"I'm not agreeing to shit," Carlos said in the vamp mother tongue. "I just want to know terms and conditions."
"Don't," Father Patrick croaked. "You've come too far."
A black-energy bolt made the huge altar candelabra uproot from its stand and whiz toward the priest, but a silver laser shot from Carlos knocked it off its trajectory.
"You can have the old man back if you call off your dogs of war against my heir."
Carlos hesitated. "You must be worried if you're bargaining for amnesty-what, that trick Lilith f**ked up again?"
A pew exploded into thousands of pieces of shrapnel, all whirring toward Carlos and the fallen cleric. The golden disc Carlos called into his grip took the brunt of it, but then oppressive pressure and heat forced him to cast it away.
"Do you know who you're talking to, boy? Have you any idea how little tolerance I have at this moment? The only reason I'm even bargaining with you is-"
"Because obviously you have to!"Damali shouted, filling a na**d window with light, her wings spread.
Beams of unnatural white light stabbed into the abused sanctuary from every opening, exploding bricks in rapid-fire bursts as they ate up the floor to where the Ultimate Darkness stood. But he was gone.
Adam walked out of one of the columns of light and looked at Carlos and then the fallen priest as Eve, Nzinga, and Hannibal drew in close to Aset, who clutched the Caduceus. Regal figures loomed tall, casting radiant shadows in their wake, dressed in full Neteru battle armor from centuries gone by. Damali looked up, a question in her eyes.
"It is not this man's time," Aset said, rushing to Father Patrick's side and stooping down above him to begin working on him. "But the damage is severe." She lowered the golden staff over his chest, bringing the entwined serpents to life as she tried to draw the toxin away from Father Patrick.
A lean, quiet young man that Carlos had never seen before stood beside Adam, too reminiscent of Cain to allow the newcomer's presence to go without mention. But before Carlos could pose the question, the stranger spoke in a gentle voice.
"I am Seth, a friend, like the others. It is time for me to fight beside my father, and beside you. Do not worry. Both Councils will convene after this incident."
Too mentally embattled to say a word, Carlos just responded with a nod, his focus on Father Patrick.
"The Unnamed One could have done so much more damage-this was a ruse," Adam said as the ancient spirits gathered around the elderly cleric.
Carlos glanced at the first Neteru king for confirmation, knowing full well that both he and Damali could have gotten their asses squarely kicked by that particular entity. "I figured a topside visit was fishy, man, but I can't figure out what we have to bargain with? Why here, why now, why in a cathedral, and what the hell did Father have to do with any of this? Clearly if Level Seven wanted to break my back, he could have done so right here.Him asking me to call off the dogs of war didn't even make sense!"
"You were lucky that he had a much more strategic agenda than mere revenge," Nzinga said. "Then again, he did exact some of that during his visitation as well."
Carlos looked at his hands, remembering the black ooze that had crept over them. "Yeah, and I think I got tainted."
"Hold out your hands," Eve commanded, glancing at Damali. "Have you touched him?"
"No. I got here the same time you all did." Damali motioned toward Carlos with her chin. "Once I saw Father down, I knew Carlos had tried to revive him-just as I would have . . . so, no, I didn't go to him.Been that route before."
Eve nodded. "Good. Then purge him and his father-seer."
The group remained quiet as Aset lowered the Caduceus over Father Patrick again, this time drawing the black poison out of his heart and causing the elderly man to groan. Searing pain crept up each of Carlos's digits until he panted, and then he watched in awe as the poison left his fingertips to join the inky puddle that was now burning in a pool of white light on the floor.
"In your state of confusion, grief, and rage, you were supposed to call the black horse of the apocalypse, the third seal of widespread human famine, to go after something stronger than yourself," Adam said in a tense mutter. He looked at Carlos and then nodded toward the disappearing murky puddle, watching the haze dissipate into odorous sulfuric fumes. "He has to have all the conditions right before his heir can be positioned for global rule."
"Damn, I was about to get straight played . . ." Carlos dragged his newly cleansed fingers through his hair and neared his elderly mentor. "Father, how you holding up, man?"
"Tell me you didn't agree to anything the beast asked of you," Father Patrick gasped, clutching Carlos's hand.
"Naw, man, I promise you that," Carlos said, trying to comfort the distraught cleric who now seemed so much older for the wear.
"My sanctuaries are no longer safe," the elderly man said, tears slipping from the corners of his eyes. "The Church has failed the people. I am so ashamed of what has become of the Body of-"
"Shush, shush," Damali soothed, hugging Father Patrick. "Don't think it, don't say it. That's not everyone or every church, just some people the Darkness got to."
"But they werepriests, " Father Patrick croaked, his voice dissolving into an anguished sob. "My Covenant brothers have wars in their lands started by clerics! None of the houses of worship are as they should be. . . . Money is changinghands, there are offenses and abominations-"
"It'll be all right, Father," Damali soothed, gathering him in her arms. "We'll pray, okay? Not everyone or everything is tainted."