Bones of the Past (Villains' Code Book 2)

by Drew Hayes

  “Darius, you’ve been a pretty decent guy throughout all of this. If there’s anyone here you care about, evacuate both them and yourself soon. When the shadows come, they won’t be making exceptions.” Though the words were for Darius, she leveled Deacon with her gaze. “As for you, oh great and terrible leader, feel free to crawl back in here and beg for your life once your entire crew is slaughtered. Seems like the way a coward like you should die, does it not? Groveling in his shit-filled slacks.”

  “Let me assure you, on the off chance your little prediction did come true, the only reason I’d be coming in here would be to kill you myself,” Deacon shot back.

  “Promise? Don’t threaten me with a party and then stand a girl up.”

  Deacon gave her another pointed stare before the dripping from his nose required attention once more. He motioned for the bodyguards to follow, Emory going first, Darius in the rear to lock the door behind them. As he closed it, the big meta looked right at Tori, uncertainty looming wide in his eyes.

  “I’m serious. Go. Now. After what your boss just said, there’s no other way out.”

  The door closed in place, leaving behind a Tori who was far less conflicted than she’d been moments before. Unfortunately, conviction didn’t help the churn in her stomach as she pictured all those dead bodies. It didn’t matter, though. The standard had to be set. For the civilians, for her friends, for the world in general. Those rules, that code, it kept everyone safer, whether they knew it or not.

  People needed to remember what happened to those who crossed the guild, and some messages could only be delivered in blood.

  Chapter 28

  The huge man in a leather jacket reared back, ready to slam the stop sign he’d torn from the ground through the brightly-masked head of a cape. He swung with everything he had, only to feel the entire thing come to a halt inches from contact. The searing glow gave it away an instant before Lodestar used her grip on the sign to pop him in the head with his own weapon. The blow merely knocked him unconscious, sending him collapsing to the ground rather than dead.

  “Flame Fist, keep your eyes on a swivel. A battleground is an ever-shifting entity. What you knew two seconds ago is already old news. Nice kick on the guy with pipes, by the way.”

  Then she was gone, zipping over to another part of the battlefield, stopping some other crook from landing a serious blow on one of the capes. Not many people could see what she was doing, the way she was controlling the entire fight. Searstream, however, was part of the aerial team for this fight. Between his willful disregard for gravity and the potent blasts capable of firing from his hands, Searstream was largely picking off targets engaged with other capes in melee, making himself as useful as possible.

  Seeing Lodestar run the entire show was an unexpected benefit to pitching in. This was insane, really. What they’d arrived upon was a meta-brawl between Chicago gangs. From what little he’d pieced together in the reports, Searstream knew only that one of them had tried to make a violent push for more territory while the capes were supposed to be busy, and the whole thing had spun out of control. It was violent, dangerous, and in any other situation, he’d have felt like this was getting in too deep for the mass of largely rookie superheroes who had been called in. But being up here, Searstream understood. They weren’t at any risk whatsoever.

  Lodestar had turned a horrible situation into both a teaching opportunity and a reminder to everyone out there of what happened to those who disregarded the AHC. TV cameras were sending images of the fight—if one could even call it that—across the world: dozens of gang members going down, and the AHC hadn’t taken so much as a scratch. While much of that was due to Lodestar’s protection, the other capes were proving that their months of effort hadn’t been for naught. Tachyonic was zipping around, aided by shots from Bloopston’s water cannon, slapping a pair of cuffs on the criminals most recently taken down by Agent Quantum.

  A woman with glowing eyes was moving up on Bloopston, Searstream noticed. He took careful aim, zooming in with the screen and camera system outfitted to his flying goggles, and fired a shot intended to stun without risking lethal damage.

  Unfortunately, she turned out to be tougher than her appearance let on. Her eyes glowed brighter as they turned upward, searching the sky. Too bad for her; she didn’t hear Lodestar’s advice about watching a battlefield. Agent Quantum caught her from behind, pointing her eyes downward just before the beam appeared. Given the way it was eroding the concrete, Searstream was glad not to have taken that one.

