Chapter 46
Ozzy walked into the room, sniffed once, and tried to hide his wrinkling nose with his hand.
I coughed and got up from the couch. "Maybe we should go somewhere else." At least we’d been dressed for when he arrived. Turns out two high-level initiated can really work their stamina to the max when they are motivated.
"It's fine," Ozzy said, in a way that most certainly made it clear that it was not. "It seems you two have been taking advantage of a little time off." Ozzy grinned as he stepped back into the hallway.
"And I hope your homecoming has been just as fruitful," I said quickly, dragging Almeria with me out the door and closing it behind us.
"Oh, very. But I don't think she looks anywhere near as happy as Almeria." Ozzy noted that the woman beside me was positively aglow, with a smile she kept trying to suppress and kept failing to keep from spreading across her face.
"I have very much appreciated your hospitality," Almeria chirped, seeming almost drunk in the way her voice lilted.
Ozzy murmured under his breath, "I somehow doubt it's my hospitality that has you so satiated.
But nonetheless, I suppose the two of you could use a break from your room, and perhaps some fresh food, if for nothing else than to refuel Bran.
" Ozzy glanced at me. "You look like you've lost perhaps a bit of weight. " Ozzy chuckled.
I looked at Almeria, who was quickly checking me to see if that was true with a growing look of concern. I gave her a long look and shook my head. “He was joking. I'm just fine,” I told her.
Almeria hesitated but nodded after a second. "We should really get Bran some food. And if you have mixed news, I suspect we won't be your guests for much longer."
Ozzy nodded his head as he led us through the necropolis. "It will be an absolute shame, but I think you may be correct. We've gained a decent amount of information. It almost seems a small gap in our monitoring has made the demons that much bolder."
He wasn't too proud of those words. Ozzy held a hand up to keep me from reacting too much. "Come, eat some food while I tell you all of the details.”
“The headlines, before we dive in," I negotiated.
"There's significant demonic activity in the region," Ozzy said with a sigh.
"But the good news is it doesn't seem nearly as deep as what you've reported in the Amazon.
And the Ennead Clan is thoroughly interested in reasserting our control over the region, which means you'll have our assistance in cleaning this up and hopefully keeping things more stable in the future.
The old men and women in the tombs below have also decided to ignore us for now.
" He paused before adding, "You should know that they're very sore losers. "
"Not a great trait to have for a leader," I commented dryly.
Ozzy shrugged. "They aren't leaders. They're old, retired clan members who won't stop sticking their nose into other people's business. Like the shitty old people on HOAs."
I paused, staring at him. Ozzy had never once had an HOA in his life.
Ozzy shrugged. "What? Do you think, with everything we own, that I've never had to go to an HOA meeting? We have property all over the world. HOAs are dreadful things. I’m half-convinced they were produced by old people who want a zap of conflict in their otherwise boring lives.
" Ozzy wrapped his arms around himself and shuddered.
I couldn't help but let out a full-bellied laugh of my own. "Thankfully, in my vast experience, that is not something I've had to deal with."
"Really?" Ozzy glanced at me. "Well then, count your lucky stars. Such things can sap you of all your strength, drain you of mental fortitude, and leave you but a husk of your previous self."
"Sounds dreadful," I agreed. "Thankfully, if I ever have one, I’m certain I can send Simone or Gloria, and they’d whip them into shape.” The thought of either of them walking into a mundane meeting like that and putting up with people’s crap brought a chuckle out of me.
“I would say it's one of the best things that's happened since the apocalypse. Now HOAs no longer exist, and instead, we just have bad neighbors that we can deal with through more forceful means," Ozzy answered, a savage grin on his face.
I lifted a judgmental eyebrow at him, and he only let out a helpless shrug.
"I'm only human," he said.
I chuckled at his words and shook my head. "Okay, now I want the long version," I told him.
Ozzy motioned for two people to follow us as he stepped into a room with a single long table.
"They have the reports, and while I might be smart, I'm not going to hold onto all of the details myself.
If you would." He rolled his hand towards them, as servants came out from every direction and began filling the table with food.
I thumbed through the documents before me, diving in deep and losing myself in the information.
I waded through paper by paper. Periodically, Almeria shoveled some food into my mouth with love while I learned more about the nearby area. That comment from Ozzy was going to have her and the others force feeding me to keep up my stamina, wasn’t it?
