Page 13 of Dark Reckoning
“It's been a long, busy day,” Adrian said as he settled on the sofa next to me. We were both dressed in T-shirts and sweats. I didn't have any plans on leaving the house after what we had gone through.
“So, we're now members of the Council,” I said.
“Yeah, and it's so weird because a month ago, I had no idea they even existed. To think that they've been behind the scenes all of this time keeping the peace,” Adrian said.
“Now, we'll be expected to do the same,” I said, and I wasn't all that interested in being some gatekeeper. My plate was already full and quite frankly, so was Adrian's. But even if we hadn't unleashed a Dark God into our world, the Echelon Imperial was going to force us to join one way or the other. It couldn't be avoided.
“We need to look at our grimoire to see if there are any spells we can use,” Adrian said. “We don't have time to waste.”
“Shi is on her way with food. Let's eat first, then research. We'll be able to concentrate more with full stomachs,” I suggested.
Adrian nodded and laid his head back on my shoulder. “What if we can't stop him?”
“I don't think that's the problem. Kakashi knows how to stop him. But what we're trying to avoid is the carnage we witnessed seventeen hundred years ago. Wherever we take down El-Kazier, I'm willing to bet he'll be in a big city. The last Dark God was in a big city in those times. And two cities were completely destroyed trying to rid the world of Sana Doré. That will be millions today. That's what we're trying to avoid,” I said. “But if we can't, millions will die and it will still be worth it to save the billions we can.”
“I don't want to lose anyone,” Adrian said, and I knew he would. “We need to be able to trap him in a way that takes him into another plane. One where the people of our world won't be affected. Or at least seal him off.”
“If we can. If not, we need to be able to at least take him someplace remote enough to take him down. Preferably not an island, or anywhere with a fault line or volcano,” I said. I let my fingertips run up and down the length of Adrian's back. It felt good to touch him and I knew he found my hands on him comforting.
“Those creatures he's creating, we need to contact Salino to let him know. If he can make them out of vampires or griezels, they need a heads up,” Adrian said.
“You're right, and I need to let my Pride know. When Shi gets here, I'll have her gather who she can and put everyone else on the same page. I want them here where they can be protected,” I said.
“I get to see you be the big, bad Lion King,” Adrian said as he looked up at me, grinning.
“I'm always that, baby,” I said, then leaned down, kissing him. I decided to contact Salino to bring him up to speed. I was too tired to use our mental connection. Instead, I called him and he answered on the fourth ring.
“Is this an emergency because if not, I'm very busy,” Salino said by way of greeting, with his snooty, French ass. Between him and Aldéric, they were working my nerves.
“Yeah, it is,” I shot back.
He gave a hefty sigh and it made me curious as to what had him stressed out. Heavy was the head that wore the crown. He was the new vampire emperor, so I guessed his hands would be full.
“What is it?” he asked.
“We have a problem. When Adrian and I severed the link to the Dark God that gave vampires their powers, we unleashed him into this world,” I said, just getting to the point.
“Oh shit,” he hissed.
“And he's feeding on humans and supernals alike and turning them into monsters. Like fucking rabid-ass zombies in a way. And every person they feed on turns into whatever the fuck they are,” I said.
“Did something happen to you and Adrian? I felt a ripple in our link this time between both of you. I did call out to you telepathically and on your cell, but you didn't answer. I knew you were alive, so I didn't panic,” Salino said.
For a second, I wanted to say, “Aww, you cared.” But this wasn't the time for my signature sarcasm. Also, it kind of made me happy that he would have panicked if something had happened to Adrian or me.
“We had to join the Echelon Imperial. There was no other way around it. Together, we need to stop the Dark God. I'm telling you so you can let the vampires know this is a problem we're all facing,” I informed him.
“That's just one of the problems I'm having to deal with,” Salino said. “Now that you've told me about this Dark God and the creatures he's creating, I understand the sensation I felt before.”
I frowned. “What kind of sensation?”
“The connection I share with thirty of my vampires has been severed. I can feel every vampire connected to me in my line, and I know when they die because I felt it when I killed Oscar,” Salino said. “I have reached out to my vampires to see if anyone knew anything and they didn't. I figured I was under attack from the other emperors. But now you tell me about the Dark God. If he can feed on vampires and turn them into these things you speak of, I wonder if that's what happened to them. Did you see one of these things? Did it try to attack you?”
“No—I mean, I saw it, but not face to face. It was with the help of magic that gave me a vision of what was happening. I saw it feeding on a human and what it looked like and what happened to the human less than a minute after they had died. At the rate these things can transform others, the world could be overrun with them in a few weeks' time. Hell, in a week, Chicago might be doomed. That's why we have to work fast,” I said.
“Mon Dieu,” Salino said.
“At least now, we know why no other experienced mage would help you before,” I said, accepting the fact that I was inexperienced enough to not know what I was doing wrong by breaking the contract. I thought that by re-establishing the link, all would be well.
