War Within (Death's Contract Book 2)

by KJ Harlow

  Death didn’t look convinced. His arms were still crossed as he stared at the monitors. “I’m not sure about this, Rose. You’re basing this just off something Mortimer said. Dante could be preparing to do something else that doesn’t involve clock towers. Besides, the UK is huge.”

  “You were the one who just told us to do some scouting a second ago,” I said, looking up at him defiantly. He looked down at me, the bronze flecks in his eyes seeming to flicker. Begrudgingly, he shook his head. I looked around the room. I got slight nods from everyone else in the control room.

  “That settles it then. We’ll go up, inspect the clock towers and come back down if we don’t find anything. It beats staying down here and twiddling our thumbs, anyway. If we Soul Step between each clock tower, it’ll take us what, fifteen, twenty minutes max?” I started making my way back to the control room to get my gear ready. The other Deliverers soon followed.

  “20 clock towers. If five of us go up, we could do four each. We won’t need everyone up there. Besides, we’ll need one person to help everyone navigate to each clock tower. Tor, what do you say?” Walter said.

  “No, I’m going up,” Tor said flatly, putting his vest on and holstering his Lucent Gun.

  “Then I’ll stay behind and finish my scotch,” Walter said, taking a seat and exaggeratedly stretching his arms above him. He abruptly put his hands up defensively when I gave him a withering look. “I kid. I’ll be keeping an eye on you lot from down here. I’ll be down in a heartbeat if those clowns and their circus make an appearance.” I nodded at Walter as I put my hand on the glass to leave the control room. The rest of us filed out and made our way to Death’s office. Death was already standing there, his Lucent Gun in hand.

  “Just send us back to Westminster Station. We’ll split up territories and go from there.” While I was busily trying to get my vest on, I noticed it was quiet. I looked across at Death; he was staring at me hesitantly.

  “What if he’s trying to split you all up on purpose to prevent you from being able to retreat?” The impulse to roll my eyes was strong, but I resisted it. Sometimes it felt more like he treated us like children rather than contractors.

  “20 minutes. Just give us 20 minutes. We’ll be back up before you know it.” Finally, he buckled. Heaving a great sigh, he pointed his Lucent Gun up at the portal.

  “Westminster Station, London, United Kingdom.”

  “Walter, are you there?” I said, pressing the Light Bug into my ear.

  “Yep, how’s London looking?” We landed right back outside the station, the scene of our last confrontation with the Tormented. All the hostages were gone but puddles of dried blood here and there reminded me of the tidal wave of terror that came crashing down upon the city earlier in the evening. The LED screen outside the station showed that all train services had been suspended. I glanced at the clock. 11:39. The night was still young.

  “Same old,” I grunted. I beckoned the other Deliverers to move in close. “OK, Walter. We need to divvy up the clock towers. What’s the best way to do it?”

  “Well firstly, they’re scattered all over England: north, south, east, and west. The ones in the north are pretty far,” he paused as he checked the coordinates. “There’s one in North Yorkshire that’s 200 miles from London.”

  “That’s not a problem though, right? By Soul Stepping, we’ll get there in five to ten seconds, right?”

  “Yeah, no probs. You’ll scare a cow or two along the way but it’s easy.” Despite the tense situation and tight deadline, I laughed. Walter had a way to relax people that was immensely handy in times like these.

  “Besides Big Ben, we’ve got four other clock towers in London. It should be relatively easy to bounce around these ones and see if Mortimer has planted any Easter eggs for us.” I stifled another laugh as an absurd image of Mortimer wearing bunny ears hopped into my mind.

  “OK, so if we just have one person going in each cardinal direction and one person staying in London, we’ll be able to see what the Tormented are planning.” I looked around and saw short, but confident nods.

  “What are we expecting to find?” Tracy asked. I was quiet for a moment before shrugging helplessly.

  “To be honest, I don’t know.” Doubt decided to creep into my mind at that point. As much as I hated to admit it, Death was right. This was a bit spur of the moment; the link between ‘need more time’ and ‘clock towers’ was dubious at best. But now was not the time to back out. “The Tormented have already infiltrated Andover and raided their armory. They supposedly did this to make it harder for us to stop them. What else could they do to make it harder for us to stop them?” I looked around the group as everyone stared at me blankly.

