My leap carried me through the air, and I landed on the window frame, one gloved hand braced on the cold marble. I turned to help Murdo up, but he was right behind me. I mean, literally right behind. He was as fast as he was strong, and he jumped, kicked off the wall, seized the window sill, and pulled himself up next to me a single smooth motion.
Damn. I mean, I’m in good shape, but I couldn’t have managed that.
“After them!” Duke Maelaeyar’s voice boomed through the lobby. “Don’t let the Rebels escape!”
I felt the surge of power as every Elf in the Bank started casting spells.
“Jump!” said Murdo.
I leaped from the window and landed in the alley next to the bank, Murdo following suit. A half-second later I heard the roar of about sixty or seventy people shooting at the window at the same time, accompanied by an explosion of magical fire and a volley of lightning globes slamming against the marble.
“The street!” I said. “We need a vehicle!”
Murdo nodded and ran after me as we headed towards the street.
Two seconds later the golems were after us.
The steel golems leaped through the window with surprising agility and landed behind us. The mercury golem did that arc thing again and reassembled itself into humanoid form. I cursed and ran faster. Could I Cloak? No, I didn’t dare. I had no doubt the Elven nobles and commoners would be through the fire door in an instant, and they could blanket the area with dispelling spells. Murdo and I had to get away, and we had to get away now.
I heard the roar of a helicopter overhead, and I looked up just in time to see a blue-painted Homeland Security helicopter fly away to the north. That was probably Turner’s helicopter, escaping with Nicholas, Hailey, Lorenz, and Morelli. Nicholas wouldn’t have waited for me.
Though, to be fair, this time it wasn’t his fault. None of us had guessed that the mercury golem could pull down the stairs. Heck, I hadn’t even known there were such things as mercury golems.
We stumbled into the street in front of the Bank, its massive façade rising behind us. Homeland Security vehicles filled the street, mostly SUVs, but…
There.
A few yards away sat a Homeland Security traffic control officer on a blue motorcycle, scowling at the small portable computer built into the vehicle. He looked cold and wet and miserable, which was not surprising, given that it was snowing heavily. I glanced at Murdo, and mutual agreement passed between us.
The officer was so engrossed in the computer that he didn’t see us until Murdo jumped up and drove his fist into the officer’s face. The man’s head snapped back with a yelp and a spray of blood, and Murdo reached down, relieved the officer of his sidearm, and threw him to the ground. He leaped onto the bike and grabbed the handlebars, and I jumped behind him, hooking one arm around his waist as he gunned the throttle.
The bike squealed forward, tires slipping a little against the wet street, and I looked back.
The steel golems were right behind us, and they kept pace with the motorcycle. I cast a spell and hurled a volley of lightning globes at them, and I hit five of the golems. As before, the golems went into a thrashing, twitching dance, steel legs striking the ground with enough force to crack the asphalt, but without Nicholas’s dark magic attacking their defenses, the golems recovered far more quickly.
The lightning did nothing against the mercury golem. It shifted form into something that looked like a puma made of liquid chrome, and it kept pace with the steel golems.
In fact, the mercury golem was gaining on us. I had no doubt that the motorcycle could outrun the golems, but we needed a straight stretch, and it was going to be hard to find one.
Another idea came to me.
“South!” I shouted. “South, head for the river!”
“What?” said Murdo.
“Do it!” I shouted.
He said a bad word but spun the bike around the corner with enough force that I had to grab onto him to keep my seat. I swear the bike tilted forty-five degrees to the right, but Murdo straightened us out, and we shot right towards the river.
The cold, unfrozen river.
I started casting a spell.
“Drive into the river!” I shouted.
“What?” said Murdo again.
“Right into it!” I said. “I can freeze it. Just do it!”
The golems were right behind us, their legs pumping like pistons. The mercury golem looked eerily beautiful in its cat-like form as it pursued us, but I couldn’t appreciate that beauty if it ripped off my head.
