chapter 15
I woke with a start, my eyes flicking open to look at the apex of the tent above me. I felt something pressing into my shoulder, turned my head, and found Sarah there, her head resting on my arm and her body curled into a tight little ball. I remembered what I had done to her in my Source and felt a sudden wave of guilt wash over me. I reached over with my other hand and stroked her head.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. She was asleep.
“Landon.” I turned my head to the other side. Rebecca had snuck up on me, and was leaning over me with her hand on my other shoulder. How did she do that? “Are you okay?”
It was a good question. I took a deep breath, turned my attention inward on myself. I felt good, really good. I was ready to accept myself in equal parts. Not all good, not all bad. Just me.
“Yeah,” I replied. I looked back at Sarah, “How long?”
“Two days. Sarah hasn’t left your side the entire time, but I think she’s been having some pretty rough dreams. She was crying in her sleep.” I looked back to Rebecca and noticed she had changed. She was wearing a pair of camouflage cargo pants and a tight black thermal henley. Her hair was tied back into a single ponytail. She looked like she was ready for war.
“We need to go,” I said.
Rebecca smiled, showing off her fangs, and moved around to help me untangle myself from Sarah. Before she could touch her, the girl woke up.
“Landon,” she said, her voice so much smaller and childish than I had remembered it. She pushed herself into a kneeling position next to me. “You are leaving.”
“I have to go,” I told her.
“Stay,” she Commanded. I could feel the power of her word and her mind pulling at my will.
“No,” I said, both with my mouth and in my mind. I had thought my rejection would upset her, but she smiled.
“You must continue your journey,” she said. “You have found what you were looking for, and for that I am glad. Do not feel sorry for the way you handled me, it was what you needed to do.” She had known what I was thinking, and pre-empted my second apology. “I will be thinking of you, brother, and wishing the best for you.“
I wasn’t ready to just leave her like that. “Sarah, Rebecca told me you were having dreams.”
She stiffened up, the change in her demeanor almost imperceptible. “Sometimes I dream of what came before Izak saved me,” she lied. “I am thankful to have a brother to protect me. When you can, I hope you will return to visit.”
Protect her? From her father? Understanding myself was one thing. Defending anybody from a major demon was something totally different. I wasn’t about to argue that with her though.
“I will,” I said. I sat up, leaned forward and wrapped her in a tight hug. “Thank you.” I had found what I had been looking for, but it wouldn’t have been possible without her help.
I released her from the embrace and got to my feet, then reached out and took Rebecca’s hand, surprising her with my boldness.
“We’ve got work to do,” I told her.
As we headed out the door of the tent, I noticed Izak sitting motionless in the corner near the food stores, just watching. I gave him a small wave that he didn’t return, and then we were gone.
The inhabitants of the small community paid us no more attention on the way out as they had on the way in, turning away as we neared and staying occupied until we had passed. We slipped out of the sewer through a small access tunnel further south, catching up as we followed it towards our hopeful exodus from the underground.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Rebecca said as we walked. “I picked your pocket and stole some money so I could get some new clothes.”
“You got one of the Awake to sell you those?” I motioned to the militant outfit. “You look like you’re ready to join the Army. I wouldn’t call it stealing, since I would have given it to you.”
“I had to give the money to Izak. This is what he brought back for me.”
“He spoke to you?”
“No. I told him what I needed, he held out his hand, I gave him some money, and he brought this back. Its better than that beat up dress.”
I took a look at myself. I hadn’t been strong enough to fix myself up earlier, and hadn’t thought of it before now. I was still wearing the penguin suit, as shredded and bloodied as it was. I pushed, and watched it change into a matching outfit.
“It’s fitting I guess,” I said. “Our own little army.”
“Two against infinity,” she said with a humorless laugh.
“Three,” I replied.
I hadn’t thought about Obi until now. I wondered if he knew what had happened. I could imagine the word had hit the forums, and he was no doubt keeping a sharp lookout for any reported sightings of either of us. It was strange to have so much faith in him, despite our short acquaintance. I told Rebecca about how we had met, and then since she had thrown her entire life away to save me, I told her about everything else too, from Ulnyx, to the Demon Queen, to the Chalice. I got the feeling she was a little jealous when I told her about Josette, but she didn’t say anything to confirm my theory.
