Goetia

He reached into his shoulder bag and took out a small pouch of blue powder. The book had provided directions on how to make the powder. The ingredients were simple, but the arcane force that united them was incredibly strong.

“What is this?” Naomi asked.

“A protective spell. Sit down.” Warren pointed at the floor.

Naomi sat but didn’t look happy about it. Warren said nothing as he pouredpowder from the pouch around the two of them. When he had finished, they sat close in the circle of powder.

“If this works properly,” Warren said, “we should be able to see the demons,but they won’t be able to see us.” When he was satisfied with the thickness ofthe circle, he put the pouch back in his bag and laid the bag to one side. He sat down cross-legged opposite her and held out his hands.

After a moment she took his hands. He felt her trembling. The vulnerability touched a softness inside of him that even four years of hardship and horror hadn’t been able to eradicate.

Even though he didn’t want to, Warren said, “It’s going to be all right.”

Naomi nodded, but he didn’t think she believed him.

Warren took a deep breath and felt for the power within him. When he touched it and had a solid hold, he pushed in at the ring of powder. Instantly the powder glowed and pulsed, then created a shimmering half-dome of incandescent sapphire light. He felt the power of the protective energy surrounding him and the concrete floor beneath.

“What’s going to happen?” Naomi whispered.

“I’m going to find the first of Fulaghar’s bodyguards.” Warren closed hiseyes.

“How are you going to find him?”

“Merihim has marked him for me. Finding him will be easy. Killing him isanother matter entirely.” In his mind’s eye, Warren watched as a translucentcopy of himself stepped out of his body. He had a curious sensation of being in two places at one time. He looked down and his hands—the hands of the selfstanding beside the self sitting—and felt them empty as well as Naomi’s fleshagainst his.

He concentrated on the translucent self and felt for the doorway that he knew should be there. A shimmering crimson ellipse not quite two inches across appeared in midair in front of him. Lips formed in the ellipse, pushed out, and opened.

“Will you go?” the same voice the book used asked.

A momentary fear quivered through Warren. He calmed himself, then answered. “Yes. Take me there.”

“Don’t be afraid,” the voice said. “I will be with you.”

Warren ignored the statement. His fear was his greatest weapon. It kept his senses sharp and made his power strong.

And until now, it had kept him from taking too many chances.

The lips parted and widened till he could step through. He entered and felt the arcane energy sweep him away.

TWENTY-FIVE

At the time it was opened in 1897, the Blackwall Tunnel was the longest underwater thoroughfare in the world. It was eight hundred feet short of a mile. Two passages, both of them originally built for horse and buggy, ran side, by side under the River Thames.

Simon stood in the shadow of the Millennium Dome and studied the southern portal to the Blackwall Tunnel. Akehurst Sanitarium lay at the other end of the tunnel. Demons lurking in the area made the passage under the river dangerous.

There was no way Simon wanted to cross the river, though. The effects of the Burn showed prominently on the Thames. The last four years, the river had shrunk lower and lower. It was now almost possible to wade across the Thames in many places. Huge, rust-covered cargo ships sat mired in the mud and leaned at dangerous angles. Some of them had even fallen over.

With the depletion of the river, the North Sea had started rolling in. Mixed with salt water, the water was no longer fresh or fit for human consumption. Even the animals stayed away. For a time demons had gathered there to take their pick of prey when thirst drove them out of hiding. Lack of water had driven many survivors out of the city and into the surrounding forests.

The Isle of Dogs now seemed to thrust up from the brackish river like a promontory rather than a peninsula as it had been. Oneit had been home to the Canary Wharf and the tallest habitable building in all of London. Rich and poor people had lived there, not together but separate, and eked out lives for themselves.

No one lived there now. Fire had destroyed most of the homes and buildings. The Canary Wharf office building was a burned-out shell that remained home to several demons.

Simon shifted views to the line of Templar standing behind him. Although he had had some reservations, he had allowed Leah to join them. A few of the Templar had voiced similar reservations about the woman’s presence. Simon hadmade sure none of them had been picked for his recon team.

“Ready?” he asked.

After the confirmations came quickly, Simon freed his sword and Spike Bolter, then swung into a steady jog for the Blackwall Tunnel.

The tunnel didn’t run straight. Twists and turns created blind spots thatslowed the approach. Simon remained aware that demons could lie in wait around each of those.

All along the way cars sat abandoned. When the demons had arrived, many motorists had been trapped underground. Skeletons on the ground testified that not all of those had gotten free. Many of them have been stripped of clothing by later survivors who had gotten desperate for extra garments.

No dignity had been left to the dead. Rats scurried through the shadows and wreckage. Compared to the demons, the creatures almost seemed like kindred spirits.

Slowed to a walk now, Simon went forward carefully. The HUD washed the darkness from the scene with the night-vision capability. His auditory receptors were turned up to the point that he heard the rats shifting through the ruins and thebreeze blowing through the tunnel.

Only eighteen minutes later, the Templar group reached the northern portal of the tunnel. Simon paused and peered