Demon Chord - A MaxTul Supernatural Thriller

Chapter 18 - Fidelity

Chapter Eighteen

Fidelity

After slamming the door to the Lear, Tul turned to check on Kate. She already had her cellphone pressed to her ear and was talking in a loud voice and making elaborate hand gestures.

Tapping on the seat back to get her attention, he mouthed "Vlad?" when she responded with a nod, he communicated that he was going forward to the cockpit with a thumb signal over his shoulder, she acknowledged with another nod. As he was walking towards the front of the plane, he heard her let loose with another round of expletives; for once he didn't blame her. A horde of foul-smelling reaper demons was enough to cause anyone to lose their composure.

Sitting in the vacant co-pilots seat, Tul donned the headset and turned to Knox, "take us to Tuscany".

"Flight plan is for Taipei" responded Knox.

"Change it" replied Tul as he took off the headset and walked back to the main cabin.

Knox shrugged his indifference to the now empty cockpit and keyed his headset to talk to ground control about an emergency reroute to Tuscany.

Back in the main cabin, Tul found that Kate had finished her conversation with Vlad and was stripping off her clothes, "I can still smell them" she gagged as she pulled out the silver Tumi travel case that contained a change of clothes.

Tul self-consciously sniffed himself, there was definitely an odor – but he decided to bear with it – the villa in Tuscany was only a couple of hours away; he would shower and change as soon as they arrived.

Kate wrinkled her nose as soon as she noticed that he wasn't going to change; but didn't say anything further. They had bigger problems to discuss.

"Where are we going?" asked Kate. She felt the airplane change direction as she was changing.

"Tuscany" answered Tul as he popped the tab on a diet coke can and handed it to Kate as he sat in the seat opposite her.

"Why?" she asked before taking a deep drink of the carbonated beverage that helped to clear her nasal passages of the smell of decay and sulfur.

"Max is still in Rome and I want to be close by...just in case..." replied Tul while looking out the window in order to avoid the smirk that he knew Kate would throw his way.

Instead, she murmured her agreement before asking, "What do you think happened at the cloister? Why did the slayers attack us and how did the reapers know where to find us?"

Tul closed his eyes and bounced the back of his head against the seat headrest as if trying to dislodge the answers before replying in a low voice, "I need to talk to Saint."

Kate leaned forward and placed her hands on Tul's thighs and gave a gentle squeeze to get his attention, "Don't you think it's weird that Saint is going against his father? I mean - he is the Crown Prince of the Shadow Realm; can we really trust him? Maybe he is the one who betrayed us."

Opening his eyes, Tul replied evenly, "I trust him. Fully."

Leaning back against her seat, Kate huffed sarcastically, "Fully? Really?"

Tul didn't answer, but instead said, "You do too."

Kate snorted and rolled her eyes, but finally admitted, "I do trust him. I don't know why – Shadows are known tricksters, but my gut – or maybe it's your ka – tells me that he is on our side."

Tul's reply was cut off by Knox's announcement that they should buckle in as they were beginning their initial approach into Tuscany.

Kate once again wrinkled her nose and looked pointedly at Tul, "Good. I need a hot shower and a cheeseburger. My brain always works better when I'm clean and my belly is full."

₹ ₺ ₻ ₼ ₽ ₾

Ronan saw the shadows shift slightly on the other side of the room as a dark shape stepped out and immediately assumed the appearance of the man that Max had introduced earlier as Saint.

Looking at this partner, he said, "That's freaky as hell."

Max grinned boyishly and replied, "You get used to it" as he walked towards Saint and said, "Where are the others?"

Saint feigned a look of offense and replied in mock indignation, "They're in the air, so I don't really know, but I'm fine – thanks for asking."

Max had the good graces to look embarrassed, he wasn't very good at this friendship thing. "Sorry. I just took for granted that you're fine – your runes are dark. You look good."

Smiling, Saint touched his face and replied, "I do look good. Thank you for saying so."

Ronan threw a look at his partner which conveyed his thought – is this guy for real?

Max ignored Ronan's look, and instead spoke directly to Saint, "There's a rumor going round that the Cadre is working with your father against the Wamphyri. Do you know anything about that?" He saw Saint look away for the briefest of seconds and knew his suspicions were confirmed.

"You do know" spat Max angrily, followed by a litany of curses, "I knew it."

"I suspected" defended Saint. "My father is not one to casually go about invading realms. He's far too lazy, so I knew that he had to be convinced by either the Cadre or the Wamphyri. I just didn't know which one. Now I do."

Ronan stepped forward, confused, he asked, "Let me get this straight. Your father is the Shadow Lord?"

Both Saint and Max nodded in the affirmative.

Ronan continued, "You're saying he was approached by the Cadre to go against the Wamphyri? Not the other way around?"

Max looked at Saint for confirmation; and cursed again to himself when he gave it.

Ronan smiled thinly, "but, this could be a good thing, right?" looking at Saint, he continued, "can't you just go to your father and convince him to withdraw his support? Especially if you're right and he has no real desire to rule this realm?"

"I could" agreed Saint, "and he might do that. It would depend on how much fun he is having."

"Fun?" questioned Max and Ronan in unison.

"I know that neither of you would understand, so I won't even try to explain, but the simple answer is.... He is probably amused by all this. Knowing that is most likely the reason why the Cadre approached him in the first place. But - my father is the least of your worries" replied Saint.

"What do you mean?" questioned Ronan.

"Simply this. My father is a smoke screen. His primary purpose is hide what the Cadre is doing. Your people are the real threat here, so you need to decide where your fidelity lies – with the Cadre – or with the those who have honored the truce."

"You mean the Wamphyri?" clarified Max, "you're asking us to side with them against the Cadre?"

"That's exactly what I'm saying" replied Saint.