my detachment.”

  “Everything I say is code word Top Secret Arcane Blue. What that means is if you talk out of school here it’s a one-way trip to Florence. No lawyers, no appeal, do you understand me?” Madeline replied.

  With her eyes very wide, Anabella nodded. Florence was home to the only federal supermax prison inside the continental United States. There were rumors of deep dark holes up in Alaska, but those were only rumors. Whatever this case was, it was a serious rabbit hole, and she wanted in on it. Regardless of the cost. It could either make or break her career.

  “Agent Jones?” Madeline looked at the younger agent.

  Alicia pointed at herself, “You know me?”

  “I was informed you were both women. Do you agree to keep your mouth shut, Jones?” Madeline asked.

  Alicia looked up at Anabella and then nodded to the screen, “Yes ma’am.”

  “Good. I’ve been receiving your intel on the house and those that visit. Camilla Blackmore is supposed to be dead. She was killed in a Magickal attack last year in the company of a group from the Mercenaries of Death assassins,” Madeline explained.

  Agent Jones started typing and brought up the FBI most wanted list for that group seconds before Anabella could ask.

  Studying the screen, Anabella asked, “How is she here then?”

  Madeline glanced away from the women and took a folded note from a hand that appeared suddenly. Glancing at it, she grimaced, “I have to make this quick, but she may be the center of the current Demon invasion. She was either kidnapped or went willingly, we aren’t sure, to the Strega stronghold in Sicily. They were the ones that raised the new Demon Lord.”

  “How did she get back into the country?” Anabella asked.

  “We don’t know. It’s assumed Blackmore used a portal or gate of some kind. At the moment she may be the most dangerous entity on the planet because according to my experts the glowing eyes and corona means that SHE IS the Demon Lord,” Madeline exclaimed.

  Both FBI Agents yelled at the same time, “What?”

  With a grim smile, Madeline replied, “Exactly. She cannot be allowed to either escape or follow through with any plans she might have. You two and whatever resources you might have in Charleston will be needed in the coming fight.”

  “Us, ma’am?” Anabella asked as Agent Jones started coughing.

  “Yes. The media doesn’t know yet, but the base in Conception has fallen to a Demonic horde. There are various contingency plans in motion, but none of that is your concern at this time. The combat team from Sicily is en route to Joint Base Charleston Airfield. It was they that closed the portal and took down the Demonic Captain. The locals are still sweeping up, but Sicily’s an island, so the Demons have few places to go. The FBI’s Magical Division team is also on their way to you as well,” Madeline informed them.

  Anabella raised her hand and started to speak, but the Director cut her off. “You and your team are the point of the spear, Agent Smith. I need you to hold her in place until my forces can get to you. This will get very nasty, and there is an entire city full of innocents to deal with. Your boss and the rest of the Station Charleston have been assigned to the command post in Savannah. Military forces are just now receiving orders to travel west, and some will need to be turned around. Hold the city, Agent Smith. Because if a third front opens, we may not have a country to go back to. I’m adding an authorization to your file and clearing you for the ARCANE file. Press gang the local police if you have to but make it clear that this is priority one. I’m sending you contact information for both my office and ARCANE.”

  “Ma’am, Director, this is a lot to take in, I’m really in charge of Charleston?” Anabella asked.

  “Just the downtown area and port. Military commanders are scrambling on all the bases, including Parris Island, marshaling their forces. If there is a Demon incursion from your area, every unit we can find will be needed to stop them. Read the briefing material, Agent Smith and may the Gods go with you,” Madeline’s image winked out.

  Alicia stared at the darkened screen for a couple of seconds. She laid her hands back on the keyboard and spoke, “What’s first, boss?”

  Letting out the breath she’s been holding, SAIC Anabella Smith chuckled. “We get to work and save the city that I love. See if Team Three is awake and have them cover our location. I’ve got a ton of calls to make. So much for taking it easy.”

  <<< >>>

  Two thousand miles away on the fastest military cargo plane they could find Team Wood was preparing for an unknown drop into Charleston.

  “I’m surprised they let us take all this stuff with us,” weapons specialist Robert mentioned as he wiped down the guns he picked up in Sicily.

  “Who was going to stop you? Not the flight crew or those cute Marines at Malta? They took one look at our orders and went the other direction. Wanna bet that the word’s out on ARCANE?” Victoria replied.

  Commander Xavier Cedar laughed, “No need for that. I can tell you it’s out. Everyone from the media to the Army wants to know who really took down that Captain Demon. The Italians are good but not that good. We’re famous.”

  “Just what I’ve always wanted, a fan base. That’s only if we don’t get killed in South Carolina. Did they say why we have to do a combat drop?” Hamilton Sinn one of the two Mages on the team asked. He had a sharpening stone in one hand and his Roman gladius in the other.

  Xavier shook his head, “not exactly. The threat is real though.”

