Stronger Together chapter 235

The drive back to the house with Aiden was...novel. Apparently  whatever made him able to literally eat part of an outsider monster and  digest it for power made him a little nuts. Or vice versa I supposed but  either way. We'd decided that since Maeve was gone we were unlikely to  get any clues from soldier field, especially with the monster eater  hanging around, so we might as well bring him with us so we didn't come  back empty handed. I turned to look over the seat at the cheerful man  "So, how long have you been doing..." I gestured to his body. "That."

Aiden  just shrugged. "Oh not too long. I'm nineteen, when I was sixteen I was  dating this girl, apparently her and her dad were wizards or something.  The body jacker wanted a way to get close to her but her dad was super  paranoid so it crawled into my brain one night through a rat or  something. It spent the next six months try to get me to agree to do  stuff, but it's logic was stupid so I ignored it. It finally got so fed  up it tried to lock me in a box in my brain, which wasn't cool, but it  showed me how to lock stuff up like that."

He shrugged.  "So I got out and locked IT in a box in my brain. It sat in there for a  while, trying to whisper to me and convince me to let it out but it got  annoying so I ate it." He seemed to actually pause in discomfort for a  second. "The next part was a little fuzzy, but I remember it hurt a  whole bunch. The body jacker tried to kill me from the inside, I don't  remember how I stopped it but it took hours and I was in so much pain I  could barely think." Then he snapped out of his funk and shrugged again.  "When I woke up I had my tattoos and I could feel the nearest person  infected. Plus I was hungry."

I winced, the guy seemed a  little...fried. Not much seemed to phase him most of the time, so that  deep and pervasive dread he showed for a second when he talked about the  pain was pretty telling. It must have been excruciating. I cleared my  throat, hoping to change the subject. "So are you willing to help us out  with this fight? The body jacker is definitely working with the people  we're dealing with so I'm guessing  you'll have plenty to eat. We could  use someone with your skills." Aiden was fast enough to be hard to track  in my lightning aspect, he would definitely be useful.

He  shrugged again. "Oh, sure. No reason not to, it sounds fun. Hopefully I  can eat that ice girl, she seemed like she had some kick to her. If you  guys can find me something else to eat though I don't mind. There's  some variations in flavor but it's mostly a matter of gaining power, and  I get that no matter what I eat as long as it's got some of that body  jacker goodness in it." The hunger in his voice as he discussed one of  the most terrifying being in this universe was honestly hilarious, and  it made me anxious to see him in battle against a more controlled  Nemesis host. I wanted to see that outsider fuck squirm when this  absolute predator of a guy came after him.

Raven gave a  sigh. "I'm sure we'll run into plenty of thralls for you to devour, but  until then can you maybe warn us before you attack anyone? Not that we  think you would just attack someone out of nowhere but we'd just like to  be in the loop if we're working together." I thought it was an odd  thing to mention since he only talked about attacking thralls but Rae  was an empath and I trusted her, if she thought he needed managing we  would manage him.

When we got back to the house everyone  was still there for the meeting. It seemed like no one had even noticed  us leaving. I wasnt sure if that was insulting or if I should be proud  of my sneaking skills so I decided to go with the latter. When we  stepped back inside though everyone noticed us coming in and stopped  talking to stare at us. I waved and gestured to Aiden. "This is Aiden,  he kills outsiders for a living. We saw him curb stomping Maeve at  Soldier field and he almost finished her off so we invited him back to  help." As I spoke I realized how insane that was, but ever since I  became half angel my instincts had been guiding me pretty well. I just  kind of felt like Aiden was ok, I didnt know how to explain it.

Brynn,  who was sitting next to Dalton, frowned at the new addition. "No  offense Cam but that seems a little reckless don't you think? Just  bringing a stranger in here with all your allies?" She glared at Aiden.  "I agreed to come here and meet with your allies because I thought we  were trying to save the city, but if you're not going to take this  seriously we can just leave." She stood angrily and Dalton looked  floored. She glanced over at Raven. "Sorry Rae, but I'm not willing to  put my safety in the hands of someone who thinks so little of me he  sneaks out of his own war council and comes back with a random stranger.  We'll try to find some other way to help."

Everyone  else seemed to be slightly swayed by that statement, and honestly even I  felt it was a bit reasonable. I'd been stupid, just leaving like that  was an insane thing to do. I couldn't tell them that my new semi-angelic  instincts had pushed me into it, because retroactively I could see that  was what happened. I tried to think of a response, but I needn't have  bothered. Brynn's path to the door was already blocked. Aiden was  crouched on the arm of the couch nearest to her,full on spider man  crouch with his creepy gold and black eyes pinned to her. His head was  tilted to the side in a predatory manner and his white teeth were bared  in a grin. "You seem to be in a hurry? Why the rush?"

