Chapter 5
Chapter Five
TOM
The disappointment on Gabe’s face makes me want to give him a hug. Or maybe I just want a hug. I mean… what the fuck?
“That’s unfortunate,” Gabe says. He looks like he’s holding on to his calm by his fingernails, and I really hope he wins that battle. “Did Cato find a new victim?”
“Connection,” Marc corrects. “And we didn’t think so, but as time passed, it became apparent that something was going on. Certain lackeys of his were growing in power, in a way that could only be possible if they had forged connections of their own.”
“Was that unusual?” Kieran leans forward in his chair. “I thought that’s what you demons do.”
“Not those demons. They…” He trails off.
“Some demons don’t have the capacity to negotiate a connection.
Like the one you had here. It ripped open a huge, ugly gateway with no finesse and then terrorized everyone in the vicinity without thought to what that would lead to.
If your ghosts hadn’t trapped it, it eventually would have drawn the attention of a hunter and been destroyed. ”
I turn that over in my head. “So you’re saying they were stupid demons.”
Marc pulls an impatient face. “No. For the type of demon they are, they were within the average range, perhaps even intelligent. But that’s exactly what I meant—as a subspecies, they don’t have the capacity to do more than that.
They shouldn’t have been able to forge connections, because they’re not the kind of demons who even bother to try communicating with humans. ”
“Cato was managing them? No, he was…” Gabe hesitates. “Matchmaking between them and humans. Finding humans who wanted to bargain with a demon and brokering the deal.”
“Yes,” Marc replies. “That’s what we assumed as well.
But we couldn’t work out why he would do that.
These demons are lackeys. They support him blindly, but they lack the intelligence to actually provide any support.
He already held power in our world, so he didn’t need them for a coup attempt.
They don’t have the brainpower to be set loose in this world to further his plan here. We didn’t understand.”
Gabe pinches the bridge of his nose. “He was trading them for humans who would support him.”
Marc nods. “The symbiosis of a connection gave both the humans and the demons more power, but because these particular demons were so fanatically loyal to Cato, and incapable of realizing they could amass more power for themselves, it was safe for him to let it happen. He essentially had the control of those Earth connections without having to give anything himself. We higher demons can only make so many connections, and this allowed him to circumvent that. Ingenious, really,” he adds, a note of admiration there that makes me uneasy.
“We found out by accident that those connections were with hunters.”
This seems to be the bit everyone’s been waiting for. I can’t blame them. It’s like dirty cops—nobody likes the idea of the people who are supposed to be protecting you actually being in league with the bad guys.
“One of the demons happened to be in the vicinity of an acquaintance of mine when they were summoned to Earth. He was able to catch a glimpse of the summoner, who wore those charming leather decorations you all seem so fond of. There was also an emblem on the wall behind her, one we’re all quite familiar with. ”
“Wait,” Connor says. “Wait, wait, wait. He could see the summoner? Even though he wasn’t being summoned and didn’t come to Earth? How is that possible?”
Marc looks mildly surprised. “Didn’t you know? When a demon is summoned, the image of the summoner appears before them like an apparition.”
“What?” Gabe’s tone is flat. “You’re telling us that every time someone summons a demon, a 2D image of them pops up in the otherworld?”
“Something like that. It’s like looking through a window. We see the summoner and the space immediately around them. Immensely useful; allows the demon to prepare for the environment. Nobody wants to turn up in the alps dressed for the beach.”
I cough. Who would have thought demons were so fashion-conscious? Glancing over at Nonna, I’m not surprised to see her shaking her head in appalled shock. Demons aren’t living up to her expectations.
Gabe and Connor exchange a look. “There are weirder things,” Connor mutters, then turns back to Marc. “So your friend saw that the summoner was wearing wrist cuffs and was in a room with the Collective badge on the wall.”
Marc nods. “We all found that fascinating. There have been many attempts over the centuries to corrupt hunters. Most of you are too… dedicated. You get all worked up with zeal and fervor over your ‘mission.’” He makes air quotes, the disgust in his voice clear.
“Honestly, even if I could have turned a hunter like that, I wouldn’t have wanted to.
The idea of having to interact with someone so… ”
“Honorable?” Gabe suggests.
“Devoted?” Connor adds.
“Dull,” Marc finally finishes. “Interacting with someone so dull and lack-witted would be the worst.”
“If it helps, we don’t find you all that special either,” Josh supplies.
Marc just shrugs. “I’m not here to impress you. Where was I? Oh, corrupting hunters. Yes, it was interesting to us, since it happens so rarely.”
“Never!” We all jump as Norval enters the conversation with a yell. “It’s never happened before. And I’m not so convinced you’re telling the truth now, demon!”
“Uncle, not now,” Connor says. Marc just looks bored.
“Believe what you please, little ghostie. There haven’t been many corrupted hunters over the centuries, but it did happen.
Not on this scale, though, and not in such an organized fashion.
Those other times, it was just individual demons trying to buy themselves some protection from other hunters. ” He shakes his head. “So stupid.”
Gabe jumps in before Norval can say anything else. “That’s why you were in Connor’s house that day? Trying to identify the person your friend saw? How does that work?”
