Ted glared past the doctor at Nathan. “If I find out you did anything, boy. You’ll be dead in the next ten minutes.”
Nathan said nothing. It didn’t even seem like he was listening.
Ted felt his heart beating against his ribcage as he raced through the castle to the stairs. The dungeon below was pitch black, not even lit by candlelight. Ted was about to call out to Hannah, but then decided he would just go down. He held onto the wall as he took the steps faster than he sensibly should have.
Hannah was too important to lose. She was too capable. Too brave.
She was his friend.
In the darkness of the dungeon, Ted’s eyes saw nothing. But his nose smelt blood. He called out then, and his heart leapt when Hannah replied.
“Ted, is that… is that you?”
“Hannah, are you alright?”
“Just a flesh wound. My liver and bowels count as flesh, right?”
He found her in the darkness, having to rely on his fingertips to orientate himself. “What did Nathan do to you?”
“Not Nathan. Vamps.”
Ted glanced around even though it was pointless trying to see. “Where is he?”
“Gone. He left me here to bleed to death.”
“Well that ain’t happening. Come on, get your arm around me.”
“No, Ted, just forget about me. You need to defend this place.”
“It’s all going fine. Don’t worry.”
“No! Before he left me, Vamps—or the demon formerly known as the fucking Red Lord—told me there was a gate nearby, and that the Fallen were coming.”
“What does that mean?” Ted wracked his brain. “You don’t think…”
“Yeah, I do! Ted, I think... I think giant demons are going to come out of our lovely lake. It won’t matter then how strong our walls are. They’ll step...” She stopped to catch a pained breath. “...right over them.”
Ted froze in the darkness, his throat turning to syrupy lead. He tasted metal in his mouth and realised it was the tang of Hannah’s blood on his tongue.
He grabbed her under the arm and got her up. “You ain’t dying in no sodding dungeon, luv. I need you around, you hear me?”
“I thought the only thing you ever wanted was to be left alone.”
“Only because I thought there was no one left worth knowing. Now get your arse in gear and move.”
With an agonised groan, Hannah limped through the darkness towards the stairs.
47
DR KAMIYO
Kamiyo met them at the top of stairs and helped Ted with Hannah. They carried her out into the courtyard where it was easier to see. The day was drawing late, and the sun gave off only a dull brown light. They sat Hannah down beside Philip, the well becoming an unplanned site for the injured.
Philip nodded to Hannah. “Slashed shoulder from demon claws, how ‘bout you?”
“Disembowelled by a Hell God,” she replied.
“Okay, you win.”
Ted told them what had happened while Kamiyo got to work inspecting Hannah’s injures. When he opened her shirt, he looked back at Ted with an awful expression.
“Don’t look at me like that, Doc. Just fix it.”
“He can’t,” said Hannah. “Man’s not Jesus.”
“Well, if Jesus wants to join the fight anytime now, that would be amazing.” Ted was furious, that familiar feeling taking hold of him. Why were the demons doing this? What did they have to gain from wiping out a small group of humans? Was it pure evil, or was there a point to all this?
Of course there was.
He had heard all kinds of cosmic bullshit from both Aymun and Kamiyo—although Kamiyo had been regurgitating Vamps’ words. The truth was, he didn’t care. The demons had no right. This place was theirs.
He pointed at Hannah. “You don’t die until I say you can, okay?”
Hannah nodded and smiled. Give ‘em Hell, Ted.”
“I’ll give it back to them.” He stormed back towards the front approach, needing to find out where to aim his catapult. Which side needed the back up most?
Then he heard the screams from inside the castle and realised it was neither. Carol and the children had taken refuge upstairs, just like he had told them, but they were screaming for help. The threat had somehow got inside the walls.
Vamps! It must be. After attacking Hannah, he hadn’t come out of the castle. He had gone upstairs.
Ted raced inside the castle and over to the main stairwell, taking the cold stone steps two at a time. On the third floor, he encountered the first pieces of furniture. The stairs were blocked with chairs, armoires, and various other antique hardware from the castle’s bedchambers. Carol had done a good job of barricading the entrance to the upper floor.
But somehow Vamps had got through.
The screaming stopped.
“Carol! Carol, are you up there?”
“…Ted? Is that you?”
“Carol, is everything okay?”
“Y-yes. What’s going on? We heard screaming.”
“What? I thought it was you. Are the children okay?”
“Yes, we’re all fine.”
“Damn it.” Ted turned and sprinted back down the stairs. He’d been tricked but didn’t know why. All he knew was he’d been drawn away from the fight.
The courtyard wasn’t suddenly full of demons when he got there, so Ted looked around to try to figure out the ruse before it was too late.
He spotted Vamps over by the portcullis—squatting down and grabbing it by the bottom crossbar. It weighed over a tonne, but somehow Vamps lifted it, raising the spikes out of their holes in the ground and raising the entire thing towards his head. Shrieking demons prepared to enter, salivating on the other side.
48
HANNAH
Hannah was in the worst pain she’d ever experienced, but she still had control of her limbs. It was hard to think clearly, but with only one thing to worry about, she didn’t need all her faculties.
Ted seemed like he had everything in hand, so she took a moment to rest. “Can you strap me up, Doc?”
Kamiyo nodded. “Yes, I can try to reduce your pain. We found medical supplies, but…”
“We dropped our packs outside the gate,” said Philip.
“That was stupid.” She chuckled. “I could really do with some plasters.”
Aymun appeared very sad. “It is
