Dread Nemesis of Mine

I gripped her hands. "You're safe now. If she did anything, I promise we'll try to help you."



Tears welled in her eyes. "Perhaps it's best if I go away in case—"



"No!" I said, my voice louder than I'd meant it to be. "No," I repeated in a whisper. "We need you here."



"Why?" She asked in a tremulous voice. "I might be…dangerous."



"A vampling infected Adam's sister, Felicia. She's dying."



Nightliss's eyes widened. "She has the curse?"



"Yes."



"Is she human?"



"She's a vampire."



The angel wiped a tear from her cheek and looked away in thought. "I can help, but I will need the blood of her sire."



"Uh, what's a sire? Her dad?"



"The vampire who turned her."



My heart dropped. I didn't have a clue who her sire was. She'd once told me it was Maximus, but from what I understood, he hadn't been a vampire long enough to change others without the severe risk of killing them and making them vamplings. I hoped Adam knew.



"What are the odds you can heal her?" I asked.



"Very good." Her lip curled into a cute snarl. "I remember when my kind gave the gift of immortality to humans. The Brightlings—those like Daelissa—ever spiteful of beings they considered their lessers, insisted it come with a price. They cursed the gift so the bearer must drink the blood of others to survive. And should a human try to pass the gift, they would, instead, pass on the vampling curse."



My brow furrowed. "But vampires can turn humans."



She nodded. "Yes. Humans are very good at bending reality to their will. It appears somewhere in history, a vampire was able to overcome the curse, but only after a certain length of time. Much like anything with humans, it requires force of will and focus."



A sense of relief warmed me in a gentle flood. Felicia could be saved. That had to mean I could also be saved. "Nightliss, I was bitten, too. I'm infected."



Her eyes went even wider. "No, Justin. Please tell me this is not true."



My heart went cold at the alarm in her eyes. "You can heal me though, right?"



Tears gathered in her eyes. She pressed herself against me in a fierce hug. "You are demon spawn. Your kind is much different from humans."



"But I'm half human."



She looked up at me with a tear-stained face. "It does not matter. My kind has tried to interfere with the work of demons. But the magic is different." She took deep breaths and leaned back, wiping the moisture from her face. When she regained some composure, she looked back at me. "I am so sorry, but I cannot help you, Justin."



Chapter 30



Cold nausea nearly overwhelmed me. I gagged and turned away, panting with the effort of not barfing all over the place.



She laid a comforting hand on my shoulder. "There is so much I can't remember. I know how to rid a human or vampire of the vampling curse, but demons and demon spawn are beyond my abilities."



"Can't you poke around?" I asked. "Maybe you'll get lucky."



She offered a rueful smile. "More likely, I would kill you, or destroy your mind."



A humorless laugh burst from my mouth. "Wow, all sorts of great choices."



"Perhaps the curse will not affect you in the same way as a human." She shrugged. "Perhaps, like my kind, you have some sort of natural defense against such curses."



"It's definitely doing something to me." I told her about my hallucinations and the episode with Adam. "If the curse doesn't kill me, it might drive me crazy."



Nightliss pressed a hand to my cheek. "I promise I will find a way to save you, Justin. As I said, I don't remember everything from my past. Perhaps there is an answer. If only I could convince Daelissa to listen to me, she might also know a cure."



A tiny sliver of hope lodged in my chest. "Thanks," I said, voice dry. "Looks like I'd better get a move on if I want to help Felicia."



"I am sorry I was not there for you, Justin."



"You can't be everywhere at once."



She gave a sad shake of her head. "I was so foolish to try to talk to Daelissa. Otherwise, I would have been there to help you with Maximus. You might not have been bitten."



"It sounds like you've been really busy. All-over-the-world busy."



"Yes. There are many pieces to this puzzle, I have found. Few are as important as you, but I must make sure they succeed. Every thread creates a greater whole. If too many fall, then even you will fail." She leaned back against the pillows, her face pale, forehead beading with sweat. "I hope I can recover quickly. There's so much more to do."



"At least you're getting a better handle on contractions," I said, giving her a wink. "Your English is better every time I see you."



She laughed. "And I can even count better in English now." A sigh escaped her lips. "If only Arabic were not so hard to learn."



"Arabic?"



