God Hammer: A novel of the Demon Accords

by John Conroe

  Most kids… scratch that… most people would be puffed up with bloated egos and entitlement issues if they had a tenth of this kid’s power, and here he was telling me his limitations so I wouldn’t be too disappointed if we ran into something he wasn’t equipped for. Amazing.

  Chapter 6 – Declan

  I thought Chris might have been exaggerating when he mentioned that I had rooms. Turns out he was understating it. I had my own suite. A bedroom that was bigger than the one I shared with Mack at Arcane, a living room with a big flatscreen and game console, mini-kitchenette with a microwave, sink, and refrigerator stocked with cold drinks, and finally a big bathroom with an even bigger tiled shower with three showerheads.

  Exhausted, I slept like the dead till about quarter of one in the afternoon and then took a twenty-minute shower without having anyone waiting impatiently for their turn. The thing had a sound system that I could plug my phone into, and the three heads pulsed water in time to whatever music was playing. After that, I drank an ice-cold energy drink while getting dressed, periodically looking at the view outside the building—on the flatscreen. My suite didn’t have any windows because it was underground. Turns out that there were at least four floors underground and that’s where the vampires’ quarters were. The executive offices were at the top of the building, but the sleeping apartments were deep underground, which made sense, especially in light of the attacks they’d been having from that rogue program.

  Dressed in comfortable jeans, well broken-in shoes, an old Rowan West t-shirt in dark blue, and equipped with my workbag of Sharpies, rune stamps, a few herbs and essential oils, and lots of ink, I headed out to find the corporate dining hall.

  Easy enough to accomplish, as it took up almost the whole eleventh floor. The actual dining room was bigger than Arcane’s gym and was very posh. It looked expensive—so expensive that I thought maybe I had the wrong place. But the hostess just smiled at me, glanced at my ID card clipped on my belt, and asked if I wanted a window seat or interior seat.

  The view was incredible and it focused my attention outward and not on my fellow diners, who were human and mostly dressed in suits and ties. Almost made me wish I had put my other suit on. Almost. But no one paid my clothes any mind and a snappy waiter took my lunch order from a menu without prices.

  I was halfway through a cup of crab bisque when high, clear female voices caught my attention.

  A trio of female interns was coming through the door, led by the hostess, and damned if the really pretty brunette from Down Under wasn’t right in the middle, between a tall, cute black girl and another girl who, God help me, was the walking persona of a geek, complete with dark-rimmed glasses, baggy jeans, and a t-shirt that said I take my Pi warmed to the eleventh degree, 3.14159265359.

  I glanced away before they could see me watching, but the hostess led them right over to the table next to mine and they obviously saw me. In fact, they all came to a stop next to my table and when I looked up, they were staring at me.

  “G’day, I’m Grace. This is Aleesha and Joni,” the girl with the accent said.

  “Ah, hi, I’m Declan,” I said, ridiculously happy I’d gotten that out without tripping over my words.

  “We know. We also know you saved us yesterday when the elevator fell, so we just wanted to say thanks. Whatever you did, it was brilliant,” Grace said and I got hung up on the way brilliant rolled off her tongue.

  “Ah, well, you’re welcome. Rough way to start an internship,” I said.

  “Right?” Aleesha agreed. “One moment, things are fine and the next, the damned elevator is free falling and we’re floating on the damned ceiling!”

  “That’s terrifying,” I said, thinking that it really must have been.

  “Aye, I was sure we were going ta cark it, but the bodgy thing rolled to a stop and it was all she’ll be apples. So good on ya mate, yer blood’s worth bottling,” Grace said, smiling.

  I had almost no idea what she’d said, but she seemed happy with me and I got the general gist of her comments, although the blood part was weird and it must have shown.

  “I think she means you were really, really helpful,” Aleesha said.

  “Oh, it’s just that we work with vampires and so I pay attention when anyone mentions blood. Especially mine,” I said.

  They blinked at me and each other, as if they had forgotten where they worked and who else worked here.

  “Yeah, about that… any words of advice? You seem to be tight with them,” Joni asked, looking over her shoulder.

  “Well, first off, it’s two in the afternoon, so almost none of the Darkkin are up yet and you don’t need to be looking about for them. Tanya could be, but it would be unusual, I think. Oh, this is important—don’t stare into their eyes. It could be construed as a challenge. That goes double for weres—no staring unless you’re calling them out. Don’t call them out without a tank or infantry platoon to back you up. If you get a cut for any reason, cover it as fast as possible. Wash and Band-Aid. In fact, it’s not a bad idea to carry a few Band-Aids. The older ones have control, so it’s the young ones, I think, that you need to be real careful around. Don’t lie to either weres or Darkkin—they can tell—it’s a hear your heart rate and smell your sweat kinda thing. I guess that’s most of it. Common sense, I would say, though I don’t really know any young vamps, just older ones, and I know more weres than vamps.”

