Infernal Father of Mine (13 page)

"Don't get nervous," he said. "It'll cause you
to freeze up."

"Who's nervous?" I said. "I mean, if the Gloom
decides to tear this place down because someone's dreaming about
tossing a Frisbee to their dog in an open field, it only means
we'll be squished to tiny bits."

He pursed his lips. "True. Maybe we should
accelerate our escape."

"Good idea." I jammed the revolver into the
pack and unslung the shotgun. "Let's do this."

We reached the exit at the end of the hallway.
I eased open the door and peered into a hallway that connected the
center courtyard with the sidewalk in the front of the building. I
listened intently for a moment for the sound of raptor claws
clacking or Timothy shouting curses.

Silence.

I pushed through the door and looked both ways.
"Which way?" I whispered.

David pointed toward the courtyard. "We can
sneak out through the parking garage. He might be patrolling the
street we were on earlier."

I clenched the shotgun tighter and nodded. We
jogged down the hallway and looked into the courtyard. No sign of
dinosaur or vampire. We went right, down the sidewalk, and through
the metal door to the parking garage. The place was deathly quiet.
I took a few steps and felt a faint vibration in the
ground.

"Did you feel that?" I asked.

David nodded.

I heard a faint rumble and felt a stronger
vibration in the ground. Panic seized me, and it took everything I
had not to run gibbering for the exit. It was a good thing too. I
heard a hiss. David jerked me down behind a car just as Gloria
Richardson walked around the corner and into the parking deck
entrance. Another rumble shook the ground, and another.

"No, no, no!" Timothy shouted, whirling his
mount back toward the exit. "I almost have them." The raptor
stepped outside, and the vampire looked down the street.

Another thunderclap echoed. The ground
trembled, and the car bounced on its shocks. David and I exchanged
worried glances. The next boom set off car alarms all up and down
the street. Dust and bits of concrete rained down. Timothy raised a
fist and cursed at the top of his lungs, but even that was drowned
out by the next shockwave. The cars parked on the street bounced
like toys.

"If he doesn't move," I whispered, "I'm going
to shoot him."

"Let's reverse course and go out the other
way," David suggested, motioning toward the door to the
courtyard.

"Make a run for it?" I asked, looking at the
vampire. His attention seemed fixed on whatever horror was coming
our way.

The car we hid behind jumped several inches off
the ground as the next earthquake hit. The bumper hit me in the
chest and knocked me onto my butt. I scrambled to my feet. "Go!" I
hissed.

We ran for the door.

Something bellowed. It sounded like a lion with
a locomotive horn caught in its throat. The entire parking deck
shuddered. A chunk of concrete and rebar slammed atop a car. I
looked left just as Timothy looked to his right. Our eyes locked.
The vampire's gaze lit up like Christmas ornaments.

"Get them, Gloria!" The raptor wheeled around
and loped toward us.

I jerked open the door. My father and I raced
through, down the hallway and out into the street. A monstrous foot
crashed down in the intersection to our left. Any cars that weren't
crushed flipped and rolled away from the impact. Glass shattered on
nearby buildings. I looked up at the behemoth lizard-like creature
towering over the buildings as it roared. Its head and arms looked
tiny in relation to its massive body. The monster walked upright
like a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Large spikes ran from the top of its head
all the way down the tail.

And it was about to kill us all.

Elyssa

Elyssa stalked back into the planning room at
the mansion.

"This is crazy," Shelton said. His phone
projected a live feed from a nom news station. People had taken
videos of Ivy's brief encounter with the police.

"Authorities still can't explain how or why the
robbers were able to crush the police cars," a female news anchor
said as the video of the event played in the background. "Officers
on the scene said something stopped their bullets before they ever
reached the target. Bystanders have plenty of opinions on the
matter."

The image switched to show a man. "Giant
underground magnets, dude!"

It flicked to another interviewee. "Probably
some precocious teenager with telekinesis," said an older woman.
"These cell phones are mutating the rotten little
parasites."

"Does this mean I'm famous?" Ivy
asked.

"Shelton, don't encourage her," Elyssa said,
shooting him a warning look.

He simpered and turned off the news. "Any news
about reinforcements?"

Elyssa took a deep breath to ward off the knot
of stress. It didn't help. "The Synod is sending troops into
Atlanta. My father can't spare any men to assault the Exorcist
church." Her heart ached with worry, frustration, and anger. Her
shoulders and back felt taut as iron cables. All her options for
saving Justin had evaporated, and she was out of ideas.

"How the hell are we gonna break in there
without an army backing us up?" Shelton said. He slammed his fist
on the table, sending marble-like ASEs bouncing. "Those people are
doing only god knows what to Justin and his father. We have to do
something and soon."

"What if they're holding him somewhere else?"
Bella asked.

"Where else would they keep him?" Shelton
said.

Elyssa held up a hand for silence. "The
Exorcist ninja was there. She's the one who knocked me out. I'm
positive they have him there."

"Maybe I can talk to Daelissa," Ivy said. She
licked a grape lollipop. "I'll bet if I was really nice she might
let my brother go."

Shelton shook his head. "Ain't gonna
happen."

Elyssa's felt defeated. "If only I could
contact Nightliss or Alysea," she said. "With them, I'm sure we
could break through their defenses." Ivy was powerful, but alone,
she wouldn't be enough.

"The Colombian Templar legion is still
incommunicado?" Bella asked.

Elyssa nodded. "I don't know what's going on in
Colombia, but it must be pretty bad. Even my father hasn't heard
any news yet."

"I'm looking for images of the inside of the
church," Cinder said. "Perhaps we could open a portal with the
omniarch."

"That's a great idea," Shelton said, slapping
the golem on the back.

