Chosen (The Chosen Few Trilogy #1) (25 page)

Jondal might tell us.

Jondal.
I wanted to tear him apart.

It was agreed that Ken, Ceriden, Felicia and Eleanor would interrogate the Destroyer known as Spirit. One representative from each race. As they walked out and the meeting broke up, I finally turned to Holly.

“
She won
’
t talk to me,
”
I said.
“
My own daughter won
’
t talk to me. And I can
’
t blame her.
”

At that moment a hand
touched
my shoulder. I looked up to see Ken standing beside me, an odd kind of hurt filling his eyes.
“
I tried
everything
to help her, man. I
’
m so sorry.
”

I let respect show in my face.
“
I know, Ken. Thanks.
”

“
Give her time,
”
Holly said to me after Ken had moved off.
“
She
’
s
fifteen.
Impressionable and hormonal as hell. Christ, when I was fifteen I
loved
being Queen Bitch of the world. I married Bastard Face to spite my mother. How
’
s that for a harsh lesson in life?
”

I grimaced at my friend.
“
I think Lucy
’
s learned too many harsh lessons
recently
, don
’
t you?
”

“
I do. I really do. But Dean, I know you want to shield her from life. I guess every parent wants to protect their child from the
real world-
”
She shrugged.
“
Ain
’
t gonna happen.
”

“
I know that,
”
I said.
“
But
I can
’
t even understand this damn
power
inside me.
It’s
there, but I don
’
t know what it
does
, for Christ
‘
s sake.
”

I looked at my friend, really
looked
at her for the first time
in days. She had put her
life on hold, because I asked
her to trust me. Her presence here had nothing to do with Aegis, or vampires, or Destroyers
.

I took a deep breath and said, “I mean, Jesus, Hol, do you believe all this?” I indicated the room, the house, the situation.

“I’m here aren’t I?”

Christ,
I thought.
Someone else to let down.

I was informed later that it was actually a simple
matter to interrogate a man with
Jondal
’
s
capabilities
. He
may be a master of coercion but he couldn’t
see in the dark. So the only
illumination
in the interrogation room was
a light
aimed at his body tied to the bed. In the darkness pooled around him an unknown number of people aimed cattle-prods at various parts of his body.
If he tried a
mind-strike
he
would
get
a jolt. He got the message
quickly
.

Felicia later told me that Jondal didn
’
t even try to hold anything back. The guy gave up all he knew, which amounted to little more than nothing. When
‘
pushed
’
, however, he gave an extra
snippet of information, one
we couldn’t even
wrap our heads around
.

Whilst babbling rub
bish he said:
“
I cleared the way for Black Chapter to operate. It was I who cleared away the buildings above the sacred ground. My bomb-
”

Jondal had masterminded the London bombing. Black Chapter
was
the
unknown group set on in
voking the Hierarchy of Demons- a
n
incomprehensible
act still largely below
our radar
.
 

“
Will any of this help us stop Gorgoroth?
”
I asked Felicia.

She shrugged.
“Not a clue. But
it
’
s a step in the right direction.
”

That sounded like politician-talk for
no
to me
.

By now i
t was after four in the morning so I
headed upstairs to bed. I looked in on Lucy. My daughter was entangled among the bed sheets in a way that made me smile, though the darkness hid my face. Lucy, from an early age, had a habit of using every inch of the duvet. She was facing away from me, her body arranged under the sheet like a bumpy Chinese puzzle.

I ret
reated and closed the door
. I leaned my forehead against the hard wood for a second. Lucy was sixteen in two days.

What now?

Sleep eluded me that night. I repaired my mobile with strong tape. Then I checked my
bank
balance and business balance by
Wi-Fi
. The wolves were closing in, so close to the door now I could hear their expensive black suits rustling.

I stood by my window and watched the dawn rise through the
tree
s. I watched it send glowing
fronds
through
swaying tree limbs.

What now?

3
7

THE LIBRARY OF AEGIS, NEAR SEATTLE

The man called Loki crept through the damp forest as the first rays of sunlight filtered through th
e heavy boughs. At his back,
making no sound at all, were
sixty six Wayclearer demons. Leo- Sorcerer- should have been here too, but Leo was dead. Taken out by one of the Eight, a woman called Tanya Jordan.

Intelligence suggested that Tanya was the best of her kind. And her kind was Loki
’
s kind. They were both world-warriors. Loki looked forward to pitting his talents against hers, probably in Miami, at the end of all things.

