He'd have to find childcare. At least for a few days a week. If he was to spend any time at all at the club, or fulfilling contracts, or even just managing the day-to-day at either business, he couldn't have her with him all the time. It was simple reality, as much as he hated to admit it. He'd have to let go if he was to protect her and keep her from the Guild's clutches.
Unfortunately, many daycare centers didn't operate on weekends, so all he could do was look up addresses and plan to get information on them when the week began. In a year, perhaps two, he'd see about a private preschool program. Education was important. But for now, she was barely a toddler. She needed to be allowed to be a child.
His list complete, Luc found himself enjoying a lazy afternoon in the new house. He'd only made some small adjustments to furniture placement after the movers had left, and the house felt snug, fitting him and Whitney like a well-worn favorite sweater. Though February was more than halfway over, the weather had not gotten it into its head that spring was coming. A late winter flurry had begun spitting through the air not long after breakfast. While the snow wasn't quite forming a blanket on the ground, it had Luc happy to be indoors, with a fire in the fireplace and his little girl frantically waving a pair of plush rabbits at him from her playpen.
Somewhere between highly alert and nearly dozing, his mind wandered to a small amount of pleasure that the trauma of his youth had not soured him to moments like this. Being witness to the beginnings of the fire that had destroyed his life didn't make him edgy around a well-contained blaze. Losing his parents had not made him nervous to have children of his own, though the way that came about was completely unexpected. He was not shocked to think he loved the little girl he'd bought this house for. So, he'd never found lasting love. He'd thrown away his only long-term relationship, but that wasn't his whole life. If it came to it, he would love again. Perhaps. He wasn't too old yet. Not by half.
But the flickering lights of the flames brought with them shadows. There were elements of his past that seemed to block out the sun for minutes at a time. In the grand scheme of things, those minutes were not significant, but eclipses were more than the time the sun was completely blocked out. There was buildup to that moment, and aftermath once it ended. He'd thought himself safe, yet another blackout was coming. Somehow, the Templars always returned. Like the moon's path bringing it closer and closer to casting its shadow on the world, Luc's past was chasing him down again.
A shrill ring brought Luc fully back to consciousness. One glance at the antique grandfather clock he'd purchased told him he'd only spaced out for a few seconds. Another glance told him Whitney was still happily squeezing her stuffed rabbits and slobbering all over their ears. Luc reached for his phone as it rang a second time.
The call was coming from the guildhall. To his personal phone. That wasn't normal.
He didn't even have to say anything when he picked up the phone. Their voice immediately came from the other line.
"Father Luc? It's Scout. I have some results on that contract you wanted. I tried calling your internal line, but you didn't respond. Father Luc? Are you there?"
Luc reached into his pocket and was startled to find his other phone missing. A frantic glance around the room later, he spotted it on the small table next to his chair. There were no blinking notification lights. On closer inspection, it appeared the phone was off. When had he last charged it?
"Are you--"
"Apologies, Scout. I'm here."
"I found him. Well, to be fair, one of my contacts really found him, but I know where he is. But any tracing we have on him has him moving around a lot. I mean, like a lot. I can't guarantee he'll be there much longer. Or if he's even there still, now."
"You're babbling. Where?"
"Brazil. São Luís, as of last sighting."
"Get me travel plans there. Immediately. As directly as possible. Email me any additional information. I want to leave today."
"I'll call back once I have your flight. One passenger?"
"Just me, yes."
Scout hurried a goodbye and hung up.
Only once he'd set the phone back down did Luc realize what that last question had meant. Whitney. If he was going off to Brazil, he was going to need someone to care for her. Who did he ask? Traveling with him while he worked was no place for her. But he didn't want to leave her with the Guild, as much as they did seem to love her. It would be best if everyone there forgot he even had a daughter. He didn't exactly have any friends he could ask to care for her for an evening, much less a day or three. He might be gone for a week. Who knew?
Still mulling over his lack of possibilities, he packed a few small things and plugged in his Guild phone. He was expecting a ring, but the knock on his door made him jump.
