Infernal Father of Mine (4 page)

The shadow ninja vaulted a pew, elbow aimed for
my chest as I lay on the ground. I rolled away. Heard the thud of
impact. Gaining my feet, I watched the dark figure spring from the
ground. Up close I noticed the curve of breasts and hips beneath
the tight fabric.

A woman is about to kick my
ass.

Not that Elyssa hadn't done so plenty of times
before.

An entirely different crazed woman ran
screaming from the dark, blood smeared all over her face. The ninja
did a roundhouse, slamming the mental patient hard in the side of
the head. The woman's body flipped sideways from the impact. Before
her body hit the floor, the ninja raised a foot and slammed her in
the ribs, pile-driving the body into the stone surface. The woman
groaned but stayed put.

The unexpected pause before my imminent ass
beating gave me much needed seconds to recover from the
tranquilizer still clouding my control. Warmth flooded into my
limbs. I felt strength roar through my blood. This chick was in for
a surprise if she attacked again. I held out a hand and motioned
her with my fingers. "Come get some."

Her foot flashed out. Instinct took over. I
dodged back and felt air whoosh past my nose. Her fist blurred for
my head. I juked right to avoid the thrust, but she blindsided me
with her other fist and nailed me in the temple. I staggered
backwards, regained my feet and took a swing at her. She jumped
back from my clumsy retaliation. This time, the ninja held out a
hand mimicked my "come get me" taunt.

I touched my aching head and glared at my
assailant. Experience overrode my initial desire to charge in,
fists blazing. I'd trained with Elyssa, but still wasn't anywhere
close to her level of proficiency. This person obviously had
similar training, not to mention supernatural speed and strength
along with it. I needed to level up before contending with this
threat. Unfortunately, I couldn't just run away. David might be an
ass, but he was still my father and I had to save him.

The whistle of a projectile narrowly warned me
in time to duck as a dart flew past my personal airspace. The ninja
attacked. With a flurry of blows, each one seemingly quicker than
the last, she drove me back down the aisle toward the front of the
church. I felt static tickle the hairs on my skin as I crossed the
silver circle. The attacker paused. Backed off and regarded me, her
mask concealing whatever smug expression lay behind it.

I decided to exploit her hesitation and blurred
forward. I ducked beneath her swinging arm. Shot up from a crouch,
and delivered a crushing uppercut to—thin air.

My gaze flicked around. The ninja was nowhere
to be seen.
Where did she go?
I looked back at the circle.
David lay prone in the center, unmoving. I felt a tap on my
shoulder. Spun, and saw the ninja. A foot crushed into my chest. I
flew backward, hit the ground skidding and rolling until I came to
a rest against my unconscious father.

For a brief second, I felt the aether in the
air dissipate as the ninja woman broke the circle. Just as quickly,
she drew another circle and two slashes across it in the air with
her finger before jamming a thumb to the silver. The air crackled
and snapped as the new circle formed. She waved like a beauty
pageant contestant, crossed her arms, and regarded me from behind
her black mask. I grabbed David, and ran for the opposite edge of
the circle. When I pressed a hand to the air, it confirmed my worst
fears. She'd put up a physical barrier.

I reached for my pocket. My phone was gone
along with my wallet. The Exorcists must have taken our belongings
earlier. I felt David's pockets and came up empty. Setting him down
for the moment, I walked to the edge of the circle near the
woman.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, straining to
keep my voice calm.

She didn't answer, but remained standing and
watching.

"Who are you?" I asked. "Show me your
face."

Her head tilted slightly, as if considering my
request. A chubby figure rose from behind the pulpit. Blood trailed
from Montjoy's nose. He panted as if he'd just sprinted a mile—or
more likely ten feet—considering how much energy it probably took
to move his considerable bulk.

"Subdue the others," he told the fighter.
"Quickly, now."

"You like that word," I said. "Maybe you should
subdue with all the subduing."

Montjoy's lip curled into a sneer. "I will
never rest until I cleanse your ilk from the mortal
realm."

"You want to get rid of all Daemos?" I said,
more surprised by his ambition than by the actual
admission.

He wiped at the trickle of blood as it ran down
his lips, and looked away, apparently choosing to ignore my
question. Another Exorcist appeared from the shadows, walking with
a slight limp.

"Set the candles back up," Montjoy snapped,
obviously not a bit concerned with the injuries sustained by his
comrade.

The Exorcist complied without
comment.

The scattered screams and shouts of crazy
people and their victims diminished to silence over the next
several minutes. The mysterious fighter appeared from time to time,
hauling incapacitated people to another cage and tossing them
inside like sacks of garbage.

"What's wrong with those people?" I
asked.

Montjoy spun to me, an amused expression
partially hidden behind a tissue pressed to his nose. "Why, surely
you know, young Slade."

"No, I don't, old Montjoy."

He walked right up to the edge of the circle,
as if taunting me with the thin invisible barrier that kept me from
backhanding him across the room. "They're possessed."

I raised an eyebrow. "Possessed?" I'd seen and
fought summoned demons, but hadn't realized demon possession was
actually a real thing and not something fabricated for
entertainment. That said, I wasn't terribly surprised.

A smirk appeared on his face. "It seems your
relatives haven't done a very good job informing you, boy." He
looked at the tissue. Snapped his fingers, and an Exorcist produced
another for him, taking the blood-soaked swab. "Demons crave our
world. They love taking bodies on joy rides, much like teenage boys
with fast cars or loose women. They wear out the bodies. Strain
them and drive the physical shell insane."

"Like that old man?"

Montjoy pinched his nose shut in an attempt to
stanch the blood flow. "That 'old man' is in his twenties." His
voice sounded funny, but surprise overwhelmed my desire to
laugh.

"Twenties?" I couldn't believe he was less than
fifty.

