Aetherial Annihilation (21 page)

I didn't remind him that he'd asked for a lot more and slid open the door. Evan narrowed his eyes at Victus and Delectra, then left.

The power couple entered the room, and I closed the door. Victus must have told his wife to tone back the cold bitch look because she wore a plastic smile.

I cut to the chase. "If you're here looking for an endorsement for Arcanus Primus, you've come to the wrong place. I turned down Evan, and I'll turn you down too."

Victus shook his head. "I suspected Farnsworth would badger you about that." He gave me a helpless look. "I must admit I'm pleased to hear you've decided not to interfere in Arcane politics."

I regarded Delectra. "I hear you're related to Ezzek Moore."

Her fake smirk vanished, replaced by a proud, but genuine smile. "I am six generations removed. I also have the blood of Alexander Tiberius in my veins." As she spoke, I smelled the faintest hints of brimstone about her. I hadn't noticed it earlier with Kassallandra around.

"Do you have dealings with demons?" I asked.

Her eyes flared. "That is none of your concern."

"It's fine, dear." Victus put a hand on her arm. "Yes, Justin, we have. Ever since you proved that Daemos aren't evil just because of their demonic heritage, we recently tried opening a dialogue with the powers that be in Haedaemos."

His outright admission caught me off guard. "That's extremely dangerous."

"But long overdue, don't you agree?" His voice sounded so reasonable, it was almost as if we were talking about our favorite flavor of donuts. "Demons have visited our realm frequently, but we've never reached out to them."

A pshaw escaped my lips. "I disagree. Plenty of people have reached out to demons. They usually end up possessed."

"I meant in the political sense." Victus lifted a hand as if he wanted to place it on my shoulder, but seemed to reconsider. "Your father is the son of Baal, the king of the demons. I wanted to talk with you about arranging a meeting with him."

"My father or Baal?"

"Both, if possible."

I couldn't tell if he was being serious, or if this was all some ruse to keep me from asking why his wife reeked of demons. "Baal doesn't speak with my father, much less mortals. I can't just request a business meeting."

"Any effort would be appreciated," Victus said.

I tapped a finger on my chin. "Let's get back to why you want to talk to me. I know it's not about demons."

"It would seem our original reason is a moot point since you refuse to endorse anyone." Victus shrugged. "So long as you adhere to that decision, I have no concerns."

He looked very secure at that moment, so I decided to spring a trap on him. "How long did it take you to create the tragon?"

Two pairs of eyes flared in response to that question.
Gotcha.

Victus's surprise quickly morphed to a proud smile. "Well, I won't ask how you discovered my little—or should I say big?—secret, but yes, I love dinosaurs and always dreamed of reviving them from the dead. Unfortunately, I needed living DNA as well, so I borrowed some from a ley worm."

My smugness quickly faded in light of his admission. Victus was slick. The moment I thought I'd pinned him with something, he turned it around as a point of pride. "How did you convince the ley worm to part with its DNA?"

"I found it in one of the tunnels beneath Thunder Rock several years ago."

I looked at him like he was crazy. "You went to Thunder Rock while it was still infested with husks?" The infantile creatures were all that remained of Seraphim caught in the backlash when the Grand Nexus went nuclear thousands of years ago. Though we'd found a way to revive most of the husked Seraphim, my skin still crawled when I thought about the light-sucking little monsters.

"It was foolish, I know, but I was young and eager to prove myself." He squeezed Delectra's hand. "My lovely wife discovered a way to temporarily mask us from the presence of the husks and the shadow people."

"Do you know how useful something like that could have been during the war?" I'd nearly died countless times.

"My apologies, but by the time the war was in the open, your people had already figured out a way to contain the husks." He pulled off a very sincere look of regret. "I assure you, we did our part during the war."

There had been so many people involved in the fight against Daelissa, I had no way of ascertaining the truth behind his statement—at least not without asking around. Once again, he'd given me a very reasonable explanation that left me no room to blame him. The man clearly outclassed me as a politician, but quite frankly, I didn't give a damn.

"Since I've refused to endorse anyone, I suppose there's nothing else to talk about."

