Infernal Father of Mine (24 page)

"Who are you people? What do you want with
me?"

David held out his hand in a placating gesture.
"Easy there. We're prisoners too."

"Prisoners? What did I do? Am I accused of a
crime?" The Arcane pushed himself up and looked around the room. By
now, the clones I'd made earlier were nothing but goop on the
floor. A foggy gray steam rose from them as they presumably turned
back into aether. "What is that stuff? Where are we?"

"We're in the Gloom," I said, stifling a yawn.
"There are people who live here and have a device that allows them
to kidnap people who are traveling via Obsidian Arches."

"Impossible," he said, eyes hardening with
disbelief. "There were no Gloom cracks when the arch
activated."

"It doesn't work like that," I said. I gave the
man a brief rundown of the ripper and our experiences thus
far.

"The Gloom is a place where dreams take shape?"
he said. "Inconceivable."

"You'd better believe it," David said, his
patience obviously wearing thin with the man's
obstinacy.

I couldn't blame the Arcane. It was a lot to
take in. Heck, I still had trouble believing half of what we'd been
through.

"I'm Justin, and this is David. What's your
name?"

"You've probably heard of me. My name is
Gregory Wax."

His name didn't even sound remotely familiar to
me. "Uh—"

The Arcane reached to his side and found his
staff. "They're going to regret not taking this from me." He
flicked it out to full length, aimed it at the door, and—his brow
scrunched.

"Remind you of the time you came through the
arch and you couldn't cast any spells?" David said.

"Casting doesn't work in the Gloom," I
said.

"No, this cannot be." The Arcane tried again
and again to produce magic and failed miserably. He even withdrew a
wand—as if the staff might be defective—and tried it. Same results.
"Margaret will be so upset when I don't show up with the new spell
scrolls I promised her." His wand clattered to the floor, and the
man buried his face in his hands.

"I tried to tell you," I said.

I watched the poor man groan in misery and
wondered what Serena could possibly want with Arcanes and vampires.
Supernatural abilities barely worked here, and casting spells
seemed downright impossible. That pretty much made Arcanes and
vampires useless. Then again, I might be thinking along the wrong
lines. Dreamcasting was the big thing here in the Gloom. If there
was anything I knew about casting spells in the real world, it
required the ability to concentrate.

Shelton and Bella made me run through
meditation exercises when I was just learning how to fill my aether
well. Simply filling my well had been difficult to learn. Once I
got over that hump, I had to actually cast spells. Although I could
blow things up real good, my fine control was awful.

Any Arcane worth his or her salt wouldn't even
have to think about those basic things. They'd simply flick a
mental switch, draw in aether, and cast the desired spell, or start
the ritual for a spell of more complicated design. This meant
Arcanes could possibly adapt to dreamcasting much faster than other
supernaturals. From that standpoint, kidnapping them made
sense.

But why vampires?

Timothy hadn't demonstrated any supernatural
abilities, which drove me to the assumption vampires wouldn't have
preternatural strength in the Gloom. While he had been able to
create a velociraptor and ride it—something any nerd could
appreciate—the vampire hadn't conjured an army or done anything to
dazzle us with amazing dreamcasting. Timothy had also been trapped
in the Gloom for quite some time and hadn't developed his
dreamcasting much beyond Gloria Richardson.

Maybe his ex-girlfriend had put him through too
much psychological trauma. Maybe other vampires exhibited excellent
dreamcasting skills. I had a feeling if we survived long enough,
we'd eventually find out what Serena wanted with
blood-suckers.

I explained my theory to David.

"Makes sense," he said. "She probably
brainwashes them into serving her, then adds them to an army of
dreamcasters."

"But, why," I asked, "in the world would anyone
in their right mind want to build an army of dreamcasters in the
Gloom? Not only is it more depressing than Seattle, but the
population of real humans can't be very high. If this Serena person
wants to rule the Gloom, she can have it."

"Did you say a woman named Serena is running
things here?" Wax said, looking up from his pity party.

"That's what Jarvis told us," I
said.

"Is she short and blonde with a sharp
tongue?"

"We haven't met her," I replied.
"Why?"

"I was on a research team assigned to the Gloom
Initiative. Jarrod Sager put an Arcane named Serena Thain in
charge. When he pulled the plug on the project, she and a handful
of loyal researchers vanished into the Gloom and were never heard
from again." He shuddered. "This place is driving me insane, and
I've been here less than a day. I can't imagine how insane that
woman is." He groaned. "She was already difficult to deal with,
even under the best of circumstances. She used to steal my yogurt
from the cooler though I'd clearly marked each container with my
name." He blew out a breath. "The nerve of that woman."

"Do you think she'll recognize you?" I asked.
"Maybe she'll take it easy on you."

His eyes flashed wide. "I certainly hope she
doesn't recognize me. My negative evaluation of the way she handled
the project was instrumental in causing Sager to pull the
plug."

"Actually," I said, "Sager had to pull the plug
because he was using his own Arcane consulting company to run
things, and Cyphanis Rax found out about it. Apparently, it made
for a huge scandal."

The Arcane's distant gaze told me he hadn't
heard a word I'd said.

The cell door slid open, and one of the pale
sentinels walked inside. The Arcane screamed as the thing came for
him.

"Help! Help!" Wax backed into a corner until he
had nowhere to go. "The Gloom monster is going to get
me!"

Jarvis guffawed, holding his belly and crying
with mirth as he watched the poor Arcane possibly soil himself. "It
isn't going to hurt you if you shut your trap, moron."

"Calm down," I told Wax. "Do what Jarvis says
and you'll be okay. He's the man in charge around here."

Jarvis's chest puffed out. "That's
right."

