Demon Driven (24 page)

“I see,” Lydia said.

“
Pack law forbids us from interfering in
such a rare event. Stacia had the choice to fight for her right to
choose, but obviously that wasn’t an option. However, her sponsor
to the Pack could act as a stand in. Chris wasn’t willing to let
the Loki’s have her. Between you and me, I think he feels like he
has to help her, as if her bite was his fault somehow.”

“Yeah, I’m beginning to think the same
thing,” Lydia said with a glance at me.

“
Anyway, it was a cage fight between the
Loki and Chris, which I was worried enough about, but then the
other two wolves went in the cage and a werebear that was with them
locked the gate and broke the lock. I, well hell, we all thought
Chris was toast,”
she took a deep breath.
“But, boy was I
wrong. Lydia, I’ve never seen anything like it. Nobody in the Pack
has ever seen anything like it. He killed all three full-grown
weres in less than a minute! Less than half a minute! He moved so
fast it was hard to see what he did. He just seemed to touch them
and they fell in pieces. And he laughed while he did it!

Scared the crap out of most of the Pack.
We’ve been reassuring people all afternoon,”
she gave a little,
desperate kind of laugh. “
Do you believe it? He scared a room
full of werewolves!”

“What about the girl?” Lydia asked.

“
That’s the thing. I don’t think he even
talked to her once!”

“Really?”

“
Yeah, he seemed upset as well. The only
one halfway calm was my son, Brett.”

“And your people are still upset?” Lydia
asked.

“
Well between the Loki’s Spawn, which
we’ve been hearing a lot of rumors and stories from the southwest
and western packs, and the fact that this human that none of the
pack but my family really knows turns out to be a holy terror, then
yeah, lots of commotion. Although Chris might be providing an
answer to our junior pack member problem.”

“Listen, I’ll ask him about that, you sound
pretty busy.”

Lydia said her goodbyes and hung up, staring
at me thoughtfully. The vamps were all quiet and still in that
spooky ultra motionless way they have. Finally, Tanya spoke.

“She is really quite gorgeous.”

I didn’t have to ask who she meant.

“Yeah, I guess she is,” I allowed. “But she’s
blonde, I’m partial to brunettes.”

“Oh?” Tanya replied.

“Yes, and she’s got green eyes. I prefer blue
ones. Really blue.”

“Hmm,” was her only response.

“I’m pretty sure that Reynolds is not a
Russian name. I like Russian girls,” I continued.

She just arched one eyebrow.

“Blue-eyed brunettes from Russia, oh, and
they have to be vampires! Natural born vampires!” I concluded.

“Shooting kinda high aren’t ya Slim?” Lydia
quipped.

“Way, way over my head!” I held my hand up to
show how far out of my league I was.

Tanya’s mouth quirked up in a smile, a small
smile, but still a smile. I felt a whole lot better.

Of course, Galina chose that moment to
shatter my mood.

“So, somehow he’s scared the entire New York
Pack, and you still think he should be around
my
daughter?”
she said to Senka.

The Elder gave her a small nod to acknowledge
her point and then turned to me.

“Chris, I don’t think I have heard of this
level of skill, speed or destructiveness from you before. Last I
knew, you were doing well in your training, but hardly at the level
the she wolf described. How is that?”

This was exactly the direction I didn’t want
to go. Talking to this particular group about the monster inside me
couldn’t result in anything positive. If I frightened them, I would
be barred from Tanya for good. I took a deep breath and attempted
to minimize the damage.

“Well, the laughing thing is just a left over
from the demon blood, I suppose.”

Their eyes widened at this tidbit. Ooops! Not
a good start. A public defender I had worked with once, had given
me some advice.
If you’re being questioned by lawyers or
authorities, never offer additional information, never embellish,
and never, never get nervous when they’re silent and
waiting!

So I waited, letting the silence grow. It’s
tough to outwait vampires, but I was desperate. Not able to stay
still like they could, I rocked on my feet, the old foot patrol
officer’s heel-to-toe rock. The Tear was swinging on its chain and
suddenly, Tanya focused on the movement under my shirt.

