Chapter FIVE
Rebecca
"Are you ready?" I asked.
We were still in her apartment, but we had cleared the tea set, and now we sat on our knees facing one another. She looked comfortable in the position, but my shell's body was straining from the weight pressed down on it.
"I'm ready," she replied.
We had spent another hour going over ground rules. The most important one was that she needed to lead the way through the warehouse. She had some things she thought might come in handy, so the so-called 'armory' was going to be our first stop. Of course, there were things in there that even she wasn't technically allowed to take, so it was going to be a fun exercise getting out with the stuff. It didn't help that Joe was already ticked at her for suggesting his plan was foolish. She was certain that if she were caught going rogue, her father wouldn't have too many qualms about either killing her, or imprisoning her. Fighting the Divine meant having the steel will needed to make those kinds of sacrifices.
I closed my shell's eyes and took a deep breath, nervous and unconvinced that Elyse was dealing from a straight deck. There was no better choice though, so I detached myself from him. As always, it was an experience with a measure of pain attached; every part of my soul catching fire at once for just an instant. I felt my complexities fall away from me, and my motivation reduced to only a single directive. Help Landon.
Elyse was still, the Eye of Third Sight glimmering on her forehead. She was looking at me.
"Amazing," she said. "I haven't seen one outside of a body." She reached her hand up towards me. "Do you feel that?"
I didn't feel anything. Was she touching me? I floated in her direction, a gossamer thread on a puff of air, drawing closer and closer. Her eyes followed me, until I was under her nose, and flowing down her mouth.
I could have taken her then. I could have settled my soul over hers, and gained her body and mind, but I didn't. For this first part, she needed to be the driver. Instead, I settled for tapping into her, so I could at least see what she saw. I don't really know how I did it, or how I knew to do it. In that state it was more instinct than understanding.
The Korean was still kneeling in front of her, and his eyes began to flutter as he regained himself. I felt Elyse moving. She got to her feet and went over to a wall with a pair of katana mounted to it. She lifted one from the rack, eased it from its scabbard, and returned to the man. She knelt down in front of him, positioning the sword angled up from the ground. Before he could open his eyes, she reached out and pulled him onto it, impaling him through the heart. He died without a sound.
"He was impure."
That was all she said. She didn't have to explain to me, or make an excuse. He was a means to a more important end; his death was a trifle compared to our needs. On the other hand, was she suggesting that I had made him impure by controlling him? Didn't that make her impure? Would she commit seppuku once our work was done, or was she as hypocritical as I had found most humans to be?
She took the body and lifted it, showing a surprising amount of strength in her lithe frame. She held him over her shoulder, careful to keep his blood from getting onto her clothes, and carried him into her bedroom. It was an interesting place, with a foam mattress on the floor and random artwork covering nearly every inch of the walls that the fish tank didn't occupy; a menagerie of artistic renditions of the naked form, in every style and medium I could think of.
The north wall had a fireplace, and it was there that she dropped the body with a slight grunt. Only then did she remove the sword. "Less blood this way," she said, talking me through her actions.
"The artwork," I said. I had never spoken to my host before. It felt strange, the words more of a vibration than sound.
"The human body is an amazing thing. Look around at these works, and consider the years of observation it took to create such masterpieces. The study of every muscle, every movement." She pointed at one that was little more than a few thick brush strokes on a white canvas. Still, it was undeniably human. "It is easy to explain something in a thousand strokes, but what about in three? I look at these, I study them, and I learn. My strengths and weaknesses, my successes and failures. It is very important to know yourself. The better you do, the more powerful you become."
"God created humans," I said. "You want to destroy God."
She laughed, and then walked back out into her living room. She opened a closet and reached up onto a shelf, bringing down a small wooden box. "God didn't create man," she said. "Not originally. The science makes that plain as day, for anyone who chooses not to be ignorant. No, God came here. He discovered us. He made the angels in our likeness. In their jealousy, they destroyed us. He punished those who did it, and gave us new life. That is the true story of creation. That is why He is the enemy."
