“Probably had something to do with locking them in their rooms,” said Aaron. “Tends to make people a little testy.”
“They killed the mothers?” Anna glanced at Orange.
“I’m afraid Mr. Orange there found one of the honeypot data nodes. You may want to check for malicious softs, friend. Only your mother decided to flee. Your friend Jack misinterpreted their clandestine relocation as being eliminated. Mi6 had no interest in ‘squandering’ loyal resources. The other women, and a few of their offspring, are still active agents. Some are even on board with our agenda.”
Orange swiveled around and plugged into his rig.
Anna’s glare hardened. “I’m going to kill the man who murdered her.”
“He’s already dead,” said Hughes. “Agent Allan Charles was found in his flat dead of an apparent heart attack. The Bureau wouldn’t have thought much of it if not for a breach into our network traced back to UCF military intelligence. Our general suspicion is that he was assassinated by a C-Branch operative, but we have no proof.”
Mamoru said he would kill him for me. I wonder how he managed that one.
“I’m sorry, Anna.” Hughes sighed. “Not even the PM knew about Project Seraph. When your mother escaped, it attracted attention and the project was scuttled. Since it failed to produce quantifiable results, no one bothered fighting the decision to shut it down. Of a dozen babies, only three were psionic—including you, and they were unable to predict or selectively breed desired abilities.”
Aaron squeezed her shoulder. “Guess you hogged all the good genes.”
She smirked at Aaron before sending a pleading stare at Hughes. “If those two girls want to come home, can you keep watch on them? You’re certain they won’t be shut away?”
“Seems a bit of a roundabout, considering we smuggled them out… but if you are certain it’s what they want. Aye, they’ll be monitored, but not detained.”
“Neither of them are Awakened. I doubt ol’ Mardling will protest.” Aaron chuckled.
Anna clamped her hands over her stomach to fight the knot of discomfort. James had pulled her out of the gutter, protected her, brought her back from… “Zoom.”
“Oi, what?” asked Aaron.
“Not again,” muttered Orange. “Mind the shit, awful business that.”
“No, I don’t want it.” Anna stood. “That’s what I was on. Zoom. I couldn’t remember the bloody name of it.”
“How do you forget a thing like that?” Orange spun his chair to face her and raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t’ ask.” Aaron smiled.
James wanted me to break ties with everything I knew in London. She swallowed hard, thinking of Faye. Did he mess with her as well?
“What now then?” Aaron got up. “We should probably get back before we’re missed.”
“In a hurry?” Anna found herself blushing when she made eye contact.
“I need to meet someone.”
“That man from the playground?” Anna bit her lower lip. The police bigwig.
“Aye.” He gave her a look like a lost puppy.
She glanced at the katanas hanging on the wall over the desk. Aaron looked vulnerable at that moment. If he was meeting with that man again, his status as an ex-cop seemed tenuous at best. It might be possible they remained mere friends, but if that were true, why the pleading stare? No, that look asked her not to tell Archon. He had to be suicidal to challenge the man. As comforting as James had been to her, he could also be terrifying. Anna rubbed her hand where the chopstick had pierced; she’d rather not see his cold side again. James wasn’t the sort of man to suffer threats. With us or against us.
Anna made eye contact with that same forlorn look; his expression hadn’t changed. Why?
He reached out and took her hand. His touch sent a tingle up her arm and down her body. I had to protect you.
She fidgeted. He’s not an evil man.
Aaron’s eyes twitched. After everything you’ve seen? Ask him about Venezuela. Seventy some odd people sacrificed to the local military so he could recruit a handful of psionics.
That can’t be possible. Anna shivered, thinking of the scientists in the Timmons-Orben building. James did seem perturbed at her protest of killing them all. A faint tickle in her brain gave away Aaron eavesdropping on her thoughts.
A block of sweet… He squeezed her hand. I knew it. You couldn’t kill them.
Her father’s face jumped back into her mind. I am a killer.
You defended yourself.
