"Enough." Shay pricked Jack's arm with a razor blade then used the blood to write out the destination. "Take his hand, Allen. Good luck, you two."
Jack's teeth nearly cracked with force of his clenched jaw when he took Mr. Allen's hand and closed his eyes to warp. What he had to say better have been worth it. Doing anything with the traitor was the last thing Jack wanted to think about, but if Niki was in danger, he would go through hell and back to save him.
The darkness and static faded away to reveal a sunny afternoon on a balcony of some hotel where pistachio and strawberry ice cream had been dipped up into tiny crystal dishes on a round table with two chairs. Birds chirped in the nearby bushes and people gathered in a park near the base of the Eiffel Tower. Jack rubbed away the pounding headache growing behind his eyes. "France?"
"Paris, France. It's nice, isn't it?" Mr. Allen slid out the metal chair noisily for himself before sitting down and grabbing a spoon. "Sit. Have some ice cream."
Jack rolled his eyes and took his seat. "I'm not hungry. You said you had something to tell me, so say it. I'm not here to play games and beat around the bush."
"Right. First, let me say that I'm sorry."
Jack scoffed and his fists tightened below the table.
"Just listen to me, please. Yes, I have done many regrettable, awful, disgusting things to you, to Ellie, and to my dear stepson."
"You can't even say his name."
Mr. Allen scooped up a spoonful of pink ice cream. "Nikolas. I hurt Nikolas. That's on me. All I can do is try to explain why I've done what I've done. It's not as simple as you think it is. I've been keeping something from you."
"No shit."
"Do you know the word Thysian?" Mr. Allen asked.
"That's what Lance said. Why did he say I'm not Thysian, that I'm a false prophet?"
"He's wrong. He refuses to see the truth. But I've known. I've known since the day I held you in that hospital room ten minutes after you came into the world silently. You never cried. You didn't scream. No matter what the doctors did to you, you just stared up at everyone with those big green eyes of yours. You're special, Jack."
"Everyone keeps saying that." Jack watched the pink and green swirling together in the bottom of the crystal bowl in front of him. "Tell me why. Tell me what I am."
"You are Thysian. It comes from a word meaning sacrifice or offering. I didn't want to believe it because I know what's in store for you in the future, if you live that long. So, in Iskaydrian legends, it tells of a being, a person, a fellow Iskaydrian who will bring an end to the fighting between the Zurvan Syndicate and the Inquisition of Purity. Thysian will close all the tears and break down the base marks before locking the timeline permanently in place, eliminating time travel forever. No more conflict from warring factions, no more Avelayans being enslaved, no more dictatorships like Xander has created. You are the one who is destined to stop this. You can make sure that no one gets hurt like Niki has been hurt. You can free an entire ancient race of people who have been given as sacrifices and reduced to slaves on the hidden fringes of society. Normal people have no idea what is going on. It's not for lack of trying. Many have told officials, but they were labeled as insane, joking, or lying. You are the only hope to end this once and for all."
"Since when do you care about the Avelayans?" Jack asked. "You didn't care about Niki."
"I did, but in a controlled way. You are so eager to forget that I am an Avelayan as well."
"You are ridiculous. What do I have to do so I can be this Thysian thing?"
Mr. Allen finished off his ice cream. "Training. You have to discover and hone your powers. There are many residing inside of you that you don't even know about yet. This is your destiny, Jack. And to unlock those abilities, you need the help of the Syndicate."
The Syndicate was going to help him? "You're insane. You have one hundred percent lost your damn mind. They're trying to kill me and Ellie. Olivia sent me and Ellie to a crazed inquisitor who wanted to burn us to death. Xander wants to eat me."
"He won't once he realizes what you are. There are many still in the Syndicate who can help you. They're not your enemy, Jack."
"They killed my family. They forced my fiance to marry a psychopath. There's a list ten miles long of reasons I won't join the Syndicate."
