Infernal Father of Mine (16 page)

Elyssa sensed a catastrophe might be brewing if
Ivy didn't calm down.

Jeremiah nodded. "Very well, Ivy. The truth is
Daelissa killed someone very special to me a long time ago. I have
been treading a delicate line between pretending to assist her and
plotting my revenge."

"Why did my parents give me to you?" she asked,
the glow fading from her eyes.

"Your mother, Alysea, was nearly killed in the
Desecration. Leyworms saved her, in a sense, rebirthing her as an
infant."

"Like the leyworms in the El Dorado way
station?" Elyssa asked. She'd seen leyworms swallow husked angels
and spit them back out some time later as baby angels. Jeremiah had
found out about it, or possibly knew about it all along.

"Precisely," he said. "I have something of a
relationship with some of the leyworms. They delivered her to me,
and I cared for her."

"That still doesn't answer my question," Ivy
said in a stern voice.

"When you were born, Alysea still didn't have
full control or knowledge of her abilities." He sighed. "Daelissa
wanted to keep her in the dark, going so far as to white out
Alysea's memories as they emerged. The two of them were once
friends, but fought on opposite sides of the war."

Ivy nodded. "Mom told me that."

"Yes, well, as a result, Alysea couldn't teach
you what you needed to know. Daelissa saw you as her protégé—her
right hand." Jeremiah swirled the liquid in his glass. "She wanted
to control you in the hopes you would one day be able to help her
repair the Grand Nexus."

"What did you see me as?" Ivy asked.

He smiled gently. "My granddaughter. I wanted
you to learn how to use your powers. With my guidance, I tried to
keep Daelissa from completely controlling you."

"That's not the whole truth, is it?" Elyssa
asked. "You wanted something else out of the
arrangement."

He leaned forward. "It pains me to say this,
Ivy, but I also had selfish reasons for raising you. I wanted you
to help me avenge my beloved wife."

Ivy's forehead wrinkled. "But, isn't Eliza your
wife?"

"She is, but it is an arrangement," he said
with a sigh. "I'm sorry—"

"Sorry doesn't cut it!" Ivy shouted. "You used
me. Daelissa used me. Everyone wants to use me but my Mom and
Justin."

"The truth is painful," Jeremiah said,
shoulders slumping. His eyes looked tired. "It is a terrible
burden, child."

A tear ran down Ivy's cheek. "Do you know how
awful it is to find out people you love are bad guys?"

A bell chimed. Jeremiah waved a hand at the
wall, and the image of a limousine pulling up the long winding
driveway appeared. "Why is Eliza back already?" he said, as if to
himself. The limo reached the end of the driveway. The rear door
opened.

Elyssa's heart stopped. "Daelissa!"

"You must leave this instant," Jeremiah
said.

"The portal is upstairs," she said. "We have to
pass the front door to get there."

Elyssa heard the front door open and shut.
Jeremiah drew a symbol on the wall to his right and a small
compartment appeared behind an illusionary panel.

"There's only room for one," he said. "Hide,
Miss Borathen. Ivy will be fine. Daelissa doesn't know she isn't
living here anymore."

Elyssa didn't have time to argue. She ducked
into the small compartment.

Jeremiah made a motion with his hand. "The
illusion is in place. She cannot see you." He turned to the girl.
"Ivy, you must not tell her you've gone to live with your brother.
Do you understand?"

Ivy looked a little stunned by the quick
developments, but nodded. As if it were an afterthought, Jeremiah
grabbed a lollipop from a jar on his desk and gave an orange one to
Ivy.

She regarded it dubiously. "I don't like
orange."

"They let him escape!" Daelissa said, coming
into the office without so much as a by-your-leave. "I delivered
him into their hands, and the fools could not find him."

"I assume you're speaking of Justin Slade,"
Jeremiah said.

"Of course I am!"