Murdo growled and pushed the throttle harder. The motorcycle’s engine roared, and we jumped the curb, shot over a snowy lawn, and straight towards the Potomac River. Technically, it was the Washington Channel, which flowed into the Potomac, but at the moment I didn’t care.
I unleashed my spell a few yards before the bike reached the water. I cast the ice wall spell, calling forth a wall of ice a foot thick and twenty-five feet long…but I did it just under the surface of the river.
And the water around the icy wall froze, creating a rough bridge of ice.
The motorcycle roared onto the icy bridge as I started casting the spell again. I would need to cast it at least twice more to get the bridge to the far side of the water, and I needed to do it in a hurry. I cast the spell of ice twice more, the motorcycle vibrating beneath me. The rough ice was not a smooth ride, and the motorcycle trembled as if we were driving at high speed on a gravel road (which is a really stupid thing to do on a motorcycle). Murdo fought to keep the bike upright, and if we pitched into the Channel, the water was probably cold enough that we would die of hypothermia before Homeland Security could fish us out to arrest us.
Well, that would be a new experience. I had never died of hypothermia in the Eternity Crucible.
I finished my last spell, panting with exertion, my head spinning with the effort of using so much magic in such a short time.
But it worked. The bridge reached the far side of the Channel, and the motorcycle made it to the halfway point just as the steel golems reached the bridge in pursuit.
The results were everything that I had hoped for.
The first two steel golems stomped onto the bridge and immediately fell through it and into the water. They were far heavier than the motorcycle, and all their weight was concentrated on their feet. Even the thick ice would not support them. The other steel golems and the mercury golems sloshed into the water, but it was slow going. Despite their great strength, it was still an effort to slog through that much water, and the motorcycle reached the far side of the Channel before the golems had forced their way three yards into the water.
I forced through my exhaustion and cast another spell, hurling a ball of fire at the icy bridge. It landed in the center and exploded with a bloom of flame, and the elemental fire chewed through the ice. The bridge collapsed and washed away in the current.
Murdo hit the brakes, and the bike skidded to a stop. I looked around, blinking and trying to catch my breath. We were on a road in a park south of a big structure of white marble with an illuminated dome. It was a memorial to one of the ancient pre-Conquest Presidents – Jefferson, I think, though likely all the historical markers had been changed to describe how Jefferson would have supported and embraced the rule of the High Queen.
Murdo was shaking.
At first, I thought he was injured or something, but then I realized he was laughing.
“What?” I said, smiling despite myself. “What the hell is so funny?”
“I cannot believe,” he said, “that worked.”
I started to laugh as well and whooped. “Yeah, well, it did, so deal with it.”
For some reason that made him laugh harder.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I said, trying not to laugh, “before those golems fish themselves out of the river.”
“Agreed,” said Murdo. He gunned the engine, and a few moments later we were heading southeast on Interstate 395.
Chapter 15: Tell The Truth
It took us the better part of three hours to get back to Nicholas’s base.
Central Washington DC went on lockdown after our escape, but fortunately we managed to cross back over the Potomac first. Murdo and I ditched the motorcycle, stole another car, and drove through Maryland, circling of the ruins of Baltimore to approach Nicholas’s base.
When we arrived, the security booth was deserted. I did see a pair of vans parked outside the truck dock, and Morelli and Nicholas loading things into the back of the vehicles. They stopped as Murdo parked his stolen car a few yards away, drawing guns from beneath their coats.
I got out of the car as Murdo shut off the engine, wondering if Nicholas would try to kill me here and now.
Instead, he lowered his gun.
“Kat,” he said. “You got away.”
“No thanks to you,” I said.
Nicholas smiled. He looked tired but satisfied. “Don’t be unreasonable. We didn’t dare come back for you. And I had no doubt you would find a way to escape. Well done, the both of you.”
“Thanks,” said Murdo, his voice hard and flat.
