Demons of Divinity

by Luke R. Mitchell

  I lowered her back to the patio.

  “I don’t understand,” Therese said, rubbing her temples like she was sure she must be hallucinating. “How do you… How is that possible?”

  I spent a few minutes trying to explain the fundamentals of Shaping in the least outlandish way I could. Not that anything I said could really make it easy to swallow.

  “Show me again,” she said when I’d finished, clearly trying to convince herself the first time had been a fluke.

  I floated a leaf from the sun-soaked stone path up to hover over my hand, and channeled the heat to set it to smoking.

  She gaped for a handful of seconds then focused back on me, something shifting in her expression. “I would absolutely love to get a look at you under the microscope.”

  The four of us shared a silent look, Therese’s pale cheeks growing redder by the second until she finally sputtered, “I didn’t—Oh, that… That came out wrong.”

  I waved the comment away, smiling.

  “It’s just that that,” Therese said slowly, pointing at the ashes drifting lazily down to the ground, “seems an awful lot like magic.”

  “I won’t argue,” I said. “But we call it Shaping.”

  Therese just stared off like she was trying to piece together how such a thing was possible.

  “I probably should’ve opened with this,” I said, feeling the first pang of doubt, “but you can’t tell anyone about any of this. For your own safety, I mean.”

  “Safety?” she asked with an absentminded frown, still clearly lost in thought.

  “Yeah, it’s just, uh… Well, long story short, the Sanctum keeps a pretty tight lid on this stuff. They’ve done their best to see to it there aren’t many like me left on Enochia.”

  She focused back on me, understanding dawning in her eyes. “So that’s why they really tried to, you know?” She rubbed at her throat, right around noose level. “Sorry, it’s just… This is all a lot to take in. A lot, a lot.”

  “Oh, believe me, we understand,” Johnny said. “Especially us boring normal folk.”

  She looked around at us, remembering herself. “As many million questions as I have, I guess you all probably didn’t come here just to tell me about this, did you?”

  “We mostly just wanted to check on you,” I said.

  “Us unsung heroes gotta stick together,” Johnny added.

  “But we did have a few questions too,” I continued. “If you’re up for it.”

  Johnny sat up straighter, frowning at me. “We did?”

  “By all means,” Therese said, looking between us.

  “Hal,” Johnny said, “this wasn’t what we—”

  “Therese and I already talked about it back at Vantage,” I said, raising a pacifying hand before turning to Therese. “What I said back there about getting you a lab and a team and everything… How much do you know about those hybrid chambers?”

  “Oh.” She tilted her head, reviewing something with a faraway look. “Not much. Almost nothing, really. My work, as I guess you kind of already know, mostly dealt with trying to adapt the regenerative abilities of raknoth tissues into something we could use medically in humans. I could certainly hazard some guesses about what those chambers might be doing, and how they might be doing it. If I had a chance to study one, or maybe even a hybrid, I could probably refine those guesses.”

  “And if I told you we needed a way to track down where they might be building more of them, would you have any ideas?”

  Pale as she was after a couple months indoors, the blanching of her face was still noticeable. “Are you… trying to track down more of them?”

  “Hal…” Johnny warned.

  “We’re not sure yet. Alton Parker gave us reason to believe he might be working on other installments.”

  “Oh, for the love of…” Johnny pointedly waved his awakened palmlight. “It’s like you want me to tattle on you. It’s okay, Therese,” he added, touching her shoulder. “You’re safe here either way, but this conversation”—he half-glared at me—“is not Hal’s jurisdiction.”

  “It was my package,” I muttered.

  Therese looked between us uncertainly. “Well, I’m not so sure I’m the one you want to be talking to for this anyway. There are at least four of my colleagues here who’d know more about the chambers, and… Wait, is this classified?”

  “Incredibly classified,” Johnny said, shooting me another dark look. “Though I have it on decent authority that this isn’t going to be the last you’ll hear of it. Hal already told the High General you might be the woman for the job.”

