Infernal Father of Mine (50 page)

"It looked different," I said. "Its colors were
reversed just like the arch. Maybe it's incompatible."

"That's a real big maybe." Dad pursed his lips,
or tried to. One side of his mouth didn't quite work in conjunction
with the other. "I don't think we can risk leaving such a powerful
artifact for Daelissa to find."

Elyssa turned her head to look over her
shoulder. "We can't exactly sneak in and steal it from under their
noses. Even with their losses, Daelissa still has a sizeable force
at her disposal."

"I think we can do it," Dad said. "Besides,
they'd never expect it."

"True," I said. "Maybe we could get some
camouflage armor—"

The carpet jerked to a halt. Elyssa turned,
hands on hips and gave us a look that could melt steel. "In case
you've forgotten, Daelissa is there. She's still extremely
dangerous even with the Gloom dampening her abilities. Judging from
the sheer power she demonstrated during our retreat, I have a
feeling she'd have no problem squishing the two of you like
bugs."

"Whether she does it now or later, what's the
difference?" David said. "If that rune works—"

"
If
it works." Elyssa shook her head.
"And look at you. You're half dead." She waggled her finger. "You
two aren't doing anything until you rest in Eden."

Dad opened his mouth to speak. A severe look
from Elyssa cut him off.

"You tell your bright plan to Alysea and see
what she thinks of it." My girlfriend sniffed, turned her back to
us, and set the carpet speeding toward the Exorcist church
again.

Dad and I exchanged looks.

"She is definitely a keeper," he
whispered.

"I heard that," Elyssa said without turning
around.

I snorted.

"Alysea is a keeper," he said, almost to
himself.

A pang of regret stabbed my stomach. "Isn't
there some way we can satisfy Kassallandra without you marrying
her?"

"Sure, I could cede power to her. I'd probably
have to kill Vallaena first because she'd do everything she could
to stop it." He tapped a finger on his chin. "That would, of
course, ignite a civil war since there are many in House Slade who
are more loyal to my sister than me, and the house would collapse.
House Assad would, by default, become the most powerful Daemos
house, and Kassallandra would likely ally herself with Daelissa,
given the overwhelming odds."

I blinked a couple of times. "You've really
thought this out, haven't you?"

"Over and over. Endlessly." He sighed. "I'm
pretty damned good at finding loopholes and making the world bend
to my rules. This is one of those conundrums I can't trick my way
out of."

"We need to convince Kassallandra that joining
Daelissa might pay off in the short term, but once the angel has
power, it's doubtful she'll keep her promises." It seemed like
common sense to me. Then again, maybe Daelissa had a heart of gold
beneath that insane exterior.

"I've argued the same point with Kassallandra
more times than I can count." He ran a hand down his face. "She
wants what she wants and damned be the consequences."

"From a personal viewpoint, I think it's
awful." Elyssa shuddered as if to underscore her point. "From a
tactical perspective, we need every warm body we can get. If today
was just a taste of what's to come, I'm scared to death about the
real war. Imagine an army of Seraphim backed by vampires and Nazdal
and whatever other horrors they haven't revealed to us
yet."

"It'd be a slaughter," I said.

Wish I could help you there,
Minder
Justin chimed in.
Unfortunately, I have to go. I've been
neglecting my duties tonight.

Thanks for all your help,
I sent back to
him.
Tell the others thanks as well.

I'm always willing and able to help you
prevent world domination.
Something like a laugh echoed in my
head, and my minder glided away to tend to the dreams of the mortal
realm.

We reached the church a few minutes later in a
somber mood. I was so happy to have Dad back, but for how long,
especially if Daelissa was able to use the rune from the Shadow
Nexus? I hoped she couldn't, but in my experience, planning for the
worst was usually the best course of action.

We stepped through the portal in the Gloom arch
and back into the real world.

"Oh, man, this feels so much better," Dad said,
rubbing the right side of his face. "It's not numb anymore." He
gave me a serious look. "Remind me to avoid extreme brain damage in
the future. It's not a pleasant experience."

Elyssa called Shelton on her phone. He opened a
portal using the omniarch at the mansion and we stepped through.
Shelton's eyes sprang wide at the sight of my father.

"Holy—you're alive?" he said.

"It's something of a surprise even to me," Dad
said with a grin restored to full working order.

"Is Meghan around?" I asked. I wanted her to
check out Dad just in case.

I heard Shelton behind me. "Yeah, she's in the
parlor with the others."

"What others?" I asked.

"Other women. They're, uh, figuring out how to
console your Mom, and help plan David's funeral."

Dad's laugh echoed from somewhere behind. "This
should be really good."

"Not funny at all," Elyssa called up behind
me.

I felt a smile on my face and heard Shelton
bark a laugh.

When we reached the parlor, the women looked up
from what was apparently an intense and very somber planning
session. Meghan, Bella, and Stacey were present. I didn't see Mom
or Nightliss.

"Bloody hell, my lamb," Stacey said. She got up
from the table along with Bella. "We are so sorry about your
father."

