Evolution (Demon's Grail Book 2) (18 page)

Emilia

“Okay,” I say with a smile, watching the house of Gothos from a distance as the screams continue, “I think we got their attention.”

“The order is yours to give,” Skellig whispers with relish. “Your majesty.”

Taking a step forward, I stare out at the massed army. Hundreds of spiders, surrounding Gothos with only one aim in mind. The fulfillment of a destiny that was written in the stars long ago, and which almost slipped away from us. The night air is cold, with a strong breeze blowing against us, but I feel in my heart that we are ready to achieve our final victory.

“Time to go to war,” I continue finally. “And this time, we don't stop until every last vampire is dead.”

Part Six

The Fall of the House of Gothos I

Abby Hart

“Seal the main doors!” I shout, racing down the steps. “Make sure the window blockades are in place! They're coming!”

“Who are?” Jonathan asks, hurrying to me as everyone else races to take up a position. “Abby, what's happening?”

“That whole thing with the children was just a distraction,” I tell him, heading to the doors as a series of metal relays are slid into place. All around, there's the sound of panicked voices shouting at one another as defenses are hastily strengthened. “They needed to keep us busy while they got into position, and now they're out there, ready to attack.”

“Spiders?” He pauses. “How many? Ten? Twenty?”

I turn to him.

“Thirty?”

“Maybe three hundred,” I reply, feeling a shiver pass up my spine at those words. “They seem to be split about fifty-fifty between spider and human forms, which is pretty typical. The Book of Gothos says that they always employed mixed tactics.”

“Three
hundred
?” he replies, clearly shocked. “Abby, there's no way -”

“I don't need to hear that right now,” I mutter, turning and hurrying along the corridor. In the distance, more voices are shouting at one another, and I have no doubt that the members of the council are locked in discussions about how we can fight back. We have defenses, sure, but we weren't expecting the spiders to show up so fast and in such numbers, and my mind is already racing as I try to work out how we're going to get out of this situation. By the time I get to the old banqueting room, I realize that I can feel the ground starting to tremble.

“Is that them?” Jonathan asks, having kept up with me.

Heading to the window, I peer out and see a large shape crawling through the darkness, its legs glinting in the moonlight. The first spiders are already down at the bottom of the garden, and there are other figures creeping through the shadows, no doubt getting into position for the first wave of their attack. They've been planning this for a long time.

“How will they try to do this?” Jonathan whispers. “What kind of weapons do they have?”

“They'll use full force,” I reply, my heart pounding as I watch the figures edging closer. “The full fury of a spider assault... I've read about it. Very few people have ever survived such a thing.”

“What about guns?” he asks.

I turn to him.

“Why does everyone around here use swords and fire? Have you guys never heard of missiles, machines guns and landmines? What about a few helicopters?”

“That kind of technology doesn't work too well here,” I tell him. “Believe me, if we could call in a strike from the air, don't you think we'd have -”

Before I can finish, there's a loud bang in the distance, followed by a rumbling sound as the whole house shakes for a moment. Screams ring out, and it's clear that our ranks are already being diminished.

“They're attacking from all sides,” I continue, as the sense of panic builds in my chest. “They know we don't have a chance of defending properly, not when we're outnumbered. They want to get it over with quickly.”

“So what do we do?” he asks. “Surrender? Abby, maybe if we reason with them, we can make them see sense. We can negotiate!”

I shake my head. “That's not a word they understand. If we went out there with our hands raised, they'd kill us instantly. Besides, vampires never surrender to spiders. The whole idea is obscene.”

“What if we run, then?” he continues. “Surely it's better to live so we can fight another day?”

“We're surrounded!” I hiss, as the building trembles again. I can hear more voices shouting in the distance, and at this rate I wouldn't be surprised if the first line of defenses has already been breached. I have to do something, I have to come up with a plan, but I feel almost frozen to the spot as a sense of indecision ripples through my body. Every plan that enters my head ends the same way.

We lose.

“This can't be it,” Jonathan continues. “After everything we've been through, you can't seriously think that we're just going to sit here and wait for -”

Suddenly there's a loud crashing sound and the floor shakes more than ever. I turn just in time to see a huge shape on the other side of the window, breaking through the wooden defenses and then crashing into the glass, shattering the window itself as a spider leg reaches through and tries to strike at us. I pull Jonathan aside before grabbing a dagger from my belt and driving the blade into the creature's leg, gouging into its skin until it pulls back. From the other side of the window there's a loud screeching sound, a kind of torn, anguished roar, but I know pain won't hold the monster back. Losing my grip on the dagger, I'm forced to let go and watch as the leg rises up with the blade still embedded in its flesh. So much for
that
weapon.

