Demon Accords 6: Forced Ascent (3 page)
Gleeson had gone pale while McFeeney looked shocked but thoughtful. The congressman turned to Nathan Stewart.
“Director, what could your group add?” he asked, flicking a glance my way and then back to Stewart.
The Colonel Sanders mustache twitched a few times as Stewart considered his words. “We’ve done quite a bit of work with Chris and Tanya and the rest of their crew lately. You know we’ve been trying to contain this little problem with dimensional portals—the ones that lead straight to Hell? Not that open Hell gates are a threat to national security or anything. Chris and company have been by far our most effective resource against them. They are a diverse group, closely knit and well-coordinated. I’m not a military man, although I’ve known many over the years and worked closely with more than my share. I think the general’s assessment is pretty good but his numbers might be a bit optimistic. Now, among my own group, we certainly have some talented people, but I’ll be the first to admit that they aren’t in the same class.”
“You’re not being helpful here, Nathan,” Gleeson said.
“Look, I’ve been doing this for over fifty years, this supernatural stuff. I’ve studied everything I could find, traveled the world collecting artifacts, people, and information. I can tell you unequivocally that my friend Chris and his group are pretty much unprecedented. Now, the general here is trained to see threats around every corner. I’m conditioned to see opportunities and allies. So far, Chris has done nothing but help this country. Destroying his natural-born allegiance to the United States would not only be a disaster, it would rob of us of his abilities. You are all concentrating on the fact that he pulled down an asteroid –” Stewart said, but was suddenly interrupted by Darion.
“Allegedly.”
“Darion, I was there. He yanked it down. But my point is if he can pull them down, he can push them away. Or if you want, let’s talk missile defense. What about it, Chris? Could you stop an ICBM? Could you deflect an earth-killer asteroid?”
I glanced at Darion, who looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding assent. I silently consulted my dark half, Grim, and then considered the amount of help I’d had from my brothers of the Host.
“I’m not sure. I had… help, of sorts, with that little ten tonner. A really big one? I suppose if I had plenty of lead time to influence it, then maybe. Last minute, doubtful. Missiles? Again, I’d need some warning, but I think so.”
“See, that’s the thing we should be working on, the useful, productive stuff. Not threatening him. So far, it’s been my observation that threats against him or his people are spectacularly counterproductive.”
Alexis turned to the two professional politicians. “You two through?” Both reluctantly nodded.
“To answer your question, Darion, we are not claiming the base or AIR as government entities. Rogue operation operating outside government control. Which is what we’re talking about here. Mr. Gordon and his group represent an uncontrolled, serious threat.”
“Whoa Alexis, let’s talk about that point. The government, or at least part of it, has been aware of the supernatural community for some time. You’ve created organizations to monitor them and yet you’ve made no attempt to imprison or control them. Yet Chris here represents, all by himself, more of a risk than all of them? Not buying it, Alexis,” Darion said. “I believe that you’re actually thinking more like Director Stewart. That he’s an asset… a weapon, to be deployed against whoever you decide to. That’s what this is really about. So you propose holding his goddaughter, a natural-born US citizen, hostage? Why not just tear up the Constitution and declare a new monarchy? Oh wait, whoever had a Chris Gordon in their arsenal could just about do that, now couldn’t they?”
A flicker of a frown flashed over Alexis’s features before she smoothed it away. She opened her mouth to speak, but it was my turn to interrupt.
“You can’t take Toni hostage. I’ve prevented it.”
Now a full-fledged frown appeared on her face and on the faces of the two politicians. Creek just continued to glare, and Stewart looked curious.
“Prevented how, Chris?” Darion asked, although he already knew the answer.
“Toni is now protected. Anyone attempting to attack or kidnap her will die almost instantly. Attacking her parents will have a similar result.”
“Explain. We know where the girl is and we know about the security around her. Believe me when I tell you we can take her at any time that we choose,” Creek said.
“No General, you can’t. If you check with your watchers, you’ll find her private security shadow has been drastically reduced. The ones left are all humans we hired, and their job is mainly to warn off anyone stupid enough to attack. If the assault looks determined, their orders are to get out of the way and seek cover. They are forbidden to be armed. Pulling a firearm near Toni is a really, really bad idea. Full disclosure: Anyone attempting to take custody, hold hostage, or harm her in any way will die. I failed to protect her before when AIR took her. I won’t ever fail at that again. Consider this your warning.”
