Children of the Storm

by Ken Lange

  I roll the drive in my fingers. “I’m sorry to hear that.” He blinks, but I hold my hand out to stop his retort. “I’m glad she had a change of heart, but the past can’t be undone. The only thing that really matters is being a better person going forward. Trust me, this is a lesson I’m currently having to relearn.”

  His nails clink against the bottle. “I’ve been angry with you for a long time, but you’ve proven time and time again that you mean well—even if it doesn’t always turn out that way.”

  Most people have a hard time with collateral damage…me included.

  “All I can say is that I’m sorry innocent people got hurt.”

  He gets to his feet, picks up the empty bottle and the cooler. “Thank you for the apology. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got other places to be.” After putting the bottles in the trash, he steps up next to me. “Be very careful, Viktor. I’d hate for anything to happen to you before we can talk again.”

  I arch an eyebrow. “Might want to make that conversation happen sooner rather than later with the way things have been going over the last year.”

  He nods. “Count on it. In the meantime, however, if you need something, call.” He pulls out a card and stuffs it in my hand. “I won’t be available for a few weeks, but my people have been instructed to give you whatever assistance you need.”

  Ah, wow…okay, never in a million years did I think that’d come out of his mouth.

  “Thanks.”

  Omar squeezes my shoulder and walks past. “Talk soon.”

  Chapter 16

  The last vestiges of sunlight are dipping below the horizon by the time I look up from my screen. Sylvia’s conversion from wanting to sacrifice her sons to the loa to someone who despised them wasn’t as quick or as clean as Omar had made it out to be. By her own account, she didn’t wake up to their true natures until nearly a century later. However, when she flipped, she didn’t run like most sane people would’ve; instead, she stayed, became a mole, and collected centuries of intel on an enemy no one knew existed.

  Her work will be invaluable in figuring out which loa are on the right side of things—those who want to preserve life versus those who’d like to convert every living creature into some sort of weird hybrid.

  After our encounter, Sylvia threw herself into her magic and dedicated her life to the loa. Her goal was to become a vessel for one of her gods. Nearly a century in, she found herself a high-ranking priestess in the service of none other than Baron Kriminel. She hoped to beseech the man to come after me for the perceived wrong I’d done her. But it was then that she discovered that what she’d been taught to believe wasn’t anything close to reality.

  The first of these truths was the schism within the loa themselves, a kind of civil war. According to her notes, this split was caused by some sort of corruption that invaded their group consciousness, severing a great number of their population from the whole. Due to this, numerous factions rose throughout the known world, but the darkest of these sects is Bakulu’s…a side she’d unknowingly become a part of when she swore allegiance to the Baron as a young woman.

  Several of the affected sects were able to band together to create a second great consciousness that served to keep their people sane. Bakulu, on the other hand, did all he could to separate his people in order to drive the loa under his command mad from the disconnect. At that point, they would’ve done anything to belong, to come back into the fold, and that’s when he made a deal with Heidr.

  Through her advanced magic—actually high-tech science—Heidr helped convert the mad loa into the first wraiths. From there, they were able to refine the process until they became the creatures we know today.

  At some point over the last few centuries, Bakulu got it into his head that Heidr’s plan—whatever that is—no longer suited him and decided to branch out on his own. This further fractured his hold on some of his lieutenants. Several broke away, but his closest ally, Baron Kriminel, stayed the course.

  Bakulu started searching for ways to create the wraiths without Heidr’s assistance. That’s when the mutant wraiths and a new form of loa called Geist came into existence.

  About two hundred years ago, Bakulu began experimenting with loa-human hybrids with the aid of Carcinus and Gullveig. The three of them had one goal: to wipe out all life as we know it and convert them into foot soldiers against the mad god—or anyone else who would dare stand against them.

  His current process is slow but effective as it allows him to convert his slain enemies into one of these mutated wraiths or Geist. Given enough time, he can continue his war indefinitely. No matter his losses, he can simply replace them.

  But, according to her research, Bakulu faces one major issue—Heidr. She apparently isn’t pleased that he’s deviated from the plan. She has reached out to this world on several occasions to try to make things right, but Bakulu has ignored her. The last few entries speak of Heidr’s fury and her instructions to a new servant to make certain arrangements. Sylvia either didn’t know what those are or simply chose not to reveal them.

  Isn’t that just wonderful? In the last week, Ethan’s handed me my ass, my daughter’s in a coma, the Loki made it appear that I killed Leonard, and the Baron’s part of some secret cabal to turn this planet into a full-on wraith zone. But that’s apparently not enough. Now I get to add this Heidr person to my list of potential threats to this world. Honestly, I thought that giving the Loki a pass from becoming the big bad evil from my previous incarnations would give me a breather. But all it seems to have done is bring out a whole new set of players.

  While there isn’t anything I can do for Kira right now, I can and will screw up Ethan’s plans. After I’m finished with that asshole, if I’m not dead, I’ll give Heidr my full consideration. That’s my intention, anyway. There’s probably a good chance some other asshole will rear their ugly head before I can get to her, but we’ll see.

