virtually impossible to prove but he recognized the pattern in it and said he knows hundreds of people who have had similar problems and all with the same pattern, no matter what the crime was. He can't do anything though, because he's unable to trace it back to a source.”
“ Internet crime?” I frowned. “That's not exactly Pride business, even if it did happen to your girlfriend. I'm sorry, Lucian but I have no idea how to help you.”
“ Tima,” he sighed. “Alana is suicidal from all of this. I had to put her in the hospital.”
“ That's awful,” Samantha said softly.
“ It got me thinking,” Lucian continued. “Isn't that what the gods do? Make people kill each other? A suicide would count as a sacrifice, wouldn't it?”
“ I guess,” I was still trying to follow where he was going with all this.
“ I went to see some of the other victims,” Lucian swallowed hard. “They all look drained, like something has been siphoning off their energy. Tima, this is about a god taking these people as sacrifice, I know it.”
“ Okay,” I frowned. If he was right, this was huge. A god using the Internet as his own personal altar? The possibilities were astounding. “I need to talk to the God Squad about this. Gather everything you have on this together, including a list of the people you contacted and what happened to them, and I'll go contact the others.”
“ Thank you, Tima,” Lucian smiled like everything would be fine now that I was on it. It was a little intimidating, that kind of trust. No pressure or anything.
Chapter Thirteen
“ I think the lion's right,” Horus looked over the laptop Lucian had brought in. “From what he says and what's here, I'd say this is the work of a god.”
“ Really?” I grimaced. I'd been hoping it was something else, something more mundane and very human.
“ It's brilliant actually,” Blue looked over Horus' shoulder and then back at me. “I'm surprised no one's thought of it sooner. We aren't just a magical race, you realize. We have great technology as well. It makes perfect sense that one of us would use this tool for taking power.”
“ There have been other occurrences,” Thor put a folder down on the dining room table in front of him. I caught the flash of his ring and my stomach churned. I don't know why it was bugging me so much lately. “Two weeks ago, one of the U.S. Naval ships fired on Israel. Luckily, the missile hit just off the shore and no one was injured. The U.S. was able to contact the Israeli government and assure them that it was a computer glitch and not an act of war, the ship fired all on its own, but if the Israeli government hadn't been so understanding, it could have been very bad indeed.”
“ That could have very easily started a war,” Brahma looked around the table grimly.
“ That's not all,” Thor was just as grim. “Someone hacked the Washington Post's twitter account and reported that the U.S. President had been killed. It started riots and sent the stock market crashing before it was determined to be false.”
“ All because people thought the president had been killed?” I blinked.
“ Think about it,” Trevor looked over at me. “It riles people up, unsettles them, makes them look for someone to blame. It's the most intelligent plan I've come across for taking power from humans.”
“ And if this is just one god doing all this,” Persephone's eyes were as big as mine felt.
“ They're going to be very powerful,” I thought back to Acan, a god who was moonlighting as a drug lord. He'd been powerful but Pele had killed him, his power hadn't been any match for her anger. “But we've taken down the powerful before.”
“ I don't think this is going to be like anything we've ever dealt with before,” Pan whispered and I knew it was bad when I saw how serious the usually chipper god was.
“ So where do we start?” I looked over them all.
“ Do you think he's actually inside there?”
“ Internet crime?” I frowned. “That's not exactly Pride business, even if it did happen to your girlfriend. I'm sorry, Lucian but I have no idea how to help you.”
“ Tima,” he sighed. “Alana is suicidal from all of this. I had to put her in the hospital.”
“ That's awful,” Samantha said softly.
“ It got me thinking,” Lucian continued. “Isn't that what the gods do? Make people kill each other? A suicide would count as a sacrifice, wouldn't it?”
“ I guess,” I was still trying to follow where he was going with all this.
“ I went to see some of the other victims,” Lucian swallowed hard. “They all look drained, like something has been siphoning off their energy. Tima, this is about a god taking these people as sacrifice, I know it.”
“ Okay,” I frowned. If he was right, this was huge. A god using the Internet as his own personal altar? The possibilities were astounding. “I need to talk to the God Squad about this. Gather everything you have on this together, including a list of the people you contacted and what happened to them, and I'll go contact the others.”
“ Thank you, Tima,” Lucian smiled like everything would be fine now that I was on it. It was a little intimidating, that kind of trust. No pressure or anything.
Chapter Thirteen
“ I think the lion's right,” Horus looked over the laptop Lucian had brought in. “From what he says and what's here, I'd say this is the work of a god.”
“ Really?” I grimaced. I'd been hoping it was something else, something more mundane and very human.
“ It's brilliant actually,” Blue looked over Horus' shoulder and then back at me. “I'm surprised no one's thought of it sooner. We aren't just a magical race, you realize. We have great technology as well. It makes perfect sense that one of us would use this tool for taking power.”
“ There have been other occurrences,” Thor put a folder down on the dining room table in front of him. I caught the flash of his ring and my stomach churned. I don't know why it was bugging me so much lately. “Two weeks ago, one of the U.S. Naval ships fired on Israel. Luckily, the missile hit just off the shore and no one was injured. The U.S. was able to contact the Israeli government and assure them that it was a computer glitch and not an act of war, the ship fired all on its own, but if the Israeli government hadn't been so understanding, it could have been very bad indeed.”
“ That could have very easily started a war,” Brahma looked around the table grimly.
“ That's not all,” Thor was just as grim. “Someone hacked the Washington Post's twitter account and reported that the U.S. President had been killed. It started riots and sent the stock market crashing before it was determined to be false.”
“ All because people thought the president had been killed?” I blinked.
“ Think about it,” Trevor looked over at me. “It riles people up, unsettles them, makes them look for someone to blame. It's the most intelligent plan I've come across for taking power from humans.”
“ And if this is just one god doing all this,” Persephone's eyes were as big as mine felt.
“ They're going to be very powerful,” I thought back to Acan, a god who was moonlighting as a drug lord. He'd been powerful but Pele had killed him, his power hadn't been any match for her anger. “But we've taken down the powerful before.”
“ I don't think this is going to be like anything we've ever dealt with before,” Pan whispered and I knew it was bad when I saw how serious the usually chipper god was.
“ So where do we start?” I looked over them all.
“ Do you think he's actually inside there?”
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