Balance (The Divine, Book One)

by M. R. Forbes

  “You two go in first as the couple,” I said. “I’ll be right behind you.”

  Obi and Rebecca started forward, crossing the street and walking towards the building. I started half a minute later, keeping the same pace so we wouldn’t look like we were together. I bit back a smile when they made it in past the doorman without a second glance. I wasn’t so lucky.

  “Mr. Taylor,” the doorman said as I approached. “Back so soon?”

  “Yeah,” I replied. “I forgot my wallet.” I patted my pocket for emphasis.

  “Have a good evening sir.”

  I didn’t answer him. I doubted a Turned would be that polite. I caught up to Obi and Rebecca in the lobby near the elevators. We had made it into the building, now we just had to ascend. I motioned to the stairwell off to the right. I would go in first, and they would follow one at a time over the next three minutes.

  Getting to the stairs unseen proved to be a simple task, and we were formed up together six minutes later.

  “Now comes the hard part,” Obi said as we started to climb. Rebecca had offered to carry his pack for him, an offer which he had impolitely refused while she laughed.

  I took us almost half an hour to reach the fiftieth floor. As expected, the door into the penthouse was both locked and alarmed.

  “Just give me a minute,” Obi said, opening his pack and digging out the lock pick set and a magnet. “I’ll unlock the door, then use this magnet to loop the signal back on itself so the alarm doesn’t know it should be going off.” A minute later, he was done, and we were in.

  “You’re my own personal MacGyver,” I said.

  We slipped through the quieted doorway and into Merov’s penthouse. We were in the kitchen, a large commercial grade menagerie of stainless steel and tile. I didn’t want to imagine what kind of meat had passed through this room, or how it had been prepared. Drained and discarded was my best-case scenario, but the Fresh Fleshette had proven it wasn’t as simple as all that. We were in luck. The place was deserted.

  I recalled the schematics in my mind. The kitchen led out into the main service area, where there would be a big freezer, storage closet, and a couple of other rooms that hadn’t been labeled. I focused on my senses, but I didn’t pick anything up. As near as I could tell, the entire apartment was deserted. I hadn’t sensed those angels either. Were they able to disguise themselves, or was it just the distance that had messed with my head? I wasn’t about to take chances.

  We moved out of the kitchen and into the main service hallway. The entrance to the penthouse proper was thirty feet forward, with a freezer and three more doors symmetrically placed on either side. I heard the crying as we neared the end of the hallway.

  “Do you hear that?” I asked Rebecca.

  The sobs were barely audible even in the silence, and seemed to be coming from the last door on the left. Rebecca cocked her head to the side and listened.

  “Yes,” she said after a few seconds. “Stay focused on our task.” She didn’t need me to say anything to know I would look to help whomever was in there.

  I put my ear up against the door. Someone in there was crying, most likely another victim, waiting to be consumed. My actions the other night had killed the women Merov had put out as hors devours, I wasn’t about to let another one die to this asshole.

  “We get her out before we leave,” I whispered. There was nothing in my expression or tone that left it open to argument.

  The doors to the service hallway were actually a hidden part of the wall that slid outward from the center so as not to obstruct the space. We were fortunate that they were well maintained and didn’t make a sound when we opened them. Or maybe we weren’t so fortunate. The scene behind the door wasn’t worth the price of admission.

  It looked as though the entire apartment had been abandoned since the party. The blood fountain still sat in the center of the main open area, though there was no blood remaining in it. The band’s instruments were resting at the top of the landing. Even what was left of the ‘Happy Birthday’ banner remained hanging above the living room. What caught my attention though were the beds, stained with the blood of the victims that I had killed, and the windows.

  The huge windows that I had brought in on the party had been repaired. They looked like stained glass, with the millions of shards haphazardly mashed together in no discernible pattern, held together by dried blood, bones, and skin. It was a gruesome paste of death, conceived to restore the mirrored glass and prevent the sunlight from piercing the penthouse. The sight made it hard to think, and the smell made it hard to stay upright. It was impossible for Obi, and he doubled over, fighting to keep himself from vomiting.

