Kevin just stared, while Nathan had already started to adjust his scope.
“Come on, then, son,” Henry said kindly. “We cannot abide rivals at this crucial time, can we? Not when the whole of the Hegemony is in our grasp, and Central itself just beyond it. We cannot presently reach their daughter, Hayley, as she is deployed with the Auditors, but we can at least prune the more troublesome branches of the Weathers family tree.”
Kevin started to prepare his rifle with numb fingers.
It took longer than it should have, because he kept dropping things.
Nathan waited patiently as Kevin zeroed his sights, lingering on the tight bun of grey hair on top of the head of Victoria Weathers.
“I’ve got the woman and the kid,” Nathan offered. “Can you handle Peter?”
Kevin nodded gratefully and settled behind his scope, not trusting himself to speak.
“Remember to take care of the staff as well,” Henry said, glancing at his watch. “Let’s be quick about it, eh, boys? On three.”
Kevin did not actually hear the countdown, just the discharge of Nathan’s rifle beside him, the weight of his father’s hand on his shoulder, and then the familiar kick of the stock nestled against his shoulder.
***
Leigh let herself in quietly, but she needn’t have bothered. Emily waited in a recliner in the living room, wrapped in a bathrobe, a cup of tea in her hands and her hair in curlers.
“You hussy, taking advantage of that poor innocent boy,” Emily said. “What did you do to him?”
“You said you didn’t like him that way,” Leigh protested. “I asked!”
“I’m not angry, I’m in awe,” Emily said. “And maybe a little bit jealous.”
Leigh lay down on the couch across from Emily and kicked her shoes off.
“You should be a lot jealous,” Leigh said, yawning. “You missed out.”
“No way!” Emily looked stunned. “You’re joking! How would he even know what to do?”
“I don’t know who taught him, but they did a pretty good job. I stayed over, didn’t I?”
“You did, didn’t you,” Emily said. “My poor, innocent Vivik.”
Leigh smirked and closed her eyes.
“I hope you let him get at least a little sleep,” Emily said reproachfully. “We all have a very big day ahead of us.”
“I kept him up all night,” Leigh said. “He was asleep when I left, though.”
“I suppose you just never really know everything about a person, do you?”
“I don’t know. You’re the empath. I just beat people up. Speaking of that, what are we doing today?”
“We are getting to the fun part,” Emily said, with a smile. “All the moves I’ve been making should finally start paying off.”
“You sound pretty sure of yourself.” Leigh cracked her eyes. “Does that mean you finally got Chandi to open up?”
“You aren’t the only one who had a busy night. It’s not like I needed a great deal from her. I’d already made up my mind what to do, it was just a question of location and timing.”
“Good for you and whatever your grand plan is,” Leigh said. “Do I have time for a nap?”
“Just a half-hour or so. We have a date for breakfast,” Emily said, checking her phone. “This will be an exciting day, Leigh. I can just feel it!”
***
Alex woke abruptly, feeling that his bed was too small and warm.
It took him a moment to realize that Eerie was squeezed between him and the wall on the double bed in his dorm room. He felt the sense of amazement that he had the previous few mornings, an overwhelming sense of having been the recipient of outrageous good fortune.
His bedding smelled of sandalwood and frankincense, and her strands of azure hair had invaded his pillow.
He curled around her, big spoon to her little, and felt immediate arousal.
“Poor Alex. You woke up in such a state,” Eerie said. “You should at least say good morning, first.”
“Good morning,” Alex said, putting his arm around her. “Sorry.”
“I was just teasing,” Eerie said, pressing against him. “I don’t mind.”
Alex pushed the bedsheets aside, kissing the nape of Eerie’s neck as he reached a hand around to fondle her chest through her borrowed T-shirt. Eerie squirmed and sighed, nearly pinned against the dorm wall. The metal bed frame squeaked with every movement.
He kissed her neck as he moved his hand gradually down her body, caressing her hips and thighs, before settling between her legs.
