Page 20 of Reaper Unhinged
Cassius didn’t answer the question, but his face said it all.
If the celestials trapped in there weren’t warriors, then they were most likely dead.
I cleared my throat. “Can we get in?”
“I can try to override,” one of the other Dominions said.
“Do it,” Cassius ordered.
The younger Dominion set to work on the panel by the door. God, this was weird. The Beyond governed by technology—panels, sliding doors, and overrides.
Long minutes passed, and I could see Cassius was getting impatient from the way he kept tapping his foot.
But then the panel fizzed and made a popping sound.
“I think that should do it,” the Dominion said. “Just need your code.” He stepped back, and Cassius took his place.
“Be ready,” he said, and then he placed his palm on the panel.
The doors swung open and screams tore through the air.
Fuck, the door had blocked sound.
The Dominions moved fast, pouring into the corridor beyond.
Cassius gave me a stern look. “Do not get killed.”
And then he was gone. I took a deep breath, allowing heat to course through my veins in readiness for battle, and then I followed.
The next few minutes were a blur of blood and death. The Dominion swords glowed like my scythe, stripping heads from shoulders and eviscerating.
I stepped over dead celestials and bloody, torn wings to cut down the Dread responsible. Yes, they’d been given a dud deal, but this…This was bringing calamity on us all, and it had to be stopped.
The sublevel was made up of chambers lined with cells and linked by corridors. There were beings behind the doors. I could sense them. Prisoners like Uriel had been? No time to think. I fought on instinct, my body a weapon as I ducked and dove, evaded and attacked. I caught a glimpse of Cassius to my right as he plunged his sword through a Dread’s mouth so the end protruded out the back of the creature’s head.
Nephilim and third-generation Dread were here, but soon they would be no more.
“Up there!” a Dominion shouted. “On the balcony.” He ran for the stairs, wings flaring as he took off in the air. A Dread came out of nowhere and grabbed his wing, yanking him down.
The Dominion careened in the air, taken off balance by the weight of the Dread. I broke into a sprint and skidded to a halt, close enough to plunge my blade into the Dread’s back.
The Dominion was free. He shot up after the other Dread. The one stuck on my blade pitched forward, pulling himself off the steel. He turned to me, hands in the air.
“You don’t understand,” he said. “If we die, they die. If we die, they starve.”
I brought my scythe up, ready to make the death swing that would take off his head, but he moved fast, using some final reserve of strength, passing out of range but not away from me, toward me, and then his hands were on my head, gripping me hard.
“See!” he screamed in my face.
My vision went white, and something surged up from the back of my mind. No. Not this time. Never again.
“Fuck you!” I stabbed him in the face with my obsidian dagger.
I staggered back, suddenly free, and the silence registered.
Eerie and complete. Around me, Dominion flexed and folded their armored wings.
“Clear!” Cassius said.