  I was about to step into the room, eager to get this over with and get out of this freakish nightmare, when Rebecca grabbed my arm and pointed up at the stairway leading to the landing. I followed her arm until it led me to a stone figure, a four-foot tall gargoyle. There were six of them on each side of the landing.

  “Real?” I asked her. She nodded. “I thought gargoyles were good? They’re on a lot of churches.”

  “A trick,” Rebecca said. “Church architects used to put them there to fool demons into thinking they already had the building covered. They can’t be sensed unless they’re animated. I didn’t think Merov had access to them. Gargoyles are incredibly hard to control.”

  “Not Merov then,” I said. “Does anyone else have a bad feeling about this?”

  “A trap?” Rebecca asked.

  “Maybe; or maybe an educated guess. Let’s just try to be quiet.”

  Of course Obi chose that moment to lose the battle against his delicate sensibilities, and the contents of his stomach came spilling out onto the floor. I don’t know if it was the noise or the smell, but twenty-four small yellow eyes snapped open at once, and twelve monstrous heads turned our way.

  “Crap,” Obi said, seeing the fruits of his labor. He reached behind his back to grab the Eagle.

  “Don’t,” Rebecca hissed at him. She unslung her blades. “Gargoyles are immune to silver, and the bullets will just bounce off them anyway.”

  Obi sighed. “What should I do then, make myself look really big?”

  I motioned towards the living area. “Head that way, make a right at the first hallway. Down to the end on the left, start working on the door. Go!”

  Obi broke into a run. The gargoyles were unballing themselves and stretching, their hard grey skin cracking as they shifted. With a soft hiss, the lead gargoyle launched into the air and unfurled its wings. It made a beeline straight for Obi while the rest of the demons headed our way.

  “Anything they aren’t immune to?” I asked Rebecca. I had to keep them away from Obi, so I didn’t wait for her to answer before chasing after the ex-Marine.

  “You’re carrying it,” she shouted. I turned my head to look at her while she set herself for the onslaught. Carrying it? I had forgotten about Boots’ sword. It figured they were going to make me use it.

  Rebecca had made me a sling also, and I stumbled when I reached back to retrieve the blade. The lead gargoyle had flown upward in order to come down on Obi from a higher angle. I launched myself forward, desperate to reach him before it did.

  The demon swooped, not a single note of sound escaping from it as it dove down.

  “Obi,” I screamed, diving towards him with my shoulder forward.

  I hit him hard, sending him sprawling, but saving him from the gargoyle that slammed off-center into my back instead. The force and momentum pushed me to ground, and sent the gargoyle caroming off into the wall. We both recovered while Obi regained his senses and resumed his run for the office.

  I crouched down and held the sword out in front of me. The gargoyle climbed back to its clawed feet. Outstretched, it was eight feet of rippling muscle. It mimicked my crouch, cautious in its approach.

  I used the opportunity to glance over at Rebecca. She had her back against the wall, and was squaring off against three of the demons. Her fangs we
re bared and elongated, her eyes clouded over to their lifeless black. I checked on the other gargoyles. They were headed this way.

  The first gargoyle got tired of waiting on me and lunged. I dodged its swipe, and then danced out of the way of a second blow. One more swing and miss, and I flicked the blessed sword up and under its chin, feeling almost no resistance from the blade opening a long cut in its neck. The creature howled in pain and backed away, replaced by the reinforcements. I looked down the room for Obi, but he had at least managed to get out of the action and with any luck was in the process of disarming the door.

  Three to one were bad odds against a demon that was impervious to almost everything. I focused my will inward; pushing myself to be stronger, faster, and tougher than any human could ever hope to be. I was almost decapitated when my first effort failed, my skill at bending the universe still not a surety. The attack put a deep gash into my neck and sent me skidding across the floor, the gargoyles trailing right behind. It hurt, and the sensation of having my head hanging from my spine was weird and creepy.

