offense," Father Patrick said. "Which put? you, and all of us, in a precarious position if you aid and abet it. Neither the Neteru Councils nor the Covenant can get involved in going against the law of the Most High--ever. The only way we can get involved with breaching Nod is if there is a clear and present danger to earth and it's sanctioned. We must wait for a sign."
"Whoa," Damali said defensively. "I said a prayer for it to come out, not a ritual from---"
"You said a what!" Jose was now walking in an agitated circle.
"Later we discuss it," Damali shouted. "Not now!" She returned her focus to the speakerphone. "All right, Father Pat. If this thing came out of a dimensional rip that was already there, caused by a natural disaster that was strong enough to stop time for a few seconds, make the earth wobble on its axis, and to literally shift the north and south poles by a full inch, maybe it isn't in conflict and didn't bust out of cosmic jail, so to speak, but just walked through the opening."
"We'd better hope so," Father Patrick said, his tone strained. "Do you understand the significance of this realm that sits between Heaven and Hell and mirrors our gray zone of choice on earth?"
"No. Talk to us," Damali said, leaning against the weapons table to keep from falling down.
"I can only speak from biblical references, not scientific ones," Father Patrick said slowly. "But in the Old Testament, after Cain slew Abel, God asked him, 'Where is your brother?' To which Cain flippantly replied, 'Am I my brother's keeper?' And then--"
"Oh, shit!" Damali jumped back from the table.
"What, what?" Rider said, also beginning to pace. "D, make it fast. You're compromising my bladder, kiddo."
"He said, 'This time, detriment of my soul, I am my brother's keeper.' And when I asked him who his brother was, he said, Carlos--and I thought it was a male Neteru thing he was referring to, and--"
"Holy moley," Rider shouted, slapping his forehead.
"Do the genealogy," Marlene said, dropping her bag on the weapons table with a thud. "On the female Neteru side, we know who sired Cain with Eve."
A few seconds of silence brought a unified response. "The Chairman."
"Lucifer's son," Father Patrick said. "Don't forget, before his fall, Lucifer was the most gorgeous of all the angels, with the most melodic voice, also known as Prince of the Airwaves, with a stronger version of every seduction skill embedded within his son, the Chairman. Dante was to be his secret weapon, but acted prematurely in the Garden. The one we try not to name has that heightened sensual capacity, which was passed down the line with everything else, containing more guile, political treachery, and power lust than is probably even known by the vampire species. The grandfather to this being is master of master vampires, and heir to the Prince of Darkness was the Duke of Darkness, Dante--
also known as the Chairman, who begat Cain. Third removed is diluted, but comparatively speaking, a fraction of dilution does not account for much, given the lineage."
Damali found Rider's toppled chair and sat down hard, panting into her hands to keep from fainting. So much tension wound around her spine that it felt like it could be pulled out from the top of her skull.
"Then girlfriend's sensory instincts obviously kicked in correct," Shabazz said, now pacing with Rider. "She put out an all-points bulletin, a psychic SOS that said she'd been visited by a Level-Seven encounter. Like I was saying back at her condo, something deep went down, blocked her from telling all. But the instant Level-Seven alert with a direct call to Jesus makes a whole lotta sense to me now." He glanced at Marlene with a slight apology in his tone. "Maybe it wasn't nobody's fault, if that's who came calling."
"No wonder baby girl wigged," Big Mike said, his body thudding against the wall like he'd been punched. He looked at Marlene. "You had to be possessed, Mar, and must be missing your mind for keeping something like that from the old heads on this team. But I can understand it now." He glanced at Inez and then lowered his gaze. "And if that's the type of energy that was rolling through the compound, guess can't nobody be mad if anybody choked on spitting out critical info."
Berkfield nodded and rubbed his palm over his scalp as he glanced at his wife and then down at the