Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) (30 page)

“Keep this line open, Scott.” Rory locked eyes with Take as he spoke to his AI. “Cutlass, I need a priority trace on this call and transit coordinates to the point of origin.”

“Trace in progress.”

Rory reached out over the link to Take.
“I’m going. I will take what security precautions you like, but Nick needs me now, and I won’t let him down.”

“Trace complete. Teleport solution calculated.”

“Thank you.” Rory turned away from Take. “Scott, you can hang up now. We’ll continue this discussion in person. See you in a few minutes.” The call disconnected with a soft tone.

“Shuriken,” Take said softly, “where is Ana?”

“Anaba Nizhoni is at her recording studio in New York City,” answered his AI.

“Ask if she can take a break and meet us at the New York City chapterhouse. We’re going on a road trip.” He concentrated and a green bar of energy appeared in his hands, solidifying into his katana in its sling. Slipping the leather baldric over his shoulder, Take set the sword on his back.

“Special Agent Nizhoni reports that she will meet you at the chapterhouse in seven minutes.”

Take lifted his eyes to Rory’s and indicated the teleport gateway with a wave of his hand. “Shall we go?”

“Can you hold the fort, Layla?” Rory asked Nemesis. “This is just something I have to do.”

She shrugged. “The Armistice will still be here when you get back, Sean. Just don’t take any risks you don’t have to.”

Rory hurried to the gateway, followed by Takeshi. “Cutlass, initiate transit for two to the New York City chapterhouse, Emigration Level.”

“Teleport ready.”

“Execute.”

August 2034; Milan, Italy

The white light of Ana’s teleport spell faded, leaving them standing in the Journeymen’s hotel room in Italy while Scott watched.

Rory stepped forward and examined Scott closely, his Gift of Air rising to meet his need. “The Wind of Water.”

Scott’s eyes widened. “What?”

“Nick didn’t tell you?”

“Nick hasn’t told me much.”

“It might help if we knew exactly what you know,” suggested Rory. “As well as letting us know what you two have been doing since you came into your power.”

“That might take a little time to explain,” Scott said dubiously.

“It doesn’t have to,” said Take. “We are the Four Winds. That quad supersedes the other two groupings. If we link, we can share information faster.”

“What do I need to do?”

“In any Sentinel grouping, the element of Earth, if present, is always the focal point and the foundation,” answered Take. “All I need is your consent and I can open up a link between the four of us.”

“I’m game,” said Scott.

Scott felt Take’s psychic probe tap against his mental shields and reached out to it. The Wind link exploded in all of their minds, a thousand times stronger than anything they had experienced before. Their collective awareness fused into seamless, flawless unity. The Four Winds felt Nick’s head snap up in shock from where he was sitting on a park bench on the opposite side of the city.

Earth spoke to Water.
“Show us.”

Water offered them his memories of the past two weeks, every thought and nuance, in the space of a heartbeat.

Water spoke to Fire.
“Show me.”

Fire offered him focus and control, sharing year upon year of hard-won discipline distilled into a single, shining moment of pure clarity.

“What the fuck are you doing?”
Nick screamed, jumping to his feet, his inner voice echoing in their heads.

Water spoke to him kindly.
“Brother, will you join us?”

Earth, Fire, Water, and Air enfolded Nick in their psychic embrace.
“Show us.”

“NO! I won’t!”

“Show us.”

“No. Please. I don’t want you to see.”

“Show us.”

“I’m afraid.”

“Show us.”

A dam burst in Nick’s mind and his memories poured out. Luscian tormenting him, hour after agonizing hour. The moment of his death. The spreading taint of the Red Wind. The aching void when his soul slipped away. The burst of white-hot light when it returned to him while the others burned. Fighting Luscian’s astral form with borrowed power. Feeding from Luscian—draining him of memory, of strength and mastery—the dark power flowing into him like hot blood. Month after month alone with his self-hatred and despair, hiding his real face from his dyad brother. His grief for Scott’s loss of innocence. The pain of the Sentinel’s disgust and rejection.

The Winds held him tightly, riding out the waves of his pain. Sharing his sorrow, they interposed themselves between Nick and his overwhelming sense of guilt.

