Balance (The Divine, Book One) (23 page)

I
looked over at Ulnyx, still kneeling on the floor, still wearing his
crap-eating grin.

“Get
up,” I said.

I
could feel the charge in the air, as if it had just been ionized by a lightning
strike. The smile faded from his face.

“Get
up,” I repeated, my voice calm.

He
didn’t look like he wanted to, but he rose to his feet.

“If I
call on your power, you will provide it,” I told him.

His
eyes burned with hatred, but he nodded.

What
had I been looking for? Understanding - of myself foremost. Who better to help
me understand than one who lived as I had died? It seemed crazy to think that I
could have intended to wind up down in the sewers, taking a direct path to what
was the world’s only directly descended half-angel, half-demon. It seemed
insane that in the entire world she was in the same city, always so close by.
 Yet so many things could have happened to me. So many choices made that
could have brought me somewhere else, led me in another direction, or pulled me
off this course.

Maybe
what seemed crazy wasn’t so crazy after all. Could I say for sure that I hadn’t
been looking for her, that my soul hadn’t brought me here? Dante had said that
in order to come into my full power, I had to let go of what I knew as a human
and accept what I had become. My Source was a reflection of the world and my
place in it. I would create, destroy,
love,
hate, and
most of all survive, because my Source, my soul demanded balance. It was why I
was. The question may have been a trick, but that didn’t mean it had no answer.

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.