“Will the wound slow it down?” Jonathan asks as we take a step back.

“Not for a second,” I stammer, grabbing his arm and pulling him toward the door. “Come on, we have to find the others. If we work out some kind of plan, we might still have a chance!”

Ignoring the sound of breaking glass behind us, I lead Jonathan out into the corridor that runs through the center of the house. There are shouts and cries coming from every direction, along with the sound of walls being cracked and glass shattering. The house is shaking, too, with heavy impacts coming from every direction, and a moment later I feel brick-dust starting to rain down on us. Every few seconds, I hear another horrified cry as more and more of our fighters are killed.

“Where's Absalom?” I shout at a passing soldier, but he simply races into the next room with his sword drawn.

“Do you really think he can help?” Jonathan asks.

“Have you seen Absalom?” I ask another soldier, but I don't catch his answer as he runs to the far end of the corridor. A moment later, spotting movement nearby, I turn just in time to see an injured soldier being dragged out by a colleague, leaving a smeared trail of blood on the floor. Half the left side of the poor wretch's body has been torn away.

“They're everywhere,” one of the other soldiers says as he comes to help. “Every window, every door. Nothing's holding them back. At this rate they'll have taken the entire house within minutes.”

“We
have
to try negotiating with them,” Jonathan suggests, although I can tell from his tone of voice that he realizes the suggestion is futile. “What else are we supposed to do?” he hisses. “Just let them kill us?”

“A werewolf once told me,” I reply, “that no matter how bad the situation seems, there's
always
a way out. You just have to be smart enough to find it.” Looking around, hearing the sounds of vampires screaming as they die, I feel as if that advice is about to be put to the ultimate test. “We need to move upstairs,” I stammer finally. “At least we can buy ourselves some time that way. We have to use the layout of the house to our advantage.”

“How?” the soldier asks.

“I don't know yet, but if we stay down here we'll all be dead within minutes. Tell the others to abandon the lower level! That's an order!”

“We only take orders from the council.”

“I doubt much of the council is left by now,” I say firmly, “but if you want to go and check on them, be my guest.”

“But won't the spiders just burn us out if we go upstairs?” he asks. “It's just delaying the inevitable!”

“Move!” I shout, before turning to Jonathan. “We need to find Absalom. There's still a chance. I saw him heading to the eastern wing, so I'm going to get him to come with us.”

“And then what?” he asks.

“And then we'll come up with a plan,” I tell him, “and we'll find a way to defeat the spiders. This can't be the day that our house falls, I won't let it all end like this. Now go! Find Absalom!”

With that, I turn and race along the corridor, before reaching the door to the ballroom and looking through. Five huge spiders have already broken down the main wall, and now their legs are scratching along the walls and ceiling as they make their way over the pile of vampire bodies on the floor, coming straight toward me.

Emilia

I squeeze tighter, pulling the miserable vampire wretch closer while the fangs from my belly dig into his chest. He struggles, of course, but it's the desperate, doomed struggle of prey that knows its time is up; all he can do is stare into my eyes as his life ebbs away, and finally I spot the moment when my venom reaches his heart and his soul is extinguished. His mouth opens, letting out some of the sulfurous gas from the acid that burns in his chest.

He slumps dead in my arms, I disengage and retract my fangs, and then I let him slip lifelessly to the floor.

Damn it, these vampires die too easily.

“We've taken the southern wing of the house!” someone calls out, as several of my men rush past in their human forms, followed by two huge, majestic spiders. How could anyone not find our species beautiful, especially when we're giving such a convincing demonstration of our strength? Another spider crawls almost straight over me, its legs brushing against my shoulder as it rushes bravely onward to the deeper reaches of the house.

Turning, I look across the old ballroom and watch the chaos. Walls have been torn down, floors and ceilings ripped apart, and brick-dust fills the air. The great, grand house of Gothos, for so long the heart of vampire civilization and a symbol of their arrogance, has finally fallen in battle. So many other species have dreamed of such a moment – Ventriforms, Forbidders, even cold-blooded vampires locked in a deadly civil war – but they were never able to breach the house itself. Now that run is over, and the vampires are losing their home. As Karakh prepares to rise, so Gothos falls.

It's hard not to smile.

Sensing a presence nearby, I turn just in time to see Skellig stepping through a gap in one of the damaged walls, finally entering the building. I had expected him to hang back much further, since he has stated multiple times that he and his species are not “built” for direct conflict, so his arrival can only mean that he sees the battle is almost over. He picks his way carefully across the broken masonry until he reaches me, and I can't miss the hint of anticipatory delight in his face as he surveys the carnage.

