by D. N. Leo
“I’m going to get you out of here.”
“No, no! Leave me. It was trying to lure you here. Leave now. I’m a burden.”
“Not if you can run fast.”
Ben jumped up to his feet. “All right, I’ll run with you. Out of here. Right now.”
“What about my silver belt?” Before Alyna could answer him, Ben pulled the knife out of the dead ape’s body and stabbed the little one. The creature fell to the ground, dead.
“Ben! He helped me find you. I promised him something.”
“We don’t have the time for this, Alyna. We can discuss morality when we’re back on our turf.”
They rushed toward the door and found fifteen apes waiting for them in the basement.
Chapter 24
Caedmon threw Nathan to the wall in one swift move. The temporary wooden wall in the Ethesus office collapsed on impact.
“You know she’s injured, so you sold her off so you could take over Amaraq.”
“Nice theory, Caedmon. But for your information, even if Amaraq loses its leader, it’s not my turn to take over. Whatever wants Alyna is dangerous, and it wants something a lot more than Amaraq business. And just a reminder, I’m the one who saved your ass and brought you here.” Nathan rubbed his sore shoulder.
Caedmon picked him up by the collar and shoved him against another wall. “You brought us here because you want to form an alliance with Amaraq. Whoever your opponent is, it would take both of your groups to fight him. But I’m sure as hell that once you handle your mutual enemies, you’ll turn against Amaraq in a heartbeat.”
“Wouldn’t we all?” Nathan wriggled out of Caedmon’s grip.
“No. That’s not how I operate. And it’s certainly not how Alyna operates.”
“And you think you know her so well?”
“Well enough to know that she would go to wherever the Peak is to save her friend, even if it means she’ll die, and even if she has to forfeit the fight for the greater purpose.”
“Not everyone walks the higher moral ground like you do.”
“It’s not about moral grounds. It’s about the number of lives we can save.”
Nathan pushed Caedmon away. “I don’t care where you come from or what sort of things the LeBlancs do. Whenever you open your mouth, you talk about saving lives, but here, on Earth, we work for survival. Money and power are the means to an end. And the end goal of everyone here is survival. I won’t put my life in jeopardy to save anyone else’s ass, even if they promise to worship me after I die.”
“You don’t have a choice. Because if you don’t take me to the Peak right now—wherever the fuck it is—I’ll put your life in serious jeopardy.” Caedmon was so angry he could feel his adrenaline rising again.
Lorcan pulled him aside. “This isn’t doing your situation any good,” he growled.
“I don’t know what good is anymore. I thought we could work out a plan with Alyna so I could go to the LeBlancs to get the funds to buy her the army she needs. Now this prick has sent her to the Peak!” Caedmon shoved Lorcan away.
“I didn’t send her,” said Nathan. “She is a woman of her own free will.”
“Did you beat up Ben Zurich and leave him at the side of the road to be captured?”
“Yes…and no. I beat him up because he started trouble first. And I left him there with his people, not by himself. How the hell did I know the Amaraq fighters at the side of the road were useless?”
“Did you tell Alyna that the Peak is the transitional zone of the multiverse? That creatures go there to kill without being convicted? That it’s a free zone of evil?” Caedmon shouted.
“I know only that it’s a place where magic doesn’t work. If you know so much about it, why don’t know where it is?”
Caedmon looked at Lorcan. He couldn’t tell Nathan his internal microchip and supernatural power weren’t working, so he couldn’t navigate. As an ordinary creature now, he had no idea where the Peak was.
Lorcan pointed at his wrist unit. “I’ve got a map. I can find it.”
“Then let’s go,” Caedmon said.
“You can’t be in two places at once, Caedmon,” said Lorcan. “You need to be at the LeBlanc headquarters. There’s no point in saving Alyna if you can’t get her the army. I’m not keen on fistfights.”
“Where are the Amaraq fighters?” Nathan asked.
“Many in the North got killed by your traitor Hanx and the Xiilok creature he hired. The Amaraq are sending some from the South, but it will take time for them to get here,” Caedmon said.
“She can use my fighters.” Nathan smiled. “I’m sure they’ll take her orders.”
They heard a loud bang from the adjacent building. The ground shook, and dust billowed in.
“Orla!” Lorcan said and darted toward the explosion. Caedmon raced after him. If anything happened to Orla, he would never forgive himself.
What used to be an office had become a pile of rubbish. Bodies and body parts were everywhere. Lorcan searched numbly through the piles of brick and wood. He said nothing. Caedmon’s adrenaline was at its peak due to his anger with himself and the intense hatred he felt for the party responsible for this destruction.
“Lorcan!” Orla called from behind them. They turned and saw her standing there, more beautiful than ever, with a basket in her hands as she had just been to the market for fruit and vegetables.
Lorcan ran to her and pulled her into his arms. Caedmon remained silent. Lorcan always teased him for crying too easily in public, but Caedmon was sure he could care less if people saw tears streaming down his face right now. He understood Lorcan’s feelings. He had lost Sedna so quickly he hadn’t even had time to cry.
