Demonicus (Overworld Underground Book 2) (34 page)

"Precisely," Vallaena said. "Kassallandra somehow devised a way to maintain the link to Haedaemos even though she possessed an empty body."

"She's not the nicest person in the world." David rolled his eyes. "But if you go see her, maybe she'll help you out."

"For the time being, maybe we should get back to planning." I wasn't sure how I felt about Tyler becoming a Daemos—if it were even possible.

Vallaena turned to George. "We bring thirty Daemos to battle—nearly everyone we have available in Atlanta."

"That's a very generous number," George said, "though I'm surprised House Slade doesn't have more people in the area."

"We are stretched thin, preparing for other great threats to the realm." Rather than elaborate, Vallaena inspected the map. "I hired noms who specialize in covert demolitions to destroy the earth at the cemetery last night in the hopes it might delay the demons."

"You used noms in a supernatural operation?" George said.

"They have been to the orientation," she said. "They know the dangers."

That reminded me about our orientation. Surely, preventing the destruction of Atlanta qualified as a reason to miss class tonight.

"Did they report any people on site?" George asked.

She nodded. "A dozen men were using heavy construction equipment to flatten the earth and remove stumps and other obstacles to drawing the pattern."

"Noms or possessed?"

She shrugged. "I did not ask. My people were, unfortunately, unable to do their work, as more workers arrived and began deploying nom weapons around the perimeter."

"They've also warded the area with an obfuscation spells," George said, displaying a live feed of the area. "As you can see, the grassy field in the southwest quadrant of Westview Cemetery looks unaltered."

"Is it an illusion spell?" I asked.

George nodded. "Our scouts are attempting to break through the wards."

I posed another question. "How long do we have before they complete the pattern?"

"It should take them several hours," George said. "They will probably have it ready by the time night falls."

Kanaan spoke. "The enemy is prepared, motivated, and ruthless." His voice was low and rough, but confident. "I believe we have even less time."

Tiny worry lines appeared on George's forehead. "I'll have a live feed of the area in a few minutes, Master Kanaan. Then we'll have a better idea."

Those few minutes passed slowly. Finally, George's phone rang. He projected a large image above the middle of the table.

A person covered from head to foot in Templar armor appeared. "Sir, we're in position."

"Very good, Agent Beamis," George replied. "We're ready to see what's inside."

She nodded. "The ASE is in position. We're falling back before we're discovered." The image blinked to an overhead view, displaying a wide barren patch of orange-red clay. Dozens of yellow construction vehicles lined the edges of the lot heaping piles of grass, trees, and other debris into a long barrier. Hundreds of people moved about the area, with many putting what looked like the final touches on a huge circular pattern. Nearly half of the etched lines gleamed crimson with the blood of the anointed.

"I was wrong," Kanaan said. "We have no time left at all."

Chapter 29

"Smart enemies are a pain in the ass," David said. "Maybe we should just kick down their front door and beat the shit out of them."

"The direct path of the aggressor may be the shortcut to defeat." Kanaan shook his head.

David rolled his eyes. "Smart allies are also a pain in the ass."

Kanaan ignored him. "They have wards to bar direct line of sight from outside the perimeter. This protects them from a remote assault. They barricaded the north with construction vehicles and debris." He marked a red line on the north side of the area. "Open fields with only tombstones for cover would make an eastern approach dangerous." Once again, he drew a red line. "The south and west offer the concealment of the forest. I prefer the west, because the sun will be in their eyes by the time we attack."

"I agree with Master Kanaan," Vallaena said. "But we might need a diversion."

"How about dropping explosives from a flying car?" Tyler asked.

"Their obfuscation wards make an aerial assault difficult," George said. He pointed out four circles near the edge of the property. "These are nom machine gun emplacements. Anything in the air would be shot down before it even got through their wards."

"Not to mention anything on the ground," Tyler said.

People offered various ideas, but none seemed practical.

My half-hearted suggestion was using fighter jets and bombs. George didn't even entertain the idea, and instead held up a hand to draw attention back to himself. "I'm afraid we'll have to proceed without a diversion."

