Life Cycle (Preternaturals Book 4) Page 8

  The vampire king nodded and went back to his presentation.

  Hadrian had chatted with Cole while waiting for the meeting to start. The werewolf pack alpha was the key, the only person with a way into the demon dimension who wasn’t an actual demon.

  The rooftop door banged against the brick wall as Cain made his fashionably late entrance again. He carried a plastic storage bag with something that looked like old paper in it.

  “So glad you could join us,” Anthony said, “I was just about to ask for Luc’s report from your investigation.”

  “Where’s the witness?” Cain asked.

  “Father Hadrian couldn’t get a clear image of The Cycler’s face, so he erased her memory and sent her home.”

  Hadrian held Cain’s gaze steadily even though he felt the demon’s suspicion. The guy was far too old to be tricked for long.

  Cain broke eye contact first and put the scroll on the table, piercing the sorcerer with an intense look. “Dayne, can you do a spell on the memory of the blood?”

  “Couldn’t Tam do it? She’s much stronger than me.”

  “No doubt that’s true, but…” He faltered.

  There was something in the demon’s body language that sent Hadrian’s flags up. Did Cain have some particular attachment to the witch? If so, it would make the plan more complicated.

  “But…” Dayne prodded.

  “She refused for personal reasons. Can you do the spell?”

  “Scrying isn’t my strength. Seeing the past is far more difficult. The blood has dried and several hours have passed by now. It’s a long shot, but I can try.”

  “Please do.” The demon passed the scroll across the table, right past Hadrian.

  Dayne and Greta got up. Jack was slipping, taking too many risks. They were too close for that. If they were going to unseat Anthony from power, The Cycler had to be more careful.

  “Maybe I should go with them,” Hadrian said, wanting to monitor the situation.

  “For what purpose?” Anthony asked.

  Cain’s eyes narrowed, and Hadrian could practically see the wheels in his head turning.

  “For muscle. They’re carrying a sensitive document.”

  “I don’t think so,” Anthony said. “I need you here.”

  “Of course,” Hadrian said, inclining his head.

  He would happily die for the cause if necessary, but not until the time was right. If Dayne’s spell succeeded, it would implicate Hadrian before he’d reached his goal. He’d been at Jack’s hideout for the slaying. He’d kept to the shadows, out of The Cycler’s way, but if blood could have memories, he would be seen.

  The whirring of the overhead projector snapped Hadrian out of his thoughts. Anthony had a transparency up and was laying out a detailed plan—for everyone’s protection, supposedly. He’d seen Anthony’s interpretation of protection, and he didn’t like it.

  “As I’m sure many of you know, this has spread beyond just local media. A Jack the Ripper copycat is of interest to those not only in the UK, but around the world. He’s become a cult icon of the unsolved mystery. He captures peoples’ imaginations, so the whole world is watching. We don’t know what kind of letter he’ll send next, or when the next body will turn up, but this one has already caused an outright panic. Before the meeting, Dayne suggested Jack may have charmed the letter. If that’s true, the lab techs analyzing it will know it’s the Ripper and probably so will anyone else who touches it.”

  The pretty succubus sitting next to Cole spoke up. “Do we have any idea when he might strike next?”

  “My theory is that he’ll wait until the media is in a storm debating the meaning of the handwriting analysis. Any revelation he gives will serve him best at that time.” Anthony cleared his throat and went back to the transparency.

  If anything, Jack’s plan seemed to be backfiring. Anthony had a full strategy to extend his control in Cary Town to the whole country and beyond. The only hope would be a war between the preternaturals and the humans. That carried risk. Anthony could end up completely destabilized or only stronger.

  The vampire king continued. “I’ve been on the phone with vampire leaders all over the world, and in some cases their guardians due to time zone issues. Word has been sent out to therian leaders in this country—those that are organized enough. I’ll be meeting separately with the Preternatural Council since there is no way to keep them out of the loop any longer. For the safety of all and our way of life, we must raise security measures.”