  “They should trust us enough by now to tell us stuff. We just closed a major Demon portal after all,” TJ commented. The martial arts master casually spun his matched set of butterfly swords as he spoke.

  “Watch where you’re flipping those things! You just about took my foot off!” Victoria cried out.

  Shaking his head at the antics of his team, Xavier unbuckled from the seat and went forward to the communications cabin. The plane was a modified C-130 reserved for general staff and VIPs.

  “Do we have any communications about our destination?” Xavier asked.

  The communications tech handed him a small clipboard. “Yes, sir. I was about to bring you this. Command wishes you to contact them. The passkey is included.”

  Xavier looked at the young lieutenant. The officer’s face was pale, and he was trembling. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m not supposed to know, but it’s all over the Mil-Net. The base in Conception’s been overrun. There’s an active Demon horde in California!”

  Xavier nodded and stepped into the secure area. Reserved for generals, the small room was equipped with all the latest equipment. He punched in the contact information codes and passwords.

  The main screen lit up and Tactical Ops commander Michael Best stared out at Xavier. “Commander. I assume you’ve heard the news?”

  “California?” Xavier asked.

  “Yes. We debated on sending you there instead of Charleston, but the danger is greater on the East coast,” Michael replied.

  Xavier held up his hands as he spoke. “I don’t understand why? If they are pouring out of the hole in California, send us there. We know about ARCANE’s losses, but my team and I can make a difference against the horde. We’ve already proven ourselves!”

  Michael sighed, “It’s not about proving anything. California is covered. Team Theta is still active and on the case for closing the portal there. Tank divisions out of Texas, Arizona, and Utah are moving into a position from the South and West of the Rockies. National Guard units combined with Coast Guard, Marines, Sea Scouts, and Navy units are blockading the coastal areas and the North. The Demons can be contained.”

  Xavier nodded, “How is Theta closing that portal? It took the combined strength of more than thirty human Mages to close it last time. I know Amber and Nadya. They can’t do it alone.”

  “That information is compartmentalized. Commander, I will only say there are contingencies in place and leave it at that. The last report we received from them was that they were nearing the portal. It’s handled. What is most important for your team is this woman,” Michael explained.

  The screen lit up to show a nice looking blond woman standing on what appeared to be the balcony of an older home.

  “Who is she?” Xavier asked.

  “We think she the Demon Lord they raised in Sicily,” Michael started to explain.

  <<< >>>

  “Are we headed for Charleston now?” Betsy asked.

  Madeline Mills shook her head no. “We have some unfinished business to take care of in Los Angeles. If the Army is unsuccessful in stopping the horde this time around, this additional group will only make them stronger. The three of us will put an end to them early just in case.”

  Beatrice cocked her head to one side, “You found them then. Good. They shouldn’t be allowed to get away with hurting the young.”

  Betsy looked at her sister from another mother and smiled. The light was shed on her comment. “Won’t Agatha be upset we took them down without her?”

  “I don’t think so. The nightmares of that cult and the Demon they spawned haunted Agatha’s dreams for most of the time at the Academy. She will have enough on her plate in Charleston. We can eliminate this group while she takes care of Camilla or whoever she is now,” Madeline explained.

  “Did you tell her yet?” Beatrice asked.

  Madeline shook her head, “I chickened out. Anastasia knows all the details and has promised to explain. She’ll try to call us, but we should be halfway across the country when that happens.”

  Both Bs looked at each other for a moment. Beatrice continued, “Trust Ana. She’s a good egg.”

  “For a Vampire,” Betsy commented.

  Madeline had a faraway look for a moment. “True, for a Vampire. Let’s get moving then. We have cultists to destroy and a horde to kill.”

  Chapter 9

  Boom! The sound of the claymore going off wasn’t the most shocking sound the team heard. That was the roar of the troll-like Demon that was beating its arms against the hallway trying to move.

  As a team, they’d managed to fight their way to within sight of the stairs to Level One. The power to the base was down, and at first, every sound caused them to turn and fire. The human body is only capable of holding so much weight, and in constant combat, ammunition gets used up.

  “I’m out!” Alexander yelled.

  Sheldon turned towards his embattled team member to see him hacking and slashing with his combat knife in one hand and a cocked out pistol in the other. As the team’s technical specialist, it was his job to carry some of the extra ammunition as well as his electronics tech. He wasn’t a gun guy, but he used a Benelli M4 for close quarters protection. This close he didn’t even have to aim. Lifting the shotgun, he started firing. “Alex, duck!”

  The ex-sergeant all but hit the floor as Sheldon’s shots drove back the oncoming Demons. The specialist ducked behind the tech and reached into the younger man’s pack. Grabbing several magazines, he reloaded quickly.

  “Keep it together guys, we’re almost there!” Amber yelled. She fired another blast of air Magick toward the demons near the door. Like a mini tornado, the wind shredded her foes.

  Nadya used her telekinesis to slam a Demon into the same wall she spelled to cave inwards. “That will hold them for a moment!”

