16. Information Overload
Information Overload
JP
Trying to concentrate during this party is almost impossible.
In my mind, I either have the supes whose mentally guarded thoughts are as tight as a bottle of Dillard’s pickled pumpkin custard, or I have the ones yelling at me as if they are next to me.
I’m going to have a splitting headache after this, that’s for sure.
So far, the only interesting things I’ve picked up are a few tidbits about the other schools.
Bailiwick is particularly cautious with the medallions that they wear around their necks.
I didn’t see them in their picture that Zeke had up on the computer, but most of the contenders have them now.
If they happen to poke out from under their cloaks or dresses, they quickly hide the medallion and check whether anyone nearby has noticed.
Nope, just little ol’ me. They wouldn’t be that cautious if they weren’t hiding it for some reason. In the last group I was visiting, a student from Seductive Sins caught sight of it and asked about it, but Bailiwick changed the subject, and the question was dropped.
Besides a few personal fears from a couple of Cyanide Conservatory peeps, nothing has been eventful.
Although I do overhear a conversation about our Ever Woods, and a few students mention they are thankful that our Whispering Death Vines are hibernating.
I pocket that information away because I don’t know what significance that plays, but I do know who would.
‘Take out the smaller groups first. The sooner, the better,’ a feminine voice yells out.
‘I agree. Most of the Cyanide Conservatory will be breaking up in smaller groups, and the same with Purgatory, from what I’ve gathered,’ a male voice replies.
What’s going on here? I approach a small group of students and find them discussing their seasonal preferences. Boring.
“Which do you prefer out of the seasons?” the petite blonde asks me. She’s the supe I just heard talking about picking off the smaller groups. Her dark green sheath dress is a bad choice for her, but I refrain from pointing it out.
“Winter,” I lie, but say it with a straight face and with no inflection in my tone, so no one will be able to catch it.
“Really?” the male beside me asks. “Why?”
Keep it simple and plant false insecurities.
“Easier to track your prey,” I tell him, giving him a small, sinister smile before turning away, but I’m close enough that I can hear their thoughts.
‘What school is he from?’ the girl asks frantically.
‘I don’t know, he doesn’t look like a demon, so maybe Purgatory? I didn’t see him come in with Cyanide.’
Bingo. Plant false insecurities. I have this spy master shit down.
Tired of mingling for a moment, I grab a drink of Fairie Wine and perch in the shadows against one of the trees, watching from a distance as supes dance, laugh, and greet each other.
“It’s crazy how we spend our lives when we think we have forever,” a timid voice speaks up behind me, making me jump.
Looking over my shoulder, I find a petite girl standing to my left, bundled into a tunic dress with a scarf wrapped around her neck, and her brown hair piled in a messy bun on top of her head.
I know her from somewhere. I cock my head, trying to place her, when her blue eyes flash to brown and back again within seconds, and it clicks.
“Desar! Hey, how are you doing?” I ask, shocked to see the Interdimensional Pythoness witch here. I haven’t seen her since she helped Rez in her attempt to make a stronger connection with Lynx when he was missing.
She gives me a sad smile and continues to watch the dancing people with her listless eyes.
“What do you mean, when we think we have forever?” I ask. I obviously don’t know her as well as Rez, but I know she’s a friend. I barely tap against her mental shield, and I’m hit with an all-encompassing terror and flash of a symbol.
“What would you do if you knew when you would die?”
I jerk back, losing the symbol as if she slapped me.
“What?” I ask, flabbergasted. I physically reach for her to strengthen our connection, but she steps back and slowly shakes her head.
“Sometimes, you can’t run from Fate, no matter how much you want to.” She pulls a small bag from a pocket of her dress and hands it to me. “Please give this to Rez for me.”
“Why can’t you do it yourself?” I hold the bag in my hand, but I can’t bring myself to let go of her hand. I’m scared to.
“No matter which path is shown and taken, the Dreamworld has spoken, and I’ve been claimed,” she says as she pats my hand.
There’s a scuffle around the dance floor, and a few students who have had too much to drink run past us to join in, pushing us along with them. Once I hit the edge of the dance floor, I turn to Desar and find her missing.
Shit. Desar!
“Break it up!” Chief Cloak yells, pulling my attention back to the party. “This is a party, not a sparring match.”
He pulls the group apart and glares at them until they quickly disperse before turning to the band and nodding.
He then fixes his tux and turns to the room and growls, “There’s nothing to see here.
” As everyone goes back to business, he holds out his hand, and Lilith elegantly takes it, making my jaw drop as the atmosphere suddenly changes.
Chief gently guides Lilith around the dance floor once before other couples join in, and I feel like I’m watching a once-in-a-lifetime documentary.
I’ve never seen this side of the Chief, and I feel like I could be strung up for seeing it now.
Either way, I need to find Desar if she’s in trouble, but as soon as I make that decision, dread hits my stomach as I hear someone’s thoughts about me.
“It’s amazing to see people truly in love, isn’t it?” I don’t need to turn around to know who’s snuck up on me. His thoughts are screaming at me, and he’s allowing them to. “You’re lucky to have Zeke and Nerezza,” he tells me.
“You know you’ll find your own love someday, too, right? It’s not over for you.”
Dad steps up into my periphery. “Even if it isn’t, I have more important things to do now.” I can feel his eyes on me as I scan the room for Desar.
“What’s that?” I ask, keeping my voice down so only he can hear, and take a sip of my wine.
“Hopefully, being a dad and grandfather soon.”
I choke on my wine, and some of it dribbles out of my mouth onto my suit. Dad hands me his pocket square and smiles as I say thanks.
“Any time.”
“You did that on purpose, though,” I growl out, turning to put my drink down and notice a small box next to a candle on the table.