  Hadrian took a measured breath. This reaction had been expected. It’s only temporary. How long could Anthony’s power stand in the face of worldwide chaos? If the priest knew vampires, he knew they’d stop lockstepping when the first major panic set in. Once the word was out anyway, they’d feed openly. They’d resist the vampire king’s control as well as if Hadrian had created an uprising from scratch. Only the results would be more predictable, the reaction stronger in the face of complete unrest.

  Cain chuckled, interrupting the vampire king’s monologue. “You’re so predictable. Just like a human. Yes, let the sheep fall in line behind your bright, shiny police state. You must have such a hard-on over this. An opportunity falls right in your lap to justify what you’ve wanted since you’ve taken power.”

  Hadrian arched a brow. If not for the demon’s interest in Tam, he’d have an ally.

  Anthony stopped and glared at the demon. “And what business or interest is it of yours? What do you care what I do here?”

  The demon shrugged. “Oh, I don’t care what you do. I just find it all perversely interesting. Tell me, are they goose-stepping to your orders yet? Why don’t we take a vote around the table? Who wants Anthony to rule the world? Raise your hands.”

  The assembled looked down at the table or their hands, whatever they could to avoid either Cain or Anthony’s eyes. Hadrian was the only one who watched everyone. When Cain’s gaze shifted to him, he looked at the table as well. Blend, Hadrian. For God’s sake, blend. Now wasn’t the time for discovery. But it was too late.

  “Your priest lapdog isn’t on board,” Cain said. “I knew something felt off about him.”

  “That’s a lie,” Anthony said. “Hadrian has been nothing but helpful since I took control of the coven. We don’t have time for you to sow discord for your own amusement.”

  The demon shrugged. “I just call them like I see them.”

  “Regardless of what you may think, this is for everyone’s safety. The factions must band together. Our numbers aren’t as great as the humans. If The Cycler succeeds, he could build a worldwide army. Let’s not forget magic users are human. They may stick with their own if they’re outed to the world. In a war, that kind of unified front against preternaturals poses a risk to you, too.”

  Anthony went back to the transparency. “I’ve called a summit for tomorrow evening with some of the top faction leaders and the local preternatural council to discuss how we can proceed and replicate what’s been done in Cary Town. Cole, even though you’ve been officially banished, we’d like you there. This concerns the pack, too. You’ll formally apologize, and I’ll graciously pardon you.”

  The werewolf growled. “Absolutely not. I’m here because of the danger The Cycler poses to our way of life. I’m not on board with using it as a springboard to solidify your power base.”

  Anthony’s eyes flashed red. “That isn’t what this is about!”

  “Like hell it’s not!” Cole slammed a fist on the table and stood. “Count me out of the rest of this charade. You all can deal with this mess on your own. Jane. Let’s go.”

  Jane stood to follow her mate out, while the others at the table argued amongst themselves. Anthony was still yelling at Cole to try to bring him back to his side.

  “Guys…” It was Anthony’s human mate. Charlee had tried to stay out of most of it.

  No one heard her.

  “Guys!” she screamed.

  Everyone stopped. Anthony’s blind ambition turned immedi
ately to concern. In Hadrian’s opinion, if they wanted to take Anthony down, all they needed to do was kidnap Charlee. But he’d met Jack long before he’d known about Charlee.

  “My water just broke.”

  Jane rushed to her side and helped her get up from the table.

  “Jane…” Cole said, his tone warning.

  The demon’s eyes glowed dangerously red. “No. I’m staying with my friend until she has her baby. I don’t care what our issues with Anthony are.”

  “I don’t want you alone with a bunch of vampires,” he said.

  “I can handle myself.”

  Suddenly the meeting had turned from an initiation of Anthony’s police state to a single-minded focus on bringing an abomination into the world. The vampire king kept his most trusted guards around his mate constantly. And no matter how much he tried, Hadrian was kept at arm’s length where Charlee was concerned. He suspected Anthony was power-mad anyway, but his child was what drove him to diabolical greatness. Jack’s plans drove the vampire king even harder.

