Born of Hatred (31 page)

"Can you remove the dagger and let me sit up?" 

She held the knife steady for a few second, and then grudgingly stepped away.

I sat up and took in my surroundings for the first time. I was in the room that had once belonged to the now-deceased Captain Waltham. The window was still smashed, no one had bothered to board it up, and a pleasant breeze floated past the remaining jagged glass. I swung my legs off the bed, and noticed that someone had replaced the door. There was a key in the hole, turned to one side. "You locked us in here," I said.

"Will you answer my question?"

"Okay, what am I?" I mused. "I'm a sorcerer. I'm fifteen-hundred years old and about three hundred years ago I used far too much magic and allowed a nightmare to take hold. Whenever I use too much magic, it rears its head and lets me know that it can help me. On occasion, I've allowed it free rein of my body and mind."

"And it goes back without a fight?" Sky asked, shocked.

"Not exactly," I said. I stood and stretched, causing my shoulder to crack. Sky didn't move an inch. "The marks on my chest? The nightmare can't get past them. It can't ever take me wholly. So, in exchange for its help, I impose a time limit on it. Usually fifteen minutes, sometimes a little longer. After each time, it always obeys and leaves. Usually after telling me it's not evil and only wants to help me become the person I could be."

"You trust it to acquiesce to your bargain?"

"Trust has nothing to do with it. If I had my way, I'd never allow it out at all, but sometimes, there's little choice."

"There's always a choice."

"You're right. The choice last night was allow it freedom or have the barren kill me and Tala in the most horrific way imaginable. How are the two youngsters by the way?"

"Doing as well as could be expected. Tala is strong. She looks out for her brother as a matter of priority. They're mostly staying out of everyone's way, and asking where you are on a regular basis."

"Good," I said. "Do you plan on putting that knife away?"

Sky placed it on the table beside her with care, as if concerned she might need it at a moment's notice. 

"How long have I been out?"

"About twelve hours. You're lucky he didn't kill you. Hell, we're all lucky he didn't kill everyone."

"So, what happens now?" I ask. "Do you have any back-up?"

"I've sent a telegram. They should be here within the next twelve hours, and then tomorrow we need to go to Kilnhurst and end this. The lich won't be back here tonight. He lost a lot of his forces last night and he'll want to rethink his strategy. But we're working on making the fort more secure for the time being."

"So until the evening, what are we meant to do?"

Sky pushed herself away from the table she'd leaned against and grabbed my shirt, pulling me toward her in a hard kiss. 

"What was that for?" I asked once we'd finished.

"We almost died last night, and we might die tonight. I'd rather feel alive for a bit longer, unless you have any objections."

"None spring to mind."

She smiled a wicked smile and pulled my mouth back toward hers once again. 

"You could have done this before the whole knife thing," I pointed out as Sky removed her clothes and dropped them to the floor.

"Sex first, discussion after," she said as she unfastened my belt. 

I removed my already open shirt and threw it onto the ground, before stepping out of my newly freed trousers. I grabbed Sky and picked her off the ground with one arm supporting her body as I licked her nipples, causing her to moan. 

I turned us both around and laid us on the bed, tracing my hands down her taut body as we continued to kiss hungrily. She reached down between my legs and pulled me into her, arching her back and letting a deep moan out as I moved.

We moved in time, slowly at first, but were soon lost in the moment of passion until we let out one final cry of pleasure at the same time and collapsed against one another, both our passion and our fear of the unknown spent. For the moment. 

Chapter 28

"Can I assume your little visit to the Silver Room went well?" Tommy asked as he entered the conservatory in Hades' kitchen the next morning.  

I glanced up from the huge plate of fresh fruit and meat, and threw an apple in Tommy's direction. "All good, Tommy," I said with a smile. 

"You were down there for eight hours. Hades said he dragged you unconscious from the room a few hours ago and put you on the sofa to sleep it off. No after effects?"

I knew Tommy was fishing. He was worried that maybe I'd let the nightmare corrupt me on a permanent basis. "I'm not turning into a nightmare," I told him. 

