Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 113

"Up?" she asked.

"Yes, up." Cyrus coughed into his hand, then looked at Callisto. "She sure is chatty all of a sudden."

"She catches on quick once she learns something. You should have seen the mess she made when she figured out how to undo all the child locks on the cupboard. There was peanut butter and jelly everywhere, even on the ceiling." Callisto held the slap bracelet just above his wrist. "Do you want me to go up without you?"

"No." The mage sighed. The centaur had been sprinting up the stairs each time he put on the bracelet to minimize its usage. "Just give me a second to catch my breath and then you can follow me."

"Up?"

"Soon." Cyrus gazed up the stairwell and scowled. His current plan was to bring the children into the hangar and hope nobody spotted them. He had already given the tracking bracelet to Callisto with the instructions 'run like hell' once he figured out a way to get the door open. That would be the children's only task as he did his best to hold everyone off.

Could he do it? He wasn't sure. But he had to try, despite the likely outcome.

"Up?"

"Yes, up." Cyrus groaned inwardly and resumed marching up the stairs. Once he had crested the next landing, Callisto put the slap bracelet on and dashed up. Grace stayed where she was and waited for them to climb just above her position, at which time she crawled up and over the railing. The Arachne grinned at both of them, then made a hissing sound that Cyrus interpreted as a happy sound. It made his skin crawl.

The trio made it to the top of the stairwell. Cyrus glanced over at one of the ventilation shafts and cursed under his breath that it was no bigger than a few inches across. Young Arachne were really only limited by what their head could fit through, and he'd prefer sending her to safety as she was most likely to be shot on sight out of fear.

He placed his ear against the door and listened.

"Up?" asked Grace. Her brother promptly clamped his hand over her mouth, which she bit. When Cyrus shushed her with a finger over his lips, she stopped biting her brother to do the same thing in Callisto's direction. Cyrus snorted, doing his best to hold back a laugh.

Waving the children back, he stepped into the hangar bay to assess the situation and was surprised to see that the area was largely deserted. Instead, the men of the SoS were hunkering down behind barricades, their weapons drawn and pointed at the hangar door. Stunned, Cyrus stared at the lotus pattern made of ice that formed on the inside of the hangar door. Someone was trying to get in, which meant that the Radleys had successfully found the place.

But how? Shaking his head, Cyrus turned back toward the hangar door. It really didn't matter how. For the first time tonight, he felt like everything was going to be okay.

Opening the door, he had Callisto and Grace come out and stick to the shadows. With everyone's attention on the hangar door, nobody was even looking in their direction. There were plenty of supply crates and vehicles to hide behind, so the three of them leap-frogged their way along the wall whenever nobody was looking.

Crouching down by an SUV, Cyrus peered around the corner to see the witch Elizabeth emerge from the control room along with Dirk. Her fingertips were glowing an ominous shade of crimson that made him nauseous to look upon, and the numerous shadows that stretched away from her moved independently of her actions.

"Fuck," he whispered.

"Fuck," Grace whispered back. Cyrus stared at the little Arachne in horror.

"Your dad is gonna kill me," he muttered.

Grace nodded solemnly in response.

"Let's prepare a proper greeting," shouted Elizabeth as she raised her palms toward the corners of the ceiling. Crimson runes that Cyrus hadn't seen before ignited, the hangar now lit much like a dark room. The men of the SoS looked on nervously as their own shadows stretched away from them and took on a life of their own. The shadow soldiers rose from the ground and spread themselves out, taking on defensive positions of their own.

Cyrus just shook his head. Elizabeth was strong, of that there was never a doubt. But the magic she utilized suggested that she had contracted with a very powerful demon, not something that could be summoned up quite so easily. Witches like her often did this, approaching powerful entities and bartering away their souls for power. He suspected she had several far more insidious tricks up her sleeve.

A frozen mist forced its way through the gaps of the door, and the lights flickered and popped. In the ominous glow of the hangar, Cyrus guided Grace beneath the SUV and moved Callisto behind some thick crates and barrels full of water. He didn't know how much protection they would provide in the fight to come, but it was better than nothing.

"Once the way is clear, you go." Cyrus poked at the tracking bracelet on Callisto's wrist. "Make sure your sister goes with you."

