He growled and a scream erupted from his lips. Dwayne recognized what was happening, Conthan was losing himself to his abilities. The voids burst out of the waists of several soldiers, swallowing their upper halves. Conthan’s mind raced as time began to slow down. His powers needed to expel the robots.
His arms were on fire. The blood in his veins burned and only got worse as he let the portal find its other end. The upper bodies of half the robots came raining down on their companions, who stumbled under the assault.
Skits ran forward. Both her arms were blazing blue fire. Conthan was startled back to reality as Jasmine leaned forward and began chasing after the girl. Dwayne knew it might be their last chance to rally.
Jasmine grabbed on to the neck of the closest soldier and raised it into the air. Before she could slam the body back into the ground, a flash of light blinded everybody in the room. Lightning hit her skin, reflecting off her body and spreading out into a web across the soldiers.
Dwayne held on to the piece of shrapnel wedged into an outlet. Electricity poured into his body and as quickly as his body could absorb it, he hurled it at his teammate.
Jasmine reached back and with all her strength, thrust her hand into the soldier’s chest. She worked her fingers into the breastplate as sparks shot between her and the robot. Her hand pushed past the metal chest as the skin ripped away from its upper body. The machine went limp in her grasp.
“Warn me next time,” she yelled.
She took the machine and slammed it into the next closest robot.
Dwayne hissed as his skin began to burn. His internal battery was full and it was only a matter of minutes before it forced its way out of his body against his will. He took a staggering step toward the battle.
“Conthan,” he said as he walked past, “get Alyssa out of here. This is out of your league.”
Conthan held up his hand to protest but Alyssa grabbed him by the shoulder. “They’re just soldiers. We’re after the Warden.”
Dwayne saw even the mention of the man made Conthan’s blood boil. He clenched his fist and the massive portal vanished. Alyssa’s jerking on the man started to turn more manic.
“This is for Class I’s to deal with,” she said.
Alyssa tugged at Conthan and he began to run behind her. Dwayne followed close behind, stopping to hurl volleys of lightning at the machines. They passed large tubes and moved toward the far end of the massive bay. He couldn’t help but feel dwarfed by the scale of the room. It was the size of a warehouse hidden inside the facility.
Alyssa paused long enough to see cages sorted on either side of them. “Oh my god,” she gasped.
“What?”
She stopped running and pointed toward the cages. Inside were dozens of people. They were all wearing body suits, lined against the bars hoping to get a look at what was causing the commotion. Dwayne clapped his hands together, sending out wave of bolts, striking the floor around Jasmine and Skits, giving them a chance to start falling back.
Alyssa turned as light flashed. As the room lit up, her jaw dropped at the sheer number of captives.
“Who are they?” Conthan asked, confused.
She shrugged. “If they’re in cages, then they’re friends of ours.”
“How can you be sure?”
She yelled at the people, “Any of you crazy killers? No? Okay, let’s get you out.”
“Please,” one of the women said, “let me go.”
“How’d you get here?” Conthan asked.
“They took me in my sleep.”
Alyssa looked at the woman. “What’s your power?”
The woman’s eyebrow rose. “I’m human.”
“You’re all human?”
“Some more than others.” She pointed to a man in the next cage.
Conthan moved closer and could see that the middle-aged man’s face was covered in scars. His eyes glowed a faint red in the darkness. “What happened to him?”
“They’ve been trying to give us powers.”
Alyssa turned to the woman. “Who?”
She grabbed the bars. “Whoever took us. Please, let us out.”
Dwayne saw several faces he thought might be former Outlanders. Each of them pressed themselves against the bars, reaching through, begging for escape. He couldn’t imagine leaving them here. Even if they had been criminals amongst society, nobody deserved this kind of treatment.
Jasmine stormed past them and ripped off the first lock. “Project Chimera,” she said. “I thought it was a rumor.”
The captured woman stared in disbelief as the door opened. She examined Jasmine, her savior, whose skin looked as if it was cracked in several places. “Who are you?”
“A convert,” Jasmine said. “Is it safe to release everybody?”
She nodded. “They just want to go home.”
“There is no more home for you,” Jasmine said. “You’ll be hunted like Children of Nostradamus now.”
Dwayne nodded in agreement. He knew Jasmine was right, there was no way they could be free again. At best, they’d be hunted and captured again, at worst, they’d be slaughtered. After a moment, he wasn’t sure which was the worse scenario. “We can offer you sanctuary in the Danger Zone.”
“They’re not powered,” Jasmine said.
“They’re dead without us,” Dwayne replied.
“We’re not babysitters.” Jasmine gave him a stern look, trying to relay their purpose to him without saying it.
“When did this become a ‘we’ operation?”
She stopped fighting him.
Conthan followed a row of cages until he saw a small form outside the prison, lying curled up on the floor. He walked closer to the mumbling man. Conthan took off his jacket, wrapped the man in it, and picked him up.
“What now?” he asked.
Dwayne looked at all the people behind him. “We can’t just run out of here.”
“A transport,” Jasmine said. “There must be one.”