I knew her words were untrue. I had been touched by Him, and I had felt His goodness. He had changed me, in every way my soul could be changed. "That isn't how the Divine understand it to be," I said.
She opened the box, and took a small ruby from it. It was etched with demonic runes. "I wouldn't expect that your masters would want you to know the truth. That is why we fight, Rebecca. We are the rightful owners of this world, not you or your kind." She couldn't disguise her anger and hatred. "It doesn't matter now. We need to stop the poison first, and then we can move on."
"I didn't ask to be what I am," I said. I don't know why, but I felt like I needed to defend myself.
"Few enough of us ask to be what we are. That doesn't change it. Your guilt lies in your progenitors."
She took the stone and brought it back into the bedroom. She held the crystal, rubbed it between her thumb and forefinger so that the runes began to glow, and then threw it into the fire on top of the dead man. The crystal erupted in a geyser of hellfire that reduced the body to ash within the few seconds that it burned.
"Only the most powerful demons can control hellfire," she said. "But did you know that they make these for their loyal servants, to give them a taste of that power?"
She turned away from it and went out and over one doorway, into her bathroom. It was a massive room, with a large closet, a shower, and a jacuzzi. The fish tank wound its way through here as well. Small sharks combed the bottom of the tank, while a ray skated the top.
Elyse pulled off the ninja clothes she had been wearing. Passing a full-length mirror, I could see all of the kit she wore in rings and necklaces and hip chains that she kept hidden from sight. She was also covered in tattoos and scars, some that had been carved and filled like the Eye, others that were inked in demonic runes or seraphim scripture. Naked, I could almost feel the stolen power radiating from her.
"What does it all do?" I asked.
"Protection," she said. "I don't have anything of my own but the natural strength of my muscle, and the understanding of physics to turn my body into a weapon. Against a vampire, that is usually enough. Against an archfiend or a seraph, I wouldn't last a blink."
She grabbed a thong, a lacy bra, a pair of skinny jeans, a black cami, a leather jacket and calf-high black boots. She left the knife she had used on the vampire in the closet. "We've got better tools than that."
On her way out, she picked a pair of sunglasses from a nearby shelf, and wrapped a bandana around her bald head to hide the Eye. Passing the mirror again, I could see that nearly all of the tats, scars, and jewelry was hidden from view.
"You've done this before," I said.
"I'm Joe's favorite retriever," she replied.
We left the bathroom and her apartment, stepping out into the carpeted hallway and turning right. Elyse walked with confidence, her head up and her jaw out, challenging anyone who might happen by to question her activity. As we reached the corner of the hallway, Joe came around it, leaving her to spin out of his way, grab his arm, and pin it tight against his back before he could react.
"Ahh, nice move, darling," he said with a laugh. "I should have been more careful."
Elyse leaned up and kissed the back of his neck. "You should father. You never know what might be wandering these halls."
She let him go, and he turned around, looking at her with intense brown eyes. "In here? Not likely. The diuscrucis might have been able to pull it off, but they're gone. Why are you headed for the armory, anyway? Shouldn't you be in bed?"
She didn't hesitate. "There was another changeling outside, a vampire. I was going to get the stone and make sure the area was clear."
Joe waved his arm. "Don't worry about it. I'll tell Reza to have Yu do a sweep before he comes in. Get some rest. I have a lead on that girl, Sarah, I want you to check out in the morning."
Elyse cocked her head. "Sarah? What kind of lead?" I could tell she was faking. She already knew something about it. But how much?
"I'll tell you in the morning, sweetheart. It can wait until then."
"Tell me now. Maybe I can do some research ahead of time. It will help me fall asleep."
Joe pursed his lips in consideration, and then shook his head. "I know you. You'll be up all night instead. I need you rested for this one. None of this stuff makes you impervious to fatigue."
I could feel her getting angry, her heart beating faster. "Father, I'll be fine. You know I don't need much rest."
