by Sasha White
He laughed. “If you insist.” He opened his hands and Miriam dropped like a stone. I saw Black Angel One catch her. Magdalena was still on our trail. “So brave. All of you. But you can make it stop.”
“How’s that? By killing you? Good plan.” I squeezed harder.
“No. By accepting your true place. I’ll let them all unlive, if you just acquiesce and come home with me. I promise.”
He sounded calm and reasonable. I was exhausted and heartsick and, the moment I thought about it, frightened. Giving up sounded so safe and easy.
The base of my tail wanted a word. “Really? You’ll just stop trying to kill all my friends and associates, stop trying to take over all the planes of existence? And all I need to do is say yes to you and go down to the depths of Hell as your baby-mamma?”
“Absolutely.”
“Really. Does that offer cover Ken?”
“Yes.”
“Jude?”
“Yes.”
“How about Ralph?”
I knew what the answer was going to be, before it came. I felt the Adversary flail about, felt the kick connect, heard Ralph’s canine whimper of pain, looked around to see him plummeting towards the buildings below. “No. He’s dusted. Sorry.”
“Then I have nothing to lose, right?”
“Right.”
“That’s what I thought.” I flipped myself into the Adversary’s arms. “Let’s kiss and make up.”
He smiled, and shifted to look like Jack again. “I knew you’d come around.”
I wondered just how stupid the major minions really were. I shifted to werewolf form as I bit his neck again. Only this time, I wasn’t going to let go.
Chapter 58
Jack, or whatever he was, really hadn’t been expecting me to bite him, if his reactions were any indication. He flailed about and I was happy to note he was having trouble flying. How he could fly without wings I didn’t know, but now seemed the wrong time to inquire.
“Let go, you stupid bitch!”
“Nuh-uh.” That was about all I could reply with that wouldn’t cause me to lose my hold. I took the opportunity to rake all four sets of claws against his chest and stomach. I couldn’t tell for sure about his body, but I knew the clothes he had on were trashed.
He pried at my jaws. He was strong, but he wasn’t able to get me off. I wondered about this. I figured he’d been able to kick Ralph off because he’d been so badly injured. I wasn’t really hurt, so he wasn’t having the same effect on me.
Of course, I wasn’t the only one able to put two and two together. Jack started hitting me, hard. “You want me to really make you hurt?” he snarled. “Let go, or I shred you like I did your pathetic wannabe-mate.”
I sank my claws into his flesh, let go of his throat, and grabbed an arm with my jaws. I bit down, hard, and heard the happy sound of bone breaking and Jack screaming in pain. He was going to have to change forms soon, or this one was going to be trashed.
He hit me with the other arm. Okay, I was happy to switch sides. Let go, grabbed the working arm, chomped down again, heard the bone crunch and the scream of pain. So far, so good. But at the same time, so very stupid.
Jack wasn’t a moron. He was a great cop. All other issues aside, he was smart enough to know that he should be defending himself differently, at least changing form. The Adversary, on the other hand, didn’t necessarily have all the smarts in the world. But their lack of intelligence was overcompensated for by their innate, total viciousness. Still, were they really this stupid?
He kicked at me. So maybe yes. I could bite his legs, but that was going to move me into a more precarious position than I was already in and I’d have a better chance of success in wolf form – and I needed to stay in werewolf in order to ensure I didn’t lose hold of Jack. I went back for his throat.
“Let go of me, or I’ll take you to Hell with me right now.”
It seemed an idle threat, considering we were still flying in the air and not heading towards much other than maybe the moon. It was getting chilly, but werewolves don’t feel the cold all that much. Fur’s a great insulator.
However, I was still a cop, and I wanted some answers. I switched back to human and flipped around onto his back, arm locked around his throat again. “I wonder how you could actually do that.”
“You promised yourself to me, on sanctified ground.”
“And you’re about the most unsanctified thing on any plane of existence, so how would that affect me?”
