Simon.
Leah’s voice echoed inside his head. Simon thought of her, locked somewhere in the belly of an infernal machine created by the demons. It was more than he could bear.
Unless that was part of the dream as well.
“Warning,” the suit AI said. “Biometrics approaching dangerous levels.”
Biometrics? In that instant, Simon felt his pounding heart and forced respiration. That felt like part of the dream, and made sense for him to feel that way, but it wasn’t.
“Wake me.” Simon struggled against the tentacles, unable to completely let go the dream.
“Caution: stimulant might cause cardiac stress.”
“Wake me.” The maw opened beneath Simon. “Wake me now!”
The tentacles released, and Simon dropped toward the waiting maw. He flailed his arms and legs to no avail. When he dropped into the cavernous opening, the demon’s teeth and lips clamped closed behind him.
Simon awoke in darkness. For a moment he thought he was lost somewhere in the demon’s gullet. His breath locked in his lungs as he flailed around him. Then he realized he was in bed. Cold sweat covered his flesh.
“Hey, mate, you okay?” Nathan peered over the side of the bed above. Sleep and fatigue thickened his voice.
“Yes.” Knowing he wasn’t going to be sleeping anymore, Simon sat up. “No.”
Nathan cursed. “You’re still asleep.”
“Not anymore.”
“You sound confused.”
Simon waited a beat, feeling his heart slow. The sweat chilled him. “Have you been having nightmares?”
“What? You going to sing me a lullaby?”
“If you’ve been having nightmares, there’s a reason for it.”
“You’re bloody right. It’s called being at war with a vicious demon horde that’s invaded our world. Something like that, mate? It’ll give you nightmares straightaway.”
“I dreamed about Leah.”
“Knew you had your clock wound over her.”
Simon ignored the comment. “She talked to me in the dream. Said she was trapped inside a demonic machine that’s being used to invade our dreams.”
“Okay, now you’ve got me awake.”
“Good. We need to get moving.”
“Doing what?”
“We’re going to find out how many other people have been suffering nightmares.” Simon stood and headed for the shower before climbing back into his armor.
FORTY-FIVE
Warren stood atop a building with his arms outspread and let the hot wind from the Burn wash over him. He breathed in the foul stench and felt his senses reel. Tonight felt different than any other he had spent in the city. Part of him knew that it was because tonight he was the hunter, not the hunted.
He spotted an owl sliding silently through the sky. Since London had gone dark and the noise level of mechanical things had dropped, some of the scavengers had moved into the metropolitan area to scavenge food. Other predators gathered to feast on them.
Effortlessly, Warren slid his mind from his body into that of the owl. Over the past few nights, he’d hunted throughout the city in a similar manner. The exercise had gotten easier and easier. His powers continued to grow, but he didn’t know how much of that to attribute to constant practice or the desperation that resonated within him.
He’d even managed to take over some of the smaller demon things, but doing something like that always left him with a headache and a foul taste in his mouth for hours. Their minds and thoughts, even the simpler killers, were too strange, too darkly evil and malicious.
As the owl, he flapped his wings and gained altitude. He climbed through the cloudy night and spiraled for a moment over the building where his body stood. For a moment he was afraid of how vulnerable he was out in the open, but he trusted Daiyu and her followers to protect him. That had been another change that had taken place. Once they had seen the value he’d brought them, he’d taken comfort in their protection.
All of the Cabalists in her sept wanted the power that Warren wielded. Most of them had small things from demons, bits and pieces of flesh, horns, and bones that they had successfully grafted onto their bodies with Warren’s help. Their powers had increased, and as they gained, the sept gained members as well. Daiyu’s group now numbered a hundred strong. Twenty of them arrived with Warren tonight. He’d had to limit them to that number, and that had almost started several fights. They believed in him, and that felt good.
Warren, what are you doing?
Lilith’s voice echoed inside Warren’s head. For the past few days, his contact with her had been intermittent. He didn’t know what she was doing, and he no longer tried to figure it out. She had her own agenda, and she’d ripped away his hiding place.
“I’m hunting.” Warren felt a little defensive and he resented that.
You’ve got a group following you.
“Yes.”
Finally, ambition rises within you.
Warren checked a scathing response. “I already had ambition. I wanted to stay alive.”
You still want to stay alive.
“I can’t do that on my terms anymore.”
By hiding?
“Yes.”
Your terms were wrong. You’ve been given power for a reason. You’re going to be part of the great battles that stretch ahead of you from this moment on.
Warren wondered if the power she referred to was the silver hand she’d given him or if it was the powers he’d already manifested before the Hellgate had opened. He heeled over in the sky and sailed through the lowlying fog that masked the rooftops. Daiyu’s Cabalists occupied rooftops, fire escapes, and alleys. They all waited on his orders.
I will have need of you soon.
For a cold instant, Warren thought about telling her he was no longer in thrall to her, that he intended to go his own way. Then he was afraid he’d thought that too loudly.
“All right.”
Be safe until I call for you. You and I, we owe a debt to Merihim that needs paying. I know of a machine he’s had the demons construct that means much to him. Soon we’ll have to confront him.
That possibility left Warren chilled.
You want your revenge, too, don’t you?
“Yes.”
Good. I’ll see you then.
Warren felt her absence as she pulled away
