Life Cycle (11 page)

“Guys…” It was Anthony’s human mate. Charlee had
tried to stay out of most of it.

No one heard her.

“Guys!” she screamed.

Everyone stopped. Anthony’s blind ambition turned
immediately to concern. In Hadrian’s opinion, if they wanted to
take Anthony down, all they needed to do was kidnap Charlee. But
he’d met Jack long before he’d known about Charlee.

“My water just broke.”

Jane rushed to her side and helped her get up from
the table.

“Jane…” Cole said, his tone warning.

The demon’s eyes glowed dangerously red. “No. I’m
staying with my friend until she has her baby. I don’t care what
our issues with Anthony are.”

“I don’t want you alone with a bunch of vampires,”
he said.

“I can handle myself.”

Suddenly the meeting had turned from an
initiation of Anthony’s police state to a single-minded focus on
bringing an abomination into the world. The vampire king kept his
most trusted guards around his mate constantly. And no matter how
much he tried, Hadrian was kept at arm’s length where Charlee was
concerned. He suspected Anthony was power-mad anyway, but his child
was what drove him to diabolical greatness. Jack’s plans drove the
vampire king even harder.

Cain spoke up. “While you all play nursemaid to the
human mate, I’m going to do something useful. Anthony, can we
assume a war soon if we fail to find Jack in time?”

Anthony had been leading Charlee toward the penthouse
door to get her inside and comfortable.
“Yes. And
there is no guarantee we’ll win. Especially as unorganized as we
continue to be.”

Their disorganization was a matter of opinion.

“Then I’ll go talk to the angels and see if we can
get more muscle behind us. The warrior class loves a good brawl.
This could upset the balance enough to garner their
involvement.”

As the meeting dispersed into chaos, Hadrian slipped
out to check on Dayne’s progress with the blood.

***

Cain was irritated when he reached
the lobby of Heaven. Of course Anthony would use this to benefit
his personal agenda. The demon had seen it coming a mile away.
Half-breeds were so unoriginal. How Cain had allowed himself to get
dragged into all this, he’d never know. With the demon abilities to
b
e noncorporeal, use thrall, move things
through telekinesis, shapeshift into nearly anything, and go
invisible, they could operate as usual even if the
w
orld fell into total chaos and the magic
users and humans overcame the preternaturals. They’d just have to
be more careful.

It wasn’t as if the humans could follow him into his
dimension. But he didn’t trust witches and their ilk. If he’d
learned anything in his thousands of years of existence, it was
that there was no end to the creativity that could be employed by a
magic user to reach their ends. If the dimensional portals could
sense a demon and let them pass through, was there any reason
similar things couldn’t be created in the human world that would
identify demons for what they were and keep them out? They’d suffer
and starve in that case.

But if this thing went badly, the entire demon
race could end up sealed in glass jars and lined up on shelves in
some superwitch’s basement. Their numbers weren’t impressive,
certainly not compared with human armies, magic users, or the other
preternatural factions. Cain had no intention of ending up that way
for all eternity.

The demon marched up to the reception desk. “Are you
aware of the war that may be brewing on earth?”

“Um... I’m just the receptionist. I’m not privy
to...”

He leaned over the counter, moving into her personal
bubble. His voice came out low and deadly. “Then go find somebody
useful.”

She shot out of her chair and scurried behind the
gold gates. Several minutes later, an unfathomably beautiful male
angel came out. It was one of the warrior angels. Created, not
elevated. Cain wasn’t particularly into men, maybe it was because
food and sex were so intertwined for him, and he could only feed
from human females. But he could appreciate the art of a perfect
physical form, whatever gender it happened to be in. Thousands of
years of existence made the idea of homophobia quaint.

The angel was tan, quite natural for a place with no
darkness ever. He had long blond hair that seemed to radiate the
light of Heaven itself, a strong jaw, and light blue eyes—so light
they seemed almost transparent.

He gave Cain a perfunctory once-over as if the demon
were a shipment of something dreadfully boring. “Who let the
riffraff up here?”