“So what about you?” I asked her.
We had stopped below a manhole, finishing our conversation before climbing back into the world above. We stood facing one another, close enough that her sweet scent kept wafting across my senses.
“What about me?”
“You told me that you were obligated to obey your father, but you helped me anyway.”
“I told you that we had a choice to obey, or to challenge.”
“I thought you couldn’t defeat your father.”
She looked down at the ground. “I can’t,” she said.
I reached out and put my hand under her chin, lifting her face. “Rebecca.” Tears ran from her eyes as she looked at me. ‘Why would you do that?”
“Like I said, there’s just something about you.” She was lying.
“You can’t lie to me Rebecca,” I said, wiping away some of the tears with my thumb.
She took my hand in hers, squeezed it, and pushed it away. “No, I suppose I can’t,” she replied. “That doesn’t mean I have to tell you anything, and you don’t have the power to Command.”
Wait a second. “I don’t?”
“Sarah does, because she’s first-generation,” she explained. “You don’t have any direct control over the Divine, because you aren’t a direct descendent. You may be able to control the Were, but that’s because you’ve already captured his soul.”
“Oh.” Not that I would have used it on her, except maybe to prevent her from throwing her life away for me. “How long?”
“I already sent him the challenge while you were asleep,” she said. “Tomorrow night at the Statue.”
I could feel the growing lump in my throat. It seemed like I was destined not to have many friends for very long.
“What can I do to help?” I asked.
She wiped the rest of the tears away herself. “I don’t think there’s anything you can do.”
I had an idea. “Hold on... what about the amulet? He can’t hurt you if you’re wearing it.”
“Landon, you’re sweet. I can’t use the amulet. It would be cheating. If I gave up my honor, I would be no better than any other demon. I don’t believe we have to operate that way to survive, and if you look at the situation my kind is in, it’s the change that I’m fighting for so we can thrive as we deserve. We have a physical and mental superiority to humans, we have a numerical superiority to most other Divine, but we’re relegated to slinking about at night, hiding from daylight, and using the majority of our strength figuring out where and how to get our next meal. For as much as I dislike feeding on humans, I have still done it, and will again if it means their life or mine. With my research cut off, that seems more and more likely.” She reached up and took hold of the ladder. “If I can defeat Merov, I will earn access to everything he has. It will all become mine, and I can continue my work. It’s a long shot, but the risk is worth it to me.”
“What about Reyzl?” I asked.
“You’re going to take care of Reyzl,” she said. She winked at me, and climbed the ladder, pushing the cover aside with ease.
Take care of Reyzl. Right. I reached inward and touched on Ulnyx’s soul. I could feel the power respond to my mental tap. Maybe with the Great Were’s help I would stand a chance.
We exited the sewer onto an empty street. It took me a minute to get my bearings, but we weren’t too far from the Belmont. It was midday, and the sun was out. I pulled Rebecca into the shadows.
“Can you manage?” I asked.
She reached under her henley and pulled out the amulet. “As long as this thing works, I should be fine,” she said. She stepped tentatively out into the sunlight. She squinted her eyes, and moved back into the cover of the building. “It’s not working,” she said. What?
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the necklace I had claimed from Ulnyx. I knew this one worked, I had seen it do its thing. I swapped it with hers. “Try this.”
She stepped out into the sunlight again, and then retreated. “No good,” she told me.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “I saw Ulnyx use that one to heal. I know it works.” She handed the amulet back to me, and I looked at it in disgust.
“Maybe they don’t work on vampires,” she suggested. “Let’s just try to stay in the shade.”
Dante hadn’t said anything about there being exceptions to the amulet’s usefulness. There had to be something else going on, something we didn’t know about. If he came calling again, maybe he would have the answer.
We covered the last few blocks by sticking to the darkness and running across the open sunlight when necessary. Punkmo’s eyes bugged out of his head when I held the door for Rebecca to let her into the Hotel. I could feel him ogling her until we had passed the front desk and started up the stairs.
“You must get that all the time,” I said to her. “Not that I blame him, you are beautiful.”
She smiled, her pale face adding just a hint of redness. “I’m used to it from mortals, it comes with the territory. It means more coming from you.”