Nathan walked around the ruins. Then he turned and looked at Caedmon. “Well, I can’t offer Alyna my fighters now.” Then he whirled around and began to pace, kicking at the loose bricks and metal bars. “Who the fuck is doing this? What do they want? Ethesus business? Amaraq business? The Scorpio key? What the fuck is happening?” He sat on the ground and put his head in his hands.
“Whoever did this wants all of what you just mentioned. Do you have any more men?” Caedmon asked.
“Some, on the outskirts of the middle land. It will take ages for them to get here. And even if they come, then what?”
“Amaraq and Ethesus need to work together. And you need an external army. A group of good fighters we can buy. The LeBlancs have offered the funds to buy the army—with a price attached. We have only a few hours to give them an answer.”
Nathan stood and shrugged. “Whatever it takes. What do they want?”
“They want your head.”
Nathan looked at Caedmon. “Sure, whatever they need. I’ll put my mind to it and make that happen.”
Caedmon shook his head. “No, they want your head, literally. And preferably separated from your body.”
Chapter 25
At the Peak, Alyna pulled out the blood ice dagger she had collected from a dead temple guard. The group of apes gasped and withdrew slightly. She chuckled to herself. So you’re scared of the blood ice. She brandished the dagger at them, and they withdrew even further. But when she turned to leave with Ben, they followed.
Simply threatening them with the dagger wasn’t going to work. She waved it at them again and then backed the group into a corner. She thrust the dagger into the ground in front of them.
“A warning to any of you who step close to it,” she said. “I will ignite the ice power if you move. So stand still, very still.” Then she signaled Ben, and they both hurried out of the basement.
They had run for a fair distance and appeared to be on a hilltop. Their surroundings were dead quiet and eerie.
Ben puffed. “Why hasn’t the dagger exploded yet?”
“I didn’t say it would explode.”
“You told them you’d ignite its power.”
“Ben, I don’t know how to make the thing explode. I’m not a mage.”
Ben laughed. “You were
bluffing. Alyna McCabe bluffed our way out of the apes’ temple at the Peak!”
“You could use all that energy to thank me for saving your ass. Why did you come back, Ben?”
Ben stopped laughing. “Rumor in the South is that there are multiple forces gathering to rob you of the Scorpion key at the Summoning.”
“I know that already.”
“The news is that nobody wants the epic fight to happen at the Summoning. Therefore, some of the creatures are going to try a shortcut and take you out beforehand so they can get into the temple before the big event.”
“Even if they could get inside the temple, there’s no way they can call the key up.”
“They can if they can get the mage leader to call it up for them.”
She nodded. “So you think they’re going to try to force me to call up the key, whatever it takes.”
“Exactly.”
“You could have called me to tell me that.”
“You’re right. But there was another disturbing piece of news. They said that Ethesus held you captive.”
“So that’s why you came back. You thought I had been kidnapped. You came back to rescue me?”
“That’s not a good reason?”
“I don’t know what to say, Ben. You shouldn’t have done that.”
“If I need you in the future, will you look out for me?”
“Certainly, Ben. I’ll do more than just look out—” Before she could finish her sentence, as if in slow motion, five black blades came flying in from nowhere. One of them struck Ben, slicing through his back. Its sharp tip protruded from his chest.
He fell to the ground. Alyna whirled around but saw nothing. The eerie, cold air seemed to mock her. Ben was gasping and trying to speak. Blood bubbled from his mouth, and his words were garbled.
“Please don’t speak. Don’t say anything. I’ll take the blade out and get you to the clinic. You’ll be just fine.” But when she touched the black steel blade, an incredible force sent her rolling backward several feet. It was like a blast from an explosion.
The air was very still, and there was no sound save for the rasp of Ben’s last breaths. Her head was ringing, and her vision was blurred. She grabbed the blade again, trying to pull it out. The force struck her again. She crawled back toward Ben, but this time he grabbed her hands before she touched the blade.
“Don’t, Alyna. I’m gone. Leave it.”
“I can’t let you die, Ben. Please stay.”
“Everyone dies someday.” He smiled. “Had I known you would shed tears for me, I would have tried harder to live a little longer.”
She hadn’t even realized she was weeping. “Then try now.”
“It’s too late. I don’t think you want to hear this. I don’t even think you’ll understand. But I love you, Alyna. My life meant nothing when I left the North. Nothing makes sense without you. But it’s too late for me now…”
“No, no, please don’t go. Teacher! I need you, Teacher!”
“Is he the one who turned you?” asked Ben.
“Yes. And he can turn you, too. He helped Caedmon. He can help you. Please bear with me.”
“Is this who you were looking for?” The voice came from behind them, and a heavy belt landed next to them with a thud.
Alyna turned and saw a man she could tell was a dark angel. He was very tall with black wings and a dark aura. His striking eyes cut through the thick fog and looked her up and down.
“I beg your pardon. I don’t think you’ve ever seen the creature you call Teacher in the flesh. You probably don’t even recognize that belt. But just so you know, I killed him.”
“Why would you do that?”
“He acted against my interests. I had to kill him.”
