by John Corwin
Joss looked rather pale. "It proceeds." He gagged, swallowed with effort.
"He just fed," Otaleon explained.
Nightliss told me Darklings could feed from humans, but unlike their Brightling counterparts, it was repulsive to them. Disgusting or not, feeding from humans definitely accelerated the return of the cupids back to maturity. These two had only been boys a week ago. As the angels physically aged, their old memories returned as well.
"As I explained, we have very few human volunteers," Cinder said.
Otaleon nodded. "We can't feed from a person more than once a day or we risk damage to their soul."
"Do you feel more powerful now?" I asked.
Joss's cheeks puffed out like he'd just barfed in his mouth. His face went absolutely green before he rushed a few feet away and lost his lunch—or whatever meal he'd last eaten.
Otaleon ignored the episode as if he'd seen it a dozen times before. "We're definitely feeling stronger, at least once we get past the initial nausea."
"We have several new cupids." Cinder watched Joss with a neutral face. "I am worried we will be unable to bring them to maturity quickly enough to counter those Daelissa revives."
Daelissa had been reviving husks at her own facility in Kobol Prison. We'd destroyed half the prison, but not the part housing her facility. Even so, we'd stolen the majority of the husks she'd stored in the loading bay. Unless the U.S. military had taken over the building, it was possible her aether pods were pumping out more cupids every day.
"Have you found Maulin Kassus?" I asked. The man had tried to kill me in the past, but thanks to Altash, I'd captured him. Unfortunately, I'd had to make a deal with the scoundrel since he knew how to make the aether pods, and also had a lot of other useful information. I'd last seen him when Daelissa attacked the mansion, but nobody had seen him since.
"I saw Kassus enter the portal back to the mansion when we were evacuating the cubes," Cinder said. "He returned, but disappeared sometime thereafter."
Either he'd chosen the confusion as a convenient time to make a run for the hills, or someone else who had a gripe with the former leader of the Black Robe Brotherhood had done away with the man.
Kassus wasn't the immediate problem anyway. I paced up and down a few times trying to figure out where we could find noms who not only knew the Overworld existed, but would be willing to allow supernatural beings to feed from them. Felicia Nosti's boyfriend, Larry, came to mind, but he was only one person. He'd been accidentally exposed to supernatural elements and had to take something Elyssa jokingly referred to as Overworld rehab, where noms were told in no uncertain terms that they couldn't reveal the existence of the supernatural to others.
A light bulb blinked on in my head.
My fingers snapped a second later. "What about the people the Templars put through Overworld initiation classes?"
Cinder touched his chin. "That is an interesting proposal. From what Katie told me, many of those exposed were rather willing to have vampires drink their blood."
"Vamp groupies," I said with a grimace. "Who knows, maybe having Seraphim feed from them will sound more glamorous." I looked at our environs and wondered how difficult it would be to convince anyone to come to a strange place like this so otherworldly beings could feed on their soul essence. Then I remembered the strange places I'd gone during my Kings and Castles LARP—live-action role-playing—days. Lovers of the supernatural were a hell of a lot harder to scare off than typical noms.
I looked at Cinder. "Do you have access to the list of exposed noms?"
"No," he replied. "The list would reside in the Custodian archives."
The Custodians were an independent department of the Templars assigned to clean up supernatural messes and keep them hidden from the noms. Unfortunately, their operations had been fractured after the split between Thomas Borathen and the Synod. It just so happened that I knew someone in the Custodians even if we weren't BFFs.
"Let me make a few phone calls," I said, and paced away a few steps. I quickly found the number I needed.
"Superintendent Gaetano speaking," said a female with a saucy Italian accent.
"Grand Poobah Slade here," I replied.
"What have you destroyed?" she asked in a wary tone. "My resources are limited."
I chuckled. "Amazingly, I haven't destroyed anything you need to worry about, Fausta."
She let out a breath. I heard someone speaking in the background. "No, that is all wrong. Cover the fang marks and arrange the bodies like I showed you to make it look like a mugging."