There was a buzz before Mr. Allen took out his phone and read something on the screen. "But there is one reason that you will. They have Ellie. They're taking her to D.C. to be executed alongside Opal Arrington. They're baiting you. Her life for you joining them."
Jack bolted up in his chair. "I thought Shay had her. What happened?"
"They were intercepted mid-warp. Shay was injured during the fighting, but he warped away. He just messaged me with the details. Will you join the Syndicate to save your fiance's life?"
"What makes you think they won't just kill me and feed me to Xander?"
Mr. Allen tossed his spoon into the dish, making it clank against the sides. "They won't. They are trying everything to get you now. There are some agents who believe you are Thysian. It should be enough, along with you showing your abilities, to convince Xander that you're worth more alive than eaten."
"I'm warping to D.C. and I'm stopping the execution. Then I'm taking my fiance away from everything and we're going into hiding where no one can find us. I'm done."
"How do you think you're going to get there, Jack?" Mr. Allen asked, leaning back in his chair with his hands on his stomach.
Jack gritted his teeth. "There's a base mark, isn't there?"
Mr. Allen took out a small black box with a button on the front. "And this device is the only way to shut it down long enough for you to warp to D. C. in the present. It's connected to a Time Skipper filled with enslaved Chronomancers that fuel the base mark. I will press this button for you as soon as you call Xander and speak with him. Tell him you want to see if you are Thysian and that you want to join the fight for the greater good. There are modern clothes in the duffel bag over there for you."
"That device will deactivate the base mark so I can warp?"
"It's that simple."
"I see." Jack scratched at the wound from the last warp and quickly scribbled the coordinates for D. C. and date for the present. He knew memorizing coordinates for important places would come in handy. Once that was done, he stood from the table and closed his eyes. With a deep breath, he summoned Durendal out of the air and guided it with his mind.
The shining blade sung through the air with the whooshing of honed steel. There was a ringing before the metal hit flesh and bone, showering blood across the white patio like crimson rain. Mr. Allen screamed and grabbed at his left shoulder where his arm used to be. Jack took Durendal then stepped through the sticky mess to where his teacher's arm had landed a couple feet away. He took the device from the still warm fingers and held it up. "I hope you learn to never get in my way."
"He'll kill you. He'll kill you without my help!"
"I invite him to try." Jack grabbed the duffel bag of clothes then pressed the button. He slammed his hand onto his mark and glared at Mr. Allen before warping away.
Chapter 31
With eight shots of espresso fueling him, Dean slung two AK47s onto his back before pulling on the backpack with the first round of explosives tucked securely inside. While only weighing a couple of pounds, the bomb felt like he was carrying the entire world on his shoulders. The severity of the situation pulled down on him, making his legs quiver like gelatin. He checked the pockets of his black cargo pants to make sure the extra ammunition was in place. Even the pockets on his trenchcoat had been packed with flares, grenades, and energy shots.
Dean took the purple motorcycle helmet from the back of his bike that had been modified by Barry to go even faster, then pulled it over his head. He blinked through the shaded visor where an orange reticle, a mini map of the current area, and his vital signs lit up the screen. It reminded him of those shooter video games he played on stormy nights away from the offic
e, but this was real. He pushed up the visor when he heard footsteps crunch on the littered sidewalk.
Niki joined him at the sleek silver bike with the golden accents, in all black with a red helmet tucked under his arm and the curved sword on his hip. "You lead and I'll ride right behind you."
"You got it. You okay?"
"I'd be better if I knew where Jack was. Something's not right, I can feel it. The air, it's . . ."
"Electric."
Niki shifted the bag on his back. His young eyes were dark with what Dean could only call fear mixed with anticipation. Anxiety, adrenaline, stress. Yet something churned in those dark eyes that even he could not place. Niki caught him staring and huffed before putting his helmet on. "I'm fine, really. Barry and Cleo have been giving me meds. I feel great after sleeping all day. Okay, maybe not great, but alive enough."
