Scarred Protector(25)
He strolled into his lounge, knowing full well he had kept Sayell waiting. Sayell was at the bar helping himself to the best whiskey. His Macallan. Everyone else knew not to touch it. Sayell had poured two glasses and handed one to Charles as he approached.
“You have good taste. Hope you don’t mind, but I was bored waiting.”
“I know, it’s good.” Charles sat down and sipped. He could play this game, too. Sayell sat opposite him in his Armani suit.
“So do you have anything to tell me about Heath or the woman?”
“We’ve had to deal with another problem at the moment, but it was on my mind. I assume it’s been on yours as well. Hence your visit this evening. My men have been watching the manor house. A healer came. I assume she was there to remove whatever it is afflicting the female. There was an explosion. They were about to enter the house when another group of humans arrived.”
“You didn’t take them out and take her?” Sayell leaned forward in his chair and scowled.
“Let us say, I was interested. I don’t like to get rid of anything until I’ve assumed it is no longer of value. I wanted to know why these humans were there.”
Sayell had better be careful if he was going to become aggressive as if he had some right to be here.
“They took the Evie and Heath, and we followed. They ended up in a small country village called Corstal in a nondescript little house.”
“I know of the village.” Sayell seemed to have calmed somewhat as he sipped his whiskey.
“My men were about to enter the building when everyone seemed to stream out the door and flee into the bushes. Then Heath left holding Evie in his arms. He took flight, and my men followed at a distance. They were about to attack Heath when they noticed some of the others from his enclave flying toward them and decided to instead make a hasty retreat.”
“So we can assume they’ve gone back to the manor house.”
“My second-in-command, Corman, followed them back, but what was more interesting were Heath’s injuries. Somehow he had been sliced across his chest, but the wounds were pouring blood, and he didn’t seem able to stop it.”
Sayell raised an eyebrow quizzically as he stared at him. “How is this going to help us?”
As far as Charles was concerned Sayell was thinking too much about this woman Evie and could not see the other prizes that might be on offer here. “I suggest we go and visit this group. I want to know what was on the blade. I know you want this woman, and so do I, but I also don’t like it when humans think they have the upper hand over us. The knowledge they have could be useful to protect us against the Angelic Midworlders. It would be good to break the equality and get the upper hand. If we could kill Angelics we could have a world with only Demonics in it.”
“As wonderful an idea as it may be, I can’t see the Elevated or purebloods on either side going for it. I’ll say, I’m interested though.”
The front yard of the house was overgrown, and there was rubbish stacked against the walls. He had a feeling the inside of the dwelling would be just as unkempt.
Charles found he separated himself from humans and their homes except when they had to do a changeover of guardians, or when one could service his sexual needs. It had never occurred to him before that they could be useful in increasing his power on Earth. He thought of them as weak and didn’t like the idea of that changing. If he was stuck down here on this planet, then he wanted to be the dominant life form.
These humans had their myths and legends, but he had never seen any proof that anything paranormal existed on this planet. He didn’t consider Midworlders paranormal. They were aliens. They could do things based on physiology−not magic. These people seemed to want to believe in any rubbish to make themselves feel better. They had even formed myths around his people with their Christianity, in addition to angels and demons. He saw himself as invincible. It was interesting to see what it was the man had that could harm them. It also meant they might need to be more careful and pay more attention in future.
The little man Corman had seen run out of the house the previous evening answered the door. Tonight, he was dressed in plain brown pants, a shirt, and a cardigan. A bit different from the long red robe Corman had described from the night before. He also noticed how sallow the man’s skin was. He was sick, maybe even dying, of that Charles was sure. When people had little to lose they could be unpredictable. They would need to tread carefully.
“Yes, can I help you?” the man said as he looked them up and down. Corman had done some research and found out a name for the little weasel of a man.
“Mr. Arthur Baldwin, I presume. My name is Charles Stuart, and this is my associate Sayell Hillier. We would like to talk to you about a young woman, Evie Withers.” Charles saw a gleam of interest in the little man’s eyes and knew he had him at that moment.
“I do know of the person you mention, but what’s your interest in her? Are you with the police?” Arthur poked his head out of the doorway, peering up and down the street.
Charles decided to go straight for the kill and pretend. “We’re not with the police. We’re like you. We believe and have interests in the unexplainable. She may have certain powers, and I understand you have been researching the paranormal. Your expertise in the area is quite well-known.” He could see the little man puff his chest out in pride.
“Perhaps you would like to come inside.”
His vanity had gotten to him. They followed him into a house, where the décor and furniture had seen better days. It smelt of stale food and some sort of incense that made Charles almost retch. Sayell’s nose wrinkled up in disgust. They were shown into a living room. He was disinclined to sit down, and from the way Sayell viewed the room, he didn’t want to sit either. But they needed to get information from this man, so they would play pleasant guests for the time being. They sat down and waited, while Arthur went to bring them refreshments. Asking for a Macallan seemed to be a bit pointless here.
Arthur returned with five friends. One of them was carrying a tray with some mugs of tea. When they had followed Arthur down the corridor to the room, Charles tried to search the man’s mind but couldn’t get through the haze of confusion in order to get anything sensible. The man wasn’t just sick, he was mad.
Charles sent out thoughts to the other minds of the five men, and they also seemed just as jumbled. He looked to Sayell, who shrugged his shoulders. Now he took a closer look at the others, they all had the same haggard and disheveled look about them. What was this cult into that they were all dying?
It always annoyed him that he couldn’t just ask the Demonics attached to these people for information, but it just didn’t work that way. The guardians took energy from the people they were attached to but were not allowed to get involved in controlling their minds. When they did, they were removed and sent home. It meant they would never become Elevated, and most were not prepared to take the risk. They wanted to be part of that special group looking for the promise land of a new planet, living in the lap of luxury. Giving information to half-breeds wasn’t something they wanted to do either. He was sick of the power games, unless he could lead. He looked at the weak tea in the mug and pretended to sip, but in truth the fluid didn’t touch his lips.
“So what can you tell us about the woman, Evie?” he asked.
“Why should I tell you anything? What is in it for me? You know my interest in her, but you haven’t explained yours.” Arthur slurped his tea, and Charles tried not to cringe.
“A friend of ours visited her home recently. It didn’t go well for him, and he has ended up with quite severe injuries. His body appeared burned, even though he said there was no evidence of a fire. His memory was affected as well. We wondered if it was something supernatural. After it happened, we wanted to confront her, but she has moved in with a group of people intent on protecting her. We wanted to approach her again but would like to know what we are dealing with first.”
“What are you going to do to her if you can get your hands on her?” Arthur asked, grinning.
“I’ll be honest and say I’d like to kill her for what she’s done to my friend. However, if there was some way we could take her power and use it for ourselves, I think she would be allowed to live.”
“That may be possible, but we had some difficulties last time we attempted to take her.”
“I was there. I saw the man she was with is not of this world. It was what my friend had said when he was attacked. He said Evie had burned him but that this man with wings was impossible to hurt, as each time he slashed him with his knife or hit him, he healed almost instantly.”
Arthur was fidgeting in his chair. “They’re not as strong as they think they are. There are other forces on this planet that have power, too,” Arthur spat out.