"Look," I said, "I probably caught you at a bad time—"
"It is always at a bad time," she snapped. "There are vampires running rampant thanks to this war you are fighting. There are too many of them for their brood sires to keep under control, and they're treating noms like cattle to be slaughtered." Her voice rose to a near shout. "Do you know how many murders we've had to cover up these past few days? I am—" I heard her teeth clack. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out. "I apologize, Justin. I thought I could handle anything, but the hidden underbelly of this war is terrible."
"I know." I didn't know what else to say. I was blowing things up while Daelissa's minions did whatever they could to keep snowballing their forces. Fausta and her comrades had to clean up the toxic waste afterward. I wasn't sure if the Custodians still under Synod jurisdiction were doing the same thing or not. "I have what is hopefully a simple question."
"I will help you if I can."
"The Darklings need noms to feed from."
Faust growled. "Where are you going with this?"
"Do you have access to the list of noms who had to attend those rehabilitation classes for people exposed to the supernatural?"
"You want to force these people—"
I cut her off before she took off on a rant. "Absolutely not. I want to ask for volunteers. Since they already know about the Overworld, I won't be exposing innocents."
She went silent for several seconds. "I suppose your plan is not insane."
"High praise," I replied dryly. "Can you help me?"
"I have a small database of exposed noms, perhaps forty."
"That's it?"
"I do not have access to the main Custodian database."
My heart sank. "Let me guess. It's in their headquarters surrounded by death traps and dinosaurs."
"You are very melodramatic for a man." Fausta sounded almost amused. "The Custodians are not at war with one another like the Templars, even if my division is not officially recognized."
"What are you saying?"
"I have contacts within the bureau. Perhaps someone would be willing to copy the database for us."
"Ah," I said. "Spies. I like it."
"I will ask around. In the meantime, I will send you my list." She sighed. "Please be careful with my rescues. I do not want to hear of any mistreatment."
"Rescues?"
"It is what some of us call the noms we save."
I scratched my head. "Sounds like you're saving puppies from the pound."
"Exactly," she said in a tight voice. "They are very much like innocent puppies when it comes to the Overworld."
I couldn't disagree. "Thanks, Fausta."
"Goodbye, Grand Poobah Slade." She disconnected.
A moment later, I received an email with the database of rescues. I called Felicia Nosti.
"Justin!" she squealed.
"Hey, Felicia. I have a favor to ask."
"Anything for you."
I laid out the basics of the volunteer program in a nutshell and then explained how she could help. "I think a lot of the people who volunteer will be vampire groupies."
"Vamp tramps," she said in a disgusted voice. "They'll jump at the chance to let supers feed on them."
"You're also a vampire and an attractive woman, so—"
"You think I'm attractive?" she asked in a hopeful voice.
I repressed a sigh. In a sense, Felicia was my rescue. The way s
he saw it, I'd saved her from Maximus and also saved her from dying to the vampling curse even though I hadn't been the only one participating in the operation. She viewed me as her knight in shining armor.
"Of course you're attractive," I said. "I think you can convince more people to participate because you're a cute vampire."
"Oh," she said in a slightly disappointed tone. "Want me to use compulsion?"
"Absolutely not," I said.
"Good." Her voice lightened. "You're such a great man, Justin."
I decided it was safest to ignore her praise. "I'll send you the list. Let me know how it goes."
"You got it."
I sent her the database after I ended the call, and updated Cinder and the others on the progress.
"This is excellent news, Justin." Cinder approximated a smile.
Joss and Otaleon didn't seem overjoyed. They exchanged uneasy glances.
Admittedly, the thought of dozens of nauseated Darklings barfing all over El Dorado made me a little queasy. "Do you have any idea why it's so hard for Darklings to feed?" I asked them.
Joss shrugged. "We tried it during the first war, but it was too hard."
"We were fighting so much it was hard to find time to feed," Otaleon added. "It might take a Brightling a few short minutes to consume a human, but since we are constantly fighting nausea, it takes us nearly an hour to reach the limit with a human."