"We'll head out, then. Remember, we're riding as fast as we can into Memphis then to Zurvan Tower. We'll ride through the front doors if we have to, but we're getting in there. Then we'll plant my bomb in the side office on the first floor before we go up to the roof for yours."
"Why a tower?" Niki asked, his voice muffled behind his helmet. "It's so cliche for a villain, isn't it? Everyone has a tower. It's an easy target."
"The visibility is exactly the reason. They need a tall building to disguise the transmission antenna built into it. Do you know what Time Skippers are? Barry didn't fully explain them to me."
"They're ships they enslave uncooperative Chronomancers on."
"He told me so much information. They have twelve of those ships under that tower. It also serves as a command tower for their missions. A highly visible tower plays into Xander's fantasy of domination. How could all of this have been going on and I had no idea for so long?" Dean asked.
"Maybe people need to know. Maybe we need to make higher-ups see what's going on and show them that time travel is real. I know people have tried and failed to explain it, but you know now because you're been around it. You've been taken through time. It's going to take maybe hundreds and thousands of people having your experience to begin to make a difference. That doesn't matter right now. Tonight, we have something bigger to do."
The engine purred, revving in the blistering cold that bit like frozen flames in the midnight air. His hairs prickled on his arms and his pupils dilated with the spike of adrenaline that pulsed through his veins like a drug. Dean glanced to his right where Niki was straddling his motorcycle. "You ready for this, kid?"
Niki growled. "As long as Xander dies tonight, it will be worth it. I'm done playing games."
"You know what's in that backpack, don't you? You get the gravity of this situation?"
"Vengeance."
Dean had to be the voice of reason. "You need to know that this is real and it's dangerous. If Xander is expecting this, he would have set up frequencies to counter-act the explosives. If they go off prematurely-"
"I know. I'm prepared to die tonight if it comes to that. At least I'll take that demon with me. What about you? You're coming with me to the top, aren't you?"
"I've been ready for this night for thirty years. If we make it out of the tower alive, I have a bottle of scotch buried behind the police station that we'll crack open to celebrate."
Niki chuckled. "I could really use a drink."
"Then let's be sure we do this right."
Dean lowered the visor on his helmet and nodded to his partner. He took off down the empty city streets. Neon lights blurred together, dancing in the flashing reflection across the gloss of his visor. Through the now ghost town of Mana Glen and out into the sparse countryside separating them from Memphis, he rode with Niki at this side until the glow of the city came into view. Above the roofs of buildings and blinking streetlights, he kept his eyes locked on the top of Syndicate Tower looming over the city he used to love.
They had taken away his home, his career, and his children. They took away his future. One way or another, he was taking his life back tonight.
Dean veered around abandoned cars and decaying bodies left strewn like garbage on the curbs, nameless victims of the latest rampage. His heart ached for every man, woman, and innocent child who had been cut down for merely falling out of line in the eyes of a tyrannical government. He looked to the bike next to him. In the black bag on Niki's back, like the one weighing heavily on his own, they carried the fist of justice. Someone would pay for the crimes, for the fear, for the thousands of lives stolen. They would put an end to it once and for all.
The seventy floors of Zurvan Tower shined like a beacon, the screen with a familiar face on it transmitting propaganda for all to see. Dean stared at Nolan Fleur, the friend he believed to be dead, and the now Co-President Tomlinson who stood next to him while they both gave a speech in support of Xander and the Syndicate. How had his friend stooped to such low levels? Was Fleur in on the plan from the beginning? Had he always had Syndicate ties?
The image on the screen flashed to the front of the White House where a young woman with her black hair cut short and dressed in threadbare pants and a tunic was standing below a hangman's noose with her wrists bound in front of her. When Dean rode closer, he was able to make out the face of the battered girl. Opal.
