by S. M. Savoy
His brother didn’t argue. As he rose to his feet, his phone rang with a video call. Blue surged into Rick’s gaze as he answered it.
“I found out they were alive and didn’t remember a thing.” Nelson said quickly before Rick had a chance to speak. “Rick... They were better off there, happy and safe. The world isn’t ready for them yet.”
“Happy— safe? Would they be happy when the procedure is repeated? When I find you, I’ll find out how happy you are,” Rick said in a strangled voice.
The major’s eyes widened. “Repeated? No, why would they? They don’t remember a thing. There’d be no need.”
“They’re regenerating,” Rick snarled. “Does it matter why? You decided to leave them there where anything could happen to them— without us— their family. How could you do that?”
“The world isn’t ready for them, Rick. I read the reports. You have them. You see what will happen!”
“When I find you, you’ll see what will happen!” Rick’s eyes blazed brightly. “They’re not safe! You delude yourself to salve your conscious. You’re afraid of them, of her.”
“You should be afraid of me.” Charlie said as he stepped beside his brother to glare at Nelson. “I’ll find you no matter where you hide. We’ll find them too eventually.”
“I’ll help you find them. I should’ve told you, but I thought you’d be happier not knowing. They could live a life together untroubled by magic, safe and comfortable. You’d be sad, but how much sadder would you be when she comes home in love with him? I swear to you, Chief, I meant to help everyone!”
“Not one more word!” Charlie said through his clenched teeth. “I’d never put myself above her. You disgust me. I’d gladly watch them together happy every day and know she was safe and well, then not know and have her in the hands of psychopaths.”
“I’m sorry—”
“You will be.” Charlie ended the call. “He’ll tell them we know— if he hasn’t already. We have to move fast before they move them.”
“He might not, he might’ve been sincere.” Rick laid a hand on his brother’s arm.
Charlie panted with rage, angry with Rick now. His magic burst from him and swirled about Rick and his father.
“I don’t care if he thought he was saving the world! He left Sara in the hands of psychopaths because he was afraid of her! We act on her behalf, on Oz’s behalf! Major Nelson is untrustworthy! We treat him as the enemy!”
“I’m not disagreeing; I’m just saying there’s hope he won’t tell them we know.”
Charlie took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. Let’s go, please.”
Rick glanced over his shoulder at his father’s drawn face, then straightened and followed Charlie.
- 21 -
Rescue
“We’re in the zone!” An exultant grin formed on Lee’s face. “They’re that way!” She pointed east.
Drew landed the copter and Joy jumped out as she engaged her white bracelet and casted Call-for-Help.
She clasped Drew’s arm hard as she waited out the timer. “Fucking perception! We need to physically find them; they aren’t in the raid anymore.”
“Let’s go,” Drew said as he jumped back into the helicopter.
He followed Lee’s pointing finger.
“Below us,” Lee said in excitement.
The helicopter passed over a large house that sat on a steep cliff overlooking the ocean.
Joy called Stasia who called Rick and Hawk. “We found them,” she said.
“What!” Charlie said sharply when Rick growled. “I swear to god, if you don’t answer me—”
“They found them.”
Charlie screamed his attack cry. His vision darkened and resumed but with odd halos and angles on familiar objects. He shook his head and gritted his teeth. His magic wanted her right now and careened wildly around the cockpit.
“No! Pain!” Charlie said emphatically, concentrating as hard as he could. The magic returned and his vision cleared, and he screamed again, this time in triumph. His soul was chanting we’ll kill them all and the magic believed him. It burned with impatience beneath his skin, but it would wait.
“Can you summon—”
Joy cut him off with a sharp, “No! We tried. They don’t remember us. The perception—”
“God fucking damn it!” Charlie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Fine. We know how that works.” Internally he raged at himself. It had never occurred to him that she wouldn’t be able to accept a summons. They’d wasted so much time assuming their magic would work, that all they’d need to do was enter a zone and summon them. But, without memory they’d been effectively logged out. Pierce hadn’t sent operatives to search locally, assuming that a summons would find them whether or not they were unconscious, and whoever had taken her had done so knowing what they were and would keep them moving overseas where the zones were smaller and blurred. But all of his assumptions were shit.