He nodded. "I want to assure you that Science Academy will do everything in its power to solve the crystoid problem, Justin."

"I will use all my Arcane intellect to assist my husband," Delectra said. "Together, nothing can stand in our way."

I caught a small wince from Victus, but he put on a convincing smile. "My wife is, as always, supremely confident in our abilities."

I nodded. "I can admire that." I just wondered how many nothings stood in the way of what she really wanted. As they turned to leave, I remembered that the subject of robot attacks hadn't been discussed at the earlier meeting. "I do have one thing you could help with right now."

Victus turned and raised an eyebrow. "Of course."

"We were attacked by three robots at the crystoid in North Dakota."

The other man's eyes twitched. "Robots?"

I nodded. "All that remains of them are a couple of metal feet."

"What happened to the rest of the robots' bodies?" Delectra asked.

I showed them my teeth. "I disintegrated them with my Seraphim powers." My boast left out the crucial detail of me inadvertently touching the crystoid, but they didn't need to know that.

Delectra backed up a step. "I see."

"I can analyze the remains and try to identify the source, if that's what you'd like," Victus said.

I nodded. "I would. Just ask Thomas and he'll give them to you."

The other man flashed a confident smile. "I'm glad to be of service."

After they left, I sat in a chair took a few minutes to collect myself. I felt stressed out and tired from getting up so early. It felt good not to think about anything, even if only for a short time.

After I had my moment, I left the room and ran into Leia, Elyssa's mother in the hallway.

She smiled and gave me a quick hug. "You look as though you haven't slept much."

"Thanks to this early morning meeting." I sighed. "Sleeping really isn't the problem. It's the recovery from all the beatings."

"Yes, Thomas told me about your encounter with the crystoid." She motioned toward the conference room. "I assume they're still inside."

"Probably." The door wasn't shut all the way, so I slid it open for her.

Leia walked in and hugged her daughter. "I see you're back in the swing of things." She turned to Nightliss. "We are very happy to have you back."

Elyssa sighed. "I feel like I went from relaxing to swimming with the sharks."

"I do not care for Victus or his wife," Nightliss said. "There is something unpleasant about them."

"Agreed," I said.

"I dislike their political posturing, but we need them." Elyssa shook her head. "This is a global effort."

"Unfortunately, there's not much we can do without solid intel," Thomas said. He turned to me. "I authorized Victus to take the robot remains as you requested. I assume he and Evan asked for endorsements?"

"Yeah." I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall. "I told them I'm not handing out political favors."

"I'm certain they won't be the last ones to ask." Thomas turned off the holographic map. "I've been asked to intervene as well." He shook his head. "As head of a neutral entity like the Templars, I can't play favorites."

"What did Kassallandra want?" Elyssa asked.

I chuckled. "The burden of leadership is weighing heavy on her shoulders. I almost pity her."

"She got what she wanted," Elyssa said with a satisfied smirk.

"If I had to deal with Yuuki Wakahisa or Godric Salomon one more time..." I shuddered.

Thomas put a hand on my shoulder. "Let's hope she can band them together for this new challenge." He took his wife's hand and headed for the door. "I'll let you know when we have actionable intel."

"What would you have me do in the meantime?" Nightliss asked him.

"Would you go to the barracks and visit them?" Thomas said. "We also have over a hundred new recruits who need to be blessed."

Her eyes widened. "Goodness, so many?"

"We're still recovering from all the losses from the war," Leia said. "Phoebe has been traveling and recruiting candidates."

"Have you heard from her since the magic outage?" Elyssa asked.

Leia nodded. "She's fine. Goodness knows she's survived worse."

Elyssa's sister, Phoebe, had once thought her parents had betrayed her and her brothers, leaving them to die during a battle with vampires. Thankfully, she'd seen the light and rejoined her family.

Nightliss turned to me. "It appears I'll be very busy blessing new Templars."

"Don't overdo it," I said. "We'll need you to conserve your strength if we get intel on more crystoids."

"Ivy seems able to handle many on her own," the Darkling replied. "But I will be ready to assist if needed."

