Dread Nemesis of Mine

chapter 7

Bogota welcomed me with cold, gray arms. Dark clouds scudded overhead, drowning the sunlight. The Obsidian Arch at La Casona sat in the middle of a sprawling plaza in the center of the city, seemingly in plain sight. At the back of the square stood an ordinary wooden door, which—according to Bella—led into the pocket dimension housing La Casona. Since Colombia was her turf, she gave me a quick history lesson as we hustled from the large circle of polished stone beneath the arch.

"Illusion hides this place from the noms, and wards keep them from wandering too close," she said as we crossed the plaza toward a group of waiting Templars.

"We're going into La Casona," Adam said, taking Meghan's hand in his.

"I need some supplies," the Arcane healer added. "We'll meet you at the compound in a couple of hours."

I noticed the way her face hardened every time she looked at Shelton. I also noticed how Shelton kept a healthy distance from Meghan. She'd told me Shelton's hands were dirty when it came to the death of her father. That he'd had dealings with Vadaemos Slade or someone close to him. Even though Meghan had never made any outright threats, I had the feeling it might be best to clear the air between the two just in case. Adam tugged on Meghan's hand and they headed toward the entrance.

Shelton approached the minute Meghan and Adam went through the door to La Casona. He regarded the area with wary eyes. "I've got some contacts in the area. It's possible they'll be able to help.

"Why do you look so uneasy?" I asked.

"Let's just say I haven't made many friends in this part of the world."

Bella raised an eyebrow. "Really, Harry, you didn't tell me that story."

He snorted. "It's a lot more than just one story, darlin'."

"You'll meet us at the compound later?" she asked. "I brought some board games along."

"No more board games," Shelton said, rolling his eyes. "I have something more interesting in mind."

Bella pursed her lips. "Oh, really?" Her voice took on an uncharacteristic sultry flavor. "Do tell."

"Poker."

"Unless it's strip poker, I'm not interested," Bella said, crossing her arms.

Shelton's eyelids went wide, and his face turned a shade of pink.

Elyssa snorted, and I gave Bella a questioning look. Sometimes I had trouble figuring out if she was being serious or not.

"What's wrong with strip poker between consenting adults?" Bella said with a smirk. She tapped Shelton on the nose. "Run along to your contacts, Harry. I'll see you back at the compound."

Shelton dug a finger under his collar and tugged on it, as though it felt a bit tight. "Maybe I'll find another place to stay."

Bella laughed. "Don't forget to layer your clothes. I wouldn't want you to lose too quickly."

"Keep in touch," I told Shelton as he hurried to leave. "And be careful."

He tipped his fedora at us and gave us a lopsided grin, his eyes straying to Bella. "I'm always careful."

As he headed for the entrance to La Casona, I noticed Templar guards patrolling the perimeter, and turned to Elyssa. "Didn't Felicia say Maximus used this arch to travel recently?"

She nodded.

"How is that possible with all the security?"

"I don't know." Her eyes latched onto something to our left.

Following her gaze, I saw Commander Christian Salazar, the Templar commander for Colombia, standing at ease, arms folded behind his back, legs shoulder-width apart. Thomas Borathen approached the other man and saluted then took Christian by the elbow and guided him toward the exit while they conversed. I tried to listen in with my super hearing, but the background thrum of the arch as it wound down obliterated their words before they reached my ears.

Salazar glanced back at me with narrowed eyes and shook his head at Thomas. The other man crossed his arms and gave him a withering gaze, but it didn't faze the Colombian. I followed Bella through a long brick archway, and emerged inside a fenced-in lot bordering a street congested with cars, foot traffic, and noise. A thick aroma of burnt diesel and other pollutants crowded my nose. The brick-paved street wound down a long hill between white adobe houses with barred windows and worn terracotta shingles. I looked behind me. The plaza looked like a tall, brick warehouse from the outside. No doubt the razor wire and chain-link fence kept most casual passers-by from trying to get in.