I looked around. Shelton and Elyssa were there,
but not Dad. I was about to call his name when he stepped from the
shadows of the stairwell, an infernal smirk showing his teeth. He
obviously wanted a grand entrance.
Showboat.

The women gasped. Meghan didn't waste a second
striding over and scanning his vitals with her wand. Cutsauce
seemed overjoyed to see Dad, given the amount of yipping the tiny
hellhound made as he danced around my father's feet.

Nightliss appeared at the second floor
balustrade and peered over it. Her face was red and tearstained.
When she saw Dad, her almond-shaped eyes went wide. She vanished
from sight and reappeared, dragging Mom by the arm. Mom stared at
Dad without reacting, as if she couldn't believe her eyes. When the
tears of what I hoped were from joy began to flow, she vanished in
a puff of shadows and appeared in front of Dad.

He yelped and jumped back a foot. "Alysea, you
know it startles the crap out of me when you blink like
that."

She wrapped her arms around him and planted a
kiss on his lips before he could say another word. I felt my face
grow hot as the two of them made out like high school kids in the
hallway. Elyssa took my hand and smiled at me through her own
tears.

When my parents came up for air, their faces
looked radiant.

"Where is our daughter?" Dad asked.

"She fell asleep the instant I put her to bed,"
Alysea said. "We should let her rest."

"I think it's time I spend some quality time
with her," he said. "She's quite the little ass-kicker."

"Don't you dare tell her that," Mom said. "She
already enjoys blowing things up far too much as it is."

He laughed.

Mom stopped his laugh with another kiss.
"Besides, I'm the one who needs quality time right now."

"In that case, I have a story to tell you, my
little angel." Dad took her by the hand and led her toward the
stairs.

"You do, my handsome devil?" Mom replied with a
note of seduction in her voice that ratcheted up the discomfort I
felt by a gazillion degrees.

Dad looked over his shoulder. "We'll be back."
He winked.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," I said.

Shelton slapped me on the back. "Don't think
about it, man. Call of nature affects everyone."

"You're not helping," I growled.

"How bloody romantic," Stacey said. "Ever since
you rescued your mother from Jeremiah Conroy, she's been pining
away over that father of yours."

"All I can say is thank god," Meghan said,
crossing her arms. "Regular sex with someone you love is very
beneficial to good health. In my medical opinion, Alysea definitely
needs some TLC."

Shelton laughed. "Way to make it clinical,
doc."

"I've been keeping Harry very healthy," Bella
said with a wink.

"That's for sure," he said. "I'm gonna have to
magically enhance—"

"Not another word!" I said. I felt my palms
break out in a sweat. "I'm beyond my TMI dose for the day." Holding
onto Elyssa's hand, I pulled her behind me and into the
kitchen.

Shelton called out behind us, "Hey, no more
shenanigans on the kitchen table!"

Elyssa giggled.

I rolled my eyes and opened the fridge. "I'm
starving."

"Make me a sammich, boy." She punched me on the
shoulder.

"As you wish." I pulled out a haunch of ham and
began slicing it while Elyssa grabbed a head of goat cheese and
fresh bread from the Queen's Gate market. We made a couple of
heaping sandwiches and sat down. It felt like the first normal
thing I'd done in days. I took a bite of the sandwich and moaned.
"This is so good."

"The ham is excellent," Elyssa said, wiping a
dab of mustard from her lip.

I smiled and waved a hand at the sandwiches and
us. "No, I mean this time right here and now. It's perfect. No
fighting monsters, no running for our lives, just you and me and a
couple of sandwiches."

Elyssa leaned over and kissed me on the cheek.
"You're right. It is perfect."

"It's why we do what we do." I tried not to
think about how many people had died today, or how many lives I had
taken. "We fight so people can enjoy perfect moments like
this."

"We still have Daelissa and the rune to worry
about."

I nodded. "We can worry about that later. Right
now, I just want to spend a little quality time with the woman I
love."

I'd reunited my parents and Ivy had come home.
It was hard to believe my entire family was beneath the same roof
again.

We'd defeated Daelissa's Gloom army and
hopefully shut down Serena and her experiments for the foreseeable
future. But the rune from the Shadow Nexus was still out there, and
Daelissa still wanted to rule the world. Even so, I couldn't help
but feel optimistic and hopeful.

After I enjoyed this quality time with
Elyssa—not to mention this tasty sandwich—we'd mount up once again.
We'd fight the good fight. And we'd kick Daelissa's ass once and
for all.

####

Section A

MEET THE AUTHOR

John Corwin has been making stuff up
all his life. As a child he would tell his sisters he was an alien
clone of himself and would eat tree bark to prove it.

In middle school, John started writing
for realz. He wrote short stories about Fargo McGronsky, a young
boy with anger management issues whose dog, Noodles, had been hit
by a car. The violent stories were met with loud acclaim from
classmates and a great gnashing of teeth by his English
teacher.

Years later, after college and
successful stints as a plastic food wrap repairman and a toe model
for GQ, John once again decided to put his overactive imagination
to paper for the world to share and became an author.

Connect with John Corwin
online:

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/johnhcorwinauthor

Blog
http://johncorwin.blogspot.com/