"Some demons wear out bodies faster than
others. It all boils down to what kind of demon inhabits the
person."

"Purging them is an exorcism," I said, addled
brain finally making a connection. "Does that kill the
body?"

"No, not generally. It drives the demon back to
their plane, and restores the human's soul back to full control."
He sneered, displaying blood-stained teeth. "If only demon spawn
were so simple to handle."

"We're not possessed," I said. "Why are you
trying to purge my father?"

"Don't listen to his lies, Justin," my father
said in a weak voice.

"Slade." Hatred added a rough edge to Montjoy's
voice.

"You finally caught me after how many years?"
David pushed himself off the floor, and made a show of counting his
fingers. "Gee, I've lost count."

"You're mine now," Montjoy said. "Perhaps I
underestimated what it would take—"

"You're a little old to be making rookie
mistakes," David said. He rolled his shoulders and jerked his head
side-to-side, cracking his neck. "I think you should let me go
before someone gets hurt."

"Never!" Montjoy shouted.

"How do you two know each other?" I asked,
eyeing them both.

"Poker night," David said, cracking his
knuckles one at a time.

Montjoy pressed his hands to ears. "Stop
cracking your knuckles, you infernal creature!"

"Or was it band camp?" my father said, holding
up his pinky finger and twisting it to the side with a loud snap.
Malice glimmered in his eyes.

"Your kind killed my family," Montjoy growled.
"The Templars gave me a new mission in life, and I intend to
fulfill it. You will be my crowning glory, Slade."

"Do the Templars still associate with you and
your crazy cult?" David said. "I thought they kicked you out a long
time ago."

"The Synod reached out to us after the Borathen
infidels broke ranks," Montjoy said. "The Divinity herself has
given us her blessing. She is the one who helped me find you,
beast. She will show me how to destroy you."

"Just because demon spawn killed your family
doesn't mean my father did it." I didn't think logic would work
with this man, but at this point we had nothing to lose. "You're
unfairly targeting him for the actions of others."

"You do not know him, boy." An unholy light
shone in Montjoy's eyes. "You do not know his origin."

"Invite me over for tea sometime, Montjoy, and
I'll tell you all about my childhood," David said, making a show of
inspecting his fingernails.

I felt my eyebrows rise as I looked at David.
I'd never heard him talk like this. He'd always been a lazy
goof-off with few cares. His work as an artist rarely panned out to
much, leaving Mom with the bulk of responsibility for keeping the
household financially afloat. During my incubus puberty, I'd
discovered his secret bank account with over a million dollars in
it.

I looked at the stranger in my father's skin.
"Who the hell are you?"

"That is a very good question," David said. "I
planned on explaining myself to you, but my dear friend, Mr.
Montjoy, rather rudely interrupted."

"I will return you to the eternal lake of fire,
Slade." Foam flecked Montjoy's lips. "I relish the thought of you
burning in perpetuity."

"Here's some advice," I said, poking a finger
toward the angry fat man. "First of all, never get involved in a
land war in Asia. Second, relishing the thought of anyone being
tortured for all eternity is not gonna win you any
friends."

"Especially when it's a nice guy like me,"
David said with a hurt look on his face. "Do you need a hug,
Montjoy?"

"I don't need a hug!" the big man shouted, face
beet red. The trickle of blood from his nose grew to a steady
stream.

"Sir, your nose," the Exorcist with the tissue
box said, and held out another tissue.

"Fix it!" Montjoy snapped.

The man dabbed at the blood for a moment to no
effect and resorted to stuffing a wad in the Montjoy's
nose.

David snickered.

The front doors to the church opened. Sunlight
flooded in. Candles sputtered in the sudden breeze. A lone figure
dressed in a silky white dress glided down the center aisle. She
made a motion with her hand. A black tarp fell from where it had
covered a circular stained window above the doors. Sunlight painted
the hidden nooks of the Gothic church. It shimmered from the
woman's Pantene-perfect golden hair. My breath caught in my throat.
I backed away from the edge of the circle even as David's back
straightened.

Exorcists fell prostrate, bowing in the
presence of royalty. The man with the tissue box fainted. Montjoy
narrowed his eyes, offering a curt bow to the one the Synod
Templars called Divinity.

Fair skin and blonde hair aside, the woman
looked identical to Nightliss. She was, in fact, her evil twin
sister.

Daelissa.

Elyssa

Police opened their car doors, aimed pistols
over the sills, and shouted, "Raise your hands and get on the
ground!"

"Give a guy a break!" Shelton shouted back at
the police. "I just went out to get some milk and
bread!"

"On the ground, now!" a cop
screamed.

Shelton turned his head to Bella. "I am not
getting arrested."

"I found Ivy's number," Elyssa said. She'd gone
through her texts with Justin and finally found it. She dialed. The
voice of a young girl answered after a few rings.

"Bigdaddy, calling from other numbers won't
help," she said. "I told you I'm not coming back."

"It's Elyssa, not Jeremiah Conroy."

"Oh." She giggled. "I was just playing with
Justin's hellhound puppy. He's so cute, even if his breath
stinks."

"Ivy, we don't have much time. You know the
omniarch in the cellar?"

"Yes."

Elyssa breathed a sigh of relief. "I need you
to go down there right away. I'm going to send you a picture, and I
want you to open a portal to the exact spot, okay?"

"You got it!"

Elyssa took a picture of the space behind a
large green dumpster, and sent the image.

The sound of squealing tires heralded the
arrival of a SWAT team. Police in bulletproof armor poured down the
alley from the direction of the bank. Shelton looked at the police
barring the other exit and growled. "You've got to be kidding me. I
swear if they come at me, I'll use magic to stop them. Ain't no way
in hell I'm letting noms take me in."