Demon Accords 8: College Arcane (31 page)

“What’s DARPA?” Michelle asked.

“Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
The government’s technology think tank. They do a lot with robots…
particularly military robots,” T.J. answered.

“So what? You think the government will be
sending Robbie the Robot or the Terminator after us?” Delwood
laughed.

“No. Those designs are both stupid. Who
builds a robot that mimics a human when you could build one that
overcomes all our flaws and weaknesses? I mean, come on, do you
think a really well-designed robot will move as slow as Arnold
Schwarzenegger? Hell no. They’re going to react at the speed of
electricity and move as fast as, well, a machine,” T.J. said.

The class gaped at him and I think he
realized how impassioned he’d gotten over it. It was his turn to
blush.

“That’s interesting, T.J. If you’re right,
that’s a whole new threat for the supernaturals of the world,” Gina
said.

“And the regular humans, too,” I said. She
raised one eyebrow in question. “Well, come on. Artificial
intelligence is just around the corner. Who says it’ll be friendly?
And if it’s got T.J.’s super killers, well, the ordinary folks
could be the first to go.”

“Not to mention the Internet of Things,
factory and corporate automation, and the digitalization of almost
everything,” T.J. added.

“Wow. You guys are downers,” Matthew said,
inadvertently making about half the class laugh.

“But really, that can’t happen, right?” Erika
asked. “I mean, our elected officials wouldn’t do that, would
they?”

“You mean the same people who imprisoned
God’s Hammer on Earth?” Ariel asked.

“Wouldn’t matter if our leaders didn’t do
it—China, Japan, Russia, or someone else will eventually,” I
said.

“You two
are
downers,” Gina said. “What do you
think is the solution?”

“I think it’s likely that multiple AI’s will
develop at around the same time. We just have to design one that’s
interested in keeping us alive… and it has to be better than the
others,” I said.

“How do you know all this tech shit, witch
boy?” Delwood asked, his curiosity apparently real even if his
words were snarky.

“I’m a computer science major,” I said.

“And a witch? Didn’t see that one coming,” he
muttered.

“Alright, let’s use the rest of the time to
finish up your essays that were due today,” Gina said. Shit, I had
completely forgotten about the essay. Breaking out paper and pen, I
started to try and brainstorm something. Gina wandered around the
room, talking to different kids. When she got to me, she smiled at
my mostly blank paper. “Also, Declan, what do you need for your
golem project?”

“I need everyone who wants one to write their
name on a piece of paper, sign it, fold it, and put a hair from
your head in the fold,” I said.

“Wait, give a witch a hair? I don’t think
so,” Janek said.

“If he wanted a hair from you, wolf, he could
just pull it from your sweater or your coat,” Katrina said, handing
me a folded piece of lined notebook paper. “If you mess with me
with this, I’ll hurt you,” she warned quietly. I gulped, took the
paper, and nodded.

“In light of recent events, I’ll give you
until tomorrow night to turn in your essay, Declan. Don’t rush it,”
Gina said, openly amused at the exchange.

Having dodged yet another bullet, I thanked
her and spent the rest of class outlining my essay. And piling up
folded papers.

Chapter 28

“
Blyat!
” blasted out of the darkness
of the factory’s first floor. I don’t speak Russian but somehow I
didn’t think Arkady was happy with the results of his
attack.

My guess was backed up by the four shattered
support beams strewn about the concrete floor. He’d been blasted
through them after assaulting me from behind.

Caeco’s reactive armor idea had worked out
rather well. Ignoring the stream of other Russian words that were
most likely not congratulatory, I ran across the floor to the far
side. My rules were the same; traverse each floor till I reached
the top.

As I ran, I worked up the next surprise, one
that would take advantage of the cold, dry, dusty air around me.
Earth Craft let me control the buildup of negative ions on the
outside of my shields, the dry air helping immensely. Climbing the
stairs, I took a quick glance around, pressed my witchy senses
outward and then, feeling nothing, started across the open joists.
Halfway across, I felt the passage of wind just before a loud snap
cracked at the same time a flash of blue light lit up the room
around me.

The image of Tanya’s surprised face burned
onto my retinas, her form briefly frozen by the huge static shock
that had discharged when she touched me. Super fast vampires moving
through dusty winter air created tremendous potential for static.
The wood joist floor was a natural insulator, and my own
consciously charged shields had boosted the resulting arc of
electricity.

I didn’t think it would slow her for long, so
I instantly thrust a kinetic burst in her general direction while
still picking my way over the dangerous flooring. I made it to the
stairwell just as she hit me from behind. Again, my shield reacted,
blasting force back at her strike. I had layered my shields,
putting a spell between them that would essentially explode outward
with any disruption. Despite the protection of the inner shield, I
was thrown forward hard enough to stumble into the stairwell.

Jumping up, I looked around. Tanya was gone
again. I turned and took advantage of the pause to head upward.
Rushing up the stairs, my head met a wooden beam that appeared
across the opening. Or rather, my shield met a beam and blasted it.
But the beam was wedged into place across the stairwell and had
nowhere to go. I, on the other hand, had no such restriction, my
body being completely free to go flying back down the stairs and
hit the floor. Which set off the shields on my lower body,
exploding me back up to hit the ceiling. Again I was thrown back
down hard, then up, my constantly reacting shields bouncing me up
and down until I thought to take them down and stop the
insanity.

No sooner had my battered body settled to the
floor when a single finger touched my head and a voice said, “Bang…
you’re dead.”

“Thank you. I needed someone to put me out of
my misery,” I muttered, lying in place and attempting to take stock
of my aches and pains. Chris smiled at me before reaching a hand
for me to take. As soon as I grasped it, I was hauled up with the
force of a crane.