  Cain spoke up. “While you all play nursemaid to the human mate, I’m going to do something useful. Anthony, can we assume a war soon if we fail to find Jack in time?”

  Anthony had been leading Charlee toward the penthouse door to get her inside and comfortable. “Yes. And there is no guarantee we’ll win. Especially as unorganized as we continue to be.”

  Their disorganization was a matter of opinion.

  “Then I’ll go talk to the angels and see if we can get more muscle behind us. The warrior class loves a good brawl. This could upset the balance enough to garner their involvement.”

  As the meeting dispersed into chaos, Hadrian slipped out to check on Dayne’s progress with the blood.

  ***

  Cain was irritated when he reached the lobby of Heaven. Of course Anthony would use this to benefit his personal agenda. The demon had seen it coming a mile away. Half-breeds were so unoriginal. How Cain had allowed himself to get dragged into all this, he’d never know. With the demon abilities to be noncorporeal, use thrall, move things through telekinesis, shapeshift into nearly anything, and go invisible, they could operate as usual even if the world fell into total chaos and the magic users and humans overcame the preternaturals. They’d just have to be more careful.

  It wasn’t as if the humans could follow him into his dimension. But he didn’t trust witches and their ilk. If he’d learned anything in his thousands of years of existence, it was that there was no end to the creativity that could be employed by a magic user to reach their ends. If the dimensional portals could sense a demon and let them pass through, was there any reason similar things couldn’t be created in the human world that would identify demons for what they were and keep them out? They’d suffer and starve in that case.

  But if this thing went badly, the entire demon race could end up sealed in glass jars and lined up on shelves in some superwitch’s basement. Their numbers weren’t impressive, certainly not compared with human armies, magic users, or the other preternatural factions. Cain had no intention of ending up that way for all eternity.

  The demon marched up to the reception desk. “Are you aware of the war that may be brewing on earth?”

  “Um... I’m just the receptionist. I’m not privy to...”

  He leaned over the counter, moving into her personal bubble. His voice came out low and deadly. “Then go find somebody useful.”

  She shot out of her chair and scurried behind the gold gates. Several minutes later, an unfathomably beautiful male angel came out. It was one of the warrior angels. Created, not elevated. Cain wasn’t particularly into men, maybe it was because food and sex were so intertwined for him, and he could only feed from human females. But he could appreciate the art of a perfect physical form, whatever gender it happened to be in. Thousands of years of existence made the idea of homophobia quaint.

  The angel was tan, quite natural for a place with no darkness ever. He had long blond hair that seemed to radiate the light of Heaven itself, a strong jaw, and light blue eyes—so light they seemed almost transparent.

  He gave Cain a perfunctory once-over as if the demon were a shipment of something dreadfully boring. “Who let the riffraff up here?”

  “As you know, nobody has to let me into the lobby.”

  “Someone should change that rule.”

  Cain rolled his eyes. “Are you aware of the war that may break out on earth?”

  “Which one? There are always wars. Humans live to torture and kill each other. Surely you know that by now.”

  “I think you know which war. The one that would include humans and magic users against preternaturals.”

  The angel shrugged. “There have been rumblings.”

  “Would you be willing to get involved if it became necessary?”

  “Oh, I don’t think so. The man upstairs wouldn’t like it.”

  Cain wondered if the Hebrew god actually resided in a tower at the top of some stairs. Nobody who knew the score referred to him as “God” or “His imperial Majesty” or anything else that seemed like a true sign of respect. It was always “the man upstairs.” It had been so for as long as he could remember. As far as he knew, the Hebrew god wasn’t crying himself to sleep over it—assuming gods slept.

  “This could upset the balance that’s been created. It would be utter chaos.”

  The angel laughed. “We don’t care. They destroy their world, and we’ll find somewhere else to place them.”