  I focused again, rewarded for my persistence with the results I had been looking for. I healed in no time, and grabbed the first gargoyle that tried to jump on me and threw it away. I could hear it go smashing through the living room, but I didn’t know how much damage I had inflicted. It didn’t matter, because I had more demons incoming. I pushed off on the ground with my free hand, the augmented strength sending me high into the air. Everything around me looked like it was in slow motion, and I felt as though I had all day to make whatever maneuvers I needed on the way down.

  I lashed out with my foot at one gargoyle, launching it backwards to land on the floor stunned a dozen feet away, whipped around with the sword on two more, hit the ground, crouched under an attempted grab, then propelled myself into the fourth blade-first. I landed on its chest and it slid across the floor, impaled. When I looked up, Rebecca was standing over me, her mouth wide in an impressed grin.

  “Having fun yet?” she asked.

  To be honest, I was.

  There were five gargoyles left, and Rebecca and I tore into them with an unmatched fury. She was a blur of steel, legs, and hair, leaping into the air, kicking the gargoyle’s claws aside and depositing one of the blades deep into its skull.

  I used Boots’ sword to remove a claw, then a leg, leaving a howling monster for Rebecca to finish off while I stabbed the third in the heart. The remaining two decided it was time to flee, but Rebecca threw a blade into one of the gargoyle’s backs, then pounced onto the other one, hissing as she reached around and cut its throat. She was wiping the weapon clean on its skin before it hit the ground.

  “I didn’t know you could fight like that,” I said to her after she retrieved the other sword and rendezvoused with me. She leaned in and kissed my cheek.

  “Me neither,” she said. “Your blood is amazing.” Her eyes changed back to their beautiful blue, and the look she gave me melted my brain.

  “I think we better check on Obi,” I said, trying to catch my breath. We made our way to where the former Marine was working the electromagnetic lock.

  “Man, I don’t know if I can hotwire this thing,” he said when we got to him. “This isn’t the standard software package, it’s been seriously customized.”

  “The gargoyles may not have gotten away, but its a good bet they sent an alarm out when they woke,” Rebecca said. “I don’t think we have a lot of time.”

  “It looks like Plan A is the new Plan B,” I said. “Both of you back away from the door.”

  Once they had moved, I stood in front of the door and focused, trying to force the lock to disengage. It was a futile effort. I tried to short out the electrical connection, and was rewarded with a whole bucket of nothing. We were running out of time, and we weren’t getting anywhere.

  “Obi,” I said. “Go back to the service area and let out whoever is trapped in there. Bring them back here, they aren’t safe on their own.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, man,” Obi said.

  “Do it,” I shouted.

  Obi’s expression said ‘screw you’, but he followed the order. I looked at the door again. There had to be some way through. I crouched down and lifted the fingerprint sensor so I could look at it. If Rebecca’s grandfather had ever touched the surface, maybe I could get his print. I stood up again.

  “Open your mouth,” I said to Rebecca.

  “What?”

  “Just open your mouth.”

  She did, and I took my thumb and ran it up along her fang, slicing it open. She licked at the blood that dripped onto her lips while I crouched back down and pressed it to the sensor. I focused on it, using it like a detective would use chalk. It was our lucky day, because a defined print assembled itself in my blood. I focused again to thicken and solidify it, creating enough light resistance to fool the system. The door clicked and swung open a few inches. We were in!

  “Nice trick.”

  I knew that voice. Rebecca and I both turned our heads to see Merov standing at the end of the hallway with two burly weres. One was restraining Obi. The other one was holding the girl I assumed was Merov’s prisoner. She was young, a little chubby, wearing a grey wool sweater and a pair of jeans. Her face was ordinary; her eyes brown and glazed from tears. She was still whimpering. I had been too distracted with the lock to notice them coming.

