“Here I am. Do you see? I told you I was capable of sacrifice,” the girl said in a quavering voice.
He squinted at her as though he couldn’t quite fathom how it was that a worm dared to address him. When Alison stepped toward him, he knocked away her outstretched hand with an impatient gesture. Christina took advantage of his fragmented attention and shoved Aidan toward the down escalator. Without pause, she spun around and slammed her fist into the ugly face of the creature nearest her son, the one with the six-inch-high Mohawk. Much to her shock, he squalled in agony. Christina had spent much of her childhood in an orphanage, and later in a series of foster homes. She was no stranger to dangerous situations or having to defend herself in a brawl.
But she hadn’t expected this. A web of swollen red and purple veins spread on the foul creature’s nose and between his eyes in the precise spot where Christina had hit him. The male backhanded her blindly, catching her jaw.
She reeled. Warm fluid filled her mouth.
“Run. You too, Alison,” she shouted, although she saw from the corner of her eye the thin girl remained frozen on the spot as she stared fixedly at Teslar. At least she heard her son’s rapid footsteps blending with the monotonous churn of the escalator engine.
The sight of the blood in her mouth caused one of the hideous males to let out a shriek of excitement. The tall one with the chestnut hair snarled, his handsome face twisted in fury. He barked an order.
The creatures tensed to pounce while their comrade continued to howl in pain and clutch wildly at his face. Christina braced herself, legs slightly spread, knees bent and fists cocked. She didn’t stand a chance against the nightmare monsters and she knew it. She lived only for the fading thump of Aidan’s tennis shoes as he leapt up the escalator. The creature farthest to her right—the one with a mouthful of pointed teeth and who wore what revoltingly looked like a necklace of human vertebrae—gave a throat-tearing snarl and sprang.
Christina prepared to die.
Something smacked into the monster midair with a dull thud. Her would-be-attacker fell to the platform floor several feet short of Christina, a large, dark gray wolf clamped around his throat. He writhed madly, trying to throw the animal off him. Howls of fury sliced through the still air as four more wolves launched themselves at the creatures, their pointed, gleaming teeth slashing and biting.
Christina turned away, knowing this was her only chance to follow her son.
“Alison!” she shouted again, trying to break through the young woman’s trance. She followed the girl’s rapturous stare. Teslar stood upright on the handrail of the escalator, a beautiful dark angel ready to take flight. He leapt and took to the air, his long coat billowing out behind him like leathery wings. He landed at the top of the down escalator. Aidan was just three steps away from him.
Teslar smiled at Aidan, his fangs fully bared.
“No,” Christina yelled, launching herself up the escalator. Teslar reached out for the boy. Aidan threw up his hand, instinctively trying to block Teslar’s grabbing fist. Teslar lunged back as though he’d been pushed, a look of surprise on his face. Christina paused, mouth hanging open when she saw a figure step behind and just to the right of Teslar—a figure that precisely matched Teslar’s height and breadth.
“Back to your mother.”
Aidan never hesitated when he heard Saint’s order, scrambling back down the escalator toward Christina. She glanced around, seeing a writhing pile of wolves and—much to her amazement—what appeared to be a grunting boar and two dog-like creatures, all of them enormous and possessing hideous, blood-dripping maws and long, razor-sharp teeth.
The female still in human-form bit and slashed with her teeth as viciously as the animals. It revolted her to see the flesh and blood flying. The wolves appeared to be stalling her and the other creatures, if not conquering them, but the snarling melee was too close to the bottom of the escalator for Christina to lead Aidan in that direction.
Instead she treaded in place on the downward-moving escalator, holding out her hands until Aidan plunged into her embrace. Both of them peered at the top of the escalator. Teslar and Saint stood facing each other in profile, both entirely still. Christina was reminded of the eerie silence before a cyclonic storm.
Chapter Six
“Mom, what’s Saint do—”
“Shhh.” Christina quieted Aidan shakily at the same moment Teslar gave a lion-like roar, fangs bared in a grimace awful to behold. He lunged, making a slashing gesture with his arm. Saint moved and the sound of metal striking metal hit Christina’s ears. She realized through a haze of shock that both men held unusual silver swords, both so short they might be better described as long, lethal-looking daggers. They began to parry so rapidly that both their blades and bodies became a blur of motion.
A heavy black boot landed in Saint’s gut with a sickening thwack, only to be followed by a punch to the jaw. The blade sliced close behind, aimed at Saint’s throat. Saint leaned back with inhuman flexibility and speed, avoiding the sharp metal without a millimeter to spare. He turned as if in slow motion, rolling into the air in an abbreviated cartwheel. One booted foot struck Teslar’s head, then another, both kicks landing with brutal force.
Teslar reeled back, hissing in pain. Saint flew into him with the power of a charging locomotive, their swords clashing together, teeth bared in frightening snarls.
The rapidity and viciousness of their blows shocked Christina to the core. Teslar struck Saint in the chest with a rocket-like fist and Saint slammed into the railing, causing the entire escalator to shake from the force of the impact. When he didn’t move, Christina made a sound of misery and surged forward on the moving stairs, only vaguely aware that her son also lunged toward Saint. She came to herself and stopped Aidan before he took another step.
Saint’s long body remained draped over the handrail, motionless. The moving rail tugged at him, dragging his dead weight down a step or two while Teslar advanced, a leer on his handsome, bleeding face, the silver blade gleaming in his hand.
“Saint!” Aidan called out.
Teslar glanced down the escalator, his smile widening. He raised his hand and plunged the sword toward Saint’s undefended chest. Christina’s moan of anguish blended with the sound of metal striking metal. Saint blocked the blow as though his head wasn’t flung over the rail and he’d perfectly seen Teslar’s blade coming.
His long, lean body coiled up like a retracting spring. He flew at Teslar, the unexpectedness and savageness of his attack throwing Teslar off balance.
Saint advanced, while Teslar defended himself frantically. They moved so rapidly that Christina heard only the thumps of flesh striking flesh, the clash of swords and grunts of pain. At a pause in the storm, she saw Teslar’s exposed chest. Saint slashed with his sword, but as soon as he made contact…
Teslar was gone. An enormous black and crimson bird with a vicious-looking beak and talons that looked like sharp bones rose into the air, the sound of its huge, beating wings echoing off the tunnel walls. She saw Saint crouch, preparing to leap, fangs bared in a snarl.