Page 137

I say, “Bullshit. Thule was into all kinds of baleful magic. Demonology. Murder hexes. Possessions.”

Candy studies her phone.

“The Thule Society had a lot of connections to the early Nazi Party. How does that square with an innocent study group?”

“Baleful magic never interested me. I was curious about history. When I joined the group it was believed that the Hyperborean race was a peaceful, enlightened ­people of advanced philosophy and technology. As for the other point, sadly some in the group became involved in right-­wing politics. Like baleful magic, I found it all a bore.”

“Let me get this straight,” I say. “You weren’t into magic. You weren’t into politics. All you wanted to do was exercise your library card. Those must have been some short fucking meetings.”

Tykho sips her wine, ignoring the comment.

“What is Vril?” says Candy.

Tykho sets down her glass.

“Members of Thule and Vril had known each other for some time. When a handful of Vril members joined Thule, we formed an inner circle for more serious and intense study.”

“Studying what?”

Tykho takes her time getting a cigarette from a drawer, tapping it on the desk. I lean across and spark the smoke with Mason’s lighter.

“Studying what?”

Tykho takes a puff and blows smoke my way. I’m used to Maledictions, so her puny smog barely registers.

“There was a theory that some catastrophe destroyed Hyperborea and that the ancient Aryans took refuge underground. They lost most of their culture and technology in the disaster, but in their caverns they developed tremendous mental powers.”

“Like a ‘May the Force be with you’ kind of thing?”

“That’s how an idiot would describe it. Vril was and is believed to be a kind of mental energy that can be directed to create or destroy, sicken or heal, with a thought.”

“What does that have to do with the ritual that bound me to this body?” says Vincent.

“Let her talk,” I say. “I want to hear the whole tall tale. So, you’re trying to find a Nazi Obi-­Wan Kenobi at the center of the earth. What next? How does this hook you up with the White Light Legion?”

“When the more insufferably right-­wing members of the society turned our work increasingly into propaganda for the National Socialist German Workers’ Party, some of us broke away and formed a smaller study group. But things became harder for organizations like ours to function as the Nazis came to power. Hitler was always paranoid about the influence of the occult and all so-­called secret societies and began dissolving them.”

“Wait,” says Candy. “Did the ­people in your group know you’re a vampire?”

“Of course,” says Tykho. “That’s why it was easy to form our own study group. Many believed that my vampiric powers were a crude example of Vril energy.”

“What happened next?”

“Even before Hitler became chancellor, it was clear that the group could no longer function. Several high-­ranking members were arrested and thrown in prison. By 1934, many of us were emigrating to France and Switzerland.”

“Get to the White Lights,” I say.

“The White Light Legion wouldn’t exist for many years. Have you heard of William Dudley?”

“Yes,” Candy says. “Julie gave me some background on him. He was a California fascist back in the twenties. He had some kind of supernatural experience that convinced him he had super mental powers.”

“That sounds kind of like Vril,” I say.

Tykho smiles, puffs her smoke.

“And that’s why in 1935, when members of the society came to the States using forged French passports, they eventually came into contact with like-­minded members of the Pelley’s Silver Legion in New York. One of the Legion members they met was Edison Elijah McCarthy, the man who would go on to found the White Light Legion, based on the occult principles he learned at the feet of William Pelley.”

“How did you end up in California?” says Candy.