She fidgeted and stared at her boots.
Aaron wandered to the nearest trash flap and dropped his empty coffee cup into the wall. A faint electronic hum signified its molecular disassembly. “We should be going.”
“Shall we continue to direct newcomers to you?” asked Agent Hughes.
How can I do that to more people? Anna lifted her gaze to Hughes’ chest, picking at her coat. A disruption in the status quo would set James off. Chopsticks had been a demonstration, what would he do if he became angry? “I suppose, but can you make sure they want to first?”
She followed Aaron to the door, hesitating as he stepped onto the porch.
“Coming?” He offered a weak smile.
“You go on ahead. I’d like some more time with Pen… and there’s one more stop I need to make in London.”
33
No One Walks Away
Kate
Kate’s scream filled her mind along with the image of Althea leaping from the cliff. She remembered rushing over, as if she could somehow have stopped the child from getting hurt. Kate had skidded to a halt at the edge, dirt between her toes, only to find Althea gliding on glimmering wings of light. Energy radiating from the girl had left her transfixed and staring, unable to move or process what she watched.
Awe and shame had stolen her words.
Every so often, the reality of the present intruded on the repeating daydream. Sunday afternoon on the way back to civilization. The scent of sun-warmed plastic mixing with cologne. A Division 0 patrol craft flying twenty feet off the ground, Officer David Ahmed at the controls. Kate’s fingers teased at her chest where Hector’s bullet had bruised her.
Kate twisted her plain white shirt. He’ll think I’ve lost it.
Her weight pressed harder into the seat. The sand brown blur in the window to her right changed to sky as the car climbed higher. She looked up from her lap at the expanse of West City ahead on the horizon. Even from miles away, the streaming glow of hovercar lanes stood out against the dark shapes of buildings.
“The last time I felt that emotion on someone, they were on their way into an interrogation room.”
Kate rolled and unrolled fabric between her fingers. “David?”
“Hmm?”
“Do you believe ghosts?” She glanced sideways at him.
He tilted his head as if pondering. “Not if I think they’re lying.”
A hint of a smile played on her lips. “I mean in ghosts.”
“Well, I’ve met some people who did. Handful of them say there’s even one wandering around the PAC. A dead officer too.”
“The admin center probably has more than one.” Kate shivered. “So is that a yes?”
“It’s a ‘who knows.’” He leaned on the throttle as they shot over the wall, urging a grunt out of her as he made an abrupt cut right and up to join an aerial traffic lane. If they weren’t in a police vehicle, the driver behind them surely would’ve blared on the horn. “I’ve seen enough to keep my mind open. Is that what’s bothering you? You think you saw a ghost?”
She flattened the shirt on her stomach and smoothed her hands over the soft, black slacks she’d gotten from the Querq outpost.
“Was it someone you killed?”
The question made her cringe, despite his calm. He hadn’t said it a way that sounded harsh, more concerned than accusing. He followed up with a reassuring non-judgmental smile. Taillights glowed ahead from a ripple-slowdown. An advert bot crept by, tr
ailing a six-foot tall holographic cup of coffee.
“No.” She rubbed her face with one hand before sliding it up and over her head, raking her fingers through her hair. “You’re going to think I’m crazy.”
“Why don’t you let me be the judge of that?” He set the car to automatic and took her hand. “Or are you afraid I’ll run off?”
Kate squeezed his fingers, her face warmed with blush at the sparkle in his dark eyes. “If there’s ghosts, there’s gotta be other things, right? Like…” She glanced up and down.
“Demons? You’re saying you saw a demon.” David raised an eyebrow.
“Not exactly. I’m”—Kate waved her right hand about in frustration—”not the least bit sure what I saw, but she isn’t a demon.” She pulled his arm close, staring at him. “Take a peek.”
She let the memory replay, gripping his hand tighter at the wave of emotion that hit her when the ribbons of energy burst from the child’s back.
David blinked. “Angel?”
“That was my first guess too, but I don’t believe in that shit.”