Charlie growled in annoyance.
Stasia said, “I’ll beat you there. We stole a jet.”
“You what?” Rick said, sounding more incredulous than angry.
“This Falcon is a sweet ride,” Brenda said enthusiastically. We should get a few. Too bad we’ll have to ditch her in the sea.”
“Dear Lord,” Rick mumbled.
“Perfect,” Charlie said. “We’ll ditch this too.”
Hawk said, “Mike, Gina and I land in thirty-five minutes. Major Nelson has been in contact with the general but General Campbell is furious. I don’t think he’s involved but he knows enough to be playing me. Liz called me. She claims the general isn’t involved, and I believe she believes it, but they wouldn’t tell her if they were involved. I sent Mom into hiding.”
Charlie’s heart thumped hard. It hadn’t occurred to him, and he felt like a fool. “Hold on a second.” He put the call on hold while he called his father. “I need you and Mom to get somewhere safe. Trust no one except us.”
Charles—”
“Just do it, Dad! I can’t worry about you guys too. I need you safe!”
“Okay. We could use a vacation.”
“You can’t use your credit cards.”
“I’m not a fool. I’ve planned for this. No one will find us, not even a mage. Are the wristcomps secure?”
“Yes. Only Oz or maybe Sara could hack them. If anyone else tries, we’ll know it.”
“Good. Then we can stay in touch. Your takeoff made the news. Before we go, I’ll call and see what I can do about that.”
Charlie had barely noticed the people who’d run at his approach at the airport and hadn’t given it a thought.
“Who cares? Just go. I’ll worry about it later.”
“You’re burning your bridges, son.”
Major Nelson already burned them. What they did to her…” Just thinking of it sent his magic roiling about the plane and knotted his gut.
“He might’ve acted alone. I can’t believe President Carmichael would do such a heinous thing.”
“We’ll find out when we get them back.”
“You’ve found them?”
“Joy is with them now.” His gaze was glued to the video Joy was sending.
“Sara,” he breathed, overcome with relief as Joy crept into a bedroom. He widened his screen and leaned closer.
Sara led Oz to the bed and lifted his legs to make him comfortable. Her smile was sweet and slightly crooked as she covered him with a light blanket.
“She’s partially paralyzed,” Joy whispered. His speech is much more slurred than hers and he doesn’t move well. I’d get closer but my magic…”
“No! Take no chances. Wait for backup if you can. Guards?”
“Two outside the patio door and four in the hallway.”
“Did you check for explosives?” Stasia asked.
“No traps or explosives. Lots of hits on find hidden but nothing in this room. It’ll take two of us to get them ou
t though. I can’t carry both.
“How many summons do we have?”
“My spell bracelet is full,” Lee said. “Liz gave me a full rod and I still have most of it. I can do about thirty channeled spells but that’s just an estimate.”
“I have about four spells,” Drew said.
“I have about four too,” Marcus said.
Charlie said, “Lee has enough to summon us. Joy, stay with them. Don’t leave them for a second. Keep your line open.”
“They’re getting ready to go out,” she whispered. “Some kind of dress event.”
“Out?”
Charlie examined Oz’s attire and frowned. He’d been so caught up watching Sara brush her hair that he hadn’t notice Oz wore a tuxedo. Sara applied makeup. The harsh lighting of her dressing room table wasn’t kind to the scars on her hands and face, but they didn’t seem to bother her. She spent no time trying to cover them. Or maybe they do bother her, he thought as she rubbed her arms and wiggled her fingers as though they hurt. She rose and limped to the closet. Her left side was slower than her right, her foot, hand, and the left corner of her mouth weren’t responding as quickly, making her awkward as she dressed. She donned a blue silk dress that left her shoulders bare and revealed more cleavage than she would normally show. She tugged at the bodice but finally gave up and pulled a sweater from a drawer before returning to sit beside Oz.
