Dearest Mother of Mine (Overworld Chronicles) (41 page)

"We incapacitated the summoners on the other side," he said. "We have to hope the demons engage each other until their power runs out and banishes them."

"Sir," said a female voice from one of the Templars, her face hidden behind the mask. "Exorcists are on the way. They should be able to control the demons until they expire."

Michael nodded, sparing words as usual.

My shoulders sagged with relief. I suddenly felt so very tired. But I also felt safe enough to push back my own demon, shrinking down to my relatively diminutive six feet. Michael tossed me a black belt from within his pack. I secured it around my waist with one hand, and touched the hem. Nightingale armor flowed down my legs beneath the jeans, and I tore off the ragged remains with a grunt, letting them fall to the ground after retrieving my phone from a pocket. Maybe they'd be useful in a Paris fashion show, but I was done with them.

"Where are the captured mages?" I asked, my mind suddenly flicking to the mastermind behind this assault. "Is Maulin Kassus here?"

"I don't know," Michael said. "The OPFORs fled when we engaged. Some escaped."

"No, he's got to be here," I said. "He's got to!"

I raced through the woods, looking at the scattered bodies of brotherhood members. I found a gaggle of bound and unconscious battle mages in a makeshift Templar holding area. It only took me a minute to realize Kassus wasn't among them.

Exorcists—apparently a division of the Templars designated to counter demon threats—appeared moments later. They contained the raging demons by draining the power from the runes until the monsters howled and collapsed, their bodies crumbling to elemental forms, as their demon spirits were sucked back into the demon realm.

Despite my exhaustion, I combed the woods, looking and hoping to find the man responsible. Elyssa found me, took me by the arm, and directed me back to the house. I was too weak to resist her. As night settled in, Michael came inside and reported.

"Maulin Kassus isn't here," he said. "He must have escaped."

"No, no, no," I groaned, feebly attempting to pound the table. The world blurred, and I slumped, fatigue weighing heavy in every inch of my body.

"Justin, you need to feed," Elyssa said. "Please."

Fighting back useless anger, I nodded. It was over. We had won.

But we had also lost.

Chapter 37

It took all my effort not to drain Elyssa. Her shoulders shuddered as she fought the sexual urges caused by my voracious feeding. Despite the still-clawing hunger, I stopped, afraid I would hurt her.

"Are you better?" she asked, panting, tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.

I managed a nod, and must have fallen asleep right after.

I jerked awake. Looked wildly around the room, and found Elyssa sleeping next to me. Daylight streamed through the window. I was famished in more ways than one, my stomach growling for food, and my demon snapping for sustenance. I didn't dare feed from Elyssa. Her face looked too pale for her fair skin. She must have been exhausted when she offered herself to me last night. I'd drained her too much. My stomach knotted as I kissed her forehead.

She moaned and continued to sleep. Ordinarily, she would have sprung awake. She needed blood. I ran downstairs, fetched some blood packs and boiled eggs from the refrigerator. Upstairs, I sat next to Elyssa, nomming on eggs and waiting. She stirred. Blinked sleep from her eyes.

"Justin?" she asked in a weak voice.

I pulled the tab on a blood pack to heat it up. Propping her up with my hand, I held it to her mouth. Her nostrils flared. Fangs protruded from behind her lips. She grabbed the pack and drained it. I opened the other one and handed it to her. This one she sucked on in a more controlled manner.

"You know how to make a girl feel good," she said with a smile, licking blood from her full lips. "I was too tired to move last night."

"It's my fault," I said. "I took too much from you."

She smiled, caressing my jaw with her hand. "Anything for you, my hero."

"Are you bound by an oath not to feed from people?" I asked. She usually refused when I tried to return the favor.

Her eyes went distant. "I used to think it was evil. Then again, I used to think a lot of things were evil before I met you." A smile graced her face.

"Now that you know real evil, will you please feel comfortable taking blood from me? I hate seeing you so tired. You've told me before blood packs don't taste very good."

She nodded slowly. "We'll see."

I leaned back and groaned, rubbing my face. "I can't believe we went through so much and still lost Kassus last night."

Elyssa lay her head on my chest. "He probably left the minute he saw things spin out of control."

