Dark Callings (Phoenix Intelligence Agency) (8 page)

At Lupo’s words, a floodgate of memory filled his mind. Lennox gripped the counter as his mother came into view. She laughed then looked behind her. Seconds later, a man came into view. They kissed and laughed. Time shifted, showing them together, hands with wedding rings pressed against her burgeoning belly. Then his birth. The happiness of them as a family, then tragedy as his mom was murdered. Lennox gasped at the feminine face that looked familiar. The pain of his father as he held his dying wife. The memories faded. Lennox shuddered.

He raised his head, eyes locked on Lupo. Rage burst through him then he bent his knees and vaulted over the bar. He crashed into Lupo driving him back against the wall. Lupo dragged them into the shadows.

“Lennox!”
Harmony’s sharp tone came in his mind on a new private telepathic path she had formed but it sounded distorted.

He glanced back to where she sat in the booth. She was watching where they were in the shadows. He knew she couldn’t actually see them. As he opened the path to her, he solidified their mental communication.

“
I’m okay.”

“Listen to him, before you do something rash.”
Her calmness brought him to his senses.

“I’ll be done in a moment. Then we can leave.”

Harmony withdrew from their communication. Lennox focused back on Lupo. His emerald green shadow was a tinge darker than Lennox’s. He released him then moved back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You let her see, too.”

“She had a right to know why you’re being an ass,” Lupo countered.

Lennox reached for him, jerking him forward. They were the same height. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were my father?”

“It was safer for you.”

“Says you. I loved my adoptive parents. They told me all about my mother, but whenever I asked about my father, they wouldn’t say. Was that your doing?”

“Yes. To protect you from Blagden, I let him believe you were murdered, too. I saw something was coming, and couldn’t afford for my son to be affected by it. He was moulding me to lead his army. When I left, I never expected him to find my son. God, I knew from the time you were born you were destined to be great. When he came to see me, I got a flash of what he did. He always planned to go after my bond shadow. He’s been
Xiruis
for a long time. He was just biding his time for the right moment.”

“That’s not possible. Someone would have known.”

“Someone did. You.”

“I didn’t know. If I had, I wo…” He trailed off, realisation dawning.

“You figured it out.”

“Something was off about him. He was getting more and more brutal with prisoners. I mentioned, just in passing, that we were not the
Xiruis
and did not act in such a way.
Not too long after that, he started pushing me out. He undermined me with the men, turning them against me.”

“Exactly. You came too close to the truth, and he couldn’t take the chance. That’s why, although Fyodor would be his second, he started training him as his general, too. That, he regretted, since Fyodor ousted him. He will be a hell of a king. Better than his father ever was.”

“At least his father was there for him,” Lennox lashed out.

“I was there for you, Lennox, even if you didn’t know who I was.”

“You were my trainer. A friend of the family. When you chose exile, I wondered why we made trips here to Earth to see you. Now I know. Everyone was in on it.”

“For your protection, my son,” he insisted.

“Don’t call me that.”

Lupo subsided but his emerald green shadow flickered. Lennox knew the signs and gripped his arm.

“Mom wasn’t your bond shadow.”

“It didn’t matter. I loved her with all my heart.”

“How could you still be with Blagden after his bond shadow killed Mom?”

His heart ached with the memory of A’rm Ageddon ripping through his mother in a rage. Lupo closed his eyes, then opened them.

“I had to protect you. We all make sacrifices where we must. Maybe someday, you will understand what I did.”

Lennox refused to respond.

“Stubborn like your mama,” Lupo said fondly.

Lennox grunted.

“Now, we’d better come out of the shadows before your woman hurts someone. A
Zuri
Maji
in my place, and she’s with my son.” Lupo laughed.

Lennox looked through the shadows. Harmony appeared to be calm. In the next second, he noted an iridescent purple tentacle snaking across the floor towards her. He stepped out of the shadows.

“Don’t you dare interfere. I got this,”
Harmony stated.

He stayed where he was, watching. The tentacle reached her toe. Harmony tapped the tattoo around the upper part of her arm and, in quick succession, three
Maji Stars
materialised. The tentacle retracted fast. The demon turned to face her, awe on his face.

“I am sorry,
Maji
,
I didn’t realise what you were. Just some fun.”

“It isn’t me you should apologise to. See that big guy over there glaring? He’s mine and doesn’t take kindly to my being touched by others. Next to him is his daddy, and I’m figuring you might be a regular here. So you don’t want either pissed off at you. Buy everyone a round of drinks, and we’re square. Next time, don’t touch someone without asking first.”

“I won’t. A round for all!” the man called out.

“Help me prepare the drinks. Your woman is fine,” Lupo said.

Automatically, Lennox did as he’d been asked. He’d spent many hours working the bar with him. They fell into their usual rhythm, filling drinks for everyone. He increased his hearing, tuning it into Harmony.

“May I sit with you,
Maji
?
”
the demon asked formally.

“Only if you call me Harmony. And your name is?”

“P’relos. Harmony is a lovely name.”

Lennox glanced up, noticing the demon was sitting in the booth with Harmony. Someone asked for a drink. He filled it as he kept an eye on Harmony. Finally, when all the orders were filled, he and Lupo braced their arms on the lip of the counter. The other patrons had surrounded Harmony. She was talking, laughing and teasing them.

“Your mother was like that, too. People flocked to her. I don’t know what she saw in my dark soul.”

Lennox shifted his gaze to Lupo. He studied him, and now he saw their resemblance. He looked exactly like Lupo, except for their skin tones.

“I guess I took after Mom’s colouring?” he asked.

