Shadowhunter (Nephilim Quest Book 1) (44 page)

"That is because I have used the bloodlines correctly." Cain paused before continuing. "I myself sired all the original foundation stock used in this breeding program in ancient times, and before that, I spent years in devoted study, examining the family history and skills of every Nephilim before permitting them to breed."
 

Angel waited, watching him warily, taking advantage of his apparent disinterest in her to wonder how this - project - might affect her own future. She did not even dare to think what had gone wrong after those ancient times, why Cain's direct offspring could no longer breed.

He continued, speaking softly, as if almost to himself.
 
"I know she is the strongest Weaver yet. She must be ours!"

Angel had heard this talk many times over, but she knew well enough not to show any disrespect towards the subject or his commitment to it. She nodded in agreement and stood still in attentive silence.

"I have heard disturbing information, Father," she finally said when Cain had fallen silent for a time. It would have been dangerous to interrupt the Patriarch.

"Yes?" Cain's eyes seemed to grow sharper as he focussed on her intently.

"Two Nephilim came to the city of Immortals and stole one person, together with his shadow."

Cain's eyes narrowed.

"Why?"

"We suspect it was because the person who was taken is our librarian. He knows about our search. This would suggest the secret...is no longer secret."

Cain rose to his feet. He was very tall, and very handsome. His body was that of a young man, and his skin had a pale glow. If you looked closely enough, you could see tiny wrinkles on it, which revealed that in fact he was no longer young. But no-one looked too closely at Cain. Ever. You kept a respectful distance, and you were wise to be afraid of him. He was staring intently at Angel when he next spoke.

"We know of the - unfortunate incident - of the shadow who talked to one of their Hunters."

"Layla," the name came from Angel's lips without thinking and she had to concentrate on not showing her fear whilst Cain continued to look at her. She had interrupted him. She bent her head in shame, and after a while Cain spoke again.

"Yes. Layla. She is one of their most experienced Hunters, so she would have taken the words of the shadow seriously. So they have heard of the Book of Watchers. But they do not know what it is. Does this librarian know? Do we know?"

"No. No one knows what the book actually is - there are no known references to it anywhere in any ancient text, as far as we - or anyone else - knows. There was once a book called the Book of Messengers, but we have destroyed every copy of it after searching for any clues within it - it was said that in one of them the key was hidden. We never found it in any volume we discovered. The last copy was kept in a nunnery in England. Our men went in search of it. They did not find it, as they were interrupted, but the whole library burned down because one of the nuns dropped an oil lamp. That was fortunate for us even though we lost that book, because now that copy, or any other, can never reveal the secret to anyone."

"What does this librarian know? Which one of our librarians was it?"

"The one we brought from London. He knows we are searching for a trail of clues leading to the Book of Watchers. At worst he knows the likely starting point, because that was his field of research. But nothing more, of this I am certain. I have spoken to him on many occasions, asking what he has learned. If a mortal lies to me, I'll know."

Cain closed his eyes and stood like a mighty statue. Slowly he opened his magnificent wings, which were much like his daughter's, only much darker and more impressive. Angel knew he revealed his wings inside only when he was angry. They reached up and out as though they would fill the whole world.

"Ah yes, I do remember our little librarian now. An inconsequential fellow, though much devoted to you, my pet. I greatly suspect he had found the starting point, or was very near finding it, and was too afraid to reveal his information. Most likely he thought he would be useless to us after that. Probably he was right too... Thus we can draw the conclusion that they will try to go to that starting point, using our Weaver. We might be able to catch her there... Why did I did not force the librarian to tell me what he knew, the last time I met him? Or why didn't I ask you to do so?
 
A missed opportunity..."

Angel waited until she was certain Cain had finished talking.

"May I suggest something, Father?"

Cain's cold eyes turned back to his daughter. He enjoyed looking at her beauty. He had considered taking her as his wife, but as he was careful about the strength of his bloodline, he did not want to risk it with inbreeding. Shame, though, as she was as shining an example of a perfect Nephilim as any other he had created. Her only fault was she had not managed to produce children yet with the Nephilim he had chosen for her. But she was not alone in that. The lack of reproduction in his children was Cain's greatest disappointment.
 

Angel enjoyed the appreciative look of her father and looked him straight in the eye. She had learned ages before that even the slightest sign of fear could throw anyone out of Cain's favor.

"If we catch her, she will fight us. And Daniel will do all he can to stop us."

"Of course."

"And that is simply a waste of time. Why fight them now? Why not let them do the work for us? We know the librarian will be of great assistance to them. Why stop him from helping them? Let's follow them, and if they find the Book of Watchers, then we'll attack with all we've got. There are so many of us, and so few of them, that we should win easily..."

"So you mean we should lull them into false feeling of security, and let them do the work for us? Daughter, you make me proud."

Angel bowed her head.

"And if I managed to get my venom into her, then she will come to us anyway somewhere along the path of their search. Even if they haven't found the book by then, we'll get all the information she already has, and can continue on our own. If she doesn't transform, we shall get the information we want anyway, but indirectly. We have our spies."

Cain smiled. His teeth were perfect, white, and straight. His beautiful smile mesmerized his victims, giving him ample time to attack them. Most of his human servants were his own victims, who now happily served him, and spread terror in the human world in their transformed state.
 

Cain never doubted his power. There was no need to. What he wanted, he obtained. His war to turn all the Nephilim into his own kind was progressing well. It would take time to achieve his vision, but eventually they would draw them all, and this unnecessary and unpleasant - friction - between the two groups of Nephilim would vanish. They would be one, at last, the way they should be.
 

He could wait for that day; he already had, for years too many to count. One day, soon, they would have all of humankind as their cattle and servants, without any need to hide their true form. This world would belong to the Nephilim, as it should have done from the beginning of human history. The thought made Cain feel content.

