Chapter 26
Chapter Twenty-Six
GABE
For a crazy, exhilarating second, I think Tom’s found the solution. The way to save the world without any bloodshed.
Then Marc sighs, and my heart plummets to my feet.
“You don’t know his name?” Connor croaks, disappointment clouding his face.
Marc’s silent, staring into the distance. “I do,” he says finally. “But I can’t share it unless as a last resort.”
“Isn’t this the last resort?” Randy demands wildly. “We’re trying to stop the end of two worlds here. Cato is going to destroy us all. You were the one who came asking for help!”
Fuck, this isn’t going well.
“Why?” Ian’s voice cuts through the rising murmur of discontent. “Why is it a last resort?”
For the first time since he got out of Tom’s car last week, Marc looks tired and stressed. He’s such an unbelievable asshole that I sometimes forget he is here, in a place he doesn’t like, with people he also doesn’t like, because he’s fighting for his world too.
“It’s the only rule. In my world, things change constantly, but there is one rule, undisputed.
You never use a demon’s name against them.
Not for any reason. Think of the chaos that could ensue if higher demons used their connections on Earth to summon and dispose of their enemies.
Our society would devolve.” He shakes his head.
“It’s happened once, in all my memory.” He doesn’t say how long that is, but I get the feeling his memory is longer than the history of the Collective.
“The demon who did it was ripped apart until not even atoms remained.”
I look at Connor. Neither of us likes Marc, but setting him up to be killed for our benefit, especially when he’s been helping us… that would make us the monsters.
Still… “We could protect you,” I venture. “Give you safe harbor here. Get some guards for you, too.” Even as I say it, I’m aware how stupid it sounds. Guards for a demon who can kill with his mind? Anything that’s a threat to him is something human guards wouldn’t be able to deal with.
He laughs, a dark, bitter sound. “You couldn’t. I wouldn’t want you to. And doing that would likely backfire on us anyway. By breaking the cardinal rule, I would bring all my motives and actions into question. Others would wonder if perhaps Cato had been right to pursue the course he was.”
That would be bad.
“With us both gone, there would be a leadership void, and believe me when I tell you, an unrestrained battle for leadership in my world will absolutely spill into this one. Even if I survived here, I wouldn’t be able to influence the events occurring there.
Don’t be fooled into thinking higher demons are all as kind and tolerant as I am.
There are those who would annihilate you for the sin of breathing. ”
“Kind” isn’t a word I would use to describe Marc—or “tolerant”—so I shudder to think what else we could have to deal with. Although the whole point of this is that I already know.
“I guess that settles that,” Con says firmly, though I can still hear his disappointment.
“We also have to consider that we don’t know what precautions Cato has taken.
It’s possible he’s left instructions that if he’s killed, the plan is to continue.
Or the potential backup plan that we know nothing about will kick in, and it might be worse. ”
“I didn’t think I could feel more tired and worn down than I did twenty minutes ago, but hey, here it is.” Jill runs a hand over her short hair and stretches. “I’m going back to the motel. I want fast food, a hot shower, and crappy TV.”
The team from the Collective pile into their car and go, and I slide my arm around Tom’s waist, leaning into him a little. I’m probably in for a lecture, what with the whole not telling everyone that building the barrier was more than likely going to kill me. I want to get some cuddles in first.
“I’m going too,” Marc says. “Try not to fuck everything up while I’m gone.” Despite the sharp words, he still doesn’t sound himself. Surprisingly, I don’t like hearing him so defeated.
I must be more tired than I thought.
“Don’t forget to talk to your friend about the whole energy building itself thing,” Ian reminds him.
Marc flips a hand in acknowledgement and is gone.
“What. The. Fuck.” My brother slumps down to sit on the porch step. “Seriously. What even was this whole afternoon?”
“Mindfuck,” Ian agrees, sitting beside him and staring out over the grass. “I need carbs and sugar.”