Nobody spoke for several moments. Gleeson started to speak, but Alexis raised one hand toward him without taking her eyes off of me.
“You’re threatening us?”
“Semantics. I have given you warning. The security personnel around her are for the public’s protection, not hers. Hers is pretty much absolute and before you ask, the answer is no, I’m not going to tell you what her protection is. My advice is to sit back and watch. Someone’s bound to do something stupid and you can observe the results.”
“Well that was ominous,” Alexis said. “I’d normally say it was dramatic theater, but I’m told that you usually understate things. But I’ve never been part of the physical threat side of things. I come at things a little differently. So in the near future, here’s what you can expect. We’ll freeze your assets and those of every vampire or were you have around you. The media will receive anonymous tips about you—with sordid details about you and the monsters you consort with. We’ve kept it secret till now—now we let the whole cat out of the bag. Overnight, you’ll be famous, well infamous really because the details won’t be pretty. The entire country, hell the world, will revile you. Fear you. Toni’s family will be revealed, as will your grandfather. Any publicity-shy supernatural around you will be in sudden danger of being revealed. Multiple lawsuits against the Demidova Empire will appear, as well against your grandfather and yourself. EPA claims for the radioactive depleted uranium dust falling out from the asteroid strike. The Velasquez family will be unemployed, their professional lives ruined. Your goddaughter will grow up in the shadow of your disgrace. How will she view you then, I wonder. The Coven and Packs will cut you free, leaving you without resources and hated by the public. Some idiot will attack you and likely get destroyed or at least seriously hurt. It’ll be on Youtube three minutes after that, showing the world what a monster you really are.”
She finished and took a sip of water, coolly watching me for a reaction.
I’m not sure how I looked because inside, I was struggling with Grim while working through the implications of her little speech. We had discussed all the military and law enforcement angles, but not this. I ransacked my brain for a solution, for a hole in her attack, but nothing appeared.
Behind me, the door opened and I felt the maid come back in without turning to look. Alexis raised her head and spoke. “We don’t want to be disturbed at the moment.”
“Ah, then you shouldn’t threaten my Chosen, my goddaughter, or my family,” the maid said in an arctic voice. Wind whipped across my face as she circled the room too fast for the humans to follow, the three remaining guards slumping to the ground as she passed them. They looked dead, but their continued heartbeats told me she had just knocked them out. Next was the rustle when she pulled off her gray wig and then the sound of the Velcro ripping told me the uniform was being dispensed with. The faces around the table reflected shock and surprise and fear.
“Hi, I’m Tatiana Demidova and since you’ve just threatened to destroy my family, I felt I ought to join the discussion.” She moved up behind me and put both hands on my shoulders. Normally I would offer her my chair, but I could tell through our link that standing was a strategically dominant position and I was pretty sure she was ready to dominate the bejebbers out of them.
“So I listened in on your plot. It’s nasty and psychologically devastating. I’m impressed. You would make a good vampire, Ms. Bishop. But I’ll come back to that point in a moment. Did you know, General Creek, that we have copies of every bit of footage your people have ever recorded of my Christian in action?” She wasn’t lying. I had watched all of that footage in an attempt to get some of my memories back. She continued, “I have some really gifted hackers on staff, like Chet, who you already know, and a new young friend who can do things with computers that seem like magic.” Nathan Stewart stiffened a bit at that one, no doubt guessing who she was talking about. “We could show the whole Loki Spawn campaign as seen through the eyes of the military as they sat helpless while my Chosen protected the country. Talk about Youtube, whew, that stuff would go super viral. And Nathan, I’m afraid we have footage of all the portal-closing demon fighting stuff as well, not to mention some choice shots from that school in Brooklyn where my Chris killed the terrorists. Media? We can either give them the footage or flat out force it through the system. Hey, what would your Command and Control systems be like if we knock out all your satellites and leave our own? Food for thought, huh General? Miss Bishop, you make him infamous and I’ll make him famous. How fast would NBC, CBS, or ABC, not to mention Fox, jump at a chance to interview a Demidova?” She bent down and placed her face alongside mine, still looking at Alexis. “Wouldn’t we make a cute celebrity couple? And let’s talk about assets—good luck finding any. My people have been hiding their money for thousands of years; I’ve got tricks you’ve never heard of. Then, at the height of the whole thing, we’ll pull a Snowden. We’ll leave the country and seek asylum from Russia or China, both of which will fight tooth and claw to have us. As a matter of fact, the ambassadors of both countries are currently seeking a meeting like this but without any threats. The public will hate your President and Congress for forcing such a national loss. And please don’t quote me any crap about preventing us from leaving. We can penetrate the borders of this country or any other at will. And finally, Ms. Bishop, when your boss’s ratings are at their lowest and his respect and admiration for you have turned to hate, maybe at that point we’ll see just how good a vampire you’d really make.”