“Then this is officially the second part of the deal,” I said, watching Nicholas. “I’ve stolen two things for you. One more remains.”
“Yes,” said Nicholas. His eyes glittered in the harsh light from the van’s headlights. “Only one thing more to steal for me, Kat. Just one thing more, and then we’re done with each other.”
I grinned my mirthless grin at him. “I’m really, really looking forward to it.”
“We’re leaving,” said Nicholas, gesturing at the van. “We’ve prepared explosives throughout the warehouse, and intend to detonate them as soon as we depart. I suggest you and Mr. Murdo do likewise and relocate to someplace isolated for a while. Both the Inquisition and Homeland Security will be investigating the robbery, and it would be a good idea to remain well away from the major cities.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Wait. You’re sending Murdo with me?”
“I am,” said Nicholas. “You see, Lorenz confided his suspicions in me. I would hate for you to get killed harassing the soldiers of the Revolution, Kat. Murdo’s job is to stop you should you attempt it.” He pointed at Murdo’s SUV, which was still parked against the wall. “I took the liberty of leaving your backpack on the hood. Convenient that you kept all your possessions stored there for an easy escape. Goodbye, for now, Kat.” He smiled. “You’ll be hearing from me very soon.”
With that, he turned back to work, helping Morelli load equipment cases into the back of the vans.
I stood in silence for a moment, and then looked at Murdo.
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” I said.
“Yeah,” said Murdo.
I retrieved my backpack from the hood of Murdo’s SUV and donned my pea coat since it was cold out and snowing. Murdo started the engine, and I climbed into the passenger seat, and we left.
We sat in silence for an hour as Murdo drove north. He finally stopped at a deserted gas station in southern Pennsylvania, and by mutual consent, we searched the vehicle and then my backpack for bugs and tracking devices. There were none. It seemed Nicholas was content to summon us back when he needed us.
Murdo filled up the vehicle, and I bought us cups of coffee from inside the gas station. Then we climbed back into the SUV and drove off.
“First thing,” I said. “I need to go back to Denver. All my stuff’s there.”
Murdo nodded. “Very well. And I think it’s time I told you another piece of the truth.”
“Yeah?” I said, watching him. “Why’s that?”
“Because I think I can trust you more,” said Murdo. “I wasn’t sure if you had been coerced into helping the Rebels or if you were a convert to their cause.”
“I’m not,” I said.
“I know that now,” said Murdo. “It doesn’t matter what you say. What matters is what you do. You’re not one of them…which means I can tell you who is helping me.”
I nodded. “I was wondering about that. Someone had to tell you about the John Doe Hospital. I thought you might be an Inquisition operative or a Homeland Security agent.”
“Neither,” said Murdo. “When I left the Legion, and I needed help, when…the woman I loved fell into Nicholas’s power, I knew I needed help. So, I sought out someone with the power to help me, someone who would be hostile to the Rebels and the Dark Ones.”
“Then who did you ask?” I said.
Murdo looked at me. “I’m one of the Graysworn.”
The silence stretched for a while.
“Oh,” I said at last. “Oh, hell.”
“You’re…not friendly with them?” said Murdo.
“No. We get along fine. It’s just…every time I meet Graysworn I run into trouble,” I said.
“Then you know who they are?”
“Yes.” I pinched the bridge of my nose. Another headache was coming on. “The Knight of Grayhold is a lord of a demesne in the Shadowlands, and his mission is to defend the Earth from the Dark Ones. The Graysworn are his…well, his secret agents, I suppose. Or his friends. They help him in his mission when he calls on them. The High Queen doesn’t care since the Knight doesn’t get in her way…wait. Oh, I get it. Nicholas doesn’t know, does he? If he knew you were Graysworn, he would kill you immediately.”
