Dread Nemesis of Mine (48 page)

"Dad said they rounded up at least twenty,
but he's certain there are a lot more. He doesn't even know what to
do with them. It's like a whole new class of super."

"Well, they don't need blood, and they don't
need to seduce women for food." I shrugged. "Maybe he could train
them as Templars?"

"That's one idea. He doesn't want to just cut
them loose without guarantees they won't abide by Overworld law."
She sighed. "It's a huge mess. I don't even want to think about the
ones who weren't in range of the spell."

"Not to mention anyone else Maximus turned
that we don't know about."

"With him in prison, there are plenty of
vampiric orphans out there. Most of them probably don't know a
thing about Overworld law or the Red Syndicate." Elyssa shrugged.
"Guess we'll have to deal with them as things happen."

"Any idea how many we're talking about?"

She shook her head. "The Arcanes are digging
through Maximus's records for clues. Dash Armstrong put wards on
his files, though, so breaking into them will take time."

After dinner, we headed to Arcanus Apparatus,
a popular night club. Music boomed from inside, and I was thankful
I'd instinctually figured out how to lower the sensitivity of my
super hearing so I didn't get a migraine. When we stepped through
the vestibule, I gasped at the sight of the dance floor. People our
age were boogying in what looked like a magic forest, while
unicorns and little glowing fairies zipped through the air,
touching magic wands to some couples, causing them to float off the
floor with hoots of enjoyment. I saw werewolves and vampires
bumping and grinding, and even a couple of supernatural types I
didn't recognize.

"Fairies are real!" I said. "And unicorns, oh
my god, I want one!"

Elyssa laughed. "This is all illusion,
silly." She put her hand up in front of a fairy, but it went right
through like a ghost. "And I've already found my unicorn." She gave
me a naughty wink before pulling me close for a kiss.

We danced for hours, enjoying the freedom to
let go and just be kids again. Somehow, I managed to forget about
everything, at least for a little while. When the lights came on
and the illusions shut down to reveal a large white room, everyone
groaned. I checked the time and almost had a heart attack when I
noticed it was almost two in the morning.

A cold ache had settled into my leg, but I
did the best to ignore the cancerous curse in my body. For now, it
seemed to have stopped spreading, or at least slowed its march
through my system. I wondered if my dual nature might afford me
some protection from the inevitable, or if I was doomed to watch,
helpless, as it consumed me.

Elyssa seemed to catch my change in mood, and
her violet eyes filled with concern. "Are you okay?"

I smiled. There was still plenty to be happy
about. Plenty to look forward to. "Yep. Just wondering if your dad
was serious about that curfew."

She laughed.

"'Scuse me, Your Highness," said a very
familiar voice as the crowd squeezed through the doors outside. A
hand pressed into my pocket. I tried to grab the hand, but it
slipped away like greased putty.

As we stood in the darkness outside, our
breaths steaming in the cold night, I looked at what the hand had
left. It was a piece of paper. I opened it.

Bigdaddy found out what you did to my spell,
bro-bro. Not nice at all. I know you can't help being evil. That
means, I gotta stop you. >:(

*smoochies* -Ivy

Elyssa scowled as she looked at the note.
"Well, I guess you'd better start training."

I balled up the note and tossed it into one
of the magical trash cans nearby, which incinerated it the moment
it landed inside. Grabbed Elyssa's hand and twirled her around as
we waited on the next trolley to take us to the parking deck. "My
twisted little sister can wait her turn," I said, and pulled her in
for a kiss. "For now, I plan on making this a night to
remember."

She bit her lower lip. Leaned into my ear and
whispered a suggestion that almost caught my pants on fire.

True, my sister and evil grandparents were
out there plotting with an insane angel. My dad was about to marry
his demon princess. And my mom might be an angel. Stranger things
had happened. Or maybe they hadn't. I didn't care.

Because the night was still young, I had my
beautiful girlfriend, and saving the world could wait another
day.

###

John Corwin has been making stuff up all his
life. As a child he would tell his sisters he was an alien clone of
himself and would eat tree bark to prove it.

In middle school, John started writing for
realz. He wrote short stories about Fargo McGronsky, a young boy
with anger management issues whose dog, Noodles, had been hit by a
car. The violent stories were met with loud acclaim from classmates
and a great gnashing of teeth by his English teacher.

Years later, after college and successful
stints as a plastic food wrap repairman and a toe model for GQ,
John once again decided to put his overactive imagination to paper
for the world to share and became an author.

Connect with John Corwin online:

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/johnhcorwinauthor

Blog
http://johncorwin.blogspot.com/

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/John_Corwin

Books by John Corwin:

Overworld Chronicles:

Sweet Blood of Mine

Dark Light of Mine

Fallen Angel of Mine

Dread Nemesis of Mine

Stand Alone Novels:

No Darker Fate

The Next Thing I Knew

Outsourced

Seventh