"you never know," he said in a cautionary tone.

this dude was pulling me into deep waters. i had to get off the phone with him before i gave up the family cow for magical beans. "i don't think we can do business," i said. "i get the feeling you're just toying with me, and talking with you is very dangerous."

"i can also help you with the black robe brotherhood," lornicus said as if it were an afterthought.

i couldn't speak for a moment. how in the hell did he already know about that?

as if sensing my question, he said, "my spies reported members of the brotherhood asking about a young man fitting your description. i also had spies question the arch operators. if you like, i can have my assets watch out for you and send warning."

"for what price?" i asked.

"free share of information," he replied.

i gritted my teeth. "i can't do that without asking my friends."

"they won't like it, i suspect."

"i don't like it either," i said. "we can defend ourselves."

"can you spare enough people to track members of the brotherhood? to find out how close they are to discovering your location?" lornicus pressed his attack. "defensive measures are all well and good, mr. slade, but i have an army at my disposal. if you need them for a fight, i will help. these people stand between you and your mother. if they kill you or your friends, nothing else matters."

my heart skipped a beat at the thought of losing my friends. much as i hated to admit it, his point was valid. unfortunately, his leverage over me had just ballooned. "you obviously just want us to help you get the baby angels out of el dorado," i said. "you want them for some reason."

"indeed," the golem said. "they should be rescued."

"i won't agree to hand them over to you," i said. "they're either staying in el dorado or coming home with me." i shuddered at the idea of caring for a bunch of whiny babies, but leaving them in a cavern of eternal darkness seemed awfully cruel. maybe if they were raised right, they wouldn't turn out like a bunch of spoiled buttholes who wanted to rule the world.

"what if i discover your mother's location? would that be worth the price of one seraphim child?"

yes! "absolutely not," i said after a slight hesitation. of course it would be. i just couldn't let him know that without bargaining the price down. "like i said, they stay in el dorado or with me."

"i suppose i could agree to that," lornicus said.

my eyes narrowed as a thought crossed my mind. "you keep talking about you, but what about your boss?"

"i am acting in his best interests," lornicus said.

"and he knows what you're doing?"

"i keep him well informed," the golem replied.

i decided not to press the issue. obviously, the golem wasn't beyond ignoring his master's commands if he thought it was for the best. i really didn't care if he hid this information from mr. gray or not. "let me talk this over with my friends. i'll let you know."

"very good, mr. slade. until then." the golem disconnected.

"i think it's a good idea," shelton said the minute i finished telling everyone about the golem's offer.

elyssa squinted. nodded. "i agree. we can't trust him as a complete ally, but more eyes would be good. and he's right, justin. we have no hope of saving your mother if the brotherhood finds us."

"does anyone else find this idea questionable?" bella asked. "what if the brotherhood makes him a better offer? what if they agree to help lornicus remove the babies and he decides to get rid of us?"

"lornicus sees justin as the cataclyst," shelton said. "he wants to use him, not kill him."

"a warded perimeter will help to an extent against surprises," adam added, "but if someone of the brotherhood's caliber takes a close look and sees all those wards, they might get suspicious, especially since this house is supposedly abandoned." he shrugged. "they could de-ward the place and slip in without us being any wiser."

"the ases are hard to spot," elyssa said. "i think they'd give us advance warning, but for now, we should accept the help." she drew in a breath. "besides, lornicus agreed to let us do what we want with the angels."

"yeah, but the leyworms haven't," i said with a grim note. "i don't know what would be best for them."

"they're in a dark disgusting cave," bella said. "it might be dangerous moving them, but i think we have to consider it."

i didn't sleep well that night with dreams of little angels toddling around and wreaking havoc while golems tried fruitlessly to breastfeed them. the next morning elyssa and i opened the arch back to el dorado and found cinder sitting cross-legged near the front of the control room. he stood, brushing off his pants, and approached.

"justin, i have made a number of interesting discoveries," he said without so much as a "hello". "the cherubs do not affect me, nor do they seem interested in devouring my essence. i believe this means i have no soul for them to consume." his voice sounded almost wistful, as if the most wonderful thing would be for a cherub to want his soul.