I could hear all their heartbeats and outside of a Zumba class, I don’t recall ever hearing any beat quite as fast.
The tension was almost touchable, stretched taut like a bowstring. After what seemed to be minutes, but was really just a few really painful seconds, Nathan Stewart looked across the table at General Creek and said, “As I said—she would be here.”
Creek looked pained as he looked from Stewart to Tanya at my side, but after a moment he reached into his hip pocket—slowly, with his other palm up toward my vampire—and pulled out his wallet. He slipped out a crisp twenty and handed it to Senator Gleeson, with a brusque wave to indicate that Gleeson should pass it down. The bill traveled down the table to McFeeney and next to Alexis Bishop, who blinked rapidly several times before putting a semblance of her former poker face in place. She handed the twenty spot to Nathan Stewart, who added it to a fat roll of bills from his pocket. Even as it left her hand, Alexis was turning her attention to me, the wheels almost visibly moving behind her mask.
“Do you agree with her?” she asked me.
I paused for a moment, thinking about the whole situation, studying my hands that were flat on the table. As I started to answer her question, I picked up one of the plain water glasses in front of me.
“Ms. Bishop, what none of you seem to grasp is that this whole thing we’re doing right here doesn’t matter,” I said, waving a hand at them and the unconscious bodyguards and the whole room. “I’ve been fighting demons since I was prepubescent. That’s demons as in the denizens of Hell. All this political crap is meaningless unless it results in giving them a free hand. Then it will mean the end of everything and everyone.” She started to speak, but I held up my right hand. “I’m not done. What you all need to understand is that there is a treaty of sorts between Heaven and Hell—an Accord. Demons have always been allowed on this plane as long as their visitation was non-corporeal. Just their spirit or elemental essence or what have you. If invited into a person, they could take over the body. Likewise, they could inhabit a location or place. Humans could fight back with religion and faith or they could fall and fail. It’s always been our choice. Free will. On the other side of the Accord, God would select a representative warrior—a policeman of sorts.” I ran one finger around the circumference of the glass, down near the thick bottom. The half-inch-thick base fell off the glass. “That warrior would have the ability to exorcise any demon on this plane. In case you folks have missed it, the current holder of that title is I. It’s a tough job—the average lifespan of my predecessors was pretty short, I’ve been told. Maybe fifteen or twenty years from the time they first manifested their abilities, tops. It’s been a losing battle. Till me.” Using the same finger, I cut the base into a sort of rectangular shape. “But now we have this whole manmade wear and tear on the barriers of space and time thing. The Large Hadron Collider. Our never-ending search for information and power has finally impacted the fence that keeps the demons of Hell at bay. Now they can come through in physical form—complete in their unholy glory.” The little block of glass was now roughly humanoid shaped. I set it down and picked up the open-ended cylinder that had been a glass. “And guess what? Halloween is approaching. A friend recently pointed out that the barriers naturally thin at that time of year. How do you think that’s gonna go?” I traced an arched triangle into the glass—sort of a dolphin fin shape. It fell out of the cylinder. “My business is about to see its busy season—possibly the first and last at the same time.” Turning the glass, I cut the same shape out of the other side. Holding the first one up to the little glass man, I focused my aura on a spot on his back, pressing the triangle against it. The glass flowed together.