He looked at the others standing there inside the vast underground chamber. Had one among them been corrupted already, as the Master had claimed? Or was this another of the Master’s lies, meant to soften Eph’s own resistance? Eph studied each one in turn, as though his night-vision scope could reveal some identifiable trace of their trea
chery, like a malignant black stain spreading out from their chest.
Fet spoke up, addressing Mr. Quinlan. “So why did you bring us here?”
Now that I have retrieved the ashes and read the Lumen I am ready to proceed. We have little time left to destroy the Master, but this lair allows us to keep an eye on him. Be close to his own hideout.
“Wait a minute … ,” said Fet, a curious tone in his voice. “Won’t destroying the Master also destroy you?”
It is the only way.
“You want to die? Why?”
The simple and honest answer is that I am tired. Immortality lost its luster for me many centuries ago. In fact, it removes the luster from everything. Eternity is tedium. Time is an ocean, and I want to come ashore. The one bright spot I have left in this world—the one hope—is the potential destruction of my creator. It is revenge.
Mr. Quinlan spoke of what he knew. What he had learned in the Lumen. He spoke in plain terms and with as much clarity as was possible. He explained the origin of the Ancients and the myth of the sites of origin and the emphasis on finding the Black Site, the birth site of the Master.
The part that Gus clicked with most was the three archangels—Gabriel, Michael, and the forgotten third angel, Ozryel—dispatched to fulfill God’s will in destroying the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
“God’s hardasses,” said Gus, identifying with the avenging angels. “But what do you think. Angels? Really? Gimme a fucking break, hermano.”
Fet shrugged. “I believe what Setrakian believed. And he believed in the book.”
Gus agreed with him but couldn’t let it go just yet. “If there is a God, or some something who can send angel assassins—then what the hell’s He waiting for? What if it is all just stories?”
“Backed up by actions,” said Fet. “The Master located each of the six buried segments of Ozryel’s body—the origin sites of the Ancients—and destroyed them with the only force that could accomplish the task. A nuclear meltdown. The only Godlike energy on Earth, powerful enough to obliterate sacred ground.”
With that, the Master not only wiped out its competition but made itself six times more powerful. We know it is still searching for its own site of origin, not to destroy it but to protect it.
“Great. So we just have to find the burial site,” said Nora, “before the Master does, and build an itty-bitty nuclear reactor on it, then sabotage the thing. Is that it?”
Fet said, “Or detonate a nuclear bomb.”
Nora laughed harshly. “That actually sounds like fun.”
Nobody else laughed.
“Shit,” Nora said. “You have a nuclear bomb.”
“But no detonator,” Fet said sheepishly, and looked to Gus. “We are trying to get a line on some sort of solution to that, right?”
Gus answered, lacking Fet’s enthusiasm. “My man Creem, you remember him? Silver-blinged-up banger, built like a big, fat truck? I put him on it, and he says he’s ready to deal. He’s hooked into everything black market in Jersey. Thing is, he’s still a drug dealer at heart. Can’t trust a man with no code.”
Fet said, “All of this is moot if we don’t have a target to shoot at.” He looked at Mr. Quinlan. “Right? And that’s why you wanted to see the Lumen. You think you can learn something from it we couldn’t?”
I trust you all saw the sky mark.
Mr. Quinlan paused and then locked eyes with Eph. And Eph felt as if the Born could read every secret in his soul.
Beyond the limits of circumstance and organization, there exists design. What it was that fell from the sky does not matter. It was an omen, prophesied ages ago and meant to signal the birth site. We are close. Think of it—the Master came here for that very reason. This is the right place and the right time. We will find it.
Gus said, “No disrespect, but I don’t get it. I mean, if you all want to go read a book and think it has little clues for you on how to slay a fucking vampire, then go to it. Pull up a comfortable chair. But me? I think we figure out how to confront this king bloodsucker and blow its ass up. The old man showed us the way, but at the same time, this mystical mumbo jumbo has gotten us where we are—starving, hunted, living like rats.” Gus was pacing, going a little stir-crazy in this ancient chamber. “I got the Master on video. Belvedere Castle. I say we get this bomb together and take care of business directly.”
“My son is there,” said Eph. “It’s not just the Master.”
“Do I look like I give a fuck about your brat?” said Gus. “I don’t want you to get the wrong impression—’cause I don’t give a fuck.”
Fet said, “Cool down, everyone. If we blow this chance, it’s over. Nobody would ever get close to the Master again.”