Dread Nemesis of Mine (34 page)

"I was unconscious, but I remember you
telling me about it later." Elyssa gave a slow shake of her head.
"I don't understand. Why would he work for that snake? Why would he
betray me like that?"

"I think he did it for you."

Her forehead wrinkled. "You've gotta be
kidding."

I shrugged. "Think about it. He's known for
a while you and I were tied together. I'm sure Underborn let him
read Foreseeance Forty-Three Eleven. Knowing the way that slime
ball operates, he knew your brother wouldn't say no to an
opportunity to protect you, especially with inside knowledge."

"But he could've done that without joining
Underborn." She huffed out a breath. "He could've told me."

"First of all, I'm sure Underborn didn't
tell him everything. He probably told Michael just enough and
guaranteed him more if he gave his word." I chuckled. "I can
guarantee you Michael didn't join Underborn to help me."

The hint of a smile brightened her face.
"Thank you," she said, her voice wavering.

"For what?"

She gripped my hand and kissed me. "For
making me feel better."

"Justin, I hope this is not an inopportune
time to ask you a question," said a calm voice from a short
distance away.

Elyssa and I jumped.

Cinder still sat on a bench twenty feet
away, his form so still I hadn't noticed him.

"If this is one of those girlfriend things
you mentioned, I can wait." His shoulders went up in a stiff
shrug.

"Um, actually I do have an answer for you,"
I said, hoping the answer didn't break his little golem heart.
"Nightliss doesn't know if you can become real or not."

He stood and nodded. After a brief pause,
his lips turned down into a very glum frown, almost as frightening
as his horrific smiles.

"Oh, god, make him stop," Elyssa said,
looking away.

"Until I get you some soap operas to watch,
maybe it's best if you lay off the body language," I said, feeling
sorry for him.

His features snapped back to default.
"Perhaps that is best, Justin. I don't wish to frighten
anyone."

"We need to get a move-on," Elyssa said.
"I'll find out what plans my father has. Maybe we can coordinate
with him."

"I'll get the gang together."

"Uh, who would that be?"

"Bella, Meghan, Adam." I pursed my lips in
thought. "I guess Fausta—"

"No," Elyssa said, voice firm. "First of
all, she's bound to her unit here. Second of all, I can't stand
that bossy bi—"

"And Fausta's off the list," I said,
grinning. "How about Katie?"

"Now I know you're just testing me." She
stuck out her tongue.

I laughed. "You've gotta admit, she's proven
herself capable."

Elyssa nodded. "She might have actually
graduated from being an irritating little bi—"

"Geez, babe, you're determined to use that
word, aren't you?"

"If the shoe fits, wear it."

I shrugged. "Even though she helped rescue
me, she's just human." It felt very strange to say those words, I
realized.

"Yeah." My girlfriend tugged me toward the
buildings in the center of the compound. "She wouldn't last
long."

"Not without an automatic rifle at least." I
motioned Cinder to follow us and we made our way toward the
building with the briefing room in it.

By the time we saw the building, it was
obvious something big was up. Templars and other personnel swarmed
the area. Elyssa stopped a guy as he emerged from the building.

"What's going on?"

"Artemis Coronus is in there. He just
ordered us to stand down."

Elyssa frowned. "He can't give an order like
that. Not without—"

The man shook his head. "The Grand Master
sent the order." With that, he stalked away, face grim.

We waded through the crowd of Templars until
we could see inside the briefing room.

"Clearly, a military solution did not work,"
said a tall man in a long, red robe at the front of the room, his
voice pompous. "Many lives were lost and the leader of this vampire
rebellion escaped."

I studied the man, noting how his attire
looked like he'd just stepped from the set of a movie about the
Roman Empire.

"The Divinity has spoken. The Grand Master
and the Synod have voted. The Templars are to stand down from this
conflict. Our duty now turns to shepherding negotiations."

Christian Salazar stood from his seat at the
side of the podium. "Honorable Knight, you do us great honor with
your presence. However, Maximus has never responded to our attempts
at diplomacy. His army represented a growing cancer in this city.
We had to act before it metastasized."

