Sinister Seraphim of Mine (Overworld Chronicles Book 8) (37 page)

"What are you doing?" Elyssa said in a loud whisper. "I think I hear something coming down the corridor."

Sure enough, I heard the sound of voices approaching. I grabbed the gray cube and climbed down the shelf. We dashed back down the center aisle and to the row where the portal waited. Along the way, I noticed the remains of the scorps had all but dissolved. We stepped through the portal and back into the mansion cellar. I deactivated the portal and breathed with relief.

"Will that make a Gloom arch?" Elyssa asked, looking at the gray cube.

"Dollars to donuts it will." Having our very own Gloom arch might make things easier. I took the statues from my satchel and arranged them by type. Symbols from the musical language were inscribed on the base of each one. Elyssa took out her arcphone and entered the symbols in an app Shelton had made by copying the musical tones associated with each one from Kassus's phone.

"I can't find the symbols for some of these." Elyssa held up the statue shaped like a Seraphim.

My heart almost stopped. "Please don't tell me we're missing—"

She waved me off. "As I was about to say—we do have the symbols for these. I assume it would block an Alabaster Arch from forming a portal to Seraphina."

I sighed with relief. "We'll just have to hope it works like we think it will." I picked up a statue shaped like an Obsidian obelisk. "I may be wrong, but I think this one blocks Obsidian Arches."

Elyssa studied it and entered the symbols in the program. "I have the tonal sequence for it, but we don't have time to test whether it works or not." She took a deep breath. "Speaking of which, where are we going to find the time to plant these in the Grand Nexus? We need to take a portal to El Dorado and use an Alabaster Arch to reach the Grand Nexus. The place is probably full of Daelissa's people and cherubs, and we have to place it without being discovered." She set down the statue and stared. "We need to delegate something, Justin, because we can't do everything ourselves."

I squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry. I think I know who can help. In the meantime, I'm going to put this Gloom arch cube at El Dorado for safe keeping." I opened a portal to the control room there, placed the cube on the control platform, and went back through to the mansion cellar.

"Do you think we could convince Exorcist Jenkins to help us with something?" Elyssa asked when I returned.

I mulled it over. The man definitely seemed uneasy with how the Darklings were being treated. "We might be able to turn him. I'll give it a try, but be ready to knock him out if needed."

"Not a problem."

The Templar entourage arrived just ahead of Jeremiah. Shelton and Bella tailed behind the group. Shelton had a harried look on his face, and I soon found why as Cinder, Katie, Felicia, and several other people followed him into the cellar. The women spoke over each other, so it was hard to decipher what the conversation was about.

"I just know the vampires should be next," Felicia said. "I have friends…" the rest of what she said was lost as Katie interjected an idea.

"Shut your yaps!" Shelton spun to face the group. "Ain't nobody else using this portal until Operation Meet and Greet is underway."

We should call it Operation Beg for Help.

Christian Salazar approached me. "I have my people ready to open portals into Kobol Prison the moment you give the word. With two portals operating at the same time, we should be able to move a lot of cherub cubes quickly."

"I'll open a portal in the loading bay where the cherubs are stored." I looked at Jeremiah who was in his original guise as Moses. "Will you be able to reach the Blue Cloaks at the prison from our entry point in the loading bay?"

His eyes remained distant for a second before my question seemed to register. "Yes, it will be sufficient." He wore a form-fitting black robe that looked identical to the ones favored by the Black Robe Brotherhood. "It may take me some time to locate the person I need to speak with. I'll signal you when I'm ready to return." He glanced at the commotion around us. "May we speak somewhere a little quieter?"

I wondered if he wanted to yell at me for calling him out in the meeting, and my stomach tightened. I motioned down the hallway to the gauntlet room. "Sure."

When the three of us reached the relative quiet of the room, Jeremiah faced me and Elyssa. "First, I must thank you for pointing out my foibles."

I gave him a look. "You're thanking me?"

Jeremiah folded his arms. "Son, you are nothing if not candid. The truth was hard to hear, but you reminded me of my original task." He jabbed a thumb against his chest. "I am a guardian of Eden, not an avenger. For too long, I put my own feelings and desires above the common good."

