slipping along the aforementioned narrow alley behind the stables, we found the hidden door and stepped inside. two of the operators glanced up with confused looks, their black-and-yellow-striped robes adding a mild comedic air to their expressions.

i recognized one of them as someone shelton had questioned before.

"got some questions," shelton said, walking in like he owned the place.

"about?" the man said, looking at us, and then looking down the aisle running between the smaller arches in the control room. the control room looked identical to the one beneath el dorado aside from a gap where no alabaster arch stood.

"we're looking into some other arch control rooms, and need to know how to activate the lights in the main cavern."

the operator's face changed. "oh, well that's rather simple." he walked up to the modulus, a gray sphere sitting atop a pedestal in the floor like the one in el dorado. "you need to trace the cyrinthian symbol for light across the modulus. to indicate which area you wish to light, you can spread your fingers across it for everything, or simply flick a finger like so"-he demonstrated the motion-"to light parts of the cavern."

"looks simple enough," shelton said. "thanks, that'll help a lot."

"of course." the man looked back down the long center aisle, forehead wrinkling, then back to us. "have you found other hidden way stations?"

"that's classified," shelton said, then with a conspiratorial glance around, leaned forward and said, "two of them." he winked. "don't tell anyone."

the operator returned the wink. "how exciting."

"yeah. the problem we're having is one of the alabaster arches is blowing everything up that gets near it."

the operator's brow furrowed. "i thought we'd solved that issue." he narrowed his eyes at shelton. "surely, you drew the pattern on the modulus-"

"who are you people?" said a stocky man flanked by two others as he strode down the center aisle. each man wore black arcane robes, the material fitting snugly down to the beltline before flaring out like a trench coat.

"i might ask you the same question," shelton said. "we're with darkwater."

the man raised an eyebrow, and looked at his companions. "that's funny," he said with a smirk. "because i'm with darkwater, and i sure as hell haven't seen you before."

chapter 9

a cold feeling clenched my bowels. out of the corner of my eye i noticed adam and shelton tense.

the stocky man pulled out an ebony rod, flicking it to full staff length, his smirk never wavering as his companions followed suit. without warning, he whirled his staff. silver bolts of light flew from them. the arch operator yelped and threw himself out of the way as energy shards pinged against a support column inches from me.

shelton cursed, stabbing his rod into the floor. the azure blue nimbus of a shield sprang into place. a flurry of purple orbs from the staff of another darkwater man blasted against the shield, ricocheting in all directions with a buzzing whine. the third man held his staff straight out as a white light gathered at the end.

"he's charging a wave," adam said, his own staff glowing green as he leveled it at the attackers.

"i see that," shelton muttered, pulling out a wand, and flicking it.

an invisible force yanked the end of the man's staff up just as a column of ghostly figures charged from the end of the rod, screaming like banshees. they roared up at an angle, missing us, but cutting a gouge in the dark stone of the support column.

i looked behind us. only the open platform before the world map lay there, offering no cover from there to the door. i grabbed my staff as another flock of silver projectiles smashed against shelton's shield.

"it's not gonna hold," he groaned, sweat glistening on his forehead.

adam released the charge of green light even as another wave of the white energy leapt from the end of the third man's staff. they met in the middle, pushing against each other, coalescing into a ball of energy. shelton growled something, motioning us to fall back behind the column. his shield flickered out, just as the ball of raw energy between adam and the other man exploded. the deafening roar echoed through the large space. a purple orb blurred toward me even as i brought up my staff, desperately thinking of some spell to use. the orb shattered the end of the staff. another one slammed into my chest, throwing me back.

i thudded against the floor as my staff clattered away. all i heard was a high-pitched whine. my chest felt as if it was on fire. i tried to move, but my legs wouldn't respond. i attempted to suck in a breath, but failed. i looked to the column and saw shelton and adam taking cover behind it. adam gave me a horrified look. silver bolts pinged against the floor all around me. i looked up in time to see another death wave screaming my way.

i tried to roll, but my body failed to respond. "no!" i cried out, throwing my arm straight out as if that would do anything to stop it. the heat in my chest seemed to expand outward. it burned up the length of my arm, concentrating in my hand. a bolt of ultraviolet energy burst from my palm, crashing through the deadly force coming at me, splitting it down the middle and meeting the end of the attacker's staff. the wooden rod splintered, spraying shards. my attack blasted the man in the arm. he spun in two full circles before dropping like a rag doll.