The trees began to thin out. Loki held up a hand. Behind him there came a cacophony of snuffles and low growls, the pure anticipation of violence.

He had summoned the Wayclearer demons himself. They were the facilitators to the summoning of Gorgoroth, sacrificial spawn to shine the light.

Beyond the tree-line he saw a h
ouse. Huge and old, four-storeyed
, fronted by clapboard-covered windows and chipped and weathered brick. Dilapidated. Run down. The garden was weed-strewn an
d overgrown, and
concealed one of the most sophisticated early-warning systems known to man.

The frontage was a lie, of course. Behind that decrepit exterior was the fabled Library of Aegis, the greatest source of knowledge throughout history. Loki felt great privilege at being the
one chosen to destroy it
.

Last night, he had prepared himself by assuaging all three vices. This place was changing him, this so-called Land of the Free, with its sweet offerings, its lifestyle of temptation,
and its
struggling yet insanely upbeat inhabitants.

Already, he looked forward to his victory reward.

Now he
assessed
his hastily arranged
army. Short, with gnarled faces and skin that looked like old tree-bark. Stubby
horns protruded from
bald heads. Powerful claws
and cloven hooves turned
limbs into lethal weapons. Terrible racks of teeth protruded from bloody jaws. 

He said,
“
Kill everyone. In particular their leaders.
”

A body could not function without its head.

“
And then raze this whole place from the face of the earth.
”

The attack happened before dawn. Loki should have waited to annul the vampiric defence, but he
’
d never been blessed with
much foresight. He was a warrior, not a strategist. And Vices beckoned, both old and new. He called the ch
arge and, as they ran across
overgrown lawns towards the ramshackle mansion, Loki thrilled to see
vampires
start running from the shadows towards them.
At last,
he thought. A true running battle.

They pounded towards each other across the grass, meeting with a clash of blood and breaking bones. Demons fell upon vampires. Loki bounced a flying kick off the chest of one vampire, breaking its r
ibs like so many cracking twigs;
lan
ded and pivoted
to catch another
full in the face
as it leapt at him. His power was devastating. The high grass all around the mansion became a blur of struggling bodies.

From the left, outflanking them, Loki saw a pack of lycans start to charge. That was probably Hugo
’
s pack. And the vampires were led by one named Eliza- the so-called
‘
perfect
’
vampire. His inside-intelligence was top notch, and transmitted from the inner circles of Aegis, from their soon-to-be-destroyed headquarters in Northern England.

He flicked an arm. Twenty demons
peeled
off to meet the charging lycans. The sound of their meeting rang out like thunder among the trees, a detonation of animal violence and aggression.

A vampire, tall and white and bony, reared up in front of him. Loki struck quickly, pleased when the thing blocked his strikes and came back with a combination of its own. This was more like it. This was what he was born for. Sweet pleasure crept through him as he broke his adversary down, blow by blow, and ended up ripping its pale head off with a sound like old parchment tearing.

Loki raised his arms, roared, and threw the head away.

A route to the house had cleared. A quick tally told him he
had lost
twenty demons, and that his enemies body count was in the low teens, four of which he had
dispatched
himself. The demon-brood was weak. This would cut his fun short.

He turned again towards the mansion.

To see a row of humans in black body armour lining up on the crumbling steps outside, machine-pistols
at the ready.

“Oh,
shit.
”

Loki cried,
“
Tabular!
”

Every
demon suddenly
made a
break for the house. The harsh sound of gunfire rent the air as the humans opened fire, but their bullets bounced off toughened demon hide
like
they were spit balls made of paper.

Loki hung back. He was
not
immune to a bullet or two. The demon attack shielded him as precious seconds went by, and then the demons were among the humans, tearing at them with claws and hooves and jagged teeth.

Vampires and growling lycans were a split second behind, pouncing on the demons exposed backs.

Loki could see the way of it now.

“
Not this time, Loki,
”
a voice said at his side. He turned to see a female vampire, tall and almost ethereally beautiful. Something about this being said Vice Number One to the nth power.

“
Eliza,
”
he purred delightedly. At last someone worth fighting. He had to admit, she was a sight, this Eliza, clad in body-hugging shiny leather and facing him with flawless poise and balance.

“
We could tangle, you and I,” Eliza’s voice was warm honey ladled over ice-cream. “And one of us will die. But both of us will come to great harm, I promise you that.
”

“
Or?
”
Loki was constantly open to suggestion. It was how he
’
d lived this long.

“
You can go. And take what
’
s left of your pathetic army with you.
”