God of the Abyss (23 page)

“How long will it take to get here?” he paused. “I
will expect you then.” He didn’t sound happy with whoever was on the phone as
he hung up and walked into the living room.

Mordon rolled his eyes.
“That is why I nearly
recognized the smell, and why it was off,”
he looked at me.
“He’s alive.
This is before he died. We’ve gone back in time.”

“It would seem so,”
I said, looking around for
a calendar.

Ronez wore only jeans and his hair was wet, but it
was longer than normal. It went to his shoulders and had a few streaks that
were clearly blue, even while wet. He closed the cabinets to the DVDs and
started unplugging the game systems before setting them on the floor beside the
couch. Then he pulled out a small black sheet from behind the couch and covered
them.

Mordon yanked on my arm, trying to get me to duck
back into the kitchen, but I patted his hand. Movement attracted attention,
especially in the peripheral vision, and we were as good as caught already… but
this was my father and we could talk our way out of any trouble. If nothing
else, I’ve been told I look just like him and I could prove I was his son.
Besides, he had seen me several times before he was killed.

Ronez then turned and went back into the kitchen,
overlooking us completely. We both sat there in confusion; Ronez should have
seen us. The man returned with his coffee, sat in the leather chair, and turned
the TV on. Mordon’s eyes went wide and I choked as
ALF
was playing.

“What is that?!”
Mordon asked.

“ALF. Alien Life Form. It only ran from 1986 to
1990, but it was one of those staples of the eighties.”

There was a knock at the door and when Ronez answered
it, I could have been pushed over with a feather. The woman who stood there,
heavily pregnant, was barely recognizable. After all, she had no blood on her
face, a cigarette sticking out of her mouth, or a beer in her hand. Her light
blond hair was even done up with curls and burets.

“What’s wrong?”
Mordon asked me.

“That’s my mother.”
Only younger… and
pregnant. Even heavily pregnant, she wore a denim miniskirt, flip-flops, and a
white tank-top. Since when did they make maternity-sized miniskirts?

“What took you?”

“It’s hard enough drivin’ around Houston at three in
heavy traffic when the air condition’s broken without a giant mountain in yur
lap.” She made an obscene gesture to her own swollen stomach. “There was
another earthquake again. I tell ya, this baby is cursed. Here’s the
ultrasounds.” She dug through her huge purse and pulled out an envelope.

“Never talk like my mother. She never could grasp
the English language. Hick to her bones,”
I warned Mordon when I felt his
stare. I couldn’t blame him; I was the first to correct anyone’s grammar in
English and I encouraged him to correct and berate me if I used Sudo wrong.

Ronez took the small package and pulled out pictures.
“It’s a boy!” he said, grinning.

“Yeah, that happens sometimes,” she said,
unimpressed.

Ronez pulled a wad of money out of his pocket and
started to hand it to her before pulling it back. “Are you eating the stuff I
got you?”

“Yeah, of course, even the pills.” She yanked the
money out of his hand and shoved it in her purse. “Don’t believe those pills
you said are good for babies. I think it’s a waste of money but since it’s yur
money, don’t really care. When you moving in? I told you if you think you’re
gonna leave me to take care of this baby alone I’ll get rid of it.”

Ronez glared at her and she shivered. “You will not
harm my baby. I will move in with you and take care of you and my baby, but you
will do as I tell you to. Never forget that you’re not important. That baby is.
If you threaten him, you’re putting yourself in a very dangerous position.”

“Well, yur boy is in me right now so if you want him
safe, you do as
I
say!” she yelled. Quick as lightning, he slammed his
fist into the wall beside her head and growled. She shrieked and snapped her
mouth shut, pressing herself against the closed door.

“Another word like that out of your mouth and you
will wake up in a lab, strapped to a table for the next month. Then when my
baby is born, you will be found in the lake and all records of you will be
wiped clean. You will be buried as a Jane Doe. Nobody would know, and nobody
would care. Do you understand how little you mean to me?” he asked. My mother
nodded, shaking with fear.

I put my hands over Mordon’s ears when he stared at
Ronez with shock. That wasn’t the man either of us knew.

