Infernal Father of Mine (14 page)

Ivy looked at the floor. "You're not. Mom told
me the truth."

"Eliza and I raised you from infancy, Ivy. I'd
say that gives us as good a claim as anyone else." His gaze
softened. "Come now, child. There's no harm in humoring an old man,
is there?"

"You tried to make me do bad things, Jeremiah.
You tried to kill Justin. You wanted me to let him die." She looked
up, eyes locking onto his. "You have a lot to make up for if you
ever want me to let you back in the family."

Elyssa felt a shock of surprise at the tone of
command in Ivy's voice. The girl was unpredictable—one minute
acting like a child, the next like a little dictator. Elyssa hoped
Justin's sister was mentally sound, but considering her upbringing
between Daelissa and the Conroys, her childhood had been far from
normal or balanced.

Jeremiah chuckled. "I understand."

"The Exorcists have Justin," Elyssa said. "We
need help freeing him."

He leaned back in his chair and took a sip of
his drink. "It appears events have spiraled completely out of
control. I was foolish to think I could ever direct the situation,
no matter how much information I have."

Elyssa narrowed her eyes. "Did you have
something to do with his kidnapping?"

Jeremiah stood. Elyssa blurred back, swords
singing as they came free from her sheaths.

"I assure you, I intend no harm to you or Ivy,"
he said, motioning toward the door. "If you'll please step into the
hallway, I have something to show you."

Elyssa put Ivy behind her, and backed into the
hallway. It seemed rather foolish to put herself between Jeremiah
and the one person powerful enough to stop him, but Ivy was still a
young girl, and Elyssa's instincts overrode common sense. Jeremiah
stepped into the hallway after them and walked to a set of oaken
double doors across the hall. He traced a symbol over the seam. The
outline of the symbol flashed white, and the doors slid into
recesses in the wall.

Jeremiah stepped through the opening. Elyssa
halted at the threshold, amazed at the sight beyond. A massive
chamber filled with shelves spread out before her. The place was as
large as an aircraft hangar—impossible to fit inside the mansion,
no matter how spacious it appeared.

"Oh, we're going into the vault?" Ivy
asked.

"How is this possible?" Elyssa
asked.

Jeremiah raised a gray eyebrow. "I'm utilizing
the same magic which creates a gateway into the Grotto, La Casona,
and other pocket dimensions." He touched a foot to the threshold.
"Once you step across, you are no longer in Atlanta, but in an
underground bunker halfway around the world."

Elyssa stared at the vault. "I didn't think
anyone knew how the pocket dimensions worked."

"Not many do." He stepped inside and walked
down a long row of shelves. "It operates very much like the arch
portals."

Ivy skipped after him, as if this was the most
normal thing in the world.

Elyssa saw no choice but to follow. If Jeremiah
was leading them into a deadly trap, they were in too far now to
escape. The old man genuinely seemed to care for Ivy. Elyssa had to
hope it was enough to keep him from killing them both.

Jeremiah stopped in front of a shelf and looked
up and down it for a moment. Elyssa half expected him to make the
hemming and hawing noises an old person made when searching for
something, but the Arcane's vision seemed eagle sharp, and his
hands betrayed not a single tremor of old age as he took a scroll
from the shelf and turned to face her.

"Ooh, can I play with the snow globe?" Ivy
asked, pointing at one on a shelf just out of her reach.

Jeremiah smiled. "It's not a toy,
Ivy."

Her lips pouted. "I know, but it's fun making
it snow in Sheboygan."

He chuckled. "Okay, you can make one snowstorm,
but make it a good one, okay?" He gently handed her a large crystal
globe attached to a silver pedestal. An intricately carved
representation of a town resided within it.

"Does that really make it snow in Sheboygan?"
Elyssa asked.

He didn't answer, instead unrolling the scroll
and placing it on a table in front of her. "Long ago, I made it my
sole mission to possess all foreseeances related to the
Cataclyst."

"That's what Lornicus called Justin," she said.
"A catalyst for a possible cataclysm."

"Indeed he is, despite all my attempts to blunt
his effectiveness until I was ready."

Elyssa didn't like the sound of that. "Ready
for what?"

"Foreseeance four-three-one-one supposedly came
to pass when Justin and Ivy decided to protect each other, rather
than fight," he said. "But there was more to the foreseeance than
the scraps which I was unable to keep from circulation."

"So you're the one behind the
cover-up."

"I am certainly one, but not the only one." He
folded his arms. "Information about the future is sheer power, Miss
Borathen."

"Doesn't take a genius to figure that out." It
struck her that his trademark genteel southern accent was absent.
She glanced at the ancient parchment on the table. "Am I supposed
to read this?"

"Yes."

"Why are you showing this to me
now?"

He remained silent for a moment. "Because my
attempts to alter or resist the future have done little to delay
the inevitable. Foreseeances are not set in stone. I have changed
the path of others who were to play important roles in the battles
to come. Mr. Slade has thus far overcome everything I and the
others have thrown in his way."

A chill crept up her back. "You killed
people?"

A nod. "I have done a great many things I
regret, but I will not be stopped from my goal." He motioned toward
the scroll. "Read it."

Elyssa looked at Ivy to be sure she was okay.
The young girl was watching a thick snowstorm roiling within the
globe. Ivy glanced at Elyssa and gave her a sly wink. She obviously
wasn't as entranced as she appeared.
Sneaky girl.
Elyssa was
starting to like Justin's sister more and more all the
time.

"Fine, I'll read it." She looked at the scroll.
It was written in what looked like Latin, but someone had scrawled
an English translation beneath it.

The first decision determines who
will be the Cataclyst. Once it is determined, the chosen must
journey into the shadow of Eden. There will the final choice be
revealed. The chosen must be wary, for there are more choices than
three. Destruction, rebirth, stagnation—any alone will be the end
of all.