“Can you fly it?”
She nodded.
“We have to hurry. The Corps are going to be all over this place.”
“I’m not leaving,” Conthan stated firmly.
“We can mount an attack another day. We have to save these people.”
“What about Sarah?” asked Conthan.
They all got quiet.
Conthan handed the man to Jasmine. Dwayne knew the look on his friend’s face. There was nothing left but revenge in the young man’s eyes. “I have unfinished business.”
Dwayne watched as his companion fell through a portal in the ground and vanished. As fast as it happened, the portal closed into nothing.
“We’re going after him, right?” asked Alyssa.
“His fight is with himself,” Dwayne said.
Chapter
Twenty-Five
May 20th, 2032 7:48AM
Vanessa could feel his hands pressing at her temples. His mind jabbed at hers like a red hot poker. Each time she warded against his attack, more pain shot through her body. She tried to let her avatar vanish and fade back into her physical self, but the Warden held her mind on the battlefield, refusing to let her leave.
“Angel,” came his deep voice. “Why would you want to leave before the fun begins?”
She could only resist at this point. The inevitable was about to happen. His fingers felt like liquid as they seeped deeper and deeper into her mind. She was well aware attacking him had been a mistake and that her hubris was going to kill her.
“When your will is broken,” he said, “I can only imagine what amazing things I can accomplish with another telepath.”
“You,” she hissed, “talk too much.”
His body tensed and the darkness began to retreat. She could see the Warden’s office again as his assault let up.
“It seems the two I hoped to enjoy have come straight to my door.”
Vanessa realized he wasn’t talking to her. She looked out of the corner of her eye and without being a
ble to actually see it, she knew there was another presence in the room.
***
“It seems the two I hoped to enjoy have come straight to my door.”
Conthan’s chest was heaving as he stepped into the Warden’s office. He could see the man standing at his desk. “I’m going to fucking kill you.”
Conthan lunged at him and was surprised by how fast the large man moved. The Warden stepped to the side and grabbed Conthan, slamming his head against the desk. Conthan didn’t have to feel the blood running down his cheeks, he could see the splatter across wood’s surface. The Warden flipped him over on the desk and his sneer was inches from Conthan’s face. “Did you really think you could win this fight?”
Conthan tried to punch the man but his hand was inches from making contact. He opened a portal and reached through it, feeling the chill of the darkness. The exit appeared behind the Warden. Conthan’s fist connected to the back of the man’s head. He punched twice before the Warden threw him off the desk against a bookcase.
Conthan closed one portal to open another beneath him. He fell through and dropped behind the large man. Conthan wrapped his arm around his thick neck. “I said, I’m going to fucking kill you.”
***
The pressure against Vanessa’s skull began to ease. She clawed at the Warden’s face and he staggered backward. She could sense Conthan in the room. She tried to work with the kid to fight the same man on two battlefields.
“Angel,” he said, cupping his eye, “this changes nothing.”
She stepped in to slash with her hand and he grabbed her wrist. He bent it backward, and had it been in the physical world, her bones would have snapped. She brought her feet up to his chest and pushed off against the large man, launching herself backward. She used her wings to stop her momentum and reached down to the imaginary belt at her waist. The familiar handle of her sword made her smile as she drew the weapon. “This ends now, Warden.”
She charged in, the sword held straight out in front of her. She expected to feel it slide into his abdomen, but she looked down to where he had caught it between his hands. She saw the mocking smile on his face.
“Submit,” he said through gritted teeth.
With the single word Vanessa felt his mind invading hers again. Memories of her childhood flashed by, and in each, he was standing there. She gasped as he pushed further into her past. The memories were beginning to distort until his presence was in all of them.
***
Conthan’s back slammed into the floor. He was looking at the Warden upside down. The large man’s face was purple as he sucked in oxygen. The veins on his neck and forehead were beginning to protrude. His gasps turned into grunts.
Conthan tried to suck in air but his lungs refused to cooperate. The Warden turned, walked over to his desk, and pulled out a small gun. He stumbled as he walked forward and he landed on his knees, looking down at Conthan.
“Child,” he said with a raspy voice, “you either submit, or I exterminate you.”
The gun pointed at Conthan’s temple. The metal touched his skin and dug into his scalp. The anger on the man’s face was palpable. Conthan realized as he was staring into the killer’s eyes that he was about to die.
Remember Sarah.
Vanessa’s voice touched the edge of his thoughts. He clenched his fist and felt the pain course through his tired body. Sarah was dead. He repeated it over and over in his head as the pressure continued to build behind his eyes.
“This”—the portal opened—“is for Sarah.”
He reached into the portal and felt the exit tear open inside the Warden’s chest. He pushed through into a second portal that exited just in front of the Warden’s face. It took several blinks for him to grasp what the boy’s power had accomplished. Mere inches from his face, his heart thumped one last time. The organ was draining of blood as Conthan squeezed it tightly.
“That’s how you win a fight, asshole.”
