Demonicus (Overworld Underground Book 2) (29 page)

"You mentioned this nephew before. Who is he?" I asked.

"His name is Justin Slade."

Tyler and I looked at each other. I spoke first. "Was he rescued from the vampires who captured him in Colombia?"

Vallaena smiled proudly. "Yes, and then he led Templar forces back inside and overthrew a small vampire army."

Tyler chuckled. "He's a busy guy."

"Indeed." Vallaena's smile faded. "I'm afraid this is only the beginning for him." She walked toward the door. "If you would be so kind as to inform Mr. Walker that he has noms to attend to, I will let myself out." She stopped and grasped one of my hands in both of hers. "I will be sure to banish Barboar after I have rested. I assume you do not need to witness it?"

Tyler chuckled. "Just tell him bon voyage for me, okay?"

She nodded. "Of course. Should either of you need me, inform Agent Walker and he can contact me."

I found myself entranced by the way her silky hair cascaded down her shoulders when she turned her head. "What hair products do you use?"

She raised an eyebrow, but a smile touched her lips. "Nothing special. My demon side keeps my hair looking lustrous no matter how I mistreat it."

Tyler chuckled. "How do you think I keep my majestic mane so thick and shiny?"

Vallaena nodded at Tyler and left the room. I texted George and told him about the host bodies.

Agents on the way.
He replied.
I have an illusionist working on your fake video as well.

Twenty minutes later, three people in tight black unitards appeared and hauled away the sleeping people. George showed up shortly after that and took us down another level to private quarters about the size and layout of a hotel room.

"This will be cramped compared to what you're used to," he said, "but it will do for now."

"I can't get the internet," I complained. "We're too far underground."

George held up a finger. "One moment, please." He returned moments later with a thin tablet computer. "This arctablet will do everything your nom mobile phone does, and also accepts verbal commands."

"Excellent." I pressed a button on the top and the screen lit up.

"I suggest you lay low until we sort things out with the nom authorities," George said to Tyler."

"What about me?" I asked. "Can I go to work?"

"Why would you want to?" Tyler gave me a quizzical look.

"Because Jack has been working on tracking down the people behind this mess." I put the tablet on the table behind me. "The sooner we put a stop to this nonsense, the faster we can concentrate on what really matters."

"I wouldn't recommend you go to work, Miss Glass." George held his calm gaze on me. "If they can't find Mr. Rock, it's likely they'd use you to track him. I can't have you leading police here. It would make for a very messy situation."

Admittedly, I hadn't really thought it through and George made far too much sense to ignore. "I'll just text Jack for updates."

"Excellent idea." George turned halfway toward the door and stopped. "Breakfast starts at six AM in the mess hall on level one—straight down the corridor from the levitator and you'll see it on your right." He nodded at each of us. "Goodnight."

After he left, Tyler and I decided to go to bed. It was nearly midnight and had been an exhausting day. Unfortunately—or perhaps fortunately—we had no clothes to sleep in. I was more than happy to snuggle up next to my naked Adonis.

"Do you suppose they have surveillance in this room?" I asked Tyler.

He snorted. "Doubtful."

Questions lingered in my mind about some of our earlier conversations. "When you said I've helped you grow, were you being serious?"

He nodded. "When I was so uncertain about what sort of demon I was, you convinced me I was different—better."

"I suppose finding out you're a jade spirit helped."

"It did, but you saw the good in me—that I'm not like Barboar or the other caustics." Tyler caressed my cheek, his eyes welled with emotion. "Em, you are my anchor to this world. You help me see things about myself I never would have considered." A tear trickled down his cheek. "A life without you isn't worth living."

Emotion overcame me and I wrapped my arms around him. "I feel the same way, Tyler. I never want this to end."

He kissed me gently on the forehead. "Neither do I."

The next morning, Tyler and I enjoyed a hearty breakfast with a group of excited Templars who were talking about vampires.

