Page 52 of Shadow Running
“Penn and I stopped at Seton’s last night, given he texted me that it was an emergency.There is so much to talk about that I’m not sure where to begin.”
“Why don’t you start at the beginning?”Dante asked.
“Okay, first: Konstantine’s house is still haunted.Although it’s going to be easier to exorcise.Second: Seton dropped one bomb after another on me.The mayor of Underground Seattle contacted him last night.And yes, thereisa mayor of the Underground.I didn’t realize that, but his name is Saturn and he’s a vampire.”It suddenly occurred to me that Lazenti needed to be in on this.“Somebody get Lazenti in a Meet-Me chat room.He needs to hear this if he hasn’t already.”
Sophia quickly brought up a chat room and then texted Lazenti.Within less than three minutes he was looking through the camera of his laptop.
“Did Seton contact you?”I asked.“About the matter with Saturn?”
Lazenti shook his head.“No, what’s going down?”
“All right, as I was telling the others the mayor of Underground Seattle contacted Seton last night with an emergency.Apparently a brigade or contingent orsomethingof Arosiens are currently occupying the third and fourth levels of the Underground.They’re demanding control.A demon lord is in charge of them.His name is Ezerian.We’re not sure what they’re up to or what they want, but there’s more.
“Okay,” Dante said.“This isn’t looking good.”
“Oh it’sfarfrom good.They’re threatening to go on a bloodbath, killing all the vampires if Saturn doesn’t hand over control.We can’t allow that to happen.I don’t know if the actual mayor of Seattle knows about this.I don’t even know if he realizes there’s anUndergroundmayor.We have no idea what their end goal is.”
My stomach was churning a little.I could hardly wait to see what they had to say when I told them who Ezerian actually was.
“Do you think Brim Fire has something to do with this?Could they have opened the path?”Sophia asked.
“I’m not certain, but my intuition tells me no.So, you remember that Lazenti saw a demon in the Underground and followed him?”
“Right?And it led to Edward Trask,” Dante said.
“I know why he was nosing around Edward Trask.Apparently he was asking him about one of Jace’s victims — a woman who had a daughter.”
It hit Dante first.He gasped.“You?”
I nodded.“Me.”
“What are you talking about?”Carson asked, then he let out a yelp.“No, he couldn’t be looking for you, could he?”
“Yes, and…oh hell, I’ll just be blunt.Seton told me that Vaurice is Ezerian’s son.And, he’s also my half-brother.”
The room was silent for a moment, then everybody broke out talking at once.I could barely hear myself think over the clatter.I stood up, whistling to catch their attention.
“All right, quiet down.Seton confirmed it.Ezerian, the demon lord, is my father.And he’s looking for me.We’re pretty sure he knows I’m here.Seton told me I needed to contact him and find out everything I can.So this morning I sent a text to Vaurice, telling him to tell daddy hello.I haven’t answered his return text yet.He wants me to call him, and I will, but I’m letting him sit for little bit.”
Sophia, Carson, and Dante just stared at me.I gave them a shrug.
“What can I say?Apparently this is the year I meet my family.Oh, in other news, Penn’s powers are growing and so Seton is going to introduce her to someone who can help her learn to use them.Hecate healed her mother, so Penn’s not going to be an orphan.And we should be able to take care of Konstantine’s house this afternoon.Hecate said she would capture Christopher Longworld’s spirit and take it with her.That will make it easier to help all the murder victims move on.She did us a number of favors and we should all be grateful and show some respect.
“That’s a lot to digest,” Sophia said.“How are you feeling?Are you all right?”
Leave it to Sophia to always make sure we were okay.
I picked up a second maple bar and bit into it before answering.“I don’t really know how I am.I’ll call Vaurice in a little bit and arrange to meet with him and Ezerian.I’d rather do it on my own terms then have him show about my door.As far as my uncle’s house — it’ll be a simple matter of exorcising the ghosts now.And we won’t have to burn it to the ground and salt the earth.”
I sat there silent, as everybody else started talking at once.The world around me was feeling more shaky than ever, but at least I had gotten over the initial shock.
* * *
As expected,everybody had an opinion on whether or not I should meet my father.I listened to Dante vote for no, Carson note for no, Orik and Penn vote yes, and Sophia straddle both sides of the fence until I couldn’t listen anymore.I held up my hands and whistled.
“Yes, it is risky.But Seton told me I need to do this, and Hecate backed him up.And quite frankly, given I’ve already texted Vaurice, I don’t have much choice.I would rather go to him then have him come after me.”
“Good point,” Dante said.