“It’s gotta be some kind of psionic ability no one has seen before.” David’s eyebrows wiggled back and forth, conjuring the image of an idea rolled side to side inside his skull. “I keep hearing this term ‘Awakened’ brought up. We barely know anything about what they are capable of.”
Kate couldn’t handle the faces he made any longer; she covered her mouth and let the giggles take over. Buildings slipped past as the patrol craft flew along a canyon of plastisteel and silver glass.
“I don’t want to complicate that kid’s life any more than it already is,” said David. “Maybe I’ll try to talk to her about it later in the week when I rotate back out there.”
“I can’t explain the way it felt when she did that.” Kate bit her lip. “It was like she just knew all the bad things I’ve ever done and rather than hate or scold me for it, just felt sad for me. That made it so much worse. I feel like such an evil, horrible bitch.”
“You’re anything but.”
I’m still thinking of going after that Pryce guy too. Another kill for the Syndicate. She clenched her hands into fists. If I don’t, they’ll kill me. No, El Tío couldn’t do that… he cared for me. I can’t let him down. What did Aurora mean by not to worry about it?
“Please stop feeling so guilty.” David squeezed her knee. “That’s the way she is. Doesn’t mean she’s anything more than a sweet person.”
Kate smirked at him. “No one is that sweet.”
“You shouldn’t dwell on it. We know the girl left a permanent emotional imprint on your brain. We don’t know what other effects that could have.”
“I did go there to kill her.” Kate swallowed hard. “She thinks I was possessed. Maybe I was. Maybe I did see a demon.”
David waited for a stiff leftward turn to end before trying to speak. “I’ve heard the stories from the locals.”
“I met him.” Kate scowled. “If he’s real, I’m inclined to think angels are too, but it doesn’t make sense.”
“Oh, it doesn’t?” David grinned. “Angels and demons not making sense, as long as we’re clear.”
“I mean it.” She slapped at his arm playfully. “She’s alive. She’s a kid, not some supernatural creature.”
“You’re overthinking it. Don’t feel guilty.” He let go of her hand to take manual control again. “She’s obviously forgiven your trespasses.”
“You’re not going to let this go, are you?” Kate laughed.
“Not for a bit.”
“You don’t think she’s an angel, do you?”
“I think she’s a person, like you or I… well, maybe more like you than me, but no literal angel.” He slowed and dove out of the hovercar lane. “Heck, maybe she had one in the family a generation or two back.”
“Now you’re being silly.”
He brought the car in for a landing on the roof of her apartment building, slipping in under an awning and setting down close to the elevators. “I don’t think you’re nuts, though, and we’re here.”
She tugged at the door, which hissed upward. “Coming in?”
“Drat, and I was hoping to kill the rest of my Sunday evening doing reports at my desk… Just let me put this thing in a space and I’ll be right in.”
Kate hopped out and stretched.
“Kate!” shouted David. “Get—”
She whirled at his sudden yell; threads of infrared laser light, invisible to the eye, flickered on the patrol craft’s electronic windscreen. Before she could think, muzzle flash erupted from the windows of a white luxury hovercar at the far end of the parking area. Intense heat washed over her body as impacts peppered her chest. The stink of scorched fabric and liquefied metal assaulted her nose. Her legs buckled at the pain of a half-dozen punches, dumping her on her back. Bare skin met the scratchy traction coating over cold plastisteel panels.
Naked again.
Heavy liquid seeped over her ribs, dribbling past her armpits to the ground. More gathered in her navel. Molten lead, neither hot nor cold to her touch, got into places she never wanted molten lead to touch. The low hum of David’s E-90 firing came in time with bright blue light. Althea had repaired the cracked rib and massive bruise Hector’s pistol had left on her chest, but getting shot again in almost the same place hurt enough to paralyze her breathless for a few seconds.
“Officer down, request immediate backup to my location,” yelled David, firing again.
