"throwing a temper tantrum won't solve anything," elyssa said, grabbing my arm and spinning me to face her. "so, stop it right now before i smack the crap out of you."

i stood, seething with rage, panting from my exertions. it didn't take long for my rage to melt into helpless frustration. "i don't know what to do," i said.

"just think about it instead of acting like a child," she said.

"my mother is going to die if i don't catch him."

she threw up her hands. "yeah, and shouting like a maniac is going to solve it, right?"

i looked down. "no."

"exactly." she huffed a breath. "just think about it for a minute. think about how much effort kassus put into trying to kill you."

i nodded. "a lot."

"he went to extreme measures. he's not done with you." she snapped her fingers. "there's only one way out of the grotto."

i sucked in a breath. "the way station."

"let's go." elyssa ran to one of the carts, and pulled a carpet from one. she tossed it on the ground.

i hopped on behind her. the carpet levitated above the crowd of templars and shot down the road. we sped through winding streets, over the heads of people going about their daily lives, unaware of the merciless bloodletting not far from them. we reached the doors to the way station and disembarked from the carpet. i snatched it off the ground and hurried through the doors after elyssa.

a line of travelers stretched from the yellow-and-black-striped circle around the towering obsidian arch in the center of the cavern. we ran down the line, examining faces. kassus wasn't there.

"the control room," i said, motioning elyssa to follow. we ran to the left of the arch toward the stables. the scent of dung, hay, and animals hung heavy in the air. we circled behind to the alley between the stable and the cave wall. i ran my hand along the stone until it touched the door, hidden behind illusion. i opened it and peered inside.

two arch operators with disgruntled looks stood on the platform in front of the world map arrayed along the wall, animatedly talking. seeing no army of waiting brotherhood members, i jogged over to the two men. "has maulin kassus been here?" i asked without preamble.

"hey, aren't you the kid who was in here the other day?" asked a familiar-looking arcane.

"yes." i fought to stay calm. "please answer my question. he's a fugitive, and we're here to arrest him."

elyssa narrowed her eyes at the man, giving him her no-nonsense look. the blood spattered on her face from the recent battle made her look scary as hell.

he gulped. "yes, he was just here. he ran back to the arches over there." he pointed to the alcove of omniarches. "we've never used those. i don't even know how they work."

"he used one?" i asked.

"yes, somehow he did." the arcane shrugged. "where he went, i have no idea."

"show me the exact one."

the man led us to the closest one. if kassus had opened a portal, he hadn't left it open behind him. i cursed under my breath.

"thanks," i said, barely able to make myself show common courtesy as frustration and anger roiled in my stomach.

elyssa and i left the control room, and stood in the alley.

"how does kassus know about the omniarches if the arch operators were clueless?" i asked.

"i don't know." she pursed her lips. "unless the spy rats-"

"oh, crap," i said. "i'll bet one of those little bastards saw us using our arch."

"if he knows how to use one, he can go anywhere. he probably took it to another control room somewhere."

i closed my eyes and thought furiously. if i was on the run, where would i go? "darkwater has been clearing cherubs from relics with alabaster arches," i said. "if he didn't want to be seen by anyone, he would probably go to one that's empty of danger."

"el dorado was clear of danger so far as he knows and also has something he wants," elyssa said. "the cupids."

"i think you're right," i said. another thought hit me. "what if he comes to the same idea i had about stealing one?"

"you mean open a portal right next to it? but i don't think he knows what the nursery looks like with the leyworms surrounding it."

"yeah, but they got an overhead view with the ase, remember?"

"oh, no. you're right." elyssa took out her phone and called cinder. shook her head. "no answer."

"that's not like him." i ran for the control room door. "that's where we have to go."

"through an untested omniarch from the control room?" she asked with a surprised look.