“As you know, nobody has to
let
me into the
lobby.”

“Someone should change that rule.”

Cain rolled his eyes. “Are you aware of the war that
may break out on earth?”

“Which one? There are always wars. Humans live to
torture and kill each other. Surely you know that by now.”

“I think you know which war. The one that would
include humans and magic users against preternaturals.”

The angel shrugged. “There have been rumblings.”

“Would you be willing to get involved if it became
necessary?”

“Oh, I don’t think so. The man upstairs wouldn’t
like it.”

Cain wondered if the Hebrew god actually resided in a
tower at the top of some stairs. Nobody who knew the score referred
to him as “God” or “His imperial Majesty” or anything else that
seemed like a true sign of respect. It was always “the man
upstairs.” It had been so for as long as he could remember. As far
as he knew, the Hebrew god wasn’t crying himself to sleep over
it—assuming gods slept.

“This could upset the balance that’s been created.
It would be utter chaos.”

The angel laughed. “We don’t care. They destroy their
world, and we’ll find somewhere else to place them.”

“You think the other gods will allow that? The man
upstairs only has control of the one dimension and Heaven. I’m not
even allowed to feed in the other dimensions, even though I can get
there. The man upstairs has burned his bridges quite well. Is he
prepared to apologize for driving the other gods off? Will he make
a peace offering so we have other places to go?” Cain knew the
angel had an opinion about it, but he’d never get it out of him.
“What will you have to do if the world goes up in flames?”

“Don’t be so dramatic. It won’t be that bad.”

“We have no idea how it would be. Humans are fueled
almost entirely by fear. They have enough technology now to destroy
the world a hundred times over. Add magic users and preternaturals
to that mix, and there’s no way to know what the state of the world
will be, or if it will be in any state at all by the time it’s
over. Does the man upstairs want to create a whole other planet and
erase everyone’s memories? That seems like a lot of work to me.
Since he doesn’t ever want to lift a finger for anything
else...”

The angel’s eyes glowed bright blue—sending a gust of
cold air at Cain. “Watch your tongue, demon. He’s still your
sovereign.”

Cain laughed. “He gave up that right a long time ago.
What can he do to me that he hasn’t already done? Hasn’t he made me
a god as well? I may as well be the god of the earth, too, since
I’m the only one who ever goes there, and I’m the only one who
seems to give a shit about what happens to it. He’s like a child
who has built a city of blocks and gotten bored and walked
away.”

“Leave. Now. I can have your access to this area
revoked.”

“Sure you can. If you change your mind and are in
the mood for a fight, I’ll welcome you and yours into my
dimension.”

“If we act, there will be consequences.”

“There always are. But sometimes it’s worth it.”
Cain left the angel in the lobby. If they needed the warrior class,
he’d come around. The demon was sure of it. He winked at the
reception angel on his way out, and a blush crept up her neck.

***

Hadrian found an unlocked window and crawled into
Dayne’s cottage. The wards he had weren’t up to snuff to keep a
vampire away. Instead, it had drawn him like a beacon. It was only
the fact that vamps preferred the city to the forest that kept the
sorcerer and his little kitty therian safe.

An orange cat sat on the kitchen counter, green eyes
intense, hissing at him, but there was no magic coming off it. Just
an average house cat. Hadrian put a finger to his lips. “Shhhh,” he
said. The cat glared but let him pass.

He crept down spiral stone stairs that got danker and
darker as he went down. When he reached the bottom, he crouched by
the door, looking through slats in the weathered wood. There was no
need to get involved if Dayne couldn’t do the spell, but from the
looks of things, he was doing it.

The sorcerer’s circle was set up, books and tools
were out. The cute brunette with the short, choppy haircut stood to
the side out of his way. It was anybody’s guess how long Dayne had
been chanting, but his energy looked depleted. Good for
Hadrian.

As the sorcerer continued to chant, a light emanated
from the scroll, lighting up the room like a giant projector onto
which images and dialogue appeared—like a movie composed of magic.
Greta gasped. Dayne opened his eyes to see the spell had worked and
what had instigated the gasp.

