"I just had to get him on broken ground," her husband said, straightening his lapels. "Now that I have done the hard part, I trust that you all can keep the pressure on that Neteru team until I safely position my heir?"
"Done," Lilith said, her narrowed gaze raking her councilmen. "We will keep their focus on putting out small fires everywhere, we will fracture them,we will have them chasing their tails and never the wiser of where your heir will surface."
"Good," he replied. "Because right now in this little test run I did, their Neteru Councils are united. This is precisely why I went topside to test for myself. I went after the father-seer, and Rivera showed up-and the moment an imminent threat to his mortality from me was detected from On High, they sent in their A-squad, along with the female Neteru."
"Adam showed up?" Lilith stepped back, aghast.
"With Hannibal, Nzinga, and Eve, as well as Adam's son, Seth."
Lilith began to pace with her hand over her heart. "Lu . . . you could have been maimed."
He waved her away. "Ach-it was nothing. But I needed to draw their fire to see just how tapped into our movements they are . . . and trust me when I say, they are very, very strong at this juncture. Too strong to be hunting my heir, who is still inchrysalis. Therefore, your mission is to wear them down, fatigue them, break their spirits, and keep their spiritual forces of Light protecting the Neteru team-while I move my heir apparent safely around the globe, positioning him to step into his full inheritance."
"It will be our pleasure to serve your desires," Lilith murmured, her eyes burning black.
He nodded, seeming distracted. "Excellent. I need not tell you how failure will be viewed. We are too close, at this juncture, for me to be disappointed."
"You will not be disappointed," she whispered, watching fire burn behind his black, bar-shaped irises.
"Yolando, where do they live-this Neteru team?"The Unnamed One had spoken without turning his searing gaze on Yonnie. A second of silence too long caused fangs to fill his mouth, as the beast tilted his head and addressed Yonnie again in a deeper tone. "Am I speaking a foreign language?"
"I don't know," Yonnie said in a strangled voice, holding his throat. Power choked the words from his mouth, and the Ultimate Darkness hadn't even moved.
"Now, you know they say the Devil is a liar . . . so don't you think I can spot a lie a mile off?"
"I used to know," Yonnie said,struggling as his feet began to lift off the floor. "But I tried to breach the compound this morning and they silver-burned the location out of my head and barred me from crossing the threshold!"
"You did what?" Lilith screeched and flew at Yonnie with claws extended, her black gown billowing behind her. "You tipped our hand; you have jeopardized everything!" She raked his face, opening up five deep gashes that ran the length of his cheek.
"Patience, my dear," her husband crooned. "I'm curious.
"Why were you there?" the Unnamed One murmured, staring at Yonnie until he began to holler, holding the sides of his skull. "I will go through every one of your synapses until your gray matter is jelly-thus we can do this the easy way or the hard way . . . as always, it is your choice."
"While they were partying, eating, and drinking," Yonnie gasped, "I went to meet with Rivera on the beach-to freak him out, to get inside his head and ultimately inside the compound."
The pressure eased as a sly smile tugged at one side of the Devil's mouth. "Admirable. You used your time well, I see." He inhaled deeply. "I can smell the male Neteru's signature all over you-a hug . . . nice.Brotherly. He still considers you a friend, which means he hasn't completely departed from his old heritage with us.Very nicely done." He chuckled and shook his head. "And you also may very well have contributed to them sending the A-squad of the Neteru Council when I taunted the old priest. Now that they know of the existence of daywalkers, they may be edgy," he added with a murmur."Frightened and prone to excesses of retaliation . . . which will lead to the breakage of the black horse seal."
Lilith backed away from Yonnie, claws retracted, but there was still a glimmer of distrust in her eyes.
"Who owns this councilman? Who turned him?"
"I did," Fallon Nuit admitted cautiously. "He owes me."
"But I have his soul in escrow, due to a little dispute between councilmen that is boring," Lilith interjected, glaring at Fallon.
Sebastian lowered his gaze, trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible as Yonnie fell to the floor.
"Release that trivial debt tohis own recognizance for now. We cannot have any dissension in the ranks at this juncture." The Unnamed One glowered at Yonnie and then smiled. "Fair exchange is no robbery, Yolando . . . but if you screw me, you are well aware that I will return the favor in spades."
"Hold your fire!" Marlene shouted, and then sent her vision of the incoming Neteru squad to the other seers in the house.
Inez, Heather, and Juanita picked up the image before Marlene had jettisoned it, creating a quick mental handoff process that caused the full team to lower arms.
The team met Damali, Carlos, and Father Pat in the family room. They stared at the badly disheveled cleric and then Carlos's ripped and bloodied clothing as Damali and Carlos lowered the elderly man to rest on the sofa. Healers in the group immediately rushed forward. Berkfield almost bumped into Marlene as he dropped to his knees to touch Father Patrick's pulse points.
"God in heaven," Berkfield whispered as he looked at the very thin, very frail man who had once owned a robust, vibrant frame. He took up one knobby hand within his and brought it to his chest.
"What happened?" Marleneasked, eyes wide as she stroked long, white hair away from the father's forehead.