“So cool. What was it you did?” Tanya asked
from the spot next to Chris that she had just appeared in.

“Caeco thought I could make my shields into
reactive armor. It would be a counter to your speed. The static was
my idea.”

“Clever. Both defenses overcame our speed,”
Tanya said, smiling.

“But not the building itself,” Stacia said,
peering down from the third floor as she slid the treacherous beam
back from the opening.

“I like this one, my Queen,” Arkady rumbled
as he jumped lightly up from the floor below, somehow forcing his
bulk through the narrow joists. “He learns fast, yah?”

“Very,” she agreed, reaching out to brush
bits of wood off my sweatshirt.

“Learning to get my ass kicked,” I
muttered.

“Spar with the pride of the Darkkin world you
do, young Jedi,” Stacia said in a passable Yoda voice, sitting on
the steps above me. “Did you expect to win? Against them? You’ve
done really well,” she said in more normal tones.

“Yeah, till the building beat me up,” I
said.

“Are you hurt?” Chris asked.

“No, just bounced around like a jumping
bean,” I replied.

“So you learned to shield yourself well
enough to stop the equivalent of an Elder vampire and even with the
explosive cycle you got caught in, your protections kept you safe.
It was only when you removed them completely that you met your
fate. So what did you learn?”

“Drop the outer shield to stop the cycle,
keep the inner one up... and look where I’m going. Oh, and we
tested it. My shield, that is. It will stop bullets,” I said.

Arkady rubbed his beard thoughtfully while
Chris and Tanya exchanged a glance.

“Was that safe?” Tanya asked.

“Mack was very careful to shoot at the shield
where I projected it ahead of my fingers. So yeah, I think it was
pretty safe,” I said.

“I like those two, Mack and Jetta. They’ve
been through personal hell, but they survived, thrived, hunted down
their parents’ killers and kept together,” Stacia said.

Tanya eyed her for a moment. “I hate to agree
with you, but I must. You have good friends, Declan,” she said.

“Somehow, I think you two had a hand in our
roommate selections,” I noted.

“Hell, we handpicked half the kids at this
school,” Chris said. “Of course we picked your and Caeco’s
roommates.”

“You’ve done a lot for me and Caeco… why?” I
asked.

Chris looked surprised. “Well, some of it
should be obvious. You two saved Toni. That’s a debt we can never
repay. But besides that, we see a tremendous potential in you two
and want to foster it. Along with all the other kids we picked for
Arcane.”

“Well, thanks. But who picked the other
kids?” I asked.

“Stewart and his people,” Chris said, his
tone cold.

“Oh, that reminds me. I think I have the
answer to your exploding necklace problem,” I said. They got really
focused and really serious. It was a little bit intimidating… okay,
it was flat-out intimidating, but I don’t think they meant
anything. It was just a very heavy topic for them.

Gulping a couple of times to clear my
suddenly constricted throat, I told them about the anti-magic
bracelets and the battle magic glyphs, showing them the black ink
on my wrists and the remains of the henna tattoos.

“But those are now permanent? Even as they
fade?” Stacia asked.

“My aunt says the henna may completely
disappear but the magical outline will always be there. See, they
glow a little if I power them up,” I said, putting just a hint of
power to the one on the back of my right hand. “In daylight, that
would just turn black. Kinda freaky, but I’m glad they won’t show
all the time.”

“We will explore your glyph
powers later, but how does that help
us
with restraints?” Tanya
asked.

“Don’t you see? If I can make these, then I
can make similar ones that will allow all of you to cut any neck or
wrist bonds with a thought,” I said.

“We don’t have magic,” Arkady pointed
out.

“You don’t have to. All it
takes is
my
magic
to draw the glyphs.”

“Do you know for sure that it will work?”
Chris asked.

“Not fully, but I’m pretty sure. See, I have
to make a bunch of golems for the non-magical kids to use in our
school game. Those golems will each be tied to one kid, but the
power they run off of is mine. As I perfect them, I can write
glyphs that will protect each of your team from restraints.”

“We don’t take tattoos very well,” Arkady
rumbled.

“Actually, some of the wolves in the
Mallecks’ pack get tattoos. The ink has a tiny amount of silver and
a hint of wolfsbane. Not enough to be harmful, but it prevents the
design from disappearing through Changes or accelerated healing,”
Stacia said.

“We’ll figure something out, but they may end
up like mine—magical and not truly ink-based. Caeco will help me
work them out. She really likes the idea of being able to defeat
any restraints or prisoner collars,” I said.

“Seeing as she is already a highly trained
and skilled operator, that makes sense,” Tanya said. “You, on the
other hand, while skilled and powerful, lack crucial training. So
now we will do some hand to hand sparring.”

“With you?” I asked in disbelief.

“No, we will use the wolf,” she said, rolling
her eyes in Stacia’s direction.

The beautiful blonde flashed a sarcastic
smile back at her before turning to me and smiling for real. “Come
on. I’ll be kind,” she said. “I hope you don’t have any hangups
about fighting with a girl?”

“Hello? Guy with bioengineered assassin
girlfriend, remember? She beats me up all the time,” I said.

“Welcome to my world,” Chris said. “Just hold
back the magical responses for this one.”

“But Declan,” Tanya said after a brief
narrow-eyed glare at Chris. “Don’t ever, ever allow anyone else to
cripple your magic again.”

“I’ve already made that vow,” I said,
standing up to follow Stacia up the stairs to my imminent doom.

Chapter 29

The week passed in a blur of training,
homework, golem construction, teaching witches to construct golems,
more training, more homework, and finally the weekend… where I got
caught up on homework.