Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) (3 page)

"Confidence is hardly based on power alone," Jeremiah replied.

"No, it is not." She paused. "I cannot believe I did not see it all these years. You are obviously stronger than you led me to believe."

Elyssa pointed to an intersecting hallway just across from us and crept to it. Despite my uneasiness, I followed. Once there, I ducked and peered around the corner. From this new vantage point, we could see inside the office. Daelissa's back was to the entry.

Jeremiah stood calmly on the other side of the desk. "You're fishing for something, but I'm not biting the lure."

Daelissa's fists tightened. "I have already caught the fish. What I am determining now is how to cook it."

A smile creased the Arcane's lips. He removed his top hat and set it on the desk. "I see." Gone was his southern accent, replaced by a flat tone. The gray in his hair melted away to black. His skin changed from fair and wrinkled to olive and smooth.

My stomach clenched. Elyssa and I had seen Jeremiah looking like this the last time we'd sneaked inside his mansion. At the time, I'd been too scared to stick around and investigate.

Jeremiah raised a dark eyebrow. "How, may I ask, did you discover my secret?"

"One of Montjoy's people," Daelissa said, her voice growing quiet. She backed away a step. Her shoulders began to shake. "Even though I see you revealed with my own eyes, I cannot believe it."

I felt my jaw drop.
She's crying!
She wasn't the only one having trouble believing something.

"I'm surprised by your reaction," Jeremiah said.

"You are my oldest enemy," the angel said, wiping her face. "But Jeremiah Conroy was also a trusted friend. There are not many in this world I view as equals or trust so implicitly." She sucked in a deep breath. "Why this deception? Why go through the motions for so many years? Why did you do this to me?" Her last question was a desperate wail.

"Because you killed my Thesha," Jeremiah said in a harsh whisper. "You annihilated my people. You Seraphim nearly destroyed my world." His eyes narrowed to slits. "Vengeance consumed me. I could think of only one way to repay the Seraphim for their misdeeds."

"I will give you no such chance," Daelissa said, raising a hand. "Jeremiah Conroy, my friend, is dead. My enemy is arisen from the grave." She tilted her head. "What name shall I put on your tombstone? Jeremiah Conroy? Moses?"

Jeremiah's face shifted again to one even I was familiar with. "Perhaps you could inscribe Ezzek Moore on my tomb."

Ezzek Moore? The Founder of the Arcane Council?
I almost keeled over in surprise. Elyssa's hand tightened on my shoulder.

Daelissa staggered back. "Ezzek?" Grief wrenched her voice. "Have you done nothing in your vile life but deceive me?" Her voice rose to a shout. "Ezzek swore he loved me! He protected me during a time of need. Even after he abandoned me, my heart still longed for him. No other man could come so close to being my equal." A pulsating orb the size of a marble formed in her hand. "Your vengeance is complete, Moses. You have shattered my heart!"

An almost evil smile spread across Ezzek's face. "You attempted to use me in your scheme to repair the Grand Nexus." He shuddered. "Do you know how much I loathed having to be with you? Every vile kiss was an affront to my Thesha. I rationalized that it would all be worth it someday."

"Celebrate this day," Daelissa said. "Your mission is complete, and I will reunite you with your dead wife." She held up her hand as if to blow a kiss. "Goodbye."

The burning orb floated through the air like a dandelion seed. Jeremiah never moved. He simply smiled as the deadly sphere touched his forehead—and went right through it. He vanished in a puff of aetherial mist.

Daelissa shrieked. "You will not escape me, betrayer!"

"I never intended to," Jeremiah said.

I glanced right and saw him standing in the hallway Elyssa and I had used. His eyes narrowed on us. He made a slashing motion, as if shooing us away. Elyssa hauled me backwards just as a deafening scream shattered the air. A bolt of Brilliance lanced down the hallway toward Jeremiah's position. An explosion shook the walls. Pictures tumbled to the floor, shattering. Cracks ran down the marble floor and up the drywall.

"Shiznit just got real," I said. "Let's help Jeremiah."

"Are you crazy? We'll be crushed between them." Elyssa grabbed my arm and ran down the hallway. She took a left. We ran through a kitchen filled with industrial stainless steel appliances and out a side door. Something with a huge head and a mouth full of razor teeth lunged from a bush. Hair bristled like porcupine quills from its scalp. It stood about four feet tall, but looked stocky enough to stop a speeding truck.

