God Hammer: A novel of the Demon Accords (5 page)

“And Chet has brought in all these wonderkin.  That’s now become one of the projects they’re going to be working on.  Although I want to introduce you to Chet and have you tell him what you know about it.  But first, if you’re done here?” I asked because he was capping his marker and picking up his jacket.  He nodded.  “Then let’s get your stuff from your car and show you your rooms.  Tomorrow… well actually, later today, we can have you meet Chet and figure out your schedule.  There will be some training involved, by which I mean Tanya training.”

He groaned a little.  “I actually thought that might be the case, but was hoping for a few days off.  Jenks’ final exam was brutal and I’m still sore,” he said.

“How is my buddy Jenks?  Did he mention our little talk?” I asked.

Declan looked at me in surprise.  “No, he didn’t.  Ah, when did you talk to him?”

“Remember when we showed up to start your Demidova-approved workouts?” I asked.  He nodded.  “Well, about an hour before that first morning, I cornered him in his room and explained my personal expectations concerning treatment of all students and one in particular.”

His eyes got wide.  “No way?”

“Oh yeah.  Big way,” I answered.  “Good thing he’s a werewolf or his bones would never have healed in time for class that morning.”

“Shit.  I wish I could have seen it. Or at least a video of it,” he said, momentarily shaking off his fatigue. 

“Come on.  Let’s get your stuff and get you settled.  You’ll have a few days before you start workouts, if only because we need you to ward the building.  But why don’t you plan on meeting Stacia in the corporate cafeteria at, say, two p.m.  She’ll guide you through the most crucial parts of the building till about dinner, say seven p.m. and then we’ll meet, introduce you to Chet, and talk about Anvil.”

“You don’t have to waste Stacia’s time babysitting me.  I’ll be okay,” he said.

“Not a waste of time for team members to get to know you better, and you them.  Plus, my security people are pains in the asses, which is a quality we look for when we hire them.  Within a few days, they’ll all know you, but this will stop any awkward incidents before they happen.”

“I can handle myself, you know,” he said.

“Oh I know.  I’m not worried about my guys hurting you, Declan… it’s
their
health I’m concerned about.  Oh and by the way?  Maybe when you get up this afternoon, you could return the elevator shaft to normal?  The repair guys are baffled.”

“Yeah, but it’ll take a little longer to get it back.  I had a lot of energy to work with, so unless we’re gonna drop another car, I’ll need to trickle it in from various places,” he said.  “You guys had a plan already, didn’t you?  I kinda jumped the gun, didn’t I?”

“We had a plan… we were going to use our combined control of vampire techniques to repel the elevator.  Tanya calculated that it would have saved maybe eighty percent of the people inside.  Your plan saved all of them, with only a few bruises.  I’ll take that kind of gun jumping any day,” I said, leading him back down the access stairs to one of the elevators he had just warded.

“Oh.  That’s cool then, but just so as you know—falling elevators and fires and explosions and buildings are all in my wheelhouse.  If there’s rushing water or oceans, then I’m out of my element… so to speak.”

Most kids… scratch that… most
people
would be puffed up with bloated egos and entitlement issues if they had a tenth of this kid’s power, and here he was telling me his limitations so I wouldn’t be too disappointed if we ran into something he wasn’t equipped for.  Amazing.

I thought Chris might have been exaggerating when he mentioned that I had
rooms
.  Turns out he was understating it.  I had my own suite.  A bedroom that was bigger than the one I shared with Mack at Arcane, a living room with a big flatscreen and game console, mini-kitchenette with a microwave, sink, and refrigerator stocked with cold drinks, and finally a big bathroom with an even bigger tiled shower with three showerheads.

Exhausted, I slept like the dead till about quarter of one in the afternoon and then took a twenty-minute shower without having anyone waiting impatiently for their turn.  The thing had a sound system that I could plug my phone into, and the three heads pulsed water in time to whatever music was playing.  After that, I drank an ice-cold energy drink while getting dressed, periodically looking at the view outside the building—on the flatscreen.  My suite didn’t have any windows because it was underground.  Turns out that there were at least four floors underground and that’s where the vampires’ quarters were.  The executive offices were at the top of the building, but the sleeping apartments were deep underground, which made sense, especially in light of the attacks they’d been having from that rogue program.

Dressed in comfortable jeans, well broken-in shoes, an old Rowan West t-shirt in dark blue, and equipped with my workbag of Sharpies, rune stamps, a few herbs and essential oils, and lots of ink, I headed out to find the corporate dining hall.