"But you did see it, or hear it, or however that works."

I stuffed a strawberry in my mouth. "We had a conversation, yes. Apparently my increase in power means that I can use more magic before I need to worry about it resurfacing. A lot more."

"It told you that?"

"Yes. It wants me to use magic, to get stronger. The stronger I am, the stronger the nightmare will be. It has no reason to lie or to try and deceive to me. I'm not even sure if it can."

Tommy speared several pieces of bacon from my plate and stuffed them between two slices of bread. "It's living magic. I'm pretty sure it can do whatever the hell it wants."

"Maybe you're right, but it won't be taking hold anytime soon." Since it had taken control over a hundred years previously, when a lich had almost beat me to death, I'd begun to think of the nightmare as something more than an evil entity that wants to control me. I had no evidence to support my thoughts, and if I went to anyone about with them they'd have me sectioned, but everything I've always been told about nightmares felt off compared to reality.

"So, did you find out anything else on this trip?"

"Nope, that was pretty much it," I said, pushing the half-full plate away from me. 

Tommy grabbed the plate before it was even out of my hands for even a second and commenced feeding a moment later. "Why did you take this trip, Nate?"

"I needed to talk to Hades about getting help. And I wanted to know what my true power level was. I can't go into a fight not knowing what I can do."

"There's more to it than that. What's going on, Nate?"

I told him about how Hades said I may be able to perform some kind of necromancy. 

Tommy's reaction was mostly one of indifference, although he did stop eating, so that was something. "A necromancer? That's not something I expected."

"Me neither, and it's not confirmed. But I killed that ghoul with magic, and there’s no way I could do that without necromancy. But I still have no way of knowing what type of necromancy or how to use it effectively."

Tommy stared at me. "What aren't you telling me?"

I sighed softly. "The last time I fought a lich, it almost killed me. With ease, Tommy. And when that bastard appeared in front of me in front of the police station in Winchester, I would have gone for him if Reid hadn't charged in. But after, when I was thinking about what could have happened if he'd decided to end me there and then, I just felt afraid. For the first time in a long time, I was scared. Because I know I can't beat him. I know it with the same certainty that I can say the sun is hot and water is wet. And not knowing what I was capable of anymore only added to that fear. Which is why I had to come here and find out."

"You've been scared before," Tommy said. 

"That's true. But mostly, I'm scared for others. Scared I won't get somewhere on time, or not be able to get everyone out of a situation in one piece. I'm frightened of failing other people. But with a lich, I'm scared for myself, too. I already know that if I go up against it, I'm going to fail."

"But you're still going to try and stop it, right?" I turned to find Kasey standing in the doorway. "I mean, you're going to fight," she said.

"Yeah," I said with a gentle nod. "I'm going to fight. I have to. I can't let fear stop me from doing what I know is right. And I won't let anything keep me from stopping more people getting hurt."

"But if you're afraid, why don't we all just run and hide."

"Because if we do that, we're leaving something evil to have its way with whatever it wants. And I won't let that happen. And I know your mum and dad won't either. I fight because if I don't, I'm not the man I thought I was. So, yeah, I'm afraid of this thing. But that just means I'm going to try harder to beat it. Because fear should never be a reason for not doing the right thing."

"You promise?"

"I promise I'll fight with everything I have, Kasey. And with Hades' help, we're going to make sure that once we find it, it won't hurt anyone else, ever again."

"Thank you," she said and turned back into the house.

"I guess I should thank you, too," Tommy said, when his daughter was out of earshot.

"What, for that?" I gestured to where Kasey had been standing. 

"No, well... yes, but not just that. For what you did on the plane. For allowing Kasey and me some time alone. Thank you for that. She needed to talk to someone."

"You thought it would be me, didn't you? That's why you brought her?"

"I figured that you'd get the ball rolling, yes. You didn't see her face when she saw Olivia in hospital. She crumpled like paper. She stayed so strong for Olivia and me, but I could tell she was breaking apart. She needed to get that out. It would have eaten at her otherwise."

