Nothing happened. If anything, it felt as if the demonic presence knew what I had attempted and was mocking me. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place and I didn’t like the implications. I was going to need some higher-level help before I could attempt another move.
Out in the hall, the period bell rang. There was not much I could do here at the moment, but there was still the matter of the Discordant that my Guardians had failed to bring to my attention.
“Mr. Marsden, you are correct and I have failed to be a proper influence in Nai’s life. My apologies. I will do better. Thank you for your time.” To be honest, I hadn’t heard half of what he said, but it didn’t matter, as he had no idea what he was saying either.
Before I left the office, I stopped back at the reception counter. I was nearly willing to stake my position on my theory, but only just. I would feel much better if I could get Seth’s opinion as an Observer. “I’m going to do my best, but I’m afraid this will not be the last time I’m in the office,” I said to the attendant with an apologetic smile.
“I raised three of my own hellions,” she said with a sympathetic smile. “At least I know they grow out of it eventually.”
“I do hope you are right. I’m afraid, though, that I may not always be available, so I’d like to give you my partner’s information. He has my permission to handle disciplinary issues on my behalf.”
Her eyebrows raised as she parsed the hidden meaning in the words ‘partner’ and ‘he,’ but she took the information and made the appropriate notation on Nai’s record.
The cafeteria was situated off the main hallway and I managed to catch Jem as he was walking in with a group of students.
“Where is your sister?” I asked.
“I don’t know. She’s usually here before me.”
I sighed, hoping this didn’t mean what I thought it meant, but as I did, my phone buzzed with a text from Nai asking if I was still at the school. When I replied in the affirmative, she asked me to come to the parking lot immediately.
"Come with me, please,” I said to Jem and took off toward the door.
Outside, I saw no sign of Nai and thought for a moment that she was playing some sort of game, but Jem spotted her, crouched beside a car, staring at two students a few rows away. No, there was only one student. The other figure, I quickly realized, was a vampire. When she saw us, she motioned for us to be quiet and to get down.
“They’re heeeereeee,” she said, mimicking the singsong tone of the movie line she quoted.
“Who’s here? Oh!” Jem asked, but caught on as he too sensed the vampire. “I thought they didn’t come out during the day!”
“You mean to tell me this is the first either of you have seen of Discordant preying upon your classmates?” I asked, feeling rather skeptical.
“No, I noticed him last period,” Nai said. “But it’s not like I could do anything in the middle of class.”
“I sensed several when I walked through the door,” I said flatly. “With this many lost, it was inevitable that the Discordant would be drawn here, despite the hour.”
“Um, I think I might have blocked too much,” Jem admitted with a blush. “I’ve been so overwhelmed with trying to keep up with the lost.”
“Understandable,” I said. With Jem, I believed the honest mistake. After all, Seth did teach them to turn down their receptors for a reason. “But from now on, I need you to be more vigilant. If you sense Discordant, send me a message immediately. I’ll take care of the situation. Do not,” I stressed more for Nai’s sake than Jem’s, “under any circumstances, go after them yourself.”
Dispatching vampires during the day was not an easy task, but by comparison to the possibility of exorcizing a demon, it was child’s play. I let the teens help by having them send influence to keep the other students away from the area. When we were finished, I sent them back to their lunch break, but not before reiterating my warning not to engage the Discordant and a promise that I would fill them in on what I had learned from my meeting with the guidance counselor later. With at least one sliver of my peace of mind restored, I headed back toward downtown and the county office building.
I found Seth hunched over his computer, hands flying over the keys, with his own lunch sitting mostly untouched on the desk next to him. He hadn’t even heard my approach.
“Busy?” I asked after a full minute went by. At the sound of my voice, his shoulders gave a slight twitch of surprise.
“Always,” he said with a sigh, but flashed me a grim smile. “But the woes of the unemployed can wait. I imagine you aren’t here to chit chat.”
