Dread Nemesis of Mine by John Corwin

Author:John Corwin
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: romance, vampires, fantasy, paranormal, magic, incubus

Chapter 23

Daelissa must have given Maximus more help than anyone realized, I thought as I regarded the beast. It would take some kind of crazy, supernatural powers to capture this thing. Red parietal eyes the size of my head gleamed at me above a long, lean muzzle more like that of a crocodile than a snake, complete with ridged forehead and two horns curving back atop it. It bellowed like a wounded bear, revealing a maw of obsidian shards and the bright glow of energy from deep inside its throat.

I ran down its length, all fifteen feet or so and found why the poor thing was bellowing in pain. Its scaly hide had been gouged down to raw flesh. The cables were attached to two large, silver terminals someone had plunged into the leyworm's body. It made me wince just looking at them. I reached out a hand to touch one of the terminals. Sparks flashed in my face. A magnetic force backhanded me against the wall.

What the hell?

Dazed, I staggered to my feet, grabbed a wooden rod off the floor and extended it toward the terminal rods. Either Dash had a protective spell around them, or the energy channeling through them was too much for the wood to handle. It splintered and broke without ever making contact.

Ignoring the terminals, I bent down and pulled on the cable. A wave of dizziness passed over me and a nauseous feeling clawed up my throat. My stomach felt engorged with hot acid. My head pulsed with a static feeling, as though a cat were licking my brain. I dropped the cable and staggered away before I succumbed to the madness lurking in that energy. I felt disoriented and drunk. Sick with too much power, like a go-cart burning rocket fuel.

My knees hit the floor and my vision faded to static. Forcing back the barf crawling up my throat, I tried to shake off the nausea. After a long moment, my hands against the rough stone floor came into focus. Blood welled from the palms of each one where I'd gripped the cable. Tiny bolts of lightning seemed to dance across the spots of blood.

Wiping the blood from my hands, I staggered to my feet and regarded the oversized garden snake. I couldn't free the beast. Maybe only Dash could. I peeked around the corner. The Arcane's attention lay solely on his display, monitoring a group of vampires as they raced toward Elyssa and the other Templars. I was out of time. I considered shooting him with the gun Michael had given me, but it seemed overkill when I could probably sneak up and knock him out.

Making my way past the cages outside the leyworm's room, I stepped over the cable and dashed for Dash. Ten feet. Seven. Five. I raised my fist. An alarm wailed. I smacked into something very invisible and very solid, rebounding like a baby off a sliding glass door.

The Arcane jumped out of his chair and turned to me, one hand extended in front of him.

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