Eerie glanced at Alistair, and then just as quickly looked away.
“I won’t go anywhere with him,” Eerie said. “He scares me.”
“He won’t be with us, because he has made a lot of promises, and he’ll be busy fulfilling them,” Gabriela said, looking at Alistair. “Won’t he?”
“I’m on my way to your uncle’s apport station right now, baby,” Alistair said, closing the door and heading for the stairs. “Don’t worry about the Black Sun one little bit. It’s all completely under control.”
Gabriela squeezed Eerie’s hand between her own.
“There. You see? You don’t need to worry about him.” Gabriela leaned close and lowered her voice. “Between you and me, Eerie, he’s fallen completely in love with me.”
“Oh, wow,” Eerie said breathlessly. “Congratulations, I guess?”
“It’s a mixed bag,” Gabriela said. “He’s old and gross.”
“And mean.”
Gabriela took the Changeling’s arm, leading her down the hall.
“That’s the thing, though – he’s never mean to me. Not at all. He’s like a big dumb dog, obedient and eager to please.”
“Huh. Do you like him?”
“I might like what he can do for me. The rest, I’m told, can be learned.” Gabriela led Eerie gently toward the stairs. “Do you have a boyfriend, Eerie?”
“I do,” Eerie said, blushing. “Alex is outside right now. I should really check on him.”
“He’ll be just fine. No one is going to get hurt, because my uncle won’t let anyone fight for real,” Gabriela said, sounding as if she meant it. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, you know. Just a fiancé or two.”
“A fiancé? Wow! That sounds classy.”
“You have friends, though, right? And a school club? I heard something about that…”
“Yes, it’s…” Eerie sighed. “It’s pretty cool, actually.”
“I’ve never had any friends, and I’ve never been a member of a club,” Gabriela said. “Thule children are raised in isolation and kept away from Central and the Academy. Do you think we could be friends?”
“I don’t know,” Eerie said. “I don’t really know you, and I don’t really like the people you hang out with.”
“I think I can change your mind,” Gabriela said. “This place is kind of a dump, isn’t it? It’s not that great, really, but you really must see what we keep in the basement.”
***
The air around Lóa was charged, a strange glow clinging to the tips of her fingers and her skin emitting a faint scent of combustion. Egill’s hands crackled with trapped lightning, while Gaul watched with lowered eyes.
Emily smiled as her friends died around her, variously burning and suffocating.
“This is a farce,” Emily declared. “Shall we put it to end?”
***
There were three guns on Alistair the moment he appeared on the platform of the Black Sun fixed apport station in downtown Central.
“Hey, calm down,” Alistair said, woozy from the apport. “I’m not here to fight. I’m here to talk to your boss.”
The Black Sun security personnel started shooting anyway, of course, but it was a simple thing to make them miss.
The guards had defenses implanted by Black Sun telepaths, not to mention anti-psychic combat training, but standard issue countermeasures were simply not up to Alistair’s level. He had bypassed their shields before they could pull their sidearms from their holsters.
Alistair hopped casually off the platform as bullets sailed harmlessly past him.
He grabbed the nearest technician by his collar and smacked the gun from the man’s hands. He lifted him off the ground with the telekinetic strength that he had downloaded from the servers of the diminished Network.
“I said that I was here to talk with Anastasia,” he said, tossing the technician into another nearby. “Go get her.”
The last of the technicians glanced at the pile of his comrades, then at his empty pistol, then back at Alistair, unharmed and looking impatient.
He nodded and ran out of the room.
Alistair settled in a chair beside the metal platform to wait.
It took a few minutes, though she must have heard of his arrival only seconds after it happened. It was a formality, a way of reminding him of the difference between their places in the world, and Alistair knew that it was meant to bother him.
He did his best not to let it work, or if it did, to not show it to the cameras and remote viewers that were no doubt trained firmly on him.