He ignored it. Who could possibly be coming to call on him? He'd only lived there for a few days; he didn't know any neighbors, and any solicitors wouldn't be welcome. It couldn't be anyone he cared about.
The knock came again, insistent.
The fifth time, Luc finally carried Whitney into the living room and settled her into the playpen while he went to answer the door.
"It's good to see you again, Luc," Insidia said when he opened the door.
12
Insidia was well inside the house by the time Luc recovered enough to close his jaw. Slowly, he closed the door, shivering from the bit of insistent February wind that also wanted to get inside. When he finally turned around to force himself to admit she was really here, Insidia had already settled into Luc's chair near the fireplace.
"Come and sit," Insidia said, her voice smooth and comforting, almost motherly. Luc had never considered having guests over when he'd raided Shotgun Shelly's shop for furniture, so there was only the one chair. How was he supposed to sit?
That was when he saw the little boy.
He was well beyond toddler age, but not quite to double digits, by Luc's guess. Not that he was very good at guessing kids' ages. Too young to enter the Guild for training. Well, unless it was Order of Destruction. They started young. Still, this boy couldn't be more than ten or eleven. He was bundled warmly in a thick, quilted coat that zipped all the way up to his chin. Above that, a pair of mismatched eyes peered brightly if shyly. His left was a striking blue that seemed to glow, his right deep chocolatey brown. Mismatched eyebrows-- one pale blonde, one nearly black-- lay straight above his eyes. And further above those, even his hair refused to be a solid color. He looked like a cat. Luc tried to name the type of cat he was thinking of, the ones with fur in a multitude of colors, but it wouldn't come to him. The boy's hair on the left side, around his ear, was pitch black. The right side was pale blonde that matched one eyebrow, but that was on the other side, like a checkerboard pattern. It was the crown of his head that was unsettling, though. Amid what appeared to be a honey brown natural shade were patches, spots, streaks, and stripes of colors that were unnatural to humans. Most of his bangs were deep green and faded into navy blue before retreating into brown. Above the black around his left ear, a shapeless patch of white sprouted. A few mottled sunset orange spots interrupted the back of his head, with a coffee-colored stripe that led from the base of his neck to his blue cowlick. Somehow, it didn't look absurd on the boy.
Luc couldn't help but notice the madness of hair as the boy slowly paced past him to join Insidia in Luc's chair. He climbed into Insidia's lap and curled up there, again suggesting a cat. Those eyes stared at Luc from inside the cocoon of the goddess's arms.
"Faros, say hello," Insidia instructed.
The boy murmured something so quietly Luc couldn't hear it.
The thought of Insidia as a mother was absurd. She was the goddess of treachery and discord. She would be the last person Luc could have expected to settle into motherhood. He'd figured she'd been off causing chaos since the Fall.
"If you leave your jaw open like that, you'll end up drooling all over the floor, Luc."
Again, he became aware of his mouth hanging open.<
br />
Surely, he was just some kid she'd picked up since coming to Earth. Someone to manipulate and control, to subject to her schemes and mold in her own earthly image. "When did you--" he gestured oddly at the boy.
"Before what you unimaginatively call the Fall. Had him in the divine plane long enough to get him past that annoying babyhood stage, but he's been stuck aging at a normal rate for a while now."
"Mama says I'm stunted," Faros said, this time loudly enough for Luc to hear him.
"Shh," Insidia said, wrapping her arms tighter around him. "It's not your fault. And I'm fine with you staying young for now. So, things are going a bit mad, or maybe chaotic?"
It took Luc a few minutes to realize Insidia was speaking to him with that last question. He nodded. "I believe... I've found my... my..." He hadn't said it yet. Not aloud. It was like coming out as bisexual. Speaking something aloud was worlds different than thinking it. Saying it somehow made it more real. If he could just keep the words inside, maybe it wouldn't be true. Maybe he wouldn't have to face the reality. But he wanted to face this reality.
And kill it.
"My father. In Brazil."
"Mmmm," the goddess said, nodding. "The Templar."
A frigid shiver ran up Luc's spine despite the cozy fire behind him. "You knew?"
