Have you heard of the Cassandra curse? Where those hearing the Sibyl's prophecy are fated to not believe it? It is real. It exists. It took 'Phina quite a bit of time, and a lot of examples, to get me to accept that. She knows what is going to happen to everyone, should she chose to look. She normally doesn't choose. Except for herself. That she simply cannot see. It is slightly reassuring that she was as surprised and shocked as me at what happened between us. Also worrying. Events she is involved in, she also cannot see well. So the whole Reaver and it's summoner issue is clouded. I hate the thought that the mother of my children is going to be in danger, with no guarantee she'll make it out OK. There are rules for dealing with the Sibyl – she can only answer direct questions from the person involved. She can only volunteer information if you ask correctly. Don't ask me why it is so, it just is – it is like the Torah telling you not to eat lobster. Just one of those annoyances you have to put up with, to deal with the higher powers. It just is.
Still. She can tell me if I am going to screw up big time. We worked out the way of me asking, so she can answer whenever she sees, eventually. It took a a while, and was rather pleasurable in spots. Any warning is useful. Like right now.
Her voice cracks like a whip “Down! Roll!” Drop and roll, sword coming up in a perfect arc and removing the ghoul's head. I hadn't even seen it appear. She had shouted the instant before it ported in. This is getting ridiculous. Demons don't target, they simply appear at existing wormholes. It gets offensive, when they stop obeying the rules. Or enemy action.
“'Phina, can you hide us from view for the next bit? I can handle the physical surveillance, but Seers I have no defense against. And I'll not bring a demon on Marta and Luigi again, if I can help it. Once is enough.”
“She is stronger than you think, dearest, as is he. But I have clouded our movements. No Seer shall see us.” So, unseen by cameras, which are stupid and easily fooled, and unfollowed by seers, which are not so easily confounded, we made it to Marta's place. To a scene of organised chaos.
The back room was packed. Ronnie and Hans, arguing over a bit of information. Luigi, scowling at some ancient manuscript, written in such a cramped, spidery hand that it would be a wonder the original writer could actually read it. James, gesturing largely to two guys, obvious muscle but intelligent too, and giving orders, while Brent sits, quietly sipping a glass of wine, a map in front of him. Enrique, pacing back and forth, discussing something animatedly with Margareta. Luis, monitor in his ear, tuning out the chatter as he follows the ebb and flow of Demon Central dispatch.
And Ahitana, my old friend, seated in a corner with Sergei, cradling his shotgun, Flash curled at his feet. Rush forward. Wind up on my knees beside him.
“You should not be out of bed, old friend! Your injuries cannot have healed!”
“I came to say goodbye. My time is over.” He looks peacefully resigned. “The medics say I shall be dead within the week. Heart is failing fast, and my people do not accept artificial aids. So I am going home to my family.” Ahitana's family have been dead for years. Not good. He gazes pensively into Flash's eyes for a minute. “My friend here would stay with you, should you be willing. She says you have no idea how to protect kits.”
“But...”
“It would be a kindness. Her family is long gone, and she would not be happy in the Masai Mara. She has been a little spoiled by civilisation, with its meat on demand. And the prey she hunts now, with Yah's grace, will never be found there.”
She turns and blinks at me. “Stay with Cat. Hunt bad. Kill”
What's a guy going to say, No? “'Phina, you OK with Flash staying with us?”
She smiles across the room. “She is not only most welcome, it is required by fate. We have already discussed it.”
This fate shit is getting on my nerves. Really. Prefer Him when he gets out of my fucking way and lets me do my job in peace. “Old friend, it will be as you say. If fortune favors us, maybe we can take that trip into the savannah and have that drink we always talked of.”
He smiles gently. “That will never be. Call your lady. I can give you one last gift.” Seraphina is already there. Luigi quietly and subtly moves people away, giving us some space. She places a hand on each of our heads.
“You see, brother of mine. This is how you become invisible to the demons. Anyone can do it, if they really need to know how.” Behind the explanation, as I feel my mind twisting and adjusting to use this new ability, I see a terrified boy of ten, with only a few of the tattoos that mark his culture, family and history. Hiding, in time honored childhood fashion, under the blankets of his bed from the hideous demon stalking his small village. Killing his entire extended family.
“My friend, I did not know.”
“No one does. It is my shame I hid, and lived.” His mental voice is growing faint. “Do not feel shame for your sorrows, it is such a waste of l ...” Check, he is unconscious, not dead. But his life spark is waning. Marta touches my shoulder gently.