“No, I’m afraid not,” I said as I closed the door. “Gary Marsden is indeed a Discordant host, but that is the least of our worries.”
Seth’s eyebrows shot up. “How were you able to figure that out and what exactly do you mean by the least of our worries?”
I sat down and carefully considered my next words. Nai’s earlier suggestion to kill the man, while against not only our laws but also my principles, was in this situation, perhaps the most humane approach. It was at times like this that I cursed my geographical restrictions.
“When he returned, the police report indicated that his injuries were consistent with those of someone who fell or otherwise hit their head and did not have immediate medical attention. To me, they tell a different story.”
“Such as?”
“I have reason to suspect that he stumbled upon the Ultimate Truth and tried to take his own life.”
“Not a chance,” Seth countered immediately. “Bogie and I both read the guy. He was lost. If he’d learned the truth, he would have been stark raving mad.”
“True, but I saw his injuries. I think he somehow discovered the forbidden knowledge and tried to end his life. Instead of killing himself, he managed to luck out and do enough damage to give himself amnesia,” I explained.
“That would have to be an amazing stroke of luck.”
“Not necessarily,” I argued. “There was a fissure in Los Angeles that we discovered after the quake in ’33. I was one of those recruited to accompany the closure team. Inside there were skeletal remains of the Truth’s victims. Almost all had damage to their skulls. I was told that this was common. When faced with the Ultimate Truth, mortals will try to smash open their heads to let the information escape. Blunt force could mean instant death if done correctly, but it could also mean temporary brain damage, which is what I think happened to Gary Marsden.”
“Okay, that may be a possibility,” Seth conceded. “But still doesn’t explain why you think he’s hosting the wraith. Again, when Bogie and I saw him, he definitely wasn’t possessed. Lost yes, but not possessed.”
“I have every reason to suspect that he attracted the wraith that very night, but you and Bogie both were too busy with its previous victim to notice.”
“Mary,” Seth said with a heavy sigh. I could practically see the wheels turning in Seth’s mind as he pieced together everything that I had considered earlier. “So his soul was damaged and now he’s become a puppet,” he said finally. “You realize we’re screwed, right?”
Screwed was a bit of an understatement. A damaged soul was a demon trap. It would bend easily to the Discordant’s will, making it impossible for a possession spectrum demon to resist. However, once inside, it can’t get out. For a seeder demon like a wraith, this means adapting. Instead of jumping from soul to soul, the possessed becomes the tool through which they spread their influence.
“On the bright side, I feel much more confident in identifying Gary Marsden as the host, but yes, the damage to his soul does present additional problems.”
“Additional problems may be an understatement,” Seth said with a low whistle. “Supposing we are able to secure a corpus vessel, we’re going to end up with a damaged soul on our hands.”
“True,” I acknowledged. “But remember, I can only see so much. I’ll feel more confident after you have a chance to assess the situation. If I’m right, we can begi
n making preparations.”
“I thought that outside the school, this guy doesn’t exist.”
“That’s why I gave the office your name and phone number in the event that I am unable to be reached for another disciplinary meeting. I have no doubt that Nai would be willing to act out to expedite this happening and I can make myself conveniently unavailable.”
“But I’m not their legal guardian,” Seth said with a frown. “These days, schools take issues of student privacy and safety pretty seriously.”
“Yes, that’s true…” I said, faltering. My impulsive solution seemed brilliant at the time, but faced with explaining my deception to Seth, it seemed that I hadn’t thought through the consequences. “I might have insinuated that according to recently passed legislation, you had as much legal authority as I did when it comes to their upbringing.”
“Recent legis…” Seth’s brow furrowed in momentary confusion before realization dawned on him. “You told them we were a gay couple?”
“It seemed…. convenient…” I said lamely. “I’m sorry. I made a snap decision and did not consider the discomfort it would cause you. I have to remember that I’m not in LA anymore and things I accept as commonplace are still fringe.”