Sunlight streamed through the open window beside the bed, slanting across her face and she closed her eyes, turning her face into the sun.
“Their bags are packed,” Joy whispered, and another screen flickered to life in front of Charlie. “The house is busy beneath me. I think they’re leaving soon.”
“Stay with them,” he repeated. “Lee, try to summon Stasia every six minutes. Brenda, as soon as you arrive, try to summon Hawk.”
“I think we need a good thirty minutes,” Rick said.
“I know.”
“Marcus and I could get in the house to get them out,” Lee said.
“I’m tempted. Let me call Liz and see what sedatives she recommends.”
“It’s going to scare them no matter what we do,” Joy said sadly.
“I’m more worried about the m-nerves regenerating. It’s clear they have no magic. If they did it would be swooping around Joy whether they wished it to or not. So it’s going to hurt like a bitch when we heal them. We need to be ready. Marcus, hang back. Lee, can you recharge his bracelet with the rod?”
“Yes.”
“Great, give it to Drew and he can get close enough to summon both you and Marcus. I don’t want either of you to let your magic loose,” he said as commandingly as he could. “Wait for me if you can but don’t let them get away.
Charlie disconnected and flicked the icon that put him raid wide. “Most of you have heard about Major Nelson’s betrayal. If you were involved, you’re only hope for mercy is to come forward right now. If we find out later, I won’t be merciful or quick.”
“Charlie,” Rick said softly.
Charlie ignored him.
“I know none of you signed on for this. If you feel you owe a duty—”
“Fuck that,” Manny said harshly. “If they’ve turned on Sara and Oz, they’ve turned on all of us.”
Mutters of angry agreement clogged the line a moment.
“If the major was ordered to act as he has, I plan to declare war on the United States.”
Liz gasped. “Charlie, you can’t! Don’t even think it. Your rep—”
“I can, and I will. But I’ll wait for proof. Honestly, Liz, I don’t care about them. I care about Sara and Oz and it scares to me death to think we might be hours too late.”
He debated saying he’d found them, but the risk was too great. It was better if the Scouts didn’t know. “I know we can find them if given time, but the major knows that too. He’ll warn them to burn the bodies to ash.”
Saying it made him shudder. He was so close, but he’d been close before and had let her slip through his fingers.
“Liz, what I need from you is information. I need to sedate them, keep them under while their m-nerves regenerate. When we find them, our magic will want them and it will hurt.”
“Jesus,” Hawk whispered as Stasia made a soft sound of distress.
“Keep your magic contained,” Charlie barked, using his Voice of Command spell.
Liz said, “I have sedatives on me configured for their chemistry.”
Charlie glanced at his HUD. Liz was in California, even on a jet it would take her hours to reach them.
“What can Joy get a pharmacy?”
“I’ll text her the best choices.” Hope filled Liz’s voice, and Charlie knew she thought he was closer than he was saying. He hesitated then in sudden decision cut the feed to everyone except her.
“We found them, Liz.”
“Oh, thank god. How bad—”
“Bad. They need extensive healing. I need all the rods we have. Get a jet and come to us in Hawaii as fast as you can.”
Liz was already examining a display hanging in the air before her. “I can get the Rheal Lucky to Maalaea harbor in three hours, rerouting from Pearl Harbor. That’s as close as I can get. “I already have every canister of magic from the lab with me.”
She lifted troubled eyes to Charlie. “Captain Sanders arranged the transport to Hawaii. He’s truly horrified about Major Nelson’s actions.”
“We’re done with them!” Low and full of hate, Charlie spit the words. “Don’t tell anyone we’re so close!”
“You have my word,” Liz said.