“Consider yourself flattered,” I replied, stopping and turning to face her. “I thought so the first time I saw you, after you threw me onto the floor of the closet. Of course, I was scared witless of you at the same time, so it was kind of a unique situation. Still...”
I didn’t get to finish talking, because she wrapped her arms around me and put her lips to mine. I didn’t get to kiss her either, because at that moment the stairwell door above us slammed open, and Obi came tumbling out. Following right behind him was a demon. It twisted in the air, using its thick leathery wings to balance itself while it planted its claws on the opposite wall to spring downwards towards him. It shrieked through a short, fang-filled snout.
I felt Rebecca tensing to move, and I held out my hand. “I’ve got this one,” I said.
I focused my will and sprang forward, launching up the steps like a rocket, the momentum carrying me over Obi as he turned onto his back with the Desert Eagle raised above his chest. I heard the gunfire, and felt the bullet rip through my leg, but I didn’t pay it any mind. I reached out with my hand and caught the demon’s bald head, slamming the creature down onto the steps, its skull shattering beneath the force. Before it could recover, I twisted and pulled, ripping its head off.
Once it was dead, I recognized the pain the bullet had caused. I looked down at my leg, watching it knit back together, the process slowed by the silver. Then I looked at Obi. He was still sprawled out on the steps, his forehead covered in sweat and his breathing ragged. He gawked at me with huge, relieved eyes.
“Holy crap man, sorry about the leg,” he said. “You picked the right time to show up though. There are two more incoming. I shot them in the head but these a*sholes don’t stay down long.”
“How did they find you?” I asked.
He started pulling himself to his feet. “You got me, man. Maybe triangulated the Wi-Fi access points? I thought I had done enough variance, but maybe they have some giant brain demons or something.”
“There are no giant brain demons,” Rebecca said, reaching down lifting the muscular ex-marine to a standing position. “The Cthulhu are incredibly intelligent, but they don’t get involved outside of their own affairs.” She smiled, showing Obi her fangs.
He had been giving her the oh-my-god-you’re-so-hot stare before she smiled. The effect was like breaking a spell. I’m sure mortals would see a perfect set of pearly whites, until they were being drained at least. I could see his throat move as he swallowed his heart and backed up a few steps.
“What the,” he cried. He started raising the Desert Eagle, but I put my hand over it.
“Obi, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, Obi-Wan. She’s on our side,” I told him.
Rebecca scrunched her face. “Obi-Wan? Like Star Wars?”
He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Man, even vampires make fun of me. My parents,” he said.
I cleared my throat to interrupt them. I could feel the shifting heat of a Hellish mass pressing down on my soul. “Now that the introductions are out of the way, we need to move. Those two you shot either brought friends or called for backup.”
“If you can get to your room, I went back to Grand Central yesterday and got your sword. It was sitting on the tracks.” He looked over at the half-dissolved headless demon. “Not that you seem to need it.”
“I could use it,” Rebecca said. “I don’t have the strength to rip skulls off spines.”
I could feel the demons getting closer. “Okay,” I said. “Obi, stay back and cover us. Try not to shoot me again.”
Rebecca and I hopped up the steps and out into the hallway.
“Do you know what those things are?” I asked.
She nodded. “Standard grunts. Reyzl makes them. They’re all brawn, no brains. They can survive for short times in the daylight, but they’re especially vulnerable to water. Make sure to mind your neck, they can remove your head with one finger.”
She reached down and pulled her dagger from her boot, never breaking stride. Obi stayed ten feet behind, his Eagle aimed between us. I didn’t doubt he was an excellent shot, but I hoped that if he did miss, he would miss to the right. I could take the silver bullet, Rebecca couldn’t.
“He makes them?” I asked. “Get ready.”
The demons came rushing around the corner, spittle flying from their fangs as they changed direction. They had two more holes in their skulls before Rebecca and I could even move. I grabbed each by the head and twisted, becoming more comfortable with the sickening crack each time I caused it. I looked back at Obi, who just shrugged.
“How many bullets do you have?” I asked him. Silver wasn’t cheap and making bullets from it couldn’t have been easy.
“About fifty,” he said.
“Hold your fire unless it looks like we’re in trouble. I have a feeling we’ll need those later.” We reached the corner and I pointed to the room down the hall. “My room is down there. Grab the sword so we can get out of here.”