The centaur nodded, then looked at Cyrus' hands. The boy frowned when he saw them shaking.

"You'll be right behind us?"

"As much as I can be." The mage tousled the boy's hair. "But I'm also going to help your daddy so that we can all go home together, okay?"

Callisto nodded, then pressed himself against the wall and squeezed out of sight. Cyrus sighed and moved back over to the SUV and drew a wand. After emptying the pockets of the Order members who had survived his assault, he had locked them all in the containment cells. Now he was carrying a small arsenal of magic that would likely scorch his soul to the very core, but he no longer cared. His life was packed full of shitty things he had done for the Order, and while this wouldn't balance the scales, it was the first time he would be doing it for himself.

"One last mission, old-timer." He caught movement from the corner of his eye and saw that Grace was staring at him from her spot under the car.

"Papa Cyrus." The Arachne grinned.

"That's right. Papa Cyrus."

The little girl folded her fingers together. "Family."

His breath hitched in his chest. "That sounds real nice," he whispered. "Now go hide by your brother."

The Arachne scowled at him, then scurried over to join Callisto in the darkness. Cyrus jogged out into the hangar and took the spot right behind Elizabeth. The witch looked over her shoulder with some surprise.

"You're not with your team?"

He shook his head. "Popped up here for another reason, but looks like something's about to go down. What can I do to help?"

The witch's lips curled into a grin. "We're just holding them off. Laurel is already taking care of the rest. The kids will be evacuated through a secret tunnel momentarily."

"Ah." He tried not to frown. A secret tunnel would have made this mess a hundred times easier. That also meant that Laurel would return soon with news of his betrayal. So much for buying time. He cleared his throat and moved just ahead of Elizabeth. The hangar door groaned as something massive struck it from the other side. "Well, let's get to it, then. Shadows yours?"

Elizabeth nodded. "Each one has the strength of ten men. Light weakens them, so please try to avoid anything flashy."

"You've got it." He withdrew the lightning rod from his pocket and clutched it tightly in one hand as he drew a knight's blade. The heavy thudding on the door increased, and something on the other side let out a howl of rage. "We have any idea what's out there?"

"The kitsune and the Reaper." Elizabeth stuck a hand in her pocket and pulled out a black ring adorned with a sapphire. She slid it onto the middle finger of her left hand. "If it's just the two of them, we'll be fine."

A chunk of stone broke free of the ceiling as the door bent inward.

"I don't think it's just the two of them." Cyrus gripped the rod and trickled mana through its intricate runes. The magical implement immediately grew warm in his hands. "Didn't someone say that those doors could take a hit from a missile?"

"Missiles don't usually keep striking the same spot over and over again." Elizabeth grinned and the sapphire ring started glowing. Thin tendrils of power connected her to a group of summoned shadows. Eerie blue auras formed around them.

"So what's the plan? Let them bust the door down and counter? How long will Sister Laurel need to get away?"

"Right now, she'll be leading the prisoners to the tunnel. I think five minutes will suffice."

"Ah." Cyrus glanced over at the elevator. "Do you happen to have another secret escape plan for us?"

Elizabeth licked her lips. "You give me the next five minutes of your life and I don't care what you do afterward. Continue fighting, flee, it doesn't matter. Should we ever meet again, I will consider it on good terms."

"It's always good to have a witch in your pocket." Cyrus winced as the door creaked again, sending another shower of stones onto the ground. Other members of the SoS were forced to move lest they get crushed. He glanced over toward the wall where the kids were hiding, then looked the other way in order to pretend he was simply scanning the area.

Cyrus put on a silver ring and cast the protective shield spell it contained. Once it was in place, he pulled out a small string and wrapped it around his pinky. Yet another protective barrier wrapped itself around him, doubling up on his defenses. Elizabeth considered him for a moment, then nodded her approval.

The hangar door gushed frozen mist from bent seams and then burst. A massive hunk of steel rocketed straight down the hangar where it slid across the floor and showered the room in hot sparks. A cold fog rolled in immediately behind it, just barely obscuring the massive figure that came running in.

"GRACE!" screamed Bigfoot, and the SoS opened fire. Thick walls of ice sprouted around the sasquatch, protecting him from the M134 miniguns as they whirred to life. Stunned, Cyrus could only watch as Bigfoot danced around and then hid his massive bulk behind a concrete pillar.