"I'm going after him," I said. "Today. Even if I have to march down to Darkwater headquarters and take him by force."

"You'll do no such thing," Elyssa said, turning hard eyes on me. "My father now believes the Templars have jurisdiction to go after him. They'll arrest him and bring him in."

"Really?" I asked. "But won't Kassus claim it's an internal Arcane matter?"

"He and his men attacked supers who aren't Arcanes, including you," she said. "Kassus crossed the line."

"He's attacked me before. Why didn't your father arrest him then?"

"Because it wasn't in public. This time, there were plenty of witnesses. It's a slam dunk." She raised an eyebrow. "I say we sit back and relax while he does his job. You'll have Kassus's blood by this afternoon."

The anger vanished. I felt a grin split my lips. "Have I mentioned I love you?"

"Maybe once or twice." She pecked my lips with a kiss. "I'm feeling so much better." Her eyes narrowed as she looked into mine. "You're still hungry, aren't you?"

I sighed, nodded. "I'm not feeding off you. I took too much already."

"Let's go into town. Maybe you can feed off the locals without inciting an orgy."

I laughed, my mood lightening at the promise of Thomas Borathen arresting Kassus today. "Let's do it."

We had brunch in town. I chowed down pancakes while simultaneously feeding incubus-style from several nearby patrons. As ten a.m. approached, I found myself checking the time like a nervous tic.

"Any idea when your father plans to go after Kassus?" I asked.

"Should be any time now," Elyssa said. "I can't imagine why he'd wait too long." She dug in her purse. "Where's my phone?"

"When was the last time you used?" I asked.

"Last night when I talked to Dad." She huffed. "Can I use yours? I'll text him."

"Sure. Just make sure, if you act bossy, he knows the message is from you, not me."

Her lips curved into a smile. "Maybe." She tapped in a message. A moment later, my phone dinged with a reply. Elyssa glanced at it, her grin fading to concern. "We need to go right now."

I dropped some tinsel on the table to pay for the meal as my guts tightened. "What's wrong?"

"Dad sent me a message earlier, but I didn't see it because my phone is probably down in the arch room somewhere. He needs you to present the accusation." She shook her head. "That's the archaic way of doing it. I didn't think anyone did it anymore."

"I have to present the accusation?" I said. "What do I do, tell everyone what a jerk this guy is?"

"Something like that. Let's go."

We took a flying carpet up the cliff and back to the mansion, ran downstairs to the arch room. Elyssa's phone sat on a table near the arch. She snatched it, and checked it. "Yep, here's his message from this morning. Crap." She typed something on her phone. It dinged, and she held up the picture of a room. "We're going there. It's a Templar safe house in the Grotto. We can catch the trolley to Darkwater from there."

I opened the portal to a plain white room. On the wall hung a portrait of a woman dancing in a field of flowers. We ran out of the front door, and hopped aboard a passing trolley. It took us to an area near Darkwater, so we ran the rest of the way. We were unprepared for the sight awaiting us.

Thomas Borathen stood on one side of the street, about twenty Templars lined up beside him. Across the road stood another fifty or so Templars, their backs to the black iron gates guarding the Darkwater building. The three-story complex boasted panes of rippling liquid glass, and piano-black marble framing. It managed to look classic and foreboding all at the same time.

A squat two-story building sat on our side of the road, its windows boarded up, and signs posted to the side indicating its imminent renovation for some other Arcane company to take over. It didn't look nearly as impressive as the Darkwater building.

"I'm sorry, Commander," Elyssa said, snapping a salute to her father. "Why does Justin need to testify?"

"Kassus demanded it," he said.

I suddenly felt very vulnerable. What if the crazy battle mage planned to assassinate me while I stood on the sidewalk and shouted at him? At least Thomas had brought a lot of Templars. I looked across the road at the other complement, and did a double-take when I recognized a tall man with a long red cape flowing behind him.

"Isn't that—"

"Artemis Coronus," Thomas finished. "Seneschal to the Grand Master of the Templar Synod."

"Oh, no," Elyssa said.

"Why is he here?" I asked.

"Maulin Kassus requested them. Artemis is the one demanding a testimony from the accuser." Thomas raised an eyebrow. "I don't expect it will make a difference one way or the other."