I freeze as I watch the small box and notice something about the box that makes my skin crawl.
Turning back to Dad, I make sure I’m looking straight ahead and keep my voice down.
“Um, have you seen any black boxes around the ballroom, and if so, do you know what they are for?”
Dad chuckles and puts his hand on my back to gently move me away from the box. He leads us into the forest and into an area where there’s little moonlight.
“Here, sit,” he insists, and throws up a bubble for us to talk.
“Yes, they are spread through this ballroom, and, unfortunately, they will be throughout the Gauntlet as well. But since I did not create this Gauntlet or have any part of it, I can tell you. They are video devices to allow this year to be broadcast.”
“What?” I sway slightly on the bench, and he reaches out to study me. “Since when do we televise our sacred Gauntlet?”
“Someone even higher than the Leaders of Nova asked for it.”
The only people higher than the Leaders are the Fates, and why would they ask for it, when they are all-seeing and wouldn’t need to televise it? This doesn’t make sense at all.
“There are a lot of things that don’t make sense, JP. Adam, Cain, The Fates changing things, Asmodeus’s sudden power.”
The mention of Adam jars me out of my stupor, and I give Dad an unreadable look.
“What’s wrong?” he asks, looking sincerely concerned.
“A lot,” I confess. “The first thing I need to tell you is that Rez just found out she has two fathers.” Dad’s eyebrows perk up while mine narrow, and I zero in on his thoughts, but his barriers slam down like a vault. That’s interesting.
“Oh. Who?”
“Delvin is her Biological father, and I guess in a sense, her Essence father would be Adam. Since he somehow gave her some of his essence while she was an embryo. That’s why she doesn’t show up on any genetic markers.” I shrug.
Dad freezes for a moment as if Rez froze the room again, but I can see him breathing, and he blinks, so obviously he’s not completely frozen, just impersonating a statue.
“Dad?”
“Adam has given her his genetic makeup?” he says slowly.
“I guess.”
Dad leans in and pulls on my lapels to bring me closer to him, even though no one would be able to hear us through his bubble.
“Do not let Lilith know this information at any cost. Do you understand me?” he growls through his clenched jaw.
“Of course, but can you tell me why?” I ask, terrified all the same.
“She would drain Rez dry of blood to track down Adam, since she has his essence,” he explains, and I feel all my own blood drain from my head as I feel dizzy and the room starts spinning.
“Hey, none of that.” Dad shakes me, and I feel a little bit better.
“Okay. I’ll make sure we keep that to ourselves.” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Since I do have you here, I want to run something by you. One of the places you will be sent to is Hell.”
“Aww shit. Again?” I groan.
“Yeah. I’m sorry, but as of right now, the only person who is protected is Rez, since she has our brand,” Dad tells me as he crosses his legs and leans back on the bench.
“So, why are you telling me this?” I ask, knowing there’s a reason and I probably won’t like it.
“If I announce both you and your sister as heirs, it will give you and your party a free pass through Hell.”
My anxiety skyrockets, and I feel my heart start to race, and my hands feel sweaty at the mention of heirs. It seems I can’t run away from this, and I might as well face this and tell him how I’m feeling about all of it. My fears aren’t going to magically go away, even though I wish they would.
“I have reservations,” I admit.
“Okay,” he says simply. “I’m listening. Tell me what they are.”
Well, that’s a positive step so far. You can do this, JP. You can tell the father you just met, the Deceiver, the Evil one, that you don’t want to follow in his footsteps and not upset him.
Piece of cake.
Hopefully, he has a fatherly bone in his body.
“I’m afraid that if you announce me as an heir, I’ll be trapped in that position,” I confess, not able to look at him.
“What do you mean? You feel like this is a death sentence?” His tone doesn’t waver, but it doesn’t lighten either, which doesn’t help my nerves.
“I’ve never wanted to be in charge of anything,” I tell him, getting up from my seat and starting to pace.
I still can’t look his way, but moving at least helps with the nervous energy.
“I love shopping, decorating, and baking for my loved ones. I can’t see myself living in Hell and ruling after you turn over the reins.
In fact, it scares the shit out of me,” I shamefully tell him.
After a few moments of nothing, I stop pacing and look up to find Dad smirking at me. He leans forward with his elbows on his thighs, and it completely disarms me. It’s the most natural thing I’ve seen him do.
“JP, who said you had to do this alone? Or had to move to Hell?” He gives me a smile before raising an eyebrow.
“Did you forget that it’s not Lucifer but L.A.M.B.
who rules HELL right now? Yes, I would announce you and Moni as my heirs, but that doesn’t mean you would rule on your own.
And to be honest, you and your group might be a good change for Hell.
Who knows. But that is for another time, way down the road.
I’m not planning on handing over the reins tomorrow.
” He plasters a cruel smile on his lips.
“I want to play the avenging father and bring the bloodshed. I haven’t been able to do that yet, and it’s on my bucket list.”
I can’t stop the snort that blows out of me. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Nope. I’ve always left the vengeance stuff to Bez, but it looks fun.”
Figuring, we’re already in the shit hole, I’ll give him my blessing.
“Look, I’ll give you my blessing, but you have to get Moni’s blessing before doing it, even though I’m pretty sure she’s down for it,” I tell him, sticking out my hand for a gentleman’s agreement, but Dad surprises me by standing up and pulling me in for a hug.
“Thank you. It should deter most people from fucking with you.”
“And those that don’t?” Those are the ones I’m worried about; they wouldn’t care about ranks or titles.
They will be determined to take what they want by any means necessary, like Angel and Emer.
“Those are the ones you fuck with and then dispose of when you’re tired of them.” A cruel smile appears on his face.
Damn, I have so much to learn.
“Come, I already know what gift I want to give you for the Gauntlet."