The demon’s hand rose before him, and he couldn’t honestly say whether it wasthrough his effort or Merihims. For the moment they were one.
A shimmering wave passed from Warren’s hand. The Cabalists braced themselvesfor a violent attack. Instead, the shimmering wave touched the first four Cabalists. They stood in surprise as it wound around them.
Then one of them laughed. “I guess he doesn’t have anything left.”
In the next instant, though, the blood veins in the men’s flesh turned black.The patterns, looking like streets and roads that crisscrossed each other, stood out against pale and dark flesh alike. Then, the men’s flesh turned putrescentgreen and they started screaming in agony.
The other men stepped back from them, as if whatever their comrades had might be contagious.
The four men dropped onto the ground. Their faces writhed in anguish as they tried to hold themselves up. Their efforts only delayed the inevitable. In the end, they fell to the floor and slumped bonelessly.
Warren knew they were dead. He’d felt the life leave them.
The Cabalists stepped farther back from Warren. They looked to Cornish for guidance.
“Don’t hesitate, you fools!” Cornish exploded. He gestured and a wave offlame spewed from his palm.
Warren knew he couldn’t get out of the way in time. He also knew he hadn’tever seen anyone else wield that much power. Something was wrong. He remembered Merihim saying there was something else going on.
Instinctively, Warren held his hand before him. The whirling mass of flames halted only inches from him, then it blew out as effortlessly as a birthday candle.
Fear showed on Cornish’s face then.
Warren turned his attention to the four dead men on the floor. He tapped into the dark energy that Merihim passed through his body. At his silent command, the four dead men reanimated. Their limbs jerked and shivered.
The Cabalists drew back to the entrances to the room. The dead men lurched to their feet and stood before Warren. Their flesh showed virulent green with corruption.
Even though Warren had raised a great number of zombies from the graveyards and from the dead he’d found lying in the street, he’d never seen any like this.Like a pack of hungry wolves, they sprang at Cornish.
The First Seer tried to turn and run, but it was already too late. He was slower than the zombies. They grabbed him and bore him to the floor on his back.
“Stop!” Cornish yelled. “Get them off me!”
A couple of the more stalwart among the security guards rushed forward. They wielded truncheons, but they had no effect on the zombies other than to draw their attention. The zombies rose and lashed out with arms that struck like battering rams.
One of the zombies punched through the chest of a Cabalist. The man died in an instant, and his skin turned the same mottled green with black veins by the time he sank to his knees. When the zombie that had killed him yanked his arm back, the newly dead man rose as a zombie as well.
The other man tried to break free of the second zombie’s grip. Despite thekicks and punches, the zombie took him to the ground and threw itself on top of him. His teeth found the screaming Cabalist’s throat and savaged it like a wildanimal.
“Warren!”
As he cut his eyes to Naomi, Warren caught sight of the man dying then returning almost immediately as a zombie. It was all he could do to watch.
“Warren.” Naomi approached him slowly. She held her arms out to her sides.Frightened tears shimmered in her eyes. “I had nothing to do with this.” Hergaze implored him to believe her.
One of the new zombies stepped quickly to intercept her and keep her from reaching Warren. Naomi drew back. She had no defensive powers. Her talents primarily lie in divination.
“Please,” she said in a tight voice. Tears streamed down her face. “Pleasedon’t hurt me.”
Let her die, Merihim whispered.
No, Warren said. She’s my friend.
She led you into this trap.
She said she didn’t know. Warren felt the hunger within him to see Naomidead. He knew it wasn’t his own; it was feeding into him from Merihim. It waseverything he could do to restrain it.
You’re a fool to believe her.
Warren didn’t believe her. At least, he didn’t believe her entirely. But hedidn’t want to kill her.
“Don’t hurt her,” he told the zombie.
The creature froze in place.
Hesitantly, Naomi lowered her hands from in front of her. “Thank you,” shewhispered hoarsely.
One of the Cabalists pulled a pistol from his robes. Apparently not all of them believed their spells and powers were answers to all problems.
FOURTEEN
The Cabalist guard leveled the weapon in front of him. Warren saw that it was a traditional handgun that fired bullets, not flames or sonic waves or anything else used by the Templar or the special commando units that occasionally still fought within London.
Warren flicked the demon’s hand in the man’s direction. A wave of fire leapedforward just as the man squeezed the trigger.
The harsh detonation of the pistol sounded overly large in the enclosed space. The wave of fire flared briefly as it caught the bullet and burned it up. The man was caught flat-footed as the whirling flames engulfed him. He managed one scream before the flames stabbed greedy fingers down his throat and seared his lungs. Dead already, he collapsed.
Warren walled away his fear and leaned on the demon’s strength. “If any moreof you raise your hands against me, I won’t rest until I kill you all.”
The surviving Cabalists looked at the smoldering and poisoned bodies before them and quickly fled the room.
Merihim’s mocking laughter roared in Warren’s head.
Bruised and aching from the pummeling he’d received, Warren stepped towardthe First Seer. Cornish stared up at him with frightened eyes.
“Do you want me to beg for my life?” Cornish asked.
Yes, Merihim told Warren. Let him beg. You never feel as empowered as you do when you have someone begging for his life before you.
The thought sickened Warren. He didn’t want
