by Frank Morin
All feeling drained to ghosts of memory as Eirene lost connection with her host. Her senses contracted, vision collapsing into two-dimensions as her soulmask pulled free of the restricting skull. The last sensation she felt before Alter lifted her soulmask free was that distinct sucking pop.
Eirene lost sight of him as he lifted her soulmask high, but while dispossessed, hearing multiplied tenfold. She heard his elevated breathing, and even his bounding pulse.
The first soul extraction laid bare one’s connection to their nevra core. For her it had been a deeply moving experience, deeper even than the ecstasy mortals felt through love. For Alter, it had to be as terrifying as it was exciting.
Eirene spoke, her soulvoice high-pitched and barely above a whisper. “Well done, Alter. Now, press my soulmask back into place and restore the soul points.”
For long seconds he didn’t respond, didn’t lower her soulmask. Fear flitted between the rainbow tendrils that coiled just below her. Had she underestimated the strength of his integrity? Would he fall to the lure of Cui Dashi powers so quickly?
His hands began to shake, and he lowered her a fraction. She couldn’t see his face, as his head was bowed, but she noticed a tiny dot of red light on his temple.
Gregorios had followed her, despite her warning to stay away. He’d positioned himself outside, probably on the roof of the south wing, with views over the devastated pool courtyard and the training room. She was seeing the laser sight of his sniper rifle, and she doubted he’d wait long.
She was about to call out to Alter again, but his hands stopped shaking and he took a deep breath, the rasping of air in his lungs clear to her. Slowly, he lowered her soulmask back into place.
She could have reestablished the connection with her host body on her own, but resisted the urge. He needed to feel the entire process, understand everything. It seemed to take forever before his nevron restored the bond for her.
Senses rushed in with the avalanche of feeling she knew to expect. Every molecule clamored for attention, every sense nearly overwhelmed by the rush as her soul reunited with her body. Her limbs shook just a little, despite her efforts to calm them. She had only been dispossessed for a minute, so the tremors passed quickly.
Only when she sat up did she glimpse a tear hanging in Alter’s eye, not quite released. He looked shaken and pale. Then a shudder passed through him and his eyes widened in shock.
“You felt something,” she said softly, watching him intently.
“Yes, something…I feel stronger.”
“That was the final step,” Eirene said.
“What step?”
“It’s known as the nevra siphon. It’s unique to the Cui Dashi and the biggest reason they become so feared. As part of the melding of your rounon gift with your recently awakened nevra core, you siphon a fraction of the soul force from every soul you dispossess. With mortals, the effect is small, but from stronger souls like mine, the gain is much more pronounced.”
Alter gasped. “No! I can’t. That is abomination.”
“It cannot be undone,” Eirene said.
Alter backed away. “You knew this would happen to me! You defiled me.”
“You are my blood,” Eirene said. “What makes you think I mind sharing just a little bit more of myself with you?”
“It’s wrong,” he insisted.
“It is what it is,” Eirene said. “No doubt Paul has siphoned from many souls.”
“What does that mean?” Alter whispered.
“It means he’s stronger. It means that you must close that gap.”
“How?”
“You need the practice anyway. You’re going to dispossess everyone I can line up for you. It’ll improve your skills and strengthen your soul.”
He began shaking his head before she finished. “I can’t do it.”
“You must. You’re the only one who can.”
“We’ve defeated other Cui Dashi without this,” he insisted.
“True, but we’ll be facing Paul in the memoryscape. There he holds the advantage. Do you really want to fight him without preparing in every possible way?”
“Embracing this evil is not preparing.”
She poked him in the head again. “Alter, you’re backsliding. We already established this isn’t evil.”
He grunted and rubbed his face with his hands.
“It has to be done,” she insisted.
“I will not!”
Alter stormed from the room and Eirene let him go.
Gregorios entered as soon as he left. “That went about as well as we could have hoped.” He must have descended from his sniper perch as soon as he saw Alter beginning to restore her.
She embraced him and leaned her head against his shoulder. “We’ve escalated things with this last raid, love. We’re facing the final confrontation. I can feel it. That boy is our best hope of survival, but he needs the final push.”
“I’ll send Sarah,” Gregorios said.
“That’s getting complicated,” Eirene cautioned.
“I know, but we have to take the risk. We need both of them.”
“If he refuses?”
Gregorios wrapped her in his arms and spoke softly.
“Then a lot of people are going to die.”
Chapter Fifty-Nine
The fool Valerian is dragged through the streets in chains. No ruler will again defy me, when I can enhance the armies of their enemies, as I did the Persians. Let the impotent hunters promise what they may, I rule from the shadows, and those shadows remain unbroken for five centuries.
~ Shahrokh, 260 A.D., after Emperor Valerian was captured by Persian King Shapur I
Tomas pulled the SUV to a stop under the covered entry at Quentin’s mansion and Sarah breathed a sigh of relief. It felt good to get home. Quentin himself opened the door for her.
“How did it go?” he asked.
“No luck so far.” She didn’t hide her frustration.
