Balance (The Divine, Book One) (30 page)

Rebecca
didn’t hesitate, leaping into the air and leading with her feet. She managed to
dig a little deeper into his chest when she hit, but he lashed out and sent her
flying off him again, then got back up. Rebecca recovered, landing upright and
pressing the attack. She angled back and forth, trying to keep Merov off
balance. She had no chance against him on strength, but she was still quicker
and more agile.

“I
didn’t think you’d be this much fun,” Merov said with a laugh.

Rebecca
responded with a flurry of blows that her father either blocked or absorbed
with his massive bulk. The wounds she was inflicting were adding up, but they
seemed like no more than paper cuts across the massive expansive of his body.
The wave left her winded and off-balance, and Merov didn’t waste the opening,
grabbing her by the throat and lifting her well off the ground.

“Goodbye
dear,” he said, turning his head so he could leer at me while he finished the
fight.

I
assume he had been planning to pop her head right off like a cork. He didn’t
get the chance. With a blinding speed that I almost couldn’t follow, Rebecca
kicked her legs up and wrapped them around his arm, then twisted her hips. The
crack of his limb breaking was painfully loud, and he dropped her and cried out
as it fell limp. She landed on her feet and moved in again, grabbing his other
arm and snapping it at the elbow before he could react. He lashed out with his
foot, but she sidestepped it and brought her own kick down on his kneecap,
shattering those bones as well.

Unable
to support the massive weight, Merov sank to his knees, his eyes filled with
rage, fury, and pride? Rebecca saw it too, and she stopped her assault.

“You’ve
grown so much,” the vampire said to his daughter. “I didn’t think you had it in
you.”

She
had fooled him into thinking she was spent, and he would pay with his life.

“You’ve
never thought much of me,” she said to him.

“No,”
he admitted. “That’s because your mother was such a filthy whore.”

Without
another word, she reached out and grabbed his head, breaking his neck before he
could say anything else. She stood motionless, watching his lifeless body
topple to the ground, her black eyes a mask to whatever emotions were playing
across her mind. A moment later, black fog began rising out of Merov’s mouth. I
started moving towards her, to warn her of the danger, but she closed her eyes
and opened her mouth to receive it. What was she doing?

I had
never seen the process from the outside. The cloud transferred from father to
daughter in a steady stream of ashen smoke that twisted and curled around her.
Once it was finished, she bowed her head to the disintegrating carcass and
turned to the two weres who had waited on the sidelines.

“You
have borne witness,” she said to them.

“Yes,
mistress,” they agreed.

“Go
wait in the lobby,” she commanded.

“Yes,
mistress,” they said in unison. They headed off towards the elevator. Rebecca
looked at me, the black of her eyes fading away to reveal oceans of blue. She
looked the same, but different, more regal. I gave her a concerned smile. She
came over.

“Man,
that was unreal,”
Obi
said from behind me. “I couldn’t
even see her she was moving so fast.”

“That
was incredible,” I told her. She threw her arms around my neck and pulled me
down to her, kissing me as with the same force as she had the last time.

“I
have you to thank,” she said once we had broken our embrace. “I’ve never felt
so strong.”

“Merov’s
soul?” I asked.

“It
is part of the rights of ascension. The defeated surrenders their power to the
victor, along with their knowledge.”

“Do
you mean you can turn into a ten-foot tall Rebecca now?” I asked.

“Come
on, worm,” she replied. “My power doesn’t manifest the same way, since I’m only
half-nosferatu. For Merov, it was strength. For me, it’s speed. I also
inherited a measure of his memories. I know the passphrases to get into his
office.”

Excited
didn’t even scratch the surface of what that statement made me feel. “I hate to
be a bother,” I said, “but would you mind?”

Rebecca
laughed. “I don’t mind, but we don’t have time.” Her attitude turned serious.
“I have a lot more to tell you, but we have to go. Your friend Josette is in
trouble.”

“Trouble?”
I asked. I didn’t even know where Josette was.

“The
demons are making a move tonight,” she said. “Merov had just left to
participate when the gargoyles alerted him to our break in. They’re going after
an angel sanctuary, and all of the major players have amulets.”

“The
amulets don’t work,” I said.

“They
do, but there’s a catch,” Rebecca said. “The demon who controls the Chalice can
manipulate the power of the crystals. If they lose one, or one is taken, they
can shut it down.”

“Like
a remote kill switch?” Obi asked, moving in to join the conversation.

“Exactly.”

“How
do you know Josette is at this sanctuary?” I asked. I didn’t even know what an
angel sanctuary was.

“Reyzl
promised her to Merov in exchange for his participation. She’s there, and she’s
in trouble. I know she’s your friend, so if you want any hope of saving her we
have to go now.”

It
wasn’t like there was a decision to be made. “Where to?” I asked.

“The
Catskills,” Rebecca said.

“Whoa,”
Obi said. “Catskills? Like the mountains?”

Rebecca
looked at him as if he had two heads. “Yes. There is a Monastery there that
serves as a seraphim sanctuary. The demons have known about it for some time,
but they didn’t believe they could win a battle on the angel’s home turf. The
Grail has changed that.”

I knew
what Obi was getting at. “Rebecca, we don’t have any way to get to the
Catskills.”

She
gave me a big smile. “We do now,” she said.

The
battle started before we even got down into the parking garage of the building,
when I told Obi I needed him to stay with Cathy and take her home once she woke
up. His protests were loud, angry, and laced with profanity. They were also
ineffective. We had no idea what we would be walking into, and as tough as the
former Marine had proven to be, he was still human. He would have been little
more than a red-shirt out there, even more so once he had finished off his
remaining forty something rounds. He gave up when Rebecca threatened to Command
him. At least this way he could pretend it was his choice, he had said.