Elyssa flipped backwards. I threw up a shield of Murk as the humanoid I now recognized as one of the trolls Jeremiah used to guard his residence roared and bit at the ultraviolet barrier.

"We come in peace!" I shouted.

It seemed to realize it couldn't punch through the barrier and backed off. It made a god-awful whimpering sound I thought meant I'd hurt it. Bushes and trees rustled as more of the short creatures appeared.

"Oh no," Elyssa whispered. Her blades sang as they came free of their sheaths. "I don't think these will hurt them much."

"No, but this will," I said, drawing upon Brilliance and forming twin swords in my hands while dropping the shield.

The trolls looked at each other, their thick, gnarled hands tightening into fists. I counted about nine of the stubby buggers. Judging from the quick reaction of the first troll, I knew they were a lot faster than they looked.

"Justin, I just thought of something," Elyssa said.

A plume of Brilliance blew a hole through the roof of the house. Chunks of adobe shingles and wood rained down on the driveway. Windows shattered, and the ground shook.

"What is it?" I said, wondering if it might be a better idea to run back inside and help Jeremiah fight Daelissa instead of taking on trolls.

"If Jeremiah is really Moses, that would mean he's a good guy right?"

I shrugged. "Are we talking about the guy from the Old Testament, or the man who brainwashed my sister and tried to kill me?"

"Both? I guess?" Elyssa still looked as shocked as I felt from finding out the man I used to think was my grandfather was actually one of the original biblical ass-kickers himself.

"Since he's trying to kill Daelissa right now, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and go with good." Personally, I still bore a lot of anger toward the man, but now was not the time to air those grievances.

"Agreed." She assumed a defensive stance next to me. "He has some kind of friendly relationship with leyworms, too."

I nodded. I'd seen the man pet one of the leviathan dragons like a dog once.

"Would you characterize the leyworms as good or bad?"

The leyworms, aka earth dragons, had been mostly friendly to us. They were reviving husked angels and letting us take care of them. "I'll go with good." The trolls began to advance. "What's your point?"

She nodded at the hairy creatures. "Maybe the trolls aren't bad either."

I would have shot her a shocked look if the trolls hadn't been so close. "Since when are trolls good? Don't they like eating poor billy goats who only want to cross bridges?"

"You wanted allies against Daelissa right?" Elyssa feinted at a troll who'd come too close for comfort. The creature jumped back, growling. "Maybe the trolls could be allies if we don't kill them."

The entire front end of the house exploded in a burst of brilliant light. Jeremiah flew backwards in a spray of debris, an azure shield sparking around him. He whirled his staff and his backward momentum stopped. With a graceful twist, he landed on his feet, shouted a word I didn't understand, and planted his staff in the ground. The air formed a mirror in front of him just in time to intercept another beam of brilliant white. It reflected the destructive energy back at the mansion and sheared off a section of the garage.

Neat trick!
I had to incorporate that into my shields.

Thankfully, the trolls seemed just as distracted with the battle as I was. "We're with Jeremiah," I said to them.

One troll with three nubby horns on its temples and forehead narrowed its huge black eyes in suspicion.

"We're with Moses," I said. I dissipated my energy swords and showed them my empty hands. "We come in peace."

The other trolls growled and advanced.

"I'm Ivy's brother, Justin," I said. "I'm the Cataclyst." I really hated to play the whole, "I'm kind of a big deal" card, but with the battle going on behind me, and the possibility I might have to kill potential allies, I didn't have a lot of time.

At this, the horned troll made a confused noise. His comrades looked shocked and disappointed, each one chiming in with growls, snapping teeth, and noises which made it sound like they'd really wanted to tear me apart. After all, spending most of the time hiding in a bush while waiting to gobble up intruders was probably really boring.

"Daelissa is trying to kill Jeremiah," I said. "We need to help him."

The troll leader roared, displaying a mouth big enough to swallow a dog. They moved toward Jeremiah's position as Daelissa's attacks pummeled his mirror defense.

Jeremiah looked over at us. He made some awful growling noises and shook his head. The troll leader replied with snapping teeth, but Jeremiah seemed to override him with the kind of bellow usually reserved for someone passing kidney stones.

The troll leader gave me a long look before bending over and burrowing into the ground faster than a cartoon rabbit. The last thing I saw was his hairy rear end. The rest of his posse followed.