“Well, come inside and have something to eat.”
Sarah squeezed his hand. He was such a gentleman, and she was tired and hungry. She and Tomas had crisscrossed Rome in the past four hours in their fruitless hunt for the hidden Paul. At least Tomas had commandeered an SUV from the car pool, so the drive was comfortable, but that only helped a little.
Sarah wondered if somehow Paul or John had realized she could locate them. Or maybe Spartacus had seen something to tip them off? She should have been able to find them, but had felt nothing.
At the mansion, she easily located Eirene and Gregorios. Alter shone in her rune senses with a slightly different shade in mental light. They had driven past the council headquarters and she’d picked out several facetakers, their locations resolving into clarity about two blocks away. Maybe she could develop a second rune to amplify the power of the first. The idea held promise, but she wasn’t sure where to start.
“I’ve got to check in with my team,” Tomas said when they entered the spacious main salon. “They’re following up on a couple of leads and analyzing intel we gathered during that last raid.”
He leaned in to give her a kiss, but she couldn’t quite kiss that temporary form. She turned her face, allowing him to gently kiss her cheek. She was grateful he didn’t press her about accepting his current form. She was committed to helping him restore his body, but struggled to pretend there was nothing wrong in the meantime.
“I’ll see you at dinner,” she called after him, and he waved, looking relieved.
Hopefully they could find some quiet time that evening. They needed some positive reinforcement to help ease the rift that had formed between them after that argument and his body issues.
Sarah excused herself, promising to meet Quentin later in the art gallery dining room. Life had grown weird. No other girl in the world was probably dealing with quite the same set of boyfriend problems. Tomas was unique, but at the moment, she wished he wasn’t quite so different.
She sensed Alter moving to intercept her, th
e glow of his active nevra core like an approaching lantern in her mind. She waited at the corner of the hall where he would appear.
“Sarah. Just who I was looking for.” He looked relieved.
“Are you going to join us later for dinner?”
“Food can wait.” He drew her down the side hallway.
“What is it?”
He led her back to the sparring room before speaking.
“If I knew you wanted to get beat up, I would’ve grabbed my workout clothes,” Sarah joked.
“I need the master rune,” Alter said, his expression grave.
“You couldn’t let me relax a bit first?”
“No. You promised.”
“What’s the hurry?”
He glanced at his watch. “I need it. You promised to give it to me.”
“I did. Right after we defeat Paul.” She watched him closely. He looked nervous, almost frantic.
“Well I need it early.”
“Why?” She doubted he was planning to run. He couldn’t return to his family in Jerusalem. Not yet. They wouldn’t react well to learning about his Cui Dashi powers.
“Just give it to me,” he pleaded.
“I will,” she assured him. “But you need to tell me what’s going on.”
Alter paced away, then rushed back to her and took her hands. “Sarah, I’m speaking with my father in a few minutes. I need…”
He looked down and Sarah said, “You need something big, like a peace offering, to help him deal with the new aspect of your powers, don’t you?”
When he spoke, his voice cracked. “Sarah, how can I face him? He’ll know about…About my corruption.”
“You’re not corrupt, and you know it.”
“It doesn’t matter what I believe. That’s how my father will see it.”
“Do you really think that offering him the master rune will help?”
He shrugged. “It’s all I have.”
Gregorios was going to be furious when he found out, but Sarah couldn’t refuse him. Alter had helped her, despite his reservations about her new rune. “All right. I agree with you, Alter. Your family is worth it.”
Alter breathed a sigh of relief and produced a small notebook. Sarah sketched out the master rune. Alter watched, eyes glued to every stroke. When she finished, he took the paper reverently and studied it for half a minute before speaking.
“This is amazing.”
“Told you.”
Then his eyes widened. “You took the keystone marks for your personal rune?”
“I told you I used part of it.”
“Sarah, that’s the most dangerous part. Do you have any idea what forces you’re playing with?”
“It worked, didn’t it?”
She hated when he said things like that. Of course she didn’t understand everything and when she let herself think about it, it terrified her. She had to trust her instincts because there wasn’t time to learn enough to trust her knowledge.
“I don’t care.” Alter startled her by turning away.
“Really?”
He pulled out his phone and began dialing. That seemed a bit abrupt. He hadn’t even tried to steal a kiss in thanks. She didn’t want to encourage Alter, but it irritated that he hadn’t even tried.
“Well great, I’ve been working on another rune that uses more parts.”
That got his attention. “Sarah! Stop doing that.”
“Just kidding. Who are you calling?”
“My father.”
“Already?”
“I have to. Waiting will only make it worse.”
She gave him an encouraging smile. “I’ll wait here. Tell me what he says.”
He paused at the door and gave her the first genuine smile of the day. “Thank you.”
After the door closed behind him, she sank onto a padded bench, wondering how he’d react if the conversation went badly?