He turned and started walking away. "In the morning. Good night, Elle."
"Stubborn pain in the ass," she said under her breath. "Good night, father."
She stood there seething until he had gone, and then made a beeline to the armory. It was around the corner and down a quiet hall, behind a huge steel door that required both fingerprint and retina scans for access. She stuck her finger in the hole and bent her face to the level of the eyeball scanner, and the door clanked and swung inward. She ducked inside and pushed it back closed.
When she turned around, all of the lights blinked on, revealing a long square room. It was sterile and barren, an empty room with a cold steel floor, ringed with hundreds of cabinets built into the walls. It looked more like a morgue than an armory.
"Do you know what you came for?" I asked.
She answered by walking to the back of the room, and reaching up to pull open a higher shelf. Inside was a Roman spatha. She lifted it from the black velvet pad it rested on and showed it to me.
"What is it made of?"
Both the hilt and the blade were the same dull, plain, matte black, though the hilt also had black leather wrapped around it for grip. Etched lines ran across the blade itself, a smooth rhythm of letters from opposing alphabets.
"I don't know," she said. "It is believed to have been forged from the ore of a meteorite, by a Roman blacksmith who then went on to gift it to Augustus Caesar. The runes and scripture were added later, when the blade was gifted by Tiberius Caesar to one of his greatest generals, who also happened to be Awake. He convinced an archfiend and a seraph to etch the blade, using another Divine artifact to glamour the weapon, and keep the truth of the work from being known to either side."
"I take it he was a Nicht Creidim?"
"Of course. This blade is one of our most prized possessions, for obvious reasons."
A sword that could kill both angels and demons. I could imagine how thankful Landon would be for a weapon like that.
She turned it over in her hand, showing me a dark stone that was resting in the pommel. She held the blade up and let her pinkie brush against it. Everything but the stone vanished. She put it in her pocket.
"Where did it go?"
"Heaven and Hell aren't the only places out there," Elyse said. "There are many places close to this one. There are many places to hide things. This particular bauble came from a djinn."
She put her hand up into the same shelf one more time. It was above her head, but she seemed to know exactly where everything was placed. She took down a brown leather glove that looked too big for her tiny hands. Stitching of demonic runes twisted and turned all around it. She slipped it on, and it looked as if it shrunk to fit her. "It can glamour anything it touches."
She made her way over to another drawer on the south wall, bending down to pull it open. It was filled with all kinds of throwing blades. There were two distinct rows, one for seraph and one for demons. She took a half dozen knives from each side, and tucked them into pockets sewn inside her boots.
Then she went to a third drawer and removed three more of the red crystals that had exploded into hellfire. "Father is going to be pissed at me for taking these," she said.
"More pissed than for taking the sword?"
She laughed. "Not a chance. Just one more thing to collect."
She made her way back to the front, and opened a shelf near the door.
"One of our newest additions. Landon destroyed most of them, so they are incredibly rare."
She reached into the back and lifted a silver chain. As it became taut, it pulled its attachment out and left it swaying in front of her. A crystal amulet filled with a red, viscous smoke. I had seen it before, when Merov had put it around my neck as a birthday present.
"Why do you have this?" I asked. The amulet was made for demons, not humans.
"It's an insurance policy. When a human breaks the crystal and drinks the blood, they're able to regenerate for a short time. A few hours. At least, that's what my brother Kelvin said. He's our top researcher."
"You haven't tried it?"
She put the chain over her head, and tucked the amulet below her cami. "Like I said, it's very rare. We can't go wasting it just to see if we're right. Kelvin has a lot of experience. I trust his opinion."
Seeing one of them again made me uneasy. It was a reminder of a different place, a different time, when I had betrayed Landon after he had been so kind to me, all in my lust for power.
Elyse checked her other gear one more time, making sure she wasn't missing anything, and then went back to the door. She had to run her finger and eyes through it to get out too. She backed away as the door swung in.
Joe was standing behind it.