  The two Class Three Mages made a good team for close quarter fighting like this.

  Before Amber could open the door to the upper-level, Alexander was there stopping her, “Don’t!”

  There was a crackling sound, and both looked back at the direction they’d come from. Sheldon was still firing, but Nadya was collapsing another hallway. The only sounds they could hear were Demonic howls and their own heavy breathing.

  “Check the window, Amber,” Alexander instructed.

  All the stairwell doors on the base were heavy duty blast doors but did have a tiny peephole in the middle. It was an older design than most were used to.

  Looking through the hole Amber’s face paled, “how did you know?”

  “It was on the video the computer showed us. I thought you knew until you started to open the damn door!” Alex explained to her.

  “What’s up with you two? We need to keep moving,” Sheldon asked.

  Amber pointed to the peephole, “The stairwell is filled with Demons. They’re packed like sardines in there.”

  “How do we get up then? All this to be trapped like rats?” Nadya cried.

  “What does the map say, Sheldon?” Amber asked as she snapped her fingers bringing a small ball of light into existence above them. Her entire team was covered in ichor and blood.

  Sheldon blinked, he’d forgotten all about the tech he was responsible for. Digging into his cargo pocket, he pulled out the small tablet and studied it for a moment. “If we can’t go through the door, we only have one choice, the freight elevator. It might be a trap though.”

  Alex held up his hands questioningly, “Why?”

  Sheldon held out the map and explained, “We’re here at this T-intersection. Those two hallways are down and holding, for now. The elevator is that way,” he pointed.

  “So, you think they might be herding us?” the former soldier asked.

  “It does make a certain amount of sense but do Demons think like that? They’ve been just throwing themselves at us, not herding us,” Amber pointed out.

  Nadya interrupted the conversation, “We’re not talking about climbing another elevator shaft are we?”

  Alexander said yes at the same time Sheldon said no. Both men looked at each other in surprise.

  “Which is it, boys?” Amber asked.

  Sheldon spoke up, “The shaft only goes up a single floor. It’s been reinforced to carry the weight of all this stuff down here, and it operates off of local power. Or at least that’s what the information on here says. I think I can show you how to channel some of your Magick into the system and power up the elevator. If it fries it, we’ll still have to climb, so no loss there.”

  “I like his plan better,” Alex replied.

  “We’ll try it. Everyone reload first,” Amber ordered.

  The freight elevator was much bigger than the other internal elevators. Only the second level had large machinery, so it was not extended downward when the base was expanded over the years. It sat with its doors open at the end of the short hallway.

  “Where does this thing come out at?” Nadya asked.

  Sheldon referred to his tablet map. He needed to shrink and move the image to identify the section. “Gamma Section. It opens up right against the wall near the old loading docks which makes sense in a way.”

  Amber looked at Alexander who grimaced back, “Four hundred yards give or take to the edge of the hole. That’s provided the wall of the bowl is down. If it’s still in place, add in time to scale it. There is no door there. One of us will have to go over to drop the bomb.”

  “Don’t forget it’s across an endless plain of Demons as well,” Sheldon added.

  Amber scratched the back of her head in a nervous habit. “Do we have enough firepower to get through?”

  “Guns and ammo, no. Possibly with melee weapons and Magick. I don’t have a single frame of reference to go by that isn’t a video game,” Alex replied.

  “Oh, that old-timey one you got at that pawn shop. What was it called? Ruin… Calamity… Those don’t sound right. Was it destruction?” Sheldon asked.

  “Doomed,” Alex commented.

  “No, no, no I’m getting it. It’s right on the tip of my tongue,” Sheldon replied.

  Alexander threw up a hand in defeat as he watched the tech rub his head and mutter to himself.

  Amber looked at her on-again-off-again boyfriend and shook her head. Men. Looking at Alex, she asked a better question, “Can we do it?”

  “If we stay focused and back one another up, we have a chance. Fighting formation then switch to back to back. Don’t let up or you’re Demon chow.” Alexander patted the case hanging off his shoulder. “Once I activate it we have exactly two hours to get clear. Not a single minute later or we all die.”

  Sheldon blinked and looked at Amber. “What about our ride out?”

  “They will hover for an hour. If a large Captain Demon gets past us or Demon Bats vector in, they will leave us. No second chances here. Do or die,” Amber replied.

  “Doomed,” Sheldon breathed. “Hey, that was it! Doomed.”

  Amber grabbed Sheldon’s arm and pulled him over to the electrical panel on the wall, “Do your stuff.”

  Opening the panel, Sheldon started tracing the circuits and disconnecting several.

  “So how will this work?” Nadya asked.

  “I’m not an electrician but this line,” Sheldon tapped a thick wire at the bottom of the assembly. “Is what I need.”

  “What’s with the globe thing at the top?” Nadya reached her hand into the box. Sheldon instantly stopped her.

 

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