Sophie looked a little miffed. “I was in complete control of that situation, and a sweeping complacency enchantment was unnecessary.” She directed the last bit at Alex.
He put his hands up. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”
She looked at Salmar, who pointed up at the ceiling.
“It was probably the angel,” he reasoned. “He told me I was needed here. I expected to find demons attacking. Instead, I found Elder Prophets bickering and endangering the lives of others. Sophie, I believe I thoroughly detailed my last experience with Nathan. Situations like this dictate caution.”
Nathan laughed softly.
“And you should know better too,” Salmar scolded, now speaking to the Mad Prophet. “I don’t know what your intentions were, but you would not only anger an angel by attacking anyone sitting at this table. You have been warned before.”
Nathan sneered at him. “Are you warning me now?”
“An angel watches over us,” Salmar replied calmly. “If you value life—or at least freedom, you’ll limit your use of supernatural powers while in this house.”
“Besides,” Alex added, “we need you for this, Nathan. Higgins tells me that Matt and Zeng Wei have left to find and eliminate some other threat. Danger is all around us, and we know that you are powerful. We also know that you have as much to lose as we do. Now, we can fight ourselves, or we can fight them. Whatever you may see these creatures to be, you have to realize they’re threatening.”
“Very well, Alexander Tanner,” proclaimed the Mad Prophet, standing up and saluting the young man. “You will have my help in fighting these...demons.” He stifled a laugh, but he maintained an air of seriousness.
Alex sighed. “I appreciate your support.”
“I’ve spoken to many prophets in town,” Sara put in. “I’ve given them the number to the emergency line and told them to pass the message along. A couple of them have volunteered to be extra eyes and ears for us. I suspect that your message will probably have quite an impact on them,” she continued, finally speaking to Alex. “I don’t know if I’ll ever meet Jeremiah; I certainly have a lot of questions for him if I do. But I see now that I’m needed here. Even after you showed me your memory, I didn’t really believe. There was something, though, about the way you spoke, your story, that really helped me to understand. And I’m not afraid.”
“I’m glad,” Alex said. “I wish I could say that I’m not afraid, but I have a lot of things on my mind at the moment.”
“Tomorrow,” Elizabeth announced, “there is a concert in Las Vegas that Matt, Alex, and I will be attending, provided Matt is back from his mission by then.”
“Yes,” Sophie agreed, nodding, “Lonny Talbott would be a great asset, if you can get him.”
“Nisus?” Sara asked.
Elizabeth smiled. “Yes, Lonny Talbott is a prophet. In fact, each member of the band is, but he’s the most powerful.”
“It explains how the band could be famous for almost ten years, and none of the members have really aged,” Sara noted. “I guess it also explains their popularity with people of all ages. They’ve won so many awards, been on so many soundtracks.”
“Exactly,” replied Elizabeth. “They’ve had a decade to win the hearts and minds of a huge following. There is a good chance that at least seventy-five percent of the people in this country have heard a Nisus song. Those people, whether they realize it or not, have been influenced by a band of prophets, and will, as a result, be more susceptible to the same trick again. That’s not even including the loyal fanatics, who have already succumbed to the power of the music and have all but created a cult for Nisus. We need Lonny on our side.”
“The only problem,” Sophie added, “is that Lonny Talbott is reputedly agnostic and not particularly bent on joining our cause.”
“I have a plan for that,” Elizabeth returned confidently.
“And that would be?”
Elizabeth smiled and answered, “Well, I’d like to persuade him that it would be the right thing to do, first. But if that doesn’t work, Jeremiah has authorized me to make a deal.”
***
Metatron looked very sullen sitting alone on his personal jet. He rarely took this form of travel, only in instances that required him to personally transport other people. Under normal circumstances, he would not need a plane. Today was a different day, though. The boy had taken Metatron’s ability to teleport, and the demon felt that this whole ordeal was becoming rather time-consuming and inconvenient.
But that is not the thought that possessed him at the moment. As he watched the American news, he saw that two other prophets were being talked about now: Alex Tanner and Sophie Koch. They had riled up the people of Kingstone, and it was all Patheus’s fault. If he had killed his prophet cohort, like Metatron had commanded, instead of utilizing him, this would not have happened for a little while longer.
What made matters worse was that this was not just news in Kansas City. The stories had now become national talk. Of course the farther away the news station from Kingstone, the more skeptical the reporters seemed to be. Nevertheless, they were all reporting something.
John and Alex were playing a very dangerous game, one that made humanity an unstable element and would ultimately back every demon on the planet into a corner. He didn’t know what Jeremiah was teaching these prophets, if any of them thought the Voice of God actually had the time, desire, or patience to compete for publicity and win human approval, but this was not how demons fought battles.
And he had another battle to fight, probably in the near future. Lucifer would not be concerned with television ads and mortal allies, only destruction of his enemies. First on the list, of course, would be Metatron. The previous Voice of God was fully aware of that. The Morning Star would not rest until he controlled all of the demon population, and there was no way to do that with Metatron on the same plane.