"How do you know when you've hit the danger zone?" I asked.
"You can feel it," Joss said. "It is like feeling a bottle of water lighten as you consume it."
"How long does it take a human to recover?" I asked.
"It depends on the human," he said. "Happy people recover very quickly. Those who are prone to sadness are much slower."
"Is there any way to sweeten the essence?" I asked.
The two Darklings looked at each other. Otaleon spoke. "I am sorry, Justin. I don't think there is any way to make it pleasant. Even if you procure more humans, it is unlikely we and our brethren will ever be able to feed enough to match the Brightlings in power."
Chapter 8
I hated hearing the hard truth, but I'd learned that complaining about it didn't solve the problem. I decided it was time to put myself in Joss and Otaleon's shoes so I could understand where they were coming from.
"Do you have a human I can feed from?" I asked Cinder.
He tilted his head. "You wish to feed?"
"I need to test something." I had a suspicion, but needed to know for sure.
"I believe so," Joss said. He entered the gap in the dragon coils and returned a moment later with an old man.
"Howdy there," the man said in a lively tone. "What can I do ya fer?"
"I'm Justin," I said, offering my hand.
He grinned and gave my hand a strong shake. "I'm Abe. You must be the guy everyone keeps talking about."
I smiled. "That depends on if what they're saying is good or bad."
He winked. "I really appreciate this opportunity. I was wasting away in a retirement home when my granddaughter told me I could serve our great country." Abe chuckled. "Sorry, I meant the world. I served in Vietnam, so I know about war, son. It took a tremendous toll on me, but your people here have cured most of my ills and given me a purpose in life."
I felt my eyes moisten, and cleared my throat to ward off the surge of emotion. "I appreciate your help more than you could imagine."
He saluted. "Makes me proud, son."
"We don't salute around here," I said with a smile.
"Hah. My granddaughter said you weren't all that formal."
"Who is your granddaughter?" I asked.
His chest puffed out. "Katherine. She's training to be a Templar, and I sure am proud of that little girl."
I looked at Cinder. "Do I know a Katherine?"
"I believe you know her by her nickname," Cinder replied. "Katie."
"I never knew her name was Katherine." I also wondered if she'd asked permission from anyone before exposing her nom grandfather to the supernatural. Then again, did it even matter at this point? The whole world was going to be exposed if we didn't stop Daelissa. There were plenty of people like Abe who felt old and useless. We could give them a chance to feel important again. Another idea occurred to me even though the Custodians would hate me for it. "Do you have other friends who'd like to help save the world?"
Abe's eyes lit with pleasure. "Son, I could get you a whole platoon if you want."
I rubbed my hands together like an evil genius who'd just come up with the best world domination plan ever. "If you could do that, it would be amazing."
"I'm on it, sir."
I turned to Cinder. "Help Abe recruit more volunteers. Make use of the omniarch to go where you need to go."
"How interesting," Cinder said. "I will be delighted to help."
Abe's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Now, was that why you wanted me out here, or can I help you with something else?"
"I need to test our feeding procedure," I said.
He held out his left hand. "Be my guest."
I held out my hand and let instinct take over. Smoky ultraviolet wisps flowed from his fingers and into mine. At first, I felt nothing more than a tingle. My right arm twitched as it tried to rise. Since I could access both Brilliance and Murk equally, it seemed my body wanted to feed from both sides of the spectrum. I forced it to keep feeding from only the dark.
A moment later, I felt as though I'd been riding in the belly of a boat on storm-tossed seas after eating a slab of salt pork with a side of boiled okra. My gorge rose and it took tremendous effort to keep my breakfast down. The more I fed, the worse I felt. I cut off the feed. I let my right arm extend. Milky white essence trailed from Abe's fingertips into mine.
The nausea slowly subsided until it was gone. Within a few minutes, I felt heady, giddy, and almost drunk. My left arm tried to rise, but I forced it down and flooded myself with Brilliance. I sensed a strange lightness in Abe's aura and released him immediately.