“You need protein and greens,” Connor corrects. “But that has to wait, because first you need to tell us what the fuck plans you’re making behind our backs that might endanger us all.”
Oh yeah. I’d nearly forgotten about that.
“What?” Matt says innocently. “No plans. Why would you think that?”
Tom laughs, the sound vibrating through me where I’m pressed to his side. “Come on, Matt, you can lie better than that.”
Ian pulls a face. “You’d think, but no. He’s a shitty liar.” Big sigh. “We should probably go inside.”
“Do I need whiskey?” I ask. I’m super proud that I haven’t chugged the whole bottle since this whole thing started. Honestly, Tom’s presence has helped a lot. He smooths the rough edges off all the what-the-fuckery and helps me deal with it better.
I’m not ever letting him go.
“No, it’s good,” Matt assures us as we troop through the porch and into the cabin. “It’s just not something we’re supposed to tell you. Ever.”
Wow, that makes me feel like a failure as a pseudo-parent. Secrets they’re not ever supposed to tell us? “You haven’t joined a cult, have you?”
Matt stops so abruptly that we nearly step on him. “You mean other than the Collective?”
“The Collective isn’t a cult. Even if it might look like it to outsiders.” It does share a lot of the same identifiers.
I pull Tom down onto the sofa with me and loop an arm around his shoulders to keep him close. My brothers settle into chairs, and then Connor stares down the boys.
“Talk.”
They exchange glances, and Matt says, “We have a network of hunters and gatekeepers who can share power with Gabe. If it turns out to be possible.”
Shock—mixed heavily with hope—echoes through me. That’s not what I expected to hear. But just as quickly, reality sets in. “We can’t trust anyone in the Collective, Matt. Any of them coul—”
“Not even the trainees?” Ian leans forward to meet my gaze. “Nobody takes us seriously because we’re still learning, right? Why would demons think any different? You’ve heard Marc call us baby hunters. I’ve seen that list, Gabe. Every hunter on it has a minimum of forty years’ experience.”
“And it was written twenty years ago,” Matt chimes in. “So even back then, when they were starting out, they were looking for recruits with experience. Nobody was trying to sign up the trainees.”
I don’t bother to mention that there’s a reason for that. Experience on a battlefield is a good thing. “There’s still no guarantee.”
“There’s never any guarantees,” Ian snaps. “Not for us. Don’t you remember being taught that? We train and drill over and over again, but there’s still no guarantee that a demon won’t get us. Everything we do is a risk.”
The words are a blow. He’s right. We’ve been so focused on winning absolutely, but that’s not possible.
With the information we have, we can’t prevent Cato from implementing his plan.
Even if all the pieces line up and there’s enough energy to rebuild the barrier, and Marc’s theory about it not taking as much time is true…
we can’t begin that process until after hundreds, if not thousands of demons converge on Earth and rip down the current barrier.
And then while I’m rebuilding it, those demons will be wreaking havoc on our world and humanity.
Even if we win, we’re facing massive losses and damage.
I can’t even begin to think of the impact this is going to have on the world after the demons are gone—chaos on that scale will be impossible to hide or write off as a deranged serial killer.
Humanity will finally be fully aware of the danger, and there’s no telling what the reaction will be.
Violent, probably, with people attacking anyone they think might be connected to demons.
Religious groups will use it to further the grip they have on their members and stir up more hate against others.
But getting back to the point… this whole venture, even if we win, is just one risk after another. We need to stop thinking there’s a way we can win without danger to only us.
“Okay.” Connor surprises me by speaking first. “Let’s say we agree that the trainees are low-risk and might be worth bringing on board. There’s no way for us to contact them all without going through the Collective.”
“Maybe Norval could steal a list of names?” I muse. “But with that many people, even if none of them have been recruited by the other side, there’s still a big chance word will get out. Secrets are hard to keep.”
Ian and Matt look at each other. “It’s for the sake of the world, man,” Matt points out, and Ian nods. Matt turns to face us. “What we’re about to tell you can’t leave this room. We swore an oath, and we’re about to break it. We’re asking you to keep this secret under the bonds of brotherhood.”