"Thank you, Harry." Cinder flicked through
holographic images projected by an ASE. "So far, I have been unable
to locate anything, even in the city historical archives. Perhaps
the Exorcists have never allowed pictures."

"Maybe I could destroy the doors," Ivy
said.

"Not a good idea," Elyssa said.

"Please." The girl stood from her chair. "We
have to do something."

"I just thought of something crazy," Shelton
said, a worried look on his face. "This is probably a long shot,
but maybe Ivy could convince Jeremiah Conroy to help us
out."

"Are you insane?" Elyssa said.

Bella shook her head vigorously. "I'm certain
the man won't be pleased to learn Ivy is here. He's not a person we
can trust, and, in case you've forgotten, he's in league with
Daelissa."

"He's not a bad man," Ivy said, sticking out
her chin defiantly. "I just know I can convince him to
help."

"Absolute insanity," Elyssa said.

"These are dire circumstances," Cinder said.
"Perhaps radical action is called for."

"I can do it." Ivy put the lollipop into the
side of her mouth and sucked. "Just give me the chance to help my
brother. Plus, Jeremiah and Daelissa argued about a lot about
things. Remember when I helped Justin keep your dad from being
assassinated?"

Elyssa's breath caught in her throat. "I do,
and I'm so glad you did."

"I didn't really sneak away. Jeremiah told me
he wouldn't stop me if I wanted to warn Justin." Ivy switched the
sucker to the other cheek. "Bigdaddy said what Daelissa wanted to
do was wrong."

"I believe Jeremiah Conroy experienced what
humans refer to as a moral quandary," Cinder said. "I still have
had no success locating pictures of the inside of the church. Even
so, the odds of sneaking into such a heavily fortified location are
quite low."

They had no other options, Elyssa realized.
They could either sit, wait, and hope Thomas Borathen's Templar
forces pushed back the Synod, freeing up a few assault squads or
they could risk everything and ask the most powerful and dangerous
Arcane alive to help. She didn't know all the circumstances
surrounding Ivy's raising by the Conroys. Alysea hadn't been very
forthcoming with the details, and Justin only knew Jeremiah had
taken her when she was just a baby.

"If Jeremiah threatens us, are you willing to
do whatever it takes to get us away from him?" Elyssa asked
Ivy.

The girl narrowed her eyes.
"Anything."

Elyssa met her gaze. "Even if it means hurting
him?"

Ivy crunched down on the lollipop with a fierce
look. "Yes."

"Then let's do it."

"Please don't, Elyssa," Bella pleaded. "This is
an awful idea."

Shelton shrugged into his duster. "I'll get my
stuff."

Elyssa shook her head. "No. It'll just be me
and Ivy. I won't risk anyone else." She turned to Ivy. "Where do
they live?"

Bella's eyes flashed wide with alarm. "Elyssa,
please reconsider!"

"I'll do anything for Justin." Elyssa took the
other woman's hands. "Trust me. We'll be okay. I'm sure Ivy can
handle any dangerous situations."

"You bet I can," the girl said, tossing her
empty lollipop stick into the air and incinerating it with a narrow
beam of white energy.

Shelton's eyes went wide as he watched the ash
fall to the floor. "I think Elyssa will be fine."

Ivy took out her arcphone and supplied a
picture of her bedroom inside Jeremiah's estate. "We can use this
with the omniarch."

Bella put an arm on the girl's shoulder.
"You're not leading Elyssa into a trap, are you?"

"How could you ask such a thing?" Ivy said,
looking genuinely hurt. "I would never do that to her."

"I'm sorry," the petite woman said, looking
pained. "But we still don't know each other all that well, and
you've been a bit, um, naughty in the past."

"I was being used by Daelissa," Ivy said, blue
eyes shining with anger. "Justin showed me how I could be good. He
showed me I had a choice, and right now, I'm choosing to
help."

Bella nodded her head. "I trust you, Ivy.
Please be safe."

The girl pursed her lips and nodded. "I love my
brother. I
will
help him."

The group made their way downstairs. Elyssa
used Ivy's picture to open a portal into the girl's bedroom. The
room was dark, but the light shining through the portal illuminated
a four-poster bed covered in stuffed animals. Elyssa swallowed a
lump of apprehension and stepped through, Ivy close on her
heels.

"Don't come through, no matter what," Elyssa
said to the others. "If anyone besides us comes back, close the
portal immediately."

Bella nodded. "Good luck."

Ivy turned on the light in her bedroom. She
looked longingly at the stuffed animals for a moment, turned, and
walked to the door. Taking a deep breath as if to steel herself,
she opened it and stepped into a hallway. Elyssa looked up and down
the corridor. It was the same one she and Justin had broken into to
see Ivy when they were trying to save Alysea.

The door to the master bedroom hung open. It
looked empty. Ivy motioned Elyssa to follow her down the master
staircase. They walked down a hallway and to the door of a study.
Jeremiah sat inside reading a book and sipping from a glass of
amber liquid. He looked the same as ever, neatly trimmed gray
goatee, spectacles, and a dark suit accented with a red bowtie. His
eyes met Elyssa's, betraying not a hint of surprise.

"I expected I might see you again soon, Ivy."
He raised an eyebrow. "I did not, however, expect Elyssa
Borathen."

"I can assure you I never expected to be here
either, Mr. Conroy," Elyssa said, trying to keep her voice calm
even though she was screaming on the inside.

"It's obvious you've repurposed the arch in the
cellar of the mansion." He steepled his fingers and rested his gaze
on Elyssa's. "Ivy must have led you here."

"Yes," Elyssa said.
No sense in
lying
.

"Furthermore, you must be here about young Mr.
Slade."

"My brother," Ivy said, eyes flashing.
"Big—uh—Jeremiah, we need your help."

Jeremiah gave her a sad look. "Do you no longer
consider me your grandfather?"