  “Prepare for the worst,” Agatha said gravely. “I’ll take the south.”

  “I don’t mind taking the north,” Silas said.

  “I’ll do the east,” Tor said.

  “I guess I’ll take the west then,” I said.

  “Nope, I don’t want London. I’m sick of it. Let me take west,” Tracy said.

  “OK, you take west.” I looked around the group. “Let’s meet back under the London Eye when we’re done.” Everyone nodded. I shielded my eyes as clouds of dirt flew into my eyes as everyone Soul Stepped away. I opened my eyes slowly, blinking several times to see clearly again.

  “Walter, where’s the closest clock tower to Big Ben?”

  “Ha! Would you believe that it’s called Little Ben?” I clung to the shadows as I followed Walter’s directions but soon made my out in the open. London had become deserted. There were no signs of life; I hoped that it wasn’t because everyone in the entire city had been caught up in the vortex of bloodshed.

  I arrived at Little Ben and found no sign of forced entry. Scouting around the premises, I saw that there were no explosives set up, no dead John or Jane Does, nothing. I stood at the base of the tower, scratching my head before putting my hands on my hips.

  “Found anything?” Walter said.

  “Nope, it’s just a small clock tower.” I pulled my jacket around me closer as a chill breeze nibbled my skin. “Where to next?”

  One by one, I visited the remaining clock towers. Each time, I found nothing. The clock towers stood as peacefully as always, dutifully heralding the start of a new hour, every hour. There was nothing suspicious at Surbiton, the last clock tower in London.

  “Time’s up,” Death said through the Light Bug. “Did any of you find anything?” As each Deliverer reported back no suspicious findings in their areas, I accepted defeat.

  “OK everyone, sorry for sending you all on a wild goose chase,” I sighed. “Let’s all meet back at the London Eye.” Agatha and Tracy were already there. Tracy waved at me while Agatha shivered, her hands hidden in her habit as she tried to stay warm.

  “Sorry about all this,” I said with a hint of shame. “Guess it was a stupid idea all along.”

  “Don’t worry about it,” Tracy said while putting a hand on my shoulder. “I was more than happy to do a bit of sightseeing.” I smiled weakly at her then looked around.

  “Where are the boys?”

  “Tor shouldn’t be far away,” Agatha said, trying to stop her teeth from chattering. “Silas was 200 miles north, so he’ll be a while.”

  “I’m here,” Silas said through the Light Bug. The three of us looked around but couldn’t see him.

  “I’m on the other side of Westminster Bridge, just under Big Ben,” he said, sounding slightly out of breath. “Will be with you–”

  There was a gunshot and a thud.

  “Silas? Silas!” I shouted. “What happened?” I dashed across until I stood at the west end of Westminster Bridge. I took off my glasses, hurriedly polished them with the hem of my top and put them back on. Tracy and Agatha soon appeared behind me.

  “Is that…” I said, eyes widening at what I saw.

  “Yeah, that’s a fuel tanker… and it’s coming straight for us,” Agatha said, drawing her Lucent Gun.
<
br />   Twelve

  “Silas,” I said, keeping an eye on the fuel tanker roaring up Westminster Bridge. “Silas are you there?”

  “I can still feel him. I don’t know what’s happened, but he hasn’t been Ceased,” Agatha said. “Right now we have to get out of–”

  “Damn!” Tracy said, “How did we not hear that coming?” Agatha and I looked at Tracy in alarm. She was facing the other way.

  A fuel tanker was coming up from behind us. It wasn’t as fast, but it moved quickly enough to seal off our escape route. The two petrol tankers were going to turn us into Deliverer pâté.

  “Middle of the bridge, now!” Agatha commanded.

  “How about that fuel tanker that’s coming at us at 60 miles an hour?” Tracy spluttered.

  “We can jump off the bridge into the river. Come on, let’s go!” In a heartbeat, we had Soul Stepped to the middle of Westminster Bridge. The first fuel tanker was five seconds away from impact. Agatha knelt down and got into position. She exhaled and trained her Lucent Gun on the windshield of the driver’s side.