  Therese looked at me in shock. “Why on Enochia would you do that? Not that I’m not happy to help. Give me hybrid samples and a lab, and I’ll do everything I can to try to figure out what’s happened to them and how we might try to undo it. But tracking down hybrid chambers? I’m no detective. I wouldn’t even know where to start.”

  “Nor do you need to sweat that right now,” Johnny said, rising to his feet, eyes on me. “We need to go have ourselves a refresher course on security clearances and civilians.” He looked down at Therese. “I expect the High General will be wanting to speak with you soon, but until you hear more, it’s best you pretend this conversation didn’t happen. Just like I might have to.”

  He turned expectantly to us.

  I stood, bordering between guilty and annoyed. Elise went to shake Therese’s hand and say goodbye. I followed, thinking to do the same.

  “You were the only one who had the guts to try to stop what was happening,” I said instead as I took her hand. “You had a couple dozen of the best minds on the planet in that lab. You can’t tell me a few of them hadn’t put things together and realized something was off about Alton Parker’s story. But you were the one who decided to stick your neck out and try to do something about it. That’s why I know you’re the woman for the job. I know we can trust you to do what’s right.”

  I didn’t add that I wanted an inside woman on whatever task force Glenbark might construct. That was superfluous—a happy extra.

  Therese was watching me like she was trying to decide whether or not I was simply a naive child, spouting nonsense. Her eyes drifted to the bandaged side of my face. A brain-cooked naive child, she was probably thinking.

  Behind me, Johnny cleared his throat.

  I gave Therese’s hand a squeeze and let go. “Get some rest, Therese. And thank you, for everything.”

  I left the gardens feeling just a bit more confident that this could work—that we’d find Alton’s facilities and dismantle them, piece by piece. And that I’d find Alton Parker, and do the same to him.

  “So what the scud was that, buddy?” Johnny said when we were back among the busy foot traffic of Haven.

  “I didn’t want her to be broadsided when Glenbark decides to talk to her people,” I said.

  He gave me a look that let me know the bullscud was all but leaking out my ears.

  “I didn’t tell her anything she couldn’t surmise from what she already knows,” I added.

  His look intensified.

  “Fine. I’m worried. I’m just trying to make sure we don’t lose this thing.”

  He jabbed a finger at me. “You’re just trying to keep your fingers in every little pot there is to finger.”

  Elise started to say something then thought better of it.

  He swiveled his finger to her, his eyes still on me. “Okay. Admittedly, that came out wrong, but you know what I mean. You’re acting like you need to be at the center of every part of this fight because you’re Haldin gropping Raish and all that, but you know what?”

  I arched my brows, waiting for his big punch.

  “You don’t.”

  I frowned. “That’s it?”

  Johnny shrugged. “I figured I’d keep it simple, since you seem to be incapable of noticing the tens of thousands of good men and women on this base who managed to pull their trousers on this morning without your help.”

  His
words might’ve set me off if it hadn’t been for the smile creeping over his face.

  “Johnny, I’m not—”

  He waved my excuse away. “Just promise you’ll give me a heads up next time you’re itching to go rogue?”

  “I… yeah.” I rapped my chest in casual salute. “I hereby swear to keep you informed of my every itch.”

  “How lovely,” Elise said. “At least that’ll be some weight off my—Oh.”

  She opened her palmlight and showed me an incoming call from Franco. Johnny and I pulled over to wait on an out-of-the-way bench beside one of the barracks while she took the call.

  “Any luck?” I asked a few minutes later when she was done.

  She sank to the bench beside me and shook her head. “Not with the alien ship leads, it sounds like. I told him we could try to talk to Glenbark about him having a look at Legion records when they get in.”

  “Oh yeah,” Johnny said. “I’m sure she’d be thrilled to let more civies into the top secret club. I’ll get right on that.”

  “That would be wonderful, Johnny,” Elise said, patting him on the thigh with a smile. “Thank you.”

  Johnny narrowed his eyes at her. “I have a feeling someone might’ve noticed by now if there were an alien ship sitting in storage.”