Eerie made a small noise, an involuntary moan that excited him beyond all reason.
Alex rolled her to her back and tore off his clothes. She slid her underwear off, but he pinned her shoulders to the mattress before she even had a chance to remove her shirt, spilling her hair across his mattress cover.
He entered her, and it was hot and sweet and altogether too brief.
She kissed him, afterwards, then slipped on sandals and his bathrobe, and went down the hall to shower. He lay back on the bed and slipped his earbuds in, picking a playlist at random and then letting his phone shuffle through random electronica. His mind drifted, flitting from topic to topic without ever settling, like an impatient butterfly among the clover.
He was not entirely sure if he fell asleep or not, but he did not notice that Eerie had returned until she slid back into bed, still warm from the shower.
“Hey,” he said. “Good morning for real.”
“Good morning.” She kissed him. “What do you want to do today?”
“I don’t know,” he said, feeling a kernel of panic invade his sense of warm contentment at the mention of time, recalling how limited theirs was. “I don’t think I have anything I have to do today. Vivik and Emily are working on a plan for the Thule Cartel thing, so that’s probably not happening today. What about you?”
“Nothing,” Eerie said, snuggling closer to him. “We could go to the beach, maybe?”
“Sure. Why not? It’s right there. Too bad we can’t swim.”
“I’ve never gone swimming in anything but a pool. Did you ever swim in the ocean?”
Alex thought about it.
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “I don’t think so. I was mostly inside, I think.”
“Because you weren’t allowed,” Eerie said sadly. “I wanted you to be somewhere else, you know.”
“I know.”
“You had to accept your identity. It was a collaborative process, and…”
“You don’t have to tell me. I know it. I don’t blame you.”
“You should, though,” Eerie said. “I was so bad. I was scared and selfish and—”
“I already told you that I don’t care.”
“You should care, though, don’t you think? It seems like it would be normal to be mad. Right?”
“I’m trying to look forward, maybe. I don’t know. Can we talk about something else?”
“Yes,” Eerie said. “What would you like to talk about?”
Alex rolled to his back, and she draped her arm across his chest, her hair tickling his ear.
“I have a question,” he said. “Why haven’t I fallen asleep?”
“You just slept,” Eerie said, drawing back slightly. “All night!”
“I know that, but, well, I’ve been using my protocol a lot. More than ever. The World Tree alone was…”
He trailed off, remembering the aching cold that had run him through like skewers between his ribs, while all around him the Absolute Protocol murdered the Anathema World Tree.
“I slept for months, the last time I tried anything big,” he said. “And I used it way less. So, why…?”
“Maybe you got better?”
“A little. Not that much.”
“You’ve been practicing a lot, though.”
“Not that much!”
Eerie sighed and pulled away from him, so that they were lying side by side amid the bunched-up sheets, only their shoul
ders and hips touching.
“It’s like I told you. If you fall asleep somewhere away from me, you won’t wake back up for a long time,” Eerie said. “It’s my protocol. I’m keeping you awake.”
“Oh.” Alex could not hide his disappointment. “Then I’m still going to…?”
“Yes. Eventually. After I’m—”
“Don’t say ‘gone’. Okay? Just don’t say it. That’s not how this goes. We are going to find Gaul Thule and figure out a way to stop the Church of Sleep. We aren’t giving up. Right?”
“That’s what I meant to say,” Eerie said. “After that, though, you will—”
“Just keep me awake long enough to see the week out,” Alex said. “I can handle whatever comes after.”
“I don’t know,” Eerie said. “It might be a long time.”
“Oh.” His hand trembled slightly, so she held it. “How long?”
“I don’t know, but I’m scared,” Eerie said, fidgeting. “I did what I could to lessen the impact, but I can’t make it not happen. I’m sorry, I really am. I wish I could do more! I don’t want you to fall asleep again.”
“I don’t want to either,” Alex said, taking her hand. “I don’t mind as much, though, as long as I know you’ll be there when I wake up.”
