DAEMONEUM

by Laney McMann

  Kade shrugged. “I figured Plumb was smuggling you in.”

  “She is. Through the loading dock.” Giselle pointed a painted pink nail toward the end of the dark hallway.

  Kade hadn’t explored in the direction Giselle pointed. The tunnels underground were kind of spooky. Granted, Cole knew, and had investigated, every inch of the Brotherhood’s upper and lower levels, so she knew she was safe. When she left for school with him every day, they went out a secret door. Then they ran through the woods to her dad’s house where her MINI was parked. It had been the only real alone time they’d been able get. Quick kisses in the woods before school would have been kind of romantic if they weren’t in literal danger.

  And school was yet another issue. Nosy people everywhere, and with no one informed she and Cole were a couple, their days were somewhat miserable. Cole sat across the cafeteria at lunch everyday staring at her half the time with a smirk on his face that Kade would have done almost anything to kiss off.

  Cole’s ex, Tiffany, stared at the two of them constantly. He didn’t seem to care. Neither did Kade, honestly, but since she was likely being hunted by the Daemoneum now that Dracon was dead, Cole and the Warden agreed it would be best to keep their relationship hidden until they could gather more information about the Daemoneum’s intentions. Like Cole had told her, “‘In the Primordial world, people we love can become targets.’”

  Dating him or not, Kade was a target all on her own.

  “Hello?” Giselle clapped her hands in front of Kade’s face. “I have never known anyone spacier than you.”

  “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I have a lot on my mind.” She considered asking why Giselle was so cranky, besides it being the morning, but stopped herself. In light of recent events, asking what was wrong seemed like a downright stupid question.

  The underground tunnel veered left at the end of the hallway and slopped downward before taking a sharp right and dead-ending into a brick wall.

  Kade glanced at Giselle, straight-faced. “Wrong turn?”

  Rolling her eyes, Giselle stared ahead just as the bricks in front of them creaked, and the entire wall rose from the stone floor like a garage door. Plumb stood in the cold, gray daylight next to Giselle’s car in a loading dock big enough for a delivery truck.

  “Hi.” Plumb smiled with a cheerful wave. Kade couldn’t explain, much less understand, why the woman seemed to like her so much, but she was thankful for it.

  “Hi.” Kade emerged through the wide-open brick door and into Plumb’s arms for a hug. “I didn’t know there was a loading dock.”

  “Oh.” Plumb let her go. “We have so many secrets it’s hard for me to keep track.” She waved a nonchalant hand. “Giselle, you guys be safe.” Plumb raised a brow. “No dilly-dallying when you have Kade with you.”

  “Like I have somewhere to dilly-dally to?” Giselle huffed and got behind the steering wheel of her late model, silver RX-7, shutting the door. It groaned to life with a loud rumbling resistance.

  Kade let out a breath and walked toward the passenger side. “Thanks, Plumb. We’ll be careful.”

  “I know I said I don’t like texts, but text me when you get there.”

  Kade had never known what it felt like to have a mother, a grandmother, or an aunt, but if this was even close, she understood how special it was. “I will.”

  "I need to get a girlfriend," Danny griped, pulling up behind the Brotherhood. He honked the horn once, blocking Giselle and Kade in, and shut off the engine of his Tacoma. "I'm totally the third wheel now."

  "I hate to tell you this." Cole opened his door. "But if you keep complaining like your sister does all the time, your odds aren't good.”

  “Oh, nice. That’s really nice.”

  Lindsey snickered. "G's not that bad."

  Cole eyed her over his shoulder. "You'd know."

  "I would.” She hopped out of the back seat.

  ”What the hell happened to you guys?” Giselle shouted out her open window. “I thought we were meeting downtown?” Her gaze roved the three of them. "Looks like you fell down a mine shaft."

  “We did.” Cole grinned, eyeing Danny, before his gaze found Kade. “We got a tip about that old club Bangerang down the street from Crystalline. It had some previous Daemoneum activity, so we checked it out. We figured this was a better place to meet.” Cole gestured toward the bunker.

  Kade got out of the car, and Cole tugged her toward him by her waist. "And?" She touched the streaks on his cheek and her fingers came away black. "Are you okay?”

