A.J. Colby - Welcome to the Asylum (A Riley Cray Novella) by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TEN

MY HEART WAS a living, frenzied thing in my throat, echoing in my temples and thundering in my ears, as I faced down the approaching horde of hell spiders. The faint, almost ethereal light emanating from the cavern behind us gleamed on the hard shell of their carapaces, and for a split second I marveled at the way the light reflected on the shiny surface to create a rainbow.

Yeah, beautiful. And deadly. Just like an oil slick, the sardonic voice in the back of my mind piped up.

“I’d say it was nice knowing you, but...”

Chrismer grunted in reply, and I had no trouble imagining her baring her teeth in a humorless smile behind me.

In a moment of desperation I sent up a silent prayer to whatever higher powers might listen, pleading with them to show me a little mercy.

Please don’t let me die down here. I swear if I make it out of these damn tunnels alive, I will never step foot in them again. I’ve learned my lesson!

No beams of light came from above to chase away the gloom; no heavenly chorus played in my ears to drown out the thunderous beating of my heart; and no avenging angels swooped down to save my sorry ass. Instead, a booming war cry sounded in the dark, reverberating off the rough walls as a shaggy mop of bright red hair charged down the tunnel towards us.

Stunned into inaction, I stared at the galloping leprechaun, a mad grin etched deep lines in his already craggy face, and I thanked God he was on my side as he waded headlong into the cluster of chitinous bodies.

“Evenin’, lassie!” Dermot crowed with manic glee, his bright green eyes sparkling with wild abandon as he swung at a spider coming at him from the side.

A small shovel, akin to those used by campers, appeared in his hand as if from nowhere, though I doubted the camping shovels available at REI had their edges filed down to gleaming blades. I could do nothing but stare, mouth agape, as Dermot sliced through the spider’s carapace like a hot knife through butter. The nauseating stink of ichor filled the air, accompanied by a pained shriek from the creature as its legs fought for purchase in the growing puddle of its own entrails. Another spider went down in a tangle of severed legs and oozing innards as the mad leprechaun snarled insults left and right.

“Take that ye wee bugger and go back to the arsehole ye crawled out of!”

My heart constricted in both relief and worry when I spotted another familiar figure emerging from the shadows, a determined expression on his face.

“Holbrook?”

Although I knew that his position as the regional head of the AIB and his previous role as a special agent with the FBI required him to be trained in multiple forms of combat, I’d never seen Holbrook use anything besides his Glock and wild magic. The knife he wielded danced with flickers of green energy and moved as if it were an extension of his arm, severing legs and gouging eyes with ease.

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