Conthan opened his hand and the heart landed next to the Warden’s face. He pulled his arm through the portals and strained to shut them. He could see into the man’s eyes and realized the man had only been giving him part of his attention.
Conthan looked around the empty room. He could feel her nearby.
“Your turn, Vanessa,” he mumbled.
***
Vanessa was looking at a nun’s face. Another memory. The young woman was holding Vanessa’s infant self out in the rain. The small cardboard box beneath her contained a blanket. She could see the kind woman’s face, her soft eyes absorbing the sight of the baby’s demon-like skin and reptilian wings.
Standing behind the woman in black and white was the Warden. He was staring at her, examining the small child with wings with a twisted smile. He started to reach for her when his hands froze. He brought them back to his chest and clutched at his shirt.
“Feeling a little shaken?” asked Vanessa.
Standing in his office again, she could see Conthan holding his still heart. She turned the sword, loosening the Warden’s grip and plunging it into his chest. She knew the vacant look of a dead man. He tried to reach for her, but she turned the blade and a guttural groan left his lips.
The sword slid through his body until the hilt pushed against his chest. She sneered at the man. “You pissed off the wrong people.”
One of Vanessa’s taloned hands let go of the sword and grabbed the Warden’s face. She pushed with every ounce of her being and felt his mind begin to crumble. She weaved through the broken images until she found one of a frail man sitting on the couch with the president. He smiled at the woman. She waited to see if he was exerting his will over her. By the touches and hushed tones, she knew the president was free of his will.
Vanessa looked more closely at the image of the man sitting on the couch and could see physically there was no way he was the Warden. She pushed harder at the disguise to unravel the web of deceit. Her mind focused on the Warden, the large bulky man behind the desk and slowly, his image faltered and she could see the older man in his place.
Her mind retreated as she looked at the wavering image of the Warden. It suddenly dawned on her that he was more similar to her than she anticipated. Where she was a master of projecting disguises, the older man had literally grappled and taken control of the host known to her as the Warden. She could see the image of the Warden fading to reveal the frail man from her memories.
He looked up from under his heavy eyelids and smiled at Vanessa. “We’re not so different, you and I.”
“We’re nothing alike.”
***
Conthan rolled out of the way of the falling corpse. He forced the portals closed as he tried to choke down air. He jumped as two men he hadn’t seen in the room before collapsed on the ground. Before he could stand up, he felt a presence nearby. He attempted to force his muscles to move, but found they were sluggish. He took the pistol from the dead man’s hands.
He sat up slowly to see Vanessa standing in front of him. He knew without asking she wasn’t physically in the room with him. His voice squeaked as he spoke. “We won.”
“Not yet.”
“What now?”
“Follow me.”
She reached out her hand. He reached out for her. “You’re not here.”
“Do it.”
He took her hand. The moment they connected he could feel the echo in his mind. He was looking through his eyes but he was a passenger in his own body. Vanessa was in control, showing him her memories.
“The Warden is alive.”
It was a flash, but he could see the memory of a frail old man on the couch with the president. He had no idea how she was doing it, but he had come to expect weird when it came to Vanessa’s powers. He saw the man’s face as he bantered with the president.
He looked down to his hand and could feel Vanessa’s mind resisting him. He let out a low growl as he realized he had murdered a puppet. He thought he had given Sarah the justice she deserved. He looked at the po
rtal in front of him. “Don’t get in the way, Vanessa.”
I can find him.
“No need.”
Conthan started to step into the portal and time seemed to freeze as his powers searched for an exit. His mind raced looking for a destination in which to open another void and provide passage between the two points. His other self soared outward from the facility.
Vanessa was still connected to him. Her guiding hands helped provide stability to his outward journey. He moved as fast as his thoughts could take him until he saw the transport vehicle flying away from the facility. As he soared closer to the vehicle, it shimmered for a moment and turned invisible.
Before he realized it, he was stepping out of the portal into the middle of the transport. He saw Dwayne’s shock and disbelief. “You’re alive.”
Dwayne attempted to take his hand. Conthan vanished and reappeared behind the lightning wielder. “What’s going on?” asked Dwayne.
Conthan continued walking past several refugees until he reached Skits. She sat holding a blanket around an elderly man. She looked up just in time to see Conthan raise his hand with a small gun.
Bang.
They all jumped from the volume of the gunfire. It was done. It was over. The battle had been won. Conthan was barely aware he was falling as Dwayne tackled him. “What the hell?”
Conthan felt his body strike the metal floor. Only a few feet away, Skits was covered in blood. Next to her, a frail old man with a vacant look in his eyes and a twisted smile on his lips. It wasn’t a question that the frail, decaying body in front of him was the real body of the Warden.
He let the gun drop from his hands as the world grew dark.
Epilogue
“Feel better?”
Conthan jolted upright. He looked up into Vanessa’s serpentine eyes. His head and muscles were on fire. Just across the street from Vanessa, the darkness gave way to a large church. Seeing the gargoyles perched on its spires, he couldn’t help but think Vanessa was amongst her kin.
Nighthawks (Children of Nostradamus Book 1) Page 27