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"Is that what you think? Be a good girl and put the blades away. This is a friendly conversation, not a fight," Lazarus said.
Elektra's nostrils flared. Patronizing her wasn't the right path. Vanth tracked the figures that were now slipping into the room from the other tunnels, a familiar face amongst them.
"Clara," he greeted coolly. "Betray anyone recently or just me?"
"I never betrayed you, Vanth. I looked after your mother, and I am your friend. Just because I believe in Lazarus doesn't change anything," she said, her expression conflicted. "Including how I was beginning to feel about you."
Elektra snarled, the sound pure predator. "The fuck you just say?"
"You were a plant. Nothing more," Vanth snapped, trying to ignore how possessive Elektra was being. He was going to have a lot of fun with that later.
He would be a little more understanding of Clara's position if it had just been him that she had betrayed. It was the thought that his mother's vulnerable life had been in her hands that he couldn't get over.
"Enough posturing. Vanth, I have heard about you and your talent for years," Lazarus said, his tone cutting the argumentsoff. "I served at the temple with your mother, and I would have loved to recruit her to my cause. She was a singular talent."
Vanth smirked. "Yes, she's singly kicked your ass too. She's somewhere you will never be able to find. I guess you're just going to have to settle with me this time around."
"You are arrogant like she was as well. I thought she would be smart enough to look at all the possibilities that controlling the power of the Veil would bring. I have learned a lot in the past seventy years, and this time round, there will be no mistakes," Lazarus said and held out his hand. "Join me. The both of you would be a boon to this enterprise. You have all the talent and hunger of curiosity. Don't you want to know what the Veil is really made of, what separates us, the living from the dead? Don't you want to know what lies beyond in all the afterlives? To be able to traverse them at will?" His golden eyes were glowing with pure passion. He absolutely believed in his cause, and Vanth almost felt sorry for him.
"I get what you're selling. I really do. But there is a reason why the Veil exists, Lazarus. We all get to find out what lies beyond when we die. The living are not meant to know," Vanth replied.
The minions were getting restless, edging slowly towards them. Elektra's gray eyes tracked them, not buying into Lazarus's charisma.
There were at least ten of them, but Vanth wasn't worried about being outnumbered. He let his magic trickle slowly out into the tunnel behind him. No one, not even Lazarus, noticed how fine webs of it crept around the room.
"You can't possibly believe that. A man such as you, who defied the citadel of mages and sought knowledge where they were too scared to tread. I know what you are, Vanth, and you are not meant to stop at limitations just because they have never been passed before," Lazarus said, his eyes narrowing."The 'natural order' only exists because we have been fooled into believing it by beings who took power for themselves. We will be the new gods."
Vanth shook his head. Lazarus was certifiably crazy. "You really think trying to trap a god like Orcus is going to be a good idea? Even if your theory is correct, and they were just very powerful magic users that became gods, there's no way that he is going to share that information with you."
Lazarus gave him a soft, pitying look. "You really think I've spent the last seventy years doing nothing? I know exactly where I need to push in order to get Orcus to talk. That's why, whether or not you decide to join me of your own free will, you won't be leaving this place. I know whose blood is in your veins. I know that even a god will want to protect his own son."
That made Vanth laugh. "I'm sorry, but have you readanymythology? Gods rarely care about their kids at all. I haven't even met my dad, so I really doubt I'm going to be the bargaining chip you think I am."
"We will see, won't we? Take them," Lazarus said with a wave of his hand.
Vanth grabbed the webs of magic he had been weaving around them and gave them a hard pull. Small, angry skeletons burst to life and swarmed their attackers. Elektra took down one of the minions in a blink. Vanth grabbed her hand to pull her back.
"Leave them! We need to get out of here now," he said.
Lazarus started to chant, but Vanth's power was quicker. He latched onto the corpse on the altar, and it shuddered to life. It pulled a dagger from its ruined body and launched itself at Lazarus. He screamed in fury, his chant breaking off as he turned to wrestle the corpse.
"Quickly now, princess. Let's get up that ladder," Vanth said as they ran back down the tunnel. "Hopefully, our little rat friends will keep them amused long enough for us to get up."
"You could've told me what you were doing," Elektra panted from beside him.
Vanth grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up onto the ladder.
"There was no time. Anyway, I thought you might like to enjoy the surprise," he replied, racing up after her. He could hear heavy footsteps in the tunnel behind them, and he tumbled out into the greenhouse after Elektra.
"Quickly, let's lock them in," she said.
"Not just yet." Vanth rummaged around in the shoulder bag he had with him and pulled out something small and round. He had been waiting for an opportunity to use it and couldn't stop the wild laugh that tore out of him.
"Get ready to run, princess," he said and pulled the pin of the magical bomb. He tossed it into the tunnel and slammed the hatch down. Elektra was already running through the greenhouse, and he tore off after her.
They were almost back at the van when the earth shook underneath them, sending them both sprawling into the grass. An ear-piercing boom shook the night as the greenhouse exploded into a fireball.
"Time to leave!" Elektra said, pulling Vanth to his feet, and they hurried to get into the van. The house was caught in an inferno, and alarms and sirens were going off.