Tom stirs beside me. “I can wait outside,” he offers, and Ian gives him a scathing look.
“Don’t be a dick. You’re our brother too now.”
From the way Tom’s breath hitches, he wasn’t expecting that. It gives me a warm glow, too, that my brothers recognize what neither of us have put into words yet.
“You can tell Kieran,” Ian’s saying to Connor, “but he has to keep it to himself. This is for us only.”
I kind of want to laugh at the drama, but this is obviously important to them. “Nobody will hear it from me,” I promise, and Con and Tom echo my vow.
Matt pulls out his phone. “The trainees have a network,” he says, tapping the screen and then turning it to show us…
an app. It’s garishly colored and cartoonish, and looks like any one of a million games he’s played on my phone and his over the years.
“Our friend Dylan designed it when we were sixteen. There was this grant he wanted to apply for, and he needed an app design. He didn’t get the grant, but he figured he might as well use the app for something, so he set it up as a networking tool for our class.
Kind of like a private chat and file-sharing space, but… secret.”
“Then we went to FU, and we realized how useful it was to keep in touch as well,” Ian continues.
“The Collective has that lame chatroom setup for trainees around the world, but nobody really uses it, because we all know it’s monitored by teachers.
Dyl figured the app could be a good way to get to know other trainee hunters around the world, share information.
Like, Connor’s talked about how he always feels better working with people he knows, right?
So why not give us a way to get to know more people?
Maybe one day, working together, we could figure out a way to stop the demons instead of just reacting to them. ”
Matt scratches his neck. “Dylan can be a superior ass sometimes, and he gets these big ideas, but it sounded like fun to us,” he admits.
“So we helped him get in touch with people from other compounds. And then other countries. We’re not all technically trainees anymore.
The ones who didn’t go to college have mostly finished their training and are now hunters, but they’re still part of the network, and it’s added another level to things. ”
My head whirls as my brain tries to process this all. “How many?” I ask.
Ian shrugs. “Nearly five thousand of us use the app, but some of them will be under eighteen. I’m guessing you don’t want kids involved in this.”
I shake my head, unable to manage anything else. A few thousand. If Marc’s theory is right, and if Norval can find a way for us to share power… a few thousand would change the landscape completely.
Connor’s stunned gaze meets mine, and I know he’s thinking the same thing.
Tom clears his throat. “You’re sure there’s no chance any of the traitors can know about this network?”
“No. Well,” Matt amends, “I guess there’s always a chance. But the number one rule is that no one talks about the app. Dylan really likes Fight Club. It makes it more fun, anyway. And it’s for sure that if the Collective found out, they’d want to take it over and that would wreck it.”
“Plus, even if they did know, would it matter?” Ian asks. “Nobody’s bothered to do anything about it yet. Nobody thinks kids can do anything.”
I rub my forehead, guilt riding me hard. I totally underestimated my brothers.
“Have you talked to Dylan and the network about everything?” Tom asks. “Do they know you’re telling us?”
“No.” Matt winces. “We figured that as far as secrets go, this one is more important.”
“Thank you,” I say immediately. “Uh… just let me…” I shake my head, trying to make this new information fit.
Luckily, Connor’s on his game. “How many active hunters do you have? And gatekeepers?”
“We haven’t checked the exact numbers. It’s not that easy, and we’d need Dylan’s help. But it’s gotta be around a thousand, I think. Not many people born in the Collective go to college,” Ian reminds us.
Connor looks at me. “I hate this.”
He doesn’t need to explain, because I hate it too. We’re talking about kids. Sure, most of them are over the age of eighteen, and if Ian’s right, they’re either already full-fledged hunters or close to it, but they’re still so young. I don’t want my brothers in the line of fire.
But they’re going to be. I can’t wrap them in cotton wool and hide them away. For one thing, they wouldn’t let me.
“Let’s go over what you can tell Dylan.”