“We aren’t full-blown angels anymore, Tanya,” I said. “Barbiel explained it to me earlier. While our angelic weapons and armor are technically of Heaven, since we chose to leave it, our weapons are still ours. We received them when we were formed; they’re a part of us. So we can use them against the Vorsook. Our job is to protect this world, whether it’s demons of Hell, Queens of Fairie, or alien telepaths.”
“Armor? You said armor. Do I get armor too?” she said. Well, that was the fastest she’d ever accepted an explanation from me. Ten minutes to talk about why I choose a particular brand of diapers when the twins were still wearing them but instant agreement when it came to Heaven-crafted weapons. Go figure.
The next two hours were spent teaching her how to reach for them and how to put them back, along with accessing her armor, which I have to say looked amazingly badass on her. Then there was some discussion and theory about the swords and what they actually were.
“You can’t practice with them against any other weapon except another angelic sword,” Barbiel warned her. “So the two of you can spar with them, but be extraordinarily careful. They cut anything they touch. No Earthly metal or mineral will hold up to them. Nor will any flesh and bone, even vampire-enhanced.”
“We could have used these against the Ancient,” she mused.
“You were not ready for them. That fight was your last test, so to speak, and Christian’s aura blast was really the weapon of choice. You’ll recall that she never let him get directly in front of her until Galina distracted her,” Barbiel said. “He would never have had a chance to bring his sword to bear.”
“How is Mother?” she asked, lowering her blades.
“She is fine and watches you and your family often. If you feel like she’s near, then trust that she is,” he said. “Now put them away and retrieve them—again.”
She got the hang of them faster than I had my own, but I like to think she got to experience it through me before she ever had to on her own. At least that’s what I tell myself.
Finally, Barbiel told us that his time was up. He said goodbye and disappeared as he usually does, quickly and without fanfare.
My vampire was still elated, brimming with the wonder of being reunited with her swords, but she was quiet in the elevator. I broke the silence.
“Now, in my opinion, I think we’ve covered all the bases. We’ve trained Declan and Stacia to adapt and overcome; we’ve been trained to fight off the mental attacks of the Vorsook and are training Coven forces to do the same. Our witch can blast a soda can at twenty thousand miles going over seventeen thousand miles an hour and more importantly, he communicates with elementals all over the world from almost anywhere. Omega has seeded the solar system with drones and battlecraft that have similar power and capabilities to the Vorsook weapons. Advanced weapons have been cached around the world for human soldiers to use against alien shock troops. The world’s governments are finally engaged in preparing resources for their citizens, and the internet’s more awful aspects have been tamed by Omega himself. And you, my dear, have your swords back.”
She smiled at me, then held up one finger. “You mentioned bases. Omega, how far along is the new base?”
“It is approximately sixty-three percent complete. There is room for Father, Stacia and your immediate combat team now, but I am still excavating deeper into the granite of the mountains. Final completion is scheduled for seventeen days from now.”
“Including all infrastructure and technology?” I asked.
“I will be using nano technology, which will require just fifty-six hours to completely outfit the base.”
“You think it will be more protective than the Tower?” Tanya asked. She wasn’t happy about leaving her tower but she knew that making a target of New York City wasn’t an option.
“Father and your children will be under enormous amounts of stable granite bedrock, supported by almost fifty Earth elementals of various sizes. The ley lines that intersect will make Father’s work easier and the mountain terrain will favor you and the Elders for hunting Vorsook.”
“That’s all great and good as long as you remember that whatever we plan for won’t be enough, that the enemy will come at us unexpectedly and without mercy, that we have to be ready to change everything on a dime,” my vampire said.
“No plan survives contact with the enemy,” I paraphrased.
“Agreed.”
“But until then, we train.”
“We train,” I agreed.
Author’s Notes:
I’m always surprised to realize how much I love to write these stories that show other facets of the Demon Accords Universe. In this case most of them are obviously lead up to the next few books – the beginning of the endgame so to speak.
Some, like the King’s Daughter, demonstrate how much there is still left to explore in the DA, which should, I hope, assuage any fears that everything will end when the final battles are joined.
2020 has been a hell year for everyone. Some fans have asked if I’m writing about Covid-19. I think I already did in Web of Extinction. I’d rather write about deadly telepathic aliens. The real world is too scary.
Next on my writing list is the second book of the Shadows of Montshire series, A Flight of Ravens. Not all of my fans liked my foray into full fantasy and in hindsight I realize some of the reasons why. This second book will, I hope, be more to DA fans liking while still not losing any of the differences that I personally wanted to see between the Shadows’ world and DA.
After that, I will turn to the first of book of the Vorsook battles. I don’t yet know if it will take two or three books to tell the whole
