"Yes," she whispered. "But if you would do this one thing, I will always align with you against Lucrezia and Nuit--to make up for my earlier offense, plus make this night worth your while--if you'll allow me control over a small dispatch of your Berserkers.. Deal?"
Sebastian licked the blood from her throat, trembling. "Deal."
Fallon Nuit lifted his head from Lucrezia's throat and then rolled off her body, peeling himself away from her damp skin.
"What's the matter?" she said, slowly sitting up as he paced to the war-room table and placed both hands on it.
"Come, see for yourself. Apparently Elizabeth wasn't choosy about taking sloppy seconds." Fallon spread his hands out onto the gleaming black marble, watching images on it come alive as though he were staring at a flat-screen HDTV.
Lucrezia came to him, wrapped in a crimson satin sheet, her gaze hardened to a glare as her arm threaded around his waist. Thousands of pelt-wearing, demon-riding avengers broke through the crust of the earth. Their massive bulk writhed with snakes and maggots, their faces mere flesh-rotted skulls that shrieked, each entity a nightmare unto itself with weapons raised.
Chains and maces, black swords of death, animal-headed horses with bat wings and monkey tails took flight, spewing an unending launch of vile manifestation against the bright light of the moon.
"They have no class," Lucrezia said, rubbing Fallen's back.
"Eastern Europeans ... so baroque," he said, sniffing in disdain. "We, the French, have a style all our own. And those of us from the era of ladies and gentlemen that hail from the refined Creole families of Louisiana prefer politics and courtsmanship-- versus brute force, which is very, very sloppy."
"I am glad that you were given Dante's old lair . . . which gives you access to seeing what is afoot and being plotted against you," she murmured, kissing his bare chest.
"A strategic advantage to be sure, darling . . . which is why I asked you to play along with me." Fallen kissed her slowly and deeply. "Your essence was a tracer. Thank you, darling. So now we know what they are up to ... and I just needed to keep them diverted while I went on my walkabout."
She chuckled softly, nipping his shoulder. "I don't know what you found there, but I like what Australia does to you."
"Shush," he whispered playfully. "Mustn't let the cat out of the bag that I made my little trek. However, in the meantime, when you call in your marker to reanimate your father ... I'll be working on another strategy. Let them have their fun and waste resources with the brutes he's raised. All that will do is piss Lilith off. I assure you, they won't find what they're looking for and it will not net results."
Chapter EIGHT
Dillowing clouds of smoke were behind them and an uncertain future lay ahead of them. Guardians collapsed on deck chairs, each taking their turn to console a completely freaked-out Monty while Berkfield took the helm.
"What 1 have just witnessed is beyond the capacity of human understanding!" he said, pacing and talking with his hands.
Carlos just looked up at him from where he sprawled on the padded furniture. "You did good, man. You got us out of there in one piece."
Yonnie pounded Carlos's fist and got up to sling an arm around Monty's shoulder. He smiled when Monty squeezed his eyes shut. "I know, I know the fangs . . . but now you see why me and my good brother, C, have 'em?"
"Y-yes, yes, I guess so," Monty stuttered. "Glad you're on our side."
Team members swallowed smirks out of respect for the newest member of the team, but the thing that had been clawing at Damali's mind was back . . . then in slow motion she covered her mouth with her hand and turned away. Each team member's body tensed as their collective gazes bore into her back.
"Monk Lin," Damali whispered. "We lost him."
"Aw, man!" Carlos was on his feet. "How?"
She couldn't even look at him. "Friendly fire . . . local patrols didn't understand." That was all she would say in front of the group, especially in front of Monty. No one needed to be further demoralized, and having lost the last living member of the Covenant would have done just that.
"Kiss my ass!" Rider got to his feet and began to pace. "The man was a complete pacifist... I mean, how could that happen?" Rider raked his fingers through his hair. "I just don't get it."
Tara gave Damali a look and soon the other seers closed their eyes and turned away.
"What? What are we missing here, ladies?" Rider said, sounding indignant.
"There is a reason why during this period, you gentlemen are blind," Marlene said calmly, grounding the group. "The male and female energies are balancing as they should ... if Monk Lin was here, he would tell us that according to the Ayurveda science of life, the mahabhutas--the five master elements of space, air, fire, water, and earth--are realigning within each person and on the team as a whole to accommodate change. There are things that we seers can see now, being of the space-air dosha, that are easier for us to communicate calmly and with purpose." Marlene stood and walked as she talked, holding the group rapt.
"Space holds all the aspects of unlimited potentiality; air has the qualities of movement and change. These ladies have this dosha that is called in the tradition Vata, and they have infinite possibilities growing within them and are experiencing significant change. That would be Val, Tara, Jasmine, Krissy, and Juanita . . . although she's still a little fiery, that is mellowing."
Marlene looked around at the group. "We are also evenly divided between those of us, like Marj and I, and Damali, plus Inez and Heather, who carry the dosha of water-earth now, or Kapha energy. Water is cohesive and protective; earth is solid, grounded, and stable. It's not just about sun signs; that is a different matter. I am talking about energy here."
"And you gentlemen at present are fire," Damali said calmly. "Fire is hot, direct, and transformational. Pitta energy. Right through now, if images of what was going on came to you guys directly, as ready for war as you are, you'd burn out your adrenals. Seriously. And, later, as we all get farther along, we're gonna need you in one piece. It just makes sense."