“Your promise ties you to me – forever.”
“Right. If you’re really all that I think you are, you’re also my biological father. Can we just say that the gross-out factor is beyond high and then follow that up with a ‘no way, José’ comeback?”
“You love me.”
“No. I was in love with Jack Wagner. I don’t know what you’ve done to him, if you were always a part of him or not, but he’s not there anymore. Looking like him and being him aren’t the same thing.”
His body started jerking around, like it was fighting something other than me. The body changed, too, going back and forth into a variety of forms. It was creepy to watch and worse to hold on to, but I didn’t let go. It also looked like it was healing itself, which was a real disappointment on a variety of levels.
Jack’s face was back, but the body was that of the Adversary’s favorite monster from Hell form. The head turned around, so it was facing me. Considering I was on its back, this was nauseating and vile.
Jack’s eyes were wide. “Vic – help me!”
“You’re not Jack.”
“Yes, I am! What’s going on? Why are you doing this to me?”
“I’m not doing anything to you that you don’t deserve.”
The body was still jerking and writhing, giving all the indications an internal fight of some kind was going on. I felt the claw of doubt run over my spine.
Jack looked more like he always had, albeit terrified. “Help me,” he whispered. “Please, help me.”
“Tell me how long you’ve been a part of the Adversary.”
“I…I don’t know.” He closed his eyes as he winced in what sure looked like pain. “Vic, you have to believe me.” He opened his eyes and they were really Jack’s eyes. “I love you. I always have.”
My throat felt tight. “But…you’re evil.”
“Help me. You’re the only one who can save me, I know it.”
He looked sincere, and if I didn’t look lower than his neck, just like the Jack I’d been partnered with for a year. The guy who was so male that he made everyone else look wimpy by comparison. Maybe he was telling me the truth – maybe Jack was taken over by the Adversary when I bit him. Maybe he was still in there, and I could save him.
Jack’s face disappeared and Little Harp’s made the scene. “Come home, you hellion child! Your mother cries for you every night. You belong with us, on the dais with the Prince himself. I, your father, order it.”
“Wow, I guess it’s because you killed every sibling of mine before they could walk so you’ve never dealt with a teenager or anyone older. But, seriously, that ‘because I said so’ thing doesn’t work, pretty much ever.”
His eyes narrowed. Didn’t look a thing like Jack’s. The claw of doubt tapped my shoulder. “We will give you the being you want, separate from us, if you return. You shall have him, as his own entity, as yours, for eternity.”
“How could you possibly do that?” I tried not to wonder if it would really be Jack, but I couldn’t help it. Wolves were monogamous, and I’d given myself to him well before we’d actually acknowledged the relationship.
“As we did it before,” Little Harp answered, almost kindly. The body moved to match the head, and his arms were around me, but he wasn’t trying to hurt me. “We will be father to you, and he will be mate, as you always wanted. After all, don’t you long for a true family?” His voice was gentle, soothing.
My head nodded, without my brain’s consent. “But…you’re evil.”
“Evil is in the eyes of the beholder. I’m not evil to your mother. And to those who fight alongside us, I am the leader, the one they turn to for guidance. Is that evil? To care for your people?”
It sounded so reasonable. The claw of doubt was drumming on my head now. But the base of my tail was twitching, and I’d spent a lot more time listening to it. “How can you separate Jack from you?”
Little Harp smiled. “As we separate ourselves. Souls are simple things to divide. And highly overrated.”
“Was your soul always inside Jack?” I had to know, one way or the other.
Little Harp nodded. “We studied you. You are our daughter, your mother’s daughter. You needed the male of males – anything less left you feeling incomplete. We created your perfect mate, over time. Put the right humans together at the right time, a nudge here, a shove there. Finally, he arrived, exactly what you needed. Throwing you together was simple.”
“Uh, wow.” I didn’t know what else to say. I wouldn’t have credited either Harp with the brains to perform the ultimate genetics experiment.
