Dark Ascension

by J. D. Brown

  “How do you feel?” Jesu asked. Dad and Tancred watched me with varying levels of concern. Well, Dad might have been concerned. I was sure Tancred was merely just taking mental notes for the Council.

  “I feel fine.” I shrugged and then handed the cup to Shénshèng.

  “You won’t feel any different.” She placed the cup in the sink.

  “This taint you mentioned,” said Dad. “What it is?”

  Shénshèng glanced at me from the corner of her eyes and then nodded. “The sins of the father seek to grow from the son as strangle weed grows from a tree.”

  Dad furrowed his brow in confusion. He looked first at Jesu, then at me. “Who’s the father?”

  “Dr. Shénshèng, my son’s not a... a clone, or reincarnation of his father... is he?”

  “No,” said Jesu before Shénshèng could answer. “Strangle weed is a parasitic plant. It attaches itself to a host and grows by feeding off the nutrients in the cell walls.” Jesu glared at Shénshèng in disbelief. “He cheats death again, using his grandson the same way he used Jalmari. He’s hijacking the child’s body.”

  Shénshèng lowered her gaze in silent affirmation.

  Fear seized my heart as a million other questions raced through my mind. What did this mean for my child? How could I stop it? I opened my mouth to ask, but Jesu interjected a question of his own.

  “What about the other baby? Is she not affected?”

  “She?” I narrowed my gaze, but Jesu ignored me. He kept his eyes on the Seer.

  Shénshèng sighed. “We all carry some part of our parents with us, but the girl’s essence is her own. She is safe.”

  I blinked. “Girl?”

  Of course a girl was possible—I’d just never thought of it before.

  A boy and a girl... A son and a daughter...

  I suddenly needed to sit down. I went to Shénshèng’s couch and sagged into the cushions.

  “Ema.” Jesu followed, and knelt by my side. “Are you okay?”

  “Wow,” I said. “Just... wow.”

  “I hope I didn’t ruin the surprise,” said Shénshèng.

  “Will she be human?” asked Dad. “The girl? Will the boy be—”

  “Please.” Shénshèng lifted a slender hand to ward off Dad’s questions. “I have said all I can.”

  Jesu frowned. His dark gaze narrowed as he studied the Asian vampyre.

  Dad looked just as glum. He shook his head. “No. You can’t say all that and not give us anything useful. I must know. Will the boy be a—”

  “Logan,” Jesu growled.

  Dad turned an angry glare at my ex-lover, and his knuckles paled as his grip tightened around the hilt of his sword.

  “Do not be foolish,” Jesu warned.

  My checks burned. I had so much I wanted to say to Shénshèng. So much I wanted to ask. I wanted to know everything that was in store for my children’s future. I wanted to know everything she had seen.

  I met her gaze and whispered a desperate, “Please.”

  Her smile teetered as she folded her hands in front of her and sighed. “You all know me now. You will call on me many times before this is over, and I will do as much as I can, truly. But this is all I can do today. Now you must go.”

  I blinked my gaze to floor and swallowed the lump welling in my throat. “I just have to ask... Is there a cure? Is there a way to get rid of Apollyon without hurting my child?”

  Shénshèng pulled her pale lips between her teeth, and something dark passed over her eyes. “No.”

  A proverbial knife hit me in the chest. “No?” I gasped as though I’d been punched in the gut. “Nothing?”

  “What about the stone?” Tancred’s commanding tone took me by surprise. He had been silent through all the cursed baby talk.

  “I don’t need it,” I said, shaking my head. He didn’t know I had Apollyon’s jade in my pocket. My only ace. Maybe I could use it. Not just on Lilith, but...

  “You told Brinnon you were coming here to have another stone made,” Tancred insisted.

  I stood and glared at the traitor. “I said I don’t need it.”

  VALAFAR

  I stood inside a dark alley facing the street. The smell of greasy food and rot hung in air, announcing the dive bar in the building beside me. Night had long since taken its claim, and the district slept with nothing more than the bits of trash cowering in the gutter to speak of the quality of humans who lived here. I crossed my arms over my chest and narrowed my gaze at the apartment complex across the street. Shénshèng had let Ema and her riffraff crew inside several minutes ago.