She moved, a smooth blur, pointing her finger
at the bulge under my shirt.

“What is that?”

I pulled the Tear of God out from under my
tee shirt and they all leaned close to look at it.

“Did
she
give it to you?” Tanya asked
with a chilly voice.

“No, I got it from the witch!” I said.

Even the males’ eyebrows went up at that.

“Witch?” Tanya asked, voice like ice.

“The witch and the warlock had it. It didn’t
look like this of course, but Barbiel and I re-set it, and now it’s
much different!” I explained as fast as possible.

“Warlock? Barbiel? Is that the angel?” Lydia
asked.

“Yes, he said it was a Tear of God.”

Crap! I just blurted that out, didn’t I?

“Tear of God?” Senka asked.

“Yeah, the demons used it eons ago to trap
Okwari. The witch and warlock were bounty hunters sent to retrieve
my bear. We argued the point with them and the Tear was left
behind.”

Senka raised one hand palm out.

“Chris, let’s back way up. Why don’t you give
us a complete rundown of the events of the last five days,
okay?

So I haltingly explained about the gang
attack in Owls Head Park, the hunt for poor George Lassiter, my
suspension and the disbanding of the Squad, the witch and warlock
encounter, Barbiel’s refashioning of the Tear, and finally the Pack
luncheon and cage fight. They already knew about the DOAA
abduction, so I ended with the cage fight.

They were quiet when I finished, each working
through the information I had given them. I used the time to help
myself from the tray of pastries that Remy had delivered part way
through my story.

I had deliberately gone light on details of
the rage and blackness inside, hoping they wouldn’t push down that
road.

“So you have spoken to the angel twice?”
Tanya asked.

“Three times if you include last November,” I
said.

“And he knows who I am?” she continued. Tanya
has an issue with the topic of vampire souls. I know they have
them, she’s not so sure.

“Yes, he calls you my other half, but he
knows your name. He’s very pleased that we found each other.”

“This Tear of God, it was used for evil? And
now you carry it?” Galina asked.

“It was shed when Lucifer betrayed God. It is
a repository for God’s anger, sorrow, despair, loss, sadness, and
resolve. At least that’s how it was explained to me. Depending on
the setting, one can harness the despair and sorrow to weaken
almost anyone or anything. Conversely, with a different setting, it
can harness the resolve part,” I explained.

“Why?” Galina asked, “Why would you harness
resolve?”

“Because daughter dear, it would strengthen
your backbone, your determination. It would be a very powerful
thing,” Senka interjected, her eyes still watching me
thoughtfully.

She turned to Nika. Damn! The mindreader.

“He’s mad at me for telling, but his biggest
fear is a discussion of what he thinks of as the ‘monster’ inside.
The rage that takes over when he is pushed too far.”

Senka turned back to me, and raised her
eyebrows.

I sighed, looked down at the floor and began
to explain.

“Ever since the….dining room incident, I have
this…this…black rage that explodes up inside me when I lose my
temper. I sorta Hulk out, but without the green skin and huge
muscles,” I explained, not sure if they would get the
reference.

They did. Senka motioned for me to explain
further.

“It likes to fight and kill. It makes me
stronger, faster and much, much meaner. I let it loose on the three
wolves earlier today and as Afina said, it was a slaughter.”

There, it was out and on the table. My gut
churned the pastries, but my hyper active metabolism wasn’t gonna
let me hurl, even if it would make me feel better.

“Can I see the hand thing?” Senka asked.

I raised my right hand, concentrated, and the
monomolecular edge formed around the perimeter of my bladed hand.
To my Sight it looked like a purple line around the outside edge of
my hand, one that glittered when the light struck the edge. I have
no idea what it looked like to Senka, but her eyes widened
slightly. So did Elder Tzao’s. The head of the Asian continent’s
presence at this interrogation was more than a bit odd. She hadn’t
paid much attention to me before and seemed to recognize Senka’s
right to supervise her granddaughter, yet here she was.

Senka said something in another language, one
I didn’t recognize, and the giant in the back moved up, drawing a
black collapsible baton from somewhere in his clothing. He fluidly
snapped the baton open and moved out in front of the lady vampires
to confront me, holding the long metal weapon at an angle, so that
the rounded tip pointed at my face.