"Next thing I knew, the whole place lit up like New Year's Eve," one man said to Tyler as he recounted the previous night's events. "When we ran in to help with the cleanup, we found out all the vampires had lost their powers."

"How?" I asked.

"Some huge spell is what I heard," a woman replied.

"I hope this means the vampire war is over." The first man jabbed a fried egg with his fork. "Colombia was a nightmare. Thought for sure we'd lost Commander Borathen."

"I hope it's over too, but we're gonna be on cleanup duty for months." The woman looked us over. "So why are you two here?"

"We're with the Custodians," I said. "We didn't see any action in Colombia though."

"Sounds like you guys have had your hands full with demons." The woman finished her grits and stood up, tray in hand. "Take care. My squad has to hunt down runners and vamplings today."

"Vamplings?" I asked.

Another Templar answered. "Vampire zombies."

The woman made a face. "If a young vampire tries to turn a human, it usually fails and turns them into the walking, hissing, blood-sucking dead."

With that pleasant thought, the other Templars rose and left, leaving Tyler and me alone in the mess hall.

"Well, it sounds like things aren't calming down much for the Templars." I stirred the grits with my spoon and contemplated eating them.

"From the way Vallaena was talking, I think the vampires are the least of their worries." Tyler had already cleaned his tray and looked at the food left on mine. "What are we going to do today?"

I set the tablet George had given me on the table. "I'm going to do some research."

"I need to stretch my legs." He stood and picked up his tray. "Want to take a walk?"

"Sure." Spending some down time with my love sounded wonderful. I took a bite of grits and discovered they were quite tasty. After finishing them, we stacked our trays with the others.

I grabbed the tablet then Tyler and I took the levitator to ground level and stepped outside. Cool air greeted my lungs while gray clouds threatened rain.

"We need more clothes," I said, wishing I had a sweater to pull around me.

"Yeah, but we can't exactly go back to the condo and get some." Tyler stopped walking and looked toward the barn. "Maybe George would let me borrow his car again."

"Doubtful." I started walking toward the white fences in the distance where I presumed lay a horse pasture. I handed Tyler the arctablet and took out my phone to send George a text.
We need more clothes. Can we use your car to sneak into the condo?

While I waited on his reply, I sent Jack a text as well.
Find anything new?

Jack replied quickly.
Someone at Trax Worldwide opened the program. Looking into it now.

I sent him a reply.
Great! Tyler and I are in hiding so I won't be at work until this blows over.

Isabel told me. Be careful.

George sent me a reply seconds later.
We'll go by the condo later this afternoon before your orientation class.

I let Tyler read it.

"Ugh, I can't stand this," he said. "I feel trapped."

"We're not trapped, just limited." I took his hand. "I'm sure George's people will have that video ready soon, and we can go back to our normal lives.

He barked a laugh. "
Normal
."

"Yes, well, our new normal."

We reached the pasture where a majestic white horse grazed next to a palomino sporting a rich chocolate coat. Tyler leaned against the fence and looked at them. "They're beautiful."

"Yes, they are." I wondered if we could ride them.

Tyler climbed to the top of the tall fence and sat on it, then helped me up. The boards were wide enough to offer a comfortable roost. We enjoyed the sight for a few minutes, then I took out the tablet and pulled up a map of the city.

"Does this have something to do with the research you wanted to do?" Tyler asked.

"I'm trying to figure out where the demons will go next." I pointed out the markers I'd placed for the first two demonicus. "What do you think? They plan to do two more demonicus very soon."

"Probably tonight, considering how quickly they pulled off the second one." Tyler stared at the points on the map. "We know for a fact they'll be west and south, but there's a ton of ground to cover."

"I know." I rested my forehead on a hand. "And we have no idea how to find them."

Chapter 25

I texted my father and told him about the previous night's activities with Vallaena. I hoped he might offer a brilliant way to track down the locations of the next two demonicus, but he had nothing of use.

George invited us to the Templar compound to speak with some people there about employment
, he texted.

