Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) (22 page)

“Fight?” Nick shuddered. “I tried to fight him already. He broke my leg to keep me from running away afterward.”

Rory held back tears as he held Nick tightly. “You can’t fight him as a human,” he whispered. “You have to let that part of your existence go if you want to survive.”

“I don’t want to die, Rory.” Nick’s voice was fragile. “Not again.”

“Then you have to learn to fight like a vampire.” Rory stepped back, out of Nick’s embrace. “And you need to learn now, while there’s still time.”

“How?”

Rory pulled down his collar, exposing the side of his neck. “You have to feed on me and arm yourself with my knowledge and my power.”

“I don’t understand.”

“There’s no time to explain. You’ll have to trust your instincts.” He steeled himself. “Let me make it easy for you, fledgling.” Reaching up and extending the claws of his right hand, he slashed open his exposed neck, spilling a gout of scarlet blood.

* * *

Nick’s eyes flamed and his fangs extended as he leapt forward involuntarily and clamped his mouth down on the gaping wound, drinking hungrily. As the bridge opened between them, Rory shared his knowledge of how to use blood magic to draw power from a victim. With a rush of bloodlust as his new nature overwhelmed him, Nick ruthlessly turned that magic on his friend, draining his power and knowledge, gorging himself on Rory’s memories until he reached the moment when Rory had killed Take.

Nick stopped, shocked by the knowledge as it penetrated his mind, and certain he was only seconds away from killing Rory in exactly the same way. Rory was not even trying to resist, ready to sacrifice himself to save the friend he had not been able to protect in life. Nick carefully drew back, using his new knowledge to heal the wounds in Rory’s neck, and Rory fell to the ground, gasping.

Nick turned away from Rory as the Nightwalker struggled to pull himself to his feet. He picked up Rory’s cutlass from where it lay on the ground, and stood waiting.

CHAPTER 28

June 2033; Castle Night, French Alps

With his short blade, Take knocked Reaper to one side as he spun around and slashed his katana across Luscian’s throat. The Nightwalker pitched backward, blood pouring from his wounds as Take lunged again and buried his wakizashi in the vampire’s heart. Reaper slipped from Luscian’s hand, fading away before it hit the floor. Luscian slumped, dragging down the Sentinel by his grip on the shorter sword. “You haven’t won yet,” he taunted Take, his voice choked with blood.

Take yanked his sword free from Luscian’s chest, kicking the vampire backward with his boot. “There are no more scions for you to hide in, Soulkiller. House Luscian dies today.”

Luscian smiled through the pain. “We shall see,” he whispered defiantly, his eyes glazing.

Take sprinted back to where Nemesis knelt beside Rory. “How is he?”

“His body is alive, but his soul is traveling. I do not have the power to follow him, nor to bring him back without help. Not even your triad link can reach him where he has gone.”

“What do we do?”

“I can do nothing alone. I need a stronger connection to his soul than I can create to reel him back to his body.” She glanced shrewdly at Take. “You were his First Blood; that creates a powerful connection between your souls. I can make it possible for you to travel after him along that link, and you have more than sufficient power to cast the spell required to help me pull him back.”

“What do I have to do?”

“Link with me.” Nemesis extended her mind and linked with Take, passing him the spellform he would need. Then she cast a spell. “I have strengthened our link so I will be able to maintain it, at least one way, once your soul moves away from your body. Now take his hand and I will send you after him while I watch through your eyes. When you have reached him, cast the spell I have given you. I will cast the second part of it from here to bring you both home.”

Take lay next to Rory, clasping the Nightwalker’s hand in his. “I’m coming, Rory,” he said quietly. Then he closed his eyes as Nemesis cast her spell.

Elsewhere

Luscian appeared before Nick. He looked at Rory, who was barely able to sit up, then at the sword in Nick’s hand. He laughed as he regarded his youngest scion. “Fledgling, are you mad?”

Nick bared his fangs. “I defy you, Father.”

“You have no chance at all, no matter what your friend has told you,” Luscian said, amused. “You know this to be true. I do not have time to spar with you, Nicholas. Submit, and I will make your end painless.”

“Like you did the last time?” Nick raised Rory’s sword, reaching into his own Gift of Fire to cast a spell on the blade, sheathing it in holy flames. “I don’t think so.”