I winced. "I'm sorry—"

"No." He shook his head and smiled. "You and your Elyssa remind me so much of how life was with Thesha." He placed a hand on each of our shoulders. "Believe it or not, I was once much like you—carefree, headstrong, and ready to plunge into danger. You have obviously matured a great deal, Justin." He looked at Elyssa. "I believe this young lady has helped forge you into the strong leader you are today."

I cleared my throat. "I feel a little weird hearing praise from you, Jeremiah."

He took a step back. "It is not easy for me, either." A sigh escaped the man's throat. "I once knew love as you two do." Tears shimmered in his eyes. "Treasure each other every moment you can. You never know when—" his voice broke and he stopped speaking.

I was at a loss for words as I gazed into Elyssa's eyes. She smiled gently at me and squeezed my hand. I finally found my voice. "Thank you for teaching me more magic."

"Of course." Jeremiah waved his hand through the air. "Just remember—magic is the easy part. It is how you approach the solution that matters."

"Sir, we're ready," said a Templar from the doorway.

"We'll be right there." I held out a hand.

Jeremiah took it in a firm grip and shook it. "I would like to get to know you better, Justin."

"The feeling is mutual." I released his hand and turned for the door. "Let's get things rolling."

I stepped into the hallway and saw Templars heading for a shimmering portal in the corridor outside the omniarch room. I assumed Christian's people had activated it so he could return to Colombia and direct operations from there. Commanders Borathen, Taylor, and Salazar conversed for a moment before the Colombian commander stepped through the portal and it winked away.

When I reached the omniarch room, Shelton appeared next to me. "Tell me what's going on. I'm about to send Katie and Felicia through a portal to nowhere if they don't stop bugging me."

I snorted. "At least they're enthusiastic."

"That's one word for it. Relentless is another term I'd use."

Operation Cherub, while absolutely nerve-wrenching, was quite simple. I laid it out for him. "I'll make sure the others stay off your back for the time being, okay?"

He nodded and grunted.

I walked to Felicia and Katie. The two were talking with animated gestures like girls who were anticipating a fun night out at a club filled with kittens, puppies and boy bands.

"Justin!" Felicia practically jumped at me, throwing her arms around my neck and planting a kiss on my cheek. "I'm so sorry I didn't get here in time to say hello before the big meeting. Larry wanted me to say hi for him. I made him go to his parents' place out in the sticks since I figured it might be safer there."

I gently disentangled myself from Felicia's grasp. She no longer had the geek chic look she'd favored while a minion of Maximus. Her hair was now long, straight, and solid brown instead of having the splashes of blue or green I'd seen before. She wore jeans and a simple V-neck sweater.

"It's good to see you too," I said. "I agree with what you said about trying to convince vampires to join us as well." She opened her mouth, but I held up a hand to silence her. "We have to work one angle at a time. Once this operation is over, we can go over your ideas to recruit vampires, or rescue them from their sires."

She squeezed my hand. "Thanks, Justin. You've always been there for me, and I want to do whatever I can to contribute."

"Same for me," Katie said.

"What up, man!" said a familiar voice behind me.

I turned and saw Ash and Nyte beaming at me. We bumped fists and gave each other one-armed bro-hugs. I squeezed Ash's arm. "Dang, you two are pumped up."

"Steroids," Nyte said.

Ash laughed. "Yeah, incubus steroids."

The two had been given a serum with my blood in it. In addition to blue eyes, they also had enhanced strength and agility like me, though I'd never tested if they were physically a match for me or not.

I really wanted to chat with them for a while, preferably over a pizza, but I needed them to do something for me. I showed them the various statues and told them how the tonal sequences toggled them on and off. "It's important this one is placed near the Grand Nexus." I held up the Seraphim statue. "The black one needs to be hidden within a hundred yards or so of the Obsidian Arch."

"Will Daelissa still be able to activate the Grand Nexus?" Katie asked.

Elyssa nodded. "But she won't be able to open a portal to Seraphina." She looked at me. "Or, so we hope."

"Nyte scored tops in stealth training," Ash said. "I can't believe someone with orange hair could be sneaky."