"Daniel will be ours soon, too, if all goes well." He looked at Angel. "You may keep him, if you still wish," he added in an unexpected moment of generosity.

Angel bowed her head, but not before Cain had seen the lust in her eyes. Well, who was he to blame her! Despite Daniel breaking the word of his father, he and Angel were perfect for each other – strong, young, and beautiful. Their offspring would be a valuable asset to Cain. He felt almost elated at the thought. Daniel's bloodline was something he had wanted to get his hands on for a long time. It would be worth a try to see if he could manage to produce an heir to Cain.

"We managed to get Elijah," Angel dropped the good news almost casually. "One of us fought him when they stole the librarian, and bit him - the venom went straight into him."

"What? Really?" Cain clapped his hands and laughed out loud. "This is perfect news! You could have him as your spouse instead. Why wait for Daniel when we already have his brother with such similar genes? Maybe you'll finally succeed in making beautiful Nephilim children for me!"

Angel clearly had not expected this. She looked shocked. She had wanted Daniel only. Cain enjoyed her disappointment, and the fact she could not protest. To him it did not matter. Either one of the brothers was good for his plans, and Angel must try to breed with anyone he ordered. Yes, she would do it and finally produce another heir to his line.

"Go now." Cain waved his hand and Angel turned and walked out.

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

58. Hades

Ambrogio remembered the path that led from Delphi to a sacred Corynthian cave. It was situated higher up on the same mountain, a long walk from the temple of Delphi. It was a place where since time immemorial local people had gone to seek answers from the gods, with no need for an oracle.
 
They used dice with the names of the gods to ask for advice.

He would need to go there, to be in a place where the sun would not reach him. But how could he leave a message for Selene? He had no writing equipment with him.

He looked around. Maybe he could use small stones to write a message on the path for Selene... He knew that Selene knew how to read - a rare thing for a woman.

So he reached for palm-sized stones with his blistered hands, wondering how many stones he would need to write in big enough letters "Selene, I will be back. Wait for me."

Where should he write it so Selene would see it? If he wrote it across the road, any people and donkeys passing by before Selene arrived would walk all over the text. If he wrote it on the roadside, she might not see it, if she was looking the other way.

But he had to try. He decided to write the text on the side of the road, following the direction of the road. Maybe that way his text would remain untouched. He would also make an arrow out of stones to lead her gaze to the text.

Darkness fell quickly after the sun had disappeared, and soon he could see nothing. He had to feel the shape of the letters with his fingers, and desperately grope in the dark for small stones. He did not dare to stop his efforts, to think too deeply about what had just happened to him. His mind could not comprehend that the gods actually walked among ordinary people, and that he had raised the wrath of one by falling in love with a maiden so beautiful even a god lusted after her.

Then, suddenly, he heard the sound of something moving behind him. He froze. There were wolves in the mountains.

"Who is Selene?" a slightly curious male voice asked. A pleasant, strong, scary voice.

Ambrogio was so on edge he yelled aloud and fell to the ground, totally startled. He had not heard anyone approach. Whoever was standing behind him must have appeared out of thin air.

He turned around, but could barely see a human figure in the darkness.

"How do you know about Selene?" he managed to ask.

"You have written her name on the ground with stones," the voice observed.

Ambrogio turned to see the ground, and saw nothing. He could not even see his own toes.

"But you cannot possibly see it!" he said.

"Oh but I can," the man sounded amused.

Ambrogio just stood there.

"You smell strange. Has one of us attacked you?" the man asked

Ambrogio took a step back, messing up his carefully laid stones while doing so. The odd metallic scent of rotting fruit wafted in the air as he moved.

"Are you a god too? Why are you all here now? First the beautiful naiad, then Apollo, and now you... Who are you? Are you here to curse me too?"

"The beautiful naiad... What did she look like?" the voice asked, now sounding genuinely curious.

"She was beautiful. Very tall, she had golden hair to her waist, golden eyes. She carried something made of silver. Maybe a weapon. She gave me a kithara so I could take part in the Pythian games. And I won..." Suddenly, winning the contest felt like nothing and Ambrogio fell silent.

A sharp intake of breath from the darkness.

"Indeed? And what curse are you talking about? Why were you attacked?"

"I love a maiden of the temple, Selene. She is the sister of Pythia. But Apollo has fallen in love with her too, and does not want her to leave, and he cursed me so that I can never enter daylight again. We were supposed to leave tomorrow morning with my donkey, Selene and myself. She agreed to be my wife... And now I can never see her again..."

A long silence. The man did not move, and for a while Ambrogio thought he was alone again.

"What if I help you? In return for a favour," his voice suddenly pierced the darkness.

"How could you help me? Why would you help me? Who are you?"

The man did not answer, but instead something strange happened to the darkness around him. It began to glow. First a faint glow, in a semi-circle around the man. Then two huge black, yet glowing wings appeared around the figure, making his form visible as a shadow against the glow. Golden light coursed through the wings like blood in veins, and the same golden light seemed to shine from his eyes too. Ambrogio fell to his knees at the sight.

"You are Hades... the god of the underworld!" he shouted, understanding why this god moved in the dark and had black wings. He fell to his face on the road only to exclaim in pain and rise up again when his cheek and hands touched the ground.

Ambrogio thought he heard amused laughter. Probably it was because of his wriggling on the ground. How silly mortal men must look in the eyes of gods...

"I can offer you a safe place where the sun does not touch you, where your skin can heal from its blisters, and where you can live your days out in comfort. You may bring your Selene there too."

Ambrogio fell onto his face again, disregarding the burning of his skin on his hands and face.

"How can I ever thank you enough, o mighty Hades?"

"Come. I will show you," the god said. "You need to take my hand."