  I glanced at my shoes, then at the apartment, and drew a deep breath. I put one foot in front of the other and marched across the street—only to watch the world spin before my eyes. Gritting my teeth, I hugged myself tighter and pushed on. My head spun with a ferociousness that sent my palms to my temples. I was half-way across the street, my legs slow and wobbly, my stomach lurching into my throat. The building was in front of me, but suddenly it seemed miles away, and the asphalt beneath my feet tilted at a ninety-degree angle. Everything else—the quaint buildings, the abandoned cars, the few scrawny trees—spun and warbled.

  It’s an illusion! I squeezed my eyes shut. Just... keep... walking...

  My legs didn’t want to move. It was like they knew I’d fall as soon as I took a step. So I ran instead. Logically, if I just kept running, I’d hit the apartment building eventually. The world was not really spinning. Something—a spell—was simply tricking my brain into feeling symptoms of vertigo.

  Concrete smacked into me without warning. I fell hard on my knees and elbows, scraping my palms. I blinked my eyes open and waited for the twinkling stars in my periphery to vanish. My nose throbbed as a trickle of blood dampened my top lip. I pushed to my feet, dusted myself off, looked around, and then cussed a blue streak.

  I was right back where I started—in the alley next to the dive bar, across the street from Shénshèng’s apartment. The same thing had happened twice before. It didn’t matter if I tried from the front or the back; if I was phased or solid; if my eyes were open or closed—the result was always the same. I ended up right back where I started.

  In a fit of frustration, I turned and slammed the heel of my shoe against the nearest dumpster, rattling the metal. I raked my hands through my hair, yanking on the ends.

  Screw Shénshèng and screw Logan, those blimey witchcraft bastards.

  Motion in my periphery caught my attention, and I pressed my back against the grimy restaurant wall. Ema and the others exited Shénshèng’s home one by one. A limousine waited for them down the road. As the vampyres made their way to the vehicle, a posh little Asian man popped out of the passenger side and waited on them. That was yet another hiccup in Mother’s plan. The guide hadn’t noticed me—yet—but I had no doubt he was watching everything Ema’s crew did, listening to everything they said, and reporting it all back to headquarters. If the R.E.D. didn’t already know Lilith was trailing Ema, they would soon. The question was whether or not they’d get involved.

  Ema, Jesu, Tancred, and Logan boarded the limo and the engine turned over. I phased and flew after them, until they turned down a familiar road and I realized where they were headed. I solidified on a vacant street corner and watched as the limo continued a few more blocks down the street before turning into the hotel driveway. I fished my cellphone out of my pocket, pressed a button on speed dial, and then held the speaker to my ear.

  Mum answered on the third ring. “What?”

  “If you’re in the hotel room, leave. They’re heading in now.”

  “Way ahead of ya.” Lilith’s breath tickled the back of my neck, and I jumped into a spin, facing her ice-cold glare.

  I swallowed my nerves and then ended the call. “We have a problem.”

  Mum cocked her sparse brow and waited for me to continue.

  “It’s Logan. He cured Shénshèng of her habit somehow. She was able to stop counting and took them to her ap
artment.”

  “What?” Mum turned her fury in the direction of the hotel.

  “She’s not with them now. I tried to stop them from going, but I couldn’t. Logan had a smudge stick and Shénshèng’s apartment is warded with a spell or something. I couldn’t get within a hundred feet of the building.”

  Lilith turned and punched the air with both hands. I ducked as bolts of blue lightning shot from her fingertips and struck the brick wall of the building behind us. The impact shook the ground with a thunderous clap. A small shower of white-hot sparks and blackened cinders fell to the pavement. I looked at the charred brick. That would’ve been me if I hadn’t moved fast enough. A twang of anger burned at my core, but I bit back the urge to act on it. Mummy Dearest wouldn’t have cared if I had gotten shocked or injured in the crossfire. She would’ve said it was my fault for not moving out of the way.