The door opened, and a well-dressed man a full head taller than him offered Alistair an expression that was not precisely a grin, but a close analogue, and gestured for him to come.
“The Mistress will see you,” the man said, his Mandarin-accented English crisp and perfect. “Please come with me.”
Alistair followed him obediently through the hallways of the Black Sun facility in Central, glancing with undisguised interest at every room and corridor that they passed along the way. It wasn’t every day that he got to visit a secret Cartel base, an unlikely event in his capacity either as Chief Auditor or the worst of the Anathema.
To his disappointment, care was taken to make sure that he saw nothing of interest.
Alistair glanced at his guide, whose expression remained exactly as it was during his greeting.
The cut of his pinstriped suit was sharp and flattering, and Alistair nearly asked him for his tailor. His hair was cut neat and conservatively styled, but his watch and cufflinks advertised money and taste, and his Italian loafers were hand tooled.
“A vampire, huh?” Alistair gave him a speculative look. “You’ve got to be Lord Gao, right?”
“As you say,” Lord Gao said. “A pleasure to meet you, sir.”
“There’s no need to pretend,” Alistair said. “I’ve heard about you.”
Lord Gao chuckled deep in the back of his throat.
“As I have heard of you.”
Alistair grinned and left it at that.
The facility was not large. A short elevator ride brought them to the high-rent district, where the walls were lined with exotic wood fixtures and tasteful abstract art. The vampire led him past a pair of security checkpoints to Anastasia’s office, which had been done in an understated and elegant Japanese style that Alistair knew required a ridiculous degree of investment to achieve.
Anastasia sat behind a desk of solid tiger-maple on what must have been an elevated chair, flanked by a maid wearing glasses. The sheer amount of telepathic suppression active in the room made Alistair’s nose tingle and his head throb. He was guided by the vampire into the sole unoccupied chair. The vampire closed the door behind them, and then took a position directly behind Alistair.
In the absence of his telepathically augmented sensorium, Alistair was distractingly aware of the vampire’s presence, which raised the hackles on his neck and constantly tempted him to turn around and check.
He did not do that, of course.
He sat in front of Anastasia and he smiled confidently.
“I bet you were secretly happy to have to break out that veil,” he observed cheerfully, gesturing at the lace covering that obscured her face. “It’s too perfect for your style, don’t you think?”
“Why are you here?”
Anastasia’s voice was cold, her posture and body language hinting very strongly that he was not welcome here, and that lack of welcome could imperil him, if he said the wrong thing.
“No formal greeting? No jokes or anything? That’s not very nice,” Alistair said, smirking. “It’s okay, though. You’re a busy lady these days, and I’m in a hurry myself. You see, I’ve just come from the Thule estate in Iceland.”
He noticed Anastasia shift just slightly in her chair, and he laughed.
“That got your attention, didn’t it? You didn’t have much luck going after them here in Central, or so I hear, and now you’re probably stuck waiting around for the techn
icians to figure out how to get you close to the Thule estate, because they’d obviously just blow you out of the sky if you tried to take a flight or something. That’s got to be an annoyance. I’d imagine you’re real eager to get a shot at Gaul and his family. I can make that happen.”
Anastasia clicked her tongue.
“We do not require your assistance,” she said coldly. “We will do what we will by our own strength.”
“That’s fine with me,” Alistair said. “I hope you like waiting. I know you’ve got technicians, and your own apport platform, but that doesn’t help you if their station won’t accept transmission. Of course, those technicians probably already told you that I came here from that very station.” Alistair smirked at the Mistress of the Black Sun. “I’ve got tomorrow’s access codes and overrides, and I’m in a sharing mood.”
Anastasia planted her chin on her fist, her elbow resting on the desk.
“What is it that you would want in return for this assistance?”
“The same thing that you want. A bunch of dead Thule Cartel members,” Alistair said casually. “Also, I’ll want you to attend the wedding in your fanciest fancy dress. That’ll get everyone’s attention. I’m sure Gabby will like that.”