  “We found a tunnel leading from Bangerang and into Crystalline through an abandoned shaft we didn’t even know existed,” Danny said. “Bangerang had the Et mortali spiram symbol over the doorways same as Crystalline.”

  Cole kissed Kade’s forehead. “Anyway, we met up with some Nefarius, and the shaft, or whatever it was, collapsed on us.”

  Giselle sucked in a breath and scrambled out of her car.

  “We’re okay.” Lindsey held her hands up. “Don’t freak out.” She glanced at Danny. “Well, most of us are okay.”

  “Oh, shut up. Like you weren’t scared.” He yanked his dirty jacket off.

  “Issue is,” Cole talked over them, “we thought no one was around.” He guided Kade toward the door to the loading dock. “The clubs, like all the mine shafts and tunnels we’ve investigated, are empty. All the known Daemoneum Hives have been abandoned.” He swung the door open, seeming to ignore the concerned looks Kade was giving him. “So, we thought we were hunting phantoms.” He wiped his face with his jacket sleeve and some of the black smudges came away onto the material. “Turns out that’s not the case. Warden Caelius is considering putting all the common houses worldwide on lockdown until we can get a handle on what’s happening.”

  “Lockdown?” Kade eyed him. Nothing about that sounded positive.

  Danny followed them up the hallway, trying to clean off the side of his jacket. “Issue is, there are mine shafts we knew nothing about leading to hellish planes we can’t investigate. And not everything has disappeared into thin air. Something was down in the pit we flew into, we’re just not sure what.” He eyed Cole.

  Soot lined Lindsey’s face, but she didn’t seem to care. “Nothing just disappears.”

  Cole waited while Kade unlocked the bunker's apartment door. “Danny’s right. Whatever we found, the Nefarius were guarding it—and they wanted us dead.”

  “Oh, so now it’s all serious?” He eyed Cole. “Before, it was funny we almost died?”

  “What?” Kade yelped.

  “We didn’t almost die.” Cole kissed her cheek. “We stumbled onto something they didn’t want us to find, and we were almost trapped, not almost dead.” Cole’s expression softened. “But we’re okay.”

  “Are you sure?” She eyed his face, the scratches near his eyebrow and on his jaw.

  Cole’s fingers threaded through hers and he led her inside the apartment and to the couch. “I’m sure.”

  “What do you think the Nefarius were guarding?” Kade asked.

  Cole glanced at Danny. “We’re not sure. But I think we need to go ahead with our earlier plan in case everyone is put on lockdown. It’ll be harder to leave if Plumb and Thatcher are checking where everyone is constantly.”

  “Agreed.” Lindsey walked to the kitchen and dug in the refrigerator. “Thatcher’s crazy as it is. She hates me.”

  “But the Araneum? You still want to go through with trying to find it?” Danny shook his head.

  Kade glanced between them with a sigh. The Araneum was the most highly guarded site on the planet. It was where all the Leylines converged to a single point. If that single point was tampered with by the Daemoneum, who were always searching for its location, it would destroy life as everyone knew it. That was the reason they wanted Kade. She had the power to blow the Araneum sky high, killing all the Primordial. And according to Cole, she also had the ability to move it, making it harder for the Daemonuem to find.

  �
��How do we even know that’s what they still want?” Danny asked.

  Cole shrugged. “We don’t, but if we have an opportunity to move it, it’s one less thing to worry about, and less of a cause for them to need Kade. For a while, anyway.”

  Danny groaned. “Are we gonna tell anyone? Plumb?”

  Cole opened Kade’s hand, running a finger across the red web of lines. “Nope. No need.”

  “Until Warden Caelius gets pissed that we ran off.” Giselle put a hand on her hip. “Then there’s a need.”

  “He already knew we were going to try to find it before Dracon was killed. So did Plumb,” Cole said, aligning his hand with Kade’s so their palms touched. “They’re both distracted about Kade’s state of mind and the lessened Daemoneum activity. It’s the perfect time to leave. Rerouting the Araneum is the only thing that will keep the Daemoneum away from Kade. They don’t need her if they don’t know where the thing is.”

  “But they didn’t find it,” Danny countered. “Dracon was killed before they were able to get to it.”

