Dread Nemesis of Mine (33 page)

The fear reawakened in me, burning through
my stomach and inciting a cold sweat on my forehead. "Me too,
babe."

Cinder walked a short distance to a bench.
"I will sit and await your return."

Inside, Meghan spoke with Nightliss in low
tones. The angel, reclining on pillows in the bed, looked up at me.
Her lips curved up. She squeezed Meghan's hand.

"I must speak with him alone."

Meghan nodded. "Take it easy. You've been
through a lot." She looked at me. "Did you talk to Adam?"

"Yeah. Told him I'd talk to Nightliss."

Meghan nodded and left.

Nightliss patted the chair next to the bed.
"Come sit."

I dropped into the seat and took the angel's
petite hands in mind. "What in the hell happened to you?"

A tear sparkled down her cheek. "I tried to
reverse the irreversible."

"I don't understand."

"I tried to convince Daelissa her course of
action is rash and dangerous." Her green eyes looked sad. "She took
the chance to ambush me. I am still no match for her."

My hands trembled as I considered my next
question. "Look, I know you've been through a lot, but I have to
know something. How did you get here?"

Her eyes looked up, as though accessing
memories. "I only remember bits and pieces."

"Anything you can remember will be
helpful."

Her eyes widened. "Justin, you look
worried."

"We really needed to find you, and then
poof
you appeared right outside the door."

She shook her head. "And you think I may be
part of some trap."

"I'm sorry—"

"Justin, I would never hurt you." She
touched my hand, and the shaking in it stopped.

"I'm sorry." I looked down, unable to meet
her eyes. "I don't want to believe it. But it's too
convenient."

"I will tell you what I can." She touched a
finger to her chin. "I fought Daelissa. Just when I thought I would
die, there was a loud boom. A scream." Her eyes flared with fear.
"Someone grabbed me, but the world was dark. I clawed at them.
Tried to free myself. And then I must have fainted." She gasped and
looked at me. "Perhaps Daelissa brought me here. She may have done
something terrible to me, Justin."

I gripped her hands. "You're safe now. If
she did anything, I promise we'll try to help you."

Tears welled in her eyes. "Perhaps it's best
if I go away in case—"

"No!" I said, my voice louder than I'd meant
it to be. "No," I repeated in a whisper. "We need you here."

"Why?" She asked in a tremulous voice. "I
might be…
dangerous
."

"A vampling infected Adam's sister, Felicia.
She's dying."

Nightliss's eyes widened. "She has the
curse?"

"Yes."

"Is she human?"

"She's a vampire."

The angel wiped a tear from her cheek and
looked away in thought. "I can help, but I will need the blood of
her sire."

"Uh, what's a sire? Her dad?"

"The vampire who turned her."

My heart dropped. I didn't have a clue who
her sire was. She'd once told me it was Maximus, but from what I
understood, he hadn't been a vampire long enough to change others
without the severe risk of killing them and making them vamplings.
I hoped Adam knew.

"What are the odds you can heal her?" I
asked.

"Very good." Her lip curled into a cute
snarl. "I remember when my kind gave the
gift
of immortality
to humans. The Brightlings—those like Daelissa—ever spiteful of
beings they considered their lessers, insisted it come with a
price. They cursed the gift so the bearer must drink the blood of
others to survive. And should a human try to pass the gift, they
would, instead, pass on the vampling curse."

My brow furrowed. "But vampires
can
turn humans."

She nodded. "Yes. Humans are very good at
bending reality to their will. It appears somewhere in history, a
vampire was able to overcome the curse, but only after a certain
length of time. Much like anything with humans, it requires force
of will and focus."

A sense of relief warmed me in a gentle
flood. Felicia could be saved. That had to mean I could also be
saved. "Nightliss, I was bitten, too. I'm infected."

Her eyes went even wider. "No, Justin.
Please tell me this is not true."

My heart went cold at the alarm in her eyes.
"You can heal me though, right?"

Tears gathered in her eyes. She pressed
herself against me in a fierce hug. "You are demon spawn. Your kind
is much different from humans."

"But I'm half human."