"His name is Gregory Wax," David said, sidling
up to Jarvis like an informant.

The stocky man nodded sagely and sneered. "Keep
showing me this kind of loyalty, and things will go good for
you."

The sentinel dragged the gibbering Wax from the
cell and the door closed behind him.

I extended my senses to be sure Jarvis had left
and made a gagging noise. "If I have to suck up to that man for
much longer, I'm gonna barf."

"I might conjure up another crawler and have it
bite his head off," David said.

I gave him a pleading look. "No more
decapitations, please."

Several minutes later, the door opened, and the
willowy form of Theresa entered. She placed trays with bread and
cheese on the floor. I thought about making a break for it, but
noticed a sentinel standing outside.

She stood and regarded us with sad brown eyes.
"How long have you been in the Gloom?"

"A day or so," I said. During the kidnapping,
the woman had seemed uncomfortable with the Gloomies' mission. I
wondered why and if we might exploit it. "How about
you?"

Her lower lip trembled. "So long I can't
remember. I was abducted while leaving the Grotto to visit my
family."

"Sounds like you don't want to be here," David
said, a note of caution in his voice.

She glanced back at the sentinel, knelt, and
whispered, "I want to go home."

I knew entrusting this woman with any escape
plans might be foolish. I extended my senses and found her brimming
with sadness and hope. She seemed genuine. Maybe we could use that
to our advantage. "Can the ripper be used to allow us back through
the arch?"

She nodded. "Yes. It's a simple calibration. I
tried to do that once, but Pat stopped me." A tear formed in one
eye. "Jarvis put me in solitary for so long I thought I'd go
insane."

"Why do they allow you to operate it if they
know you don't want to be here?" David asked.

She made a whimpering sound. "I think Serena
enjoys seeing my pain." She took my hand and squeezed it. "If I
free you, can you help me get home? I'll do anything, just please
help."

Empathy swelled inside me. I covered her hand
with my other one and nodded. "We'll do what we can."

She took back her hand, wiped away a tear. "I
don't know how yet, but I'll figure out a way. Jarvis won't let me
go anywhere without a sentinel following."

"Why does Serena want Arcanes and vampires?"
David asked.

Theresa grimaced. "They're hardier than most
supers. Arcanes are good at dreamcasting, and vampires last longer
when Serena feeds them to the brain." She shuddered. "Just do what
they tell you, and I'll figure something out." She looked behind
her toward the door. "I have to go, or Jarvis will be
suspicious."

"Theresa?" called a male voice. "What the hell
are you doing?"

She wiped her face frantically and stood,
backed out of the room. "I'm feeding the prisoners." The door slid
shut behind her, and her voice and that of the male faded in the
distance.

David gave me a look. "Our ticket out of here.
I hope she has the wits to free us."

"Without getting herself killed," I said with a
grim note in my voice. "Serena sounds like a monster."

"I agree." He settled back against a wall.
"Time to wait and hope."

"Yeah." I wasn't feeling too optimistic. If
Theresa hadn't been able to escape after all this time, what made
her think she could free us? "Well, it's not the first time I've
been held against my will."

David sat down, back against the wall, and gave
me a serious look. "You've been through a lot in your short
life."

I snorted. "I've been through more in the past
year than in the previous seventeen."

"You've grown in ways I never thought
possible." He sighed.

"Why did you sigh?"

A shrug. "I feel like I've missed out on the
majority of you growing into a man. You were so different than the,
um—"

"Chubby nerd kid who played live action
role-playing games?" I chuckled. "C'mon. You can say
it."

He chuckled. "I honestly thought you were never
going to change."

"It sure came as a shock to me." I thought back
to the exchange between David and Montjoy. How my father had said
he didn't care about Ivy. A question rose in my throat, but I
hardly dared ask it.
Wimp.
I took a deep breath, and asked
the dreaded question. "Do you really not care about me and Ivy?" My
voice sounded small and timid.

David looked at the floor for such a long time,
I thought he wasn't going to answer. When he looked up, his eyes
looked troubled. He looked tired, like a man who hadn't slept in
days. "I didn't want to care. I didn't want to feel something for
someone who might die." His voice trailed off.

I remained silent, hoping he would
continue.

After a moment he did. "When we had to give up
Ivy to the Conroys, it was the hardest thing I ever did in my life.
When I knew you had to go into danger to save me, it tore me apart.
I tried to suppress my emotions. I lied to myself, convinced myself
I didn't care. But the truth…"

"The truth, Dad."

His eyes flicked to mine, and he swallowed
hard. "I'm proud. So very proud to be your father, Justin. I love
you and Ivy. You're my children, and in my quest to end the
Seraphim threat, I lost sight of what's important." A tear
glistened in my father's eye. "Family."

My throat went dry, and for a moment, I
couldn't speak past the swelling in my chest. "I love you too, Dad.
Even if I die in whatever horrors are to come, I want you to know
that. I'm still angry for everything you've put us through. For
what Mom has put us through. But in the end, I'm doing it all so my
friends and family can have a good life."

His lips compressed together. He nodded.
"That's what I want too."

"What do you intend to do about Kassallandra?"
I understood why he felt he had to make the sacrifice and marry
her. If her house defected to the Seraphim, it would make the
battle that much harder. But I wanted our family to be together,
damn it.

He shook his head. "I don't know."

I decided now was the time to ask another
burning question. "Why did you and Mom give Ivy to the
Conroys?"

He picked at a piece of the bread. "Your mother
felt Jeremiah was the best person to train her." He shrugged. "When
Alysea was reborn from the mouth of a leyworm, Jeremiah found her.
He raised her. But her powers remained weak even by the time I
reconnected with her. When her abilities began to manifest in
earnest, she decided to live with Ivy and assist in her
training."