  A blur of golden light zipped past, and the eye-woman was unconscious. Agent Quantum set her down, giving a short wave to the sky. Not knowing if the other cape could even see him, Searstream waved weakly back, sweeping the battlefield for more targets.

  They were in short supply. This fight, like the others tonight, had been short-lived. Get in, get the situation handled safety, evacuate civilians, and move on. True, Lodestar could have ended the fights in seconds herself, but that wasn’t the point of the evening. As much as this was about the AHC showing the world that they could still keep it safe, it also appeared to be about teaching the newer capes how to handle fights like these.

  “Hey, everyone!” Lodestar’s brisk, clear voice rang through their comms. “Headquarters just called, looks like we’ve got some metas in Connecticut trying to assault a jail and spring their buddy. Find your teleporter and get over there now. I’ll go ahead to protect the staff.”

  A flash of light, and she was gone. Searstream scanned the area on through his goggles, no longer looking for targets. This time, he was hunting for the hooded woman he’d been assigned to teleport with. This many capes required more than one method of transportation. That was the nice thing about working for the AHC; they’d been at this so long that it was a polished machine. Issues Searstream would have never considered were already planned for well in advance. Between that and having legends like Lodestar and Professor Quantum, Searstream wondered why anyone chose a life of crime knowing the AHC was out there, ready to stop them.

  When the world began to crack this time, Tori was ready. She forced herself to relax, mentally searching for Ivan’s presence. It made the process go much faster. A break in reality, showing that star-filled void, appeared in seconds, with Ivan soon hustling through like he hadn’t quite been ready.

  “You have to do it.” These were the first words out of her mouth by necessity. Much as she understood why this had to happen, the long-reaching effects it would have and the idea of ordering the elimination of an entire group of people still ate at her. Part of Tori feared that if her words weren’t her decision, she would falter and defer to the capes. “We have to send the message that the guild is still here. That the rules still apply.”

  No judgment from Ivan, not that he’d have much room to throw stones. He accepted the words with a nod, then made his way over to her side. “Are you sure? The capes won’t be long now. By noon, I expect they’d have you.”

  “Good for me. Not so good for the next person some crooks snatch.” She tried to scratch her face, remembering for the umpteenth time that her hands were chained. “For me, this has been frustrating, annoying, inconvenient, and only occasionally scary. If I were a normal human... this is the sort of thing that traumatizes people. Besides, the ringleader here threatened my friends. If anyone deserves to be made an example of, it’s him.”

  A moment of hesitation, then Tori continued. “There is one guy who was nice to me during this. Big fellow, named Darius, seemed to have his head more on his shoulders than the rest. He at least clocked the danger in what they were doing, even if he didn’t buy the rumors. I can take a reasonable guess on how this will go, and if there’s no survivors, then that’s the choice I made. But if there’s any wiggle room, Darius probably doesn’t deserve to die.”

  “Your suspicions are no doubt spot on. That said, the guild recognizes that allies can come from unlikely sources. I’ll pass the word along. No promises—these things are c
haotic by nature—but you’ve given him a chance. Luck and Darius himself will decide his path from here.”

  Ivan hunkered down next to Tori, not truly here, yet so real, she’d have tried to pluck an eyelash if her hands were free. “Let’s focus on your part now. Ideally, you’ll stay right where you are, hear only the barest of sounds through the door, and be discovered by the capes with no story to tell. Less ideally, things go awry and you have to evacuate. Bahamut, Glyph, and Pest Control will be on hand with me and your armor. On the off chance that things get truly out of hand, it’s best people see Hephaestus escaping with known villains rather than Tori.”

  Her nose wrinkled; something smelled off. “Ivan, tech aside, these people are a rinky-dink crew that could barely pull off a bank heist. Why are you talking like they’re going to pull out some secret weapon that can knock the fucking guild for a loop? It took Apollo using most of the AHC’s forces to manage that.”

