Shadow (Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #4): Bridge & Sword World

by JC Andrijeski

  More importantly, they would be safe here.

  They would survive the coming storm.

  As none of the humans were permitted to tend to the personal needs or bodies of either the patrón or his guests, the servant felt little about this. He knew none of the villagers personally. Well, apart from the occasional whore sent up for a business partner, but those rarely remained in his presence other than to exchange one or two words.

  He, himself, had been trained to a much higher level than his current position suggested. The eminence of the six ancient seers in the room made that position an unqualified honor.

  Further, and more importantly, the servant knew they meant it as such.

  They proved it every day, by not censoring their conversations around him.

  The servant, having spent most of his life masquerading as a human, knew the value of discretion. He had been forced to hide his true race not only from his human cousins, but also from other seers––which had been difficult at times, to say the least, particularly around his more highly-ranked brothers and sisters.

  Still, he’d had help, and help of the most expert kind.

  He managed to go years undetected with the help of his patrón and his patrón’s friends, including the five ancient seers now in the room, as well as those who served them.

  The servant’s success at such a difficult task, given the years involved, earned him a honored place. He could not help but be proud of that place. He listened to them now, he knew, as a result of what he earned for himself in those years.

  Much of their conversation, of course, occurred elsewhere in the Barrier’s folds.

  The construct over the estate and its grounds housed so many layers and mini-constructs, it constituted more of a maze than the underground caverns and catacombs beneath the château.

  Still, words leaked out, here and there.

  It will be soon, sister, the youngest of the six sent, answering a question that likely originated in one of those higher currents. His eyes flashed as the lamps around them ignited, responding to a light-level cue written into the sensors of the organic walls.

  We must wait for the right moment. We have discussed this.

  Is the message being sent? the oldest of the females asked. Turning to another, she raised an eyebrow, her face unsmiling. We can count on her, can we not?

  She has agreed, another affirmed, from his corner by the wall. She will approach the Sword directly, once they reach their final destination.

  They cannot know what is coming, another murmured, his narrow body encased in a forest green chair. We should do it now, before they begin to suspect what we have. It was sloppy, letting them know that a sample of the virus would remain. It would have been better, if they thought all of it destroyed, that the operation came off clean…

  The servant heard the rebuke in these words and winced, even though the seer did not look at him, or change expression.

  The others did not seem to notice.

  It is important to get the timing right, the first one intoned, his words echoing in the Barrier space. Even if it means delay.

  But why delay? the eldest female questioned. They are off balance now. They have no forces to speak of… a rabble of untrained refugees, a bare handful of ranked infiltrators. Now they have the Lao Hu tracking them, seeking vengeance, as well. Most of her followers want her dead. The humans will soon be after her, as well… and him, too, once they know he is alive. Further, they know they are vulnerable. That fear itself could work to our advantage.

  We need more than that, sister, another cautioned.

  We still have our people on the inside––

  None of that will be enough, to bring him in, one of the males cautioned. Raven must convince him. She must convince him of the truth.

  Will it matter to him, if she does? another male asked, his voice containing doubt. Do they not have a history of fighting over the female? Of rivalry, even apart from this?

  The old female smiled thinly, her eyes sharp as they flashed to their leader on the balcony.

  It will matter to him, brother, she sent softly. Believe me, it will matter. Intermediary or not, this will matter to him a great deal.

  In any case, the male will be harder to control now–– one began.

  Perhaps, sent the other female, who had been quiet up until then. Her light was thoughtful, picking impressions off the others as she spoke. But perhaps not. We can still use her to get to him. They are as vulnerable together as they are apart.

  Will we still try to bring them both in? Together? Or––

  We do not even know if they will survive the virus, another male reminded them. We have only tested it on Sarks.

  They will survive it. She was in Hong Kong during the demonstration.

  Indoors, the first male clarified. Not in the kill zone.

  As the other five of them spoke, the servant felt their attention remain primarily on the eldest standing at the railing of the stone balcony, who had not yet said a word.

  Each of them connected to him in some way, touching his light, waiting for him to end the disagreement, or to make a statement that would change the direction of their discussion. The servant watched him, too, listening to the others with a different part of his light.

  He still can be found. He will always have our mark on him…

  But will it matter now, if he is under her protection? She might not let him come here. She certainly won’t let him come alone. There is the Adhipan leader, as well as the old man. They will help her. The old man still has a hold on him, too.