He smiled and kissed my forehead. Just like a father would. “You are our only living child. We want the best for you, for you to be mated with perfection, so you can enjoy all the planes of existence have to offer.”
It all sounded so reasonable. If I didn’t think. But I’d never been able to not think, even when it had seemed like I was going to die because of it. The base of my tail asked the question it had asked before, as we were leaving the Little Church. “Why didn’t you all finish us at the Estates, when you had the chance?”
Little Harp chuckled. “The work was done. We want you safely with us, before we destroy the others. You are more important than all of them put together. You are our child.”
Something clicked. All the little things, from the first time I’d met my real father until now started to fall into place. And something Jude had said – that I always made the right decision when it came to good and evil – surfaced. Jude had said that I made mistakes in my love life just like every other being, but that when it came down to it, I was important because I always made the right choice. And I was the child of the Adversary. And a werewolf.
The Adversary had hunted werewolves for all of my existence. Because of me. No one had ever said it aloud, but I’d known, for all my undead life. I was the reason my undead kind were forced to separate, to live more like other undeads than werewolves. I was the reason we no longer had a true Pack.
And one werewolf out of all of them refused to give in to the fear, refused to hide, even though it made him an outcast within the group. No wonder they wanted me kept away from him. What would have happened if I’d ever actually listened to what Ralph was saying?
I didn’t have to guess. I knew. It was why they wanted me with them on the other side. Why they’d gone to the trouble to create Jack. I was the Child of the Adversary, title totally important.
“Can I see Jack again?” I needed to, just to be sure.
Little Harp smiled. “Of course. Whatever you want. You are our child, and we will care for you as you need and deserve.” The entire being switched and now I was in Jack’s arms. “Vic, are we going to be okay?”
I looked at his face, studied it really. It looked exactly as it always had. There was no difference. He was still incredibly male, still appealing to me in ways no other male ever had been.
Over the centuries, I’d been many things. But what I’d always been, from the moment Black Wolf brought me to Necropolis, was a cop. And cops knew how easy it was to become just like the perps they spent so much time with. Hang with drug addicts, become an addict.
I stroked Jack’s face. “You’re my drug, aren’t you?”
He gave me a half-smile. “I suppose so.”
I leaned up and kissed him. “Jack, thanks for the offer, but I’m going to have to do what all our stupid posters suggest…and just say no.”
Then I shoved out of his arms and let myself come down from the high.
Chapter 59
I landed a few seconds later. Because I crashed into Maurice.
“Ooof! Let’s work on losing a few pounds, shall we, Vicki darling?”
“Nice catch.” I looked around. Amanda and Ken were here, too. Here was, easily, a mile up. I stopped looking down quickly and focused on something sure to keep my mind off going splat – everything else that was going on. “Ken, I’m so sorry. For everything.”
He shook his head. “We picked up that something was wrong, but he was pretty well hidden, Vic. Him suggesting we had infiltrators was pretty ballsy, though.”
I sighed. “I’m the one who came up with that.”
“Correctly, I must add,” Amanda said. “You just didn’t look in the right place.”
“Clearly.” I looked up, where the right place had just been. “Where did he go?”
“Disappeared,” Ken snapped. “I’d love to say he was worried about the three of us arriving, but I doubt it.”
“So, Kenny briefed us on what was going on, at least what we think was going on.” Maurice gave me an arch look. “Mister Yummy was actually the Adversary? As in, you just personified the Elektra Complex?”
“You know, I feel grossed out enough about it. You don’t have to add salt to the wound. But, yeah, from what I can tell, there was at least a part of the Adversary’s soul mingled in with Jack’s. Maybe his entire soul. I’m not sure yet.”
Amanda hugged me. This is hard to do while flying in the air when the huggee is being held by another vampire. But she managed it. “Oh, honey, I’m so sorry. You were so crazy about him.”