  As she was about to shoot, Tracy and I jumped. The fuel tanker behind us had exploded, swallowing the end of the bridge in flames. Putrid, black smoke rose 100 feet into the air as embers licked the remains of the fuel tank.

  Remembering the tanker that was about to annihilate us, we turned back. Agatha hadn’t flinched at the explosion and she didn’t flinch as she pulled the trigger. The bullet from her gun penetrated the windscreen. The fuel tanker started swerving like a snake in the throes of death before it crunched into the side of Westminster Bridge and plunged into the River Thames below.

  The forward force from the fuel tanker threw the tank forward. As it sailed through the air, Tracy and I each grabbed one of Agatha’s arms and Soul Stepped back towards where the other tanker had exploded, stopping just a few feet short of its angry flames. The fuel tank smashed into the bridge 30 yards from us and blew up, destroying the bridge and sending a pyre of flames and shrapnel arcing through the air.

  Slowly dropping my arms, I surveyed my surroundings. We now had impenetrable walls of flames blocking off our escape routes front and back. At least we weren’t going to be squashed.

  “Jesus, that was close,” Tracy said. Agatha glared at her. “Sorry, geez that was close.” I pressed the Light Bug deeper into my ear to try and block out the roaring of the flames. I thought of paging Silas again but paused. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the blood pumping through my veins. With each pulse, I probed London to identify where the other Deliverers were. Being right next to me, Agatha and Tracy came through strongly. Tor… was here too. He wasn’t far. But search as I might, I still couldn’t sense Silas.

  “Why do I keep missing out on all the fun?” Walter said through my Light Bug.

  “Walter!” I said frantically, “Silas, I think he’s –”

  “He was killed up there and yes, I said ‘killed’, not ‘Ceased’. Killing is like an automatic retreat. He’s going to be out for a while, but he’s still with us. He’s resting now.” I exhaled and relaxed, but only slightly.

  “Where’s–” Tracy shoved me out of the way and machine gun bullets peppered the part of the bridge I had just been standing on.

  “Rose! What’s happened? Who’s shooting at you?” Walter said urgently. “I’m coming up.”

  “No, stay down there with Silas,” I yelled above the din. My hair was whipping around my head as the third military helicopter from Andover hovered a couple hundred feet in the air. Guess the Tormented had saved it for a special occasion. Agatha and Tracy and I froze as the helicopter flicked on its lights, trapping us in its spotlight. Tracy pointed her Lucent Gun up at the helicopter and fired ten rounds at it. The helicopter barely moved.

  “It’s too far,” she seethed. The Tormented flying the helicopter seemed to think for a while then fired at us again. I yelped as one of them grazed my shoulder.

  “Are you alright?” Tracy said, rushing towards me.

  “I’m OK, it’s just a scratch,” I said, putting my hand to keep her back. “The helicopter, where’s it gone?” It had only taken a moment of distraction but it wasn’t in the air anymore.

  “It’s gone over there,” Agatha said, pointing to a spot to the left. It had accelerated and flown closer to us. Tracy opened fire again, but the helicopter jagged and flew back the other way. With each change in direction, it came closer and closer to us.

  “Damn it, I can’t hit it,” Tracy said. She lost her patience and fired a barrage of shots aimlessly. One of the bullets hit the tail. It bobbled in the air as smoke started rising out. The helicopter started descending and we could see who the pilot was.

  “Matylda? Where the hell did she learn how to fly a helicopter?” Tracy said disbelievingly.

  “Doesn’t matter now.” I got down on one knee and started shooting at the cabin. I landed a few shots but couldn’t hit Matylda. The military helicopter’s twin barrel machine guns started to slowly rotate. She was going to fill us with holes if we didn’t get her first.

  All three of us were landing shots on the helicopter’s cabin, but it was no use. The helicopter was close enough for us to see Matylda’s triumphant smile but not get a clean shot at her. I put my hands up in vain as the twin barrels started spinning at full speed, unleashing hundreds of bullets at me.

  I felt blood spatter on my face, but no pain. As the familiar coppery smell wove itself into my senses, I could feel familiar terrors painted in crimson creeping into my consciousness. No, not here; not now. Opening my eyes, the broad outline of a man over six-and-a-half foot tall stood between me and the helicopter.