"Hold your fire!" shouted Dirk from the darkness. "Squads one, three, and seven, flank!"

Three teams moved toward Bigfoot's position, but stopped when he tossed something small and black into the room. Jenny the doll stopped just a foot above the floor, hovering in place.

"There's something so familiar about that doll," Elizabeth muttered. However, her eyes were on the opening of the hangar where Yuki the kitsune strode through. Three of her tails were a beautiful red and gold, but the other two were made entirely of golden light. "And now the fox has come to play."

Yuki threw a handful of tarot cards out as the shadows rushed her. Cyrus considered stabbing Elizabeth, but knew that it was highly unlikely that he'd get away with such an attack. Sighing, he took the sword and jammed it into the ground between them. The witch was already caught up in coordinating her attacks, and one of the miniguns twisted around to point at Jenny. The spray of bullets spread away from her, but Cyrus watched the doll falter and drop as she protected herself from the storm.

"Well, it's now or never." He pulled the lightning rod into view and frowned at the white-hot runes carved across its surface. The damned thing vibrated in his hands as it struggled to hold itself together. As the electrical charge built, he watched the hair on Elizabeth's head float up and away from her. She turned to look at him in horror.

"What are you doing?" she hissed. "That thing is unstable."

"Oh, I know that." Cyrus pulled a different wand from his pocket and took aim at the men manning the minigun. A tiny spark shot across the hangar and exploded into a miniature sun's worth of light, blinding anybody who might be looking. Almost immediately, the minigun swung away from Jenny, allowing the doll to hop away and hide.

Before Elizabeth could act, he shoved a massive amount of mana into the lightning rod once again. Taking a page from Mike Radley's book, he grinned at the witch's direction. Maybe, just this once, a one-liner would be okay.

"Trust me, I'm just as shocked as you are."

He threw the rod at Elizabeth and then ran like hell away from her. A shadow grabbed him by the feet, but the ensuing blast from the lightning rod hurled him across the room and to freedom. As he smashed into the wall, the numerous magical shields he had built around himself crumbled away. He fell to the ground with a grin, his ears ringing.

That had felt better than it should.

Beth's return to Paradise was bittersweet. Upon her arrival, she found Lily (as Mike) eagerly chatting up anyone who would listen while the merfolk helped members of the Order build a bonfire on the beach to cook up all the fish they had donated. Most of the staff members lived on-site, which meant they were temporarily homeless until arrangements could be made to move them elsewhere. The merfolk were very apologetic and doing their best to mend fences.

At least they had been. The moment Beth announced Pele's presence to the royal court, the atmosphere immediately became tense. The goddess strode forward with her chin held high, looking down her nose unapologetically at the merfolk. It was far from the attitude she had displayed back at the volcano, and Beth could only assume that this was due in part to her position. One didn't typically become a deity by apologizing all the time.

When the merfolk approached Pele, the goddess immediately singled out Kailani. The princess wore a few bandages from wounds she had received in the fight, but had no trouble summoning a sphere of water to sit on.

"You killed my people," she said, the mermaid's voice like ice.

"Because you allowed that man near my island with that monster of his." Pele pointed out into the bay. There were dozens of tiny ships barely visible on the horizon, silhouetted by the setting sun. "His misdeeds are the source of your people's deaths. I was doing my duty."

"Damn your duty." Kailani's face turned a unique shade of purple. "You boiled them alive!"

"And I would do it again."

"Okay, enough of this." Beth moved between the goddess and the princess. "It's going to be a long night and we have limited time. Your majesty." Beth turned to Kailani. "The Captain has informed us he intends to kill every human on the island if he doesn't get what he wants and we were hoping that your people would help us hold him off."

"The landwalkers?" Kailani looked past Beth at the Order, who were watching with uncomfortable looks on their faces. "Why should I do anything for them?"

The ground rumbled, and part of the rubble shifted. Ratu walked up behind Pele and put a hand on the goddess' shoulder to help calm her.

"This isn't about landwalkers or merfolks," Ratu said, her voice like silk. "This is about survival. Francois wants something that will either grant him immortality or the power to someday achieve it. He betrayed your people and won't hesitate to do so again. If it were up to me--"

"We've seen how you handle your problems." Kailani jabbed a finger at the ruins of Paradise. "I fail to see how your Caretaker is any different than Francois is."