Niki sped up, passing him and weaving around bodies in the street, obviously upset by the footage on the screen. Together, they raced around a military barricade where tanks and soldiers were interrogating citizens and handing out rations to the people. The soldiers shouted at them over megaphones, but they took a right and sped toward the next street over then down towards the edge of the river where the tower overlooked the water's edge, feet away from the banks.
Niki slowed down first and barely shut off his bike before jumping off of it. "Come on, Dean!"
He followed suit, parking next to him and making sure the backpack was still secure on his shoulders. "You don't have to do this. Once we go in there, it's over. No turning back."
"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't sure."
"That's good enough for me." Dean swung one of the AK47s around so he could hold it. "I'll lead. You be ready to reload for me and cut down anyone with that special sword of yours."
"Shamshir-e is thirsty."
Dean ran up the shallow stairs to the glass doors with potted ferns standing like sentries on either side. He stormed into the lobby, squeezing the trigger to blindly spray the room with a hail of bullets. The receptionist dove to the floor behind her circular wooden desk, but a bullet caught her in the back. Below the multiple screens showing the beginning of the execution ceremony, he mowed down eight agents to clear the way for the precious cargo on their backs.
An alarm sounded from deeper in the building, sending droves of agents in purple jumpsuits into the lobby. He tossed the rifle to Niki so he could reload it while Dean took another AK47 from his back and ducked behind a potted palm tree. He peeked around the side to fire towards the closest enemies on the second floor above them. Glass shattered and showered down onto the polished black marble floor. One after another, four fell from the broken railing to tumble lifeless down the escalator.
The orange cross hairs on his HUD inside the helmet turned red as it locked onto an agent with a pistol running up the hallway to the right. He took aim and squeezed the trigger, pelting the deep purple walls with holes and sending the agent to the floor before she could even lift her gun to return fire. The HUD locked onto the door to the office on the left where the weak point was located.
Dean kicked the door in then rushed past the conference table and the coffee machine to the air vent located near the floor between two file cabinets. He knelt down and took off the backpack. With a steady hand, he whipped out a screw driver and removed the screws until the panel came loose. While Niki sliced through two agents with his emerald-studded sword, Dean shoved the bag of explosives into the vent and unzipped the front to check on the timer.
10 minutes.
Drawing a deep breath, he flipped the switch to set the time
r. He stood and joined Niki in the hallway just as the Time Knight sliced through the throat of a Syndicate agent. "Let's move."
Niki was visibly trembling, but his teeth were bared and his eyes blazed with excitement. He was panting and his lips were parted in a fiendish grin. "I think I'm going to go berserk again."
"Calm down. We can't have you losing your mind in this place."
"I know. I'm trying."
"Just keep your mind on the mission. Head across the lobby. In the hallway ahead. To the elevators. Go! I'll cover you."
Dean held up the rifle as he backed down the blood-splattered hallway, making sure Niki reached the elevator safely. When more footsteps echoed through the lobby, he turned and dove into the elevator right as the doors closed. "Rooftop, Niki!"
"I'm on it."
Bullets ripped through the elevator doors just as it lurched upwards, carrying the two of them to momentary safety. Niki touched the jagged holes in the stainless steel and began laughing like a mad man.
"You have to stay focused, Gunner."
The Time Knight slumped back against the elevator wall as he loaded another clip into the assault rifle. He wiped sweat from his face. "Why do I find this enjoyable? I'm not a murderer."
"This isn't murder. This is war. By taking them out, you are saving lives, maybe even Jack's and Ellie's lives. Tonight, you become a hero. Even if no one writes about you in history books or even remembers your name, you change the course of hatred and destruction. They chose the side they're on. They chose to kill people. They chose their fate. We are simply the hands of justice, delivering their sentence. We're almost there. Put your helmet back on. It will offer a bit of protection, just in case."
Niki pulled his helmet back on then drew Shamshir-e and twirled the legendary blade. "I guess it's a good time to let you know that I thank you for all you've done for me and Jack. If I make it out of here alive, I'll find a way to make it up to you."
Chronomancer Page 52