Long after my food had disappeared, I finally finished going through the document and leaned back, splaying my hands on the table with the papers in an organized chaos in front of me.
"Thoughts?" Ozzy asked.
"There's certainly an uptick in demons, but it doesn't correspond to anything else that I know is happening or has happened. It started before we were too active in the Amazon, and there’s no shift since we’ve dealt with it.
I suspect this is a demon general probing for opportunities, and one finally landed while you'd relaxed your monitoring," I said.
"Good news is it seems siloed from whatever was happening on the other continent.
Although I'm certain there are many more events happening around the world that we aren't entirely aware of," I explained.
"I had similar feelings, but it's always nice to hear them echoed by someone with good insight. The question for me really is how I go about clearing them." Ozzy tapped a finger on the table in thought. He wasn’t going to push me on this. That was a nice change of pace.
"Well, luckily, it seems their efforts are fragmented at present. It would make an easy target to just shear off several branches of their activity rather than trying to go for the heart. You just never know," I said with a shake of my head.
"It's like finding a rotten board," Ozzy agreed. "You poke it, and you know it's rotten, but you're not sure how deep it goes until you commit to a full rebuild and pry it out to see for yourself. I’m very interested in ripping the whole board out rather than trying to patch it."
I nodded along with his assessment. "So then, what will you do?" I asked, putting all the papers down and focusing on him.
"You just had to ask the hard question." Ozzy leaned back in his chair, teetering on two legs.
"Well, those are the questions whose answers really matter." I glanced over to Almeria, who was as happy as a clam. "What does your tactician's mind say?"
She paused and glanced briefly into the distance. "A brief test of the waters, perhaps, while being ready to go all in if they don't seem too deep."
I tilted my head, signaling for her to continue.
"With everything else you've done lately, I'm afraid that if you draw this out too long, the Demon Lord will come running, and his focus will be on eliminating you, Bran.
Whereas if you do a quick test and then simply rip it out by the roots in a swift, decisive attack, it's far more likely that you'll succeed and get away with minimal risk to our own people," Almeria said, going back to buttering some bread.
I grinned at her, pleased with her assessment. And I could not help the smug smile I sent Ozzy’s way.
"She is a good one," Ozzy agreed.
"Taken," Almeria stated as she popped a morsel of food in her mouth.
"Well, I think Almeria has the right idea, which means we should test this with a sizable force. It lowers the risk to everyone involved. We prepare to roll straight in, as deep as we can go, the second we confirm how many forces they have in the region," I stated.
Ozzy was all nods. "If that gets you on board, then consider it done. Two days?" He lifted a brow.
"Two days. We'll be ready," I agreed, and then I stood and held out my hand.
Ozzy grabbed my hand, giving it a few pumps. "And for the record, if they try and stuff me away again, you'll come help?"
"Of course," I offered, and Ozzy mimed wiping the sweat off his brow. "That's good. I'm going to have nightmares about that for years to come."
"I'm surprised they were able to force you," I prodded, wanting to better understand.
Ozzy shrugged. "My strength and theirs come from a similar place, and it's not as if I can use the necropolis against my father."
"Fair point," I said, with a shake of my head. "I'll be here. If I don't hear from you for too long again, I have nothing else to do than to check up on why a friend's gone missing."
Our hands clasped again, and Ozzy beamed. "That would be vastly preferable to being locked up for the rest of my days. Oh, and if you need it, I'm going to have some woman from the clan marry you to solidify our alliance."
"I absolutely don't need that." Then I squinted. "Where did that idea come from, Ozzy?"
He suddenly had an incredibly wise look on his face, and he shrugged. "Haven't a clue."
"I thought we were friends, Ozzy," I lamented.
"I'm just not one to spread rumors," Ozzy said, holding his hands up. "I wouldn't want to accidentally make anyone else a liar," he said.
"Uh-huh." I only half-believed him, and that was being generous. However, I had no intention of pushing any harder. If he didn't seem to think it was something I needed to address, then I'd trust him and let it go.
"Two days, Ozzy." I pointed at him, and his face grew incredibly serious.
"I will be there, on my honor. If I'm not, I've certainly been kidnapped and stuffed in a coffin down below." He shivered at the thought.