Page 11 of A Demon’s Resolve (Demonic Tales and Adventures #3)
CHAPTER 11
Taking a deep breath, Gaius raised his hand to knock when the door flew open. Aticus stood on the other side with a huge grin. “Gaius, I am so happy you finally decided to accept my invitation.” Standing to the side, he gestured for Gaius to enter. “Come in. We have much to do.”
The last time Gaius had been in Aticus’ council office was to hand in his resignation over a hundred years ago. His hands shook slightly at coming back here. Still, it was good to see his old friend. “Aticus, thank you for inviting me.”
Gaius had stayed away from his old friends since he’d discovered his son had gotten several humans pregnant a hundred years ago. Who was he kidding? Gaius had stayed as far from anyone as he could. He’d been too ashamed to be seen.
Instead of owning up to his mistakes in raising his son, Gaius had hidden in the archives. He’d been determined to discover the reason his son hadn’t been able to stay away from the humans.
A part of Gaius had feared he’d been the one to pass on his inhumanity. After all, how does a man, a father, shun his son just to spite the mother? He knew it was the start of the disease, for that is how he thought of it. The loss of their humanity was a disease of their very existence.
If he had just shown his son the love he deserved, maybe he wouldn’t have done the things he had. Maybe then, Brant wouldn’t have taken it even further and gone out with the intent of raping and beating human women for the sheer pleasure of it.
“True, but then Alec would not have been born and without him there would be no Kian. Without him, we would certainly be lost, for we still wouldn’t know about the connection we need with humans.” Aticus placed a reassuring hand on Gaius shoulder. “This was foretold during Danara’s time.” Kind eyes offered solace. “Nothing you could have done could change fate.”
It was eerie how Aticus always knew what others were thinking. It was one of the reasons he’d made such a good leader.
Nodding slightly, Gaius shrugged off Aticus’s hand walking further into the room. “So where do we start?”
“I have managed to locate two more of Danara’s journals.” Aticus pointed to the opened books on his desk that he’d been studying.
Stunned, Gaius went to them seeing the same scrawling handwriting that had been in the previous journals. Looking up he asked. “How?”
“That, my friend, I cannot tell you. Rest assured the one who had them will no longer be a problem.” Sitting back into his chair, he closed the books, handing them to his old friend. “But I am afraid there is still more we are missing.”
Gaius held the books carefully, afraid they would disintegrate before his eyes. He hoped the key to fixing all their problems were in her journals. They may not hold all the answers but these would put them that much closer.
Still, the rest had to be found, and soon, if they were going to be any help to demonkind. “How do we find the others?”
Defeat lined Aticus’s body as his shoulders drooped. He looked like he held the weight of the world on his shoulders without the strength to hold it any longer. “I wish I knew.”
The fact was, Aticus did have the weight of the world on his shoulders. If they didn’t find Brant and save Kian, Alec would surely come as close as any demon to destroying the earth. As it was, humans were becoming suspicious of what was happening. They were not accepting these events were made from nature. The only positive was, each government believed it was something created through technology. An act of war.
It would only be a matter of time before that theory would be discovered false. But it bought them a little time.
Regardless, because the disaster had started there in the Appalachians, the mountains were crawling with scientists and soldiers as they searched for how it had happened. With their own home, Tuklati, in near ruins, they were forced to leave it that way for fear of drawing more attention to themselves if they tried to fix it.
The best they could do was shore up each level and hope the government assumed it was aftershocks. Just to be sure, they had sent demons miles away to coordinate shockwaves to confuse sensors and keep officials from discovering their home.
“You look like you haven’t been sleeping.” Gaius was concerned. Demons needed Aticus. He was the one keeping their kind together as factions wanted to go back to the old ways, before they’d discovered their humanity.
Aticus gazed at him for a moment. “I will not deny it has been a challenge keeping things together the past few days.”
“I understand you sent out Sentinels to help the humans clean up.” It was a daring move, considering there were videos and pictures of certain Sentinels stopping the tsunamis from destroying even more.
