A Glimmer of Hope (The Avalon Chronicles #1)(103)

With Chloe leading the way, the four of them remained low and moved slowly through the building. Chloe paused at the end of the hallway and looked around the doorway. She motioned for Layla and the two agents to stay still and crept into the room. And the door slammed shut.

Layla and the agents rushed to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked. Layla used her power to try to move the lock, but she couldn’t get a grip on it and it took her a few seconds to realize the door lock wasn’t real. There were metal tubes that ran from the door into the wall, keeping it in place. She changed the direction of her power and pushed with everything she had. The door was ripped from its housing and flung into the room at high speed, breaking apart as it hit the far wall.

Before Layla could enter the room, a smoke canister exploded a few feet in front of the trio. Several shots were fired, striking Tim and Jane. They dropped to the ground. Layla wasn’t sure whether they were alive or dead.

Reyes was inside the room, standing close to the window. She smiled as the smoke cleared and aimed a semi-automatic rifle at Layla’s head.

Layla saw that both Tim and Jane had bullet holes in their heads. They had both been dead before they hit the ground.

“Can’t have anyone getting in the way.”

“You didn’t need to kill anyone.”

Reyes shrugged. “You might want to get used to people you love dying. There’s going to be a lot of it going on outside.” She smiled.

“Where is Chloe?”

“Wait and see,” Reyes said with a chuckle. “You’ll see her before she dies.” She glanced out of the window. “The fight isn’t going well for your people. You’ve hurt the younger ogre, but the mother is tougher, bigger, and stronger. You know what it’s like to be stronger than the men around you, don’t you? I wonder if you’re strong enough to save them all from being torn apart.”

“I have no idea what you’re blathering on about. But you’re going to tell me what I need to know, or I’m going to make you tell me.”

Reyes laughed. “You’re not a killer. Not even much of a fighter. You know how to fight in your head, but you don’t have the motivation to really fight, to keep going until one of you is dead. You’ll learn over time, I’m sure.”

“You’re not going to shoot me.”

“You’re right, I’m not. But the second I feel your power starting to influence anything metal, I pull the trigger and one round goes through your head.”

The fighting continued to rage outside, and Layla wanted to go help, to make sure that her friends were safe. She wanted to fight Reyes. To hurt her. But Chloe was missing, and finding her was Layla’s first priority.

“Where is Chloe?” she asked again.

“I told you to have some patience.”

After a few seconds, a part of the floor silently moved aside, revealing a path down under the house, lit by small torches placed on the ceiling.

“You first,” Reyes said, waving the muzzle of the rifle toward the hole.

Layla tentatively stepped forward and began to descend the path, eventually finding herself in a tunnel wide enough for two to walk side by side and just under seven feet high.

“Keep walking,” Reyes said from behind Layla.

Layla did as Reyes commanded, until she came to two different tunnels ahead.

“Left,” Reyes snapped.

Layla continued and after a hundred feet began to hear voices somewhere ahead. Another hundred feet and it began to sound more like one person shouting at someone who didn’t speak. The closer Layla got to the voice, the more she knew it was Elias, and she hoped that Chloe was okay. A burning anger began to bubble up inside of her at the thought of Chloe being hurt.

Calm yourself, Rosa said inside her head. Losing control of your emotions means losing control of Terhal. Despite your victory over her, a loss of control over your emotions will still allow her to be free. And now is not the time to release her.

Layla pushed the anger aside and continued toward the voice, eventually walking into a large chamber. It was a few dozen feet high and wide enough to park several cars with ease. There were several beds against one wall and a stove against the far wall, next to a small fridge. But all of that paled in comparison to the cage that was close to the chamber’s entrance. A cage with a semi-conscious Chloe inside.

“What did you do to her?” Layla demanded, running to the cage, trying to get her friend’s attention.

“Tranquillizer,” Elias told her. He sat in the center of the chamber, next to a small fire. “I needed to split you up. Can’t have two umbra running around fighting us. Frankly, I wish I’d thought of it when we had her in the farmhouse. I guess my anger at her existence overrode common sense.” He motioned to a chair opposite him. “Please, sit.”

Layla did as Elias asked, not wanting to fight until she knew that she had a better chance of winning than she had at that moment.

“I’m going to kill Chloe,” Elias said. “She took Dara, and that needs to be paid back. But you needn’t die with her. I was going to kill you, but I’ve changed my mind. You’re going to be what stops Nergal from killing me. You’re going to be my insurance policy. If you come quietly, if you come with me to Nergal, I’ll see that those friends of yours who are still alive aren’t hunted down and slaughtered for their defiance.”