Night Shadows (Children of Nostradamus Book 2)

by Jeremy Flagg

  The strain hurt. Pain meant she wasn’t dead. The aching muscles meant she could still fight. The machine’s limbs snapped and with a flap of her wings, she landed gracefully on her feet. With one metallic forearm in hand and the entire arm in the other, she swung hard, clubbing the machine with its own limb. The lasers would fire next. She spun the machine about, grabbed underneath its chin, and pulled back, determined to sever its skull.

  “Just. Fucking. Die.” She found her anger as the wires popped and hissed. She threw the broken machine to the ground.

  Vanessa.

  Dav5d, where are you?

  You can’t save me, Vanessa. The ceiling collapsed on my legs. I’m pinned. If the blood loss doesn’t kill me, the building toxins in my dying muscles will.

  No.

  I’m sorry, love.

  She screamed. Anger; she understood this emotion. She wrapped the anger about her like a warm blanket. Her thoughts shot out wide, touching each of her teammates. She didn’t need to see them to know where they were located. For a moment, she witnessed the world through each of their eyes. Her feet dug into the gravel and muscles pumped, launching her across a set of tracks, between two cars, and farther down the tunnel.

  “Dwayne,” she yelled.

  Her feet continued to close the distance between them. Her mind launched forward and she imagined grabbing on to his shoulders, ripping him from his body. The man’s fatigue lowered his resistance. If he hadn’t welcomed her into his mind on so many occasions, she feared being a Child would protect him from her intrusions. It might have, any other time perhaps, but not now.

  She blinked. The white room.

  “I need you,” she said.

  “I’ve got them.” He nodded.

  “No,” she said, “that’s not what I mean.”

  Her urgency pushed aside disgust. A year ago, a sadistic man showed her how powerful she could be if she put aside her morals. The Warden had stolen the soul of another man and turned him into a puppet. Vanessa had done it before with consent from the host, a symbiotic coupling that allowed them to work in tandem. Right now, she didn’t have time to explain herself. She needed to save her beloved.

  Dav5d had briefed her on their abilities, but more than that, he explained his complicated scientific theories of what each of them may be capable of. Vanessa didn’t understand the science, but she listened to the man. She admired his intellect and ability to see each of his friends as more than they were. He didn’t push them beyond their limits, instead encouraging them to expand and be more. She loved him. She loved him more than she had ever loved anybody. She felt herself losing him.

  The power in Dwayne’s body built until she unleashed the energy in massive pulse. She repeated it once, twice, three times. Whatever invisible energy was discharged by his abilities left the synthetics empty husks. The machines froze in place, giving her the opportunity to reach Dav5d. If she and Jasmine worked together, they’d be able to save him. He could to coach them through any medical aid he’d need. She only had to reach him.

  Before she could pull herself from his mind, bullets whizzed by their hiding spot. Another wave of machines had already started entering through the collapsed ceiling. Dwayne’s abilities were emptied, and shouldn’t be used again for hours. Just when she thought hope was lost, Conthan ran up to her.

  “EMPs?”

  She touched his face and her thoughts washed over him. Unlike Dwayne, Conthan welcomed the sensation. He had complete trust in her and relinquished control of his body without any hesitation. If they survived, she’d thank him for the trust he bestowed upon her.

  No.

  I can reach you now, Dav5d.

  No, you can’t. Not without killing Conthan, and perhaps yourself.

  I can save you.

  They need you, Vanessa. Without you, they’ll be lost. Think of Eleanor.

  Fuck Eleanor. Fuck them all.

  I love you, Vanessa. For the longest time I didn’t understand it. I couldn’t make sense of the chemistry that elicited this word, love. I stopped caring, Vanessa. For the first time since my powers started, I didn’t need to understand. I simply knew I loved you.

  I can save you.

  You can’t save me.

  The emotion gripped at her chest. She sensed his resolve. If Dav5d didn’t believe there was a chance of being saved, she couldn’t argue with the smartest man in the world. Despite believing it, her heart tensed and threatened to give out on her as his thoughts silenced.

  “No,” she screamed. The sound of her and Conthan belting out in unison caused the synthetics to turn in their direction. Conthan’s powers were weak, barely recognizable as she tore at what made him more than human. As she screamed, she opened a portal near Jasmine, Skits, and Alyssa. She closed the portal after Jasmine dragged the two girls into the disc with her.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  Vanessa ignored the pain emanating from Conthan. She opened another portal, and the screams inside his head sent her reeling from his mind. With a shove from her, Conthan’s limp body knocked into Dwayne, barreling them both into the blackness of his portal. She ducked through the disc, saving herself and her teammates, but leaving the love of her life to die.

  Chapter 16

  2033

  Dwayne rolled along the ground with Conthan under one arm and half falling on Vanessa. He didn’t waste any time getting to his feet, crouching with one hand held up ready to fight. Vanessa staggered to floor with a thud. His emotions fueled him as he struck her jaw. He wanted his body to produce a charge, enough that when his skin connected with hers she felt the surge of energy pulse through her body.

