Stepane here had probably had latent powers; a metahuman way up the family tree somewhere, so far back that the abilities would never have shown up on their own.
But with the serums developed in Revelen, they’d unlocked his basic powers. “Fire,” I said, “and … the Odin ability? The Warmind?”
Stepane nodded again. He seemed withdrawn now that I’d confronted him directly. “They were what I started with.”
“And they gave you other serums,” I said. “The one that boosts those base powers. Which is why your fire and your Warmind are so damned epic in strength.” I thought about how he’d blasted the fear through my head in a way I’d never felt before, and how his control over the flames was second to … well, maybe Gavrikov, and that was it. “And the one that unlocks tangential abilities—which is why you can use wind, water, earth …”
“I have illusion powers,” he said, “flight … some others of small note.”
“They gave you serious juice,” I said. “You took me on, took on my team … and you won. Congrats on that, by the way, it’s not an easy thing to do.”
“When I left Revelen … when I escaped …” He stared into the darkness, as though it were going to leap out at him, “I did not wish to be afraid again.” Now he looked at me, and there was darkness in his eyes. “Do you know what it is like … to fear someone? Someone … unstoppable? To know they are out there, that they can rip you apart at any time? That they are just waiting to do so until it is convenient? Until they want to?”
I had a flash of a girl with flaming red hair and mad eyes, anger flowing through her like her countless powers. I thought about her, dead on the Scottish soil in her own village, and suppressed the shudder. “Yes,” I said. “I know what that’s like.”
“I came here … to become the best,” Stepane said, voice echoing hollow. “To find my strength. Because … he … is out there. And he will come for me … sooner or later. I must try and be ready. Be the best. To find the strength to beat the best.”
“What did he call himself with you?” I asked.
Stepane looked at me, puzzled. “What need did he have for a name? He was simply him. Anyone who met him knew to whom you would refer.”
Hm. That didn’t answer anything for me.
“He was the most evolved among us, you see,” Stepane went on, and I let him monologue. “The most powerful.”
“You make it sound like that’s all that matters,” I said.
Stepane let out a cackle. “It is all that matters. This is what we humans do—prey upon each other. The weak die or capitulate and serve, the strong ascend and rule over them. One of your presidents said, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.’” He shook his head. “Those are the thoughts of a privileged man coddled by civilization, softened by the rule of law.”
“Well, he suffered a debilitating illness that left him in a wheelchair, so I don’t know that he lived an adversity-free life …” I said.
Stepane shook his head. “Adversity is not the issue. By the law of the jungle, he would be eaten.”
“I’m glad we don’t do that anymore. Pretty sure I’d be forever trying to get the flavor of certain people out of my teeth.”
“You joke, but you don’t see it,” Stepane said. “The laws of civilized society are a ruse. A mask that hides what truly happens. The strong still rule, just more gently now.”
“Why wasn’t I ruling when I was strong, then?” I asked.
“You were a threat to those with a different type of power,” Stepane said, eyes glimmering in triumph. “That is why you were cast out and chased. The balance had to move, all society had to be put against you, because you were too powerful then for just one person or two people to simply take you out.”
“Well, this has been a fascinating discussion on strength and Darwinism with a nice little detour into cannibal land,” I said, “but here’s the thing …” I heard a faint whisper, somewhere outside the dreamwalk.
Deltan Data Systems. South Minneapolis. It was Cassidy’s voice. An address followed.
“Yes?” Stepane asked, looking around. I couldn’t tell if he’d heard it, or if he was just responding to my eyes darting around, like Cassidy’s face was going to appear out of the darkness.
“You got strong, I congratulate you on this,” I said, staring him down. “Why, you may even be the most powerful meta in the Western Hemisphere, since it seems like you think old Vlad in Revelen is still a little too much man for you to take on.”
He looked at me evenly, seeking out signs of deception. “Thank you.”
“But …” I said, dropping the other shoe, “you’re really only powerful in the waking world.” I smiled. “In here … I’m way stronger than you.”
“How—”
He didn’t even get the question out before I was all over him, applying my succubus pain-generating powers with complete abandon. I’d never assaulted anyone in a dreamwalk the way I assaulted him now, dredging up every sort of nightmare I could, pouring on the agony while I bound him tight and immobile, unable to so much as twitch here in his dream.
Stepane was paralyzed, his mouth open wide, screams trying to come out, but I’d blocked them. I could hear them echoing in my head, resonating throughout the darkness of the dreamwalk as though they were transmitted by sound wave across my skin. He screamed and screamed and screamed—
And after about fifteen seconds that made him feel like it was an eternity, I let him loose and turned down the agony.
“That’s a fraction of what I can do,” I said as he huffed, breathing hard, into the black emptiness that was the ground in here. “And I’m going to come visit you every night, until you get to a point where you don’t dare sleep for fear of knowing that this moment is coming—
“That I’m coming for you.” I leaned in and breathed the last words in his ear, and where with lovers past I’d infused my whispers with sweetness, here I went the opposite direction, and he shuddered in revulsion and fear. “How’s that compare to ol’ Vlad? Who do you fear now?”
“What … do you want?” He looked up at me, gritting his teeth. Now I’d pushed him over the edge into fury.
“I want a rematch, bucko,” I said. “Away from police snipers, away from prying eyes—at least until the cops show up—and far, far away from interference by anyone who might want to stop our little battle to see who the strongest really is.”
“You are weak,” he said, oozing a little drool down his chin. “You stand no chance against me.”
“I almost kicked your ass before, sparky,” I said, brushing his cheek and making him scream in agony once more as I sauntered off, casting one look back before leaving him with a taunt I knew would have its desired effect. “And this time? I’m not going to go nearly so easy on you.”
38.
I woke from the dreamwalk with a gasp, sitting up to find Harry next to me, and Cassidy tapping away in the corner of the room, still lit by her screen. She glanced at me for just a second, then went back to typing.