Elyssa was able to see Daelissa clearly through
the illusionary wall. Having certain death only inches from her
should have terrified her. Instead, she worried desperately about
Ivy. The girl sat on the divan across from Jeremiah's desk, licking
the orange sucker.

Daelissa suddenly seemed to realize Ivy was
there, and knelt. "Your demon spawn brother is an evil little
nuisance."

"What happened?" Ivy asked, her eyes flashing
dangerously.

Please don't try to kill Daelissa
,
Elyssa thought.

"Is that not always the question, child?"
Daelissa ruffled the girl's hair. "It is an important question to
ask when someone has failed you. A good leader listens to their
miserable excuses patiently. Once they have explained their
incompetence, it is important to set an example for the
others."

"Don't give them lollipops?" Ivy
asked.

A girlish laugh escaped Daelissa. "You are
precious as ever, my sweet." She shook her head, and flicked her
forefinger out as if pointing at something. A thin blade of white
light formed at the end. "I prefer severing their limbs with
Brilliance." She smiled sweetly. "Sometimes, burning out an eye is
also very useful."

"I think you told me this once," Ivy said.
"Wasn't it when you were teaching me how to be a good
leader?"

"Why, so it was," Daelissa said. The shard of
Brilliance puffed away. She stood and turned to Jeremiah. "The
Colombian front has engaged the rebel Templars."

"Do you think the vampires are up for the
fight?" Jeremiah asked.

She pshawed. "Most of them are drug lords or
slave runners, not warriors. They are rats, chipping away at the
rebels, nothing more."

"Maximus certainly created quite a network," he
said. "It was a great loss when the Slade boy took him out of the
fight."

"It is almost as if the universe wishes to
torture me," Daelissa said with pouting lips. "I had hoped I could
use the boy."

"You told me that earlier," he said. "What is
he helping you with?"

The angel smiled. "When Darkwater was clearing
the husks from Thunder Rock, they made some most startling
discoveries."

"To which discoveries are you
referring?"

"Let us save it for a surprise," she said.
Daelissa turned to Ivy again. "Darling, have you been practicing
your singing?"

"Of course," she said, and began to sing. "Row,
row, row your boat, gently down the stream."

Daelissa's smile flattened. "Still too young."
She sprang to her feet. "We should find that horrible mother of
yours. Traitor. Bitch. Demon lover!" Her eyes flashed to Jeremiah.
"I need her now more than ever. I must task you with finding
her."

"Why now?" Jeremiah asked. "Has something
recently changed?"

The angel laughed. "Everything has changed, but
I lack the tool to fix it."

"You realize I can't help you if you don't tell
me what you're trying to fix." He rose and poured himself another
glass of alcohol. "Besides, you don't need Alysea. All that
tampering you did with her mind made her forget how to attune the
Cyrinthian Rune, which, I might add, we still haven't found. Are
you sure it wasn't destroyed in the Desecration?"

Daelissa stared vacantly for a long moment. She
blinked slowly, as if waking up. "I lost myself again, Jeremiah. It
is happening more frequently."

"You blacked out again?" he asked.

A tear trickled down the woman's cheek. "Yes. I
was talking about something—was it singing?"

"You were telling me about a surprise Darkwater
found," he said.

She snapped her fingers. "Ah, yes. I will show
you when I'm ready." Daelissa looked down at Ivy. "You are the most
precious possession I have left, child. Your mother abandoned me
again. Promise never to leave your dear aunt."

Ivy visibly swallowed. "I promise, Aunt
Daelissa."

The woman hugged Ivy tight and kissed her on
the head. "The Synod has things well in hand here. Now, I must run
to Colombia for a time. Continue your studies, and perhaps I will
take you and your grandparents to see something
wonderful."

"Be careful," Ivy said.

Daelissa burst into laughter. "You are too
sweet, child." She kissed Ivy on the cheek. "Farewell." Without
even saying goodbye to Jeremiah, she left as quickly as she'd
come.

