The Wizard shook his head. “Once it closes, you’re stuck here.”
But no more stepped forward.
With an angry growl, Means stepped in front of the portal.
It was now or never. Gabriel lunged for him, gripping the cuff and slinging it away, and then shoving the demon through. Mean’s body dropped to the floor as the demon slid from his skin to land in a heap on the other side.
Without looking back, he dove toward Billy.
“Left pocket,” Billy shouted, and came up on his knees.
He dug his hand into Billy’s pocket, wrapped his fingers around the cylinder, pulled it out, and then biting off the clip, he tossed the explosive inside the portal. “Get down,” he shouted to everyone around him.
The demon on the other side, clad in slick blue skin, caught the grenade and lifted his arm to throw, but it exploded in a flash of heat and light that engulfed the barracks.
Gabriel ducked his heat as heat flamed outward, and then was quickly snuffed away. When he looked back, the portal winked out, but rumbling began to ripple beneath the flooring, spreading outward like the epicenter of a small earthquake.
The barracks lights flickered out. Dead silence engulfed the room. The emergency spotlights above the control booth flashed on, and he had his first glance around.
Jagged edges of concrete rose in concentric circles, like ripples on a pond. Men knocked off their feet by the blast and the subsequent inter-dimensional shift slowly picked themselves up.
Gabriel turned back to the row of officers. Billy had flung himself over Gillian and was rising on his knees again. She moaned, lying between rings of rubble. Everyone was covered in cinder dust, but otherwise seemed unharmed.
Then shouts sounded from outside the barracks, and men rushed in, dressed in ERT helmets, carrying shields and tasers as they flooded inside.
Gabriel slumped on his knees on the ground and placed his hands behind his head, surrendering. As soon as the commotion cleared, he’d search for the cuff. His mission was completed.
Chapter 8
Gillian rubbed her wrists while her gaze scanned the conference room. She wasn’t sure why she’d been invited. She wasn’t part of the operation the men surrounding her kept mentioning.
But Billy was. Between him, Gabriel Vlahos, who apparently wasn’t a prisoner at all, and Deputy Warden Kalicek, the details of their undercover sting were shared.
At the center of the table lay the silver object that had apparently been the key used to open a doorway into the demon’s dimension. She understood that much anyway. Most of the rest of the discussion went right over her head. Not because they talked in any secret code or military acronyms, but because her mind and body were numb. This much she did know. Nothing was as it seemed.
Kalicek really was a Deputy Warden, and when the first rumblings and disappearances had started, he’d contacted his brother in San Antonio, who had ties to a special unit that hunted demons and searched for portals in order to protect humans.
Billy wasn’t a prison guard but had been brought on board to work the housing unit that seemed to be at the center of the rumblings. Because they needed someone even deeper on the inside, they’d brought in Vlahos, a demon, someone who could “walk the walk.”
She shuddered at the thought that he’d touched her, even in her mind. She’d seen what remained of Means, understood he was a “skinwalker,” a demon who’d stolen the body of a human in order to hide among them. She wondered what sort of creature Vlahos really was, and whose life and soul he’d stolen to live among humans undetected.
Billy’s hand slid over her clenched fist.
She didn’t force it away, accepting his comfort. For now. Just a few more minutes, and they should have it all wrapped up. Then she could go home, bathe until the dirt and scent of fear were gone from her body, and then sleep for a week.
She’d never felt so weary or so lost. At last, it finally sunk in that she’d been transferred here, not so much for her sake to get over the attack at Bentonville, but because she was an attractive female, and a demon had to do what he had to do in order to fill his appetites.
And everyone in the room knew she’d had sex with Vlahos—and with Billy. They knew she’d been an eager participant, an eager “host.” She’d been a complete fool.
Her job here was over.
Everyone stood, preparing to leave. She guessed they’d wrapped up, but she’d missed it. She stayed in her seat, not wanting to call attention to herself until everyone else had gone.
“Let me take you home,” Billy said quietly, letting go of her hand and rising.
She shook her head. “I have my own wheels.” His gaze settled on her face, and she wiped her expression clear of emotion. “I’m tired. I just want to get some sleep.”
“Billy, if you’ve got a minute—” Gabriel said, nodding coolly toward her.