"What if we planted explosives on the construction vehicles as if we were trying to break through there?" I said.

He paused and looked at Vallaena. "Can your specialists get the job ready in an hour?"

"I think so." She took out an arcphone and made a call.

George turned back to me. "Excellent idea, Miss Glass."

I caught a smile from my mother. It filled me with delight and reminded me that she and I still had something to discuss.

"If the demons complete the pattern and it is sealed by the anointed, we will first try to lure one of the demon lords onto the pattern so Vallaena can banish them."

"We're gonna need the true names first," David said.

"I have Karak's." I tapped a finger on my chin. "If we could get him on the pattern, Vallaena could exorcise him."

"I won't be able to do so without complete protection," Vallaena said. "Somehow, we must hold off the other demon lords."

"We'll need to thin the herd before we exorcise Karak," David said. "Once we wipe out the lessers and the knights, that should make it a lot easier for Vallaena to do her thing."

George folded his arms over his chest and nodded. "Agreed. If we fail to break the pattern by exorcism, Mr. Sticks and I will use the counter-patterns to end it."

"Hang on." I raised a hand. "If any pattern will break the daemonculus, why don't we just exorcise a lesser on it?"

"A lesser's pattern is far too weak to override the daemonculus," Vallaena said. "Not even a knight would suffice. Only a demon lord's pattern is powerful enough to overwrite it."

A Templar entered the room. "Agent Walker, I'm Lieutenant Reed. Commander Borathen sent me with a hundred soldiers to help you."

"Excellent, Lieutenant. We're almost ready to move out." George drew a final battle plan on the map and gave us our assignments. Kanaan, my parents, and Tyler were in my group.

"What are you a master of?" Tyler asked Kanaan as we put on our Templar armor and weapons.

Kanaan had no bladed weapons I could see. Instead, two sheathed wands clung about thigh-high to the sides of his robe, and two compact staffs dangled from holsters at his waist. "I do not profess mastery of anything, only proficiency," he said. "I am here by the order of Captain Takei of the Blue Cloaks along with ten of our best battle mages."

"Blue Cloaks?" That was another faction I hadn't heard of.

"The militarized arm of the Arcanes." Kanaan regarded me. "It is my duty to get you close to the demon lords so you can learn their true names. Even if Vallaena can banish Karak on the pattern and break it, we will still need to banish the other demon lords."

"Is that why George put you with us?" Tyler stepped in front of me and shook his head at Kanaan. "There's no way I'm letting her near those monsters."

"Your reluctance is understandable, but our duty is unavoidable." Kanaan stepped closer to Tyler. "You will be her bearer. It is your responsibility to stay close to me and bring Emily close to the demon lords so she can touch them."

At this, Tyler's forehead furrowed. "How am I supposed to do that? Give her a piggyback ride?"

"A flying carpet would be preferable, but impractical in this case." Kanaan put a fist to his chin as if thinking it over. Finally, he nodded. "Yes, a piggyback ride might work best."

"You must be bloody kidding," I said.

"Perhaps you should practice before we deploy." Kanaan looked quite serious.

"Well, if you say so." Tyler still looked uncertain, but if I had to rely on his supernatural speed and strength to get me around, riding on his back sounded easier than him cradling me or balancing me on his shoulders.

"Maybe pulling me in a little red wagon would be better," I suggested.

He didn't laugh.

"Our transports are ready," George said. "Everyone assemble in the garage."

As the room emptied, I went to my parents and stopped them from leaving. "We need to finish our conversation."

My father nodded. "Your mother told me. Unfortunately, we don't know much more."

I gave them an imploring look. "You don't know who my real grandparents are?"

"We can find them together after this is over." Mum took my hands. "I know we haven't been a real family in a long time, Emily. Perhaps this will give me a chance to know the woman my little girl has grown into."

I felt tears well in my eyes.

"Can I speak to you for a moment?" Tyler said to Patrick.

"Sure." The pair walked away.

I squeezed Mum in a tight hug. "I can't wait. We can take a vacation and do some genealogy research."