Eerie squeezed his hand but said nothing. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her pallid cheeks redden.
“Just as I suspected,” Eerie said quietly. “Despite everything, Alex is Alex.”
“What does that mean?”
“Only good things,” Eerie assured him. “Did you decide what you wanted to do?”
“I did, actually,” he said, reaching for her.
***
“You really aren’t going to eat anything?” Leigh paused with her mouth filled with crab cake. “It’s all really good.”
“I know. I’ve been lucky enough to eat Emily’s cooking several times now,” Chandi said. “I just don’t have much of an appetite today.”
“Yeah?” Leigh shrugged and finished her crab cake. “Guess that’s one of the hazards of knowing what’s coming.”
“It’s a comfort, usually,” Chandi said. “Today, though…”
“Cheer up, Chandi,” Emily said, sipping a mimosa while she perused her tablet. “It probably won’t be as bad as you are expecting.”
“Alistair is on his way to the fixed apport station,” Vivik said, picking at a plate of red potatoes and fruit and trying very hard not to let his glance linger on Leigh. “Do you think we should warn Anastasia?”
He looked over at Emily, then blushed when their eyes met, and immediately looked away again.
“We can’t risk it, not without tipping our hand,” Emily said, laughing behind the napkin she daubed across her lips. “If Anastasia was thinking clearly, she would have shut the station down immediately after she used it, since everyone is aware of it by now. It obviously would become a target. She’s off her game. Let’s hope a raid on her apport station is enough to jar her back to reality.”
“It’s extremely uncomfortable for me when you talk about the Mistress of the Black Sun like that,” Chandi said morosely. “You know that I’ll tell her every word, don’t you?”
“I know she’ll have her psychics dig every second out of your head for inspection,” Emily said, pouring herself more tea. “I’m not worried. I’ve done Anastasia far more good than harm. In my position, she’d do the same thing, I’m sure.”
Chandi sighed while Leigh helped herself to seconds.
“You have quite the appetite this morning,” Emily observed, with only the slightest upturn at the corners of her mouth. “Busy night, Leigh?”
Vivik nearly choked.
“You could say that,” Leigh said, spooning scrambled eggs onto a bagel. “Don’t worry. I’ll be ready.”
“I understand how Alistair plans to get to the Far Shores,” Chandi said, idly turning the flute that contained her mimosa. “I’m not so sure about Egill Johannsson, however. There’s no record of the Thule estate having a fixed apport station.”
“They have one,” Vivik said, jumping at the change in topic. “They built it in secret, two or three years ago.”
“Is that so? I can hardly believe it,” Chandi said. “They are tremendously expensive.”
“Worth it, since apport technicians are in short supply. You’d be surprised how many of the cartels have them,” Vivik said. “The Black Sun built eight, while the Hegemony has six. That’s in addition to the dozen or so that the Administration officially runs.”
“Why isn’t everyone returning to Central, then?” Chandi asked. “If the Black Sun has so many apport stations, they should be here already.”
“The thing with the World Tree knocked them all out. It takes a bunch of spare parts and technician hours to get one up and running again,” Vivik said. “There are four currently under repair, and that’s about all that there are parts to restore. It’ll be months before there’s enough parts to get them all up and running.”
“Vivik, dear, I know that you like to be helpful and attentive,” Emily said. “But could you refrain from telling Chandi all of our secrets until she has made a decision in regard to her future?”
“There’s no decision to make,” Chandi said, shaking her head. “I’ve pledged to the Black Sun. I have no intention to change my mind. I’ve told you what I’ve told you, Emily, in exchange for protection, but I’m not about to shift my loyalties.”
“In that case, please refrain from telling Chandi anything pertinent,” Emily said, sipping her tea. “If you don’t mind.”
“More like tell her anything you want,” Leigh said, draining her mimosa in a single go. “Since she’s gonna die in an interrogation room at an Anathema black site in the near future.”