“No, I’m not… that is, I…” Seth stammered. For a moment, a knot formed in my stomach as I worried that Nai had gone against my wishes. Seth did not seem the type to hold a narrow view on homosexuality, yet his reaction was automatic and decidedly negative. “It doesn’t bother me. I mean, you’re right, it’s a logical tactic, and Blackbird isn’t completely backwards in its collective thinking.”
“In any event, I suspect it won’t be long before the school tries to contact you,” I said in an attempt to put that part of the conversation behind us. “For the time being, I think it would be for the best to keep my suspicions between the two of us. I know this goes against our directive, but given the unusual circumstances and Nai’s blatant disregard for the limitations of her role as Guardian, I would consider this less deliberate deception and more damage control.”
“Good point,” Seth said in a heavy sigh. “But speaking of unusual circumstances and disregard for limitations, I think we need to address the very real fact that both Nai and her brother are not constricted by the limitations of Guardianship. Harry’s observation was on point. There is something different about these two and it has nothing to do with the fact that they are a split soul. If anything, their being a split soul should place more limitations on them.”
Seth wasn’t saying anything that hadn’t already been in the forefront of my mind. Seeing Nai with her hand in the holy water made my blood run cold. If she was to discover that this meant she had the potential to use my weapons then it would become all but impossible for me to keep her from doing just that. I’d voiced these concerns to the Creator, for all the good it did me. As usual, its non-answer was simply an admonishment for daring to question its divine authority.
“We do,” I admitted. “But what do we address? I’ve looked up everything I could find on split souls. Never in recorded history has there been an example that deviates from the usual order of things. Unless…” There was, of course, a wildcard that I hadn’t thought of. “I need to pay a visit to our resident demon specialist.”
* * *
I’d expected to find Bogie up in his apartment, watching daytime television, but when I entered the Five Penny, I heard low voices and found him talking to Donna. This was serendipitous because her perspective might also have been helpful, however, when they noticed me, their conversation stopped and both looked as if they hadn’t been expecting company.
“Hey there, boss. Wasn’t expectin’ to see yous here so early.”
“Likewise,” I said, nodding hello to Donna, who looked a bit uncomfortable. “Anyone want to fill me in on what the secret meeting was all about?”
“Meetin’?” Bogie looked genuinely confused.
“I, um…” Donna spoke up. She was blushing, which was uncharacteristic to say the least. “I had an idea and I wanted to see what Bogie thought before I talked to you, so…”
“Talk to me about what?” Donna was not typically vague with me, so I found her evasion both suspicious and annoying.
“About adding another bartender,” she admitted.
“Oh! This here meetin’! Gotcha.”
“I suppose you know someone?” I asked warily. I recalled the reason Donna had been let go from her last job. “You aren’t planning on lecturing my clientele on the dangers of consuming alcohol, now are you?”
“Hey, not fair!” she balked. “If you had any idea how that stuff was made…”
I held my hand up to stop her. “In all fairness, I had planned to post for another bartender.”
She was right, the bar was getting busy, and Bogie hadn’t had a day off since the day I arrived in Blackbird. Just because he was a pain in my ass and a demon didn’t mean that I had the right to exploit him.
“You’re hired,” I said, holding out my hand to shake on the deal. “I’ll leave Bogie to hammer out the scheduling details…”
“Wait, that’s it? You don’t need me to prove I can make a drink or anything?”
“I’ll defer those decisions to the manager. Bogie, you just got a promotion to manager.”
“Gee, thanks Des. Does said promotion come with a raise?”
“Don’t push your luck,” I warned.
“I ain’t got no luck to push, big guy,” Bogie quipped. “So what was yous needin’ anyways?”
“I was curious,” I began, “and Donna, you might have some insight as well, as to whether or not a Discordant parent might cause some… unusual imbalances to a split soul.”
“You think your Guardians may be Nyx?” Donna asked.