  She wasn’t prepared as Dwayne’s other fist connected with her torso. She tried to push him away, but he shoved her hands to the side. She batted her wings once, putting several feet between them. He charged again, his right fist drawn. She spun, dropping to one leg, and let her wing swing out wide in an attempt to knock him to the ground. He jumped, missing the sweeping motion. He brought up his knee, clipping her in the side of the head.

  “How dare you rape my mind.”

  She screamed. She seemed larger as she stood, her muscles flexing as she drained her lungs of air. The sound dissipated into the large room. It was the first moment he realized they had teleported into a massive warehouse. They stood in the middle of the structure, a football field-sized room with them on the fifty yard line.

  “I did what I had to.” Her voice broke as she screamed the words. She closed the distance between them. With a flap of her wings she was off the ground and both feet slammed into Dwayne’s chest. He flipped backward along the cement. He didn’t have time to figure out if his ribs had been cracked. She was on him, lifting him off the ground with a grip on his neck.

  “And look where it got you,” he spat out.

  She thrust him off of her, sending him onto his back again. Vanessa was a telepath. He had no doubt she read every thought as it crossed his mind. Every fist he threw, she knew it was coming. In a physical confrontation all he could do was survive long enough. He had only ever felt this hollow once before, when Michael died.

  He could end the fight. He could turn his back and walk away, but he was mad. He rolled over and stood up again, clutching the pain in his chest, worried his sternum had been cracked. He balled his fist and prepared for another round with the beast.

  “You would have done the same.”

  “No, Vanessa,” he said. “You crossed a line.”

  “We’re at war,” she hissed. “There are no lines.”

  “And what? I’m a casualty of your war?” He suspected she could utilize the same tactics the Warden used. He had wondered if she could do it to Children. He let her take over his body before, in a situation not so different than this. Before she asked, now, she took what she wanted. She violated him and even after that, Dav5d remained a casualty.

  She screamed again. She couldn’t stop. He hoped she listened to every thought and understood just how wrong she was.
Nothing she could do would quench the rage pumping his heart, making it beat faster. He wanted his pound of flesh before this fight was over.

  He took two steps and lunged at her. He didn’t try to punch or use tactics he learned with Alyssa. He grabbed her shoulders and rode her to the ground. He sat up on her chest and brought his hands together, swinging them like a club. He connected with her jaw once, then again, and again a third time. His cells fired to life and the charge sped through his body.

  He put his hands on either side of her head and let the electricity escape. Her body convulsed as she screamed. He pushed, emptying out the last drop of power. It might be enough to stop the fight, but for now, he wanted her in pain. He wanted her to experience her entire body revolting against her if only for a moment.

  He spat out the air in his lungs as her fist connected his chest again. He flew backward along the ground. The rafters faded in and out of focus as he tried to roll over. His muscles fought, refusing to cooperate with his brain. He tried sitting up, but pain radiated through his body. He blinked several times as his vision blurred. Between blinks a person stood over him. The last thing he saw was the tattoos covering half of the woman’s face, then his vision gave out on him.

  “You look like shit, mate.”

  ***

  Jasmine hurt. Her chest heaved as she tried sucking in air. The machine lay across her body, its hand firmly pushing down on her sternum. It leaned forward, almost straddling her as it used its weight to push harder. One of its arms was missing, severed, leaving sparks raining down on her body.

  There was a sense of peace knowing she didn’t have much longer to live. It hurt like hell, but she had gone out swinging and did more damage than she ever thought possible. Her only regret, other than being killed, was not being able to see the face of the General as she crushed his skull between her bare palms. No, death didn’t bother her. An incomplete mission, that would stir her ghost in the afterlife.

  The metal of the claw-like hand touched the side of her breast. If it had been an hour earlier, her power would reach out, seeking the material to mimic. Had it been an hour earlier, she’d be nearly impervious and she’d have the strength to match. She’d throw the machine off her and with no effort, she’d beat it to death. Instead, she waited.

  A loud clank sounded behind the synthetic as its head was knocked clear to the side. She waited for the killing blow, but something smacked against the machine again. It moved just enough; behind it, Alyssa held a fire extinguisher. Jasmine’s chest might be about to collapse, but the gymnast looked as if she had been hit by a bus. Her bruises and cuts were impossible to count.

  “Get off her!” She swung the canister again. It connected with the machine’s head. The red metal broke open and white powder flew into the air, creating a smoke screen. Jasmine caught her breath as the machine turned and lunged at its attacker.

  She couldn’t move. She listened as metal clanked against metal. Somebody grunted. There was another voice. Skits. The two of them were fighting now. She hoped they succeeded. Her teammates fought for all of their survival. They fought for her survival.

  Tears welled up in her eyes despite her resistance. She had been a killing machine for so long, the leader, the one who barked orders to subordinates. That had been torn away and now she was given a set of people who called themselves a team. She lay there, hoping her teammates succeeded. They, the ones who had her back, two people who were threatening their own safety to protect her.

  She forced the muscles in her arm to cooperate. Her limbs were like jelly, barely able to follow her commands. She reached down and touched the piece of metal protruding from the side of her body. The moment she touched it, the pain returned and she screamed into the white cloud. The powder touched her lips and she tasted it, similar to milk gone bad.