She laughed, a wild laugh that suggested a feral hare searching for an escape. In her lap, Faros chuckled in a less frantic echo of his mother. Insidia wiped an imagined tear from her eye. "Oh, my sweet Luc. Of course I knew."
"Then why didn't you say something seven years ago? Why leave me in the dark?"
"It's my nature! Treachery, discord. Keeping the information from you fell right in line with one. And the timing on you figuring it out spawns the other. You're going to Brazil, hmm? After him?" She paused, and her eyes went significantly to Whitney's play pen. The girl was totally oblivious to their guests.
Luc bristled, just a bit, at the sight of Insidia eyeing his poor little daughter.
"So, who's watching her while you're gone? Those secretive comrades of yours at the Guild? The ghost? Aveline Statford?"
His hackles went immediately down at the mention of Larissimus and Aveline. He hadn't even considered either of those two as potential babysitters. As quickly as they came to mind, though, he cast them aside. "Larry" wasn't exactly babysitter material, and Luc didn't know him terribly well despite numerous interactions over the last two years. He claimed to be a friend of Thomas's, a previously incorporeal semi-omniscient being that helped the detective in his work. When Luc had discovered Larry existed, a few pieces of Tom's impossible knowledge fell into place. But Luc didn't know if he could trust Larry with Whitney for a few days, or a week, even. Not that he thought the man would harm her. It was that he was a ghost or something, and Luc was just hesitant to ask.
Aveline was a definite no. While they shared the desire to somehow find Thomas, Luc was also darkly aware of his own guilt. He'd been partly to blame for that disappearance. And while Aveline wasn't blameless either, he did walk on eggshells around her. In part, because she was the equal or better of any assassin he knew, himself included. Partly because even if she weren't that capable, she was still intimidating, and he preferred to limit how much he might owe her. Or interact with her, in general.
Insidia was staring at him, content to watch as he thought through these two new babysitter options. "I can watch her," she offered after a few minutes. "Here, if you want. Stock your fridge, make sure there are plenty of diapers, and Faros and I will gladly stay here and not even bother to leave the house until you return." She paused and gave him a shark's grin. "It isn't as if I have anything better to do."
He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I'm serious," she said, affecting an innocent expression. On her, it looked exaggerated, like a six-year-old trying to pass the blame for a marker-covered wall when the Sharpie was in her hand. "She'll be totally safe. And she'll even have Faros to play with."
"Treachery, discord, deception," Luc replied simply.
"You added the deception onto that," she said.
"It's still apt."
With a sigh, Insidia gently nudged Faros off her lap and stood. Her hands went onto her hips. "Treachery. You've got enough on your plate. I won't lie when I say what you find in Brazil is going to be a lot more fun for me than anything I could do here. Discord. Same thing. Your life is fucked up enough. And so is hers." She nodded towards Whitney. "She's got enough on her plate, and even if I did something to mess with her right now, she's too little to recognize it, so where's the fun in that?"
"And deception?" Luc asked after Insidia had been silent for a full eight breaths.
"You're Mama's only worshiper," Faros said.
Insidia sighed. "I'll level with you, Luc. Or... Jean, if you like. You know, your mother wanted to name you Agnes. She was so certain you were a girl."
"You were saying?"
Her mouth twisted. "I was saying that he's partly right. I don't exactly have any serious devoted here. And it's a horrible position to be in, after... what Statford did to us. It wouldn't benefit me to lose you."
"Purely your own self-survival. Great motivation."
"I have a child who needs me. You know what that's like, as new as it is for you."
Luc's stomach and chest went hollow as his eyes moved to the play pen. "You won't leave the house. Won't let anyone in. Unless it's a life-threatening emergency. And I mean that explicitly."
"I'm not some leprechaun or fae that needs a contract, Luc. I'm not trying to make a deal with you. Seeing Brazil play out will be more than enough pay for me. Keeping in your good graces, at least for a few days... it does benefit me more than you know. And it keeps her out of the shadows. For now."