"Didn't I tell you to go to bed?" he asked.
I could feel Elyse's heart rate increase, and she lunged forward and threw a heavy punch into her father's face. He was caught off-guard, and he stumbled backwards, giving her time to pull an ordinary knife I didn't even know she had and press it to his neck.
"Elle?" Joe was confused, but not afraid.
"I'm sorry, father," she said. "Your way is going to ruin this world. I'm going on my own. Now, tell me what you know about Sarah."
Joe shook his head. "You always were stubborn," he said. "Fine. I'll tell you." He let his body relax, and Elyse started to relax with him.
"No," I said, all too familiar with this trick.
Elyse was strong, but she was young. Joe's shove sent her backwards, where she hit hard against the wall, the knife clattering to the floor. He was on her in an instant, his own fists pummeling her body with sharp blows that threatened to break her ribs.
"I won't kill you," he said, "but you need to learn a little more respect."
I didn't ask her for control. I took it. All at once I became flooded with her memories. It was my second time through them, and so they didn't cause much pain. Within an instant I could feel my heart beating, and the blood flowing through living veins.
Joe's next punch came in, and I angled my forearm to push it aside, into the solid wall. I had always been fast, and in a body like Elyse's, I was even faster. I caught the blow from the other side and turned my arms, wrapping his up and twisting it at the elbow until it threatened to break. He grunted and wrinkled his forehead in pain and anger.
"I don't know what's gotten into you," he said. He backed up a step and threw a foot. I let go of his arm and sidestepped, and then moving in and smacking him hard in the chest, knocking the wind out of him.
"Sarah," I said. I could feel Elyse observing, but there was nothing she could do. She could see spirits, but she could only protect herself from the outside.
"Elle, the Box has the power to destroy all of the Divine. We can put an end to them, a total end." He coughed and choked between the words, slumping down against the wall, accepting his defeat. He held his arm across his chest, keeping weight off it.
"We'll become the Divine," I said, knowing what she would say. "It's already started happening. That isn't why we're here."
"We'll have the power of the Divine," he replied. "Isn't that what we've always been after? Isn't that why we collect all of their artifacts? You can't deny that they are superior to us in every way."
I stopped and stood there, not sure how to respond.
"The vampire changelings, they don't need to drink human blood to survive. They feel the compulsion because of the way their genes change, but it can be controlled. In exchange they get increased stamina, strength, longevity, intellect. Who wouldn't want that?"
"They aren't human," I said, my voice little more than a whisper. "Isn't that enough?" Humans were inferior, but there was something to that inferiority that was appealing. So few resources to work with, and yet they still managed to thrive.
"No," he said. "It isn't."
I bent down and picked up the knife. "Tell me what you know about Sarah," I said. In the past it would have been a Command, but my Commands didn't work anymore.
"Fine," he said. "I'll tell you because I think you can get to her, but keep an eye on your back Elle. Once you have the Box, I'll do whatever it takes to get it back from you."
"You're welcome to try," I said. I stood over him, holding the knife and waiting.
"New York. She's in New York. Montauk. She's living like a mortal, and keeping her signature disguised. The only reason we found her is because she slipped up in her web browsing, of all things. Our sister in the NSA caught an encoded and encrypted message on a Tor message forum. She's been in communication with Ulnyx, the Great Were that the diuscrucis befriended."
That was an interesting development. I had assumed the Were would catch up to her. What I hadn't considered is that they would work together. "You're sure it's her?"
He nodded. "We don't have a precise location, but the IP address block was Montauk. You want to find her, be my guest. I'll deal with your insolence after I get the Box."
For just a moment, the idea to kill him crossed my mind. Reyka would have done it and not cared. Reyka was dead, lost in the power of God's Blade. Joe was defenseless, unarmed, and not threatening. Besides, he was Elyse's problem.
"I'll deal with you after I get the Box," I said. I leaned in and kissed his cheek. I figured it was what Elyse would have done. Then I turned and walked away.
He didn't try to stop me.