  “You think the other gods will allow that? The man upstairs only has control of the one dimension and Heaven. I’m not even allowed to feed in the other dimensions, even though I can get there. The man upstairs has burned his bridges quite well. Is he prepared to apologize for driving the other gods off? Will he make a peace offering so we have other places to go?” Cain knew the angel had an opinion about it, but he’d never get it out of him. “What will you have to do if the world goes up in flames?”

  “Don’t be so dramatic. It won’t be that bad.”

  “We have no idea how it would be. Humans are fueled almost entirely by fear. They have enough technology now to destroy the world a hundred times over. Add magic users and preternaturals to that mix, and there’s no way to know what the state of the world will be, or if it will be in any state at all by the time it’s over. Does the man upstairs want to create a whole other planet and erase everyone’s memories? That seems like a lot of work to me. Since he doesn’t ever want to lift a finger for anything else...”

  The angel’s eyes glowed bright blue—sending a gust of cold air at Cain. “Watch your tongue, demon. He’s still your sovereign.”

  Cain laughed. “He gave up that right a long time ago. What can he do to me that he hasn’t already done? Hasn’t he made me a god as well? I may as well be the god of the earth, too, since I’m the only one who ever goes there, and I’m the only one who seems to give a shit about what happens to it. He’s like a child who has built a city of blocks and gotten bored and walked away.”

  “Leave. Now. I can have your access to this area revoked.”

  “Sure you can. If you change your mind and are in the mood for a fight, I’ll welcome you and yours into my dimension.”

  “If we act, there will be consequences.”

  “There always are. But sometimes it’s worth it.” Cain left the angel in the lobby. If they needed the warrior class, he’d come around. The demon was sure of it. He winked at the reception angel on his way out, and a blush crept up her neck.

  ***

  Hadrian found an unlocked window and crawled into Dayne’s cottage. The wards he had weren’t up to snuff to keep a vampire away. Instead, it had drawn him like a beacon. It was only the fact that vamps preferred the city to the forest that kept the sorcerer and his little kitty therian safe.

  An orange cat sat on the kitchen counter, green eyes intense, hissing at him, but there was no magic coming off it. Just an average house cat. Hadrian put a finger to his lips. “Shhhh,
” he said. The cat glared but let him pass.

  He crept down spiral stone stairs that got danker and darker as he went down. When he reached the bottom, he crouched by the door, looking through slats in the weathered wood. There was no need to get involved if Dayne couldn’t do the spell, but from the looks of things, he was doing it.

  The sorcerer’s circle was set up, books and tools were out. The cute brunette with the short, choppy haircut stood to the side out of his way. It was anybody’s guess how long Dayne had been chanting, but his energy looked depleted. Good for Hadrian.

  As the sorcerer continued to chant, a light emanated from the scroll, lighting up the room like a giant projector onto which images and dialogue appeared—like a movie composed of magic. Greta gasped. Dayne opened his eyes to see the spell had worked and what had instigated the gasp.

  Hadrian. Fully implicated, right there on the magic screen with Jack. It was now or never. The vampire ripped the door open and blurred in, grabbing Greta and holding her in front of him as if he were a bank robber. He didn’t have a gun at her throat, but his fangs were out and ready should he need to call them into action.

  Dayne appeared disoriented as the spell collapsed around him, but he didn’t harbor any doubts about what he’d seen. “Why have you betrayed us?”

  The vampire remained stoic. “Anthony is the betrayer. He’s clamping down on all of us. It won’t be just Cary Town. It’ll be this whole planet by the time he’s finished. I don’t want to live in that world.”

  “Jack’s world will be worse.”

  Hadrian shrugged. “And we will deal with Jack. I don’t want The Cycler in power either, but he has no organization. The vampires have been increasing in organization for centuries now. Our numbers are strong. Our leader is about to take away all of our freedoms for his own personal reasons.”

  “Anthony has to protect his daughter,” the sorcerer said. “And now with the threat from Jack...”

  “The two issues are simply convenient. You might not see it, but what I’m doing is better for us all.”