“Yes. She had the most luscious and touchable skin. I would spen—”

“Too much information. I don’t need to know about my dad and mom’s…whatever.”

Lupo stared at him. “You called me Dad.”

“I did. Doesn’t mean I forgive or understand what you did. We can work on that. I want to know about my mom. Things my adoptive family might not have known.”

“I can do that.” Lupo put out his hand.

Lennox shook it. They went back to watching Harmony.

“There’s a rumour that Fyodor asked you to be his second—the Shadow Prince—and that he is working amnesty for the Shadowers left back home and those in exile in the other dimensions.”

“It’s true.”

“Will you accept?”

“I don’t know,” Lennox said.

“What’s holding you back?” Lupo asked.

“I can’t just make a decision like that without thinking of all the angles.”

“Christ. You get that from me. Think about it all you want, but make a decision either way. You need to also make a choice about your bond shadow. Make her yours. Watch the bar.” Lupo levitated over the bar and strode off.

“Where are you going?”

“To chat with my future daughter-in-law.”

Lennox frowned at his retreating back. He hadn’t even decided about Harmony yet, and already his dad was making plans.
I have a father
. Lennox picked up a rag, wiping down the bar. On top of everything going on, he finally had the answer to the question that had plagued him all his life. He’d have to decide what he wanted to do about it.

“I’ll watch the bar,” a voice interrupted his musings.

Lennox raised his head, meeting the lavender gaze of the demon who had tried to accost Harmony.

“I’m sorry about messing with your woman.” The demon put up his various tentacles.

Lennox walked through the bar, pushing past him.

“You’re going to bring her back for a visit, aren’t you? She said it would be up to you if you all came back here again.”

Harmony grinned cheekily at him from across the room.

“We’ll be back,” Lennox said.

“Good. Bring Ebony, too.”

Lennox walked over to Lupo and Harmony. He slid in the booth next to Harmony.

“Scheming again. I’ll deal with him in my own way.” He jerked a thumb at Lupo.

“Planning. Lupo was filling me in on how stubborn you can be.”

“My decision.” Lennox glared.

“Which affects me, too,” she said, looking unrepentant.

“She has your number.” Lupo laughed.

“Shut up.”

“Guys, give us a moment,” Lupo requested.

Some of the people surrounding them departed. Lennox viewed the men and women left—they were the ones he couldn’t get a read on to figure out what being they were. He returned his attention to Lupo.

“Who are they?”

“I’m not the only one Blagden has been trying to recruit. He is approaching all the Shadowers in exile, promising them power if they help him.”

Lennox looked back at the people around them. They dropped their glamour. A variety of hair and eye colours were revealed, as well as their power. Although they all looked in human age to be in their mid-twenties to early forties—as Lupo appeared to be—Lennox felt they were, in Shadower age, much older than their appearance, in the range of Blagden and Lupo. That made them the ancients of the Shadower race. The ones his people thought had been lost in battle over the years. He exchanged grim glances with Harmony, then met Lupo’s gaze.

“How many have said yes?” he demanded.

“None. Here, they have allegiance to me. I’m maintaining them so they do not turn
Xiruis.
T
hey follow me.”

“What happens when Fyodor arrives here? We cannot afford a Shadower war for power on Earth soil,” Lennox said sharply.

Pride was on Lupo’s face as he exchanged glances with the people surrounding them. An uneasy feeling filled Lennox. Lupo smiled. Lennox didn’t want to hear what he was going to say.

“Do—?”

Lupo’s words overrode his. “We will pledge our allegiance to Fyodor, and, by extension, to you, the Shadow Prince.”

“You’re not going to manipulate me into accepting.”

“Nope. I’m not doing that. This will make you think seriously about Fyodor’s offer.”

“I have been thinking on it.”

“With the intention of turning him down. You are worthy of this, my son,” Lupo said fiercely.

“Don’t you dare think to act like you know me or my thoughts. You left me.” Lennox slammed his fist on the table.

Lupo nodded. “I did. And this is what makes you think you’re not worthy of things that are for you.” Lupo flicked a glance to Harmony, then back to him. “Stop fighting so hard and accept your due.”

“Fuck you.”

“Ahhh…so you do have my temper. Takes a while to get there, doesn’t it?”

Lennox threw up his hand, sending a blast of power. A golden film enclosed his power and drew it back, suspending it in the air.

“You dare interfere!” he roared at Harmony.

“That’s what bond shadows do—stop Neanderthals from acting like cavemen. Are you all done trying to rile each other so we can get back to the topic at hand? Namely, Blagden trying to recruit all these Shadowers, who, by my count, number at least seventy.”

“Oh, but, my son’s bond shadow, you are so very wrong,” Lupo said.

Harmony’s eyes widened as the walls around them dropped, revealing all the Shadowers. Lennox stood, awed at the numbers.

“There are thousands,” Harmony whispered.

“How?” Lennox turned to Lupo and stood tall and straight in front of him. “Blagden may have just started recruiting those for his battle, but I have been at it a long time. He has no idea how many exiles there actually are.
Vielliies
!” Lupo let out a battle cry.

Lennox’s hair stood up as the Shadowers echoed it. The sounds resounded, rising in a chant. He reached out, feeling the area outside the establishment. There was no awareness of how many Shadowers were on the Earth plane.

“How?”

“The same reason your agency is having a hard time pinning Blagden or his followers down. The one weapon only those of ancient blood know. The
Jelvis
—the Shadow Cloak.”

It would explain why, since their initial sweep, they could not find anyone. All their fruitless searches, and no trace of Blagden or his followers, because of something beyond what any of them knew.