  At this, the eldest of them finally turned his head.

  They all fell silent, looking at him, waiting for him to speak.

  His eyes stood in shadow from the encroaching darkness, yet they all could see them somehow, shining from the depths of a face made of skin stretched tightly over bone.

  “The elder will not last much longer,” he commented, speaking aloud. “We have nothing to fear in the Council, my friends. Once their leader is dead, they will cease to be.”

  All of them paused on this, thinking about his words.

  As per usual, it was his second who spoke first.

  “And what of her?” the old female asked. “She will not want him to come here. Not for any reason.”

  The elder smiled. “She will not fight him. Not on this. Once he has spoken to Raven, the rest will fall into place. He will come here, and then I will speak with him.”

  “When, sir?” she said. “When will the next phase begin?”

  Thinking for a moment, he nodded to his second-in-command before he looked around at the others.

  “My beloved sister is correct,” he said, decisive. “We must not wait. We must do it now. Before they organize. Before they can pull more to their cause. Once this has begun, and the ramifications are clear to all of them, Raven will approach him. She will bring him here. If the virus is already active, it will give him added incentive to discuss terms.”

  “And the female?” another asked, his voice cautiously reverent.

  Those eyes swiveled, boring into the younger seer’s face.

  “That can wait," he said. "We must deal with him first, and diminish their numbers. They must be isolated, even more than they are now. We must ensure the alliances are all broken.” He smiled, an odd expression on that face, pulling the skin on his sunken cheeks. “They are halfway there already, even without our intervention.”

  “Then you no longer want him with us?” another asked, his voice cautious.

  The elder turned, meeting his gaze. A fire shone in his eyes, cold and utterly without compromise.

  “We will never abandon our intermediary to the enemy,” he said. “Never.”

  “But to let his light be manipulated and changed by those kneelers,” another said, his voice openly disgusted. “It is not fitting, for a creature of his stature.”

  The second-in-command never took her eyes off the elder.

  “What will we do w
ith him, if he will not change?”

  The elder smiled, but it didn’t touch more than his pale lips. “Then we will kill him, my beloved sister. Allow him another life to serve those who truly love him.” He gave a regretful shrug. “Sadly, it would be the only gift left for us to give.”

  “Will that not kill her, as well?” the youngest said.

  The elder gestured dismissively. “What need have we of the Bridge? Are we not making our own evolutionary stand? Creating our own futures?”

  He paused, looking over the rest of them.

  “…But for that, too, we must wait,” he added. “There is one more thing our intermediaries can give us, I think, before we send them back to the lands of their Ancestors.” That flicker of a smile returned, even as he held out his hands in a gesture of supplication. "But friends… brothers and sisters… I have not given up on our beloved son yet. I would advise you not to do the same. And she may yet be willing to follow, if we provide her with adequate incentive.”

  Silence fell over the other five.

  Again, it was the old female who broke it.

  “Where?” she said, her eyes sharp as they stared into his. “Once the ground is laid, how would you have us deploy the sickness, father… and where? Do you intend that we deploy globally at the outset, to prevent them from redesigning a cure? Or would you rather start in a few key cities first?”

  His voice grew thoughtful. “A cure is not a viable option for them. Not anymore. I think…” He tapped his lip with a finger. “I think we will start in a single location, sister. I think it is better if they have hope to lose, especially in the beginning.”

  “In the land of our ancestors?” she said. “If it works as planned, it will spread quickly. Quick enough that we will no longer need to work with the humans in Beijing.”

  Clicking softly, he gestured in the negative with one pale hand.

  “No,” he said softly. “I would like a more dramatic beginning, I think. The Western mind is more useful for this. The East handles things differently.”

  “New York?” one of the seers suggested.

  “Rio, father?” another said. “We could use Paris as well… their water supply would lend itself easily.”

  “How about Rome?” another said.

  “Berlin?”

  The oldest seer smiled, staring around at each of their faces, his own still in shadow.

  “No,” he said softly. “I think we will get the Bridge’s attention far more easily if we deploy the first wave where she is most likely to know at least a few rats in the lab.” He clicked in amusement at their expressions, pausing on the knowing look from his second-in-command. “We will start it in her home town. It is fitting, do you not think?”

  “San Francisco,” one of them breathed.

  “America,” another said. “Yes. It is right. It is brilliant, father. Perfect.”

  His lieutenant did not speak.