  “They’ll still be trying to find it,” Cole reminded him. “With or without Dracon. Which means they still want Kade.” His hand pressed against hers. “I was thinking about it and, really, we could reroute the lines to lead anywhere. And we could do it as often as we needed to if we’re successful.”

  If, Kade thought. It was a huge ‘if.’ Her palm zinged, and a quick volt of electricity charged between her hand and Cole’s. She almost pulled back.

  “Sorry,” he whispered with a grin. “Didn’t mean to zap you.”

  She leaned against him. “It’s okay.”

  “So when are we doing this?” Lindsey sat on the arm of the chair Giselle was in, a green apple in her hand.

  “We’ll have to get some provisions, map out our exact route.” Cole removed his hand from Kade’s and leaned back, resting his arm across her shoulders. “Soon, though. A few days at most. We should all start packing discreetly. Just a backpack.”

  Giselle rubbed her face. “Just a backpack?”

  “We’re traveling light,” Cole said. “Underground. I’m not carrying your stuff.”

  “Fine,” Giselle griped.

  “It’s Sunday,” Cole said. “I think we should plan to leave Wednesday night.” He glanced at everyone. “Gives us all time to prepare.”

  Danny nodded, along with Kade.

  “I’m in,” Lindsey said, taking a bite of her apple, “you know I’m in.”

  Giselle leaned forward in her chair, hands on her knees. “You shouldn’t be in.”

  “I’m not arguing with you about this, G.” Lindsey stood, looking at Cole. “I’m in.”

  Giselle let out a breath. “So, we’re all in. Court adjourned. I’m glad you guys came by our little dwelling, and all that—even though I really wanted to go out and get coffee—let us know when you have the plan worked out.” She stood up. “We, Kade and I, have a charade to keep up. Warden’s orders.”

  Cole moved to the door. “I’ll ride.”

  “Ride where? In the back of the RX-7? You won’t fit.” Giselle turned toward the front door, grabbing her pink purse as she went.

  “I’ll squeeze in.”

  Giselle rolled her eyes.

  “The usual route?” Lindsey asked, chomping her apple.

  Giselle dug around in her purse, loose brown curls falling over her green eyes. “Yeah. Drive by Kade’s house, pick up the MINI, drive into town so whoever might notice she’s still around, then drive it back, pick up my car and head here to home-sweet-home, bunker-hell.” She smoothed her lip balm on. “With Dracon dead, I’m not sure why we’re doing this.” She glanced at Kade. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Kade shrugged. Everyone was always commenting in a nonchalant way about Dracon’s death. She still didn’t know how she was supposed to respond. Or what she was supposed to feel. Numb was the word she would’ve used—just numb.

  “We’re following the routine until we have a better one, G,” Cole said. “The more Devil’s Children and Nefarius who know Kade’s still in Boulder, the more will stick around. Warden Caelius wants to try to keep them centralized.”

  “I get that part, it’s the going and back forth from the Brotherhood to her dad’s house I’m confused about,” Giselle said. “They know she’s here with us.”

  An uneasy shiver crept up Kade’s spine.

  Lindsey nudged Giselle. “Stop complaining. Want me to drive?”

  “Yes.” Giselle dropped the keys into her open hand.

  “No,” Cole said. “Then I really can’t fit.”

  “You can squeeze into the back with Kade.” Giselle gave them a devilish grin.

  Danny pushed to his feet. “Just don’t get in a wreck.”

  Chapter 3

  The bonfire lit up the night sky, orange sparks spiraling into darkness overhead. Heru stood in still silence, the firelight coloring the side of his dark face and blue eyes. Across the River Adige, dawn’s first light spread across the first century city in a pinkish glow. Silhouettes of ancient church steeples spiked the horizon. Illuminated windows dotted the cityscape as the town began to wake.

  Heru had seen the sights of Verona, Italy over a thousand times before, had even called the town home for a bit, but for all its acclaim, he’d never seen the beauty. He’d witnessed the rise and fall of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. There was no beauty here—only the leftovers of civilizations lost.

