As much as I hated to admit it, I could see Gregor's point. The Darkfolk – whether through ignorance or because they just didn't care enough to check – had chosen a new home that was already inhabited. And while I couldn't blame him for being less than pleased with the situation, I couldn't condone how he was going about trying to remedy it.
'Has it never occurred to you that maybe you should try to accept the way things are, whether you like it or not, and attempt to make peace with the Darkfolk?' I asked.
Gregor answered as if he were explaining a simple fact to a particularly slow child. 'Otherness is an aberration, Matthew. An infection. The only way to deal with it effectively is to cast it out – which is precisely what I intend to do.'
Varney had been silent up to this point, but now he removed the hood of his curseweave protective suit. He said nothing, but his cyber-eye glowed red and a thin beam of energy lanced out and bored through Gregor's head, right between the eyes. Gregor just stood there, smiling, and when Varney's beam winked out, the blackened hole in Gregor's flesh quickly repaired itself.
Varney shrugged. 'I didn't think it would work, but it was worth a try.'
'Nice shooting anyway,' I said.
Varney looked at Gregor. 'Seeing as how you didn't have the good grace to die when I zapped you, tell me this: even if you succeed in transporting Nekropolis to Earth, what makes you think the Darkfolk won't simply return? And when they come back, your existence will no longer be a secret. All the Darkfolk will be aware of you, and they'll all be prepared to fight you. You may be powerful, and you may be able to destroy many of us, but you can never kill all of us.'
'All true,' Gregor conceded. 'Which is why I intend to transport Nekropolis to an Earth city. I'm not sure what the ultimate effect will be. It's possible Nekropolis and the Earth city will merge into an entirely new metropolis. It's equally possible the two won't be able to coexist in the same dimensional space, resulting in a truly spectacular explosion. Either way, the Darkfolk will become known to humanity, and once the humans realize the monsters from their legends and folklore truly exist, they will hunt you down and slaughter you with a ruthlessness that I couldn't hope to match. And these aren't the same humans the Darkfolk left behind four hundred years ago. They've had centuries to develop new ways of killing, far more deadly and efficient than simple wooden stakes and silver bullets. They may create a genetically engineered virus that targets only Darkfolk. They may find a way to 'cure' you and make you just like them. Or they may simply use nuclear weapons to reduce you to radioactive dust. Whatever they choose, there are far more of them than there are of you, and in many ways they're worse monsters than you could ever hope to be.' Gregor's mouth stretched into a slow, satisfied smile. 'The Darkfolk won't have a chance.'
I'd lived on Earth most of my life, and I feared Gregor was right – which made it even more vital that we stop him.
I started to speak, but I once again experienced the strange sensation of my missing right hand moving. But this time it was accompanied by a strange feeling of pressure, as if my hand were being gripped tight and something sharp pressed into my palm. I did my best to ignore it. When you've got a bad guy speechifying about his ultimate plan, the best thing to do is keep him talking as long as possible. If nothing else, it buys you time to think of ways to kick his ass and maybe, if you're lucky, save your own skin in the process.
'You're bluffing,' I said. 'If you could transport Nekropolis to Earth, you'd have done it by now. You've already tried a couple times and failed.'
'Those weren't serious attempts at transport,' Gregor said. 'They were calibration runs to help me set the dimensional coordinates and determine the final power levels needed. Everything is now ready. Darius is the key to opening the dimensional gateway, and the magic-users will power the device that allows me to direct his abilities. Only one thing remains: I need to gather the raw energy to initiate Nekropolis' transport.'
'And where do you intend to find it?' I asked.
Gregor gestured at the holo image of Demon's Roost on the table before him. Four red dots appeared in the air above the image, followed by several dozen smaller ones.
Gregor looked at me and grinned. 'It's true the war made a useful distraction as I went about my work, but it wasn't only a distraction.'
Thin beams of light emerged from the four larger red dots and streaked down toward the holographic version of Demon's Roost.
