God Hammer: A novel of the Demon Accords (28 page)

“No!” I said before Tanya could agree.  “We keep the kid completely away from him and his bible.  That’s more important than anything.”

Tanya studied me for a second.  “Is that based on your evening church service?”

“Exactly.  It could be very bad if Castille gets a chance to meet Declan.  Barbiel was clear on that, if not on how or why.  I think that much of the reverend’s charm and oratory ability comes from that twisted bible,” I said.

“Got it.  No Sunday school for the warlock kid,” Deckert said.

“Exactly.  We need to keep him out of trouble.  How hard can that be?” I asked, knowing it might be damned well impossible.

I stepped off the elevator into a long hallway whose floor was concrete patterned to look like slabs of rock.  Doors to individual apartments broke up the walls in a long series that ended with a single massive iron-bound door—and a vampire guard wearing a sword.  Who was staring at me.  My stomach rumbled. How very… Game of Thrones-ish.

As I trudged toward that big, gothic-looking door, I noticed the artwork that took up space on the expanses of sheetrock that didn’t have doors.  Not that I recognized any of it, but it gave me somewhere to look besides the vampire who was glaring my way—the vampire with only one arm.  Well, one and a half.  He seemed to be missing his left forearm and hand, but that didn’t appear to bother him a great deal.  My stomach rumbled again.  It wasn’t hunger, but more crampy.  Maybe it was the Indian food the night before with Stacia.  But I woke up normal and was hungry for lunch in the corporate dining room.  The lunch tacos had tasted fine.  Still, something was a bit off.

When I got up close, the guard tensed, just slightly. In fact, I might have missed it completely if I hadn’t been through all that painful training with Tanya, Lydia, Arkady, Nika, and Stacia.  Not to mention Chris.  Who I was here to see.

“Ah, hi.  I’m here to see Chris and maybe Tanya, not sure,” I said.  His nametag said Dave Lo and now that I was closer, I could see his features were Asian.

“These are the Queen’s quarters.  Interns don’t belong here,” he said.

“Unless they call you here.  Chris and Tanya.  She’s your queen, right?” I asked.  His expression was solid as stone.

“We are the Outer Guard.  We protect the Queen,” he said, which made me look around for the others in
we
.

“Look, that’s cool.  But Chris called me down on my phone,” I said, reaching for said cellular.  There was a blur and a flash of steel and I found a long, sharp, shiny sword pointed at my throat.  I could see enough detail to note the lines of silver woven into the folded steel blade.

My shields were up, feet locked to the floor, drawing power from Earth, and I backed up a step.  Behind me, the elevator doors opened again, but I dared not look.

Claws click-clacked on the concrete and Dave’s glance flickered to whatever was coming down the hall, then back to me, unconcerned.

I backed up two more steps and turned.  Awasos in wolf form was almost at my back and as he got to me, he flowed around me and sat down, his furry haunches basically on my feet.  Facing Dave the guard, he yawned in the face of the sword, showing a ridiculously massive jaw with enough teeth to make a shark jealous.

Dave frowned at the display, looking slight uncertain for the first time.  A door behind me opened and when I glanced back, I saw a college-aged girl who was anything but.

“Hey Declan, watcha doing?” Katrina asked as she locked her door.

“Supposed to be seeing Chris and Tanya, but Dave here won’t even announce me.”

“Ah, you’ve met IQ-So-Low of the Outer Clods,” she said coming up beside me.

“You used to be one of us, Katrina,” Dave said, frowning and still holding his sword rock steady.  “What’s the matter with the were-bear-wolf?” he asked.

“Nothing.  He merely dislikes morons.  I share that trait. Tell me, Brains-So-Slow, why are you holding Chris’s intern at swordpoint?  Perhaps the correct response in this instance is to announce him?” Katrina asked.

“Interns aren’t allowed here,” he said, frowning.

“Well, see, they are if Chris or Tanya calls them here.  When that happens, you’re not supposed to threaten them with a sword. You knock on the door and tell the power couple that the intern is here.  That way, the were-bear-wolf, whose name is Awasos, by the way, won’t rip your only remaining arm off at the shoulder for threatening his friend.  You know? The witch kid that gave Chris back all his memories?  The same kid that if you touched him with that sword would probably send enough volts through it to make you into a permanent night light.  Why don’t you just announce him, Slave, er, Dave?” she said.

The sword wavered and then drooped.  Dave backed up and knocked on the big, castle-looking door. 

“Right, lesson over.  Next time, Declan, just blast him and be done with it.  Nobody will even miss him,” Katrina said.  I gave her a nod, more in thanks than agreement.  She just snorted softly, turning and walking toward the elevator.

The big door opened and Chris peered out.  “Oh, hey, Declan.  Come on in.  I see you’ve met Dave.”

Dave’s jaw was clenched and I couldn’t read his expression, but my money was on anger at Katrina’s comments.  Anger, which likely was splashing onto me by association.  Great. That’s me, making friends all over the place.

‘Sos clicked-clacked into the apartment ahead of me and I followed, literally at his tail, eager to have the door between me and the sullen guard.

The inside was a surprise.  I expected posh.  Upper East side meets Taj Mahal or something.  Instead, it was more L.L. Bean meets retro industrial.  Actually, it was just eclectic.

A rustic hand-crafted twig rocking chair in the corner, Hudson Bay blanket draped over the back of the leather sofa, coffee table made from an iron-wheeled industrial dolly, concrete kitchen countertops, granite tile kitchen floor, copper range hood, black appliances, gas fireplace, reclaimed barn beam mantle, Japanese long and short sword set racked on a long, thin table behind the sofa, flatscreen television hung above the mantle, Turkish rugs on the floor, cast iron stools at the kitchen island, six-person dining table with steel legs and reclaimed barn wood top; somehow it all worked.  It was one big great room, combining kitchen, dining, and family room.  Doorways led off to what I supposed were the bedroom and bathroom.