"You're a good dad," I said, and poured each of us a glass of orange juice from the large pitcher on the table.

"That I am, my old friend." Tommy laughed. "Although, any future boyfriends are going to learn to fear the werewolf who answers the door."

"You're allowing boyfriends? Wow, that's very progressive of you."

"I've gotta learn to give a little."

"No, don't do it," Hades said, as he sat beside us. "Just tell them she knows me, that we're very close. It's surprising how many boys didn't want to go out with the daughter of Hades."

"You never even had to dissuade them," Persephone said, kissing her husband on his forehead then sitting beside him.

"I had a whole spiel written. There were smoke and mirrors. I was going to raise spirits, actual spirits right in front of them. Maybe even a zombie. I didn't get to use any of it."

"To be fair, Hades," I said. "When most of your children were of a dating age, it was several hundred, if not a thousand years ago. I don't know about you, but I don't recall a whole bunch of school dances in the middle ages. Hell, there weren't even many schools."

"Good point," Hades said with a smile. "But, Tommy, if you want to use my plan, it's all yours."

"Why are you all laughing?" Kasey said as she entered the conservatory.

"Parenthood," Tommy said. "Something you don't have to worry about for a very, very long time."

Kasey gave her father a stare that suggested the conversation had better change and soon, before she was sick.

Tommy's mobile started ringing, and he excused himself from the room to go answer it, as Persephone and Kasey arranged their next visit's itinerary with great enthusiasm. 

Hades motioned for me to join him outside, so we stepped out into the cold just like we had the night before. 

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

I explained what I'd already told Tommy about the nightmare and my time in the Silver Room, leaving out my thoughts about just how evil or not the nightmare might be.

"I assume you'll be going back soon," he said. "A necromancer will meet you at Avalon's Winchester office within the day. I don't know who it'll be yet, but they'll be there. With or without Avalon's clearance."

"Nate," Tommy called from the conservatory door. "We've got a problem."

I jogged back to Tommy, who stood back to let Hades and me into the room. "What's going on?"

"We need to get back to Winchester. That was Olivia. The prison there was attacked a few hours ago. It looks like the lich was involved. Olivia has only just received word from the human police. There are large numbers of prisoners missing or dead. Nate, this sounds like a bad one."

"How long before the jet can fly?" I asked Hades.

He picked up a cordless phone from the table next to him. "Twenty minutes. I'll get everything arranged."

Chapter 29

True to Hades' word, we were all back in his jet within twenty minutes of Tommy's phone call from Olivia. There was no Scotch to ease my flight on the return leg; I didn't need any. All I could think about was how the lich had attacked again so soon after trying to have Olivia, Agents Reid and Greave, along with me, killed. And it had attacked a prison. What could possibly be so important that it would attack a prison with a huge population like Winchester’s? 

The four hours in the air went by quickly, we were soon landing at the same secluded base we'd left the day before. There was a quiet concern that was easy to spot not just on Tommy and Kasey, but the flight staff, too. They knew something was wrong, and even if they didn't know all the facts, I doubted Hades would normally have had them ready the jet so quickly unless it was a dire emergency.

"I'm taking Kasey home," Tommy said. "Will you be okay going by yourself?"

I swung onto my bike, which was still in the hanger where I'd left it. "I'll be fine. I’ll get Olivia to call you when I see her."

Kasey waved as she and Tommy got into his car and drove off; leaving me alone with the jet's flight crew and the maintenance team, who were getting the jet ready to fly again. 

I placed my helmet on and pulled down the visor; letting the bike roar to life, before taking it out into the early morning sun. 

My mind wandered during the ride to the prison, I had no idea what I was going to find, but I was glad that Kasey wouldn't be there to see it. I'd been younger than her when I'd seen my first dead body, but that didn't mean it was okay.

The police presence outside the prison was extensive. They'd blocked off the entire road to the front entrance, with the LOA using the human uniformed police to deal with crowd control.