Easy enough to accomplish, as it took up almost the whole eleventh floor.  The actual dining room was bigger than Arcane’s gym and was very posh.  It looked expensive—so expensive that I thought maybe I had the wrong place.  But the hostess just smiled at me, glanced at my ID card clipped on my belt, and asked if I wanted a window seat or interior seat.

The view was incredible and it focused my attention outward and not on my fellow diners, who were human and mostly dressed in suits and ties.  Almost made me wish I had put my other suit on.  Almost.  But no one paid my clothes any mind and a snappy waiter took my lunch order from a menu without prices. 

I was halfway through a cup of crab bisque when high, clear female voices caught my attention. 

A trio of female interns was coming through the door, led by the hostess, and damned if the really pretty brunette from Down Under wasn’t right in the middle, between a tall, cute black girl and another girl who, God help me, was the walking persona of a geek, complete with dark-rimmed glasses, baggy jeans, and a t-shirt that said
I take my Pi warmed to the eleventh degree, 3.14159265359.

I glanced away before they could see me watching, but the hostess led them right over to the table next to mine and they obviously saw me.  In fact, they all came to a stop next to my table and when I looked up, they were staring at me. 

“G’day, I’m Grace. This is Aleesha and Joni,” the girl with the accent said.

“Ah, hi, I’m Declan,” I said, ridiculously happy I’d gotten that out without tripping over my words. 

“We know.  We also know you saved us yesterday when the elevator fell, so we just wanted to say thanks.  Whatever you did, it was brilliant,” Grace said and I got hung up on the way
brilliant
rolled off her tongue.

“Ah, well, you’re welcome.  Rough way to start an internship,” I said.

“Right?” Aleesha agreed. “One moment, things are fine and the next, the damned elevator is free falling and we’re floating on the damned ceiling!”

“That’s terrifying,” I said, thinking that it really must have been.

“Aye, I was sure we were going ta cark it, but the bodgy thing rolled to a stop and it was all she’ll be apples.  So good on ya mate, yer blood’s worth bottling,” Grace said, smiling.

I had almost no idea what she’d said, but she seemed happy with me and I got the general gist of her comments, although the blood part was weird and it must have shown.

“I think she means you were really, really helpful,” Aleesha said.

“Oh, it’s just that we work with vampires and so I pay attention when anyone mentions blood.  Especially mine,” I said.

They blinked at me and each other, as if they had forgotten where they worked and who else worked here.

“Yeah, about that… any words of advice?  You seem to be tight with them,” Joni asked, looking over her shoulder.

“Well, first off, it’s two in the afternoon, so almost none of the Darkkin are up yet and you don’t need to be looking about for them.  Tanya could be, but it would be unusual, I think.  Oh, this is important—don’t stare into their eyes.  It could be construed as a challenge.  That goes double for weres—no staring unless you’re calling them out.  Don’t call them out without a tank or infantry platoon to back you up.  If you get a cut for any reason, cover it as fast as possible.  Wash and Band-Aid.  In fact, it’s not a bad idea to carry a few Band-Aids.  The older ones have control, so it’s the young ones, I think, that you need to be real careful around.  Don’t lie to either weres or Darkkin—they can tell—it’s a
hear your heart rate and smell your sweat
kinda thing.  I guess that’s most of it.  Common sense, I would say, though I don’t really know any young vamps, just older ones, and I know more weres than vamps.”

They all stared at me.  Finally Grace spoke.  “How do you know all that?”

“I’m guessing that you know a thing or two about avoiding the dangers of your country, right?  Snakes, spiders, salt water crocs, and sharks?” I asked.

“We don’t all live in the bush, ya know.  It’s not all Crocodile Dundee,” she said, frowning.

“Yeah, but don’t you have like a half dozen of the most poisonous snakes in the world, and I know you have funnel-web spiders like right in Sydney,” I said.

“True,” she said with a slight smile.

“Well, I grew up exposed to the supernatural world, at least some parts of it, and others I’ve been part of more recently.”

“How are you hooked up with
him
,” Aleesha asked.  I was pretty sure I could safely guess who
he
was.

“Long, long story,” I said, not wanting to explain more of my weirdness. They waited to see if I would tell it, but I just kept quiet.

“Well, the man obviously wants his privacy,” Joni said, turning toward their table.

Grace suddenly yanked out the chair across from mine and sat down. 

“And now, apparently, we’re sitting
here
,” Joni said in the tone of someone who is expecting to not be listened to.

“How did you do it?” Grace asked, intensely curious.

