Summon Lyght (Archangels Creed)

by Daniels, Kenra

  Tyler barely defeated the urge to roll his eyes. No way was he connected with those things. Not possible.

  "I assure you, it is possible."

  His scowl got ahead of his control. ''That's really annoying, you know. Reading minds is kind of rude." Saying so was, too, but he had to. Every time the guy picked a thought out of his head, his temper cranked a notch tighter. The past few months, Tyler found it harder and harder to bite his tongue.

  The doc tilted his head a little and drew his eyebrows down slightly, not enough to be a frown. He stared at Tyler for a long moment, and Tyler started to worry he'd seriously overstepped some line he didn't even know about by reminding the doc of his manners.

  The doc nodded, looking distracted. "Just so. I apologize. I so seldom deal with mortal humans, I admit to being out of practice." He turned back to the container. "For now, we need to begin. We will start with memory regression to find any commonalities." He snapped his fingers almost like an afterthought, and another area opened up off the main room.

  Tyler looked around with interest at first, but didn't see anything really remarkable—just about a dozen retro-looking dentist chairs arranged in a semicircle. The open side of the arrangement was filled with a broad dark gray screen with a series of seemingly unrelated images flickering across it. Curious, he sat in the chair the doc indicated.

  The doc opened the monkey men's cage and Tyler's gut tightened in alarm.

  They kept right on with that junkie-stare he'd noticed earlier, seemingly unaware of their surroundings. The doc pointed at the nearest beast and a faint thread of glowing blue light left his fingertip and connected to the creature's chest. A small gesture from the doc lifted the heavy looking body into the air where it hung limp for a moment, then sailed across to settle gently into one of the chairs.

  The thread disconnected and faded back into the doc's fingertip. A new thread, at least a different color, replaced the first and repeated the action with another creature, depositing him in one of the chairs.

  Tyler had to bite his lip to keep from asking questions as he watched the same thing over and over, once for each creature, with a new color of thread every time. He shouldn't be all that surprised, considering the doc had the same ability as Lyght to transport through space in an instant. But the whole thing was awesome.

  As soon as the last monkey man was in a dentist chair, before Tyler could ask anything, the doc thrust his hand, kinda like a flick, and filled every chest with a net of those colorful strings.

  Tyler glanced down at the faint tugging on his own chest. Alarm set his pulse to thumping in his skull at finding one of those silver fibers burrowed into him! Within a second or two, he could literally feel the fear draining out of him through that little string and a peaceful calm and warmth replacing it.

  He swallowed and watched, amazed at the happy juice being pumped through the thin thread. It just refused to allow him to be afraid. All he could do was observe and not really feel much of anything about it.

  All the threads pulsed like living hairs, swaying as though submerged in water. Just like something from a horror movie. The doc stood at the center in a sort of trance, his eyes on nothing, aimed straight ahead. Another thread, the size of a thick vine slowly emerged from the top of his skull and connected with the TV thing. Writhing images lit the screen in a frantic confusion, fading into one another and overlapping. It reminded Tyler of that drug abuse prevention class he'd taken in school that had showed something similar to represent hallucinogenic drugs. He liked it even less this time around.

  After what seemed a really long time, the screen went blank again and the heavy cord connecting the doc's head to it faded into nothingness and he came out of his trance. "No commonalities." He paused with a thoughtful scowl. "Our next step is an ancestral regression. With you it should be quite straightforward. Human lineage is simple mathematics, with each person leading back to two more, who each also lead back to two more, and so on." He gestured to include the monkey men. "These creatures, on the other hand, are an amalgamation of numerous species, both natural and supernatural. It will take time to decipher their ancestry."

  Tyler started to reply, but for some reason, found it impossible. The words were in his throat but refused to leave his lips. He shook his head and tried again. Nothing.

  The doc looked up. "Oh, I am sorry. I should have informed you. You will remain unable to speak for the duration of this exercise. The risk of unintentional duress is too high."