Something exploded in the distance. Kate felt the burst of combustion. She didn’t have to look at it to will it larger. A flare of warmth washed over her.
“God dammit!” Kate screamed, despite the pain. “Twice in two fucking days.”
She sat up, sending the dense pool on her stomach over her lap to the ground. Men in expensive suits scattered about, crawling away from the flaming hovercar. Another laser blast came from her left. It hit a man in the back; the fatal shot left a tiny ring of fire around the hole.
Kate lunged to her feet, willed a blue fireball into her hand, and flung it at the closest armed man. He ignited like a firework, rolling back and forth while screaming. Her mind reached into the energy of the blazing wreck, drawing forth a serpentine mass of incineration, which she rained down on another three.
A bullet slapped her in the shoulder, bursting like a tiny water balloon with the force of a robotic fist. She stumbled backward against the freezing patrol craft, and immolated a man with a pistol ten paces to her right.
Two figures scrambled for cover behind a thick wall of dark smoke rising from the extinguished sedan. A dark-skinned man with silver metal clips every half-inch amid cornrow-braided hair popped out from behind the wall at the end of the elevator bank. A flat, black metal plate covered most of his face, featureless save for a tiny red light blinking between his eyes.
He squeezed the trigger of a submachine gun, spraying bright silver rips in the charcoal-grey ground where ricochets tore up the traction coating. One slug hit her on the top of the left foot, another in the shin, and the third got her in the hip before the recoil pulled his aim up over her head. All three bullets splashed away, molten. Somewhere behind and above, a sharp clang preceded the sputtering of a wounded advert bot.
Kate gasped as though someone in heavy boots had stomped on her bare foot and whacked her in the leg with a police baton. She focused the pain into anger and centered it on the weapon in his hand. All the propellant in the oversized magazine exploded, pulping his right arm halfway to the elbow in a spray of red. He stared in horror at the blood oozing from the stump. She threw a fireball straight into his chest, still managing to hit him despite hopping on one leg.
David fired through the wall; the laser pierced the man’s head, sending a blast of steaming gore out his eye sockets.
“Uhh, command?” said David. “We’re gonna need a Div 2 crime scene unit.”
Kate looked across the roof at him. He’d opened the door out to the side, off its usual u
p-down travel, and taken a firing position behind it. A faint voice from inside the patrol craft said something she couldn’t make out. She stumbled forward, limping and brushing the huge bruise covering her front while tossing fist-sized fireballs at random into the corpses. She hoped at least one faked death so they’d feel it. She recognized some of the bodies. Her anger kept her warm, despite her incinerating another outfit.
Syndicate.
“Kate? Are you hurt?”
She spat blood. “Broke another fucking rib. Maybe two. They torched my fucking clothes again.”
A shoe crunched on debris ahead and to the right. She looked up from the purpling marks on her skin at two huge men creeping out of a hanging cloud of smoke, both with full-length assault rifles.
Paul and Leo—El Tío’s leg breakers.
Her former friends.
Leo stared into her eyes, fear plain on his face. Paul looked at the ground, guilt obvious on his. Old daydreams of Paul, and the usual jokes about how well-endowed he was came to mind. For a while, she’d fancied him; he’d been the fuel for her roaming fingers. In an odd way, she found it amusing how meticulous he was about keeping his flattop afro perfect. The idea of killing him, or his being willing to return the favor, hit her like a gut punch.
“What the fuck is this?” Kate’s body trembled.
“Uhh,” said Paul, lowering his rifle. “El Tío said you’d become a risk.”
Leo twitched. “We’re supposed to get the cop as well.”
“I’m still looking for Pryce. I haven’t walked away.” Kate flicked beads of molten lead off her breast. Had she betrayed El Tío? I tried to tell him I can’t kill for him anymore. I didn’t say no. Pryce is a goddamn ghost. I can’t find him. All this time, I believed he thought of me as a daughter… She gazed around at the carnage and sighed. “Guess not.”
Angel Descended (The Awakened Book 6) Page 34