  “True or not, they have access to incredibly high-level concealment technology. Given that they called out a team of capes, we have to assume they’ve got some offensive gear on that same level. It’s only prudent.”

  After what Tori had watched Fornax do when Ivan let loose, she wasn’t quite sure what level of tech would be necessary to stop him, but she was fairly sure these mooks didn’t have it. Then again, not everyone in the guild was Fornax, or even Pseudonym, so she supposed a bit of circumspection might be in order. Especially if Ivan was stuck babysitting the newbies.

  “Do we need to work out our story ahead of time?”

  “Not really a story to give, so long as you tell the truth,” Ivan replied. “You were stuck in a room, unable to move, until the AHC arrived to free you. If you heard a strange noise around dawn, what of it? You’ve got no context for the sound, and no known ability or need to help them, even if you did.”

  Tori looked around, examining the fractured space they were once more in. “Let me guess: if I mention this part at all, I just say I had some weird dreams.”

  “I’d avoid it entirely, but that’s up to you. My point is you’ll be able to tell the truth and walk out of here without issue. The key is in how much truth you tell.” Ivan stood from his kneeled position, moving to brush off his slacks, only to realize he wasn’t actually there to get dirt on them.

  “But that also means we can’t loop you in on anything. If all goes well, you’ll never see or hear us. Once the AHC releases you, we can fill you in on what happened.” Something unusual flickered in Ivan’s face. Fear? Shame? Tori couldn’t tell. She just knew it was an expression she’d seldom even seen hints of. “One more thing to keep in mind: while, officially, Ivan and Fornax have only the slenderest connection in the form of sealed paperwork stored in a government vault, some of the AHC’s higher-ups would know my real identity, since they were around to battle Fornax. If you deal with anyone on the Champions’ Congress, stick to the plan, but be aware that they might know the truth about you.”

  Tori’s eyes went wide. “Wait, what? That feels like a pretty damn essential detail to fill me in on. How does that not fuck the entire plan?”

  “Because what they know personally and what they can prove in a court of law are different things,” Ivan reminded her. “Just don’t go offering more than you intend to. That’s why I brought it up. Ignorance is a weakness. You’ll now be fully abreast of your situation.”

  Forcing herself to calm down, Tori leaned hard on her logic. It wasn’t entirely Ivan’s fault; she’d known she was signing on with Fornax from day one. Learning from a legend had come with plenty of perks and a few downsides—this was just one more notch in the latter column. Part of her was chapped that she was only just now getting this variable, but it didn’t change things in the larger picture.

  The underworld needed a keeper. A limit. A code. And it would have one, a code built by those who knew how to walk the line of criminal and civilian, enforced by some of the most deadly monsters to claim the Earth’s surface as their home. Bad a mastermind as he was, Deacon had created the perfect stage to send a message. He thought it would be some pissing contest with the capes; instead, his gang would be the warning to the underworld. The monsters were still here, and their claws had a very long reach.

  “Appreciate the heads up, though I wouldn’t have minded it sooner. Go ahead with the plan. I’ll take my chances with the Champions’ Congress. Won’t be my first time bullshitting my way out of trouble.” Ivan nodded, but before he could turn, Tori kept going. “Any advice for that scenario, if it comes up?”

  Ivan took his time responding. This was likely the last moment they wouldn’t feel the pounding of the clock until the rescue was done. “Quorum will see through any lie or deceit—only use the factual truth around him. If you cannot answer a question in that way, then refuse. You’re a victim, not a suspect, at least so far as the public knows. Professor Quantum is unlikely to notice or care that you’re in the building beyond a cursory handshake. Don’t try to draw his attention, and you won’t have it. Lodestar...”

  His voice trailed off for a moment, like Ivan’s tongue had gotten lost in the journey. “Lodestar will have your best interests at heart. That doesn’t mean you should tell her everything, mind you, only that she very rarely uses subterfuge. It makes her both entirely predictable, and incredibly dangerous. No matter how sincere or kind she is, remember that you’re still a criminal talking to one who bows to the law. Get too honest, and there’s only so many ways it can end.”