“Do what?” I asked, although I had my suspicions.

“Stop the lift.  How could ya hack it that quick?” she asked.

I froze up, trying to think of what to say.

“The repair blokes were completely baffled.  I heard them.  Said the bloody thing was stuffed into its shaft,” she said, which reminded me that I had to fix it.  But what to tell them?

“Oh, I’ve seen that look before.  Usually just before a dude tries to baffle me with bullshit,” Aleesha said.

“Actually, I think he’s trying to figure out how much you’ll be able to handle,” a new voice said.  They turned to find Stacia standing behind them, dressed in designer jeans and a green shirt that set off her eyes.

“Are you saying he thinks he’s smarter than us?” Joni asked, frowning mightily.

“No, I’m saying you don’t have the reference points to work from.  Let’s say you three tried to tell me about… I don’t know… computer programming.  I wouldn’t know a tenth of what you said.  It’s not my thing.  You’re all top of your classes in computer science or mathematics right?  But how much do you all know about the world of werewolves?” she asked. “Or vampires?  Or other supernaturals?”

“Others?” Grace asked.

“Did you think it was limited to demons, angels, vampires, and weres?” Stacia asked.  “It’s a big, wide supernatural world out there and he’s top of his class at Supernatural U—literally.”

They considered that for a moment, then Grace turned back to me. “Where
do
you go to uni?” she asked.  After a second, I realized she meant my college.

“You’ve never heard of it.  But I do take classes at the University of Vermont,” I said.

“But that’s not your school?” Aleesha pressed.

“My degree will be from there, but my actual school is something different… really different,” I said.  They frowned, beginning to get angry at all the mystery.  I glanced at Stacia, and she gave me a little nod.

“It’s called Arcane.  It’s very small and very… specialized,” I said.

They waited, but I didn’t elaborate. 

“How specialized?” Joni finally asked.

“A third of the kids turn furry under a full moon, a large percentage of the girls can kill you with a whisper, and Stephen King would be right at home,” Stacia said.

“Kill you with a whisper?  You talking witches?” Aleesha asked, eyes wide.

“Bingo,” Stacia said.

Aleesha whipped around to me.  “You go to school with witches?” She looked truly scared.

I nodded.

“Like real spells and curses witches?” she pressed.

“Yes,” I said, waiting to see what would come of it.

“Don’t you know you don’t mess with no damned witches?  Not ever!” she said, looking into my eyes to make sure I was getting it.  Beside her, Grace looked uncomfortable, but Joni looked mad.

“Bullshit!  That’s a bunch of superstitious crap,” Joni said.

“Oh?” Stacia asked, her voice a little deeper, making me sit up.  “Like werewolves are just legend?”

“Well
I’ve
never seen a werewolf, just grainy video, so as far as I’m concerned, the jury is out,” Joni challenged, confirming that she was a secret badass who was about to die a horrible death.  After Washington, the whole world knew there was at least one werewolf and now she was standing six feet away.

Stacia’s eyes went yellow—bright, glowing yellow, and her skin seemed to ripple. All three girls sucked in a breath and Joni pushed back. I jumped up.  “Okay, on that note, we’re leaving.  You guys keep this table; we’ll just head over here,” I said, stepping away from my chair, keeping my body loose and facing Stacia’s, which pulled her attention to me and a little away from Joni.  As I intended. 

A foolish person in this situation would possibly touch the werewolf to pull them away from the challenge. A foolish person might then lose an arm, ripped clean from its socket. Aunt Ash didn’t raise any fools, so I just used my posture and body language to capture more of Stacia’s focus.  Sudden, decisive movement does wonders for a predator’s attention.

The waiter was headed our way but slowed as he took in the tension.  I caught his eye.  “Miss Reynolds and I need a different table.  And some sliced roast beef, maybe a half cow’s worth.”

Stacia looked from me to the waiter, then back.  She frowned as the words worked through her anger, then she took a breath and turned abruptly from all of us and strode across the room to a different table, where she pulled out a chair and sat down, back to us.

“Remember the whole stare in the eyes and challenge thing?  I said
don’t
do it.  First lesson failed.  Enjoy lunch.” And then I went to sit with my pissed-off werewolf friend.

“I wasn’t going to pull anyone apart you know,” Stacia said, doing exactly that to a roll. 

“Well, I’m used to teenage werewolves who freak out easily, but for what it’s worth, I didn’t think you would, either.  Mostly, I thought it might be a teachable moment to your summer staff,” I replied, grabbing a roll for myself.