Aticus frowned but nodded. “I only sent out the ones who hadn’t been on the beaches, so they wouldn’t be recognized. They were warned to never show their tattoos, but I still worry they will be discovered.”
Gaius didn’t envy Aticus’s position. It was one of their own who caused so much destruction, so logically, they should be the ones to help put things back together, but it also left them vulnerable. Not just to humans uncovering their existence, but it left the city open to a revolt by those who want Aticus gone.
When Alec took off after Kian, Tarak had followed, but Aticus sent others to ensure any more damage Alec did was kept to a minimum. Not that it was working. Alec was stronger than any of them had known.
“What about Alec? Has he been able to find any signs of Kian?” Gaius hoped so. Not only for his grandson’s sake, but for all of them. If Brant did the unthinkable and killed Kian, there was no doubt in Gaius’s mind, Alec would destroy the world in his rage.
No one, not even Tarak, the man who’d raised Alec, would be able to stop him.
Aticus stared at the journals on the table. “You know, it makes sense that Danara had written that final journal to Alec. That she communicates with Kian. They were meant to lead us into a new era.”
Gaius felt that too. But that didn’t mean it would happen. “If Brant kills Kian…” Gaius couldn’t complete that thought. He didn’t even want to think about it.
Aticus sighed. “The premise would still be the same. Either they take us into an era of peace and prosperity or the end the world as we know it.”
A shudder went through Giaus at the thought. It pained him to know if the world were to end, ultimately, it would have been his fault. For it would be one of his sons who killed Kian, while his grandson would destroy the world.
He could only pray that would not come to pass. Of course, by doing so, he was condemning Brant to death, for the only way the world would survive was if his son were dead.
Desperate to take his mind off the inevitable, Gaius turned to the matter at hand. “So what do you believe you found in the missing journals?”
Aticus hedged before admitting the truth. “That is not the reason I asked you here. Tarak sent word that they believe Brant is using magic to shield himself and Kian.”
“Not possible.” Even as he denied it, Gaius knew it was a lie. Hell, he’d been practicing ancient magic from an early age. It was one of those secrets his family had handed down through the generations.
Gaius hadn’t taught his son, or his grandson, but that didn’t mean someone else in their family hadn’t. Even if they had, there were still limitations. “I won’t deny some of that magic is out there, but there is no possibility anyone is strong enough to shield two people.” At least, Gaius didn’t think anyone could.
“Then how do you explain that Alec followed Kian to Tibet and then nothing? He has not been able to feel his mate since Brant took him, despite the connection the two have.” Aticus leaned forward to be sure his old friend knew the truth of it.
“Yes, but he obviously knocked Kian out severing the link. As long as he doesn’t feel, Alec cannot sense his mate.” Gaius didn’t even believe his words. Demons are undeniably the best trackers of any race. For Alec to have lost the one he considers his mate is unheard of.
Magic could explain it, but that didn’t explain how Brant could do it. Gaius had practiced for centuries and he had no doubt he could mask two signatures for a short time; but with a connection as strong as Alec and Kian’s, it wouldn’t last long.
Even without their bond, Kian’s will was strong. Masking him would take more magic then their kind still had. Unless…
Dread formed in the pit of his stomach. It couldn’t be. Glancing over at Aticus, he saw the man had already come to the same conclusion and was just waiting for Gaius to catch up.
Standing, Aticus touched his fingertips to the top of the desk as he leaned toward Gaius. “You see why I asked you here?”
Unfortunately, Gaius not only understood. Alec would be the least of their problems if Brant had done the unthinkable. Gaius wasn’t even sure it was possible. “Would we not feel the change ourselves?”
Aticus shook his head. “Would we even know if we did?” Then he posed the one question that hadn’t even crossed Gaius’s mind. “After what Alec had managed to do without even trying, do we not need to consider it has already started?
Gaius closed his eyes, unwilling to imagine the hell that would have been unleashed on the world if Brant had managed to break the seal the ancients put upon demonkind to bind their powers. If he had, it wouldn’t matter if Alec saved Kian, for a war would break out, and demons, unused to having the kinds of power they had in ancient times, would destroy the world anyway.