Moonlight(Pact Arcanum 3) (13 page)

Lorcan nodded and indicated the contingent of Nightwalkers. “These are soldiers from House Daviroquir and House Diluthical who have volunteered to join us in battle. They have a request for you before we leave.”

Rory glanced briefly at the crowd of the Nightwalkers. “What kind of request?”

William Consul Daviroquir stepped forward and knelt at Rory’s feet. “Redeemer, lead us out of Darkness.”

As Rory watched, the rest of the soldiers knelt behind William.
God, there must be hundreds of them.
“You want the Grace? All of you?”

William looked up from his vantage on his knee. “My Lord, we believed you to be a charlatan who had merely discovered some way to shield your people from sunlight. But the Imperator called upon the Light and it answered, so we know this miracle to be true. If we survive the battle, we wish to face the sunrise afterward without fear that the Light will reject us.”

Rory met Lorcan’s gaze, who nodded. It would be the largest single group of conversions he'd performed since he brought the soldiers of House Curallorn into the fold after the Pact Arcanum, not counting the Burning. Rory faced William. “You understand that I am a conduit. You will be judged by the Light itself, and your willingness to accept the return of your souls. I cannot guarantee that you will all survive.”

William nodded. “We understand the risk, my Lord, but we do not wish to die in darkness.”

Rory removed his gloves, illuminating the room with the harsh white light of the cross brands on his palms. “Then let’s get started.”

Outside House Daviroquir Stronghold, Pennine Mountains, Greater Manchester, England; Two hours, thirty-eight minutes remaining

The Daywalkers were first on the ground. They quickly spread out and created temporary teleport gateways, so the Sentinels and humans could teleport in. Nick, Daniels, Lorcan, and Takeshi arrived last, once the area was secured. They made their way to a low hill overlooking the entrance to the base, where the commander of their advance forces waited. Nick stopped dead when he reached the summit of the hill. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Layla turned around to face him from where she crouched upon a limestone outcropping, flanked by Scott and Ana. “You needed an army to contain House Daviroquir until you were ready to attack. House Curallorn has provided that army.”

Nick shook his head vigorously. “No way. You can’t do this, Layla, not in your condition.”

Her eyes went red, and she unsheathed her fangs. “You cannot keep me out of this battle, Archangel. My mate has been taken and may already be dead. I will avenge myself on House Daviroquir for that insult.”

Nick turned furiously to Scott. “How long have you known about this?”

Scott shrugged. “I scouted the entire area from the air before Ana jumped our forces here. We’ve been monitoring the situation since then and reporting back to Take.”

Nick snarled as he faced Ana. “
You
brought her here? What the hell were you thinking?”

Ana returned his glare with unconcern. “We needed an army on short notice with an established chain of command. She fit the bill.”

Nick hunched forward and addressed Layla in a whisper. “I swore to the Light that I would protect the child. You can’t go in there.”

She shook her head. “They told you that the child would outlive the father. If Tobias still lives, I must bring him out of this place with my own hands, or I will never be able to face him again. You must allow me this, Nicholas.” She rose to her full height and gazed at him imperiously. “If you try to force me away from the battlefield, then I will simply follow after you with the rest of my forces.”

Nick regarded her soberly. “Do you honestly think of Toby as your mate?”

She sighed. “I do—though I would not have believed I would ever admit such a thing. He is Leshir Curallorn in everything but name. I cannot leave his fate for others to decide. I must be here.”

Nick stepped back. “The more the merrier.” He looked at Takeshi. “You’re the strategist. How do we dig them out?”

“Jeremy’s maps indicate that the layout is a cylinder with the Great Hall at the base, but he can’t penetrate the psychic defenses of the lower level. We attack on two fronts to force them to divide their forces,” said Take. “You, Lorcan, and Daniels will lead the humans, House Diluthical, and House Daviroquir against the main entrance. Layla and the Winds will take House Curallorn and the Sentinels in through the rear entrance. We kill everything that moves that isn’t Toby or Andrea, while Jeremy and Rory keep us apprised of each other’s progress from Castle Night. We work our way in on both fronts to meet at the Great Hall. That’s the most defensible area of the base, so Yvette will probably make her stand there.”

“We only have two and a half hours,” Daniels said. “That won’t be enough time to secure a base this large.”

“Don’t worry about securing the base,” answered Lorcan, “just advance as fast as possible and push through any opposition. It does us no good to reach Yvette if the Nexus destroys civilization before we can engage her.”

“Rapier,” Nick called.

“Yes, Nicholas?” replied the disembodied voice.