"We'll keep everyone apprised," Thomas said. He led Leia out of the room.

Elyssa rested her head on my shoulder. "Let's get something to eat."

"I'm game." I looked at Nightliss. "Want to join us?"

She nodded. "That would be nice."

My stomach rumbled "Where to?"

"I was thinking the mess hall," Elyssa said.

I groaned. "I was hoping for something better."

"I want to stay close in case solid information comes in." She kissed my cheek. "Besides, you love the grub they serve here."

The food was actually fine, but the atmosphere felt a bit too much like a school cafeteria. "I hope they're serving square pizza and burnt French fries."

She giggled. "Reminds me of our school days."

I snorted. "Yup."

We made our way up to the mess hall and were rewarded with beef stew and a hearty side of vegetables.

"You still haven't told me about your journey back here," I told Nightliss.

She prodded a piece of broccoli, but hadn't eaten more than a bite since we sat down. "A crystoid hit the southern coast near the town I was in. Many people died from the shockwave, and lawlessness took hold." Her lower lip trembled. "The men thought the women would be easy prey, but I quickly showed them otherwise." Her eyes grew hard as jade. "Suffice it to say they will never trouble another person again."

Elyssa grimaced. "You killed them?"

Nightliss nodded. "Those were the ones I granted mercy. To the worst offenders, I made them eunuchs."

"Alrighty, then," I said. "Um, maybe we can save this for a time I'm not eating."

"I am sorry," the Darkling said. "I went south, found transport to Sri Lanka, and took an Obsidian Arch from there. The journey was long, but in the end, I made it." She stood up and took her tray in hand. "I apologize, Justin. I am not very good company at the moment."

I tried to stop her, but she backed away. "Nightliss, I understand. You remember the conversation we had after the war?"

She nodded.

"I felt the same way." I bit the inside of my lip. "You're not the only one who ran away."

Her eyes softened and she sat back down. "Shelton said you and Elyssa went on vacation."

"That's the euphemistic term for it." I felt Elyssa's hand tighten on mine. "Look, neither you nor I want to fight another war. This crystoid incident has been foisted on us and we really don't have a choice." I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. "The truth is, if I hadn't run away, I would have gone with Ketiss and we probably would've defeated Cephus already."

A tear trickled down Nightliss's cheek. "We absconded our duties, Justin, and the price for peace has doubled in the meantime."

"Neither of you absconded," Elyssa said. "Nobody could have predicted this."

"You're right," Nightliss said. "There is no choice but to move forward. Thank you for lunch." She flashed a sad smile and left.

I ran a hand through my hair. "I don't know if I feel better or worse."

Before Elyssa could answer, her phone buzzed. She flicked on the screen and read a message. "Looks like we have a lead."

I took her phone and scrolled down to the image of a crystoid. "I know what I'll be doing after lunch." The text above the picture said,
Impact zone Changrim, North Korea.

Elyssa made a face. "Talk about a place I wouldn't want to visit."

"Well, with any luck we won't have to if this picture is reliable." I looked for the message sender, but it was blank. "Any idea where it came from?"

She shrugged. "I've been getting strange glitches since we have to rely on the nom cell towers." She put away her phone and rested her chin on my shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." My muscles still felt sore, but with the return of aether to the Atlanta area, I actually felt normal again. "I just need to feed my Seraphim side, and I'm good to go."

Elyssa polished off her broccoli like a good girl. "Then let's pay the feeders a visit."

We took the levitator up to ground level and walked outside the barn toward an ancient stone church. The upper level looked newer than the rest of the building because it had been recently reconstructed. After Thomas split his legion from Synod controlled forces, they'd tried to assassinate him and blown up part of the church in the process.

Once used as a place to receive blessings from the Daelissa, aka the Templar Divinity, it was now where the Templars housed noms who volunteered other services such as feeding Seraphim. Katie, Ash, and Nyte, Elyssa's and my former high school friends, had tapped into older veterans and people with medical issues to form our volunteer corps. Templar healers provided health care unavailable to most noms, and people who'd abandoned hope once again felt healthy and valuable.