Merov’s...
no, Rebecca’s private elevator led down into a secluded area of the garage,
complete with its own attendants. They stood at attention when the doors
opened, not even questioning Rebecca’s newfound authority. She led me out into
a sea of luxurious excess.

There
were at least thirty cars here, all of them washed, waxed, and primed for
driving. They varied in size and shape, but I imagined none of them cost less
than a hundred grand. They sat arranged by type in two rows on either side of
the main aisle, sports cars, sport utility vehicles, sedans, and even a few
that I couldn’t classify. Growing up in a city, I had never been a big car guy,
but even the little bit I knew was enough to be impressed.

“We’ll
take the Rolls,” Rebecca said to one of the attendants, an older vampire with
long greying hair.

“Yes,
mistress,” he said, dashing off to get the car.

“It’s
not the fastest thing in here, but its armor plated,” she said.

I had
a feeling we were going to need the protection. “How do they just know you’re
the boss?” I asked her. I could hear the heavy growl of the car’s engine coming
to life, and then I saw the headlights flick on.

“The
transfer,” she replied. “They can feel the shift the same way you did. They
just understand it better.”

“Have
I told you how awesome I think you are,” I said to her.

The
car rumbled up to where we were standing and the attendant popped out. He held
the driver’s side door while the other one opened the passenger side.

“We’ll
settle that later,” she said to me with a wink and a grin.

I
wasn’t one hundred percent sure what she meant, but it didn’t sound bad. She
tossed the blessed swords in the back seat and sank in behind the wheel while I
circled around and hopped in on the other side, putting Boots’ weapon with the
others. The attendants slammed the doors shut, and with a slight squeal of
tires and roar from the engine we were off.

“What
time is it starting?” I asked when we pulled out of the parking garage and onto
the street. It was almost ten o’clock, which made the otherwise insane
Manhattan traffic almost bearable.

“I
don’t know,” she replied. “It can’t be too soon, or Merov would never have made
it in time. I’m going to guess around one or two. It’s a three hour drive.”

I
looked over at her, admiring the shape of her face in profile, her expression
purposeful as she drove. I respected her for her strength and resolve, and for
being so unequivocally willing to do this for an angel, her kind’s mortal
enemies, just because she knew it was important to me. What the beautiful
creature driving the car saw in me, I had no idea, but for some reason she
wanted to be with me, to be on my side. It was insane, but despite everything I
was happier in that moment than I had ever been before.

“You
should rest,” she said. She snaked around the slower moving traffic with
practiced ease. “I think we’re going to need everything you’ve got.”

The
truth was, I felt good. “What about you?” I asked. “I’ve never driven before,
but once we get out onto the open road I’m sure I can figure it out.”

One
eye pivoted to look at me, and she laughed. “We’ll be dead before we get
there,” she said. “I’m fine. Between your blood and the transfer, I don’t think
I’ll need to rest for a while.”

We
rode in comfortable silence, the interior of the car impervious to outside
noise. There was so much I wanted to ask her, about the transfer, about demons,
about Reyzl. I couldn’t bring myself to do it. The moment of peaceful
companionship was just too appealing. I kept my eyes out the window, watching
all of the people who turned their heads to stare,
who
tried to see through the vehicle’s tinted glass. What would they think if they
saw
us
as we were, a vampiress and the bastard son of
the universe? An image of pitchforks was the first thing that came to mind.

It
took us about half an hour to get out of Manhattan and onto the George
Washington bridge. I could sense Rebecca tense up when the car eased out over
the open expanse of water,
then
relax after we crossed
it. She breathed out a deep sigh on the other side.

“What’s
it like?” she asked me then.

“What’s
what like?”

“To
be a human. To be so inferior and weak.”

I
couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks Becca,” I said. Her head snapped to the right
so she could look at me. “You don’t like being called Becca, do you?”

She
tilted her head ever a tiny bit, smiled, then put her eyes back on the road.
“It’s not that. I’ve never had anyone refer to me like that before. Like a
friend.”

“I am
your friend,” I told her. “It must be hard to have been ostracized by your
people for thinking different. For trying to help them see the bigger picture.”

She
stared straight ahead. “It has been lonely,” she admitted. “I never thought
that I would achieve much more than being Merov’s laughable daughter, or
Reyzl’s toy. Even the scientists who were working on the synthetic... I know
they thought the project was an eccentric waste.”

“Now
you’re the boss though,” I said. “That has to count for something.”

Rebecca
sighed again. “I wish it were that simple. The family will follow me because
it’s our way, but I expect that I’ll be challenged quite often, at least in the
beginning. At least until they see that I’m not someone to be taken lightly.”

I
reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “Nobody will take you lightly. Merov
was a serious monster, and you destroyed him.” She didn’t look too sure.
“Anyway, I’ll be with you.”

The
engine roared as she accelerated past an eighteen-wheeler, flipping off the
driver on the way past. “Asshole,” she shouted into the cabin.

I
doubted the sound would be able to penetrate the armored walls, but the simple
normalcy of the gesture made me laugh.

“Being
human isn’t much different than that,” I said. “You just do your best to have
some fun, stay sane, not be lonely, and navigate around all the assholes. ”

She
was thoughtful for a minute, as if I had said something profound. “What about
your family?” she asked. “Do you miss them?”

It
occurred to me then that I hadn’t thought much about my family since returning
from Purgatory. My mind wandered back to my mother, sitting in the kitchen
reading a trashy romance novel and drinking tea. She had been a good enough
mother, there for me when I needed her, a decent moral guide. It hadn’t been her
fault I thought I was smarter than I was. She had supported me as best she
could during the trial and my incarceration.