  Great. So he was stuck just sitting and watching? Why had Dorn insisted he come along then?

  "Because without you, I have nothing to analyze them against. Now if you don't mind?" The doc snapped his fingers and Tyler's head dropped abruptly as if a plug had been pulled.

  He looked around to see if the monkey men had changed position or anything, which they hadn't. An odd sensation immediately caught and held his attention. When he'd turned his head to look, the left side of his face felt as if he pressed it against a balloon or something similar, while the right side felt like it was pulling away from that same material.

  The slightly cold and icky feeling compelled him to look for the cause, but there was nothing he could see. He raised a hand to his face only to freeze when he encountered the same slightly stretchy, almost sticky substance with the hand. Oh God. He was…coming undone. There was no other word for it. Shock jolted him to his feet despite feeling like dried glue was being peeled off his entire body at one time.

  Standing there, he stared open-mouthed at his chair—where his body still sat unmoving and silent! He turned to the doc for an explanation but the guy was sort of hovering in the air, eyes rolled back in his head. A trance?

  Tyler's body sat there as if he were dead, except for the shallow rise and fall of his chest. At least he was alive. As near he could figure, his mind had somehow left his body and was wondering about on its own.

  Wait, why was he suddenly looking down—not a little down, but down from the ceiling—at his body? Did that mean he could move around? He stepped to the right a little with no ill effects. Three steps left caused no problems either. After a deep breath, he tried moving further from his body. That didn't seem to change anything either. Huh. Who'd have thought you could just…take your body off like a glove and walk around in your mind?

  Would he be able to do it any time he wanted? Was he really walking around or was he dreaming it? Whatever it was, it was frickin amazing. Talk about a super cool power! Almost as good as invisibility.

  Caught up considering the possibilities, he paced the room in a random pattern, not paying much attention to his surroundings. One of the monkey men snored a little and Tyler went over for a closer look, interested despite his distaste for them.

  Standing there in the quiet, if he'd still been in his skin he'd have jumped out of it when several voices spoke at once. He listened closely to the snippets of gibberish with an understandable word here and there, all running together. "…human boy…can't…why…hurt him…Mother will be angry…we're guilty…" Without the connecting bits, none of it made sense. Tyler began to pace again, answering the strange energy setting up inside him. Or was it around him? It was hard to know.

  A new voice froze Tyler in his footsteps. "...human subject shows remarkable ability for astral projection. Are the Archangels aware? They could certainly exploit the talent for espionage, especially since adolescent human males seem almost invisible to other humans. Definitely worth mentioning."

  Tyler looked around for the speaker but no one else had come into the room. The monkey men still looked like they were sleeping, and the doc still floated there in his trance. Who the heck was that? It couldn't have been his imagination, right? He took a closer look around and didn't find so much as an air duct that could have carried the voice from another room. Whatever. He went back to pacing.

  When nothing more interesting came up, he started thinking about Francis and his plan. From what he knew of gangs and street kids, it wouldn't be
easy to win a kid away from the gang. Most of the time, there was no one else the kid could depend on outside his gang family. He knew how he'd feel in the same situation. In fact, after he was on his own, a gang would probably have been the safest place for him. Too bad he didn't find one in time to keep him out of those creeps' clutches.

  "…seem to share some genetic material. Is a common ancestor possible? If so, at what distance?" The mystery voice started up again, surprising Tyler once more. It seemed similar to the doc's voice this time. Listening carefully, he moved closer to the doc and waited.

  "Tyler?"

  Tyler moved to stand in front of the doc, but didn't try to reply. He searched for some sign of awareness in the man's face, and found absolutely none. He was still in an unconscious-looking state, eyes rolled back, lips parted, jaw slack, looking for all the world as if he'd had a few too many beers and just dozed off.

  "I thought so. Continuing notes. Subject demonstrates ability to overhear thoughts. This might be cultivated to become telepathic communication. Tyler, I want you to respond to me. A simple yes or no will suffice for now."