  “Tor,” I said softly. It took me a moment to realize that he had just thrown himself in the path of the bullets, then it hit me. I screamed. “Tor!” As the machine guns stopped spinning, Tor stood for a moment before slowly collapsing on his knees. Everything around me started moving in slow motion as I rushed towards him. I cradled his head as his blood wept all over Westminster Bridge. I smoothed the dark blond hair out of his eyes as he looked up at me.

  I didn’t notice that Matylda had gotten out of the cabin of the helicopter and was pointing her Ombre Gun at me. I didn’t notice Walter rushing past, Lucent Gun in machine gun form as he took aim and unleashed hell on Matylda. I didn’t notice Agatha and Tracy dragging me out of the way to avoid getting hit by Matylda’s shots. Tor reached a hand up as a white light started enveloping him.

  “You’re…” he gurgled as blood leaked into his throat. I pressed his hand into my cheek and nodded, tears rolling down my cheeks.

  “Yeah, I’m fine.” With that, he gave me the shy, cute smile that I had always liked before his soul retreated back to the Underworld to recover.

  I stood up and time returned to normal speed again. Agatha was on the floor, clutching her leg. Tracy was squatting by her side, pressing Agatha’s leg to try and stop the bleeding. Walter was standing over a prostrate Matylda, filling her with as many bullets as she had blasted into Tor. He looked across at me as he kept firing into Matylda’s still body.

  “Don’t worry. He’s back in the Underworld. He’ll recover from this.” I stared at Walter for a while before giving him the slightest of nods. I looked over at Agatha. She was on her feet, gingerly testing the leg that had sustained a gunshot wound.

  “Let’s retreat,” I said quietly. “The Tormented have won this round.”

  “Matylda said something I think you’ll want to hear,” Walter growled. I looked tiredly at Walter, waiting for him to continue.

  “‘Everyone knows the bad guys always return to the scene of the crime’.” He spat. I wasn’t in the mood for riddles. Not after seeing Tor die in my arms and admitting defeat to the Tormented.

  “Big Ben,” Agatha said, gritting her teeth through her pain. “They were in Big Ben all along, the bastards.”

  “We checked on every, single clock tower in London besides the one that mattered, just because we assumed they would be too stupid to go
back there,” I said listlessly. “That ultimately gave them the time to set up the trap and do what they had to do.”

  “Rose…” I put my hand up before Tracy could say anything else.

  “Let’s retreat. Tor and Silas are dead. Agatha is injured. We still don’t know what the Tormented are doing though they’re probably finished by now,” I said, thumb grazing the magazine release on my Lucent Gun.

  “No,” Agatha said, staring at me defiantly. “Now we know where the Tormented are. Yes, Silas and Tor died in the process, but they’re safe. We need to go back to Big Ben to stop the Tormented.”

  “Westminster Bridge is destroyed,” I said, waving vaguely at the spot where the fuel tanker had landed. “Your leg’s injured–”

  “My leg’s fine, see?” Agatha started walking again, even standing on one leg. “We can take Lambeth Bridge to the south. We’ll just have to backtrack, but I can lead. We need to go now.”

  “Why?” I said, my frustration starting to show. “Why do we have to go now?”

  “Because,” Agatha said, walking towards me and putting her hands on my shoulders. “We have the element of surprise back. The Tormented will think that we have all retreated if we hadn’t been killed or Ceased in the process. They won’t expect us to come after them.”

  “Yes, because we’d be stupid to,” I retorted. “We’re two men down, one’s injured–”

  “I told you, I’m fine!” Agatha screeched. I openly stared at her in annoyance. Why did she always have to get on my nerves like this? Was it just to spite me? “I’m fine and we’ll be fine, because,” she paused for a moment, looking at me with pride, “because we have you.”

  Everyone’s mouth dropped in surprise. Even Walter stopped shooting Matylda for a moment to look in bewilderment between me and Agatha. Agatha’s face was open and honest as she maintained her look of pride. She wasn’t trying to humor me. She meant it. I stood there for a moment staring at her. I eventually blinked in surprise as Tracy came around behind me to push my jaw closed.