Elyssa gasped and looked up. "I thought the
choice had been made. I thought Ivy and Justin canceled each other
out by not fighting."

"Mr. Slade is the Cataclyst." Jeremiah rolled
up the parchment. "The final choice will soon present itself, and
we have to hope he chooses the right path."

"The right decision probably depends on
perspective," Elyssa said. "We all know whose side you're
on."

"Things are not quite as clear cut as you
think, Miss Borathen."

"What is the shadow of Eden?"

He placed the scroll on the shelf and turned
back to her. "It is where Mr. Slade is right this very
moment."

His statement didn't make any sense. "Eden was
a mythical garden, a paradise. Are you telling me it
exists?"

"You're thinking of a Biblical term for a real
place." Jeremiah pointed toward a globe. "That is Earth. Earth is
divided into many realms. Eden is the term for the mortal
realm."

Elyssa blinked several times. "I've never heard
that."

"I do not have time for history lessons, so
I'll cut to the chase, young lady." Jeremiah took off his
spectacles and locked eyes. "The shadow of Eden is the Gloom. Mr.
Slade is there."

"The Gloom?" Elyssa felt her forehead pinch. "I
don't understand. How—"

"The Exorcists banished him there. Daelissa
hopes to use him for her own purposes."

"They did what?" Ivy asked, eyes wide with
concern. "Why?"

"It doesn't matter why they did, only that they
did," Jeremiah replied in a calm voice. "This is destiny carving a
course through the present. Anything you do right now will only
interfere or kill you. I suggest you sit back and let him follow
the path to its conclusion."

"How did they send him there?" Elyssa asked. It
took all her willpower not to grab the man by his fancy suit jacket
and jerk him around.

"They have an arch within the church which
enables them to enter the Gloom at will." Jeremiah motioned her
toward the door. "You asked for my help; I have given
it."

"How do you know where he is?" Elyssa
asked.

Old man Conroy gave her a steely look. "Because
Daelissa told me."

I stood frozen in the face of a creature even
bigger than the tragon from Arcane University.

"Go!" David shouted, shoving me to the right
while the towering monster plowed through buildings.

I stumbled to the side as Timothy's maniacal
shouts reminded me we had a much smaller but no less lethal problem
right behind us. We ran down the sidewalk. Cars leapt from the
ground as the giant monster continued its rampage through town. I
looked behind and saw the raptor burst from the exit and leap over
a car. It landed in the street and streaked after us. Godzilla's
third cousin twice removed rumbled down the street behind Gloria,
trashing buildings and cars as if they were toys.

"He's mine!" Timothy shrieked repeatedly over
the roar and rumble of the rampaging beast.

"Through there," David yelled, pointing toward
a tight alley between a neighboring apartment complex and another
parking garage.

We dodged into the narrow space. David leapt. I
ran right into the tin garbage can he'd jumped over and smacked
into the sidewalk. The shotgun clattered from my grasp. I heard a
hiss and spun onto my back in time to see the raptor reach the
alley. It hissed and lunged. I scrambled backward too late. Sharp
teeth snapped together inches from my face. The raptor wriggled but
its body was too large to fit into the alley.

"Get him, Gloria!" Timothy shouted.

The raptor's head swung forward, teeth clacking
together as it tried vainly to reach me. I stuck out my tongue.
"Guess Gloria needs to go on a crash diet, Timmy."

The vampire made a sound somewhere between a
shout and the squeal a kid makes when throwing a temper tantrum.
The building shuddered. Bricks rained down from overhead. One
smacked into the concrete to my left while another caught Gloria
Richardson right on her pointy noggin. It didn't even draw
blood.

"Move," David said, his hand gripping me under
the armpit and pulling me to my feet.

I stuck out my tongue at Timothy, grabbed the
shotgun off the ground, and raced after my father. The building
shuddered. Bricks crumbled. The wall caved in as we passed it. I
looked back and saw the structure imploding.

"Run faster," I shouted above the
din.

Brick and mortar dust choked the air, filled my
mouth. We burst from the end of the alley and into a large grassy
park. I didn't stop running until we were clear of all buildings.
My eyes searched for Timothy. David pulled out his pistol and
gripped it with both hands. I held the shotgun stock to my
shoulder, aiming it like I'd seen in the movies.

The monster changed course and plowed through
two more buildings before reaching into one and pulling out a
female. I heard her screams, though. "Gee, let me guess," I said.
"Some guy is gonna show up and save her."

The monster ate her.

I heard crazed laughter from nearby and assumed
it was Timothy. Instead, I saw a short dumpy man dancing with glee
near the foot of the lizard monster, shouting something about how
women shouldn't ignore him.

"There are some creepy people in this world,"
David said.

"Let's worry about the vampire and not the
misogynistic beast master," I said, surveying the area. Clouds of
dust enveloped the apartment complex and the street nearby. I
waited for the raptor to burst from concealment at any moment.
"We're never getting to the Grotto at this rate."

"I'm more worried about evading a raptor when
the fog closes back in." David trained the pistol sights on the
dust and backed away a few feet. "At least now we can see him
coming."

A vermillion unicorn trotted past with a woman
riding on its back. I shook my head and looked north. "I say we
make more time while the coast is clear. Maybe a brick hit Timothy
on the head."

David snorted. "If only we could be so
lucky."

A twisting funnel of gray reached into the sky
on the nearby horizon. Veins of lightning flashed within the
maelstrom, but I didn't hear any accompanying thunder. I wondered
if someone was dreaming about being Zeus. The lightning storm lay
in the same general direction we had to go, so I used it as a
landmark and motioned my father to follow.