He staggered back a foot and shook his head. "Whoa. I ain't never felt that during a drain."
"Your eyes are white," Joss said to me. "I have seen this before when Brightlings feed."
I felt high on power. I felt as though I could rule the world or destroy it as I saw fit. It reminded me of the feeling I'd once had texting someone while I was drunk. At the time, it had seemed my words could fix everything when in reality they'd further demolished all my hopes and dreams. If this was what Brightlings felt when they fed from humans, it was no wonder they'd enslaved the world. It was no wonder Daelissa was insane.
At the same time, I knew exactly how to protect the Darklings from nausea. I had Joss bring out two more noms and tried to show him and Otaleon how to feed from both sides of the spectrum. Try as they might, neither one of them could draw more than a tiny trickle of Brilliance. I finally tried something Mom had once done to help me.
During a battle in Australia, the enemy had tried to detonate a malaether crucible. The explosion would have demolished the local Templar headquarters. Ivy had detonated the bomb prematurely, but we'd been at the fringe of the blast. I'd shielded us, but hadn't been strong enough to maintain it for very long. Mom had put her hand against my back and bolstered my spell with her own energy.
I tried to do the same with Joss as he fed. Pressing a hand to his back, I sent Brilliance coursing into him. After a few minutes, his green face turned a normal shade of olive, and he looked at me in surprise.
"I don't feel sick anymore."
I did the same for Otaleon with identical results.
"How interesting," Cinder said. "It appears balancing the two types of essence are the answer."
"I can't be here to help everyone," I said. "For that, we'd need Brightlings."
"Surely there must be a way for us to learn to feed as you do," Joss said.
There was only one other Seraphim I knew of who might be able to do so, but he and I weren't on friendly terms. On the othe
r hand, I'd been planning to visit him in a last-ditch effort to form an alliance, even if it seemed like a lost cause. It seemed I had no choice but to move up my schedule and plan a visit.
I turned to Cinder. "Let me know how the recruiting goes. Give the new volunteers any healing they need." I had a feeling most of them were receiving crappy healthcare in veterans' hospitals or nursing homes.
"I will speak with Meghan and tell her to expect more patients," Cinder said.
"Thanks." I nodded at the others. "I'll be in touch." I shook Abe's hand and the hands of the other two volunteers. "Thank you for everything you've done. Maybe we can save the world after all."
Abe grinned. "We've got your back, son."
I took out my arcphone, took a picture, and used Adam's app to schedule a portal to take me back to the Ranch. After a ten minute wait, a portal appeared. I stepped through back to La Casona, and opened another portal back to the Ranch. Once there, I phoned someone I hadn't spoken with for some time.
"Mr. Slade," said a nasal, nerdy voice. "What can I do for you?" Lornicus didn't seem the least bit surprised by my phone call.
This golem was the most lifelike creation of Mr. Gray's I'd seen. Unlike the gray men, his skin was a natural peach tone. Unlike Cinder, Lornicus used emotion as fluently as any person I knew. He could also be something of a supercilious ass.
"I'd like to speak with Fjoeruss. Can you arrange a meeting?"
"I'm afraid he is quite busy, Mr. Slade." Lornicus mumbled as if looking up the schedule. "Ah, yes. His calendar is simply packed."
I felt my jaw clench and forced it to relax so I could talk without sounding angry. "In case he hasn't noticed, there's a war going on."
"He is very much aware of the conflict between you and Daelissa."
I waited for him to continue, but my pause was wasted. "It's not just between me and Daelissa. Some of her minions blew up a fleet of military helicopters and she's preparing to take over the world. Last I checked, Mr. Gray lives in Eden along with the rest of us."
"Mhmm. I'm familiar with the conflict at Kobol Prison." Lornicus sounded unimpressed. "What is it you wish to discuss, Mr. Slade?"
"I'd rather do it face-to-face."