Chapter Sixty
I have seen the emperor himself. Caligula is crowned, but I know Caesar’s face and indeed, the demon-allied Julius has taken yet another life. The only glimmer of hope are reports of mental dissipation. I will attempt to gather confirmation, but my presence may have been noticed by the cursed enforcers. I will not retreat from these demons, and rejoice that the long-time protector of the facetaker evil is approaching his ultimate death.
~Achinoam, hunter spy in Rome, 38 A.D.
Alter cringed when he heard the weakness in his father’s voice. Melek had always been such a mighty force in the clan, the indomitable cornerstone of their strength.
His father would recover, and with the information Alter had to share, all would be well.
“I’m glad you called, Son,” Melek said, but his tone was more severe than usual.
“Father, I acquired the master rune. I’ve already emailed an encrypted photo of it to you.”
Melek’s response came slower than Alter had hoped. “That is well.”
“What’s wrong?”
Another pause. “I spoke with Reuben today.”
“Father, I can explain.”
“Can you?” Melek asked, his tone harder, and colder. “You defied your flesh and blood. You helped the demons. They’ve tainted you and mocked our honor.”
“It’s not like that--”
“To think I cowed before the pretended wrath of Gregorios,” Melek snarled. “Reuben saw the truth. My vision was clouded with false words of cooperation.”
“He’s not false,” Alter protested. “There’s another Cui Dashi. He’s worse than Mai Luan and he’s after another master rune.”
“Lies!” Melek cried. “You are caught in their web. I cannot imagine how they managed to corrupt your soul, but you must come home. We’ll purge you, Son, and set you free of their taint.”
Alter blanched.
Purge.
The worst dishonor for a hunter was to use his rounon gift as the heka did, or to ally with the enemies of the clan. Alter’s dishonor eclipsed all others and would stand unchallenged in the annals of their history.
The only way to restore honor was to purge the corrupted soul.
He had to die.
Alter sagged against the wall, unable to speak, unable to argue. Had he not lived through the events of recent weeks, he would have called for the same punishment for anyone else who had acted as he had. If he didn’t know the truth, his bias would have dictated the outcome.
But he knew the truth.
“Father, please.”
Melek’s voice became gentle. “Reuben is still in Rome, Son. He can pick you up and bring you home.”
“It’s not my fault,” Alter said, his voice cracking. He forced confidence back into it. “I’ve learned so much. Don’t turn on me now, Father. I can defeat the Cui Dashi and avenge the family.”
“It’s not your fault,” Melek agreed. “It’s my fault. I never should have thrust you into the midst of those demons. Your fall is all my fault.”
“I haven’t fallen,” Alter insisted. “I’m still me. I’ve done great things. We’re doing great things.”
“I am sorry,” Melek said, his voice strong with the same conviction Alter had always felt, the conviction he was now forced to question. “If you could hear yourself you would understand. Like your Grandfather Ronen used to say, duty is a terrible burden sometimes, but it cannot be avoided.”
“What about Grandmother Elizabeth? It’s her blood that granted this gift you call a curse.”
Maybe that wasn’t the best time to bring that up.
“How dare the demons disgrace her memory?” Melek shouted, angrier than Alter had ever heard.
“There’s no disgrace. They’ve shown me so much truth.”
“They do not live in truth. I’m sorry, my son, but your soul must be cleansed. It’s for your own good.”
“But father--”
“Good bye.”
Chapter Sixty-One
The Praetor was a fool, and today we revel in new glory. I hardly dared believe
he would entrust the battle to the swords of simple men. We, who bear the runes of the mighty Spartacus fear none such. What care I for Castus’ worries or Gannicus’ whining? Let the facetakers come, and we will meet in glorious battle and prove the mettle of our souls.
~Oenomaus, one of the leaders of slave revolt with Spartacus
The door to the sparring room opened and Alter entered slowly, his shoulders slumped. Sarah had never seen him so low. Considering the events of the past couple of days, that was something.
“How did it go?” she asked with forced cheer.
He waved the question aside without answering and dropped to the bench beside her. He looked at his feet, dejected.
“They’ll come around,” she said. It had taken Alter weeks to simply shift from thinking every one of them was a demon to thinking Gregorios was the demon and everyone else merely evil.
“They won’t,” he said. “You don’t know them.”
“I’ve met your brother.”
When she saw Reuben again, she’d ram the gun he’d used to shoot Tomas into an unmentionable place and see how he liked getting shot.
She changed the subject. “How did it go with Eirene earlier?”
Alter straightened. A hint of a smile crossed his lips but he ground it out quickly. “It was educational.”
“So what’s it like?” She bumped his shoulder with hers to get him to look up.
“It’s different than anything I’ve ever felt,” he said, his sour mood lifting a little. “I didn’t want to admit it, but I can control my nevra core and it doesn’t make me evil.”
“Of course not,” she said. “I know your heart.”
“It’s not that simple, not for my family.”
“There’s more to it, isn’t there?”
“You know about the nevra siphon?” he asked.
She nodded. Eirene had called her while she and Tomas drove around the city. It was a lot to swallow, but she was getting better at accepting new mind-bending truths.
“I’m your next test case.”