“Good. Now, you are going to go home and have a
healthy lunch and focus on taking care of that baby. I will move in and take
care of you the way you always wanted to be taken care of financially. Do not
get confused; I will
not
marry you. I will not be your man or your
husband or your anything. I know you like your men rough and you can go out and
do whatever you want after my son is born, as long as you never bring that scum
near him.”

My mother left in a hurry and without another word.

“He wasn’t lying about any of that,”
Mordon
said. I stood up and started pacing.
“What are you doing?!”
he asked,
looking at Ronez. I didn’t even have to turn to know my father was undisturbed.

“He can’t see or hear us. It was like with the boys,
before I opened the void. That was my mother, younger and pregnant. ALF only
ran from 1986 to 1990,” I said.

“You said that already.”

“I’m just being paranoid. I’ve been watching too many
movies. Besides, that was a PS2 that he… hid… when he knew someone was coming.
And the DVD’s, too. I’m not paranoid.”

“Oh, yes you are.”

“I mean about this. This is 1989. That was my mother,
and this is 1989.”

Mordon stood. “It’s just like one of those movies
you’re always talking about,” he walked up to my father and studied him. “Did
he change? Or is this really him, hiding away behind a kind smile and sarcastic
bite?”

“I don’t know. A lot can happen to people in thirty
years, and this is 1989.”

“You keep saying the date. Duran calendar system,
remember? I have no idea if that date is significant.” He started turning back
to me and paused. “Oh, look at that.”

I went to his side and saw a glass apple, sitting on
the table. I looked at Ronez. “What’s with the apples? Can someone give me a
simple answer? I’m tired of the omen stuff.” Of course, my father didn’t hear
me; he just kept staring at the picture like it was the most beautiful thing he
had ever seen.

“I think it was just fear,” Mordon said. “He was
afraid your mother would hurt you before he could stop it so the only thing he
could think of on the spot was to scare her. He would have followed through
with it, but he didn’t want to have to. Actually, when he was threatening her,
I could really see that he was your father, not Edward.”

“But you knew he was my father.”

“Yes, I knew that. What I mean is that Edward and
Ronez are very different in personalities. Edward always struck me as more
fatherly to you. He treats you like his son, and I always saw his personality
in you. Of course, you have Ronez’s sarcasm, but you are more dedicated and
focused on your responsibility to protect people, like Edward. I never saw
Ronez as serious. But now I see it; you both have that… tactic to protect your
family.”

“Tactic?”

“No, that’s the wrong word. But you both can be
extremely… psychotic acting when you threaten someone for hurting your family.
And the really creepy part is that you will definitely follow through.”

I didn’t like that. First, the gods said I act like
Vretial, and then Mordon said I act psychotic. Sure, I was eccentric sometimes,
but it was an effective method for scaring the enemy… which was probably the
reason Vretial acted that way. I didn’t want to be like Vretial, but how was I
different? By taking revenge on the demon who tried to hurt Mordon, by giving
the man who threatened Ron over to Divina, by taking the alpha werewolf’s
powers, I was deciding who lived, who died, and who was punished. And I was
able to decide that because I was powerful, not just in magic but in my
friends.

I listened to Divina’s word that Vretial was a bad
god, but I still sought him out. I would try to destroy him if he went after my
children, but until he did, he was useful to me. How was I any better than him?
He took Avoli’s world, though I couldn’t see Avoli being a successful god in
the first place. There were two problems with that; my son was supposed to be
his Noquodi and I didn’t have the right to determine if Avoli was a capable god
or not.

“Let’s just figure out what we came here to find
out,” I said.

Mordon moved around Ronez to examine the desk at the
same time Ronez moved to go to the door. Mordon almost stepped back in time,
but his shoulder clipped Ronez’s and they both jumped back.

They stared at each other in shock. “Sorry, you were
just going that way?” Mordon asked, moving to the side and pointing to the
door.

“Yeah. Excuse me.”

Ronez went to the door and locked it before turning
back to Mordon and crossing his arms. Fortunately, I had inherited that stance
from him and used it often enough on Mordon that he was accustomed to it.
Otherwise, Rojan might have been offended and tried to eat my father.

“What are you doing in my house?”