Marc waves a hand idly. “Oh no, we identified her almost immediately. But we guessed if one of those connections was a hunter, the others probably were too. So we began systematically searching Collective compounds for clues.”
Connor puts out a hand and clutches Gabe’s arm, though Gabe looks pretty shaky himself. I can guess why: nobody likes to think of the bad guy having unfettered access to their home. Or headquarters. Or wherever.
“You searched every Collective compound?” Gabe manages to croak.
“Pfft. Of course not. That would have taken far too long. One of the idiot hunters had a list of his coconspirators.”
Nearly everyone in the room sucks in a breath. “A list? Do you have it?” Gabe takes a step toward Marc, hand half outstretched as if to take the list right now.
“Not with me. We can discuss the names on it later.” He flicks imaginary lint off his jacket sleeve.
“Okay, so the reason you were in Connor’s house that day was because you were searching for clues about who the conspirators could be.
And the reason you almost killed him was because you didn’t want any potential conspirators in the compound to wonder why a higher demon would be in the house if not specifically to kill a hunter.
Right?” Gabe sounds a little more confident now.
“No.”
“I really, really want to kill you,” Connor says. “Like, right now. Stop fucking with us.”
“What a delightful turn of phrase. But, sadly, I’m not ‘fucking with you.’ That’s not what happened.”
We wait for him to continue.
“We already had the list at that time. I was searching the houses of the conspirators.”
Whoa.
Like puppets, we all turn to stare at Connor.
It can’t be true… right? I mean… I don’t know him that well, but no fucking way would Skye be cool with a guy who’d do something like this.
I slide a sideways glance at Skye. Disbelief is all over his face.
Okay, no worries. We don’t believe a word of it.
“What the actual fuck?” Connor breathes. “Is this what you came here for? To cause trouble? Well, you can fuck right off back to the otherworld, because Gabe knows I’d never do that.”
“I do,” Gabe affirms, his voice strong and steady. “I don’t have any doubt.” He takes a breath. “But, Con, you weren’t the only person living in that house.”
Oh my god, this is better than any soap opera. If it wasn’t for the literal demon sitting on the couch and the possible end of the world, I’d be enjoying myself.
Connor scoffs. “Ian? He was twelve. And anyway, you can’t really think Ian would get involved with demons.”
Gabe shakes his head. “Not Ian.”
For a second, Connor looks confused, but then he sucks in air and rounds on Marc. “Show us the fucking list.”
“I don’t have it with me.”
“Then tell us the names on it, and don’t give me any bullshit about not remembering them.” His voice shakes on the last word.
“I don’t remember them all,” Marc begins, then holds up a hand when Connor growls. “But I remember the ones you want to hear. I searched that house that day because the compound records listed it as belonging to Edward and Brianne Massey. And they were both on the list.”
“No!” Norval shouts, and the pain in it wrenches at me. I look over to see the other ghosts gathering closer around him. Nonna even pats his shoulder.
“Con, no!”
Kieran’s cry has my head whipping back around in time to see Connor, knife in hand, lunging at Marc. I scramble to my feet—no idea why. Gabe’s a step behind Connor, reaching for him, when suddenly Con flies back a few feet, hits the floor with a skid, then lies there staring at the ceiling.
Marc sits on the couch still, but his face no longer wears that bored, unbothered expression. It’s a taut, tense mask now.
Kieran and Gabe go to Connor and help him up. “What the fuck, Con?” Gabe hisses, barely loud enough for me to hear. “You’re lucky he didn’t kill you.” Connor pushes them both aside and faces Marc.
“Get. The. List.”
Marc studies him for a moment, then inclines his head and disappears. Like that’s not a special kind of mind fuck.
But I don’t have time for that right now. While Connor, Norval, and Gabe are talking in low, agitated voices, I grab Skye’s arm. “Fill me in.”
He shakes his head, face pale and eyes on his friends. “I don’t know. Um. I think those are Connor’s parents, maybe? Or relatives. The name is the same as his. And Norval was a founder of the Collective, and he’s pretty into the whole family legacy thing.”
So Connor’s parents might be in cahoots with the evil demons. Fuck me. “Who’s Ian?”
“Connor’s little brother,” Daniel says behind us. “He’s just started his senior year at Franklin U with Gabe’s little brother.”
Gabe pulls Connor into a hard hug, slaps him on the shoulder, then releases him and walks toward us. His gaze locks with mine. “Tom, can I have a word?”
“Sure. I don’t think my name’s on the list, if that’s what it is.
” Bad time to make an unfunny joke. I mentally kick myself and muster up a smile.
“Sorry, that was stupid. What do you need?” Maybe he wants me to get us all some pizza from my family’s restaurant.
Though… no, that can’t be it. Daniel picked some up this afternoon, and I told him to treat Skye good or I’d use my uncle’s mincer on his dick.
It feels like years have passed since then.
“You’ve learned a lot of stuff today. Most of it can’t ever be repeated to anyone else, not if we want to avoid widespread panic.”
“I won’t tell anyone,” I promise.
He nods. “I’m going to give you a choice.
If you stay and hear everything else, you’re in.
We need everyone we can get to prevent the worst from happening.
But this is new to you, and you were dragged in without your knowledge.
So if you want to go… leave. Go now, forget you heard anything, and you can pretend none of it ever happened. ”