“We will take him upstairs and put him to bed. I will sit with him until it is time. It will not be long. You do your job, cara mio.” James, summoned by some magic of Marta's lifts him lightly, as if he was no more than a child, and follows Marta upstairs, shepherded by Flash.
Glance around, the room. People moving to the table, settling down and ready to report. I start.
“Luis. Number here.” Toss him the bit of paper. “Call it, say code forty four and give the co-ordinates and we'll have a strike team, courtesy of the Toronto RRF wherever we need it within 10 minutes. They will not have Operative defences, so tap a couple of Twos you can trust to bounce through fast and cover them. Briggs was specifically requested, co-ordinate with him. I'll arrange to second him there on extended training for the duration. Make sure your backup comms guy has a copy and knows the drill.” He nods, reads the number into his implant then passes it to Don Brent. A surprising selection for backup, but he is right. Better to keep it tight.
Since my eye is already on him, “Don Brent, what do you have?” He flicks the map on, the holo projecting over the table and easily readable from any angle.
“We have two confirmed and three possible locations which have, in the words of one of my people, gone bad. Disappearances and unexplained deaths are way up in all five locations, but I would concentrate on Seattle and Hong Kong first.”
“Why those two, specifically?” Hans, who obviously has some matching information of his own asks.
“There is a two to four block area in each town where the girls refuse to go. Not just the street girls, but the expensive escorts too. And a girl that earns a good living usually has a well developed empathic sense. They are the closest thing to detectors we have.” It is true. Any highly empathic person feels a demon presence as a sort of revulsion. He quickly partitions and zooms the map, focussing on the segments in question.
Hans pokes his finger at the Seattle map. “There is a security force lock down in place on this building, right here. The official story is a toxic chemical leak from one of the old underground storage chambers. No one goes in. At all.”
Glance at Luis. He shakes his head. “No request received by Dispatch from North America for a dispersal team. Maybe the idiots are trying to deal with it themselves again.” He sounds disgusted. We have had problems with the former USA before.
Ronnie leans forward and looks at the Hong Kong map intently. “You know, this tower right on the edge of the discomfort zone belongs to the Vatican. Under about fifteen holding companies, but title is there. But shouldn't it be in the center, if it is infested?”
Nod. “War Lyches or buruburu. Both give off distinctive odors which cause fear or panic. See how the discomfort zone is more conical in shape on the Hong Kong map? Bet that aligns perfectly with the prevailing winds, and our Vatican building is the source.”
“You will be taking in a team.” Margareta's voice is chill. I turn but am cut off by Luis.
“Yes. He will be. And I will be on it. It is our duty.” He waves his hands in the air. “Who else is there to protect the innocents?”
“Luis ...” I begin.
“No, Cat. You need my skills, and maybe my Sight. I come on the mission.” Mouth a straight slash, eyes firm on my face. I sigh. Damned pride comes into play at the most awkward moments.
“OK, but make sure Don Brent has copies of everything he needs as your backup. I mean EVERYTHING. Secure comms too. And, if you get another bad news flash, I expect you to tell me, then hit your recall button on your own this time.”
Enrique half rises. “If you are going in, you will need these.” He slides a pair of chunky Rolex watches across the table. “Ignore the cases, they were just something I had in the workshop. Press the red button once you have arrived. It will prevent your Reaver from creating a wormhole. Press the black button when you have finished, or when someone must be recovered. It is not quite perfect, and destablises ordinary wormholes, so must be switched off when those are in use.”
Seraphina picks one up and snaps it around her wrist. She looks at me defiantly.
“Another fate thing?” She nods. “The next time I see Him, I am going to kick him right in the fucking balls.”
“OK, Luigi? You have something to add, I know. Tell us.”
“It is bad, amico mio.” He looks distressed. “Your Reaver, she is not an ordinary demon. She is not a Reaver at all. She is a Soul Eater. Every soul she has eaten is inside her – a part of her. Along with all the skills and abilities of the people who's souls she has taken.”
“Damn. She has Francis and Tanekawa in there? He always kicked my ass in training, and she knows all my moves.” This has suddenly gone from complex but doable to downright difficult.
“It is worse,” he now looks truly miserable. “Soul Eaters, unlike most demons in our plane, can breed. And they usually do. Prolifically.”
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