“Bring the Scouts to Hawaii but keep an eye on them.”
Charlie tapped the icon connecting him to Joy’s channel.
“Lee?”
“Three minutes and I’ll try to summon Stasia again.”
“Stasia, if you can’t control the magic, don’t go near them, that’s an order! Marcus, head back to town and find us a pharmacy or hospital that has what we need. As soon as Stasia is on the island summon her to you and steal what we need. Hawk, how close are you?”
“Forty minutes out.”
We’re too damned slow!”
“We’re going as fast as we can,” Rick said, and Charlie growled.
Every fiber in his body wanted to be with her with a need so fierce it hurt but his magic stayed beneath his skin. Rick’s magic gusted about the cockpit in agitation, stinging when it touched Charlie and making the humming beneath his skin louder.
“Sorry,” Rick mumbled.
“Don’t be. I love your anger. Be angry.”
“Chief,” Joy said worriedly. “A man in the hall is talking about going.”
Charlie tore his gaze from the screen displaying Sara sleeping in the chair and focused on Joy’s screen. She was facing the opposite way, peering through the bedroom door at two men. Both wore black suits and headsets and carried assault rifles. Charlie’s trained eye picked out the holstered guns and knives, automatically categorizing each threat while his soul rejoiced to have a face for the Enemy.
“— idiotic but we get paid.” The bigger of the two men said.
“You couldn’t pay me to fuck the shamblers. They give me the willies,” Shorty said.
“Just get them to the boat. Mitchel’s guests will be arriving, and he wants her on display.”
“We’ve done some shit but this guy—”
“Right? I could understand wanting a grandchild. I mean, she was a fucking genus, but selling her like a prized mare? We never should’ve taken this gig. A man who’d do that ain’t going to pay his damned bills.”
“When do we leave?”
“Not until tomorrow, or hell, they might need a night to recover. They’ve got some choice blow, enough they won’t miss some.” Shorty glanced down the hall at the guard facing away from them and leaned closer. “Perkins is on guard duty at the dock. We could score a real haul if we’re quick.”
“Le
t them get going real good first and they won’t even notice it missing.” Tall man slapped Shorty on the shoulder and sauntered down the hall where he stopped to speak to the guard at the head of the stairs.
Joy whispered, “Should I let them move her?”
“How many are in the house?”
Drew said, “I’ve counted fourteen servants and seven children. They’re having some kind of children’s party on the back lawn. None of our main targets are in attendance. It looks like the hired help. Chief, these are innocent bystanders. The kitchen is worried about her picking at her food. They like her and she likes them.”
“How—”
“I stole Joy’s invisible. They won’t see me. But those women have no idea who she really is. Look.”
A screen popped up in front of Charlie and he frowned at the woman slicing the fresh fruit.
“— he prefers the melon, Nan. That doctor of theirs has no bedside manner but he sure is getting results. Zach seems better every day. See that Ioki packs those beach towels. I never saw such a pair for sunbathing.”
“Shall I bring the cake out?” the girl the woman spoke to asked.
“Yes and refill the punch bowl.”
Charlie flicked the screen and it dwindled to a black speck.
“Let them move them to the ship.”
“I’ll get us a boat of our own,” Marcus said.
Charlie tapped the display to see where Marcus was. He was running down a dirt road and once again Charlie lamented their lack of fast transport.
“Can you get a car?”
“None have passed me yet but there’s a house up ahead.”
“Don’t kill them,” Drew said.
Marcus made a dismissive sound.
“Don’t kill them!” Charlie ordered, using his Voice of Command, which was the best he could do. He didn’t think Marcus would kill people who weren’t involved but he wasn’t certain how the magic would influence him. He should probably order him to wait at the copter. It was a risk to let an angry Warrior run around the countryside where he might run into someone who the magic perceived as getting in the way of the mission, but they needed those drugs.
“Kill no one,” he said again as forcefully as he could.