AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"Not when he uses them," Cain pointed out. "Priests - well, inquisitors - all use their own vitality to power their Words. Thane is alive, so he's just continuously regenerating his vitality. Every time the cells split in his body, all those chemical reactions work to make a replacement for whatever energy life consumes in the process of merely being alive. We don't have that."
"So why did it work for me?" Dahlia asked. "I don't think I did anything differently than either of you."
"And I didn't pass out," Nikki said. "Sadly, we can't even say that Cain used more because he's older, because if that was the case, Dahlia should've felt the drain and I should've been fine."
"So what the fuck is going on?" Thane asked, rubbing his hand over the arm that had been bleeding so recently.
With a groan, Cain rocked forward in an attempt to get to his feet. Immediately, the other three moved to help. Dahlia got there first, lifting the man up just to help him back down into the chair he'd been using earlier. Nikki hovered, but Thane got the hell out of their way, letting his mind spin.
None of this made sense. The few rules he did know about the power of God didn't seem to be working the same with the eidolon as it did with the priests. Was it because they were using a different power source? Dahlia seemed so sure that everything came down to vitality, but was she right? And if so, how did they know that?
It felt like the more they learned, the more confusing everything got. Even worse, Thane had only been taught combat moves and how to stab a dull-tipped hunk of silver metal into a body. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing that prepared a guy for working with what were basically magical powers. The whole thing was surreal.
But it seemed Cain had a few thoughts of his own. "We can't tell the others about the Words," he said. "I don't mind if Roarke knows, because I think he's honestly with us. The others? From what Nikki said earlier, we can't be sure who is with us and who is against us."
"Do you really think they're against us?" Dahlia asked. "Or are they just battling against the fact that we've all been hunted since the day we died?"
"Does it matter if the two things work out to be the same in the end?" Nikki pointed out.
Wait, maybe that was it. The two things could be the same but operate differently. Vitality in a living body versus a constructed one. The pieces were playing around in Thane's mind, pinging together in a feeble attempt to make something he could use, yet it felt like it was just out of reach.
Then he figured out why. "I need to call my brother," he said. "I barely know anything about Words, but he's been using them since he was sixteen. I'm just a hunter, so half of my information could be wrong. Laird is a priest."
"And he's not going to have a few questions about what you're doing?" Nikki asked.
Dahlia waved her down. "Laird has already proven himself to be on our side. He didn't kill me when he had the chance, so I'm willing to trust him."
"That is a big risk," Cain said. Then he looked over at Thane. "Still, you've been right so far. I'm just curious what's going to happen when the Inquisition realizes that this priest is helping the enemy."
"Actually," Thane admitted, "we have a very vague and tentative plan for that. Our hope was that I could come up here and convince Dahlia that we could be useful. In exchange, she would help us figure out how to evade the Church, since she's been doing it for so long. Together, we hoped that maybe we would have a chance."
"So two inquisitors?" Nikki asked. Then she held up a finger. "Wait, is your brother hot too?"
Thane laughed. "I'm gonna let Dahlia answer that, but just know that he's a priest. That means a virgin."
But standing beside Cain, Dahlia was nodding her head emphatically. "He's a slightly shorter, less muscular, and more elegant version of Thane."
"And priests can use the Words," Nikki said. "If nothing else, then we have at least two weapons of our own, right? Thane and his brother. I mean, even if we take a different approach to the idea of this as a weapon, that still puts us ahead."
"What do you mean?" Cain asked.
"Our two inquisitors use the Words to give us the benefit," Nikki explained, "and the rest of us carry a gun. Punch for punch, we have the advantage. The only problem comes in when they pull out those spikes. If one of us sees somebody about to get staked, we pull out a gun, shoot him in the head for a body death instead of the true kind, and have one of the living call them back when everything's done."
Dahlia shifted over to drop down on the arm of Cain's chair. "Shit. That might actually work."
"What's it gonna take to convince your brother to come help us?" Cain asked.
Thane held out both hands, holding them back from getting too excited. "He currently has Church leadership watching his every move. While I'm here on vacation to meet some girl from a video game - or so they think - he is doing trials for a promotion. It's the kind of trials that could get him killed. We also have another hunter…" He looked over at Dahlia. "The guy whose shirt you took? His name is Brice, and he seems to be looking for a way out too. Well, the hope was that if everything goes well here, that I could call Laird and tell them to head up."
"How is he going to get out?" Dahlia asked.
Thane laughed once. "Dahlia, it's a church, not a prison. He tells them he's going shopping, and no one will think anything of it. He just doesn't bother coming back. That will give them atleasta few hours, which should be enough to get them out of there." Then he pushed to his feet. "And I really do need to go call him. First, to tell him I'm no longer single. Second, to see if he has any clue what the hell is going on here."
Cain just gestured behind him. "Feel free to use the balcony. It gives you a little more privacy."
So that was the direction Thane went. The moment he was outside, he pulled out his phone and tapped at the first contact, listening to it ring. When it went to voicemail, Thane was ready to curse. Still, he should probably leave a message.
"Hey, Laird. Just wanted to give you an update. Things seem to be pretty good with Valerie. She's everything I'd hoped. We had the big talk, and she's not opposed. I mean, she's a Methodist, but she thinks it's amazing that I work for the Church and doesn't hate the idea of moving. Well, wish me luck. When you get a chance, let me know how things are going there. Kinda feel like I bailed on my team."