She looked up at me with a tear-stained
face. "It does not matter. My kind has tried to interfere with the
work of demons. But the magic is different." She took deep breaths
and leaned back, wiping the moisture from her face. When she
regained some composure, she looked back at me. "I am so sorry, but
I cannot help you, Justin."

Cold nausea nearly overwhelmed me. I gagged
and turned away, panting with the effort of not barfing all over
the place.

She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder.
"There is so much I can't remember. I know how to rid a human or
vampire of the vampling curse, but demons and demon spawn are
beyond my abilities."

"Can't you poke around?" I asked. "Maybe
you'll get lucky."

She offered a rueful smile. "More likely, I
would kill you, or destroy your mind."

A humorless laugh burst from my mouth. "Wow,
all sorts of great choices."

"Perhaps the curse will not affect you in
the same way as a human." She shrugged. "Perhaps, like my kind, you
have some sort of natural defense against such curses."

"It's definitely doing something to me." I
told her about my hallucinations and the episode with Adam. "If the
curse doesn't kill me, it might drive me crazy."

Nightliss pressed a hand to my cheek. "I
promise I will find a way to save you, Justin. As I said, I don't
remember everything from my past. Perhaps there is an answer. If
only I could convince Daelissa to listen to me, she might also know
a cure."

A tiny sliver of hope lodged in my chest.
"Thanks," I said, voice dry. "Looks like I'd better get a move on
if I want to help Felicia."

"I am sorry I was not there for you,
Justin."

"You can't be everywhere at once."

She gave a sad shake of her head. "I was so
foolish to try to talk to Daelissa. Otherwise, I would have been
there to help you with Maximus. You might not have been
bitten."

"It sounds like you've been really busy.
All-over-the-world busy."

"Yes. There are many pieces to this puzzle,
I have found. Few are as important as you, but I must make sure
they succeed. Every thread creates a greater whole. If too many
fall, then even you will fail." She leaned back against the
pillows, her face pale, forehead beading with sweat. "I hope I can
recover quickly. There's so much more to do."

"At least you're getting a better handle on
contractions," I said, giving her a wink. "Your English is better
every time I see you."

She laughed. "And I can even count better in
English now." A sigh escaped her lips. "If only Arabic were not so
hard to learn."

"Arabic?"

"Yes, among other languages. What is
happening is very big, Justin. It makes me feel so tiny."

"You are tiny," I said, kissing her hand.
"But you've got a lot of spirit." I stood. "Maybe I should let you
rest."

"I am very tired," she said with a wide
yawn.

I was about to leave when I remembered
Cinder's question. "Oh, one more question."

She yawned. "Yes?"

"You know the gray men?"

"The golems?"

I nodded. "Uh, is it possible to turn them
into real people?"

"Into humans?"

I felt stupid for asking the question.
"Yeah. I kind of made another friend. A golem. But he’s different
than any golem I’ve met before."

Her eyes widened. "I do not know, Justin."
She tapped her chin. "I am unfamiliar with how to make such beings.
But Mr. Gray surely would."

"Somehow, I doubt he'd be willing to tell
me."

"I agree." She grunted. "There is so much I
don't know, and no one to tell me what to do. Sometimes, I feel so
lost." Her green eyes turned sad. "I just hope I'm making a
difference."

Hearing someone of her power tell me she
felt lost did
not
inspire me. Maybe that was why people in
her position usually confused their companions with vague
half-riddles, giving the impression of knowing everything, when, in
reality, they didn't know what the hell was going on either.
Nightliss had some answers, but nowhere near all of them. I
suspected not even Daelissa had all the answers. It both reassured
and frightened the padooky out of me.

I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Even
if I couldn't save myself, I could ensure Felicia survived. "You
are making a difference, Nightliss." I leaned down and kissed her
forehead. "Whatever happens, I have faith in you. Without you,
Vadaemos would have killed me. We all owe you our lives."

Tears glistened in her eyes. "It means so
much to know you believe in me, Justin."

Taking one last look at the little angel who
could, I turned and left the cabin. Elyssa was on me the second I
stepped outside.

"What did she say?"

"She can help Felicia."

Her expression froze, as if waiting for me
to continue. When I didn't, her lips parted ever so slightly. "And
you?"