Artemis had also demanded my arrest during the Maximus incident. He'd tried to remove Thomas from command of his Templar legion and demanded they stand down instead of attacking the vampire compound. Thankfully, nobody had followed his orders.

"Who do I present testimony to?" I asked.

"You'll need to announce it to everyone present," Thomas said. "Check your phone. I sent a list of accusations." He then stepped into the street. "By the rule of Overworld law, I hereby call the accused, Maulin Kassus to stand forth and hear the voice of the accuser, such that he may declare yea or nay to the charges, such that we, the designated enforcers of the law may determine if such charges warrant his arrest and trial."

"Hear, hear!" shouted the Templars assembled near Thomas.

Artemis regarded me with narrowed eyes as I stepped into the street. He spat on the ground. "With such a witness as this, perhaps you're best calling this a day, Borathen." Some of the men behind the Templar knight laughed, as if it was the best joke they'd heard in ages.

Maulin Kassus walked from the front of this building, his body phasing through the liquid glass. He held eye contact with me, smirking, as he walked outside the gate and to the sidewalk. "I am here," he said, lip curling into a sneer as he looked me up and down.

I glanced at the text from Thomas.
Short, concise, to the point. No surprise there.
Stepping into the street, I read the text in a loud voice. "I, Justin Slade, hereby present accusations against one Maulin Kassus for injuries suffered against me and persons under my care. Principally, I accuse him of demonic summons, attempted murder, destruction of property, and trespass. I swear by my blood, my kith and kin that this statement is true."

"The accused may state his case," Thomas said.

"The accused has no case against me," Kassus shouted. He held up a scroll of parchment, and unrolled it. "This document is a signed order for demolition for an abandoned house on Greek Row on property owned by Arcane University. The house was determined empty by a team of Arcane engineers, and subcontracted to Darkwater for demolition." He jabbed a finger at me. "Little did we know this demon spawn and his comrades had taken over the house, illegally squatting inside. Little did we know he used his infernal abilities to plant demonic traps outside the building. My men were attacked by his demons. Had we not been so experienced, and taken control of the beasts, they might have killed us."

"You're lying!" I shouted.

Kassus grinned. "This spawn is the liar. He is the one illegally summoning demons and destroying property. I demand his arrest and execution for attempted murder by demonic summons."

"I have witnesses," I said.

"Oh, you mean the other squatters? A felycan? A dhampyr?" He strutted before Artemis and the Synod Templars, hands spread as though regaling them with wondrous tales. "This spawn's 'friends'"—he formed air quotes, giving me a dubious look—"killed my men. The felycan used moggies to murder people I knew and cared about." His face turned sad. "They were hard-working men and women with families." He stabbed his finger at me. "This spawn and his vagabond trash should be rounded up and executed."

"We believe the stronger case lies with this man," Artemis said, placing a hand on Kassus's shoulder. "Spawn are well-known for manipulating the facts to suit their own needs. It is also true that felycans are anti-social, murderous folk who care nothing for the rule of law." The Templar knight pointed at me. "By the authority of the Templar Synod, you, Justin Slade, are under arrest."

"He's a liar," I said, backing away as Synod Templars encroached on me.

Kassus flicked my accusation away and smiled. "I'm an upstanding Overworld citizen,
spawn
. Maybe they'll let you say goodbye to your mommy before they take you in."

Rage exploded, and the world flashed red. I lunged at the man. "You filthy, lying piece of trash!"

Strong hands gripped my shoulders. Another set of arms tightened around my arms. I struggled to free myself. All I had to do was scratch the asshole. Maybe nick his jugular in the process. A drop of blood. That was all I needed!

"Justin, no!" Elyssa said.

The red faded, and I realized she was the one holding me from behind. "He's going to get away with it," I said.

"Right now, we have no choice," Thomas said, his face set in grim lines. "You're a disgrace to the Templars, Coronus," he said, eyeing the Templar Knight with disdain. "If you continue to interfere, you'll start a war."

"A war you can't hope to win," Artemis said. "With the Divinity and sheer numbers on our side, there's little you can do but accept the inevitable."