THIRTEEN

Cycle House

Afew days after they met up with the Venators, Jack came back from a scouting trip with unsettling news.

The human Conduit Alastair Robertson, who had told Jack about the holy woman who might be Catherine of Siena, had been found murdered in his home. Red Blood police were convinced the violence had been random, a home invasion that had gone awry. But with Nephilim about, and the Coven in shambles, Jack believed otherwise. He teamed up with the Lennox twins to track down a lead on Gezira, an island on the far side of the Nile, as mud found at the crime scene had tell-tale red clay from the northern riverbank.

With Jack away, Schuyler was the only one in their hotel room when Dehua Chen burst through the door. The Angel of Immortality looked uncharacteristically unhinged. A sleeve on her blouse was torn, and her face was covered with scratches.

“What happened?” Schuyler asked, jumping up immediately and reaching for her weapon.

“The Cairo cycle house is under attack—that Nephilim who got away came back with a few new friends,” she huffed.

“The boys won’t be able to get back in time. Deming is fighting them, but she will be overpowered soon. I got here as fast as I could. Come. Help us.”

Schuyler followed Dehua as they raced through the winding streets of Cairo, the two of them a blur of black silk and silver steel. The cycle house was located in the Citadel, an ancient complex built high on the cliffs towering over the eastern edge of the city. Built by Saladin to ward off the Crusaders, it was the most dominant place on the skyline. The cycle house was under attack! The Nephilim truly were bent on revenge if they were after the unborn Blue Blood spirits that were stored there. No more blood spirits meant no more births for this Coven.

Dehua led Schuyler through the footpaths that led to the hidden secret chambers. The Venator explained that they had received an all-points-distress signal from the Wardens at the Citadel. When Schuyler and Dehua arrived, the vampires working for the House of Records were already dead, and a fierce crew of Egyptian Venators was engaged in battle with a host of Nephilim. The demon-born were carrying torches burning with the Black Fire, but so far they had been unable to break into the sacristy, where the canisters holding the blood spirits were kept.

The heat was overpowering, and black smoke covered the hallway. Dehua pushed through into the antechamber. “Oh no,” she cried, as she and Schuyler stepped over the fallen bodies of dead Venators, whose corpses had been hacked to pieces or beheaded, with their eyes gouged out or burned. The door to the sacristy had been blown open, and Schuyler feared they had come too late to save anyone, least of all themselves.

Deming was surrounded by a swarm of the human demons. She was fighting them off, but they were closing in one by one. She held a golden urn tucked under one arm, while she slashed at her enemies with her sword. “NEXI INFIDELES! ” she screamed. Death to the faithless! Death to the traitors!

The Nephilim screamed, and their fury filled the smoky black room. There were ten, twenty, thirty of them, and they fell upon Deming in a rage, like cockroaches in a frenzy. Soon Schuyler could not see the brave Chinese Venator or her golden sword.

“Dear god, there’s too many of them,” Dehua cried, falling to her knees. “We’re not going to make it! Deming!” she wailed.

Schuyler held her ground. “Pull yourself together!” she ordered the flailing Venator. She wished Jack were here, but since he wasn’t, she had to be brave for all of them. Abbadon would never let the unborn spirits die. He would not give up the cycle house. He would die defending it, and so would she.

They didn’t have much time, as smoke from the Black Fire was engulfing the room, and Schuyler had to squint to see, and try not to breathe. They had to get out of there as quickly as possible. She wasn’t a trained fighter, but she was light and fast, and if she and Dehua worked together, they could surprise their enemies. “You go that way, I’ll take the front.”

The stricken Venator nodded, wiped her tears, and un-sheathed her sword. They split up and crept toward their respective stations.

When they were ready, Schuyler raised Gabrielle’s sword and took up the Venator’s rally. “DEATH! DEATH! DEATH

TO THE FAITHLESS! DEATH TO THE INFIDELS!”

Dehua joined Schuyler in screaming the Blue Blood battle cry. They were angels and warriors, and if they fell, they would die fighting. There was no other way. With a mighty swoop, they hacked their way through the dark, heaving crowd.