Erin waded in with Rhun to help pull Jordan out.
Jordan’s eyes stared up, shining blue but clearly seeing nothing.
Was he dead?
Then his chest heaved once, then again.
“He still lives,” Elizabeth said. “But his heart weakens with every beat.”
“She’s right,” Rhun said. “Even his miraculous healing might not be able to save him without help.”
Erin wished she had their senses, to hear his heart, to be even that much closer to Jordan.
Sophia pointed toward the dark forest and the lower slopes. “We must get off this mountain. Already the path is shadowed enough to allow Legion’s forces to hunt us down.”
A loud watery splash jerked them all around.
A massive black shape leaped into view through the falls, thick limbs outspread. Everyone backed away. Jordan remained sprawled on the banks of the pool, his blood still seeping into the water.
The huge figure hit the water not far from the shoreline, crashing only waist-deep, its muscular legs showing no effect from a fall from that height.
Erin lifted her Colt, pointing it at the chest of the blasphemare. She had spotted this creature earlier in the church, one of Hugh’s menagerie.
The black-coated mountain gorilla waded toward Jordan.
“Don’t,” Sophia said, pushing Erin’s arm down. “He remains uncorrupted. He was at Hugh’s side when we leaped out of the church.”
The gorilla scooped Jordan up and gently draped his bloody body over its shoulder. The beast made a chuffing noise, nudging the muzzle of his face forward.
“Hugh must have sent him to help us,” Sophia said.
“Then grab weapons,” Rhun ordered.
Sophia and Elizabeth quickly armed themselves. Erin took the strap of Jordan’s machine pistol and hung it around her neck.
For you to use when you’re better, she promised Jordan.
They fled across the meadow as a group, led by the gorilla, which loped ahead of them, knuckling his way through the grasses.
“What about Hugh?” Erin asked.
Elizabeth looked back, her face oddly mournful. “He would not abandon his flock.”
“He also intended to buy us time,” Sophia said, hurrying forward.
As they reached the tree line, screams rose behind them. A tumble of dark shapes burst out of the falls, like ants boiling out of a flooded hill.
Looks like we’re out of time.
34
Legion lifted his palm from the woman’s cheek, brushing the fall of blond hair from her face. He watched as her eyes became his. He could now see through her eyes to view the glory of his own face. He knew her name now, too, as her memories filled him.
Francesca.
Through scores of other eyes, he spied upon his hunters as they chased down their prey in the forest outside, heard their howls echoing down the mountain slopes.
Legion remained in the church, facing his own target.
By now, he owned all the beasts and strigoi in the chapel.
Save one.
The hermit faced him, his back against the wall, bloody but standing firm. No trace of fear marked his smooth face. His brown eyes gazed calmly into Legion’s.
“You can stop,” the man said. “Even now. Peace and forgiveness is not beyond anyone. Even you, a spirit of darkness.”
“You seek to absolve me,” Legion said, mirth rising inside him. “But I am beyond sin and damnation, so need no forgiveness. But for you”—he held up a hand—“let me take away your pain, your suffering, even your false sense of peace. You will find true serenity in mindless obedience. And in doing so, you will share with me all you know, all you told them.”
“I will tell you nothing.”
The hermit turned away, as if to shun his offer. But instead, the man’s hands grabbed hold of a giant wooden lever hidden in a crack. With a tremendous heave, he hauled it down. A loud crash echoed from below, setting the floor to quaking — then it gave way beneath them both.
Legion lunged forward as great sections of brick and loose stone broke away under his feet. The hermit leaped high to snatch the thick iron braids of a wall sconce. Legion followed, catching the man’s boot with a black hand.
As he hung there, the remainder of the floor crashed into a vast pit hidden below the church, taking with it all his remaining forces. A great cloud of brick dust and exploded bits of broken timbers burst upward, bringing with it the rumbling sound of water. It echoed from far below, marking some subterranean vein of this peak, a great river that washed into the roots of the mountain.
If Legion fell below, he would be trapped forever in the bowels of the earth, imprisoned as surely as he had been in the heart of that green diamond.
Terror bubbled up inside him.
Legion stared upward, finding the face of the hermit shining down at him.
Don’t, he willed to the man.
But Legion’s fingers only clasped leather, not skin. The hermit’s will was still his own. And using that will, the man uncurled his fingers and let go.
Together, they plummeted into the darkness below.
“Keep going!” Rhun shouted to the others.
A moment ago, he had heard a muffled explosion, a great grinding of stone and splintering woods. He did not know what that meant, only that his group was still hunted, pursued by a howling, slathering mix of strigoi and blasphemare.
Rhun kept beside Erin. Ahead, the gorilla lumbered with Jordan over one shoulder, moving quickly down the side of the mountain, barreling through bushes, shouldering aside saplings like twigs. His bulk broke a path through the dense forest before them, like a boulder rolling downhill.
Sophia had borrowed Jordan’s weapon and strafed behind them as they fled. Silver rounds ripped through pine needles and shredded leaves from trees. Elizabeth haunted their path to his left, lashing out with a sword and knife. To the right, the cub protected their flank, moving like a ghost.
Still, they were losing ground quickly.
The enemy threatened to crash over them at any moment.
Sophia appeared next to Rhun, throwing her smoking weapon across her back.
“Out of ammunition.” Fear shone in her face. “We’ll never make it. We’ll have to—”
A booming shout cut her off. “EVERYBODY DOWN!”
Rhun obeyed, recognizing the voice. He threw Erin into a thick pile of leaf litter and piled on top of her. The others dropped low. Even the cub slid to Rhun’s side and mimicked him. A white tail slashed angrily through the leaves.
Only the gorilla continued its course, pounding down the slope.
In the beast’s wake, Christian stepped into view several yards down slope. He crouched low, balancing the butt of two machine guns on his thighs — and opened fire.
The silvery barrage tore apart the forest, raining bits of wood and leaves over them. The chattering roar deafened Rhun. Even when it finally ended, his ears still rang with the noise.
“Go!” Christian yelled, tossing the spent weapons aside. “That’ll only buy us a little time! Make for the helicopter!”
They gained their feet and paws and ran even faster.
Finally, they burst out of the forest into the open meadow. The helicopter rumbled ahead of them, the engines already warmed and ready, the rotors slowly spinning.
By now, the sun had fully set.
They needed to be off this mountain.
The gorilla waited for them by the aircraft, leaning on one thick arm, huffing loudly, plainly exhausted. They joined the beast. Sophia and Christian helped lift Jordan into the back cabin. Erin clambered up with him, hovering over him.