Luscian scowled as he called Reaper to his hand. “Then die. I will take pleasure in snuffing out your soul.” He blurred into motion as he attacked.

Nick blocked his strike and counterattacked. They circled as they fought, both vampires trading blows faster than the eye could see.

A shimmer appeared in the air next to Rory, and Take’s spiritform materialized, surrounded by a white glow, the light of his soul shining from his chest. He knelt next to Rory, who watched him with disbelief. “Rory, are you all right? I came to bring—” He broke off, hearing the ring of steel, and looked up to see Nick and Luscian engaged in combat. “Oh, my God.”

Castle Night, French Alps

“No!” Nemesis sat up straight, drawing her fingers away from Take’s temples.

Anaba leaned forward. “What is it? Did something go wrong?”

Nemesis glanced up at her incredulously. “One of Luscian’s scions survived the Burning. The boy—Nicholas. He is fighting Luscian for possession of his body.”

“Nick Jameson is trying to fight off the Prince of Nightmares?” Ana stared at Nemesis in shock. “How is that even possible? Luscian has always just taken a new body when he needed one. Nick shouldn’t be able to stand in his way.”

“Nicholas survived the Grace, so he is a Child of the Dawn now. Luscian must displace his soul to claim the body for his own.”

“Then this was all for nothing,” Ana said angrily. “Luscian will rise again, and he will just go underground until he builds his powerbase back up to the point where he can attack us.”

“It’s worse than that,” said Nemesis, her expression harsh. “He’s going to rise in a Daywalker body.”

Ana’s eyes widened as she realized the implications. “He will have no weaknesses. He will own the day as well as the night.”

“That can never be allowed to happen,” Nemesis said flatly. “Sean asked you to put Nicholas in a safe place to rise to the second life. Where is the body?”

Ana swallowed. “The Citadel, in the Conservatory.”

“Go there. Now! You must contain the body before he rises. If Luscian manifests, you must destroy Nicholas before he gains his full strength.” She stood and extended a psychic probe to the Fire Sentinel. “Link with me.”

Ana joined her mind to that of Nemesis, who passed on her instructions.

Anaba blanched. “Is there any chance, Layla? Any chance at all?”

“There is always hope, Anaba. But if you cannot keep him contained, you must do what needs to be done.” She sat next to Take again. “Luscian cannot rise. Go quickly.”

Ana nodded, and then she ran to the edge of the battlements, her staff shrinking into a nine-inch crystal rod that she clipped to the bracer on her wrist. She cast a complex spell in the back of her mind as she ran. By the time she leapt into the open air, the spell was complete. Instantly, she took the form of an eagle, arrowing down toward the edge of the jumper block.

“Saber,” Nemesis called to her AI, “access the Anchorpoint faster-than-light communications relay and connect me to the Citadel.”

“Channel open.”

“Citadel Control, this is the Speaker for the Dawn. Authorization Curallorn seven-six-four-two, authentication keyword ‘vengeance’,” Nemesis said to the municipal AI. “Clear all traffic off the master gateway and prepare for priority transit relay for Special Agent Nizhoni through the Anchorpoint master gateway directly to the Citadel.

“Immediately upon her arrival, you are to initiate emergency teleport evacuation of all Citadel personnel through the master gateway to Anchorpoint, with the exception of Special Agent Nizhoni and the civilian Nicholas Jameson. Once the evacuation is complete, the Citadel master gateway is to be shut down and the transmission cores are to be taken off line. This is a Champion-level command that supersedes all other orders and priorities. Acknowledge.”

“Champion clearance confirmed. Teleport evacuation standing by. I estimate one hundred fifty seconds to complete evacuation once teleport protocol is activated.”

“Creator guide your steps, Anaba.” Nemesis laid her fingertips against Take’s temples as she prepared to look through the Earth Sentinel’s eyes again. “It’s all up to you now.”

Elsewhere

Take, his eyes still on Nick, helped Rory sit up. “He’s using your fighting style, Rory,” he said quietly. “What did you do?”

“I let him feed on me. I gave him as much power and skill as I could before Luscian came for him.”

