Page 33 of Avenger of Sins

“Exactly.” Harlow flashed his unnaturally white teeth. “Now imagine the implications. How useful would a covert operative with all the strength of a demon, but none of the drawbacks, be to our country? Alternatively, a seal could be placed on an enemy combatant, who is then released back into the population. His possession remains undetected up until when the seal isremoved or broken, at which time he attacks his own forces. A devastating assault with zero chance for American casualties.”

He delivered his list of horrors in a calm, even voice, like a man discussing the projected growth for next quarter. That, more than anything, made every hair on John’s body rise. “Is that what’s happening here? With the headbands and all?”

“Very crudely. Obviously this particular method won’t work in the field. But it does allow me to do this.”

Harlow stretched a hand out in front of him. A moment later, John’s badge rose into the air, then slowly crumpled into a ball, the brass bending under Harlow’s enhanced telekinesis.

He let it fall to the floor with a pleased smile. There had been no point to the demonstration other than to show off his power, to make them feel weak and afraid, and John despised him for it.

“And how do we fit into Project Solomon?” he asked, keeping his voice calm so as to give nothing away.

“A telepath would certainly be useful in choosing proper targets.” Harlow nodded in Ryan’s direction. “Let’s say you’re an additional project that has a great deal of synergy with our existing goals.”

“Couldn’t have put it better myself,” Ryan muttered.

One of the guards murmured something in Harlow’s ear. Harlow nodded, then said, “Project Solomon still has quite a way to go, but I’ve arranged a larger demonstration of what we can accomplish.”

The guard handed him a tablet, which he turned so John and Ryan could see it. The image appeared to be from a security camera, mounted high on the wall of a large, round room. An intricate spirit ward flashed on the floor—set in silver, maybe? Bands of what might be silver encircled the walls, more silver lines connecting each ring to form something like a circuit.

He had just enough time to see Night and Gray enter the camera’s field of view, before something went wrong.

There was no sound, so Night’s collapse came in eerie silence, her limbs folding beneath her and her body crumpling like the dead thing it was. Caleb stumbled, then frantically ran his hands over his body, mouth moving as he shouted some protest John couldn’t hear.

“I hope you weren’t counting on your associates to save you,” Harlow said, handing the tablet back to the guard. “Both drakul have been safely suppressed by my exorcists. Now, I need to go and oversee their disposal, so you’ll have to wait here until I get back.”

The door slammed shut, lock engaging with a sharp click. John stared at it blankly, his mind spinning.

Harlow had done something to the drakul—bound them with a larger version of whatever seal he was using on himself. He and Ryan were locked in an office, with no weapons and no way out.

And no one was coming to save them.

“Gray?” Caleb’s voice scraped coming out. “Gray!”

His head spun, disorientation threatening to overcome him. There was a hole in his mind, his soul, his very being, and his frantic calls vanished into it with no response.

For the first time since encountering Gray in an abandoned house, Caleb was alone in his own skull.

It was horrible—wrong. He cast about frantically, trying to make sense of what happened. Night lay sprawled a short distance away, a marionette with her strings cut.

Panic licked his spine, and he tried to shove it down. Looking up at the row of people hooked into whatever machinery was behind this, he shouted, “What have you done to Gray?”

“He’s…suppressed, you could say.”

Caleb spun. The woman who had played the victim now stood up her, hands unbound. Her nosebleed—the only mark on her—was already stopping.

They’d known this was a trap. They’d thought they were ready to handle anything, turn the tables on whatever Harlow could do to them.

They’d been so wrong.

Gray’s absence was like a missing tooth. No—a missing limb. Several missing limbs. Caleb reached for him instinctively, needing that foundation of certainty Gray brought.

But it wasn’t there. He was alone.

“Bring him back,” he snarled at the woman.

“It’s not me who’s doing it.” She gestured at the windows above them, the ring of people wired into the machinery of the room. “Each exorcist is possessed by an NHE to amplify their power. And Armaros’s proprietary technology then boosts their ability even farther, allowing them to create a circle where their control over etheric energy is complete. These are early days, but imagine the applications on the battlefield. Suspect NHEs are in a village? Suppress the entire area, so troops can go in and safely remove enemy combatants.”

“Or people with the wrong skin color,” he shot back. Her calm put his hackles on end. She clearly had no fear of him, was certain of her own position in this scenario.

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