'Get down!' I shouted. I threw myself to the floor, grabbing hold of Shamika's arm on the way and pulling her with me. Varney joined us just as a huge explosion rocked the penthouse. For several moments all I knew was light and noise, and it felt as if the building was shaking itself apart beneath me. But then the rumbling died away and the smoke began to clear, and I became cautiously optimistic that I hadn't been blasted into several trillion atoms.
I opened my eyes. Shamika lay next to me, covered with a fine layer of dust.
I shook her gently. 'Are you OK?'
She opened her eyes. 'I think so.' Then she smiled. 'That was exciting! Do you think it'll happen again? Do you think it'll be even louder next time?'
'Let's hope not.' I stood and helped Shamika to her feet. I turned to check on Varney. The vampire appeared unscathed, and he rose to his feet easily. Gregor and Varvara seemed unharmed as well, and both continued standing by the holo-display table. Gregor was looking up into the sky – for the penthouse no longer had a roof – and he was grinning from ear to ear.
Hovering above us were the three Weyward Sisters, along with several dozen Arcane men and woman riding various flying devices – brooms and flying carpets being particular favorites. But in front of all them, standing in mid-air as if on solid ground, was Talaith. Unlike Varvara, she hadn't donned a faux military uniform. The queen of the Arcane wore her usually austere Puritan dress, but she was wreathed in crackling mystic energy, and power rolled off her in almost seismic waves. Behind her the sky was filled with black clouds and lightning lanced forth from them as she spoke, her voice echoing like thunder.
'Varvara! For the transgressions you have committed against me and my people, I demand that you surrender your Dominion to me at once! If you refuse, I will destroy you and burn your stronghold to the ground! And afterward I shall begin the systematic slaughter of all the Demonkin! When I am through, not a single stinking demon will be left in this city, and I will see your name purged from the history of the Darkfolk! It will be as if you never existed, hell-bitch! So what is it to be? Dishonor or death? Choose swiftly, or I shall choose for you!'
Gregor didn't take his eyes off Talaith, but he whispered something to Varvara out of the side of his mouth. The Demon Queen had shown not so much as the slightest reaction to the destruction of her penthouse, no reaction to anything. Under Gregor's control she'd been more of a zombie than I'd ever been. But now she smiled serenely.
'Go suck a wand, you spell-slinging cunt.'
I didn't think it was possible for Talaith to look any angrier than she already did, but somehow she managed. She let out an inarticulate cry of rage and stabbed a hand toward Varvara. A torrent of energy streamed forth from the Witch Queen's fingers like water released from a high-pressure hose, but Varvara made no move to defend herself. I started forward, hoping the Coat of Every Color might be able to repel Talaith's mystic blast, but knowing that even if it could, I'd never be able to reach Varvara in time. But as it turned out, I didn't have to.
Gregor swiftly removed a metal device from his uniform pocket. It looked something like a miniature lightning rod, and he held it out in front of Varvara. The rod absorbed every bit of Talaith's blast, and when it was finished, Varvara continued to stand there, blank-faced but unharmed.
Talaith looked more puzzled than upset.
'What was that?' she asked softly, almost as if speaking to herself.
'A little something I stole from Victor Baron when he wasn't looking,' Gregor said. 'Now, if you'll all excuse me for a moment, I need to transfer this.' He pointed the rod skyward and then released the energy the device had collected. It streaked off into the sky, missing all the hovering Arcane and disappearing off into the darkness.
Gregor smiled and let out a satisfied sigh. 'That turned out to be easier than I thought.' He looked at me then. 'Well, Matthew, this is farewell. I have work to do, and I no longer need this particular body. I hope you enjoy your trip back to Earth.' Then he turned to Shamika. 'Why don't you go with them, sister? There's no place for you here anymore.'
Then without another word, he dropped the lightning rod and his General Klamm body broke apart into