“Yeah, I was. I was supposed to be.” I filled them in fast on what Little Harp had told me. “So, apparently, they’ve been setting this up since I became an undead.”
Ken shook his head, as we started back towards the ground and I did my best to pretend we were already there. “I never got the impression the Harps were that smart.”
“That was my thought, too. I don’t think they are.”
“Then someone else is helping with the hard work of thought processes. Vicki, darling, stop thrashing.”
“Trying, trying. So, any ideas of who came up with this plan, and why?” I had some, but I wanted to hear what these three thought first.
“Possibly the Prince himself,” Amanda suggested. “Though it seems too….”
“Detail-oriented for him,” Maurice finished. “I agree. It’s possible, but he’s reputed to like minions who can come up with havoc on their own.”
“But all the long term plans are the Prince’s,” Ken protested. “And this is certainly long-term.”
“There are other options. Hitler, some of the other major minions. Lucifer.” As I said it, I knew I was right. Which sucked in a variety of ways, not that I could mention any of them aloud.
The vampires nodded. “This is his style. Smart, sophisticated and very well hidden.” Ken grimaced. “But why execute it through the Adversary?”
I wondered that myself. I had a couple of ideas of why, but one reason stood out the clearest – because, ultimately, it wouldn’t work. But I didn’t suggest this aloud. There were only a couple of beings I could talk to about this possibility, both of them hanging at the Salvation Center.
But there was another reason, and it was also just as likely. Probably both reasons were true – Lucifer would have to have a cover reason that flew in the Depths, after all. “Because I’ve got a nifty title down in the Depths – the Child of the Adversary.”
“Snazzy as that is, or rather, isn’t,” Maurice snipped, “what’s the point?”
“I think I’m the Adversary’s weakness, his Achilles’ Heel.”
Amanda and Maurice didn’t look convinced, but Ken was clearly thinking. “That makes sense,” he said slowly. “Every Adversary can be killed. We’ve killed every one but this one, after all. And we will kill him,” he added fiercely.
“I agree, but I think I’m going to have to be the one to do it.”
“Possibly,” Amanda said. “But I’d like to hear more of a reason why, other than blood ties.”
Maurice jerked. “But that’s it, isn’t it? Blood ties. Not necessarily for every Adversary, but certainly for this one. It’s all about bringing the family together for Vicki’s fab parental units. Why would they care unless there was a survival reason involved?”
“Considering my so-called family’s history, they wouldn’t. I think they’ve been after all the werewolves because that’s what I was turned into. Either they’re more affected by whatever breed of undead I am – so if I’d become a vampire, they’d have spent the last couple of hundred years hunting vampires – or because it was werewolves who saved me, or a combination thereof. Bottom line is I think that the undeads with the best chances of killing the Adversary are werewolves.”
“That’s great, but there’s a new wrinkle, then,” Amanda said. “You turned Jack into a werewolf, and he’s a part of the Adversary. Meaning that they now incorporate all the werewolf skills along with their standard minion abilities.”
“We’re so screwed,” Maurice muttered.
I considered this. “No, I don’t think so. At least, not yet. Jack sucked as a werewolf, that’s why I got clued in that something was wrong. So either they can’t handle the idea, or the additional skills, or, because of already being the Adversary, they aren’t really a werewolf. No matter what, it’s not taking like it took with me and everyone else.”
“Or they’re processing it more slowly,” Ken said. “And if that’s the case, we have to work fast, before they fully incorporate this new aspect into their overall being.”
“We have to work fast anyway, since there are other aspects of the overall plan working, active and in place. It’s easy to focus on Jack and that part of the plan, but really, we still have a bunch of doppelgängers wandering about, the major minions are still on the human plane, and Nero’s gone AWOL again. And that’s merely for starters.”
“Where do you want to start?” Ken asked as we finally reached the tops of some of the tallest Prosaic City buildings.
“The hospital. I need to talk to Ralph.”