  They all stared at me. Finally Grace spoke. “How do you know all that?”

  “I’m guessing that you know a thing or two about avoiding the dangers of your country, right? Snakes, spiders, salt water crocs, and sharks?” I asked.

  “We don’t all live in the bush, ya know. It’s not all Crocodile Dundee,” she said, frowning.

  “Yeah, but don’t you have like a half dozen of the most poisonous snakes in the world, and I know you have funnel-web spiders like right in Sydney,” I said.

  “True,” she said with a slight smile.

  “Well, I grew up exposed to the supernatural world, at least some parts of it, and others I’ve been part of more recently.”

  “How are you hooked up with him,” Aleesha asked. I was pretty sure I could safely guess who he was.

  “Long, long story,” I said, not wanting to explain more of my weirdness. They waited to see if I would tell it, but I just kept quiet.

  “Well, the man obviously wants his privacy,” Joni said, turning toward their table.

  Grace suddenly yanked out the chair across from mine and sat down.

  “And now, apparently, we’re sitting here,” Joni said in the tone of someone who is expecting to not be listened to.

  “How did you do it?” Grace asked, intensely curious.

  “Do what?” I asked, although I had my suspicions.

  “Stop the lift. How could ya hack it that quick?” she asked.

  I froze up, trying to think of what to say.

  “The repair blokes were completely baffled. I heard them. Said the bloody thing was stuffed into its shaft,” she said, which reminded me that I had to fix it. But what to tell them?

  “Oh, I’ve seen that look before. Usually just before a dude tries to baffle me with bullshit,” Aleesha said.

  “Actually, I think he’s trying to figure out how much you’ll be able to handle,” a new voice said. They turned to find Stacia standing behind them, dressed in designer jeans and a green shirt that set off her eyes.

  “Are you saying he thinks he’s smarter than us?” Joni asked, frowning mightily.

  “No, I’m saying you don’t have the reference points to work from. Let’s say you three tried to tell me about… I don’t know… computer programming. I wouldn’t know a tenth of what you said. It’s not my thing. You’re all top of your classes in computer science or mathematics right? But how much do you all know about the world of werewolves?” she asked. “Or vampires? Or other supernaturals?”

  “Others?” Grace asked.

  “Did you think it was limited to demons, ange
ls, vampires, and weres?” Stacia asked. “It’s a big, wide supernatural world out there and he’s top of his class at Supernatural U—literally.”

  They considered that for a moment, then Grace turned back to me. “Where do you go to uni?” she asked. After a second, I realized she meant my college.

  “You’ve never heard of it. But I do take classes at the University of Vermont,” I said.

  “But that’s not your school?” Aleesha pressed.

  “My degree will be from there, but my actual school is something different… really different,” I said. They frowned, beginning to get angry at all the mystery. I glanced at Stacia, and she gave me a little nod.

  “It’s called Arcane. It’s very small and very… specialized,” I said.

  They waited, but I didn’t elaborate.

  “How specialized?” Joni finally asked.

  “A third of the kids turn furry under a full moon, a large percentage of the girls can kill you with a whisper, and Stephen King would be right at home,” Stacia said.

  “Kill you with a whisper? You talking witches?” Aleesha asked, eyes wide.

  “Bingo,” Stacia said.

  Aleesha whipped around to me. “You go to school with witches?” She looked truly scared.

  I nodded.

  “Like real spells and curses witches?” she pressed.

  “Yes,” I said, waiting to see what would come of it.

  “Don’t you know you don’t mess with no damned witches? Not ever!” she said, looking into my eyes to make sure I was getting it. Beside her, Grace looked uncomfortable, but Joni looked mad.

  “Bullshit! That’s a bunch of superstitious crap,” Joni said.

  “Oh?” Stacia asked, her voice a little deeper, making me sit up. “Like werewolves are just legend?”

  “Well I’ve never seen a werewolf, just grainy video, so as far as I’m concerned, the jury is out,” Joni challenged, confirming that she was a secret badass who was about to die a horrible death. After Washington, the whole world knew there was at least one werewolf and now she was standing six feet away.

  Stacia’s eyes went yellow—bright, glowing yellow, and her skin seemed to ripple. All three girls sucked in a breath and Joni pushed back. I jumped up. “Okay, on that note, we’re leaving. You guys keep this table; we’ll just head over here,” I said, stepping away from my chair, keeping my body loose and facing Stacia’s, which pulled her attention to me and a little away from Joni. As I intended.

  A foolish person in this situation would possibly touch the werewolf to pull them away from the challenge. A foolish person might then lose an arm, ripped clean from its socket. Aunt Ash didn’t raise any fools, so I just used my posture and body language to capture more of Stacia’s focus. Sudden, decisive movement does wonders for a predator’s attention.

  The waiter was headed our way but slowed as he took in the tension. I caught his eye. “Miss Reynolds and I need a different table. And some sliced roast beef, maybe a half cow’s worth.”