“It's beautiful, isn't it?” I ask, as more desperate, pained cries can be heard from other rooms. “So many vampires dying in quick succession. I swear, I can almost taste death in the air.”

“Almost?” He looks around, as smoke curls over his face and into his hollow eye-sockets. The flashes of white and blue electrical energy beneath his skin are greater than ever, as if his delight knows no bounds. “I
can
taste death in the air, Emilia. This is a good day to enjoy the suffering of vampires.”

“I haven't found
her
yet,” I tell him.

“Patience. Do not focus on just one of them. The most important thing is that they must all die.”

“But she's mine,” I continue. “I've told our soldiers not to kill Abby Hart, merely to bring her to me.”

“Because you still seek revenge?”

“She murdered Keller.”

He pauses, and for a moment I can see his body trembling, as if the continued cries of dying soldiers fill his soul with pleasure. “Do as you wish,” he says finally. “On a day such as this, it matters not
how
the job is done, only that the vampires are destroyed. They have stained the fabric of existence for too long.” He limps past me and then stops again, looking around at the damaged walls. “This was once the most ornate ballroom in the vampire world, perhaps in all of existence. They held great feasts here too, with the light of thousands of candles. Although it pains me to admit as much, I have to say that those feasts were legendary. There was a form of beauty here, Emilia. Even if they became decadent and weak in the end, the vampire race had potential once.”

“You -” Pausing for a moment, I feel a sliver of suspicion in my chest. “You speak as if you've been to Gothos before,” I tell him.

He turns to me, his hollow sockets wider than ever.

“You
have
been here before,” I continue, shocked. “When? How?”

“Gothos has stood for so long,” he replies, “its span cannot be measured in time alone.”

“But
you're
not that old, are you?” I ask. When he doesn't reply, I realize that something about this attack seems particularly personal to him. “Skellig, what are -”

“Patience,” he says firmly, interrupting me as a smile grows across his lips. “My people did not just help the spiders because we were paid to do so, but also because our races' aims came together. I have long dreamed of seeing the home of the vampires destroyed.”

I want to ask him more, to find out who and what he really is, but before I can open my mouth there's a loud bang in the distance and the entire house trembles. Moments later, one of our generals runs back through the rubble toward us, stopping when he sees us together.

“We've secured most of the lower floor,” he explains breathlessly. “There are pockets of resistance, but nothing to concern us too much. Most of the vampire forces have retreated to the upper reaches of the house.”

“They've gone up?” I reply, surprised by the news. “Then they really
must
be desperate.”

“There's the main staircase,” he continues, “but we've already found two other passages. One via the old kitchen, and one -”

“Seal them off,” I tell him firmly. “I want Abby Hart and the others trapped up there, and then we can pick them off without too much trouble.”

“She was spotted a few minutes ago,” he replies. “She's still alive, she's with the vampires who went upstairs.”

“Of course she is,” I mutter darkly. “She might be a weak fool, but she can't help taking control when everyone else falls around her.” I turn to Skellig, but to my surprise I see that he has already begun to make his way further into the house, as if some deeper instinct is drawing him onward.

“What
are
those things?” the general asks.

I turn and see that he's transfixed by the sight of Skellig.

“I honestly don't know,” I tell him.

“But how do we know we can trust them?” he continues. “I mean, the soldiers have been talking, it wasn't just Kerial who had concerns. Those creatures came into our midst and started taking control of our entire army, but once the war with the vampires is over... Will they just leave?”

“My father would not have allied with a race that could harm us,” I reply, even though deep down I have misgivings that I can't shake. I keep telling myself to trust in Father's choices, but it's as if Skellig and his species set off some long-buried alarms in my soul. “Stop questioning the decisions of your superiors,” I continue, turning back to the general as I realize that I'm in danger of showing weakness, “and make sure the last vampire fighters are sealed in the upstairs section. How many are left?”

“But if -”

“If you question me again,” I snarl, “you'll meet the same fate as Kerial!”

He stares at me with fear in his eyes, and I can tell that I've made my point.

“How many are left?” I ask again.

“No more than ten or so.”

“And one of those is Abby Hart,” I continue, smiling as I look up toward the ceiling. “She must know. She must feel in her heart that death is coming, and that I'm the one who will deliver it. She must be scared.”

“There's something else, M'am,” he adds. “We've located the council of Gothos. Their elders are trapped in the consul room, there's no way for them to escape.”

“How many of them?” I ask.

“Three old men.”

I pause for a moment, before a smile slowly grows across my face. “Take me to the consul room,” I tell him finally. “I want to finish them off myself.”