  The idea to be difficult came as a knee jerk response and he didn't answer.

  "Ah, so you prefer to play charades? Fine. No matter. Remember, I can read your thoughts. Obstinacy serves no purpose."

  Great. "Okay."

  "Thank you for being reasonable. Now that we have that settled, you practice moving about while I figure out which of your relatives contributed genetic material to the original makeup of these beings."

  Tyler really could care less about that at the moment and headed for the door, elated that his powers were in fact real. Wonder how far he could move from his body without problems? If any. Only one way to find out.

  "By the way, you do not need the door. In this state, you are not solid. You can pass through walls."

  Tyler looked over his shoulder, almost expecting to see the doc standing there with that odd smile of his, but he was still in his beer trance.

  He held his breath and approached the wall, ready to test that cool ass theory. He touched the surface with his fingertip, except instead of touching, they sank right into the wall, and his hand followed, up to the wrist before he stopped. The sight of his arm ending at the wrist, without a hand, created an uneasy nausea and made sweat bead across his upper lip. Sweat? Is that what that was? Seemed odd. He reached up to touch and see, then hesitated. What if his hand passed through his body? He was sure he wouldn't dig that crap. He touched his arm instead and encountered a normal feeling arm. Wow. The doc had said he wasn't physical, but he sure felt it. At least to himself.

  Before he could change his mind, he took a step and moved his body into the wall. The nausea increased with one eye looking into the next room, the other seeing only the darkness inside the wall. The wall was made of dense matter, and seemed to press against his eyeball. Really weird feeling. The black hard surface was highly magnified that close. Just amazing. Like his eyes worked like a microscope.

  He took his mind off the discomfort in his stomach by thinking about Francis' plan some more. The doc's words about his ability being a possible asset for spying kept replaying in his head. If he could get within whatever range, he could travel without his body and maybe walk right into the gang's territory and find the best way to win that boy away. Or maybe find a better candidate. Or hell, maybe find out enough information that they didn't need a candidate. Even better. Except for the boy being stuck in that douche bag gang. No reason Tyler couldn't do both.

  Tyler walked around, not venturing too far. He became aware of a pull from all around him. Outward. Like a soft suction, compelling him toward it. When he thought about it, it seemed to grow and pull more. He focused on it and the pull increased.

  "Stop." The voice belonged to the doc and it was all business. "You continue thinking on it and it will suck you right into another dimension. Your thoughts are like propellers in this realm. The worlds are drawn to them and you to them. A void to be filled."

  Tyler quickly filled his mind with other thoughts. Peggy. Think of Peggy. In a matter of seconds, the pull disappeared and he breathed in deep, making his way back to his body. Sucked into another dimension? He shivered at the thought and focused on the image of Peggy's perfect lips, smiling at him in that way. In that way that made his heart flop around in his chest like a fish out of water.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Toren waited with Dorn and Kassern for Peggy and her siblings to arrive. With a plan. What sort of plan? And where in the fuck was Zool? He needed the bastard to not be so fucking mysterious for once in his existence.

  He hated that he couldn't touch Sam. So fucking insane. The Diamond Warrior laying there holding the hand of his wife. The farechtera had to put a shield around them to move them to the Conference room without touching them. If the screws holding Toren's temper down got any tighter, he'd blow the cap off. And the Onyx prick nowhere to be found without sending out flares. Fucker. He held the key. If he didn't show up soon, Toren was going find him and kick his ass for taking so fucking long.

  Toren needed something to do. A mission to get his mind off of his wife in that box with his Brother. Yes, they were unconscious and yes, he was positive his Brother wasn't hurting her, and yes, he knew Lyght would take care of her, whatever was happening, but this operation was too dangerous and she was still too human.

  Toren's mercury kept him stiff one second, then ready to explode through the roof the next. The door opened and he was glad for the meeting to start, glad for—

  What the fuck?

  The Brotherhood all stood abruptly when four strangers walked into the room.

