Page 98 of Darkness

“There’re lots of things I don’t know.” Didn’t want to know. The only thing Morrisey wanted to know was how the hell to get away.

“Our home realm is deteriorating as we speak. No one knows how or why. Currently, it’s sixty percent smaller than ten years ago. In another few years, our home realm will be destroyed.”

“I’m here. What’s that got to do with me?”

"You're currently the top-ranked member of our society in Terra. All our people would look to you for guidance if you’d let them. You could rule them all.”

Morrisey ran through what he remembered about Princeps. Not much. He should’ve paid better attention. “Rule? Ha! I can’t even keep my apartment clean, let alone worry about someone else’s life.” Judging by this smug bastard, he intended to be the power behind the throne. Wasn’t no one standing behind Morrisey, particularly not Asher the Asshole. He’d already shown his willingness to throw the unsuspecting under a bus. Or rather, a train.

A crease formed between Asher’s dark brows. “It is your birthright.”

“But not your birthright.” Oh, how Morrisey loved digging a knife in.

Asher gave a barely perceptible flinch. Ah. Direct hit. Finally. “You have the position. I have the ambition.” He gestured with his hand to indicate the opulent surroundings: a room filled with antiques. The gilt frames hanging on the wall likely held original masterpieces. Asher somehow accumulated wealth and didn’t mind flaunting his ill-gotten gains. Who’d he kill to gain such wealth? Asher finished with, “Together, we’ll rule Terra, brother.”

Morrisey took a wild guess. “In other words, you need me, but I don’t need you.”

“To rule, you do. And I can still travel to Domus at will.”

Was he capable of moving between realms? Wait until Morrisey told Farren—if he got to see Farren again. "I have no intention of leading anybody." Morrisey examined his fingernails, knowing full well how to look the part of an uncaring asshole. Must be a family thing, though he didn’t believe for a minute he had anything in common with someone callous enough to kill without remorse. Even Morrisey spared some thought for the lives he’d taken, though he’d only done so to save his own or others.

“You would if you knew the alternative.” Asher’s movie villain grin chilled Morrisey’s blood.

“What’s the alternative?”

“You do not know how many of our kind are already here, do you?”

“Not really. I just found out about our kind a few weeks ago.” Not that Morrisey agreed with the our kind shit. He couldn’t be a traveler. He was human, damn it, and not a very good one.

“There are those who’d like to wipe out the human race, filling each body with an entity from our realm. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Saving all our people. Or the ones who matter, anyway. And here, it doesn’t matter what class someone was born into. Already I have elevated clerks to lofty positions they’d never hold otherwise. Their gratitude is valuable currency.”

“What makes you think anyone would follow me? I don’t have money or power.” Or charisma. Couldn’t forget Morrisey’s total lack of people skills.

Asher gently caressed Jessa's arm where it lay over his chest. She brought back to memories of a model from an 80s rock video. “I’ve spent years amassing wealth.”

“By charging travelers to bring them here, then killing them if they can’t or won’t pay? You’re charging humans, too, for healing their loved ones, aren’t you?”

Asher shrugged. “Business transactions, nothing more. I fulfill my promise. Their dying loved ones live on. As far as they know.”

Jessa's unexpressive face appeared as if it had been carved from stone. She’d been summoned against her will, used for her ability to feed off sex, to attract sexual partners. And she’d hunted Morrisey for this power-grubbing bastard.

“All those sex workers? Why kill them?”

“A few of those workers refused to give me my due. Others tempted people in positions of power, getting me near enough to replace them with my own loyal subjects or to blackmail them." Asher shrugged. “Either works. But when I no longer have use for a tool, they become liabilities.”

Fury flashed in Jessa’s eyes. Had she been hoping Morrisey would have figured things out by now, killing Asher and setting her free?

The anger in her eyes spoke volumes. Unless you summon them and hold their leash. She couldn’t betray Asher because he held power over her. She’d completed her task of finding Morrisey, winning sympathy he hadn’t known he possessed, but maybe Asher’s hold meant she couldn’t reveal details about her boss.

“How about those mothers at a birthday party? They were innocent.”

Asher let out an overly dramatic leer. “Some of my hounds slipped their leashes.”

“You know, if a pet dog kills, the owners are held responsible. Anyway, why did the kids survive?”

“Even the lowest of our kind revere spawn. Not even an occisor would harm one.” Asher grinned. “Humans won’t know those were occisor kills. Once our kind is common knowledge, such incidents will be all the provocation they need.”

Holy fuck. “You plan to start a war.”

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