“Nah, ain’t no way,” Bogie said, shaking his head. “I’da known if somethin’ was fishy with ‘em.”
“Bogie’s right, we’re pretty obvious,” Donna added. She had a point. Even though I didn’t know her full story when we first met, I could sense the difference immediately.
“Although,” Bogie said, screwing up his ugly face in thought. “It ain’t outta the realm of possibility that one of my kinds had somethin’ to do with the split.”
“Interesting. Why do you say that?”
“Well, fer one, I ain’t heard of no big coup on our side in the last many decades.”
“Speak English, boss,” Donna said with a frown, but I understood.
“Bogie is referring to the fact that souls split when we are in a deficit, which we aren’t. We haven’t lost more than a small handful of souls to the Discordant since the last world war ended.”
“Exactly,” Bogie said, punching the air for emphasis.
“But why would the Discordant want a split soul?” Donna asked.
“Same reason they wants anything, really,” Bogie said with a shrug. “Imbalances of all kinds give leverage to team Chaos. Them kids though,” he added, shaking his head. “I can’t see where theys is gonna be a benefit to Chaos what with Nai’s obsession.”
“That’s the problem,” I sighed. “We suspect that neither of them are bound by the traditional limits of Guardianship. If Nai ever finds out that she might be able to use-”
A sudden and unwelcome shiver ran down my spine. Warriors do not have what could be described as second sight, but at that moment, I knew that something big had happened that required my attention. Not even a second later, I received an emergency text from Jem.
“I may have just jinxed myself. I’ve got to go,” I said and ran out into the alley, leaving the demon and the witch to stare after me in confusion.
After a quick check to make sure no one was around, I slipped out of time, located Jem’s aura, and jumped back into the Cycle. I found him in a washroom, covered with blood. On the floor, hunched over a dead vampire, was his sister, also covered in blood, and pathetically trying to stop the flow of cursed blood from the vamp with bathroom tissue. My anger must have been evident
because when she saw me, her eyes widened in fear, an emotion that until then, I was certain she was incapable of grasping.
Chapter 7
Mistakes
“I’m curious, Nai, what is with this tired cliché?” The Creator spun, taking in every angle of its current appearance in the ornate mirror that hung on the wall. A man in a sharp black suit with pale skin, colorless hair, and eyes of the lightest blue stared back. Dashing, yes, certainly dashing was a word one could use to describe the manifestation, but also dangerous, diabolic, and several other descriptive terms beginning with the letter D.
“Not sure myself,” Nai said with a bored shrug. “White guys are evil? I mean, that’s not really an unfair generalization in the grand scheme of things.”
“In the grand scheme of things, generalizations are always unfair,” the Creator corrected. “You are young and have much still to learn, but your cheek is forgiven at the moment.”
Nai bristled. “My cheek? You asked a question and I answered to the best of my knowledge. Besides, I’m not capable of being nice, so I can’t be faulted if I happen to say something you find offensive.”
“On the contrary, Nai. Just because you are the dark half of a newly split soul does not absolve you from consequence for your actions. Even though you feel a compulsion toward dark behavior, you still know the difference between right and wrong. Order requires balance, meaning that all actions will have consequences, right or wrong.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning that I am still the Creator, Nai. While I may have no influence over the actions within the Cycle, I am still the ultimate authority. In matters pertaining to Order, my word is law and my decisions final, including the decision to retire you if you are incapable of growth.”
“Retire me?” Nai asked with a sinking sensation.
“Oblivion, Nai,” the Creator barked sharply, using the commanding presence of its manifestation to drive the point home. “I can have you removed from existence in the blink of an eye. However,” its expression softened, “I am perhaps a soft and sentimental old fool who wishes not to see any of my creations end in such a harsh and permanent manner. Take that to heart. Shape your darkness, Nai. Do not succumb to it.”
Splitsville (Rise of the Discordant Book 2) Page 10