That matter, though, would have to wait. The first order of business was Las Vegas, followed by Kingstone. Only then could Metatron focus his attention on the true threat.
“Sir,” a voice over an intercom announced, “we are approximately thirty minutes from Boulder City.”
Metatron pressed the flashing button and replied, “Good. After I depart, you will fly to Las Vegas and stay there. I’ll find you when I plan to leave.”
“Leave Boulder City, sir?”
Metatron gritted his teeth in frustration. “No, imbecile. You will fly me from Las Vegas when I am ready to leave. Ask no more questions; simply do as you’re told.”
The reply came quickly. “Of course, sir.”
One hundred demons awaited his command in Boulder City, substantially more than his intelligence suggested would be necessary to take Jeremiah’s compound and hunt down the other prophets in the city. Many of the prophets would flee, probably to Kingstone, but it didn’t matter. The target was one demon.
It would have to do. Apparently, Jeremiah had his hands in a lot of Nevada government business, and Metatron had not been successful enlisting police or military support. He’d killed three demon advisors before accepting that unpleasant fact.
It didn’t matter, though; Jeremiah would not likely get much support either. Metatron could apply enough pressure from a national source to see to that. Most humans would not stand against his demon horde anyway. Still, he was curious as to what Jeremiah had in store. If this was going to be like any of the other incidents of late, Metatron thought he might be in for a surprise after all.
***
Yuri motioned with his head for one of his henchmen to unlock and open the door to Renee’s room. It had been four hours since he’d seen her, six since she’d taken her last dose, and he wanted to see what kind of effect it’d had on her.
He’d had reports of her banging on the door, screaming, crying, cursing, and offering anything she had to the person on the other side of the door to let her out—anything. As Yuri had approached, the guards informed him that not much
had been heard from her in the last half hour or so. Mostly, it had become whimpering and desperate cries for him.
As the door swung slowly open, Yuri’s toughest-looking goon, Mikhail, walked in first. Yuri followed and smiled maliciously at the sight before him.
Renee was curled up in a corner, sobbing softly. She had torn out some of her hair. It looked like she had raked her arms with her fingernails, and there was blood all over the place.
She saw them, stood, and made to walk toward them. Mikhail stood between her and Yuri. She lunged, and the burly man caught her with ease and suspended her there.
“Fucking monster!” she screamed.
Yuri examined the room, which was in general disarray and pointed to the blood on her arms. “I’m the monster? Look at what you have become.”
Peering deep into Mikhail’s eyes, Renee purred, “You cannot hold me for long.”
Immediately, she felt his grip loosen. The look on his face indicated that he was strained. His arms quivered, and she was slowly lowered to the floor.
“Clever,” Yuri noted. “But that won’t work on me, and I’m the only one with a supply of your heart’s desire.”
“Your henchmen are weak,” she squealed in mad delight. “And so are you. You won’t stop me from getting what I want.”
His men began to look scared. They started moving away from her. He, himself, felt a wave of nausea and fear sweep over him, but he brushed it away. His master had taught him a trick to deflect such an attack. After all, what good could Yuri be if his mind were that weak?
He walked up and belted her across the face so hard that she stumbled over backwards. That seemed to produce the intended effect on his men. The enchantment appeared to be broken. The thugs stood up a little straighter and moved in to grab her by the arms.
After she had recovered herself and the men had her secured, Yuri deftly thrust a needle into a vein in her arm and squeezed the syringe.
“There,” he said. “Now, doesn’t that feel better?”
She was calm and sedated almost instantaneously. She nodded dumbly.
“You can do some things for me?”
Again, she nodded.
“I’ve got to go soon. And, if you did your job correctly, our guests should be showing up in the next hour. All of the vials are downstairs in the refrigerator. They don’t have to be cold, but it feels amazing in your body. Doesn’t it?”
Yuri ignored the wordless nod and continued, “It’s called Lyubov. It means ‘love,’ and it’s your product. Make sure that many people at the party try it, and the drug dealers must be given a stock. Don’t worry about getting any of their personal information. When they run out, I’ll find them.
“Some of my guards will stick around to regulate the party—to act as bouncers. They’re at your disposal, but don’t be stupid, as hard as that may be for you to pull off. If they get pissed off, high, or drunk, it could jeopardize the order and efficacy of this party. And it could get you killed.”
She stared at him, and Yuri could see that comprehension was coming back to her; she was becoming cognizant once more.
“How much?” she slurred.
“Give it away at the party,” Yuri answered, motioning to his guards to release her. “Afterwards, sell it to the dealers for fifty dollars per vial. Each vial has a hundred doses. It’s all pretty simple. Obviously, I had to design it that way.”
His eyes went cold, and a malicious smile formed on his face before he continued, “Lyubov can be administered in almost any way, and that should cut out some of the discomfort of trying a new drug. Offer to just drop a little in their hands. It’s free to them, and they’ll have fun all night, guaranteed. If you can do so without giving yourself away, sprinkle a little on an unsuspecting soon-to-be client, or put a little in someone’s drink. Don’t get caught, though. It won’t be funny if they see you doing it.”