Senka gestured at the baton and gave me a
sharpish nod. Clear enough.

I swiped the rod with my bladed hand,
clipping the top quarter clean off, the haft not even quivering in
the giant vamp’s hand. Senka’s slim white hand blurred, suddenly
holding the piece that had fallen away. The others leaned in to
exam the cut with eyes that could read the date on a nickel from
fifty feet away.

“Amazing!” Lydia said. The two Elders didn’t
speak, but exchanged a glance instead.

Senka tapped her bottom lip with one finger.
It was her thinking pose, one she adopted when faced with a
dilemma.

“How did this come about?” Tzao asked.

“Okwari showed me how to do it. He does the
same thing to the inside of his claws.”

“Okwari being the elemental?” Tzao asked.

“Ah yes, well about that,” Senka started, “I
actually saw the bear first hand today and I’ve been forced to
drastically revise my estimation of it. I believe it is much more
than an elemental. It may in fact be a minor god.” Her voice was
calm and matter of fact, as if discussing a variety of tea.

“A god?” Tanya asked.

“Most religions recoginize a supreme being, a
creator, God if you will, Allah, Yahweh. But almost all religions
have minor gods as well.”

“Huh?” Lydia asked.

“In answer to your eloquent question, Lydia,
even Catholics pray to angels and saints. Christianity has Jesus,
son of God and the Holy Ghost, which is somehow described as all
part of the same, yet really isn’t. It’s the same with all the
others as well. There are multitudes of lesser beings of various
power levels. Native Americans describe many powerful entities, and
I think Okwari might be one of them,” she said.

“Which brings us to the crux of the
situation,” she continued. “Chris, as I see it, there are two
problems here. Actually, a whole multitude of problems, but they
all fit under two thematic descriptions. First, and I assure you
the irony is not lost on me, but it seems you have become
extraordinarily dangerous. I had anticipated that you would, but I
imagined a process that spanned decades, not months. The ‘rage’ you
struggle with makes you a potential danger to all around you. The
weapons and abilities that you have manifested are unprecedented.
Imagine my surprise when I realize that you are dangerous even to
us.”

“I won’t hurt any of you!” I protested.
“Hell, I’m more likely to let it out to protect you than to ever
hurt you.”

She nodded. “Yes, I saw that very thing
today. The soldiers’ rifles were pointed at us, and I actually
could see the change come over you. I also saw it reined in by a
simple touch of Tanya’s hand.”

She took a breath, something I rarely saw
older vampires do.

“But the point remains that you have
possessed these extraordinary abilities for a very brief time. In
vampire years you are a baby, a mere seven months old. Yet you have
abilities beyond even mine and Tzao’s. Vampires take centuries to
gain strength and speed, and they learn control along the way.
Tanya is the exception, but it has taken her twenty-three years to
get to this level, plus being a vampire is all she has ever known.
You haven’t had the time. Nowhere long enough to develop control.
For all we know you could have a nightmare and kill Tanya in your
sleep!”

I rocked back, completely alarmed. I hadn’t
thought of that. It never occurred to me that I could be dangerous
to her. Again, as always, I was a danger to anyone I loved. For the
first part of my life, it had been demons, now
I
was the
demon!

“Christian will never hurt me, asleep, awake,
enraged, or by reflex!” Tanya stated, matter-of-fact.

“You can’t know that, Tanya!” Senka
argued.

“But I do! I know it to my core!”

Tanya suddenly reached, her hand blurring for
my own, which still wore its glittering edge. Her grab caught me
off guard, too fast to pull away, yet when her hand touched mine,
the death’s edge was gone.

“See! Christian is unable to physically harm
me. Period!” she said, with a triumphant tone.

Senka looked at her in exasperation, glanced
at Tzao and then started to speak.

“ Impressive, yes. But I’m not convinced.
However, the second problem is even more important,” she began.
“We, the Darkinn, have survived as long as we have by remaining
unnoticed by humans. Relatively unnoticed. Sure there are the
legends and folklore, books and movies, yet no human really
believes it.”