“What wedding are you referring to? I’m afraid you have lost me.”
“I doubt that very much, and I should add that timing is crucial. You are not the only one with an interest in Thule just lately,” Alistair said. “I have another errand to complete tonight. What will it be, Lady Martynova? The codes activate at dawn. They’ll be wide open. Are you interested?”
“As little as I like it, I will accept your offer,” Anastasia said. “We are not allies, however. This is a relationship of convenience, and nothing more.”
“Fine, fine,” Alistair said, chuckling. “The invitation is plus one, of course. I suppose that your guest is still to be determined. Then again, you never know. Tomorrow morning might clear that up.”
***
Emily turned her attention to a small balcony situated above the adjacent garage.
“There you are.” Emily smiled at the empty balcony. “Isn’t it time that we put an end to this, Mr. Navarre?”
The scene reset.
The Thule Cartel was assembled on the steps to the entirely intact manor.
Leigh, Hayley, and Alex stood in the center of the courtyard, winded, but otherwise fine.
Daniel was face down on the courtyard, unconscious and snoring.
Mateo Navarre stood on the balcony, his dress shirt damp with sweat and his hair slicked back. He smiled modestly and offered Emily a polite bow.
“Not too bad, Miss Muir,” he said. “That was faster than expected. Of course, I had considerable assistance with this production.”
“That’s what gave it away,” Emily said, glancing at the battered assemblage of the Thule family members. “I could tell that Gaul and Lóa were collaborating with an outside party. You were the most logical suspect.”
“That’s alarming,” Mateo said. “No illusionist wishes to become predictable.”
“Don’t take it the wrong way. You’ve impressed me,” Emily said. “Have you ever considered changing sides?”
To Alex’s befuddlement, he appeared to take some time thinking it over, even though his current employers were watching him as he did so.
“I had not previously considered the possibility,” he admitted. “I’m content for the moment, but I won’t forget your offer, Miss Muir.”
“Do keep me in mind. If you join quickly enough, I might even be able to negotiate with Anastasia Martynova for your life,” Emily said sweetly, gesturing at the sleeping Daniel. “This Black Sun assassin will hardly be the first that they send after your employers. Do not make the mistake of assuming they will deal any more gently with you.”
“Hey, I’m not dead,” Alex said, rubbing his face. “Cool! Where is Eerie?”
“She’s fine. I’m keeping track of her,” Emily said, glancing at him. “Eerie is with Lóa’s little sister, who is trying very hard to turn Eerie to the dark side.”
“That doesn’t sound okay,” Alex said. “Does it?”
“I was not aware I had joined the dark side,” Mateo said. “Does that make you people the light?”
“I consider my position one of enlightened self-interest,” Emily said. “In a word, yes.”
“Eerie is with Gabriela, my youngest niece, who has been instructed to share with her any details that I might have omitted. She will return to you shortly,” Gaul Thule said wearily. “You may use our apport station, if it will accelerate your departure.”
“What about him?” Emily pointed at Daniel. “What will you do with him?”
“We will kill him, obviously,” Lóa said. “He’s an assassin.”
“I’ve developed a sympathy for assassins, just lately,” Emily said. “Will you do me a favor, Lord Thule?”
“If you promise to stay out of our affairs in the future,” Gaul said warily. “What do you want?”
“Send Daniel Gao back to his Mistress,” Emily said. “Consider it a gesture of goodwill. Who knows how she will react?”
“Very well,” Gaul said, silencing Lóa’s protests with a glance. “May I consider our business concluded?”
“No,” Alex said, stepping forward. “We aren’t done with you, asshole.”
“We are, actually,” Emily said. “That was really everything.”
“Oh. Well, uh, good,” Alex said. “We just wait for Eerie here, then, or what?”