“What do you want from us?”
“Not us, just you. Your friend is going to die. I only needed him as bait to lure you out here. He’s served his purpose.”
“If you save him, I’ll give you what you want.”
The angel laughed. “Child, don’t you recognize me, or are you pretending? It’s natural to be afraid.”
“I can’t recognize someone I haven’t met. Save my friend,” she repeated, “and I’ll give you what you want.”
“Recall the sensation when you touched the blade that is killing your friend right now.”
The buzzing noise came back to her mind as soon as he said that, but she shook it away.
An evil grin spread across the angel’s face. “Now you remember! It is the same sensation you got from the giant spider legs on the snowy mountain. Do you remember now?”
She couldn’t breathe. She gasped for air. She felt the angel coming closer, but her body wouldn’t move. She couldn’t get away. She felt the feathers of his wings rubbing against her skin.
“You felt the blades because you have a spiritual connection with them,” he whispered. “Remember the blood and gore on the snow? The desperation of the creatures before their death? The cry of an infant when confronted by a predator? Remember the name Azriel? I always announce myself before a kill. Would you like to know what I want? I thirst for the blood from your heart. I can’t believe I’ve met you again. Here. It’s like the sanctions on me were lifted. It’s like—”
And then he screamed and staggered back, falling on his backside and sliding away. He looked down at his chest and saw the steel blade still vibrating after the impact.
Ben had pulled the blade from of his body and stabbed the dark angel with it.
The angel stood, charged away, and vanished into thin air.
Her world was quiet again, and she could again hear Ben’s dying breaths.
“No… Please don’t die, Ben,” she said and brushed the hair from his face. And then she saw in his beautiful soft green eyes that his human life had ended.
Chapter 26
Caedmon walked into the LeBlanc headquarters in Midland London—a place that people in the New Australia office spoke of with the utmost respect and fear. Just a minute ago, he had thought about Alyna and wondered how she was doing at the Peak. Lorcan, Orla, and Nathan had gone there to rescue her.
He could have asked Lorcan to come with him. But after the explosion, he didn’t have the heart to separate him from Orla. If Caedmon couldn’t have happiness, at least Lorcan and Orla would have it. They deserved it. He’d refrained from telling Orla and Lorcan that their son Gale had grown up a fine and talented man, in charge of an intelligence station in the Daimon Gate. They would be very proud of him.
But the less they knew, the fewer problems they would have now.
Headquarters was like any central corporate environment. He saw no reason for people to fuss over it, but he understood that by human standards, this was as good as it got. The office was buzzing with activity, and the staff looked exceptionally professional.
Leanne, the personal assistant and secretary he’d had in Australia, would have fit perfectly in this environment. The memory of her death still pained him, and he didn’t like to think about it.
“Caedmon.”
Jamie LeBlanc looked exactly as he did on-screen. Caedmon had been told several times by people across the multiverse that the LeBlancs had been blessed with good looks—in addition to everything else, such as their wealth and power—and Jamie was no exception.
Caedmon shook Jamie’s warm hand. “Jamie, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”
Jamie gestured toward a lush, carpeted wing. Caedmon headed in that direction. It had to be the executive wing, he thought. It looked exclusive and authoritative, yet still inviting.
“I understand you have a gift for me.”
Caedmon smiled. “Yes, indeed. It’s more like merchandise than a gift because it cost someone a dear price.”
“So my private office might be a more suitable location for meeting rather than the conference room?”
“Yes, your office is better. And please don’t tell me that our conversation is being recorded for training purposes because I won’t consent to that.
”
Jamie laughed. “No, there’s no recording.”
The control panel at the door asked for credentials. Jamie placed his palm on the panel, and it recognized him instantly. He turned toward Caedmon. “I understand you time travel. There’s no need to verify your credentials at this point.”
Caedmon followed Jamie into his private office. “Just to clarify,” he said, “I don’t have the ability to time travel on my own. I use a vessel.”
“I understand. No one in our family can time travel.”
Caedmon arched an eyebrow. “Is that an official statement?”
Jamie laughed. “Yes, a statement based on the official records on Earth, if you know what I mean.”
Caedmon chuckled. “Sure, official records.” He put a large box on the desk.
“Oh no, if it’s the gift we’re talking about, please don’t put it on the desk.”
Caedmon shrugged and picked it up again. “Where do you want it?”
Jamie pointed toward a side table. “There.”
Caedmon put the box on the table. “Just out of curiosity, why did you want Nathan dead?”
“Personal grudge.”
Caedmon chuckled. “I don’t believe that’s your style. But if you believe that reason is more suitable for the official records, then so be it.”
Jamie grinned. “I wish everyone was as easy to work with as you are.”
“When you say everyone, are you including our extended family in the multiverse, or just those who are Earth-based?”
Jamie shook his head as if he didn’t want to answer the question. Then he pointed at the box. “He really let you take his head?”
Caedmon shrugged. “Well, he didn’t volunteer. But I need the resources for Amaraq, so I had to make it happen.”
“How did it feel, cutting a man’s head off?”