  Elise just shrugged.

  “They’re coming to Haven?” I asked.

  “Hmm?” She looked at me distractedly. “Yeah, first thing tomorrow.”

  “Everything else okay?”

  She looked at us, concern touching her eyes. “There was just… He said he had one last thing to check on, but he was pretty hushed up about it. Even by his standards.”

  “No hints?”

  She shook her head. “Not really. All he said was that it was something you’d need to be there for if the source panned out.”

  I frowned. That was unusual. I looked at Johnny, wondering what Glenbark would say if I ended up requesting leave from Haven so soon. Johnny, apparently detecting my line of thought, rolled his eyes and stood from the bench.

  “Okay, then. Johnny Wingard, servitor report, day one. Hal spilled our secrets to a civie, made some shady requests for covert ops armor, and would like to know if maybe he can go on a super vague field trip soon, for reasons he’ll probably only tell us if the mood strikes. Lise heartily abetted, further inviting her civie dad—a world-class information broker, by the way—to have a poke around our secure records. And, oh, our actual progress on Mission Mindsafe, you ask? Ha. Come back tomorrow, maybe.” He looked between us. “Does that about sum it up?”

  Elise and I traded a guilty look.

  “Would it make you feel better if we go get to work right now?” I asked.

  “It would, in fact, make me feel better, Hal. Thank you for asking.”

  “Well, let’s get to it then,” I said, absentmindedly patting Elise’s leg and preparing to stand.

  “Best idea I’ve heard all day,” Johnny said. “I’m gonna get these requisitions of ours moving, report, and maybe actually eat something today.” He glanced between us. “Unless you guys are up for food right now.”

  Elise and I traded a smile, not needing telepathy to coordinate what came next.

  “We’ve got important work to be doing here, Johnny,” I said.

  “Mission Mindsafe, number one,” Elise agreed.

  Johnny sighed and marched off, mumbling something about damn teenagers.

  “You’re three seasons older than me,” I called after him.

  He just threw both hands in the air, middle fingers soaring high.

  “And he calls us out on maturity,” I muttered.

  I turned to Elise and found her watching me with a smile that made me feel like I was seeing her for the first time in weeks. That smile. The sun basking in her raven hair. Her eyes, beckoning to me like cool slices of open sky.

  I kissed her. I couldn’t have stopped myself if I’d tried. She met the kiss gladly, her lips curling into a delicious smile against mine.

  “I love you,” I thought, relishing every bit of her closeness. “But I’m still mad at you.”

  “Oh, well that’s funny,” she murmured, her lips lightly brushing mine, “because I’m still mad at you.”

  “Well, good then.”

  “Good,” she agreed.

  I’ll admit to being slightly confused by how outrageously attracted the entire interaction left me feeling toward her, but I wasn’t going to argue as we fell into another kiss, deeper than the first. She reached to pull me in closer—

  And recoiled with a laugh as her hand found my bandage and came away coated in minty salve. For a second, I thought the moment was gone. Then she wiped her salved hand on my tunic, laughing, and pulled me in for another quick kiss.

  “So,” she whispered in my head, “back to work then, partner?”

  I nearly fell off the bench when she capped the question off with a rather captivating mental image. Mostly, I was just glad to be sitting down—especially when I glanced around and saw we were starting to draw attention.

  I swallowed. “Work, uh… Work sounds good.”

  Whatever dangerous—possibly demonic—reputation I might be accruing on base, I’m sure the sight of me chasing a raven-haired beauty through Haven like I was on fire and she was the only water on Enochia didn’t earn me many points. Then again, for anyone who got a good look at Elise, maybe it did. I didn’t really give a damn either way.

  I almost broke the door down getting into our quarters, barely noticing my battered body’s protests. Elise pinned me to the wall and kissed me so hard my legs nearly buckled. I reached to pull her in, but she slipped free and vaulted lithely over the entryway divider. There, she paused long enough to make a point of undoing the first few buttons of her shirt. Then she winked and darted into the bedroom.

