Chapter 20
I smear the blood over the last few lines with my thumb to see if there’s anything I can still recover. But the cheap printer paper has been fully saturated, and even if I could make out a syllable here or there, a bullet hole has removed a couple words altogether. There’s no fixing it.
I look up, stunned, and for the first time truly take in the children lined up opposite me on the far cavern wall.
The ones I was supposed to save. There are seven of them on my side of the barrier, none older than fourteen.
Four girls, three boys. They look like the youngest of the bunch, scratched and pale from being drained by vampires.
Their oversized sweatshirts, cargo pants, and joggers hang on their haggard frames, torn and filthy.
The short red-headed boy from the dungeon is directly across, lips still forcing out words against his will, tears sliding down the grime on his cheeks.
Other than Emma, I assumed these kids were totally zoned out under Valiente’s power, but they aren’t.
They’re aware of how trapped they are. And that no one’s coming to their rescue now.
The monster part of me whispers that ending them could end the ritual.
My muscles remain superhumanly strong, and it wouldn’t take much.
But if it were that easy to stop this apocalyptic spell, Mom would surely have said so.
Maybe they’re magically protected during the casting, or maybe once it’s started, he only needs a few.
And either way, I don’t care how strong I am, I’m not going to be able to hurt a kid.
I said I’d have to make hard choices, but I don’t have what it takes for that. I just don’t.
I can’t stop this. I’ve failed.
And I didn’t have to. I knew Valiente could use the other vampires against me.
I had seen that Rafa’s mom was armed. I shouldn’t have just ignored her.
Valiente waited for the perfect chance to turn things his way and caught me completely by surprise.
The stupid incubus boy who thought he could be a hero.
Who thought he could save the day. Who thought he actually had a vampire king empowered by a god on the ropes!
If it wasn’t so pathetic, it’d be funny.
I’m so upset, so angry at myself, the paper shakes in my hands.
I look over to Valiente and fully expect to see him gloating. This is his moment. Might as well let this play out and get it over with.
But he’s not smiling. In fact, he’s not looking at me at all. He’s staring up at Collin with anger.
My sweet, wonderful guy is suspended in the air high above me, just a few feet under the golden door, and he is thrashing against his restraints like a wild shark.
The tentacles from the kids keep flying off him and, for a few seconds, he inches closer to that portal—but then the smoky tether connected to the watch on the floor yanks him back and the magical siphons reattach.
He’s not giving up, though. He’s fighting.
I look back at the expanding section of the barrier behind me, the thinning gap between Earth and Hell.
Instead of the continued slow stretch I was seeing before, the bulge has stopped growing.
It even flickers a little when Collin gets completely free of the kids’ magic.
Because of what he’s doing, the ritual has stalled.
The inhuman eye on the other side narrows.
“You have lost, boy,” Valiente says, his voice hate-filled gravel. “I have made sure you cannot free the Avatar. Eventually he will tire, so I have every reason to believe my spell will complete— Ahh!”
The Vampire King cringes forward, grunting out in pain. He immediately forces himself upright, and I see sick gray tendrils pulse up his neck from under his starched white collar. They reach the top of his cheeks, before they recede back down under his shirt, and the Vampire King is able to exhale.
He cracks his neck with a resentful twist and straightens his expensive jacket, trying to act like it was nothing.
But his arms still tremble slightly. He clears his throat.
“That said… the great god Ah Puch does not believe in leaving important things to chance. His domain is the inevitable, so he has authorized me”—Valiente grits his teeth, clearly not pleased—“to strike a bargain with you.”
I scrunch my brow. “Wait. This evil god of death… You’re saying you can actually hear him?”
More cold anger. “I’ve always been able to hear him.”
Well, that’s an interesting news flash! But I’m not sure what I can do with it. And ultimately, it doesn’t really matter—especially since Collin is still going at it and doesn’t seem to be slowing.
I jut out my chin. “Yeah, well, I’ve experienced your bargains firsthand. Hard pass.”