"You need help!" I shouted at the stubborn Arcane.

"Leave, boy," Jeremiah said through clenched teeth. "This is my battle to win or lose."

"You're a fool," I shouted. "We need you."

His magical mirror shattered. I threw up a shield of Murk around me and Elyssa to protect us from the pieces. Jeremiah threw up his hands and thrust them forward. Something sparkled in the sky above. He flipped sideways to avoid another bolt of Brilliance. The distant object in the sky streaked earthward, trailing blue flames in its wake. Jeremiah dodged more attacks, each one closer than the last, as if taunting Daelissa.

I couldn't see the Seraphim from our position, but she was probably somewhere in the main foyer, or what was left of it after all the fighting. A rumbling roar filled the air and a meteor the size of a pregnant elephant slammed into the house. Jeremiah threw up a shield. The blast pushed him back. My shield sparked as a tremendous cloud of debris rushed past.

I felt Elyssa's hands tighten on my arm. "What in the hell was that?"

"If Daelissa survived that—" My mouth hung open as a stiff wind cleared the air. The mansion was obliterated. A few walls remained standing. In the middle of it all stood one singed, naked, bald, and extremely pissed-off angel.

Chapter 3

Daelissa's naked skin was covered in a patchwork of soot and blisters. A shimmering white shield flickered around her. It obviously hadn't been enough to keep her completely safe. Her mouth was locked in a silent roar. A white glow suffused her eyes.

"Why won't you just die?" Jeremiah shouted.

Daelissa's entire body glowed white. She held out her hand toward the Arcane. His arm twitched and seemed to move of its own accord.

She's trying to feed from him.

Jeremiah slammed his staff against the ground, and his arm came back under his control. He aimed his staff and fired a black beam at the angel.

She fired a pulse of white back at him. The forces met and exploded in a spherical shockwave, causing one surviving wall of the mansion to topple. Daelissa said something, but her voice was hoarse—probably burnt from the blast—and I couldn't hear her. Her gaze flicked to me and Elyssa, as if suddenly realizing we were there.

Jeremiah shot another pulse at her. I dropped my shield and fired a lance of Murk at Daelissa. She surged upward into the air, brilliant wings of energy spreading from her back. She dodged our attacks and cast a volley of pulsars at our positions. One detonated near Jeremiah and sent him flying through the air. I managed to throw up another shield, but the first orb sent a spider web of cracks down the surface. I willed my shield into a mirror surface, but the second orb demolished the barrier. Elyssa dove away. I tried to channel a new shield, but wasn't fast enough.

The orb hit the ground at my feet and the concussive wave flung me against a tree.

I staggered to my feet as a fresh volley of orbs exploded all around us. I managed another shield, but it cracked like the last one.

"Run!" I shouted.

We ran for our lives. Explosions blasted trees from the ground. Dirt rained down on us. The ground shook from each impact.

"Justin!" Elyssa grabbed my arm, jerked me sideways. We ducked into the thick foliage bordering the fence, dodging Daelissa's attacks. I stumbled over a still form.

Jeremiah
.

He was either unconscious or dead. I didn't have time to check. I slung him over a shoulder and ran for the road.

"Shelton, we need a portal ASAP!" Elyssa yelled into her arcphone.

A solid beam of white raked across the treetops, slicing them off. We dodged falling trunks and raced for the road. The front yard was huge and the landscaping was designed to block the view from the road. If we'd been racing across open ground, Daelissa would have cut us down.

Pulsating white light burned a furrow in the ground to our left. We found the winding driveway and ran down it, finally reaching the sturdy main gates. Elyssa snapped a picture.

"Now, Shelton, now!" she yelled.

Deadly lightning fell from the sky leaving black pockmarks where it hit. I looked up and saw Daelissa levitating overhead. Her eyes flashed as she spotted her quarry. Mustering every ounce of energy I had, I punched a fist skyward and sent a beam of Murk slamming into the angel's midriff.

Her mouth opened in a hoarse scream as she spun backwards. Elyssa grabbed my arm and jerked me forward. I stumbled into the cellar of the mansion, disoriented for a second since I hadn't realized the gateway was open. The portal flashed shut behind us. My knees turned to jelly, and I dropped to the floor. Jeremiah's body rolled off my shoulder.