“I am here, brother,”
Water said to him.
“I will never leave you.”

“Forgive me,”
Nick whispered.

“Be at peace, brother. There is nothing to forgive.”

Nick fell silent, his mind cradled in Water’s arms.

Air wept openly at what he had seen, tears of blood tracking down his cheeks.

Fire watched him in silence.
“Perhaps I judged too harshly,”
she said.

“I’m so sorry, sister,”
he told her.
“For everything.”

“Forgive yourself, brother,”
said Fire, laying a gentle psychic touch on Air’s shoulder.
“Then, maybe I will, too.”

“We are the Four made One,”
said Earth.
“Let the Children of Darkness reap the whirlwind. The audience is ended.”

Unity fractured and their minds crashed back into their bodies. Scott collapsed to the floor, gasping. Ana staggered, clutching at the wall and steadying herself with her magician’s staff. Rory caught Take as he fell and then eased him gently into a chair.

“Holy shit,” Scott said when he could breathe again. “What the hell was that?”

“Wow.” Take cradled his head in his hands. “I didn’t know it would be so strong.”

Climbing to his feet, Scott dialed Nick’s cell number and hit the button for speakerphone. The call went to voicemail. Swallowing, he dialed again—Nick’s bodyguard this time. The shadow picked up after four rings, and he was so out of breath he could barely talk. “Joey, here.”

“Joey, where are you and Nick?”

“Well, we were in a park near the arena, until Nick ran away.”

“He what?”

“He ran away. He was sitting on a bench and then he stood up for a second and took off like greased lightning. I tried to catch him, but he totally left me in the dirt. God damn! How can anyone run that fast?”

“It’s not your fault, Joe.”

“Damn straight, it’s not. How are we supposed to do our jobs when you guys pull shit like this?” Joey collected himself. “Look, he was headed into the city last I could see of him. He could be anywhere by now. He’s all alone, Scott. Anyone could get to him. I have to go back to the arena and grab a car. Maybe I can still find him.”

“He’s probably headed back to the hotel. Your best bet is to come straight here.”

“Maybe. I’ll scout out the route back, anyway. If he shows up there, kick his ass for me, will you?”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“See that you do.” Joey hung up.

Scott faced the others. “He’s probably too upset to manage a teleport. As fast as a vampire can run without tiring, he’ll probably be here in a few minutes.”

“At least he’s not flying,” said Rory.

That captured Scott’s complete attention. “He can levitate? Is he that strong?”

“Oh, yeah,” answered Ana. “He’s done it at least once before, under very extreme circumstances. We’re not talking about simple levitation; he actually traveled more than one hundred miles in under two minutes.”

“Although that was in hard vacuum,” Take said sardonically. “The atmosphere would probably slow him down a bit.”

“Make no mistake, Scott.” Rory threw him a hard stare. “Nicholas rewrites all the rules. The Gift by itself is inadequate to comprehend the level of power and knowledge he stole from Luscian.”

“Are you willing to stand by him, knowing how dangerous he is?” asked Take.

Scott answered quickly. “I’ll find a way.”

“Well,” Ana said, “God help us all if you fail.”

They were interrupted by the sound of a key rattling in the lock.

CHAPTER 38

The Winds got to their feet as the door opened and Nick stepped inside. The Daywalker locked the door behind him before turning to regard the four of them in silence. Then he unshielded his aura.

Completely.

Four of the most powerful beings in the world stood in the room with him, and even they physically staggered as Nick’s power blazed across the psychic landscape like wildfire. Every Sentinel in Italy stopped what they were doing, and all of the Children of Darkness in Europe woke from their daytime slumber and stared at the beacon of power in awe.

The thunder of Nick’s psychic voice was heard by Sentinel and Nightwalker alike.
“Know that I am Nicholas Magister Luscian, called Soulkiller’s Bane, the last scion of the Eldest House, and I am a Child of the Dawn. Know that I am not your enemy, unless you make it so. Trouble me, trouble my friends or my family, and I will burn your bones to ash. I will scorch the earth on which you stand and sow the ground with salt beneath your feet. This is your one and only warning. There will be no second chances.”