Tanya sat on the sofa, legs curled under her, notebook computer open and resting on her lap, like she had just gotten up for the day.  It
was
late afternoon, so maybe she had at that.  She smiled and patted the open space next to her.

I took the spot, slightly uncomfortable, not just because my stomach was off.  Chris sat in an armchair that seemed to be made from heavy crate wood, kind of square and solid.

“We thought is was time to touch base a bit.  See how things are going and all that.  The company is young and moving fast, but it seems to me that your first week or so has brought things at light speed, no?” Tanya asked.

“You could say that,” I admitted.  “Right from the first moment I set foot in the building.”

“At the risk of being stating the obvious, your skills are already world-class and you’ve contributed more in your first days here than perhaps anyone other than Tanya,” Chris said, smiling.  “We just want to see how you’re feeling about everything?”

“Well, it’s been exciting.  And interesting.  I haven’t really had time to process everything, but I think I’ve already learned a lot that I never counted on,” I said.

“Like what?” Tanya asked.

“The use of magic in programming, for one.  I mean, I’ve always used it as a diagnostic tool and to pry out passwords and stuff, but never to directly input magically enhanced programs.  Also, I’m learning about working with Darkkin, and more about weres,” I said.

“Any concerns?” Chris asked.

“Well, we already talked about the programming thing,” I said.  He nodded.

“Tanya and I have talked about that and we should have cleared that up with you.  It’s essentially your abilities and knowledge.  We couldn’t reproduce your software if we wanted to,” Chris said.

“Maybe not yet, but there are Circles that could do it, I think,” I said.

“Like who?” Tanya asked.

“My mother and aunt’s circle, the Irwins, could do it.  They’re in town, by the way.”

“Oh?” Tanya asked, sitting up and exchanging a glance with Chris.

“So is Caeco and her paranormal FBI team.  I lent them a hand, well really, I lent
her
a hand but they had been brought in on a case that seemed to have a supernatural barrier.  Turned out to be a really pissed-off ghost related to the case.  Anyway, after I left them, I got waylaid by a full circle of my relatives from Ireland,” I said.

“What happened?” Chris asked.

“They wanted to talk and so they found a way to isolate me from most of my powers.  They’re trying to convince me to spend time with them.  After a bit, they let me slip away without putting up a fight, but I think they’ll only get more insistent. Anyway, I think they could do the programming thing.  They’ve certainly got the skill and power.”

“You never told us?” Tanya said, frowning.  Even that looked pretty on her.

“Well, I handled it and I won’t get tricked again.  But maybe I should try to contact them and see if any of their circle has programming experience.  Ireland’s big in the software industry, you know,” I said.

“You would talk to your estranged circle to see if you could give them the secret of magically enhanced programs so that they
might
work for us?” Chris asked.

“Well, when you say it like that, I just sound like a moron,” I said, realizing it was true.

“Actually, it sounds incredibly generous, but maybe too much,” Tanya said, smiling.  “Let’s worry about keeping you safe from the circle, not giving them the financial windfall of a lifetime.  This magic software is pretty powerful stuff.”

“Which brings me to my biggest concern,” I said.  They looked attentive, but I didn’t know quite how to lay it out without maybe insulting them.

“Just say it, Declan,” Chris said, reading my hesitation.

“I’m concerned about the quantum computing project,” I said.  Tanya pulled back a tiny bit, her frown reappearing.  “We already have major trouble with the Anvil program.  If it got into a fully functional quantum computer, it would be game over.  And I don’t trust the guy you put in charge of the project—Susskins.”

“Well, there, you got it out,” Chris said with a smile.  Tanya wasn’t smiling, though. She was still frowning.

“How are we going to combat Anvil or programs like it unless we step up our game?  And Declan, we are far from the only group to be on this quest,” she said.

“I know that.  Frankly, I don’t know enough about it to judge your progress, but I really, really don’t trust Dr. Susskins,” I told her.  Chris was watching her and she glanced his way before answering me.

“Susskins is arguably the top guy in the field.  Having him on our team puts us further ahead of anyone else.  Nika spends much of her time checking up on his loyalty,” she said, obviously a bit put out by my observations.

“Hey babe, we asked him and he answered.  Frankly, after fighting with Anvil, he’d be an idiot not to have doubts about a more powerful computing platform in the hands of rogue artificial intelligence,” Chris said.

“So if
I
have no doubts, then
I’m
an idiot?” she asked him, her tone getting a little too real for my comfort.

“Really?  You can’t read me better than that?” he asked her, his own tone mild.  Their staring continued for a few moments that seemed like hours.  Finally, she exhaled and leaned back, tension running out of her.

“I am perhaps too sensitive on this subject,” she admitted, looking at her hands.  I noticed that her short, sharp nails were painted a burgundy red.  Like the color of old blood.

She glanced up and caught my eyes.  “My apologies, Declan.  As Chris said, we asked and you spoke your feelings.  I have a lot invested in this project.  A lot of time and energy.”

“Not to mention money,” Chris said, smiling slightly.

“Yeah, there is that too,” she said with a shrug. “I think quantum computing is inevitable, just as I think true sentient AI is inevitable.  The genie is out of the bottle, so to speak.  My goal is to guide it so that the outcome is beneficial instead of catastrophic,” she said.