Elyssa didn't dare come out until Jeremiah gave
her the all clear. "Is it my imagination, or is Daelissa absolutely
crazy?"

Jeremiah's gaze settled on her. "She is quite
insane at times, though lucidity returns after feeding."

"Why don't we just let her go insane then?"
Elyssa asked.

"You do not want that," he said. "You might as
well let a nuclear bomb go off."

"I think I understand why you wanted to kill
the vampires now," Ivy said. She stuck out her tongue and threw the
orange lollipop in the garbage. "Daelissa is using them to build an
army. You were trying to stop her."

"Yes," Jeremiah said, a smile creeping across
his face. "Very insightful, my dear."

"Not all vampires are bad, though. Just Maximus
and his master were bad." She frowned. "Justin fixed things so the
vampires only lost their powers instead of killing all the good
ones with the bad."

"To remove a greater evil, one must sometimes
sacrifice the innocent," Jeremiah said.

"You're talking about killing dozens of
innocents just to exterminate a few bad apples," Elyssa
said.

"Daelissa would merely have found new leaders
among these innocents you speak of," he replied.

"You're almost good," Ivy said. "I think you
need to keep working on it, Jeremiah. When I think you're good
enough, maybe then we can talk about you rejoining the family." She
stood. "Let's go, Elyssa. I'm done talking with him."

As they left the room, Elyssa glanced at
Jeremiah. For the first time, he looked old and very tired. She
couldn't imagine how harsh a toll playing double agent exacted on
someone, but it was very evident in his posture and
voice.

"Remember, Miss Borathen, there is nothing you
can do to stop the boy's destiny." Jeremiah drew in a long breath.
"I would advise you to wait."

Elyssa didn't reply. She knew Justin and his
father were at least not prisoners of Daelissa, even though being
trapped in the Gloom was no laughing matter. Finding them would be
nearly impossible, at least until she had a way into the Gloom. She
needed the Exorcist church for that, but the Borathen Templars were
too busy fending off Daelissa's advances in Atlanta and Colombia to
help. It meant she had little choice but to wait, or search for
alternate ways into the Gloom.

She would never rest easy until Justin was
back.

I shoved David out of the way as the raptor
leapt. Pain seared across my back as the raptor claw raked my skin.
Despite the pain, I managed to roll away as the dinosaur skidded to
a stop on the concrete.

Timothy leered down at me.
"Surprise."

"Surprise this, bitch." My father fired his
pistol.

A bullet slammed into Timothy's arm. He spun
off the back of the raptor with a shout of pain and surprise. The
raptor stopped its attacks, freezing in place like a statue as the
vampire writhed on the floor, screaming. David reached down a hand
and pulled me to my feet.

"Turn around, son."

I was in too much pain to argue his use of the
word, "son", and did as he asked.

He hissed. "We'll need to patch that up. The
talon cut to the muscle."

I tried to nod, but a wave of nausea rolled
through me. I leaned against a nearby support column and fought the
urge to vomit. When I caught my breath, I looked up to see the
velociraptor melting into gelatinous goo before my eyes. "What the
heck?" I groaned.

David dropped to a knee, right on Timothy's
chest. Air exploded from the vampire's mouth. My father gripped the
vampire by the throat and shoved the gun to the other man's temple.
"Well, well, well, Timothy Burkmeyer. Time to end your pathetic
existence."

"No, please," the vampire begged, tears
streaming down his face. "I'm desperate for fresh blood. Gotta have
it. Don't kill me." He blubbered, saliva foaming at his
mouth.

My father pistol-whipped him. The vampire's
head lolled to the side. "I'm going to enjoy torturing you to death
for what you've put me through, you pathetic germ. You puny speck.
Do you have any idea who I am?"

Timothy shivered and drew in a deep breath.
"N-no."

I sucked in a breath and spoke. "No
torture."

David ignored me. "I'm the man who's going to
give you a choice. Do you want me to torture you to death, or do
you want to help us?"