The beacon faded as Nick shuttered his power away again. Momentarily ignoring the three Sentinels struggling to their feet around them, he turned to Rory. “I’ll need another Magister to confirm my mastery by Court protocol. Can you do that for me?”

Rory smiled at his recklessness. “I’ll take care of it, but you can probably expect them to test you. You’re an unknown variable from their point of view.” Rory shrugged. “My support will only go so far. If I back you up, they’ll think twice about coming after you again directly. Luscian proved they’re not ready for a stand-up fight with the Armistice. But I’ll bet you hear from them sooner rather than later while they try to maneuver themselves into a position to take advantage of you.”

Take snorted in disgust. “Nightwalker politics turn my stomach.” He glanced affectionately at Rory. “Present company excluded, of course.”

“Of course,” said Rory. He turned his head to look at Scott, who was staring at him in discomfort. “If you have something to say, Sentinel, you might as well get it out of the way now.”

“You’re a Nightwalker?”

“Of a sort. I was turned by magic without dying first, so I never actually lost my soul. I am the equivalent of one of the Firstborn. That’s why the angel was willing to talk to me during the Pact Arcanum, because I wasn’t technically undead and my Gift balanced out the Red Wind.”

“All right.” Scott seemed satisfied.

Rory regarded him quizzically. “That’s it? I have a soul, so you don’t care that I’m a Nightwalker?”

Scott answered him with a level gaze. “Isn’t that the part that matters?”

“Actually, it is. But I wouldn’t have expected a Sentinel to understand that.” Rory grinned.

Ana laughed. “If you’re done insulting our ancestry, we should focus on the tactical issue at hand.” She pointed at Nick. “You have just painted a target on your back and invited every Nightwalker and Sentinel in shouting distance to come take a shot at you.”

Nick set his jaw. “I’m not running.”

“Nicholas, I can tell already that you are going to give me ulcers,” said Take, scowling at Rory. “It was bad enough when I only had to deal with you being stubborn and crazy. Now you’ve got your protégé doing it, too.”

Rory shrugged. “Deal with it, Take.”

“When Nick dropped his shields, were you able to maintain control or were you just stunned?” Take asked Scott.

“With the training you guys gave me, I could hang on,” said Scott. “I won’t lose control again.”

“Good,” said Ana. “Now you can pick your battles rather than attacking any vampire who crosses your path. How do you want to play this?”

Scott considered his tactical options. “I think we should continue as normal for the rest of the tour. If they come for Nick, I’ll protect him.”

“Then we’ll stick with Rory as long as we remain outside the Armistice Zone.”

While the Sentinels talked strategy, Rory took Nick aside. “Are you all right?”

“It still hurts, but not as much.” He glanced at Scott, who was talking with Take and Ana. “It helped to be able to show him the truth.”

Rory squeezed his shoulder. “I’m happy you’re doing better.”

“But there’s still something wrong, isn’t there?”

“Nick. Don’t push it.”

“Tell me.”

Rory hesitantly brushed his fingertips over Nick’s cheek. “I missed you.”

“Oh, Rory,” Nick said, catching Rory’s hand in his own. “I’m so sorry. I was too proud to admit that you were right, that I couldn’t handle it. You have no idea how many times I almost gave in and called you.”

“But you never did,” said Rory, his voice gaining more of an edge. “I waited. I waited for thirteen months to hear your voice again, to see your smile. And then, when you finally came back to me, you were so drunk that all I could do was put you in our bed and wait for you to sober up. Then, in the morning, you were gone—as if you had never even been there. How long are you going to make me wait this time, Nick? Another year? A decade? A century?”

“I’m done with running. We can see each other whenever you want from now on. It can be just as it was. No, it can be better, if you’ll let me make it up to you.”

Rory smiled. “I’d like that.”

“I missed you, too.” Nick grinned as another thought occurred to him. “Hey, exactly what do you mean by ‘our bed’? Are you with someone? Did you finally get over him and let someone else in?”

Rory’s face reddened. “Yes and no.”

Nick’s eyes widened. “No fucking way. You’re kidding me! Is that why you were at his apartment that night?”

Rory nodded.

At Nick’s sudden laughter, the Sentinels paused in their discussion.

“Hey, Take,” Nick said loudly. “Did you finally convince this joker to go out with you?”