getting something to eat.”
“No time,” he said, and stepped into the front area of the tea shop, looking around. “We need to get to the morgue.”
Okay, that got my attention. I set the cake on the counter and followed him. “The Dekalb morgue? You mean where the bodies drained of blood are?”
He spun so fast I didn’t see him move. Instead, he was in front of me before I could take a step back. Sometimes being with Archer was a lot like playing with a half-feral tiger. Not something you wanted to take lightly. “You know about the bodies?”
I blinked and finally stepped away, my back against the dessert display cabinet. “Well, yeah—I saw one of them earlier today. Drained of blood, bite marks, and symbols carved in their skin.”
His eyes narrowed. Dead eyes. “So you know about the Revenants?”
I shook my head slowly. “No . . . I don’t think anyone brought them in.” Uhm. “Who are they?”
He turned away from me with a disgusted noise and sneered. “Deserters is what they are. Weaklings. So afraid of taking what they deserve, they hide deep inside the souls of the physical plane. We call them Revenants because that’s what they are—revenants of an age long gone from the planes.”
I had to wonder if he was talking about the First Borns—and I also decided to play it dumb. Not a hard stretch most days. “Uhm . . . you care to help me out on this? Joe brought me and Rhonda to the morgue to see the bodies—see if maybe Rhonda knew what the symbols meant.”
He turned to me, and it was the most serious I’d ever seen him. “They mean destruction. Annihilation.”
“I thought it wasn’t possible to actually destroy or annihilate anything—”
“You can’t !” he boomed. And I pressed myself against the display. Yow. He advanced on me and pointed to the floor. “Not normally. Not without Ethereal help. But with those symbols, you can. That spell—that ritual—is forbidden. Forbidden for anyone to perform it except the Phantasm itself.”
“Why?”
“Because it can destroy. It exists for the sole purpose of destroying—annihilating— Revenants .”
Not to repeat myself but, “Why?”
He fixated on me. “Haven’t you been reading those damned Dioscuri notes? Don’t they have any mention of the Revenants?”
I shook my head. “No.” I omitted the info about First Borns. “That’s why I’m asking you why. You need to help me a little here.”
He pointed at me, and for the first time I noticed he was wearing a really large silver skull ring on his middle finger. “You listen fast, girlie—we ain’t got a lot of time here.” TC lowered his hand. “They call themselves the First Borns—the first creatures ever formed by the first Phantasm—”
“The first—”
“Shut up!” he interrupted.
I did.
“They’re powerful—more so than any other creatures conceived. They were given the ability of free will—not something any other Abysmal creature has ever had.” He grinned and pointed to his chest. “Until me.”
“I think a thank-you for that is in order.” He wouldn’t be the way he is now if it weren’t for me and my Irin DNA. Or—that’s how I’d figured it out.
He literally waved that comment away with a hand gesture. “When the first war between the planes erupted—these First Borns were soft, having lived with the monkeys for centuries in the physical plane. They didn’t know how to fight and weren’t able to defend the First Tier, so the Seraphim won.”
“Seraphim . . . as in angels?”
“Yeah, don’t ever want to meet one of those.” He frowned. “Never mind. You already did. But what I’m saying is that the Phantasm was destroyed, and a new one came to power. It was smart enough to know that if these First Borns continued living—and banded together—they could, in fact, destroy it. So the Phantasm sent armies of its own creation out to destroy what few First Borns were left after the war.”
I looked up at him.
“No time,” he said, and stepped into the front area of the tea shop, looking around. “We need to get to the morgue.”
Okay, that got my attention. I set the cake on the counter and followed him. “The Dekalb morgue? You mean where the bodies drained of blood are?”
He spun so fast I didn’t see him move. Instead, he was in front of me before I could take a step back. Sometimes being with Archer was a lot like playing with a half-feral tiger. Not something you wanted to take lightly. “You know about the bodies?”
I blinked and finally stepped away, my back against the dessert display cabinet. “Well, yeah—I saw one of them earlier today. Drained of blood, bite marks, and symbols carved in their skin.”
His eyes narrowed. Dead eyes. “So you know about the Revenants?”
I shook my head slowly. “No . . . I don’t think anyone brought them in.” Uhm. “Who are they?”
He turned away from me with a disgusted noise and sneered. “Deserters is what they are. Weaklings. So afraid of taking what they deserve, they hide deep inside the souls of the physical plane. We call them Revenants because that’s what they are—revenants of an age long gone from the planes.”
I had to wonder if he was talking about the First Borns—and I also decided to play it dumb. Not a hard stretch most days. “Uhm . . . you care to help me out on this? Joe brought me and Rhonda to the morgue to see the bodies—see if maybe Rhonda knew what the symbols meant.”
He turned to me, and it was the most serious I’d ever seen him. “They mean destruction. Annihilation.”
“I thought it wasn’t possible to actually destroy or annihilate anything—”
“You can’t !” he boomed. And I pressed myself against the display. Yow. He advanced on me and pointed to the floor. “Not normally. Not without Ethereal help. But with those symbols, you can. That spell—that ritual—is forbidden. Forbidden for anyone to perform it except the Phantasm itself.”
“Why?”
“Because it can destroy. It exists for the sole purpose of destroying—annihilating— Revenants .”
Not to repeat myself but, “Why?”
He fixated on me. “Haven’t you been reading those damned Dioscuri notes? Don’t they have any mention of the Revenants?”
I shook my head. “No.” I omitted the info about First Borns. “That’s why I’m asking you why. You need to help me a little here.”
He pointed at me, and for the first time I noticed he was wearing a really large silver skull ring on his middle finger. “You listen fast, girlie—we ain’t got a lot of time here.” TC lowered his hand. “They call themselves the First Borns—the first creatures ever formed by the first Phantasm—”
“The first—”
“Shut up!” he interrupted.
I did.
“They’re powerful—more so than any other creatures conceived. They were given the ability of free will—not something any other Abysmal creature has ever had.” He grinned and pointed to his chest. “Until me.”
“I think a thank-you for that is in order.” He wouldn’t be the way he is now if it weren’t for me and my Irin DNA. Or—that’s how I’d figured it out.
He literally waved that comment away with a hand gesture. “When the first war between the planes erupted—these First Borns were soft, having lived with the monkeys for centuries in the physical plane. They didn’t know how to fight and weren’t able to defend the First Tier, so the Seraphim won.”
“Seraphim . . . as in angels?”
“Yeah, don’t ever want to meet one of those.” He frowned. “Never mind. You already did. But what I’m saying is that the Phantasm was destroyed, and a new one came to power. It was smart enough to know that if these First Borns continued living—and banded together—they could, in fact, destroy it. So the Phantasm sent armies of its own creation out to destroy what few First Borns were left after the war.”
I looked up at him.
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