He narrowed his eyes at her, weighing her words against his own past experiences with her. It sucked, but he was in quite a corner on this. For a moment, he did consider calling Larry and saying to hell with the goddess. But then he thought about the vow that tied him to her.
She didn't approve of harming innocents.
"I'll get a week's worth of groceries," he said. "In your... wisdom... do you think that will be enough?"
"Today is what... March first?"
He checked his phone. "February 28th."
"Better make it more than a week. Just in case. Nine, ten days tops."
"Frozen pizza!" Faros cried happily. "Lots of those!"
"This is just a test drive... but I'm going for groceries. Diapers, wipes, and clean clothes are in her room. Baby food's in the kitchen."
"She's a year old, Luc. Get some real food; she can eat it," she said snidely.
Feeling like he was making a horrible decision, he left Insidia with his daughter and went to get groceries.
13
Under normal circumstances, Luc wouldn't have fallen asleep in an airport. But after two flights--a grand total of 11 hours in the air--he made an exception. There was still one last flight to get him from Sao Paulo to... he didn't even know the name of the airport. But it would get him to Sao Luis, finally. The four-hour layover until his final flight was the last straw for Luc. He'd claimed a seat in a corner and fallen asleep almost instantly.
He woke to his phone buzzing, its alarm alerting him that three of those four hours had passed far too quickly. He'd take the remaining time left to find a meal, use a restroom, and deal with his shock that he'd managed that nap. It was the middle of the day--March first, he realized--and some of his past airport experiences hadn't been the most positive. The worst one had already been quite some time ago, though. Perhaps he shouldn't have been so surprised to be over it. It had only been a failed contract, after all. His short-term partner, peer on the west coast, and former boyfriend Gilles LaTorneau had only nearly died. That target had only turned out to be Aveline Statford.
He zipped his pants back up and washed his hands, then went in search of a quick meal that would do nothing to satisfy his hunger. He ended up with a personal pizza, though he'd
never developed a taste for them. He choked the thing down and returned to his gate for the final flight. Another three and a half hours in the air, and he'd be on Ahimoth's trail. He only hoped he'd managed to get there quickly enough. Scout had done the best they could to get him there as fast as possible. The four-hour layover, and the three-hour one between his first and second flights, hadn't helped his mood. Seven wasted hours. Ahimoth could be long away from Sao Luis. Or from Brazil in general. He had to hope he was there in time to at least find a trail.
Aboard his final airplane, Luc waited for takeoff and tried not to think how long he'd been away from Whitney. It was too late to change his decision to leave her in Insidia's hands. Regretting it wouldn't do him any good. Neither would worrying. He had to trust she'd be untainted by the goddess when he returned. Shit, he had to trust that his house would still be there when he returned. Insidia could do anything, and he'd be half a world away.
Stepping outside the airport, Luc basked in the warm air. He'd last been outside in near-freezing February weather. The temperature here was perhaps 23 or 24 degrees Celsius. A comfortable summer day.
The cab driver only spoke Portuguese, and Luc's Spanish was rusty, but the man seemed to understand him well enough. Luc hoped he would end up where he wanted. The driver seemed to get where Luc wanted to go, but Luc couldn't understand more than a word out of twenty that was spoken to him. Even with the number of Romance languages he knew, Portuguese was different enough to leave him behind a serious linguistic barrier. Worse, Sao Luis didn't have a guildhall; the nearest one was in Teresina, more than 400 kilometers away. Not only that, the Brazilian guildhall had a total staff of six, with only one master assassin among them. There were two academies in South America, but they were in Argentina and Colombia, and staffed by only a few. There was no one to spare to help guide him. He might have to hire a translator.
The architecture was gorgeous, but Luc saw none of it as his driver pulled up to a sidewalk to let Luc out. He'd asked for the city center, and he had to assume it was where he wanted to be. Only once he'd paid the man and watched him disappear into traffic, did Luc realize he really had no idea where to even start looking for Ahimoth. He had money, he had his one suitcase with necessities, and he had the fact that Ahimoth had been spotted in Sao Luis less than 48 hours ago. He hadn't even asked Scout where.
Luc Bertrand- American Assassin Page 28