***
Gabriela pulled and begged and cajoled Eerie into the basement below the Thule manor. The Changeling followed reluctantly, casting glances over her shoulder and looking very worried. She watched Gabriela tug open a trap door with a sense of muted unease that made her shift from foot to foot and wish vaguely for a bathroom.
She followed the Thule girl down the stairs like that, vacillating from genuine worry to empathically induced calm with each step.
The darkness was total outside the radius of the lamp that Gabriela held aloft.
They descended until Eerie’s calves ached, and then a little further.
There was another trap door, open so that Eerie could see the flooded chamber below.
“The Thule inheritance,” Gabriela said proudly, crouching to dangle the lamp down into the dungeon. “Our greatest secret.”
“This is what you wanted me to see?” Eerie glanced down doubtfully. “I don’t want to get my clothes wet.”
“They won’t get wet. You have to take them off.”
“I don’t want to!” Eerie backed away. “I barely know you!”
“That’s not what I’m – here, let’s start over. Do you know what this place is, Eerie?”
“I know that you are weird,” Eerie whispered. “You and your cousin and your uncle and—”
“Yes, precisely,” Gabriela interjected. “This is how we become ourselves. We are confined down there, left in the dark until we drink the waters, which are adulterated with tailored nanites and a peculiar toxin derived from a mushroom unique to this locale—”
“That’s not actually true,” Eerie said. “That last part.”
“Which part?”
“The toxin. It isn’t from mushrooms or anything,” Eerie said, frowning a little. “It’s from me.”
“From you? I don’t understand.”
“It makes you hallucinate, right? And get really sick?”
“Yes. The first, really, more than the other, at least in my case.”
“Then you were lucky,” Eerie said gravely. “It’s not literally from me. That would be gross. He makes it in a lab, but he took the original samples from me.”
“Who?” Gabriela held up the lamp so she could see Eerie’s face. “Who are you talking about?”
“Your uncle. Gaul,” Eerie said. “Obviously.”
“There is simply no way,” Gabriela said. “These catacombs go back centuries…”
“Much long
er than that. It wasn’t always flooded. No poison or nanites, either. That’s all new. It used to be place for dead people, for thinking about them. That’s all it was. Everything else is new. I know all about it.”
“Do you really?” Gabriela beckoned her close to the opening. “I think I know something about it that you do not, Eerie.”
“Yeah? What’s that?”
“It really is a crypt, but I’m not sure that it was built for dead people. Or even the living, come to think about it. Considering how old it is, I suppose that it was built for people who hadn’t even lived yet.”
“I don’t get it.”
“There are vaults down there, Eerie,” Gabriela said, flushed and clinging to the Changeling’s arm. “There are so many vaults.”
“So?”
“They have names on them. Not just Thule names, or our ancestors, or even Icelandic names,” Gabriela said. “All sorts of names, some of which have only just started to make sense to me.”
Eerie frowned again.
“You know what I’m going to say already, don’t you?” Gabriela’s voice was a bit shrill with enthusiasm that Eerie did not share. “Your name is down there. Your real name, Ériu.”
Eerie looked down at the darkness below the manor.
“Those vaults can do things, if you…I’m not really sure how to describe it. I think it’s a syncing process, or a form of imprinting. I’ve seen it work miracles. Actual miracles! Just the other day, in fact.”
“Why should it matter to me?”
“You still don’t get it? Immersing yourself in these waters changes you, Eerie. I think that might even take you beyond the reach of whatever it is you are afraid of. I’ve heard my uncle claim it alters DNA as well as the Etheric Signature. That’s basically everything, don’t you think? You’d be a completely different person.”
Eerie took a step closer to the trap door.
“Now you’re getting it. You said you came here looking for a way out, right? This is it,” Gabriela said, crouching beside the trap door so her lantern could shine down on the water. “It’s like being reborn. Our vault could change you enough that that old church wouldn’t want you anymore! Think about it. Nobody else would have to die. No more war and fighting. Tempting, isn’t it?”
The Church of Sleep (Central Series Book 5) Page 72