Paul Adams

"We're going to be part of it... their new world"

- Paul Adams betrays Scarlett to the Old Ones

Paul Adams is a major character in The Power of Five fourth novel, Necropolis. He is an agent of the infamous Nightrise Corporation and stepfather of the fifth of the Five, Scarlett Adams.

Backstory
Paul Adams may have done business and politics at university, provided he went, and he lived in London nearly all his life. His working life entailed him to travel, with Nightrise. He had married a beautiful woman named Vanessa but the two did not really get on. Vanessa was very neglectful of housework and they had a maid, Mrs Murdoch, to watch over Scarlett, and Murdoch did most of the parenting that Scarlett needed rather than Vanessa did. Of her adopted parents, Paul seemed to spend the most time with his stepdaughter.

Paul was working for Nightrise as a lawyer, and he was involved in backing the election to elect his boss Charles Baker into presidency. When Baker got elected, the authorities noted that the votes were tampered with, and this pissed them off, so there was a huge scandal about Nightrise. Paul pretended he was embarrassed and needed his stepdaughter around to support him but he was lying: This was merely a cover as part of his plan was to betray Scarlett to the Old Ones.

He met with Scarlett on his last night in London. The week before, Scarlett had gone on a school trip to St Meredith's church and had gone through a door marked by a pentragam, ending up in the Ukraine, where she had been held captive by Father Gregory Malenkov, who told Scarlett she was an ancient Gatekeeper, and of their war with the Old Ones, the supreme evil. For some reason best known to herself, Scarlett did not tell Paul the story - although he must have known through his Nightrise contacts. Scarlett had been in all the papers and on TV and she was a star, but Paul did not learn the truth.

Anyway, he had dinner with Scarlett and wondered about whether he ought to have adopted a child. He then said that things were not going right for them and he showed a lack of concern about Scarlett, when she openly said things were her fault, he said "Yes, I suppose that's true." He then sent her on a one-way ticket to China, promising to meet her at the airport.

Biography
Scarlett was annoyed at being sent round the world like she was a pizza delivery, and she got even angrier when she realized Paul had let her down and wasn't at the airport. Instead, Audrey Cheng and Karl were there, claiming to be from Nightrise, and Audrey said Paul left a note for Scarlett in his flat.

When they got to the flat, Widsom Court, it was eerily quiet, and there was indeed a note on the cupboard, but it was typed, rather than hand-written, meaning anyone could have written it. Scarlett never saw Paul in Hong Kong, the chairman told her that he was in an impoverished area of China where phone reception was bad, but it was really a lie to cover her stepfather's residence in Hong Kong.

Paul returned when Scarlett was being ushered out of Hong Kong by the Triads, who had gone to extreme lengths such as disguising Scarlett as a boy to protect her, and only to have it all snatched away at the last minute when Scarlett noticed Paul sitting in a cafe drinking, but he recognized Scarlett at once, and grabbed her, when she said they had to move, Paul recognized her through her disguise and yelled at the Old Ones that she was there.

As the Old Ones swarmed on them, terrifying the real shoppers and tourists who ran, Paul bragged about his betrayal, saying it was all for the best and how they would live in wealth in the new world. The fly-soldiers of the Old Ones swarmed down on them and Paul was bragging away so an angry Scarlett spat in his face. Then Karl brutally picked her up and slammed her on the street, knocking her unconscious, and this summoned the typhoon which inadvertently destroyed Hong Kong the next day.

Paul grudgingly took in Matthew Freeman, the first of the Five, when Matt turned up in his flat at two in the morning, soaked and ill. Matthew did suspect Paul's treachery but refused to believe it. He knew Paul was a Nightrise agent and the Triads had told him of the suspected villainous side Paul had. Indeed, Paul phoned Nightrise and told them that Matthew was in his flat, and the chairman and police showed up, and neutralized Matt's powers before dragging him out. However, before Matt was dragged out, Paul asked the chairman if he could have his reward and see Scarlett. The chairman said he would never let Paul see Scarlett again or let her go. Then he shot Paul in the head, killing his former agent, and earning him what the chairman claimed was "a quick death."