When my parents arrived at the compound that evening, Tyler and I gathered with them and George in a conference room. Mr. Sticks showed up a moment later, a stolid look on his face. It was already growing late, and I felt the clock ticking away.

I told them what little we'd discovered from our former captives.

"The deep one?" Patrick scratched his chin. "What sort of circuit could he be completing?"

"I have an idea," Tyler said. "Can you display the map of the ley lines again?"

My father produced his arcphone and displayed a map. The magical conduits we'd noticed earlier had grown in length.

"How up to date is this map?" I asked.

"The spell sends out a pulse along the ley lines and sends back an up-to-date image." Patrick traced a finger along the two new ones, which now stretched to two new points.

"Oh, my," I breathed. "I think I see the circuit."

Everyone else saw it too, judging from their looks. The new ley lines formed a nearly complete circle encompassing the middle of Atlanta and stretching all the way to the west and south sides where they intersected other major lines.

"Notice how even the distribution is," Victoria said. "They're not just creating two new demonicus at those locations."

"They're using a ley worm to connect the ley lines and construct a massive pattern all across the city." Tyler's words brought a long silence as we all contemplated the meaning of this new information.

"The question is why?" my father asked. "The two ley lines the new ones intersect are already large enough to support more demonicus. Why go through the trouble of connecting them all?"

"Let me contact Zuba." George took out his phone and displayed the professor's image above the table.

"Greetings, all," Zuba said. "How can I be of service?"

"What do you make of this?" George said.

The professor's wide eyes foretold of something bad. "They're creating a daemonculus."

"A what?" My mind fumbled with this new term.

"Once they complete the last two demonicus, they'll be able to create a single massive pattern and summon something truly monstrous." Zuba picked up his ancient book and turned the pages. He displayed a pattern that stretched across two pages. "They'll need precisely thirty-three souls for the ritual."

"Won't be a problem with the loophole they found," Patrick said.

"It'll be a bloody disaster if they complete this." Victoria leaned on the table. "What do you propose we do?"

"Two countersigns on opposite sides of the daemonculus." Zuba's jaw tightened. "It will surely mean death for those who do it."

"Will they lose their souls?" I asked, chest tight with worry.

"I assume the same rules apply as with the demonicus." Zuba shrugged. "I really can't say for sure."

"They'll still be dead either way." Tyler said.

Zuba nodded grimly. "Undoubtedly."

"What if we break one of the demonicus?" I asked.

"It might delay their efforts, but they can repair those patterns. If the daemonculus is broken, it will create a massive feedback loop that will destroy the patterns." Zuba pointed to a passage in his tome. "There is no precedence for this, so all I have to go on is what's written here."

"In other words, we have no guarantees," my mother said. "People who make the countersign will die whether they do it on the smaller patterns or the large ones."

"We're overlooking something," I said. "We know where the smaller patterns will be, but we have no clue about the location of the final pattern."

"That should be easy enough to calculate." Zuba motioned to the pattern of ley lines. "Notice that large circuit crossing the center."

"I see it," Patrick said. He traced his finger along the outer circle, highlighting it. "Phone, calculate the center of this circle."

"Calculating," said a monotone voice.

A bright dot formed in the middle right over the ley line bisecting the circle.

Patrick zoomed the image and changed it to show a satellite view. Westview Cemetery occupied the spot.

"How appropriate," Victoria said.

"There are tombstones all over the place," Tyler said. "How will they fit a pattern there?"

Patrick zoomed in further. "That particular spot is just grass and trees." He blew out a breath. "I can't imagine how much planning it took to make this happen."

"Why Atlanta?" I looked away from the image. "Why not in the middle of the desert where there's nothing?"

"Atlanta is particularly rich in ley lines and it's much easier to kidnap people in a large city," Zuba replied. "Your city has also been the center of a great deal of activity as of late."

"Yes, it has," George agreed. "Everything that's happened has been for a reason."

"And it all comes down to this." Tyler hissed a breath between his teeth. "Guess I'll mention the elephant in the room." He gave us a dramatic look. "Who will be the sacrificial lambs?"