A new golem, whose face looked more like a demon than any living thing, turned toward Bishop.
Unless something drastic happened, there would be no escape for any of them. Knowing he couldn’t kill Ridley with the weapon in his hand, Bishop dropped it and ran into the chamber. With killing Ridley impossible he hoped to distract the man enough to dull his control on the golems, or at the very least, turn their attention to him alone, giving the others a chance to escape.
As he leaped past Queen, she saw his hand reach into his shirt and pull out the crystal hidden beneath—the crystal that kept him from becoming an unstoppable killing machine. “Bishop, don’t!” she shouted.
But it was too late. He’d already yanked the crystal loose and tossed it to her. A moment later, his raging wail turned all eyes on him.
Ridley’s eyes widened as he instantly recognized the mania in Bishop’s face as the curse he had created. Bishop, now a regen, charged straight for his maker.
EIGHTY-TWO
CAINAN, SEEING BISHOP running toward Ridley, but not fully comprehending the rage in his eyes, moved to defend his creator. Being a golem, he felt no pain. Being modeled after Ridley, his size was formidable. But against a regen Bishop, he didn’t stand a chance.
Bishop struck the clay-man like a vampire linebacker. His hands dug into Cainan’s shoulders while his jaws clamped down on the man’s throat, tearing out a chunk where the man’s jugular should have been. With a mouthful of flesh turning to clay in his mouth, Bishop reached down and swiped a hand across Cainan’s belly. It spilled open, dropping organs that turned to clay as they fell.
As Cainan’s body began to lose its form, Bishop swiped into it again, tearing it in half. It fell to the floor as two large clumps of wet clay.
Bishop’s eyes locked on the man’s duplicate, staring at him with wide eyes. He lunged.
The man ran.
Raking his hands down Mahaleel’s back, Bishop tore large chunks of flesh turned clay. The Ridley golem staggered forward and fell. Bishop took the man’s leg in his hands and bit into it. The flesh turned to clay in his mouth.
Spitting the clay out, Bishop roared and turned on the third, and last Ridley. Fueled with bloodlust and anger toward the form of Ridley, he charged. Arms outstretched. Fingers bent like hooks. Drooling jaws open wide. He would tear Ridley apart, eating his flesh until his stomach burst. Then he would heal and continue his meal until Ridley’s body had been consumed. But Ridley’s flesh would regenerate as quickly as Bishop ate it and the two would continue in the vicious cycle indefinitely.
Fear gripped Ridley as he realized this potential outcome, but it was replaced by confidence. He had the knowledge to stop it.
As Bishop dove for his throat, Ridley shouted a string of words similar to those he had used to purge Adam from his body. It felt strange to be shouting words of healing at an attacking enemy, but it would stop the attack. Not only would Bishop’s mind and moral compass return, but he’d no longer have his regenerative abilities. The man would be killable.
The effect was immediate.
Bishop’s legs failed him and he fell to the floor before reaching Ridley. He shook his head and pushed himself up. He held his clay-covered hands up before his eyes. The taste of the stuff filled his mouth. Bishop looked at Ridley. “You … you cured me?”
Ridley grinned. “Just in time, it would seem.”
A brute force struck Bishop from the side and sent him sprawling to the floor.
* * *
WITH RIDLEY’S LIFE in jeopardy, all the golems in the room had turned their attention to him. The first thing King saw was Knight, sneaking out of the side tunnel. He made a dash to the center of the room, moving fast, staying low, and drawing as little attention to himself as possible. He scooped up Fiona, saw her condition, and quickly produced the insulin shot he carried. He stabbed the needle into her leg and depressed the plunger. But there was no time to see if it would return the girl to them.
The two soldiers locked eyes.
“Get her out of here,” King said.
Knight gave a quick nod and ran back the way he’d come.
Seeing Fiona’s limp body in Knight’s arms, filled him with an anger he’d never experienced before. It gripped his body and trained his mind on the man responsible for his girl’s condition.
Ridley!
King acted quickly. He’d seen the way Bishop’s grenade had worked on the golem and left one of his own behind as he made his escape.
The booming explosion from his grenade threw him forward. He landed between Queen, who was just getting back to her feet, and Bishop’s weapon. He rolled to Bishop’s weapon, picked it up, and fired a barrage at the golem still holding Alexander. The golem stumbled back as several rounds struck its arms.
Just as many rounds struck Alexander. He shouted in pain as his body was torn apart.
“What are you doing?” Queen shouted.
But King didn’t answer. As the golem regained its balance Alexander had already healed from the wounds and pushed against the weakened arms. They shattered and exploded out.
Alexander—Hercules—was free.
And pissed.
He launched himself on the golem that had been holding him and tackled it to the ground, pummeling it with his fists, which were bloodied with each strike, but healed in time to strike again.
Queen’s headless golem arrived, raising its arms to strike her down. She ducked down as King raised the XM25 and fired into the stone giant’s midsection.
In the chaos, King saw the opportunity to create a clear path for the team to escape with Fiona.
There is no greater love than a father who is willing to lay down his life for his children.
He shouted to Queen over the barrage of bullets. “Get Bishop! Cover Knight and Fiona!”
Queen nodded and dove past the headless golem. As two more of the stone giants headed for her, she reached Bishop and yanked him up. He was conscious, but injured.
Injured.
“Snap out of it, big man,” Queen shouted at him. “It’s time to bug out!”
Bishop carried some of his weight, allowing Queen to help him toward the exit where Knight stood with Fiona over one shoulder and his XM25 in his hand. He raised the weapon, holding it with one arm, and fired.
The round zinged past Queen and struck the golem behind her. The impact slowed the golem, but came far from stopping it. And with Fiona over his shoulder, Knight could only fire one round at a time. Even a three-round burst might throw off his aim enough that he’d hit his teammates.
As Queen and Bishop reached him, they all rushed into the tunnel that led down at a steep grade. A golem filled the space behind them and squeezed itself into the tunnel. On its hands and knees, the fit was tight, but the golem paid the scraping of its marble body on the stone walls no heed. It pursued them relentlessly down the tunnel, toward the exit—
—an exit that Queen only now remembered had been sealed with a solid wall of stone.
* * *
THE HEADLESS GOLEM’S midsection gave in to the barrage of exploding rounds and cracked. The top-heavy torso fell away and smashed on the floor. King saw Queen, Bishop, Knight, and Fiona disappear into the exit tunnel, but one of the golems shoved itself in behind them and gave chase. He took aim at the second golem about to enter the tunnel and fired off a few rounds.
The golem turned toward him and stood.
“Duck!” came Alexander’s voice.
King listened and felt a breeze rush by his head. A marble arm swished past and struck the wall next to him. He turned to rejoin Alexander, but found the large-bodied man flying through the air toward him. In his moment of distraction—saving King’s life—the golem beneath Alexander had struck him hard.