"no choice."

we ran back inside, startling the arch operators yet again. i ignored them, running past and to the omniarch kassus had used. i pressed my thumb to the silver circle on the floor around it, closing the circuit, and concentrating on the part of the cave beneath el dorado we'd used to covertly enter the place while waiting to ambush kassus. it flickered into view. we stepped from the portal and into pandemonium. streaks of deadly energy flew past, shattering stalagmites. silver lancer darts whistled through the air.

the ambient lightning in the cavern seemed to be at full brightness, illuminating the cavern like the sun. elyssa shoved me behind an outcropping of rock as a bolt of blue energy plowed into the floor, spraying shards of stony shrapnel. gigantor and lulu encircled the nursery, their huge, lean muzzles bellowing roars at a group of black-robed invaders taking cover behind a shield and rock formations near the front of the cave as they attacked. i saw the prone forms of templars and brotherhood members scattered about the cavern. whether they were dead or merely unconscious, i couldn't tell.

elyssa looked at her arcphone and cursed. "the signal is jammed."

a figure in nightingale armor blurred toward us, rolling to duck beneath a death ray, and pressed its back to the wall. the mask peeled away to reveal hutchins. "we tried to contact you, but one of the opfors accidentally set off a stun mine we'd placed while they were positioning equipment. the rest of their group threw up a powered shield and turned on an aethernet jammer to keep us from communicating with anyone outside."

"sitrep?" elyssa asked.

"eight casualties, at least three fatalities on our side. we've incapacitated over a dozen opfors with lancers." despite the staggering losses, hutchins's faced remained stoic as he reviewed the situation. "the opfors arrived a couple of hours ago. we don't know what their original plan was. they set off the mine before they executed."

"any sign of kassus?" i asked.

he shook his head. "just his men."

kassus must have set this plan in motion before attempting to murder me in my own home. if he knew he'd have people in place here, why hadn't he shown?

"oh, crap," elyssa said, her eyes locked on the cave roof above the nursery.

i flicked my gaze in that direction in time to see a flying carpet dropping rapidly through a portal far above. i caught a glimpse of kassus as he dropped directly into the nursery in the middle of the coiled leyworms. the leyworms were too preoccupied with the attackers outside to notice the man sneaking into their midst.

i threw the carpet elyssa and i had ridden on the ground, and jumped on, feeling my feet magically bond to the carpet. elyssa's arms wrapped around my waist. i willed the carpet toward the nursery just as kassus's carpet shot straight up. i saw a cupid in his arms. he noticed me and leered.

"i'll kill you, slade," he shouted. "it's only a matter of time." with that, he vanished into the portal.

the giant leyworms rotated their heads toward the noise.

"no!" i shouted as my carpet raced for the rift.

the portal winked out.

one of the leyworms roared. a pulse of energy the size of the thing's body lanced into the air where the portal had been. a tremendous boom echoed in the cavern, and the portal ripped wide open. i shot through the new hole, riding the carpet like a surfboard as elyssa held on tight. we swooped into another control room, location unknown. the orientation abruptly shifted since the portal had been oriented up while the opening here was to the side.

"something's wrong with the omniarch," elyssa said.

i executed a hockey stop with the carpet, looking around the control room for a sign of kassus. sparing a glance back at the entry, i felt my eyes widen with horror. the portal was huge. the omniarch warped around it, much like walls and other solid objects did when the portal opened inside them. but that wasn't what terrified me.

gigantor had launched itself toward the portal and was coming straight at us, maw gaping wide.

chapter 39

my muscles froze at the sight of the red-scaled leviathan streaking toward us, an angry roar bursting from its throat. gigantor might be after kassus, but i was between it and its prey. what if it caught up to the arcane and swallowed him whole? i'd never get the man's blood.

steeling myself, i swept the rug around, riding it like a surfboard ripping a wave, and shot toward where i thought the control room exit might lie. we flashed past an alabaster arch, up toward the map platform. i heard the loud crack of rock behind. flicked my gaze back as the giant leyworm slithered into the control room behind us. it plowed straight down into the floor, vanishing beneath the rock.

"justin, watch out!" elyssa shouted.

i swung my gaze forward, ducking just in time to swoop through the control room door and into a cavernous way station. an obsidian arch loomed large in the center, apparently intact. yellow light suffused the cavern much like the others i'd seen. i spotted movement across the way and saw kassus making for a wide, sloping tunnel. urging the carpet on, we flashed across the cavern just a few feet above the polished floor. the tunnel curved, reminding me of the one at the grotto way station, the bend keeping kassus from sight. we reached a straightaway. sunlight streamed through an opening ahead. i saw vines and other undergrowth blocking part of the exit, though much appeared to have been cleared away.