Mordon tried for submissive, but it was hopeless;
Mordon was the least submissive guy I knew. “I don’t know.”

Ronez stepped forward before Mordon could retreat,
took his hands, and inspected Mordon’s nails. “Not invisibility, then.” Not
even giving Mordon a chance to react, Ronez put his hands around Mordon’s eyes
to examine them. I wanted a camera. “Not a ghost or demon. Shifter eyes, but
not a shifter. Ronez sniffed, just like Mordon did, and frowned. “A time
traveler? You’re a time traveler!”

“Um, no, I don’t think so.”

“A lost one, then. Sorry, kid, but you can’t stay
here.” Ronez held up his wrist and fiddled with his silver watch.

“Wait!” Mordon demanded. “I’m not human.”

“I know that. You’re sago, and from the future. I’m
not going to hurt you, I’m only sending you back where you belong.”

“I need to be here.”

“Not in my flat you don’t.”

“I’m with your son,” he said. Ronez paused, giving
Mordon a chance to explain. “I have been sent here, to this place and time, I
just don’t know why. But I haven’t accomplished anything yet.”

“Which son?” the Guardian asked. Mordon hesitated,
then pointed to the ultrasound picture in my father’s hand. “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie about that?”

“Can you hear me?” I asked. Mordon didn’t respond. I
had to figure out a way to keep them from hurting each other or changing the
course of my past. “Mordon!” I yelled. Nothing.
“Can you hear me?”
I
asked again, using our link. I saw the little twinge of recognition in his
eyes, finally.

“I can hear you, but I can’t see you.”

“Tell him that Kiro has a blind left and Divina
said he wasn’t a very good kisser.”

He reluctantly told Ronez, who lost his scowl. “I am
a fabulous kisser. Knowing Divina and my brother doesn’t mean you know my son.”

“Your son is my best friend. He doesn’t hide things
from me and Divina and Kiro trust me. They trust me enough that I know all
about the Guardians and who Divina really is.”

“So my son is going to be involved in all of that?”
Ronez asked.

“First rule of time travel, stupid,”
I said.

Mordon huffed and sighed. “I’m sorry, but Dylan would
like me to remain silent, so I have to ask that you not question me about
things that you haven’t experienced yet, lest burning dogs will rain down from
the sky.”

Ronez considered it for a minute… and then he
smirked. “Dylan, huh? Better than Sassafras, I suppose. Is he here? Can he see
and hear us?”

“Yes.”

He nodded, his mind rolling over what we just saw him
do. “So, you need to find something?”

“Or find out something.”

“Who sent you?”

“Long story.”

Ronez spread his arms in gesture. “Not in any hurry.”

“Vretial.”

Ronez dropped his arms and sighed. “You and my son
are helping the dark god?” Ronez asked, disbelief clear on his face.

“Yes.” No point in explaining that the god wasn’t too
bad.

“Well, it’s not the path I had hoped my son would go
down, but whatever makes him happy. To each his own. You can’t have my book,
but otherwise I’ll help you. I do need some kind of hint as to why you’re
here.”

Mordon sighed. “Let’s see, the gates are opening,
there’s something in the dark, there’s an apple that is sometimes an omen,
sometimes a card, and sometimes a portal to a time and place. That’s how I got
here. Demons are afraid of Dylan. And something to do with the balance trying
to reset the universe.”

“Okay. You need a map.”

“A map to what?”

“You need to close the gates. There’s something in
the dark? That’s a new one, but I get the point.”

“I don’t.”

“Neither do I,”
I said.

“Of course not; you’re not a time traveler. You need
a map.” Ronez sniffed Mordon again, suddenly enough to make Mordon take several
steps back. “You smell like dragon. Does Dylan know?”

“We’re best friends, of course he knows about my
dragon.”

“Yes, you’ll do fine. I need a tarot card that has
been used to tell yours or Dylan’s future. It needs to be something that has a
deep memory on it. I know it will be difficult and dangerous, but you need to
go into Dylan’s childhood with the tarot card and make him remember it. He has
to be able to remember it. Scare him if you have to. It needs to be something
uncommon, that looks out of place on whatever world he’s living in now.”