  Mum slumped against the wall and held a hand over her chest. She took several deep breaths and closed her eyes a moment to regain her composure. No doubt that little outburst had cost her. When I was sure my tone wouldn’t betray me, I stood and dusted myself off.

  “Well done.”

  She glared at me, but it wasn’t as effective when she could hardly stand. I looked at the hotel in the distance. The limo was gone. Parked somewhere out of sight. Ema and the rest had gone inside.

  “I need to know what Shénshèng told them.”

  I nodded absently.

  “And I need you to get rid of Logan.”

  A seed of panic took root in my gut, but I tempered it behind years of emotional walls. What I really wanted to say was, how the bloody hell do you expect me to get rid of a Hunter? Instead, I simply asked, “How?”

  “I got rid of his bag o’ tricks. I’m sure he’ll have a few more up his sleeves, but you’ll figure it out.”

  I pulled my lips between my teeth as my mind set to possibilities. I almost laughed out loud at the most obvious option. I could just ask Ema to make her father leave. After all, Mum didn’t specify...

  A hand squeezed my upper arm and I flinched at Mother’s touch. She pulled herself upright and stood regal, spine straight, chin lifted, having recovered from the momentary lapse in energy. My stomach churned with the need to bat her hand away, but I held my ground, knowing such a show of dislike would only poke the hornet nest. She narrowed her gaze as she held me captive in her claws.

  “In case that command wasn’t clear enough, I want Logan dead.”

  Fear bloomed in my chest. “But—”

  “I suggest ya do it now, b’fore the markets open an’ he has a chance to replenish his potions.” Her nails dug into my bicep, and I grimaced. My stupid sense of self-preservation got the better of me, and I opened my fat mouth.

  “It’s the four of them against one of me. Logan alone could—”

  “I’ve put down hundreds of Hunters in my prime.” She spat while shoving me away from her. What she didn’t know was that I was relieved to put a few steps between us. Relieved, but also frightened by the blue flames in her eyes. She was bat shit crazy. “This should have been a simple task, boy. I should be thousands of miles away right now, enjoying my new-found youth. Not chasing some freak-of-nature Romani across the globe just because she couldn’t keep her legs closed.” Blue sparks flickered over the length of her fingers, but knowing their price kept her temper in check. She leaned away and drew a deep breath, shaking her hands to dispel the residual power. “Do not mess this up, Valafar.”

  I met her gaze and nodded before dissolving into the ether. I had no idea how I was going to accomplish what Lilith wanted. Either I would die trying, or I would go insane with failure. I couldn’t afford the luxury of considering the third option—that I might succeed in killing Logan with my life intact—because then I’d have to consider the guilt; the cowardice of my actions. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d killed in cold blood because Mum desired it, but that never seemed to stop the fissures in my soul from tearing anew and hating who I was. In my heart of hearts, I wanted nothing more than to crawl into a deep dark hole where Mother could never find me and just—sleep. I was so very tired of being her son.

  Instead, I set a course straight for Ema’s hotel suite.

  CHAPTER 18

  “Why won’t Shénshèng tell us what she knows?” I said once we were on the road. Dad and Tancred looked at Jesu. Mr. Wu lifted his gaze as well. Maybe I should’ve waited until we were alone, but I couldn’t. “What did she mean when she said you knew the rules?”

  Jesu ran his palms over his jeans and cleared his throat. “Knowing the future is not the same as knowing how to change the future. My mother always warned me. I used to try, despite her warnings, whenever I saw something bad, but the outcome was always the same—the bad things always came to pass and... Soon you start to wonder if you didn’t cause it to happen.”

  “You think Shénshèng saw something bad?” Dad narrowed his gaze.

  “Not necessarily.” Jesu returned Dad’s look with a dark scowl. “But she is right to be cautious. The future is too large, too fluid. Focusing on the details of today, trying to change tomorrow...” Jesu shook his head. “It could have grave consequences on the bigger picture. Ten years from now, fifty years from now, no one can say for certain how everything is connected.”

  “So Shénshèng’s trying to protect the bigger picture?” I said, trying to understand.

  Jesu drew a breath and then shrugged. “Seeing the future is a crutch. We have to continue as though we’d never learned of her ability. It is the best way.”