  Sweet Alpha.

  I nearly tripped and killed myself in my hurry to rip my tunic off while charging around the divider. Had I been mindful of anything more than the consuming need to feel her skin against mine, I might’ve noticed her hiding in wait. My focus, however, was a bit narrow in the moment, so it came as a surprise when she caught me on my way through the door and hurled me at the bed with a well-executed arm throw.

  The world spun. I struck the soft mattress in a stupor. Then she was on top of me, and I was happily lost in a swirling storm of dark hair and delightfully warm lips on my neck, my cheek, my ear. She reached the bandaged side and laughed again. I was too busy ripping off her shirt to care. I spun us around. She hit the bed and wrapped her heels around my hips, pulling me to her. I pressed against her, relishing the smooth skin of her navel and shoulders, burying the side of her neck in kisses, working down, down. She let out a soft, wonderful sigh that made my head spin, and—

  Buzz. Buzz.

  Elise jolted at the unexpected vibration. I pulled back, Elise searching my face. My palmlight buzzed again. And again. And I slid the stupid thing off my wrist and tossed it onto the bedside table, where it continued to buzz. Elise grinned, and I was powerless to keep my lips from pulling into the widest, most stupid smile my mouth had ever seen.

  I descended for her, but she stopped me short, cupping my cheek with a gentle hand.

  “This is kind of perfect, you know?”

  In that moment, I did know. There were a lot of fires to be put out. Too many to count. And a few cargo trams’ worth of payback I needed to see served up before I had any hope of sleeping through the night. Things weren’t going at all as planned.

  But right then, together in that room, her eyes on mine, her heart beating against mine, I couldn’t be bothered to care about anything else.

  The palmlight stopped buzzing, and we started in again, moving more deliberately this time, removing what clothing remained.

  And that’s when the alarms started.

  Or the alarm, rather—a single, nasally wail, blared through amps all across the base. I sighed, pressing my forehead to hers. “You’ve gotta be kidding me…”
>
  Across the room, the display flickered to life. An emergency alert, I knew. I held Elise’s eyes, not wanting to look, not wanting to leave this moment behind. But neither one of us could ignore it.

  The news wasn’t good. Preliminary reports of half a dozen attacks across Enochia. Small towns. Seemingly at random. Hybrids confirmed at the scenes. I reached for my palmlight. Two missed calls and a string of messages from Johnny.

  “Scud.” I looked from her eyes, down to the lean, glorious curves of her naked body. Back to her eyes. My hands curling into fists.

  She held my eyes, wanting to tell me to let it go. Knowing full well that neither of us could.

  “Scud,” I all but spat, sitting up and swiping to call Johnny. Frustrated as I was, it took me three tries.

  “You can’t go out there,” Elise said beside me, pulling on clothes like she was preparing to stop me if I tried. “You almost died yesterday. You can’t go charging—”

  “Son of a gropping…” came Johnny’s voice from the palmlight. “Hal! Are you—”

  “What the scud’s going on out there, Johnny?”

  “Oh… Rustled wrinklies, I thought I was upset. You get called away from a perfectly good steak too?”

  “Johnny,” I growled. “What’s the plan? What are we doing?”

  “Plan?” He sounded distracted, like he was busy processing something on his end. “No plan, broto. We’re grounded, remember? We’ve already got legions airbound for all six towns.”

  “We could help, Johnny.”

  “Not gonna happen. Glenbark’s orders.”

  “What do you mean, not gonna—Why did you even call, then?”

  “Can’t a guy be worried about his broto?”

  “Johnny.”

  “I wanted to make sure you hadn’t caught wind before the alarm and tried to do anything crazy.”

  “What, like stow away on a transport?”

  He hesitated. “It’d hardly be the most drastic move you’d ever pulled.”

  “Goodbye, Johnny.”

  “Wait! Wait. I know this sucks, Hal. I know. I’d rather be out there too. But just because we’re grounded doesn’t mean we can’t save lives. Focus on Mission Mindsafe. You’re the only one who c—”