  Stacia looked from me to the waiter, then back. She frowned as the words worked through her anger, then she took a breath and turned abruptly from all of us and strode across the room to a different table, where she pulled out a chair and sat down, back to us.

  “Remember the whole stare in the eyes and challenge thing? I said don’t do it. First lesson failed. Enjoy lunch.” And then I went to sit with my pissed-off werewolf friend.

  “I wasn’t going to pull anyone apart you know,” Stacia said, doing exactly that to a roll.

  “Well, I’m used to teenage werewolves who freak out easily, but for what it’s worth, I didn’t think you would, either. Mostly, I thought it might be a teachable moment to your summer staff,” I replied, grabbing a roll for myself.

  “Idiots,” she said.

  “Narrow world views. Sometimes the really smart ones have a hard time adjusting to something that implies they don’t know everything,” I said.

  The waiter showed up with a platter of thinly shaved roast beef, approaching from behind me, putting it down gingerly along with a menu for Stacia. “Sir, shall I bring the rest of your order when I bring Miss Reynold’s?”

  “Yeah, that’d be great.”

  “I’ll be back in a moment, Miss Reynolds, to take your order,” he said. She just nodded, frowning at the pile of beef between us.

  I reached over and grabbed a slice, putting it inside my buttered roll and took a bite, then added some salt. Another bite—better.

  Stacia watched me before copying my actions and biting into her own sandwich. She looked thoughtful as she chewed and swallowed.

  “You learned a lot at school, didn’t you?”

  “Our resident pack got particularly tense during finals week. The Arcane chefs went through a whole bunch of roast beef and brisket. Some schools use therapy bunnies to relieve student stress. We thought that might not go so well with Delwood and his pals.”

  She laughed, almost despite herself. “How about you? I know you’ve lost your temper before. Chris and Tanya made our security guys watch the video of both your fights with Delwood.”

  “Wait, there’s video? And why would your security guys watch it?”

  “Of course there is video. Arcane has cameras all over that place. Chris thought both fights were, as you might say… teachable moments. But don’t evade the question.”

  “What question? Did you ever actually ask a question?” I asked.

  “About your temper? How do you handle it? I checked the news sites from yesterday—there were no crazy traffic explosions or cars flying while you were driving in, but New York drivers would make anyone crazy.”

  “Oh. Yeah. I’ve never been in a big city before. People here are nuts. Mostly I try to think about consequences,” I said, taking another bite of roast beef and roll.

  “Consequences?” she asked.

  “My aunt talked to me about the consequences of my actions when I was a kid… a lot. All the time, in fact. Maybe I spell a car to stall because the driver pissed me off and then the driver is late to work one too many times and gets fired. Then his family loses their home… kids grow up homeless. Or I give another bully a little mental shove, but it’s more than I thought and he falls in front of a car or something. Things like that. It was really hard yesterday, though,” I said.

  “Because city drivers are a-holes?” she asked.

  “That… and because there’s so much power here. It almost made me drunk. I wanted to try stuff out and Sorrow kept making suggestions.”

  “Suggestions?”

  “Blow up that truck—crush those cars—knock down those buildings—tear that bridge loose and drop it into the river. That kind of thing,” I said.

  She looked at me, her eyes focused, maybe a little surprised. Before she could say anything, a group of additional interns came into the dining room. The kid from MIT came in last, talking to a thin black guy and a woman a few years older than Stacia.

  “Ah, our Chief Technology Officer is here,” Stacia said, cocking her head but not looking around or even taking her eyes off the strip of roast beef she was dropping into her mouth. It was a good reminder that werewolf hearing is ridiculous.

  She chewed a few times, swallowed, and then raised her arm, turning slightly.

  “Hey Chet? Got a moment?” she called.

  All three turned our way, and then the thin guy, Chet, started over while the woman kept going with the pack of interns. MIT stared appreciatively at Stacia till he noticed me, then he frowned and moved off with the others.

  “Hey Bombshell. ‘Sup?” Chet asked Stacia as he got closer, looking me over curiously.

  “I wanted to introduce you to Declan. He’s Chris’s intern, but you might want to borrow him from time to time,” she said.

  His face lit with recognition at my name, a brief flare of wariness, which was rapidly replaced by curiosity.

  “The literal computer wizard. I’ve been told a lot about you,” he said, shaking my hand. “Of cou
rse, I’ll reserve judgment till I see you in action.”

  “Hear that? He’s calling you out, D. Show him something,” Stacia prodded, smiling.

  I looked from her to him, then made up my mind. “Can I see your cell phone?” I asked, holding out one hand.

  He frowned, obviously reluctant, but then again, he started it. Reaching into the rear pocket of his slightly baggy jeans, he pulled out a new model Android phone, glowering at me as he put it into my hand. It had a protective case, which I popped off. Pulling a Sharpie from my bag, I wrote runes inside the case, concentrating on the building’s power as I did, channeling some of it into my design.