  Closing the document, I sit back in my chair. There’s just too much to get through in one sitting, so I’ll have to settle for the highlights while Mir sorts through the rest of it. A part of me believes I should’ve gone through all this downstairs at Kira’s bedside, but I wouldn’t have been able to focus there. And that’s exactly what I need to do at the moment. The sooner Ethan and his brood are in the ground, the sooner I can turn my full attention to Kira.

  I glance over at my phone. No messages, no missed calls…nothing. Which is both good and bad news. If there was any change, someone would’ve been in touch. Well, I hope they would. Crap. I get out of my chair and head downstairs to check on my daughter.

  Save for the new recruit on desk duty, the lobby’s completely vacant. When the guy sees me, he gives me an awkward wave before I turn down the hall that leads to the medical bay. I scan my card, punch in my code, and proceed to the ICU. The curtain is pulled, the door is closed, and I hesitate.

  It takes me a minute, but I work up the nerve to grab the handle and pull the door open. Inside, Nora’s sitting next to the bed, Justine’s checking Kira’s IV, and Nicholas is in a chair at the end of the bed with his face in his hands.

  Unable to tear my gaze from Kira, I search for her aura, which is practically nonexistent. The inanimate objects in the room have a more defined energy signature than she does. What remains is gray; the flashes of gold are gone. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, that was probably the Idunn going dormant.

  There’s movement in the Nexus just before Mir shimmers into view next to me, making the others flinch.

  Nora glares at Mir. “You’re the one who lives inside the Nexus.”

  Mir nods. “I am.”

  She gestures at Kira. “Why haven’t you woken her?”

  He grimaces. “I can’t. She’s offline, and no matter what I do, I can’t change that.”

  Nora glances over at me. “Do you have a plan?”

  I sigh. “Not yet, but I’m working on one.”

  Her voice has a hard edge to it. “I’m going to g
et something to eat and a few hours’ rest. If you don’t have something worked out when I return, I’ll do things my way.”

  I shake my head. “No, you won’t.” Holding my hand out in her direction, I say, “We talked about this. You know as well as I do that we’re going to need more time to come up with a viable treatment. We’ve been able to stabilize her condition and her vitals are picking up, whether you can see that or not.”

  Indignation fills her voice. “So what? She isn’t awake yet, and at this rate, she may never be. You’re not even trying to help her.”

  Fury surges through me, and I take a step toward her, intending to put her head through a wall. I’m halfway across the room before I realize what’s happening and stop. “Careful.”

  Fear swims through her eyes as she steps back. “Sorry…I’m just scared.”

  Forcing my rage down, I steady my voice. “You’re not the only one.”

  She swallows hard. “I know.”

  I turn to Nicholas. “Why don’t you take Nora to get some food?”

  Nicholas grimaces. “Ah—”

  Without looking back, I say, “That wasn’t a request.”

  He pauses, gets to his feet, and thumbs over his shoulder. “Let’s go see what the cafeteria has on the menu tonight.”

  She gives me plenty of room as she makes her way around to Nicholas. “Probably a good idea.”

  A moment later, they’re out in the hall and the door closes after them.

  Justine walks over and runs her hand down my arm. “You okay?”

  I cut my eyes at her. “No, but I’m doing my best to hold it together.”

  She glances over her shoulder. “Might want to try harder.”

  Squeezing my eyes closed, I hang my head. “Perhaps. But I’m afraid she’s right. That what we’re doing isn’t enough. There’s got to be something else that’ll actually help her.”

  Mir clears his throat. “I might have an idea.”

  Justine perks up. “Really?”

  He nods. “Yeah.” Mir points at Kira. “The first thing I need you to do is to give her a once-over with that eye of yours. Go slowly so we don’t miss anything then we can discuss our options.”

  “You sure about this?”

  He shakes his head. “Nope, but it’s better than nothing.”

  I move over to stand next to the bed. Concentrating, I start with her head, slowly and deliberately scanning her from the outer surface down to a molecular level. Within seconds, sweat beads on my forehead. At the twenty-minute mark, it’s running down my face. An hour later, I’m exhausted, soaked, and barely able to stand, but it’s done. The bad news: while the Idunn aren’t actually dead, they might as well be. The good: I’ve found the poison.

  It’s another type of nanite that’s on par with the Idunn, or nearly so. Meaning they’re not of this world, and stupidly advanced. Which just sucks. Nothing, and I do mean nothing, about these things make any sort of sense. Even their aura is a weird two-tone thing, a black mist surrounding an amber core. I guess that explains why Kira’s energy looks so gray to me.

  My best guess is they were introduced via the blood transfusion Samantha gave her. Which given her goddamn track record means there’s probably blood magic involved. If I’m right, and I probably am, that makes things a thousand times worse. Why? Because blood magic seems to be able to bypass the Idunn even when they’re functional, and now that they’re not, god knows what type of bullshit it’ll cause.

  The Idunn have migrated to her heart and brain, covering them in a thick gold coating before shutting down. Don’t ask me why; none of us can figure it out. All we know for sure is that they’re there.

