Out of the Black - Lee Doty [174]
Hawthorne shook her head slowly, remembering. "I've still got to shoot her about that sometime." Then she smiled and smacked the steering wheel with one hand, "Man! What a night!"
Alex and Rae stood, hand in hand at Kaspari's side. Kaspari was sitting cross-legged on the ground, looking like a Yogi working on his levitation. He hadn't moved in about two minutes.
"How's it going down there?" Rae asked.
"I have no idea." Alex said without opening his eyes. "It's definitely the biggest Cast I've ever seen. It's beautiful, you know. It's massive, yet modular... there's no chaos in its complexity."
"Sounds like you're about to write a haiku 'bout it babe."
One of Alex's eyes popped open. "You know, I'm going to miss that sharp wit."
"Right, like death's gonna save you. I thought we were in this for the long haul. Hey, weren't you already kinda dead once?"
He moved into her arm "Wasn't really dead then."
"Well, you sure weren't much of a talker."
Closer. Now only a whisper away from her lips. "Seek medical atten..." he started, but then their lips met.
Impossible children. Issak Kaspari thought as he tried to work.
Fortunately he was up to the challenge of working even surrounded by three flavors of distraction. About twenty meters away, Ping and Anne played Roy and Dek's favorite game. In the microvan about the same distance in the other direction the four Feds laughed and jabbed at each other. And, last but not least, about one meter away, Alex and Rae shared what really should have been a much more private moment. In a moment of bittersweet memory, he thought how much he missed Roy and Dek's knack for playful distraction.
Without the training provided by Dek's constant interruptions, Issak might not have been able to work under these conditions. As it was, he put the finishing touches on his Cast just as the fourth distraction vied for his attention.
One floor up, the leading edge of a horde of no less than three hundred demons raced downward.
Anne swatted away Ping's most earnest attack and stepped back, turning to face the ramp up to the next level. "They're coming!" she shouted. She could feel it coming like the wind ahead of a tidal wave- chaotic power, unseen but close.
Alex stepped back from Rae, the laughter in the van drained away, Kaspari didn't move. The air filled with the thick funk of final judgment.
Ping shoved his dread aside and tried some distraction. "Nice try!" He shouted, leaping toward Anne, sword flashing.
There were two ringing clashes of steel, and one less metallic impact followed by Ping landing firmly on his butt. "Didn't you hear the terror in my voice?!" Anne shouted.
"Actually, yeah." Ping said with a slow smile.
Her frustration seemed to increase to the point where she might explode. But then she seemed to deflate, tension spilling out into the air. "You're nuts." She said extending a hand.
"Yep." He took her hand and was whisked too quickly to his feet.
"And possibly stupid." She shook her head, bemused.
"Now that's the pre-fight spirit!" He gave her a quick thumbs-up.
They turned to face their foes together. Their blades extended before them- nearly parallel and steady as those wielded by ancient statues. They waited, listening to the rising clamor from above.
Then the Harms broke like flood waters around the two sides of the downward ramp ahead. The howling ranks of the mob quickly filled the entire opening, which was perhaps eight meters across. They were so thick that the far wall of the parking structure was quickly lost from view. They swarmed like Piranhas, rushing forward so fast that it took them less than five seconds to reach Anne and Ping's position.
Hawthorne's right foot hovered above the accelerator. Her hands turned white on the wheel. The van was pointed directly at Kaspari as he continued his apparent meditation on the ground not far way. They were plan B, and unless something changed very drastically very quickly, they'd be needed.
"What I wouldn't give for my guns." Kyle said from the back seat.
"Yeah, because they would