Artemis nodded gravely. "Perhaps we should
have stepped in sooner, Commander Salazar. The Synod feels
confident Maximus will respond to us. Even the Divinity granted us
clarity on this matter."

"If I may speak," Thomas Borathen said,
standing.

The Templar Knight narrowed his eyes.
"Despite your circumvention of the Synod's orders, and assaulting
the vampires, I will allow your voice to be heard."

"First, the Synod's orders were never
circumvented," Thomas said. "The vote had not yet been cast.
Second, we have evidence the Divinity, an entity who goes by the
name Daelissa, is directly involved with Maximus."

"Cease your blasphemies!" Artemis boomed.
"The Divinity has guided our holy mission for thousands of years. I
will not hear you speak of it this way."

"My daughter heard the truth of the matter
straight from the Divinity's own lips," Thomas said, face
defiant.

"The Divinity reveals herself only to the
Synod," Artemis said, eyes glowing with anger. "To claim otherwise
is blasphemy and untruth."

Anger boiled in my stomach. I felt my fists
tighten. Heard my knuckles crack. This idiot didn't know what he
was talking about.

"Should you continue to spout such lies,
Commander Borathen, we may have no choice but to relieve you of
leadership." The knight put a gloved hand under his chin. "The
Synod is aware your daughter had—how to put it
politely—psychological issues, which you deemed damaging enough to
order her to take the White."

"It was an error on my part," Thomas
growled.

"You have not made many command errors
during your service," Artemis said, his voice taking on an
insulting air of pity. "But where progeny are involved, it is easy
to let one's judgment be clouded. Still, not every child of a
Templar is sturdy enough to
become
a Templar."

"My daughter—"

"Your daughter proved reckless and
immature." The knight sliced the air with his hand. "She let evil
guide her and it sounds as though you have done nothing more to
help her. Her morally corrupt—"

"You, sir, are a blithering idiot!" My face
burned with rage.

All heads turned to me.

The knight turned to me, his eyes bright
with outrage. "How dare you speak to me in such a manner,
Templar."

"Elyssa Borathen is not evil or morally
corrupt,
sir
. But I can tell you who is. The Divinity, aka
Daelissa, aka the brains behind Maximus's operation and god only
knows what else." Artemis tried to speak, but I cut him off.
"Daelissa is using her influence to pit the Synod against the
Templars now. She wants all the factions to be weak so when her
people invade, the Overworld won't be able to resist."

"Blasphemy!" Artemis said, his face glowing
red. "Who is this Templar?"

A thin man with stooped shoulders stepped
from a dark corner in the front of the room and spoke into the
Templar Knight's ear. Artemis's back went stiff at whatever he
heard.

His finger stabbed toward me. "He is not a
Templar. This
boy
is the demon spawn known as Justin Slade.
He is the instigator of this sordid mess."

"Daelissa started it," I said. "Not me. But I
sure as hell intend to finish it."

"You will finish nothing, boy." The knight
pointed at me. "Arrest him."

A sea of Templars turned my way.

I became acutely aware of my vulnerability in
the midst of the tightly packed room. Even with my strength, I
couldn't hope to fight my way free of this many trained soldiers,
each one with supernatural abilities of their own.

"Arrest me? On what charge?" I said, my voice
cracking like the time I'd had to read a love letter aloud in tenth
grade English.

"Almost too numerous to list," Artemis said,
his voice calm and cold. "The Divinity detailed your most heinous
crimes to us. Hers is the absolute authority."

"Then name them."
Asshat.

"He hasn't done anything wrong," Elyssa said,
gripping my arm.

"So says the one most corrupted by him," the
knight said. "You, child, are troubled. This boy has led you down a
path of darkness and moral iniquity."

"I will hear no more slander against my
daughter," Thomas said. "Not even from a Templar Knight."

"Then it pains me to do this, Thomas
Borathen, but your judgment is obviously too clouded where your
daughter is concerned." The knight scowled. "I am of the opinion
you are no longer fit for command. By the power vested in me, I
hereby relieve you of duty and assume command of your legion,
effective immediately."