"good to know," i said. "anything else?"

"yes," he said with a nod. "i believe the babies are dying."

chapter 12

"dying?" elyssa said in a shocked tone. "how?"

cinder tilted his head. "the leyworm justin befriended allowed me to approach and observe. it seemed intent on communicating something i could not at first understand."

"it tried to talk?" i asked.

"i believe so, if hissing and growling is a method of communication."

"oh, brother," elyssa said. "what did you find out?"

"it carved an image in the floor using its boring abilities in a very interesting fashion-"

"stay on target," i said, not wanting him to go off on a tangent.

"perhaps i should show you," he said, and walked for the exit.

"hang on," i said, and went to the modulus on the control platform. tracing the pattern the arch operator had shown me, i activated the ambient lighting in the cavern outside.

"interesting," cinder said, looking out the door as the dim yellow light suffused the cavern. "i will disable the glowballs since they are no longer necessary."

"what were you going to show us?" i asked him.

"this way, please." the golem left the room.

we followed. i noted a trench carved in the stone floor to our right. several cherubs whined inside, trying futilely to climb the side as we walked past, their screeching cries like nails on a chalkboard.

"where did the trench come from?" i asked, unable to repress a shudder at the horrific cries of the husks.

"i asked the leyworm to set up a perimeter," cinder said. "it carved the trench across the room and knocked wandering cherubs inside. we patrolled the area and determined this side is now free of them."

"good job," i said, patting him on the shoulder. "i never would have thought of that."

cinder paused a moment. "thank you, justin."

"can we keep moving?" elyssa asked, casting uneasy glances at the nubby hands of cherubs as they opened and closed, straining to reach us.

the golem continued without comment. i spotted a glowing, shaggy form racing toward us and braced for impact as yolo skidded to a halt a few feet away, his tongue lolling while he panted musty breath. the glow from his body seemed just a little brighter than the yellow light.

elyssa scratched his ears. yolo purred. "i can't believe he would help vadaemos," she said. "he must be awfully lonely down here."

"an interesting creature," cinder said. "he seems quite intelligent, but is prone to disappearing regularly."

"maybe he has add," elyssa said, giving yolo one last pat on his furry mane.

we continued onward, yolo tagging along behind us for a bit before huffing, legs going rigid as he stared into the distance, and abruptly streaked away for parts unknown.

"wonder if he saw a squirrel," i said, peering after him.

the small leyworm approached, its parietal eyes blinking at me. it hissed and slithered into a u-turn to precede us. we came to the carving cinder had mentioned, and i knew almost immediately what the problem was. it was the image of a calf sucking the teat of a cow. how the leyworm knew what a cow was, i had no idea, but didn't feel like playing pictionary with it to find out.

"they need milk?" i said.

the leyworm hissed, stopped, and seemed to sigh. then it nodded.

"what the-" elyssa's mouth dropped open.

"i taught it elementary methods of human communication," cinder said. "yes-no questions should be a feasible form of discovery."

"baby angels need milk?" i said in a wondering tone, trying to imagine daelissa breastfeeding. "how is that going to work?"

"uh, this is getting a little ridiculous," elyssa said. "we can't run a nursery."

"the leyworms already are," i said. "they feed them soul essence, somehow pulling it from ley lines. i guess they need a supplement." i turned to the leyworm, decided i was tired of referring to it in the generic, and thought up a name. "can i call you slitheren?" i asked, figuring it was an accurate if not equally generic description of the creature.

it tilted its head, eyes blinking several times. if it had shoulders, it might have shrugged. instead, it nodded.

"okay, great, slitheren." i paused, wondering what to say next when elyssa spoke.

"can we take the babies back to queens gate?" she asked.

slitheren shook his elongated head, forked tongue working in and out.

"how are we supposed to feed them?" she asked.

the dragon offered no response.

"we'll have to set up shop down here, i suppose," i said, not seeing an alternative, and dreading the idea of bringing the little tykes back. "besides, what if the little tykes try to feed off our souls? i wouldn't know how to deal with that." not to mention the impossibility of kidnapping a bunch of babies with slitheren and his gargantuan pals ready to give chase the minute we tried anything of the sort.