  “Wait until you see my next one,” I replied. It seemed like as good a time as any for a smartass remark. Merov was unfazed.

  “Reyzl was sure you’d be back. I told him there was no way, but I guess that’s why he’s the Boss. I’m surprised you brought a human with you though. He’s not even Touched! And he was trying to make off with my virgin! By the way, it’s good to see you again my dear.” Malicious was too soft a word for the smile he gave his daughter.

  I held up my hands. “Okay, you’ve got us,” I said. “Now what.”

  He laughed. “As if it would be that easy to capture you. I didn’t rise this far by being stupid diuscrucis.” He raised his hands and gestured for his goons to release their prisoners. Both Obi and the girl stumbled down the hallway. “I know if it came down to it, you’d just kill them to get to me,” he said.

  I would never have told Obi, but the vampire was right.

  “So what is it you want?” I asked. When they reached us, the girl put her arms around Obi and continued to shake.

  “A deal of course,” he replied.

  “Landon,” Rebecca said. “Be careful making deals with demons.”

  “Of course. Name it,” I said.

  He walked forward, unconcerned for his safety. I doubted he was as vulnerable as he appeared. “My sweet daughter owes me a dance,” he said, looking right at her. “If she wins, I’ll be dead, and she’ll be in control of the family. You can get whatever information you want, no tricks needed.” He stopped right in front of me. “If I win, you’ll kill Reyzl for me. Once he’s dead, you’ll leave me to control the Northeast, and take your nasty business elsewhere.”

  There was something amusing about him calling my work nasty. I wasn’t the one torturing young virgins before drinking their blood.

  “Landon, don’t,” Rebecca said. “Remember what I told you.”

  Merov laughed. “Did she tell you she can’t beat me?” he asked. “Ironic that it should come down to a question of faith. Do you have faith in my daughter, even when she doesn’t have it in herself?”

  I looked at Rebecca. She was frightened. “What if I just kill you where you stand?” I asked him.

  “You won’t,” he said.

  “Because...”

  He smiled again. “Because then she gets nothing. You know where she stands. Now imagine having our family capitulating to her orders; three thousand nosferatu following her lead.”

  He was willing to do the deal because he was confident. He had no doubt in his mind that he could kill his daughter, and this was his big chance to get rid of Reyzl, get rid of me, and put him
self into greater power. Rebecca had said Reyzl could make him an archvampire, but why settle for that when you could aim even higher? I glanced between Merov and Rebecca - the confident father and his frightened child. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

  “You have a deal,” I said.

  “Landon, no,” Rebecca cried. It was too late, and she knew it.

  “You have five minutes,” Merov said. “I’ll be waiting in the living room.” He turned and left, his heavies following close behind.

  “What did you just do,” Rebecca hissed once Merov was out of range.

  I took hold of her shoulders and lowered my head so she could see into my eyes. “I doubled-down on your bet,” I told her. “Like you said, it’s a risk, but it’s one both of us need to take.”

  Her angry expression softened. She slumped forward into my arms. “I’ll do my best. If I lose... I’m sorry.”

  I held her for a minute before easing her out of the embrace. My heart was thudding in my chest, my body feeling an unnatural chill. It wasn’t the temperature that was making me so cold. I was finding the thought of Merov winning more frightening than anything I had experienced. Merov winning meant Rebecca would be gone.

  “You won’t lose,” I said. “You can’t. You’re running on premium.”

  It was a joke that ended up feeling lame to say, but the statement perked her up. She straightened her posture, licked her lips, and then smiled. “I hadn’t even considered that. I’m going to wipe the floor with that asshole.”

  “Can somebody tell me what’s going on here?” Merov’s prisoner had stopped whimpering long enough to speak. She was still holding onto Obi’s arm like it was the only thing keeping her sane.

  “I’m sorry,” I said to her. “It’s better for you if you don’t know. What’s your name?”

  “Cathy.”

  “Cathy, I’m going to get you out of here unharmed, okay?”