"Did somebody say my name?" Lily-Mike sidled into the conversation.

"Nobody said your name, you charlatan." Kailani scowled. "The fact that he sent a facsimile in his stead just proves my point."

Lily-Mike frowned. "How could you tell?"

"I felt the Caretaker's wrath before he left this place. It left quite the impression." Kailani tapped right above her own heart and sneered at the succubus. "One which you don't quite fill."

"Hey, if you want something filled, I--" Lily-Mike was cut off when Beth clapped a hand over their mouth and pulled her back.

"We want Francois to assume that Mike is here," Beth muttered, locking eyes with Kailani. "This deception was never intended for you."

"Where is he, then?"

"Rescuing his children." Beth tilted her head toward the Order. "While he was here helping you, those guys conspired to break into his home. When that failed, they abducted his children."

Kailani frowned, the anger in her eyes fleeing immediately. "They double-crossed him?"

"Yes, they did. And once he gets his kids back, he's planning to come here and help everyone. You, the people of the island, even the ones who betrayed him."

"Hey, this looks like a serious conversation here." Wallace strode up to the group, and Kailani immediately tensed up. Ingrid was close behind him. "Which means we should probably be involved."

"And by we, he means me." Ingrid gave Wallace a push. The man smirked as he continued walking past the group, then sat down on a rock about thirty feet away.

Kailani's eyes were practically bugging out of her head as she glared at Wallace. Eventually, she turned her attention back to Beth, and then nodded at Ingrid.

"You should know better than to let him address me directly."

Ingrid rolled her eyes. "We are so far past protocol breaches I don't think it really matters anymore. However, I overheard most of what you all were saying. Francois is planning some kind of invasion?"

"Hardly the word I would use for the genocide of my people." When Pele spoke, her voice was soft. However, the ground rumbled again, causing a couple of people to cry out in alarm. "But sure, yes, a siege."

"Ingrid, this is Pele. Yes, that one." When Beth gestured to the goddess, Ingrid immediately stiffened up and then bowed.

"Forgive my rudeness," she began.

"I don't have time for this." Pele took a step away. "The only reason I came here was on the advice that it may expedite the safe rescue of my people. Will the merfolk help us?"

Kailani opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by her daughter.

"Of course, they will," said Leilani. "It should never be a question whether we would."

"Leilani!" Kailani spun in her floating sphere of water. "You do not speak for our people!"

"Yeah, well maybe I should." Leilani slammed the butt of her trident into the sand. "And if I don't, then everyone here should know that I will defend the waters of this island by myself if I have to."

There was a gentle murmuring amongst the royal court of the merfolk. Beth had almost forgotten they were there and now saw the dubious looks they threw at each other.

"Perhaps it's something we should discuss," said one of Kailani's advisors. The man was wearing a decorative collar made out of coral and had a tail adorned with jewelry. "After all, it may help re-establish diplomatic ties with the Order after this...incident." The man gestured at Paradise.

"Technically, this isn't even our fault. The Director of the Order was responsible for this."

"You tried to abduct me," said Beth.

"For a very good reason," Kailani replied.

"Mother, please. You're being stubborn."

Leilani and Kailani devolved into an argument with the advisors taking sides and starting a debate. Beth groaned as members of the Order tried to get involved, which immediately started a fight between them and the merfolk. She walked away from the others to stand on the beach where the ocean met the sand. The cove was filled with mersoldiers, many who simply nodded in Beth's direction as she ventured out into the water.

Using a mental command, Beth allowed the waves to carry her out into deeper waters. From water level, the distant boats somehow looked more imposing. While she bobbed in the waves, a merwoman surfaced next to her, carrying a spear.

"What are you doing?" asked the mermaid.

"Trying to figure things out." Beth jerked a thumb over her shoulder and looked back. Wallace was now physically restraining Aurora, who had thrown her clipboard in the sand. "Away from that."

"Ah. Right." The mermaid pondered for a moment, then gestured toward the open water. "We've got patrols that go out about another mile, so it should be safe. We haven't seen any undead, but also can't guarantee your safety. They caught us off guard before."