I  stopped. That...that was a good point. Aiden showed up and Brynn  immediately declared herself out and tried to leave. Her reasons had  been sound so I hadn't bothered to question it, but Aiden clearly sensed  something. Brynn sneered at me. "Oh, so you don't want to lose face by  letting me leave and you let your new buddy try to bully me into  staying? Nice to see how you treat your friends when it suits you Cam."  Despite the perfect acting though, Brynn wasn't readying for a fight,  she was inching backwards away from Aiden. She was afraid of him.

I  stood up and started to circle around the other side. "Fun fact about  Aiden, he's a little bit special." I kept my eyes locked on her as I  came around, and she couldn't track me because she couldn't seem to take  her eyes off Aiden. "Like I said he kills outsiders for a living, but  more accurately he kills ONE outsider for a living. Or at least versions  and pieces of it. A nasty little possessing entity who goes by the name  of Nemesis, or as they call him back home, He Who Walks Beside."  Brynn's eyes snapped to me, widening in genuine fear and alarm. She  hadn't expected me to know that name. Everyone in the know just called  him Nemesis.

Her  eyes blanked out, and I had to say, the description in the books do not  do justice to how weird it is to watch the light switch off in a  persons eyes while they're still alive. Dalton had yanked his hand away  and stumbled back, and Mina had imposed herself in front of him  protectively. Brynn, or rather Nemesis, snarled at Aiden.  "You...abomination! You are a cancer! A curse on my existence, a plague  upon my very being! Can I know no peace? No surcease from your constant  interference?"

Aiden,  to my absolute lack of surprise, just shrugged. "I was hungry." Brynn  howled with rage and lashed out with her hands, casting what I'm sure  she expected to be a powerful piece of combat magic. Nothing happened.  She stopped and stared down at her hands blankly, unsure of what was  going on. I smiled to myself. Our wards were powerful as hell, but more  importantly they weren't from this universe, at least not entirely, She  had no basis for the way they functioned or what they could do.

I  snickered a bit, I couldn't help it. "Did you think you could just  throw around magic in my house? My protections aren't so barebones that  being invited in would give you free reign in here?" I nodded to Raven  who made a gesture and the magic in the room grew thicker and more  restrictive, though it didn't effect me or the girls at all. It also  oddly didn't seem to effect Aiden, which was somewhat worrying, but he  just strolled through the cloud of magic restraining everyone else with  no problems and right up to Brynn. I turned to look at him. "If we hold  her still is this going to kill her? Because possessed or not Brynn is a  friend, I don't want her dead."

Aiden  just shook his head. "Nah, they only die when they struggle. With her  all tied up like this I can just suck the body jacker out like noodles."  Brynn's eyes were wild with fury and hate, but she couldn't even speak  under the increased suppression. Aiden reached out and pinched her  cheeks with one hand, forcing her mouth open just a bit. Just like he  said he pursed his own lips and slurped in air like he was sucking in a  noodle and a long tendril of black energy came flowing out of Brynn and  funneled right down his throat, bleeding back out his skin to mix into  his tattoos, making them seem somehow just a bit more...significant.

Raven  released the magic in time for Dalton to dart around Mina and catch  Brynn as she collapsed into a heap. He glared at me, but not like he was  angry exactly. More like he was conflicted and wanted someone to blame.  Finally he sighed. "Do you have somewhere I can out her until I can  arrange a car?" I gave him a sad smile and nodded asking Cinder to take  them to my room. Dalton stood and gave me a nod. "I don't...I don't know  if I'm going to be involved in this anymore Cam. I don't know if I can.  Not after...that. I'll think it over, but I have some soul searching to  do." Left unsaid was the fact that he didn't know how long she'd been  possessed. I nodded to Raven again and my wonderful girlfriend followed  them into the room to fill him in on what we knew.

I  turned to everyone else, meeting their eyes and giving them my best  measured look one at a time. "That's what we're facing. An enemy that  can be anyone, at any time. Friend, lover, family, even yourself. Aiden  solves that problem for us now, but Nemesis had been around a long time.  You're probably wondering why I never mentioned him. Ebenezer knows  why. As does Lily, as does River. The oldest and the strongest here knew  about him, or at least knew why I couldn't bring it up. But if we play  this right, this ends here. We can finish these bastards, put them down  so hard they never bother our city or our loved ones again." I glanced  around at them grimly. "So, knowing whats are stake, are you still all  in?"