I reached out and felt for the demons. They were coming down the stairwell. I heard breaking glass. They were coming in from the windows too. Rebecca took off for my room at a sprint. I turned around to see a grunt bearing down on Obi from behind. He didn’t know it was coming.
“Obi,” I shouted. I couldn’t reach him in time. Desperate, I focused on the floor right behind him, pulling the nails from the wood and sending them hurtling into the demon. It stumbled backwards as a hundred tiny spears checkered its chest. Obi stopped next to me and looked to see what I had done.
“Nice,” he said.
The demon recovered in a hurry and began rushing towards us again. I hoped I was as fast a learner as Obi had said I was.
It arrived as a mass of swinging claws, strong, powerful muscles driving me backwards while I tried to find a way to maneuver around them. I felt the heat of a wound to my shoulder and another to my leg, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal. It snapped and growled, trying to get to my face with its teeth. I ducked in close enough to smell stale, hot breath, then slipped around behind it, reached around its neck and twisted my arms, hearing its spine shatter. I was going to remove its head, but three more grunts had filed out into the hallway.
Obi downed one of them, but couldn’t get a shot off on the other two. I grabbed him and pushed him to the ground to get him out of the way of a set of claws, then took hold of the monstrous arm and broke it at the elbow. The move would buy us seconds at most.
I heard the snarl of the second demon, and then smiled when a blessed sword severed its head from behind.
“This way,” I said, motioning to the nearest room. “We can take the fire escape to the ground.”
Rebecca took a moment to stab the other two grunts, and then followed us into the empty room. I blew out the glass with a thought.
“This is going from bad to worse,” I said. I could feel the gathered mass of evil growing, their power pushing in on me. It felt like the Belmont was on fire. “I think they’re trying to surround us.”
The building shook from the force of so many monsters moving through the old structure, all converging on our location. Reyzl was using more force than I had expected. I leaned out through the window and looked down. There were more grunts waiting in the alley, covering the exit. I looked up. The roof was clear.
“Up,” I said.
“Up?” Obi asked. “Are you crazy, man?”
I pushed him out onto the fire escape. “Go up sergeant,” I shouted back. He started climbing. “Rebecca, go.”
“You first,” she said.
I shook my head. “Someone needs to cover our escape.”
Rebecca smiled and winked at me. “Escape? You’re leading us further into them. Now go!”
I started climbing, hearing the sword thunking into flesh behind me. I doubted the roof was the safest place to be either, but it was open, and I wanted the breathing room. I caught up to Obi, and we dropped over the side of the building onto the roof together. There were already six grunts waiting for us, and three more came up behind Rebecca when she joined us a few seconds later. They didn’t attack right away, choosing instead to surround us. I assumed they were waiting for greater numbers, knowing they had us trapped.
“Now what?” Obi asked, spinning in a circle to keep an eye on all of the demons.
More of the grunts were reaching the rooftop every second, and three weres came up from the stairwell, joining the throng. They cut their way through the hissing demons, coming to a stop in front of me. The largest of them took two more steps forward and spoke.
“Diuscrucis,” the were said. “Master Reyzl demands to meet with you. Come with us, and we’ll let your companions go.” I didn’t need any special power to know he was lying.
“Landon,” Rebecca said, sounding worried, and looking ashen in the sun, “tell me you have a plan. I can’t stay out here like this for long.”
“I have a plan,” I replied. Okay, I didn’t have a solid plan, but I had one idea. I closed my eyes and reached inward, calling out for Ulnyx. I could feel the Great Were’s strength forming in the base of my spine. This time, I could drink from it and stay in control. The power was his, but my mind was my own.
I smiled at the were, my mouth growing, elongating, and filling with razor sharp teeth. I could feel the rest of my body changing as well, shifting form into the monstrosity of skin, muscle, and bone that was Ulnyx’s morphed form. I lifted my middle finger and aimed it at the demon, then used it to beckon them towards us. The weres hesitated, torn between the risk of death at my hands or Reyzl’s. There was no doubt he wouldn’t be pleased if they returned without some piece of me. The grunts weren’t smart enough to know any better, and they rushed to close the circle.