  Her powers attempted to reach the metal, draw it into herself. She had never transformed before with a wound this bad. She had no idea what would happen, but she couldn’t let them fight for her. She couldn’t let them die for her.

  The skin touching metal tried to mimic its density, but her powers vanished. She turned her head quickly as a piece of metal landed next to her. She looked back to see the head of the machine, its blank metal face staring at her.

  Skits stepped forward. Behind her, she dragged the body of the machine. Alyssa followed. Skits dropped the non-functioning body onto the ground and fell to her knees. She toppled, lying on top of the synthetic, staring Jasmine almost in the eye.

  “You owe me.”

  Jasmine nodded, her voice escaping her.

  “I mean big, you owe me so big.”

  Alyssa lay down next to her companion. “So big,” she repeated.

  Jasmine nodded again, tears building momentum down her cheeks.

  ***

  He couldn’t feel his legs. He knew they were crushed. There was zero percent chance he’d ever walk again. He’d be lucky if the toxins in his muscles weren’t building to a dangerous crescendo. Once the beam was off his legs, he’d be lucky if he survived.

  He was okay not being able to walk. His body had always been the fragile vessel for his mind. It simply held what he was most proud of. If he was bound to a wheelchair he’d learn to survive. For a moment, he thought of Vanessa and what her reaction would be if he couldn’t walk again. What a pair they’d make, the soaring gargoyle and the hyperintelligent paraplegic.

  He tried not to smile. His brain shut off the pain receptors. Shock was setting in, and once it took hold, he’d be incapable of functioning. He tried to focus himself. The sound of small explosions and falling debris reminded him he was in the subway, dangerously close to the enemy. He breathed in deeply, letting his thoughts clear.

  Did they escape?

  He glanced to his side. A subway car lay half demolished by the support beams in the tunnel. Machines were littered about. A giant mech stood frozen with a missing leg and of the thirteen synthetics, none moved. Their damage wasn’t sufficient for them to shut down; he assumed somehow Dwayne’s powers had evolved. He had thrust an electromagnetic pulse outward, draining every energy source around them.

  “Smart man,” Dav5d whispered.

  The letters. His eyes glassed over as he started to examine the conundrum of Eleanor Valentine. He exhausted every bit of data he could uncover about the woman. He had hacked every government network with the hopes of finding files. What few he found had been redacted, scrubbed of any useful information. Utilizing common phrases, patterns of writing, and contextual clues, he rebuilt every piece of data available.

  Her past wasn’t the answer. If there was a cause for her altering the timeline, it was emotional, something he’d never be able to uncover from third party files. The woman saved Vanessa, he knew that, but his partner never elaborated. He assumed that as Eleanor worked as an aide in the White House, she somehow used her influence to save Vanessa from being exterminated. It was a subject Vanessa had kept secret, even from him. He didn’t push.

  The psychic spoke about a dark coming. She had seen the future her entire life and there came a point where she couldn’t see further. He wondered if there were limitations of how far she could see beyond her own death. He wished he had a precog to study, then he might know what real limitations they encountered.

  “The Warden,” he whispered. The man had been the binding element for their group. This one singular evil had initiated this hurried comradery. Vanessa’s letter led them to Skits, who in turn became the reason Dwayne stayed with Vanessa. Conthan had come to them because of Dwayne’s letter and his singular purpose was to rescue Sarah. All signs turned back to the Facility and the man who controlled it. There was no doubt that he was the reason the team formed. But now that he was dead, killed by Conthan and Vanessa, what purpose did they have together?

  He froze.

  “He’s alive.”

  Chapter 17

  2033

  “You overstep your boundaries, Jacob.”

  The blue screens hung in
the air over the table. There were a dozen, all but one showing a state of chaos unleashed within Boston’s city limits. But it was the woman in the largest screen making all the noise. He was amazed at her ability to threaten. The lines on her face were deep, giving away her age, but underneath a weathered body, her mind remained sharp.

  “Madame President,” he said with a bite, “I think you know little of my boundaries.”

  He didn’t like her. She served a necessary evil created by the Society. A young woman with every advantage, giving her the most potential to take the White House during an election year. It was a challenge even for the Society, raising a woman to a position of power like this. Every resource had been used. What they couldn’t manipulate with money, they relied on their extraordinary abilities. The Society’s mentalists had exhausted themselves manipulating the minds of politicians, pushing back their worries and creating a carefully crafted backstory of support. The Society used these people for the very reason they were feared.

  “Mr. Griffin, I think you underestimate my position. You and the Society only remain intact because I have decided you’re more useful to me than not. The moment you cross that line…”

  “You seem to forget who manufactures the synthetics that protect your position. You forget that with almost no effort, they could turn on you, take you down, and the General could unify his America again.”

  He laughed, making sure to evoke as much condescension as possible. He wanted her to know that her and her position meant little to him. She was anything but stupid, and he knew just how much she needed the Society to support her during this civil war. No, she knew who was in control.

  “Are you finished, Mr. Griffin?”

  “Cecilia, the only reason you remain president is my lack of desire to see another assume the mantle. Make sure you know your place or I’ll be at your door to tear you down myself.”