  “Thanks.” Had it been anyone else, Tori would have let the conversation end there. But Ivan was her mentor, her teacher, and as her fake uncle, he was the closest thing to family she had left. “This will go well, right? I don’t need to worry?”

  Sometimes, Ivan let himself forget that Tori’s bluster was often just that, the outward lashings of someone who’d had to grow up young and fast. She was less than a decade older than Rick, and already out here facing these kinds of situations with a locked jaw. Of course she was scared deep down; she’d been taken off the damn street and trapped in a strange room. Ivan’s blood tried to boil, but he held it in check. Anger was not the tool for this occasion.

  “Tori, I don’t have much in this life I care about. My children, the guild I helped found, and the few friends I’ve made along the way. I count you in that last group. You have only seen me fight when I thought someone had taken two of those from me. That is nothing compared to the hell I bring when fighting to keep one of those few people safe.”

  Ivan didn’t approach her again, but he did hunch slightly, making sure they were at eye level across the room, the sea of stars to his back. “You don’t need to worry one bit. I know this isn’t what you’re used to, but the guild is more than a code and a warning of what happens to any who cross it. We are a unified organization, filled with people who want you back for both personal and pride-based reasons. This isn’t just your fight anymore. You’re part of something bigger. We’ve got your back.”

  “Well then, don’t keep a lady waiting. These cuffs are starting to chafe.”

  Just before he disappeared back through the hole, Ivan paused long enough to deliver a quick parting, one last reassurance to tide Tori over.

  “See you soon.”

  Chapter 29

  Dawn was coming. Those who lurked in the night knew this feeling well. Night’s energy began to wane, the chaos under the moon calming, growing still. Madness and shadow were preparing to fall away, yielding ground to the cleansing light of day. Soon, the sky would turn gray, evening’s final grip faltering once more… but not yet. There was darkness left to burn, still time to do things that had no place in the sunshine.

  While a large show of force might have been more impressive, that wasn’t what tonight was about. This was a mission and a message, which might have tilted it toward a bigger entry team if not for the fact that no survivors would remain to talk about what they saw. For this to work, there couldn’t be anyone left to talk, to contradict the guild’s fabricat
ion. No, what remained of these overly confident kidnappers would be the message itself, along with the rumors they sent running through the shadows.

  Ivan stood in the late summer air, watching a group of what felt like nervous children whispering amongst themselves a small distance off. That was unfair. Tori’s fellow new guild members were all adults, and it was hardly their fault that this was their first time rescuing a kidnapped colleague. Nevertheless, he was glad they’d been placed out here on the sidelines. They didn’t need to be part of what was coming next. Not when the guild had such talented options to call upon.

  Technically speaking, assembling Morgana, Xelas, and Arcanicus, on top of having Ivan dressed as Pseudonym waiting in the wings, was massive overkill for a job of this level. Were they simply sending a message out of responsibility, there would never have been a need to call upon so much power in a single location. However, this was not just about keeping crooks in line. Someone had dared to touch a member of the guild. For the safety of everyone who depended on its protection—both the villains and those they loved—such a thing could not stand. Even if no one knew who Tori was now, that might change down the road. One slip-up, one show of weakness; that was all it took to embolden the dumbest, most dangerous of the lot. They would allow no such failing in the guild.

  “Credit to them, whatever shit they’re using works ‘til the end. I can’t get a scan on the building,” Xelas said. “We’re going in blind, unless magic decided to come through.”

  “Sadly, they appear to have brought in some sort of localized mana disruption generator.” Arcanicus, unlike Xelas, seemed slightly pleased by his discovery. “I’d assumed they were using actual magic to shield or obscure their location, but if they’re leaning on a tool like that, then odds are strong that none of them wield arcane talents. We can also be sure they don’t have anything enchanted in there. The disruption generator would erode the magic over time and turn such items unstable.”