Infernal Father of Mine by John Corwin Page B

took off at a
jog.
    I tried to run at a supernatural rate and only
succeeded in tiring myself. "I hate this place. I hate feeling
normal."
    A bead of sweat trickled down David's forehead.
"You and me both."
    It felt awful to have no super powers.
Considering how dangerous dreams made this place, we'd be hard
pressed to avoid every surprise. "We're doomed."
    He smirked. "Since we're already doomed, I
might as well mention we don't have food or water."
    That troubling thought hadn't occurred to me.
"There aren't any people to feed from either," I said.
    "Yep." His eyes turned back toward the section
of town known as Buckhead where the Grotto sat buried deep
underground beneath a fancy shopping mall. "To top things off, we
have something else to worry about."
    "Great, what else?"
    "The fog will return." He motioned around us.
"It seems when the mortal world sleeps and dreams, the fog
clears."
    "So we have until morning to reach the Grotto,"
I said, trying to judge the distance in my head. "It could take us
hours to walk there." My heart was already hammering from the jog
even though I was in pretty good shape.
    "That would be my guess," David said as we
crested a hill. "Somehow, people dreaming or sleeping clears the
fog."
    "Don't Arcanes study the Gloom?" I said.
"Wouldn't they know about this kind of stuff?" Before he could
answer, another thought smacked me upside the head. "Harry
Shelton's dad—"
    "Jarrod Sager," David said.
    I decided not to ask him how he knew the
deceased Arcanus Primus was Shelton's dad. "Yeah, that guy. He was
pushing—"
    "The Gloom Initiative," my father interrupted
again without even glancing my way as we trotted down a residential
sidewalk.
    I clenched my teeth to hold back a smart
remark. "Surely they know all about this stuff if they were really
studying the Gloom."
    "Perhaps. The project was shrouded in secrecy.
Apparently Daelissa thought she could find a way back to Seraphina
through this place—"
    "And bring through her army," I said,
interrupting him for the hell of it, though I had nothing
constructive to add. I wondered if she could the initiative was
still active. Was that why she sent us here?
    "Why are you so reluctant to tell me the truth
about you?" I asked, using a tactic Elyssa had applied many a time
when she wanted to catch me off guard with random
question.
    "I don't think you're ready for it yet," David
replied.
    "I put on my big-boy panties a long time ago, David ." I glared at him to put extra emphasis on his name.
"You're the one who's been acting like a child. After Mom left us,
you got stinking drunk every night and left me to figure out why I
could suddenly seduce any woman I wanted. Do you know how hard it
was for me to resist abusing that ability? Do you know how close I
came to dying because I didn't have a clue about the Overworld or
Templars, or how most supers regard demon spawn as evil
monsters?"
    "I knew all along what you were going through,"
he said nonchalantly.
    I almost tripped over my own feet. "You
what?"
    He shrugged. "I knew exactly when the change
hit you, and most of what was going on in your life during your
adjustment."
    "Adjustment?" I shouted. "My girlfriend almost
cut my throat because she thought I was abusing my sexual
superpowers to take advantage of her!"
    "Her love won out in the end though, didn't
it?"
    I opened my mouth to shout something back but
only angry sputtering noises emerged. David grinned. The world
flashed red. I dove into him. His back hit a brick mailbox. We
bounced off it and landed on a grassy lawn. I wrestled him beneath
me, straddled his chest, and reared back my fist. He looked up at
me, one eyebrow raised.
    "I can see you're upset, son—"
    I punched him in the face. "You're damned right
I'm upset, you lying bastard!" I lined up my fist for another punch
when he pushed me off. I somersaulted backwards and flopped on my
stomach. Anger burned behind my eyes. I rolled to my back and
sprang to my feet.
    "Let's stop with the