  I wasn’t convinced, but I didn’t have a choice.

  The rest of the drive was silent, and I was grateful. It gave me time to digest everything Shénshèng had said—as well as everything she chose not to say. But the moment we unlocked the suite door and stepped past the threshold into the kitchenette, the time for introspection ended.

  One of Dad’s suitcases lay on its side on top of the breakfast counter, empty. I wrinkled my brow as an uneasy feeling slid over my bones.

  “Did you leave this here?” I asked.

  The guys gathered around to look over my shoulders.

  “No.” Dad frowned. “Where did...?” His gaze widened, and a hint of fear cast a shadow over his expression. He glanced at Jesu, who returned the look with a darkness of his own. Then both men sprinted into their rooms.

  I lifted a hand to my chest, feeling the outline of the wooden charm beneath my top. “What’s going on?”

  “I think we’ve been robbed,” said Tancred.

  Jesu came out of his room carrying an empty duffle bag. It had been packed to the seams with various weapons from the Alpan armory, but now it was nothing more than a crumpled shell of nylon. Jesu threw it against the couch cushions and muttered a few curse words before entering Dad’s room. “They took everything.”

  Without another thought, I joined Jesu in my father’s room. Dad crouched over a small safe tucked into the lower drawers of a nightstand. He worked the dial and then yanked the door open. It was empty.

  “Shit,” he grumbled.

  “So all we have is what we took with us to the hospital.” Jesu pulled a dagger from somewhere inside his jacket.

  “Not quite.” Dad stood and walked past us, to the single bathroom. He’d brought his own shampoo, conditioner, soap, shaving cream, and other toiletries. I’d never bothered with those items since even the worst dump in the world provided complementary basics. Jesu, Tancred, and I watched as Dad uncapped all his bottles. Each one released a different fragrance—but it wasn’t Axe or Old Spice. The scents were lighter, more botanical, like tea leaves. Dad sighed in relief. “I still have my herbs.” He looked at the toilet bowl and frowned. “Though it looks like they flushed someone’s stash of Adder’s Tongue.”

  I glanced into the porcelain bowl and noticed the higher-than-normal water level. The thief had clogged it. Little flecks of green plant material floated to the top.

  “Probably mine,” I said, rolling
my eyes. “You think Valafar did this?”

  “Or Lilith.” Dad recapped his toiletry bottles and gathered them in his arms. It unnerved me that he, out of all of us, was the one who cleverly thought of hiding them—or that he had packed any to begin with. My gaze went to Jesu. I could live in denial and tell myself it was all because of my ex-lover. I could blame Jesu for telling Dad about Lilith and Valafar. I could blame him for asking Dad to bring a few extra herbs and weapons. I could even believe Jesu was the one who hid the herbs in shampoo bottles. But that didn’t explain how Dad was able to untie himself, or how he was able to keep up with a moving vehicle as it crossed the city at forty-five miles per hour in the dead of night. It didn’t explain the twin necklaces, or why the heck Jesu cared so much about bringing him everywhere we went. No. I couldn’t look the other way anymore.

  “All right.” I put my hands on my hips, which was difficult in a small bathroom with three grown men present. “We need to talk.”

  “I agree,” said Tancred. “You’re pregnant? And you’re not here to make a philosopher’s stone?”

  “We have an incubus spy on our tails.” Jesu’s tone was stern. “Try to use more tact before you speak.”

  Tancred narrowed his gaze and a muscle feathered over his jaw, but Jesu was right. We needed to be more secretive if we wanted to stay ahead of Lilith.

  “Nevertheless,” said Tancred, “don’t think the topic will be forgotten.”

  “Noted.” I rolled my eyes and then went to the living room, where I pivoted my hip and faced them as they exited the bathroom. “But I need to speak with my father first.”

  “Let’s give them a minute.” Jesu nodded in the direction of the suite door. “We can get dinner.”

  “I’ll stay. I want to hear this, too. For court purposes.” Tancred planted his feet and crossed his hulking arms. He was big. Not as huge as Nikolas had been. Not even as muscly as Brinnon. But tall and solidly built nonetheless.