Chandi tried to finish her mimosa, but her hands shook, and she made a mess of it.
“Or would you prefer a Thule dungeon?” Leigh asked. “I’ve visited one recently. It wasn’t very nice.”
“Are you certain there is no middle accommodation?” Chandi asked, giving Emily a hopeful look. “I could provide you with further information in return for continued protection.”
“I appreciate the offer, dear,” Emily said, tossing her hair. “I’ll have to decline. You see, you need protection from Egill Johannsson – who is quite scary – and Alistair, who is a bit of a complication from my past. Defying either means war, defying both means a fight on two fronts. That is no small thing, and I’m afraid that I don’t believe you know anything worth that much trouble.”
“Chandi, don’t be dumb,” Vivik said. “Think this over.”
“No, I wouldn’t do it for information,” Emily said, smiling benignly at Chandi. “For a friend and ally, however, there is nothing that I would not do.”
Vivik and Leigh both nodded, though Leigh was mainly concerned with finishing the remainder of the potatoes before anyone else had a chance.
“We can help,” Vivik said. “We want to help.”
“But you won’t help,” Chandi said sadly. “Not unless I betray my allegiance to the Black Sun.”
“You did just join them. Buyer’s remorse is a real thing, you know,” Vivik suggested. “I don’t think anyone would blame you for rethinking your position, given the circumstances.”
“Listen to Vivik,” Leigh said. “He’s a smart guy, and he’s right.”
Vivik blushed and almost knocked over his water glass.
“That’s easy for all of you to say,” Chandi said. “You are all traitors already.”
Leigh gave Chandi a look of disbelief, while Vivik winced. Emily just laughed and finished her tea.
“I can rip your head right off,” Leigh said conversationally, spearing the last potato with her fork. “Not figuratively – I can actually just tear right through your esophagus and your spinal column and separate your head from your body like that.” Leigh snapped. “I usually get it on the first try.”
Chandi put her shaking hands in her lap and loo
ked away.
“You don’t scare me,” she asserted, rather dubiously. “I’m going to die shortly anyway, aren’t I? What’s the difference, then?”
“Self-righteousness is rarely a good look,” Emily said. “Self-pity, on the other hand, is always unattractive.”
It took an effort to remain in her chair. Chandi seriously contemplated fleeing the table like an upset child and running along the beach until she became exhausted.
If she had somewhere to run, she might even have done it.
“I am only doing my duty,” Chandi said. “That’s not something I expect you’d understand.”
“I adore defying expectations, but that’s neither here nor there,” Emily said. “Are you certain that your Mistress would prefer to see you taken by Thule or the Anathema today, Chandi?”
“I think she understands and values my loyalty,” Chandi said. “The rest is an inevitable consequence.”
“If you really think that Anastasia wants her people to blindly sacrifice themselves in some kind of pointless display of fealty, you’ve got her all wrong,” Emily chided. “Precognitives are valuable, as you well know. She would not want you to be taken, and she would not be at all pleased by an accounting of your heroic death.”
“No? Then what do you think she would have me do?” Chandi glared at Emily. “Since you know her so well.”
“I know her better than you do. That much is perfectly evident,” Emily said, punctuating the statement with a look of assured superiority. “She would tell you to accept my offer, Chandi, and then attempt to betray me and rejoin her at a more opportune time. In the meantime, you will be exposed to my inner circle,” Emily said, gesturing half-seriously at her tablemates, “and our private decision making, which will surely be of interest to Anastasia.”
Chandi balled her hands into fists, and then pushed them into her lap. She did her best to meet Emily’s eyes.
“I don’t understand,” she said. “Do you want me to betray you?”
“Not at all,” Emily said, surveying the remaining bagels thoughtfully. “I’m just being realistic.”
“If I do this, then, when the time comes, you’ll let me leave?” Chandi asked hesitantly. “Just like that?”
The Church of Sleep (Central Series Book 5) Page 60