"Yes, among other languages. What is happening is very big, Justin. It makes me feel so tiny."



"You are tiny," I said, kissing her hand. "But you've got a lot of spirit." I stood. "Maybe I should let you rest."



"I am very tired," she said with a wide yawn.



I was about to leave when I remembered Cinder's question. "Oh, one more question."



She yawned. "Yes?"



"You know the gray men?"



"The golems?"



I nodded. "Uh, is it possible to turn them into real people?"



"Into humans?"



I felt stupid for asking the question. "Yeah. I kind of made another friend. A golem. But he’s different than any golem I’ve met before."



Her eyes widened. "I do not know, Justin." She tapped her chin. "I am unfamiliar with how to make such beings. But Mr. Gray surely would."



"Somehow, I doubt he'd be willing to tell me."



"I agree." She grunted. "There is so much I don't know, and no one to tell me what to do. Sometimes, I feel so lost." Her green eyes turned sad. "I just hope I'm making a difference."



Hearing someone of her power tell me she felt lost did not inspire me. Maybe that was why people in her position usually confused their companions with vague half-riddles, giving the impression of knowing everything, when, in reality, they didn't know what the hell was going on either. Nightliss had some answers, but nowhere near all of them. I suspected not even Daelissa had all the answers. It both reassured and frightened the padooky out of me.



I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. Even if I couldn't save myself, I could ensure Felicia survived. "You are making a difference, Nightliss." I leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Whatever happens, I have faith in you. Without you, Vadaemos would have killed me. We all owe you our lives."



Tears glistened in her eyes. "It means so much to know you believe in me, Justin."



Taking one last look at the little angel who could, I turned and left the cabin. Elyssa was on me the second I stepped outside.



"What did she say?"



"She can help Felicia."



Her expression froze, as if waiting for me to continue. When I didn't, her lips parted ever so slightly. "And you?"



I squeezed her hands and tried to speak, but my throat went dry at the pained look on her face.



"No," she said, her voice dead. "No, please." Tears gathered in her eyes.



"She can't help me," I said, wishing more than anything else it wasn't true.



"Why?" She shook her head and jerked away. "It doesn't make any sense!" Elyssa headed for the door. "She'd better have a damned good reason—"



I looped an arm around her waist and pulled her back. "Elyssa, don't. She needs to recover."



"She needs to cure you, damn it!"



"She can't, okay?" I took her by the shoulders and looked into her eyes. "She can't, love. She can't." My hand moved of its own accord to tuck a loose strand of raven hair behind her ear. "Nightliss doesn't even know how the curse will affect me. And who knows? Maybe I'll fight it off since I'm not entirely human." A vile, cold feeling wormed its way up my leg as though the curse wanted a say in this conversation. "For now, I intend to help Felicia." I told her about our need for her sire.



"You're sick, possibly dying from the vampling virus, and you want to go for round two with Maximus?" She pushed me away. "What's wrong with you?"



"Aside from my general insanity? Nothing." My hands clenched at my sides. "Even if the curse kills me, I plan to help Felicia and kick Maximus's smug ass."



"That's your brilliant plan?"



I nodded. "Yep. Will you help me?"



Tears clouded her eyes, streaming silently down her cheeks. The anger in her face softened. She nodded. "You don't even have to ask." Her left hand took mine. Pressed it to her cheek. "I will be with you until the end, my love."



Her words brought back the image of that fateful dream, vision, or whatever it had been when I'd nearly died while Meghan used my blood to save Stacey from a festering hellhound bite. The angelic dream version of Elyssa had said that very thing. It burdened me with the foreknowledge of my own doom. And yet, it lightened my heart with comfort to know she would be there.



"What does your father plan to do about Maximus?" I asked, pulling my thoughts back on track.



"He's mobilizing. Michael," she said, her lip curling into a snarl at his name, "said Father had half of the Atlanta legion in Colombia to help with this assault. They're still performing perimeter duty to be sure the threat of a vampling outbreak is contained, but he's prepping to send them back to Atlanta today."



"Good. I hope he has plans for an urban assault. The area around Maximus's Atlanta lair won't be as easy to seal off. And if a news helicopter catches wind of a battle erupting, even the Custodians are gonna have a heck of a time containing it."