"Sounds delightful." She kissed my forehead. "I'm certain that together we can find answers."

"Do you think Lydia will help?" I asked.

Mother's eyes grew troubled. "It's hard to say. Your aunt seems content to let the past remain firmly in the past. I tried piquing her interest, but she always refused—calmly and meekly, of course."

I chuckled. "I'll bet you wanted to punch her."

Mum laughed. "More times than you can imagine, dear. She can be very trying."

Tyler and my father returned, both smiling.

"You two must have kissed and become friends," I said dryly.

"It took some time, but after learning a bit more about jade spirits and seeing Tyler in action, I have to admit he's a good guy." Dad shrugged. "I figured it was time to let go of past prejudices and get over my issues."

Tyler's grin was so wide, he almost looked giddy. He kissed my cheek. "I was going to wait for a better time, but considering the odds we're facing, I didn't want to wait another minute."

I laughed. "To become friends with my father?"

He dropped to a knee and opened a box with a brilliant diamond ring inside. "Emily Glass, you are the most precious person in this world to me. You're my best friend, my lover, and my trusted companion. Being with you has taught me things about myself I never would have discovered on my own. I can't envision a future without you in it." A nervous smile lingered on his lips. "Em, will you marry me?"

I couldn't speak. Tears of joy blurred my vision and I laughed with delight. "Yes, yes, and again, yes!" I rubbed the moisture from my eyes.

Tyler slid the ring onto my finger, took me in his arms, and kissed me long and hard. "Love you, Em."

"I love you, Tyler." I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him again. When we at last pulled away, I saw Mum wrapped in Dad's big arms.

"Well, I suppose we should get this unpleasantness over with," Mum said, wiping at her red eyes. "I, for one, am ready to enjoy a vacation."

Dad chuckled. "It's been way too long."

It was time to go.

Tyler practiced giving me a piggyback ride by running down the hall to the levitators while my parents hurried to keep up. So long as I wrapped my legs around his waist, it worked remarkably well.

We met George's small army in the garage where everyone piled into large metal boxes.

George pointed to one such box where Kanaan sat. "You'll take that slider."

I didn't have a chance to ask him why they were called sliders.

Once everyone was situated, George signaled for us to depart. The outward appearance of the boxes flickered and suddenly they resembled large helicopters, complete with spinning blades, though they made no sound. They lifted off and slid quickly up the ramp, out of the barn and into the air. The pilot touched a button and the slider emitted a loud whumping noise, much like a normal helicopter.

"So many toys, so little time," Tyler mused.

We traversed the city quickly. My nerves fluttered one moment then tightened into a knot so hard, I could barely breathe. I wondered how many would be killed in this little war. I wondered if tomorrow the dawn might greet a demon overlord and a destroyed city.

Before I could give it much more thought, the slider's artificial sounds went silent and we flew low over houses and past a tract of crumbling red brick warehouses. Moments later, the transport reached a clearing near a small asphalt road. I noticed we were the only transport to set down in this location. The pilot touched a button and the outside of the slider went invisible, much like George's car.

We disembarked and gathered next to Kanaan who seemed to be our de-facto team leader.

"We wait for the Templars to engage the enemy from the east, then we will approach from the south," he said.

That explains where the others went.

I had more to ask him when I noticed a low-flying chopper—a real one—zip overhead and toward the cemetery. Sirens wailed in the distance.

A voice emanated from the pendant Kanaan wore on his collar. "This is Agent Walker. Nom police forces are entering the combat zone."

Explosions boomed in the distance, presumably as Vallaena's people destroyed the construction vehicles.

"Why are the police here?" I said. "Did they see through the obfuscation spell?"

"Oh, shit." Tyler gave me an open-mouthed look. "They must have found my map."

I wasn't entirely upset. If the police were firing on the demon forces, we might have a chance with the extra manpower. "Detective Long is in for quite a surprise."

"It would appear we have double the diversion," Kanaan said. "It's time to move out."

My mother unslung her bow and my father unsheathed a large sword. Kanaan jogged toward the forest, and we followed him toward battle.