Shocked murmurs echoed throughout the
room.

"I completely disagree with this decision,"
Salazar said, standing. "And I must also point out only the Grand
Master and a complete vote by the Synod can relieve Commander
Borathen."

The knight nodded. "True, true. But I do have
the authority to place him on temporary leave and assume command
until a vote is passed."

"If the Divinity has her hooks in you, it's
pretty obvious how that vote will go," I said.

Artemis's face hardened. "Why is this boy
still in here? Did I not order him arrested?"

Again, nearby Templars gave me uneasy looks,
but nobody made a move to restrain me.

"Belay that order," Christian said. His eyes
met mine. "Justin, it might be best if you leave."

"You cannot disregard my orders," Artemis
said. "To do so invites your own suspension, Commander
Salazar."

"You can try to suspend me all you like,"
Christian said. "But I doubt you'll find many takers here."

A loud cry went up from the assembled
Templars. "Hooah!"

Or they might have said "Hoo-hah." I wasn't
really sure, but the sudden uproar startled the crap out of me.

Christian raised an eyebrow and smiled.
"Answer enough, Honorable Knight?" He stepped forward. "I call for
an Imperator Concilium. The leadership of the Synod is in
question."

Artemis's face went purple. "To do so would
be an illegal order since you are no longer in command,
Salazar!"

"You never gave the order relieving me of
command, Honorable Knight. Therefore, I have the privilege to call
forth a council of commanders." Christian smiled, baring his teeth.
"Procedure and Templar law dictate that, should the Synod's loyalty
to the cause come into question, the commanders must meet and vote
on whether to dissolve the Synod and elect new members."

"This is an outrage," Artemis said. "You can
be certain, reports of this treachery will be spread to the other
commanders so they can see how poisoned this legion has
become."

Grumbles and angry stares from the crowd
turned on the knight.

"Poisoned, my ass," said a voice from
nearby.

"I'm gonna stick my honorable foot up his
honorable ass," muttered someone else.

Christian shrugged. "Since I took the liberty
of recording this session, I'll be happy to pass it on to the other
legion commanders. In the meantime, Honorable Knight, it might
perhaps be best if you took your leave and reported back to the
council."

Artemis seemed ready to launch another salvo
when the thin man reappeared from the shadows and whispered into
the knight's ear. Artemis scowled and straightened. "You can be
certain the Divinity will not be pleased. Beware her wrath,
Salazar." He stormed up the stairs in the auditorium, long red robe
sweeping behind him, trailed only by the thin man. As he passed
near me he stopped and glared. "
You
are the cancer, spawn.
May the Divinity wipe your kind from the face of our fair Eden."
With that sweet little pronouncement, he turned and left.

The thin man paused a moment. Looked at me, a
greasy smile spreading across his face. His skin looked especially
pale and doughy in the light. "Good day, Your Excellence," he said,
flourishing a mocking bow, and leaving.

I stood, stunned for a moment by the odd
behavior when it occurred to me where I'd heard that cockney accent
and mocking salutation before.
Mr. Bigglesworth.

"Stop that man!" I shouted, pushing through
the crowd.

Unfortunately, while the crowd parted for the
Knight Templar, it didn't for me, closing in behind the departing
guest and making it a struggle to get through, despite my shouts to
make way. After working our way outside, Elyssa and I watched as a
slider disguised as a jet lifted into the air and flew away.

"Son of a biyatch!" I shouted, smacking my
fist into my palm. "It was Bigglesworth."

"I knew the voice sounded familiar," Elyssa
said. "Not to mention the attitude."

"When I catch that—that
thing
, I'm
going to puree him in a blender, dump in a bunch of flour and bake
his gooey ass into cupcakes."

Elyssa gagged. "That's disgusting."

A sudden flood of Templars formed an exodus
from the auditorium, rushing in all directions with a sense of
purpose. Elyssa and I waited for the crowd to disperse and went
inside where we found Thomas and Christian huddled over an image on
the conference table.

Elyssa went to her father and pecked him on
the cheek.