“You let a fledgling feed on you?” Take’s eyes widened. “How did he keep enough control to hold back?”

“He didn’t. He almost took everything.”

“You would have let him kill you?” he asked in a harsh whisper.

Rory looked at him sadly. “It’s my fault, Take. It’s all I could do for him. The Grace would have kept me alive anyway.”

Take angrily bit back his reply and spun around to watch Nick and Luscian again. “It’s not enough,” he said, observing with a professional eye. “It may take a while, but he’s going to lose.”

Rory’s breath caught. “Can you help him?”

Take looked into his former bandmate’s pleading gaze and sighed. As he turned back to the battle before him, he said, “No. Not without a link. If I charge in there to help him and we don’t coordinate our attacks, Luscian will just adjust his tactics to make us get in each other’s way. He’ll cut us both to pieces.”

Rory slumped against Take, tears flowing down his face. “Then he’s won,” he said in despair.

CHAPTER 29

The Citadel, Lunar Farside

Ana ran toward the internal teleport gateway, noticing the evacuation begin out of the corner of her eye.
Just as well,
she thought. She stepped onto the teleport platform. “Initiate transit for one to Tower Alpha One, Conservatory Level.”

“Teleport ready.”

“Execute.”

The world went white and Anaba was left standing in a wide circular amphitheater under a clear dome. She ran down the stairs, through the banks of seats, until she reached the stage in the center, which contained a number of orchestral instruments and music stands. Nick was lying in the center of the room. He was cleansed of bloodstains and was wearing one of the simple two-piece outfits favored by inhabitants of the Citadel, colored Daywalker white.
That was thinking ahead,
she thought idly, noticing that the knife wounds had already healed and the body’s hair had been bleached white by the touch of the Grace.
It won’t be long now.

Ana pulled a short blade out of her boot and spoke a few words of power before slashing her wrist. As the blood began to flow, she walked around Nick in a circle, chanting as she continued to spellcast. Forced into new pathways by the forming magic, the blood formed lines and sigils as she walked. After she had walked three circles around Nick, she healed the incision in her wrist and took a deep breath. Then she lifted her hands and cast the final words to the spell. The three blood circles glowed brightly, illuminating the room with lurid red light.

Ana staggered back and sat in one of the chairs, trying to catch her breath. “Command Access,” she said.

“Online,” answered the Citadel’s municipal AI.

“What is the status of Citadel evacuation?”

“Evacuation complete. All personnel except you and Nicholas Jameson have been offloaded to Anchorpoint.”

Ana sat back, exhausted. “Deactivate the quantum dispersion field around the Citadel and initiate autodestruct of the field emitters.”

“Be advised that your order will render the city vulnerable to attack by gravity pulse weaponry.”

“Understood. This is a Guardian-level command that supersedes all other orders and priorities. Authorization Nizhoni two-seven-six-five, authentication keyword ‘symphony’.”

“Guardian clearance confirmed. The quantum dispersion field has been deactivated. Field emitters have been destroyed.”

“Patch me through to Armistice Security Headquarters.”

“Channel open.”

“Request tactical access, authorization Nizhoni two-seven-six-five, authentication keyword ‘symphony’.”

“Online.”

“Access Damocles Control.”

The typically pleasant AI voice was replaced by a harsher tonal variant.
“Warning. You have accessed a restricted datastream. Unauthorized access is punishable by immediate and final death. Do you wish to proceed?”

“Yes.”

“Identify.”

“Anaba Nizhoni, Special Agent, Armistice Security. Proxy authorization code Curallorn seven-four-four-one, authentication keyword ‘dragonslayer’.”

“Proxy Triumvirate authorization confirmed. Access granted to Damocles Weapon Platform Control.”

“Acquire my position and target my exact location.”

“Target acquisition confirmed. The Citadel, Tower Alpha One, Conservatory Level, Seat A17.”

Ana smiled at the unnecessary precision.
Well,
she thought,
I did say ‘exact’.
“Arm gravity pulse projector.”

“Gravity pulse projector online. Enter payload parameters for calculation of firing solution.”

“One hundred percent yield, with a one hundred meter event horizon.”

“Be advised that a one hundred percent yield gravity pulse will result in formation of a quantum singularity.”