  With a swipe of his open hand, he distinguished the flames of the raging fire beside him and scuffed out the embers with the sole of his work boot. He’d put off the trek into the city long enough. With the town wakening into the new light of a dawning day, he could walk the old cobbled streets like a normal human being. The chance of being noticed was far less that way. Wandering the streets at night was riskier. No one noticed an aging dark-skinned man covered in blue winged tattoos during the day as much. At night, everyone was on alert.

  The early morning sun glinted across the surface of the River Adige, a sight he’d almost missed if he admitted it to himself. The old river wasn’t why he’d come, though, and certainly not worth a second glance. Still, crossing the Ponte Pietra bridge, he found it difficult not to look down at the greenish water below. What secrets the river held. So many eras gone by.

  He passed an early morning group of tourists talking excitedly about the day’s plans to visit Juliette’s balcony at the Capulet house. He wondered if the group had any idea the balcony was a fabrication from the play itself or that Shakespeare had altered the real family name of Cappelletti to Capulet in his famous play of Romeo and Juliette. Or if the tourists even cared about the history of the true warring families of Montecchi and Cappelletti so long ago. No matter, humans saw what they wished to see and no more.

  Opposite the bridge, he turned left on the cobbled street he knew so well after walking upon it day after day for decades. The old two-story stone buildings flanking the street were adorned with aged double paned windows and wooden doors painted in every color from vibrant red to soft yellow. The villas in this part of Verona weren’t overly large but of ample size for a small family.

  Pink and yellow potted flowers were arranged decoratively around welcoming entryways of homes, and Italian flags hung from flagpoles bolted above a few front doors. Ivy wound around trellises, searching for sunlight close to the high rooftops.

  Heru made his way toward a large wooden door with peeling blue paint, still adorned with the knocker he’d installed so many years ago. The varied colors and smooth surfaces of the worn patina were familiar. He drew in a deep breath, relishing the air infusing his lungs. This was one of the only places on Earth that retained so much of its history and integrity from a bygone, proud past.

  Reaching in his coat pocket, he removed a heavy steel key, rubbed smooth from too many years in his possession. Sliding it into the lock, he opened the front door. The sweet smell of settled dust and wood varnish greeted him like an old friend. Mu
ted shards of early light striped the floors and illuminated the once white sheets draping the furniture. He pulled them off with care, one at a time, and set the sheets in the corner of the room before walking to the double French doors.

  Throwing the dank, off-white drapes wide, he opened the beveled glass doors. The villa overlooking the River Adige was something he’d never been able to let go of. The water flowed by below in a glitter of early morning sunlight.

  Ah, Verona. Maybe it was beautiful, truly beautiful, in its own decaying way. A flutter of wings rustled on his left, and a raven landed on the scrolling balcony railing he was leaning against. Heru didn’t turn or flinch at the sound. The raven’s black wings spread wide, and it stepped off the rail. A middle-aged man with stringy blond hair stood beside Heru, arms folded over his narrow chest and dressed in a long dark trench coat.

  “I’ve been waiting a long time.”

  “Ya. I know how long ya been here.” Heru’s bright blue eyes remained focused on the sights of the city outside. The old balcony furniture still looked usable, he thought, glancing down. Wrought iron had that old century way of never letting a person down. Rust spotted a few of the chair legs, but those could be fixed with some steel wool easily enough. The river continued to roll by in silence. Church steeples dotted the cityscape, townspeople opened storefronts and rolled out carts of colorful flowers along the riverfront walk. Freshly baked bread scented the air. Heru breathed it all in.

  “Are you hearing me or have you finally gone deaf after all these years?”

  Heru turned his head, tattoos of blue slate wings and bird-heads covering his ebony throat and forearms. “I hear everything. Time doesn’t affect me, not completely, although sometimes I wish that it would.”

  “Yeah, I know. Can we discuss your melancholy existence after you explain why I had to meet you here? It’s been a decade since you last called. Nothing could be so important.”

  Turning around, Heru faced the villa’s interior. He took in the curved, rich wood of the staircase near the front door, the sprawling sitting room and soaring ceilings lined with massive wooden beams, and the faint red hues of the hand-painted mural he’d had commissioned so long ago. Yes, he had missed this place, as much as he hated to admit it. Italy seeped into a person’s bones and stayed there.