  The only real positive is that this new invader hasn’t fully taken control of her. These weird little shits seem to be having difficulty adapting to her physiology. Which means we’ve still got a chance to stave off their corruption of her system as a whole. If we can manage that, there’s a possibility we can reactivate the Idunn.

  To that end, we’re going to attempt the same Hail Mary we did with Rick and give her a pint of my blood. With luck, it’ll counteract the new nanite.

  I hang the bag on the IV pole and flick the switch to allow it to enter the vein in her arm. The moment my blood enters Kira, Mir snaps out of our world to force her onto the Nexus.

  Pain shoots through my skull as an electronic screeching fills my ears, and I’m suddenly struck blind. Screaming, I fall to my knees, unable to breathe. Then it eases ever so slightly, leaving me swaying on the spot. I grab the garbage can and vomit. Collapsing against the wall, I slide down to the floor, paralyzed by the agony.

  Justine kneels beside me. “Viktor?”

  Numbly, I nod. “Yeah.”

  She pushes me into a sitting position. “You okay?”

  I blow out a long breath. “Probably.”

  She glances up at Kira. “Did it work?”

  Mir pops into view next to me, looking as good as I feel. “It did.”

  Kira’s technically part of the Nexus again, but it’s a temporary thing as the Idunn are being shut down one by one and shunted out of her system. Now that we’ve found the problem, though, we can work on a more permanent solution.

  Chapter 17

  June 5th

  There’s still an hour or two before the sun comes up by the time I make it downstairs to my office. Happily, there’s no one waiting for me this morning. Nor is that the only good news. Kira’s vitals are stronger. She’s not out of the woods yet, but we’re making progress—not a lot, but at least there’s movement in the right direction.

  Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, there’s a massive crate sitting in the middle of the room, courtesy of the Loki. I don’t know why, but the sight of the thing gives me pause. They’ve been free for less than a year and they’ve already proven themselves a force to be reckoned with. But this—this is crazy. In a short span of time, they’ve somehow done research, found a vendor, and had all this made to their specifications. It took me centuries to get to this level of efficiency and they’ve caught up to me in, like, six months. It’s absolutely mind-boggling.

  That doesn’t mean I’m not curious about the contents. If it’s anything like the rest of the semi-truckload my people are currently going through, it’s full of weapons and ammunition.

  My mobile rings.

  The screen reads William Decker. I answer it and put it to my ear. “Hello.”

  He yawns into the receiver. “Morning, Viktor. Sorry it’s taken me so long to get back to you. Hope I didn’t wake you.”

  Leaning back in my chair, I say, “I’ve been up for a while. What’s going on?”

  He clears his throat. “Finally got a call back from a source that can be trusted. While they don’t know where Ethan’s holed up, they have the next best thing.”

  “What would that be?”

  I can practically feel the smile on his face. “He has a right-hand man. Well-dressed, older, gray hair and, from what a few folks have told me, not hard to look at.”

  “Sounds like Baron Kriminel.”

  He makes a ‘meh’ sound. “Haven’t a clue about that. The name I’ve got is Martin Porres.”

  The name sounds familiar but I’m having difficulty placing it. “Okay, got it. Do you have an address to go with the name?”

  A small chuckle comes across the line. “Actually, I do. You can find Martin at a funeral home over on the 3900 block of Washington Ave.”

  I scribble down the information. “Thanks. I owe you for this.”

  His voice turns serious. “Not at all. From what I understand, the man is complete and utter garbage. If you can take him off the streets, that’ll make things more than right between us.” A sleepy female voice mumbles something in the background. “Go back to sleep, honey. Hey, Viktor, I got to go. Call you when I get back in town.”

  “Talk soon.”

  Huh. Seems like this is a good time to play with the new toys. I don’t plan on visiting the Baron without being approp
riately armed.

  I pry open the top of the crate to find several cases of different lengths and thicknesses. Going for the one about the size of a standard briefcase, I find four fairly standard-looking pistols lined up in the foam padding. In between each of them are three empty clips. I remove two of the weapons, along with the corresponding clips, then grab the box of ammunition next to it before moving over to the sofa.

  Mir shimmers into view. “You sure that’s safe?”

  Arching an eyebrow, I say, “You’re in a much better position to know than I am. I’m sure Rick and the others are having a field day sorting through the weapons. Have they turned up something I need to know about?”

  He sniffs. “No, but do you really think it’s a good idea to trust these things before they’ve been properly tested?”

  Continuing to fill the clip, I suppress a laugh. “You’re telling me Rick hasn’t fired off a few rounds yet?”

  Mir suddenly appears in the chair opposite me. “That’s not the point.”

  I finish the first one, lay it to the side, and pick up another. “I get it. You don’t trust the Loki. But here’s the thing: do you really want me to go toe-to-toe with the Baron and whatever flunkies he’s got on hand with standard weapons?”

  A growl escapes his lips. “No, but—”

  “But what exactly?” I raise my gaze to his. “The weapons are safe, the ammo is safe, and I’m way more likely to live with them than without. So, other than it being from the Loki, what’s your problem with it?”