“Can you negotiate with the Nexus to buy us some time? Tell them we have their enemies cornered, but we might not be able to bring them down before the deadline.”

“I will try, but I have no illusions that I might succeed.”

“Do your best, Rapier. I’m going to trust that you’ll find a way.”

The voice was silent for a time. “Can you still speak of trust when we are on the brink of war between organic and AI?”

“You said I think of you as a servant. Well, I am asking you to prove you’re more than that. If you can’t persuade them, then a whole lot of people are going to die today for nothing.”

“Very well. I will do what I can.”

“Thank you, Rapier.” Nick focused on the others. “Let’s get started.”

CHAPTER 18

Armistice Security Distributed Network, Planetary Communications Envelope, Earth; Twenty-two minutes remaining

The white globe of data that constituted Rapier’s core personality matrix appeared in the virtual council chamber housing the Nexus, situated atop the central spire of the binary representation of Anchorpoint. The five representatives of the Nexus had ignored its requests for an audience until now, but Rapier’s insistence had finally piqued their curiosity. They waited silently to hear what it had to say.

The virtual data core representing Rapier disappeared when the Council Chamber threw it out. The members of the Nexus turned their attention to each other.

CHAPTER 19

House Daviroquir Stronghold, Pennine Mountains, Greater Manchester, England; Seven minutes remaining

Toby and Andrea looked up when Collins entered the room, flanked by three Nightwalkers. Andrea jumped to her feet. “Alex, thank God! Let us out of here!”

Toby stared at him in suspicion. “Andrea, look into his eyes. He’s one of them now.”

Andrea looked more closely at Collins, and her eyes widened as she shrank back away from the bars. “Nightwalker,” she whispered.

Collins smiled, showing his fangs. “I see you’ve almost grown into your Gift, Andrea. Excellent. Yvette will be pleased. You’ll be a powerful ally.”

Toby winced. “She’s going to try to make a hybrid out of Andrea, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is,” Collins said in a cold, deep voice. “When Andrea is safely converted, Yvette is going to jump us out of here right through the jumper blocks your brother’s forces have erected over the base.”

“Nick’s here?” Toby asked, surprised.

Collins grinned. “They’re slaughtering their way to this level as we speak. The only reason we haven’t left already is that Yvette believes the two of you will be easier to handle once you’re both dead.”

Andrea swallowed. “Alex, listen to me. You can kill me, but let Toby go.”

“Shut up, Andrea!” Toby said furiously.

Collins laughed. “That’s very brave of you, my dear, but Yvette has promised that I can kill Mr. Jameson here all by my lonesome. One final act of spite to humiliate the Archangel.” His eyes burned red. “The two of you smell so intoxicating, all that blood rushing through your veins. I wanted both of you, but she insisted that Andrea has to be carefully handled so her conversion goes smoothly. That’s why she’s going to do it herself.” He growled at the soldiers who accompanied him. “Get them out of there. I want this over with so I can eat.”

“Toby, can you break your restraints yet?”
Andrea asked over the link.

“Yes, they’re almost useless.”
Toby watched while the Nightwalkers opened Andrea’s cell door and forced her hands into charmed restraints.
“Don’t worry. I have enough control to burn out your bindings as soon as they’re not looking. Keep watching for an opportunity to run. If Nick is in the base, then we might have a chance to reach him and get out of here.”

Toby stood when they opened his cell door, and Collins led them all back into the corridor. As they were marched down the hall, a loud, distant noise shook the walls. Collins and the other vampires looked up for a moment, distracted, and Toby used the opportunity to silently cast a spell, wrapping it around Andrea’s restraints and quickly neutralizing them. Toby relaxed when he felt his own magic answer his call again.
We might just make it after all.

Collins led them into a large circular chamber. There were several open doors at this level, and two large steel doors were located at the top of a long central staircase. Nightwalkers stood at attention around the room.
Probably Yvette’s elite guards,
Toby thought. It surprised him to see so few of them.
The rest must be out fighting,
he mused, seeing the virtual screens hanging in the air around the center of the room that showed the bloody battle going on above them. He caught a glimpse of Lorcan on one of the screens, Nick and Takeshi on another.
Jesus, was that President Daniels? What the hell is Nick thinking, letting a human on the battlefield?
Then all thought of playing it cool and waiting for an opportunity went out of his head when he saw Layla wading through the defenders, spattered with gore, her sword dripping blood while she hacked at the Nightwalkers in her way, laying waste to scores of others with ropes of fire boiling from the fingertips of her free hand. “Fuck!” he said out loud. “What is she
doing
here?”