  The tall thin man/boy stopped, both hands raised. "It's us, Dad."

  "Francis?" Kassern frowned, then laughed, sounding amazed. "Wow, you're…"

  "Like a human, yes." He shuffled his feet before the long table and Toren leaned forward, trying to see the girl hiding behind him.

  "Peggy." Unreasonable rage hit him as she stepped out from behind Francis dressed like a teenage…heretic. Toren's mercury shot toward the boiling point. He pointed at the door. "How about you go change into something more decent? Like right now."

  Peggy's beautiful eyes filled with sadness and hurt. She looked down at her outfit then around.

  Everyone, including his Brothers, glared at him as if he'd kicked their puppy. Fuck. He felt like the worst jerk in the Nine Universes. Note to self. Find a better way to deal with supernatural female teenagers. One that didn't make him look like a foolish cruel tyrant.

  "She looks fine." Kassern looked critically at Peggy. "I mean that's modest compared to some of the outfits Karly gets in."

  "She's a child" Toren honestly tried to at least sound nicer. "Karly's not only an adult, she's a married woman."

  "I am not a child!" Peggy's voice hardened.

  Toren's mercury formed inward pointing spikes in response to her anger, reminding him exactly how much she was a part of him.

  His stubborn anger struck back. "You are not a woman, either." He pointed to the door. "Go change."

  Her bright blue eyes flashed with tears. A heavy brown woolen robe with a hood suddenly covered her head to toe. "There, are you happy? Is that good enough?"

  She looked eerily like the captive women at Kharef's convent. Ice water slid through his veins, washing a dreadful premonition over him.

  "Brother, she's fine." Dorn put a hand on his shoulder, rocking him with a blast of aquamarine calm.

  The effort to defuse him only served to piss Toren off more. "Get your calm off of me, brother. If I want it, I'll absorb it from your happy ass."

  "You might not want it, but you sure as hell need it. And we can't afford extra negativity in our lives. We have more than enough."

  Shit. He was being an absolute fool. A jerk. Acting like a superstitious human. Toren sat down. He wanted to apologize to them all, especially Peggy, but couldn't unhinge his jaw. He also wanted to direct Peggy to come sit next to him
so he could…be next to her. Strange fucking emotions made no sense. Was he really going to act like her father just because she took a human form? What did he know about that shit? Zero. Not entirely. He knew how to take care of a woman. And now that she was…something like that, maybe his instincts naturally followed that path. Of course. That's how your powers work, stupid.

  Peggy came over and sat next to him anyway. Utter relief flowed over him like a soothing bath.

  What the—

  Toren spied her other hand firmly entwined with the large awkward one of that gangly human teenage boy!

  —fuck was going on? "So you're married now?"

  She looked at him, her forehead puckered with annoyed confusion. Toren raised his brows and aimed his gaze at their joined hands. She rolled her eyes and ignored him. Sudden instinct reared its head to deliver the boy a warning. But if he dared speak his mind on the subject, he would lose any influence he might have with her, leaving him powerless over her in more serious situations. Son-of-a-bitch.

  She attempted to pry into his mind and Toren mentally smacked her away, not in any mood to be have her reading him like a rude brat.

  She would certainly answer for this behavior.

  Eventually.

  Her siblings took their seats across from the Brothers. Who was responsible for this ridiculous human form idea? Peggy stood as if to go join them and Toren yanked her back down. She gave an exasperated huff but stayed put. Good thing for her.

  The human boy leaned and whispered to her. "You look perfect, don't worry about it. He's just upset about Miss Kassie, Lyght, and especially Miss Sam."

  The mercury in Toren's body immediately receded and he realized it had prepared to physically reprimand the kid had he said the wrong thing. But the worst was the realization of how sane the boy behaved in comparison to an Archangel. God, he needed to get a hold of himself. He had never been so on edge in all his existence.

  "So we were thinking." Francis crossed his long fingers with the short ruby nails on the table before him. Toren barely managed to listen to his harebrained scheme.