I dropped down to all fours and launched myself at the demons; claws ripping and tearing, powerful muscles tossing them aside like matchsticks. There were at least fifty of them squeezing in on us. I grabbed one of the grunts and threw it back at the frightened weres. They moved aside and it disappeared down the open stairwell. While I was watching its path, I noticed the water tower behind the door.
I raked my claws through three more grunts, and then paused to focus on the tower. Even with Ulnyx’s massive strength there were just too many of the creatures to deal with this way. I might be able to kill them all in this powerful form, but not without risking Rebecca and Obi.
I let loose a massive roar, feeling the tug in my mind and demanding the water in the tower to set itself free and join me on the roof. I pulled at it, forcing it through the wooden planks that contained it, causing it to geyser out through the weakest seam. The grunts had been frozen by the roar, and now they cried out in agony as the water splashed downward from the sky, soaking everything on the rooftop.
“Damn that’s cold,” Obi cried. I swung my head around to check on him, and he stumbled backwards, away from my gaze.
Rebecca wrapped an arm around him to steady him and winked at me. She looked like crap, the sunlight and the water taking their toll. The grunts behind them were dancing across the rooftop, desperate to shake the water from their bodies. Their skin puckered and oozed, their life force seeping out from everywhere. Many had already dropped lifeless to the ground, and I was sure the rest would follow.
I heard claws on the blacktop and turned back around in time to see the three weres had made up their minds. They had morphed into their demon forms and were charging towards me, teeth bared. I let out another roar and shot forward to meet them. Blood blossomed from them and I heard the echoes of gunfire in the sky. The weres stumbled and rolled, coming to a rest right under my feet. I brought up a massive foot and slammed it down on one skull, then another. The third were, the leader, I let live.
I had felt Ulnyx in my mind, his presence a pressure in my skull as he sought for a way to overpower me. I pushed back against him now, kicking him back down into my soul, dismissing his power as if flipping off a light switch. My body began changing, shrinking, returning to my human form. My clothes were rags hanging from my neck and I pulled them back into shape, then reached down and lifted the still stunned were to his feet. I grabbed his face and brought it in line with mine.
“Tell Reyzl I’m coming for him,” I said.
I would have sent him on his way, but Rebecca had other ideas. Without a word, she stepped up next to me and ran him through on the blessed sword.
“Send that message and Reyzl will come for you himself,” she said to me. “You may control the Great Were, but his power can still pollute you.”
I knew she was right. I could still feel my adrenaline pumping from the experience of being the terrifying killing machine. He might not have been able to overtake me, but the promise of his power was an intoxicating temptation that I would be at risk of accepting every time I called on it, opening the door to the Great Were’s dominion. Everything had its price, and I would have to reconsider the cost before calling on Ulnyx again.
Rebecca looked awful, her skin a translucent white, her hair dull and greying. The water had done its damage, drying her out to the point that bits of her skin flaked off with every movement she made.
“Let’s get you out of here,” I said.
“That was so awesome,” Obi said, walking up behind us. “You guys kick complete ass.”
Rebecca gave him a weak smile. “You were pretty good yourself, for a mortal,” she told him. He laughed off his adrenaline as we headed for the stairs.
“So what’s next?” Obi asked when we reached the ground floor. Punkmo was hunched down behind the front desk, on the phone with the Police.
“That’s right, gunshots,” he was saying. “Drug dealers? I don’t know, could be a gang too, who gives a crap. Are you going to send a car or what?” He didn’t look up as we walked past.
“We need to get Rebecca someplace dark so she can rest for awhile, “ I said. “And you and I need to talk.”
Just being out of the sun had already returned some of the opacity to the vampiress’ skin, and her hair was darkening by the moment. Even so, she still looked dry and sick. Dry and sick and stunning. We left the Belmont and headed uptown. I kept us to the shadows as we walked, only crossing the sun’s direct path when the limited cloud cover would obscure it.
“Why attack during the day?” I asked Rebecca.
“It was a calculated risk,” she replied. “Reyzl was hoping to catch you off-guard, maybe while you slept. He underestimated you.”
Him and me both. I had returned from my Source with a new sense of self, but I hadn’t expected the change to be so dramatic. Even after pulling down the water tower, I still felt like I had plenty in reserve. It had taken a fair share of missteps, but I was coming into my own.
“Where are we going anyway?” Rebecca asked.
“I’m upgrading our accommodations,” I said.