Nyte ran a hand through his hair. "Don't be jelly just because I've been kissed by fire."

Katie typed on her arcphone. "I know just what we'll need."

"Make sure duct tape is on the list." Elyssa tossed me a wink. "Maybe you can tape the statues to the ceiling over the arches so they'll be hidden."

Felicia snapped her fingers. "That's a great idea!"

"Since I am immune to the cherubs, I may be of some assistance in clearing a path for them." Cinder looked down at his gray suit. "I will need to change into something stealthier."

Ash slapped Cinder on the shoulder and grinned at me. "We got this, Justin."

God, I hope you do.
I turned to Shelton. "This crew will need to go to El Dorado once they have their equipment ready."

He cast them a doubtful look. "I remember when these kids were still wearing their high school diapers." Shelton made a melodramatic sigh. "They sure grow up fast."

"You're sweet as ever, Shelton." Katie stuck out her tongue at him.

I felt as though the load on my back had lightened just a little, thanks to my friends helping with a critical mission, but I didn't delude myself. They would be in as much, if not more danger than those of us going to Kobol Prison. Unfortunately, this next phase required me and Elyssa.

Shelton cleared his throat. "Ready to go, oh fearless leader?"

I said my goodbyes to Katie, Felicia, Ash, Nyte, and Cinder. "After we save the world, let's do something fun."

"Amen," Nyte said. "An extra-large supreme pizza is calling my name."

Cinder tilted his head. "I find saving the world to be rather exhilarating." He noticed the questioning expressions on our faces. "But perhaps a theme park would be a nice change of pace."

Elyssa opened the portal to the same anarchy symbol we'd used last time in the loading bay of Kobol Prison. She stepped through and drew a circle with a cross through the center of it, locating it along the wall about twenty feet to the left of the anarchy symbol. She stepped off twenty more feet and drew a square with a squiggle down the center. The drawings would give someone opening an omniarch portal something unique to visualize and the distance would prevent the portals from interfering with each other. She snapped a picture of each symbol and sent them to Christian.

Two gateways shimmered into existence a moment later. A group of Templars stepped through each of the new portals and lined up in front of Elyssa. Jeremiah stepped through a moment later with a satchel in his hand. He nodded at each of us and headed toward a door at the back corner of the room.

"Good luck," I said under my breath. I prayed he was successful.

Seeing Elyssa had things well in hand, I sneaked down the long row of cubes with the Darkling cherubs inside, and cut through a gap between them. I heard whistling and saw Jenkins working his way down the center stack which had grown considerably. I looked at the loading docks. All the shutters were closed, and the place seemed to be empty except for the one man.

I crept up behind Jenkins and put a hand over his mouth. He stiffened, and the affinity sphere dropped from his grasp. I caught it with my other hand before it hit the floor. It probably wouldn't have broken from a simple drop, but I didn't want to take any chances.

"Don't yell for help when I remove my hand, or I'll have to knock you out," I whispered in his ear.

I felt the breath from his nose quicken against my fingers. He nodded. When I removed my hand, he slowly turned around. His eyes went wide with fright. "You—you're Justin Slade. You're going to devour my soul, aren't you?" He dropped to his knees and clasped his hands. "Please don't take my soul. It's not a very good one, and you probably won't enjoy it."

I raised an eyebrow. "I don't eat souls. Stand up."

He looked at me with pleading eyes, as if expecting this to be a terrible trick.

I sighed. "Look, I don't know what you've heard about me, but Daemos don't just go around eating souls. I'm here to stop the killing, and I need your help."

Jenkins rose to his feet. "I won't betray my people." He seemed to reach inside for some inner resolve and looked me in the eye. "I've heard enough about you to know—"

"To know what?" I asked. I didn't have time to debate the man. "All you know is that the people who don't like me have told you what they want you to hear. I overheard you tell Luna you didn't like how Qualan and Qualas torture the Darklings." I stepped closer to him. "You tell me, what person of good conscience tortures and maims for fun?"

He stepped back. "They just don't know any better."

"Is that what you really believe?"

Jenkins fumbled for an answer. "I, uh—they're young. Practically kids."