Tori slowly lifted her gaze to them both, knowing that what she said next would be rewarded by another blow, but she couldn’t help it. “It’s not too late for you. Repent, turn to Jesus. Worship the one true God, or you will be cast into the lake of fire.”
At first, shock appeared on both their faces…for a brief moment…but then the expected hatred and fury twisted their expressions.
Bam! Another strike to her face, this time to her nose as more blood joined the drops from her mouth.
Cursing, both guards left. Tori glanced over the room, no bigger than a small bedroom. A tear rolled down her cheek, and she wiped it away, the handcuffs jangling on her wrists. A stench rose to join the acrid scent of blood in her nose—death and fear and sorrow. No doubt this was the execution waiting room. A camera perched in an upper corner watched every move she made.
The green light on top of it turned to red. Odd.
The lights went out. Nothing but thick blackness stretched before her. She moved her hands in front of her face. Nothing.
What’s going on?
Thuds and groans sounded through the door. It squeaked open. A brilliant beam of light shone straight in her eyes. She blinked.
A person approached, knelt, removed a set of keys from his belt and unlocked her ankle chains. “Can you walk?”
“Thomas?” His aftershave surrounded her. “What are you doing?”
“Rescuing you, of course.”
???
Arithem drew his blade. The spear of brilliant red light flashed as he took a stance over the fallen guards. “I am astonished he rescues her.”
“I thank the Commander for it.” Zarall, mighty ax in hand, emerged from the room where his ward had been imprisoned. “She did well, but human fear had begun to take its toll. The Commander has sent help at just the right time.”
One of the guards attempted to rise, but Arithem put a foot on his head, keeping him on the floor. “You must be proud. She was ready to face a painful death for our Lord.”
“Aye.” Zarall glanced toward the room. “These humans speak boldly, but oft give in when faced with such excruciating pain. Not this daughter of Eve.” Zarall smiled. “And you, my friend. Your ward rescues her. What an amazing miracle.”
“I quite agree. Now we shall see where this leads.”
“For now we must ensure their escape. This is our Commander’s orders.”
A slithering shadow flowed out of the burly guard, followed by another. Both created a cyclone around the human’s head, whispering him back to consciousness. Gripping his ax, Zarall hefted it toward them, chopping them both in two. Agonized screams filled the air before they turned to dust and fell to the ground beside the guard.
Arithem nodded at his companion. Evil laughter rose from within the guards, along with the putrid odor of sulfur. He hated their smell most of all. A snake-like mist rose from the elder guard, swirling around Arithem’s boots and circling up his leg. He attempted to shake it off, but ’twas strong, this one. The guard beneath his foot attempted to rise. Arithem looked to Zarall for help, but the warrior had retrieved his ax and battled two other demons.
In one swift move, Arithem sheathed his sword, grabbed his billhook and clipped the black snake, flinging it away from his legs. The repulsive demon flailed in mid-air but not for long. Drawing his light sword, Arithem severed off its head.
???
“Put on these clothes.” Unlocking her handcuffs, Thomas handed Tori a guard uniform, the smallest he could find.
“What are you doing, Thomas?”
“You asked me that already. Hurry, we haven’t much time.” Still, her question made him wonder at his sanity. Honestly, he was acting on the only impulse permeating every inch of his heart—he could not watch the woman he once loved die, not without doing everything he could to deprogram her. He just needed more time! He shook his head. Perhaps the whiskey had given him more courage than sense. Either way, he was in too deep to quit now.
He turned his back while Tori undressed, calculating the time they had left before the power was restored and the guards returned from the small explosion he’d created in the generator room. The NWF Reformation Headquarters had its own power source in case of blackouts, which were frequent these days. They couldn’t afford to have any of their high-profile prisoners escape, now could they? But that made it easy to sabotage from within. One strategically placed explosion had taken out both the main generator and the backup system.
Five minutes, he calculated. If all went well. Most likely they had only two.
Heart thundering, he shifted his flashlight to the guards he’d knocked out cold. One attempted to rise, but instantly fell back to the ground.
Shuffling sounded behind him. He clenched his jaw and glanced at his watch again. “We need to go. Now.”
Tori dashed past him into the darkness. “Then what are you waiting for?”