I squeezed her hands and tried to speak, but
my throat went dry at the pained look on her face.

"No," she said, her voice dead. "No,
please." Tears gathered in her eyes.

"She can't help me," I said, wishing more
than anything else it wasn't true.

"Why?" She shook her head and jerked away.
"It doesn't make any sense!" Elyssa headed for the door. "She'd
better have a damned good reason—"

I looped an arm around her waist and pulled
her back. "Elyssa, don't. She needs to recover."

"She needs to cure you, damn it!"

"She can't, okay?" I took her by the
shoulders and looked into her eyes. "She can't, love. She can't."
My hand moved of its own accord to tuck a loose strand of raven
hair behind her ear. "Nightliss doesn't even know how the curse
will affect me. And who knows? Maybe I'll fight it off since I'm
not entirely human." A vile, cold feeling wormed its way up my leg
as though the curse wanted a say in this conversation. "For now, I
intend to help Felicia." I told her about our need for her
sire.

"You're sick, possibly dying from the
vampling virus, and you want to go for round two with Maximus?" She
pushed me away. "What's wrong with you?"

"Aside from my general insanity? Nothing."
My hands clenched at my sides. "Even if the curse kills me, I plan
to help Felicia and kick Maximus's smug ass."

"That's your brilliant plan?"

I nodded. "Yep. Will you help me?"

Tears clouded her eyes, streaming silently
down her cheeks. The anger in her face softened. She nodded. "You
don't even have to ask." Her left hand took mine. Pressed it to her
cheek. "I will be with you until the end, my love."

Her words brought back the image of that
fateful dream, vision, or whatever it had been when I'd nearly died
while Meghan used my blood to save Stacey from a festering
hellhound bite. The angelic dream version of Elyssa had said that
very thing. It burdened me with the foreknowledge of my own doom.
And yet, it lightened my heart with comfort to know she would be
there.

"What does your father plan to do about
Maximus?" I asked, pulling my thoughts back on track.

"He's mobilizing. Michael," she said, her
lip curling into a snarl at his name, "said Father had half of the
Atlanta legion in Colombia to help with this assault. They're still
performing perimeter duty to be sure the threat of a vampling
outbreak is contained, but he's prepping to send them back to
Atlanta today."

"Good. I hope he has plans for an urban
assault. The area around Maximus's Atlanta lair won't be as easy to
seal off. And if a news helicopter catches wind of a battle
erupting, even the Custodians are gonna have a heck of a time
containing it."

"It's tricky, but it's nothing new to my
father."

"Was that a hint of pride I heard in your
voice?" I asked, winking.

Elyssa rolled her eyes. "Maybe. He might be
a crusty old bullheaded ass, but he's also pretty good at his
job."

"Is Michael helping?"

She almost shuddered at the name. "I don't
know."

Narrowing my eyes, I said, "Okay, spill the
beans. What in the world is going on with you two? He used to be
your fave, and suddenly you act like he's the world's worst
brother."

Elyssa's mouth tightened. Her eyes looked
away. "He's working for Underborn."

Surprise sprung my jaw open. "Say what?"

She told me all about a visit from Underborn
and a hulking figure in black. How she'd fought him and figured out
who he was. She also told me about the Key of Juranthemon and how
she'd nearly stolen it from Underborn. I imagined a hefty steel key
with a head shaped like a skull, twin rubies for eyes. It had to
look pretty badass with a name like that.

Her story also kicked loose a suspicion I'd
had about Michael but never been able to pin down. Now, I felt
pretty certain what that tingling sensation had been. "I think your
brother's been working for Underborn for quite a while."

She raised an eyebrow. "How would you
know?"

"If I'm right, he saved me from moggy
mutilation and a swarm of gray men."

"What are you talking about?"

It seemed so long ago, but, in reality, it
hadn't been more than a couple of months. "When I didn't know what
I was, I went looking for Stacey. One of her moggies jumped me and
almost bit off my face. Someone whooshed past and sliced off its
head." My chest pounded faster at the horrifying memory. "And when
you and I were looking for Underborn in the Grotto and the gray men
attacked, a big dude in black jumped down and sliced them to
bits."