“Yes,” said Murdo. “My reason for undertaking this mission is the woman I love. But the mission is from the Knight of Grayhold himself. Whatever Connor is doing, whatever he is working on, it has the potential to hand the Earth over to the Great Dark Ones.”
“Then you know what Nick’s planning?” I said. “You know what Operation Sky Hammer is?”
“No,” said Murdo. “I don’t think anyone alive knows what Operation Sky Hammer is, save for Connor himself. But the Knight is convinced that the Sky Hammer weapon, whatever it is, will open Earth to the Great Dark Ones. The Knight’s help allowed me to infiltrate the Rebels. He provided the forged proof that I murdered my superior officer in the Legion, and the forgery was good enough to convince Connor and his lieutenants. I was accepted into the Rebels, and I’ve been trying to find a way to stop Connor ever since.”
“And to rescue your girlfriend,” I said.
Murdo nodded. “Yes.”
“All right,” I said. “Now I’ll tell you some of my truth. For the last year, I’ve been making hell for the Rebels. Lorenz was telling the truth. I’ve been harassing and disrupting the Rebels and bringing Homeland Security onto their heads. And when my deal is done, when my…my husband and son are safe, I’m going to stop Nicholas. But until he calls me for the third part of our deal, I’m going to keep on terrorizing the Rebels.”
“I see,” said Murdo. “I suppose that was why Connor sent me with you. To babysit you and keep you out of trouble.”
“Yep,” I said. I smiled. “Well, looks like old Nicky finally missed a bet. Want to help me put the fear of God into the Rebels while you babysit me?”
Murdo smiled. He rarely smiled, but this was an actual, honest smile. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s offered me in quite a long time, Miss Stoker.”
I smiled back and clapped him on the shoulder. “Then I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Mr. Murdo. Let’s go terrorize the Rebels, rescue your girlfriend, save my family, defeat Nicholas, and save the world.”
Epilogue: Loose Thread
A week after the operation in Washington DC, Martin Corbisher sat in his new office in a warehouse in Las Vegas owned by one of his shell companies, tracing the maze of funds and accounts and banks he used to finance the Revolution. The last operation had been stupendously expensive and had burned through a significant percentage of the Revolution's concealed assets, but it had been worth it.
Nicholas now had the location of Last Judge Mountain.
Just a little more planning, just a little more work, and they would be ready.
The High Queen would fall. The collab
orators would burn. The Dark Ones would rise to fuel humanity’s power.
And he, Martin Corbisher, would be remembered as one of the architects of the Revolution and humanity’s freedom.
Once he had dreamed of usurping Nicholas’s place of leadership, but he knew better now. Truth be told, working behind the scenes was better suited to Corbisher’s strengths. Someone had to take charge of the logistics and the money, and anyone else would have made a hash of it. Revolutionaries thought that money grew on trees. Nicholas was raising an army, and armies had to be paid and maintained, especially armies hidden underneath the nose of the High Queen and the Inquisition. The Rebels needed that army at the critical moment, once Nicholas had claimed the contents of Last Judge Mountain, but until then Corbisher had to keep the money moving.
“Hello, Martin.”
Corbisher looked up as Victor Lorenz strolled into the dingy little office, clad in an immaculate white suit.
“Victor,” said Corbisher, deciding to take a break. “What news?”
“I need thirty thousand dollars,” said Lorenz. “Unmarked bills.”
Corbisher frowned. “Why?”
Lorenz flashed his actor’s smile. “Martin, my friend, you’ll want to pay me double once you see what I’ve found for you.”
He placed a piece of paper on Corbisher’s desk.
Corbisher picked it up. It was a printout from a Milwaukee news site, dated from last year. It would have been right after Sergei Rogomil’s failed attack. That had been an operation Corbisher had opposed – God knew they could have used that Cruciform Eye in the next few months. The article was about some local doctor who had taken command of a platoon of Homeland Security officers and held one of the Eye’s gates against the orcish mercenaries.
Cloak Games: Hammer Break Page 23