The eye behind the barrier whips to Valiente with venom, and another shock of gray tendrils pulse up his neck. Valiente winces and grits his teeth.
“This magical compact wouldn’t be with me,” he says, throat tight.
“You’d be making it with the god directly.
Ah Puch does not stoop to tricks or subterfuge.
He does not prevaricate. He knows what you are and what rules he must follow.
He will ensure that I comply. You will get what you’re expecting to get. No surprises.”
I turn to the huge milky orb next to me, and it gazes back coolly.
Maybe Valiente’s figured out I’m an incubus by this point—he’s had hours to torture Collin—but with that mention of rules, I get the feeling that’s not what “the great god Ah Puch” is talking about.
Is it because I’m supposedly half-dragon?
“Really…” I say, trying to get my head together. “And what exactly does he think I am?”
“He is aware that you think you know the answer to that question, but you do not. However, if you agree to his bargain, he’ll not only reveal to you all that you are, but also how to completely free yourself from the restraints on your magic.
” Valiente catches my eyes widening at that, and his smirk returns.
“Yes, he knows everything about you, Alvin Alonso. Including your desire to be a ‘hero.’” That last word comes out as a sneer.
“And to that end, once he is in our world, he will agree to restrain his power to the confines of this building for six full months. That should be more than enough time for you to warn this city of his presence and for the authorities to arrange an evacuation. You’ll be able to make up any story you’d like about how events played out here, and he will ensure that neither I nor anyone in our control will contradict you.
In fact, I will do what I can to corroborate it.
Fame, respect, whatever it is that motivates you—as the one man who saved San Francisco, all that you desire in that regard will finally be yours. ”
There are actually eight million people in the Bay Area, twice as many in Northern California overall, but six months is a long time.
With the right story about how I fought my way in here—particularly if I leave out the incubus parts—people might listen to me.
Even respect me, like he says. Especially if I could get Stryker onboard.
I bite my lip and glance up at Collin. I can’t tell for sure, but his thrashing could be becoming a bit more sluggish. He might be tiring.
Valiente follows my gaze. “The great god Ah Puch also knows the remaining words of the spell you were casting. If you agree to his terms, I will feed those words to the magical vessels in this room. Your ‘friend,’ the Avatar of Knowledge, will be set free. Your promise to him will be fulfilled.”
That’s… a surprising offer, considering. But it is for sure something I want.
Collin is too busy wrestling with the tentacles to react to what’s going on beneath, but even from down here, I can see how much he winces and shudders each time they reattach.
The ritual is seriously hurting him. And if he lives through this, he’ll be trapped in that torture box of a watch again.
Only now he’ll be in the clutches of the god of corpses. That’s unlikely to be an upgrade.
“Well… that certainly sounds like a sweetheart deal so far,” I say, still trying to stall for time so my tiny brain can catch up. “This great god sure seems to know what’s on my Christmas list. What about the kids? They’ll get to go free, unharmed, too?”
Valiente’s eyes dim. “The magical vessels, unfortunately, must stay in this room, and they will not be… unaffected by Ah Puch’s power. Saving literally millions of others will have to be enough.”
I look over to Emma, whose expression pleads for release. She just wants to go home to her mom—and Valiente expects me to just leave her and the rest of the kids behind.
“I can tell you have doubts, but trust me, I’ve been fighting evil longer than you’ve been alive. This is actually what being a hero is about, Alvin,” Valiente purrs. “It’s not like the movies. At some point, everyone needs to get a little dirty in service of the greater good.”
Says the vampire king who sacrifices his friends. But it’s not like I’ve got another option.
“Uh-huh. And what’s my part of this deal?” I ask.
“We need the Avatar because he serves as a bridge between the human world and the world of the gods. That’s what allows the ritual to tear apart the barrier. But, considering what you are…”
The realization hits me like a cold splash of water.
“As an incubus, I’m also a bridge between both worlds. So I could do the same thing for you…”
“If you were willing,” Valiente replies. “There are, as I said, rules. You are not caged in a magical artifact. You would have to consent.”
Which is why ?avadeva is looking to bargain.