A shadowy flicker in the corner of my eye sent a panicky jolt straight to my heart. I ducked and rolled, eyes scanning for the shadow creature. Instead, I found a gray, cloudy shape drifting around the perimeter. A group of kids were trying to squeeze under the fence. The cloud morphed into a humanoid shape, its ghostly hands brushing the children on the head. The intruders abruptly stood up and wandered down the sidewalk, eyes blank, faces expressionless.

"What is that thing?" I asked with a shudder.

"A minder," Bella said.

"Those things give me the creeps," Elyssa said with a shudder.

I noticed several more of the ghoulish wisps patrolling the fence. "What did that thing do to those kids?"

"Minders twist the thoughts of people." Bella gave a shiver of her own. "Arcanes discovered these things lurking in the Gloom decades ago and, after several disastrous attempts, learned they are sentient to a certain degree."

"They trained them like animals," Elyssa said, eyes angry. "And allow them to feed on noms."

"They feed on normal humans?" I couldn't really muster any outrage, given my need to feed on human emotion.

"When the minder touched those boys, it fed on their thoughts and memories. We still don't know exactly how they do it, but prolonged contact with those things could permanently damage your mind."

I sidestepped farther away from one of the minders as it drifted along the fence in our direction. "They're really that harmful?"

"I would tell you to ask the first Arcanes who discovered them, but they're stark-raving mad now." Bella's violet eyes grew unfocused as if she were looking at a memory of her own.

A line of black SUVs waited outside the fence. Christian and Thomas piled into the lead vehicle, still talking heatedly. Bella and Elyssa climbed into the vehicle behind it. I walked around the back of the same vehicle to toss in my luggage when I felt a cold ping on my supernatural radar. It was close. Maybe fifty feet away. I'd felt that sensation enough to know exactly what it was. I spun to face it.

The Templars felt it, too. Within a split second of the sensation, dozens of swords slid from sheaths. Another cold blip popped up behind me. Another to my side. Followed by another. And another.

"Starfire! Get down!" someone shouted as a ball of white energy the size of my head shot from a rooftop down the road and streaked toward the lead SUV.

"Dad!" Elyssa shouted. She dove from the backseat. Rolled on the pavement and pivoted for her father's SUV. But it was too late.

The fireball slammed into the grill of the vehicle, suffusing the frame with brilliant white light, and exploded. My body left the ground and flew through the air, slamming against the hard brick road. A twisted and charred bumper slammed onto my chest. I sucked in a wheezing breath and heard the whine of tinnitus buzzing in my ears. Screams and shouts echoed as though through a long tunnel.

I shoved the blackened bumper off me and rolled onto my side. Noms scattered in all directions as dozens of dark forms leapt from rooftops and hit the ground running. I pushed myself to my knees. The effort sent waves of agony through my back and ribs. Something hard and sharp brushed against the inside of my arm. I looked and found a blade of shrapnel jutting from my side.

"Justin!" someone screamed.

I saw Elyssa surrounded by a circle of Templars fighting off a mob of vampires. Some of the attackers looked barely out of middle school while others looked college aged. Maximus obviously didn't discriminate by age or gender, because there were plenty of females in the riotous mix. Each attacker wore a red armband around one bicep, each bearing a valentine-shaped heart with two fangs piercing it. Some vampires wore pink shirts with the same heart logo on it.

A flutter of pink drew my attention to the SUV Elyssa had been in. Bella hung halfway out of the backseat. Blood dripped from her outstretched hand, forming a puddle on the ground. I roared with anger. Grabbed the jagged shard of metal in my side and pulled it out. The world faded to black for an instant, and a scream tore from my throat. As the ringing in my ears subsided, I pushed myself to my feet and ran for Bella.

I dragged her from the SUV. She groaned. Her eyelids fluttered.

"Bella?" I said.

"I—I'm okay, Justin."

I watched a slice down her arm slowly heal as her supernatural healing kicked in. "Can you run?"

She nodded.

Strong hands grabbed me by the shoulders and jerked me away. Threw me across the road. I turned my roll into a three-point landing and looked into the red eyes of a gaggle of vampires. One-on-one, I knew I could beat them, but—

Something snapped around my neck. I turned and saw a female vampire smile, her fangs glistening. Bella shouted something.

And the world went black.