  The servant could tell that she had already drawn the obvious conclusion the other four only reached following the elder’s words. But then, she, like the servant himself, had worked far more closely and directly with the Bridge and her mate than the other seers in the room.

  The servant watched as the five lights coiled in odd tangents over their heads. Each of them thought through the implications of the elder’s words, what it would mean for them personally in the coming months.

  As they did, the servant felt it, in a sudden, longing flash.

  This was a historic moment.

  The world was changing once again.

  He, blessed servant and loyal follower, had just witnessed the very words that would set that change in motion.

  * * *

  WANT TO READ THE NEXT ADVENTURE FOR ALLIE & REVIK?

  Check out the next installment in the BRIDGE & SWORD WORLD:

  KNIGHT (Bridge & Sword: Apocalypse #1)

  Allie and Revik set up camp in New York City, along with the remnants of their seer alliance. Not long after they arrive, a human-killing virus strikes San Francisco and Allie’s loved ones start to disappear. Fielding off attacks by the Lao Hu and the mysterious Shadow, Allie and Revik are forced to make impossible choices as they learn how to work together again. Meanwhile, Allie’s brother, Jon, is going through big changes of his own as he and the ex-rebel, Wreg, work to find humans on a list marking them as key players in the apocalypse––an apocalypse which already seems to be underway.

  ~ or ~

  WANT TO READ ABOUT SEERS IN A WORLD CLOSE TO OURS?

  Check out the Quentin Black World, starting with:

  BLACK IN WHITE (Quentin Black Mystery #1)

  Forensic psychologist Miri Fox has an uncanny sense about people. When police think they've nailed the "Wedding Killer," she agrees to check the guy out, but the suspect, Quentin R. Black, isn't at all what she expects. When he confronts Miri about the nature of her peculiar insight, she is drawn into Black's bizarre world and a game of cat and mouse with a deadly killer who just might be Black himself. Worse, she finds herself irresistibly drawn to Black, a complication she doesn’t need with a best friend who’s a homicide cop and a boyfriend in intelligence.

  * * *

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  THE BRIDGE & SWORD WORLD is a dark, unique and gritty apocalyptic world and alternate history of Earth. It features a young woman grappling with her role in bringing about the end of one world and the start of a new one. Follow Allie Taylor and her antihero partner in crime, Dehgoies Revik, as they fight terrifying enemies and one another in a passionate story spanning centuries, and filled with unpredictable twists, turns and betrayals.

  QUENTIN BLACK MYSTERY WORLD encompasses a number of dark, gritty paranormal mystery arcs with science fiction elements, starring brilliant and mysterious Quentin Black and forensic psychologist Miriam Fox. For fans of realistic paranormal mysteries with romantic elements, the series spans continents and dimensions as Black solves crimes, takes on other races and tries to keep his and Miri’s true identities secret to keep them both alive.

  THE ALIEN APOCALYPSE SERIES is a dystopian new adult romance about a tough girl named Jet Tetsuo who grew up on Earth following an alien invasion. Forced into living among her conquerors, she has to navigate a treacherous world full of enemies who pose as friends, even as she becomes their most famous fighter in the Rings, a modern day version of the coliseum.

  THE GATE SHIFTER SERIES is an unusual shifter romance centering on shifters from another world altogether, called morph. Earth humans remained blissfully ignorant of the existence of alternate dimensions until Nihkil Jamri tries to save private detective, Dakota Reyes, while he is surveying Earth. Part urban fantasy, part detective series, part paranormal romance, part science fiction adventure, the Gate Shifter series explores crime solving, interstellar warfare and alien romance with the least likely candidates imaginable.

  * * *

  Read More from JC Andrijeski

  http://jcandrijeski.com

  “Seeking Truth in Made-Up Worlds”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  JC Andrijeski is a USA Today bestselling author who writes paranormal mystery, along with apocalyptic and cyberpunk-y science fiction, often with a metaphysical bent.

  JC has a background in journalism, history and politics, and currently occupies herself by traipsing around the globe and reading whatever she can get her hands on. She grew up in the Bay Area of California, but has lived abroad in Europe, Australia and Asia, and from coast to coast in the continental United States.

  To learn more about me and my writing, please visit jcandrijeski.com
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  SHADOW

  Bridge & Sword: Awakenings #4

  Copyright © 2017 by JC Andrijeski

  Published by White Sun Press

  Cover Art & Design by Damonza.com

  2017

  Link with me at: http://jcandrijeski.com

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.