the stocky man's eyes went wide. "everyone get out here now!" he snarled, spinning his staff, and hurling another onslaught of silver bolts at me. "kill these sons of bitches!"

my body finally responded to my commands. i rolled away from his attacks as silver bolts gouged the stone around me, peppering me with shrapnel. the pain receded even as i felt the brief sting of impact. i rolled to my feet. blurred from the path of more purple orbs. leapt high, and crashed down atop the arcane firing them, my fist cracking the stone next to his head.

i heard shouts, and looked up in time to see another dozen men in similar robes racing down the aisles from the back of the control room. the stocky man swung his staff at me. i caught the blow on my arm, gripped him by the front of his robe, and flung him down the aisle to crash into the other men.

another man appeared, a protective barrier glowing in the air before him. he threw back the hood to his robe, revealing a bald head and a chiseled face with a black goatee. strange tattoos curved beneath his eyes. they almost seemed to glow. the man's lips pulled back in a snarl. a staff in each hand, he slammed the butts against the ground. roiling red energy gathered between the ends, glowing brighter and brighter.

"run!" shelton shouted. "run your damned ass off!"

i snapped from whatever trance held me and raced back toward the exit even as a high-pitched whine split the air.

"jump!" shelton said.

i jumped high as a red beam tore through the stone floor beneath me. still in the air, i saw the beam angling upward. i flung out a hand, and cried "shoryuken!" a rope of magical energy shot from my hand and coiled around the nearest support column. i jerked, snapping myself out of the line of fire at the last minute. i hit the ground, rolling behind a nearby arch and glanced back as shelton sent a scorching orange meteor whooshing down the aisle. the bald arcane dove out of the way as it shot past.

shelton and adam raced for the exit. i blurred after them, deadly bolts, rays, orbs, and spheres raining down all around me.

i saw the arch operators huddled in the far corner of the room, the whites of their eyes showing. what pattern on the modulus had the man been talking about? the answer to finding the grand nexus had been so close. now we definitely couldn't return to find out. i ran out the exit, slamming the door shut behind me. adam aimed his staff at the door, invisible behind an illusion, and a thin beam of red light struck where the seam would be.

"that should weld it shut for a few minutes," he said.

we ran down the narrow alley, through the way station, and left via the doors to the pocket dimension housing queens gate.

shelton and adam were panting by the time we reached the shuttle station. luckily, the sky car to the university was nearly ready to depart when we rushed inside. most students were away on holiday break, so only a few curious eyes regarded us when we stumbled into our seats.

"mother of sheep farts," shelton said, breathing heavily, a sheen of sweat glistening on his forehead beneath the wide-brimmed hat. "those people aren't playing around."

"battle mages," adam said in a dark mutter as the sky car lurched upward. "mercenaries."

"who do they think they are attacking like that?" shelton said.

"i guess they figure working for the conroys gives them free license," adam said, inspecting a burn mark on the sleeve of his shirt.

shelton glared down at black smudges on his leather duster. "good thing i just refreshed the armor charm on this baby." he reached beneath, pressing a hand to his chest and winced. "still hurts like hell."

my shirt was charred in various places where i'd been hit, leaving raw, burned skin beneath. as my adrenalin receded, pain grew. the puckered skin where one of the silver bolts had sliced me looked like a knife wound. my supernatural healing seemed to be mending the wound much slower than usual.

"magical injuries can take longer to heal," adam said, noticing my discomfort. "at least that's what meghan once told a lycan after his bar fight with an arcane."

i caught shelton looking at me with undisguised confusion. "mind telling me what you did in there?" he said. "you've never demonstrated that kind of raw firepower before."

i shrugged. winced at the pain in my shoulders. "it just kind of happened." i described the feel of the heat flowing from my chest to my hand. "it felt like it came from my heart."

adam and shelton traded looks.

"angel magic?" adam offered with a quizzical look.

shelton grimaced. "i think so." his face brightened. "hey, at least you learned something."

"not to mention stayed alive," i said. "i don't know if i can reproduce it though."