Hadrian. Fully implicated, right there on the magic
screen with Jack. It was now or never. The vampire ripped the door
open and blurred in, grabbing Greta and holding her in front of him
as if he were a bank robber. He didn’t have a gun at her throat,
but his fangs were out and ready should he need to call them into
action.

Dayne appeared disoriented as the spell collapsed
around him, but he didn’t harbor any doubts about what he’d seen.
“Why have you betrayed us?”

The vampire remained stoic. “Anthony is the betrayer.
He’s clamping down on all of us. It won’t be just Cary Town. It’ll
be this whole planet by the time he’s finished. I don’t want to
live in that world.”

“Jack’s world will be worse.”

Hadrian shrugged. “And we will deal with Jack. I
don’t want The Cycler in power either, but he has no organization.
The vampires have been increasing in organization for centuries
now. Our numbers are strong. Our leader is about to take away all
of our freedoms for his own personal reasons.”

“Anthony has to protect his daughter,” the sorcerer
said. “And now with the threat from Jack...”

“The two issues are simply convenient. You
might not see it, but what I’m doing is better for us
all.”

Dayne’s face betrayed his fear for Greta, though he
was trying to downplay it. For her part she’d been extremely brave.
Not a lot of tears or screaming or thrashing about, just still and
quiet as if he might forget she was there and loosen his grip.
Unlikely. But nice try. He was surprised she wasn’t fighting him.
Therians were stronger than humans.

“Just let Greta go.”

Hadrian gripped her tighter. “I’d erase both of your
memories, but I don’t have that ability with a therian. I want you
to make a potion that will do that job for me. I’ll check the spell
and ingredients to make sure we understand each other. I hate
misunderstandings.” He flashed fangs at Dayne, as if he even needed
to put a point on the threat.

The sorcerer was so depleted from doing such heavy
magic alone that he couldn’t even conjure an energy ball or a
fireball, whichever his speed was. Even if he had that ability
right now, he wouldn’t use it. The werecat made a great shield.

“Just do it, Dayne. If we’re both dead, we can’t
warn Anthony, anyway,” she said.

“The cat makes an excellent point.”

The sorcerer turned to collect the
supplies he needed, and Greta shifted. In the change from human
size to house-cat size, Hadrian lost his grip on her. She climbed
over her pile of clothes and scurried toward the
door. He went after her, but a fireball whizzed
past his head. It hit the s
tone wall,
fizzling with a hiss and puff of smoke. It had come from Dayne, but
it was small and weak and probably the only one he had
left.

“You don’t want to waste your magic right now,”
Hadrian said, scooping up the cat before she could get out the
door. She dug her claws into his arms, hissing and biting. He
growled and tossed her across the room. She let out a horrible
feline shriek and hit the wall, then stopped moving.

He felt a flicker of guilt for harming her. She was
an innocent, not someone meant for his special brand of punishment,
but she was also caught in the crossfire of a greater good.

“Greta!”

“She’ll be fine. Make the potion.”

“I don’t know if I have enough energy left. I need
to take a rest.”

Hadrian shook his head. “You only need to make enough
potion for one. I have to wipe your memory while you’re weak, not
after you’ve had a refreshing nap to replenish your shields.”

He picked up the unconscious black cat and sat on the
floor with her in his lap. “I could kill her quickly in this form.
Don’t test me. Two people failing to show up at Anthony’s next
meeting would be a minor curiosity in the face of everything going
on. Maybe your magic drew Jack, and he killed you. Who’s to
say?”

“I used strong protections. It’s why I’m so
depleted.”

“You thought of everything.”

Dayne glared while Hadrian stroked Greta’s back as if
she were a normal house cat. Hadrian did it to unnerve him, but the
act also allowed him to be assured she was okay. Her breathing
seemed normal.

Twenty minutes later the potion was ready, a rolling,
bubbling concoction of something dark purple the vampire wouldn’t
want to drink on his worst day.