He handed her a card with writing she couldn’t comprehend at the moment. “Around three or four o’clock in the morning, go to this address, and wait for me. Don’t bring anybody, and don’t let anyone follow you.”
With little interest, she looked at the card she was now holding. “This isn’t going to work,” she told him.
He cocked his head in curiosity. “Why not?”
“It’s too powerful,” she explained slowly, “...the drug...especially for humans.”
“Funny how that realization came to you a little late,” he retorted. “No, the potency of what I have been giving you is a little stronger than what I plan to give them. With the prophet population in this town being as high as it is, I thought it wise to develop more than one version. Your recipe still needs a little tweaking before I prepare a special concoction for Alexander Tanner, but I’m getting much closer.”
“You’re evil.”
He chuckled. “I have a job to do, and I have to work with the resources I’m given—just like everyone else. I would say...efficient. Do you understand your directives?”
She rolled her eyes and nodded. “I give the drugs to the kids, sell the remaining supply to the dealers at fifty dollars a vial, then go to this address,” she said as she held up the card.
“Good,” Yuri affirmed. “Remember: Be discreet. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”
As he walked away, she glared at his back, and wished desperately that she could kill him. At that moment, she realized that she would gladly give up her own life to end his.
A plan very different than the one Yuri had explained to her began to form.
***
Somehow, they had found a location where no one would bother them. Alex knew this area pretty well. He and his friends had ventured out many times to do things adult authority figures might not approve of. A city as small as Kingstone had many places to hide if one were so inclined.
“It’s getting dark,” Liz noted, “even more so, here.”
Alex nodded, examining their surroundings. Tall trees grew all around this small alcove of Kingstone Lake. A camping area had been beaten down around where they were sitting. Several logs sat upright as makeshift stools. A mound of ash and partially burned wood, enclosed by a ring of small rocks, represented the generally accepted campfire locale.
The water lapped lazily against the muddy bank, fifteen or twenty feet from where they were sitting. Most of the wildlife was still hibernating or had moved farther south. Nevertheless, Elizabeth heard a couple birds chirping at each other. From somewhere far away, the sounds of music drifted to them.
“Someone must be having a party on the lake,” Alex observed. “Well, you wanted to get out of the house. Here we are. I come here, sometimes, to think or to get away from my parents.”
She smiled, enjoying the serenity of the place. “Have you ever brought a girl here?”
He looked a little nervous. “Once, about a year and a half ago. It was a little warmer then.”
“Alex, I can’t stop thinking about you. I’ve never felt anything like this. When I look at you, it just seems like—I don’t know—like it’s meant to be. I fought it for a while because I was scared and confused...and stupid. After this—after this is all settled, I mean—what are you going to do?”
“I don’t know,” he confided. “I don’t know if it will ever be over. But I do know that, whatever happens, I want to spend as much time as I can with you.”
“Then,” Elizabeth said, getting up, “we should make the most out of the time we have.”
She walked over to him and put her hand on his shoulder. Alex knew what she wanted. His skin began to tingle with anticipation; his muscles became weak, and his pulse quickened. He didn’t need an empathic connection to sense Elizabeth’s meaning.
“It’s cold,” he objected with a tone that betrayed his own lack of conviction in the statement.
“Not that cold,” she replied with a grin.
“I...,” he stammered, “I don’t have any protection.”
“Alex, prophets can’t have children, and I promise that I
don’t have any diseases.”
“I didn’t mean that,” he tried to explain.
“I know,” she assured him. “Look, we don’t have to do this right now—or ever—if you aren’t comfortable.”
“No,” Alex responded with resolve that even surprised him.
He felt it now, too, the feeling that everything was going to be all right. Suddenly, he could feel at peace. The air around him warmed up, charged with the passion and desperation they exuded; the other noises dissipated. The wind that had just been rustling the remaining leaves in the trees died down to nothing. Just like before, the world, time, and everything stopped, leaving only the two of them. There, in that place, at that instant, the moment that Sophie alluded to seemed so perfectly clear.
“I didn’t mean that, either,” he told her softly.
Alex stood slowly, cupped his hands gently against the bottom of her cheeks, and placed his lips firmly on hers.
***
“But where did they go?” James Tanner insisted.
“I don’t know,” the guard responded; she looked a little nervous and torn. “They just left and said they would be back before long.”
“Aren’t you supposed to protect my son?”
“Yes, sir, but--”
Alex’s dad laughed in exasperation. “You let him leave with a girl. There are demons that want to kill him, and you expect me to believe that the best course of action was to just watch him walk away without telling anyone?”
A heavy hand fell on James’s shoulder. The enraged father turned to see who would dare interrupt his tirade.
“Mr. Tanner, would you come with me?” Higgins requested.
“Only if you know where my son is.”
“I can locate him, but it’s vital that we speak in private.”
James agreed, recognizing that the guard would not have much relevant information anyway. By the time they came to Higgins’s makeshift guardhouse, glowing with computer screens and many multi-colored buttons and lights, Alex’s father was starting to calm down. Of course they knew where his boy was.
The Elder Prophets (To Absolve the Fallen Book 2) Page 28
