Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One (51 page)

Reaching out with his mind, Air identified targets, finding a line of almost two-dozen Sentinels hidden behind shrouds of invisibility. A composite ward of force barred their way. The barrier flared brightly as Fire and Nick directed their mystical attacks at destroying it.

Court of Shadows Council Chamber Complex, Alexandria, Egypt

Lorcan submitted to the search patiently, turning his sword over to the Council’s security staff. He tossed the portable AI device to the Herald as he casually walked past her, not bothering to switch it off first and ignoring her anger as she fumbled with the power switch. By the time the glowing green orb went out, Lorcan had already entered the
Council Chamber at the heart of the Court of Shadows. He made his way directly to the Champion’s lectern, patiently surveying the assembled Magisters, who glared back at him.

“Are we all here?” he asked.

Imperator Aleksei glowered from the head table. “You have your Full Assembly Primogenitor Luscian, as requested. Now tell us the nature of this terrible emergency that required us all to be present.” He smiled, and his fangs extended menacingly. “It had better be worth it, Lorcan, or you will suffer greatly for your temerity in wasting our time.”

“I assure you, My Lords, that the threat I have identified is credible and unprecedented.” Lorcan rubbed his hands briefly in a show of concern before placing them firmly on either side of the lectern and addressing his words directly to the Huntmaster. “It has come to my attention that elements of the Court of Shadows have allied themselves with the United States government to bring down the Armistice and allow our forces to invade North America.”

The Huntmaster laughed out loud, joined by many of the assembled Magisters. “
This
is your emergency, Lorcan?” He stared at Lorcan in great amusement, but his eyes sparked red and his fangs were fully extended. “I assure you, the decision to give the humans enough information to allow them to neutralize our enemies for us was made with the consent of the full Court behind it.”

Lorcan gave a low hiss, exposing his own fangs. “Not the
full
Court, my Lord. House Diluthical did not agree to this plan of attack.”

Aleksei shook his head. “You are gravely mistaken, Lorcan. Brion Magister Diluthical gave his full support to the operation. You were not informed when you ascended to mastery because you are clearly untrustworthy. Honor and protocol demanded we accept you among us, once House Diluthical agreed to your yoke, but we know your loyalty is compromised. Our agents who survived Brion’s operation reported that you cast aside your honor for the Daywalker’s sake. In your heart, the two of you are already mated. How else can you explain your debasement of your house’s honor in service to a lapdog of the Triumvirate?”

Lorcan drew himself up to his full height. “Nicholas Magister Luscian is my mate and my Master. I admit this freely, Huntmaster, but I do not serve the Triumvirate.”

“Yet you personally led an assault on our headquarters in London,” said Geoffrey Magister Daviroquir, newly ascended to mastery. “The security footage indicated you allied yourself with Sentinels to penetrate our defenses. No doubt you have already informed the Triumvirate of our plans.”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, I have.” Lorcan braced himself against the angry denunciations raining down on him from the stands. “My Lords, it was necessary,” he yelled over their voices. “I needed a way to gain their trust!”

“SILENCE!”
roared Aleksei. The assembled Magisters reluctantly fell quiet. He turned his attention to Lorcan, his eyes blazing. “You betrayed us all to our enemies, and you would have us believe it was a ploy?”

Lorcan faced him squarely. “My Lord, from what I have learned, it is too late for the Triumvirate to avoid their fate, but Nicholas may yet survive. I wish only to guarantee the safety of my mate. For that, I was willing to betray you to learn how they plan to counterattack. If you offer Nicholas asylum with the Court, I will tell you everything you need to know to evade their preemptive strike.”

The Huntmaster regarded him with slitted eyes. “Very well, Lorcan. We will shield your pathetic, half-breed lover. Tell us how the Triumvirate intends to attack.”

“Do I have your word you will protect him, my Lord?”

“You do.” Aleksei snarled at him. “Now speak quickly, before I lose my patience.”

“Takeshi Nakamura informed me that Armistice Security has recruited a spy within the Court hierarchy. This agent has access to the Council Chamber Complex and intends to neutralize our defenses here, allowing the Triumvirate to engage the Court directly in battle. In so doing, they hope to eliminate enough of the Court leadership to throw our forces into disarray, thereby forestalling our order to attack.”

“Ridiculous!” Alejandro Magister Tervilant stepped up to the Challenger’s lectern. “The defenses of the Council Chamber have held for more than two thousand years. No single agent could possibly bring them down!” He turned to Lorcan, and his eyes burned with hatred. “The Magister Diluthical is trying to play us all for fools. I say we reject his amateurish dissembling and make him pay the price for his treachery.”

The Huntmaster glared at the Magister Tervilant for a moment and then turned his ire on Lorcan. “Although biased by his personal animosity, his points are valid, Lorcan. The defenses of the Council Chamber were designed to be layered and overlapping, specifically to provide redundancy, in case some protections are compromised. The Triumvirate has no chance of attacking us here, in the seat of our power.”

Lorcan nodded, acknowledging the point. “Imperator Luscian employed the same protections at Castle Night, my Lord, and his fortress fell before the might of the Triumvirate. That was seven years ago, and they have only grown in strength. Their AI network allows any single artificial intelligence to access the linked power of all of those created minds. That has forever changed the face of war, enabling them to join forces against nearly any magical construct. Should a Triumvirate agent bring one of Armistice Security’s AIs into proximity with our defenses for any length of time, the AI network will be able to reverse engineer a means to penetrate that defense.”

Geoffrey Magister Daviroquir joined the Magister Tervilant at the Challenger’s lectern. “All of this is academic nonsense. There are only three entrances to the Council Chamber—all are heavily guarded, with artifacts designed to identify intelligent constructs. No one could bring an Artificial Intelligence device within the Chamber without being detected. At best, the Magister Diluthical is mistaken; at worst, he is deliberately misleading us. His information is of no value. Let his life be forfeit for his honorless alliance with our enemies.”

Aleksei smiled grimly at Lorcan. “What say you, Magister Diluthical? Is your attempt to bargain for your mate’s life a pretense? A deception to buy time for the Triumvirate’s counterstrike?”

“No, Huntmaster.” Lorcan leaned over the lectern intently, focusing on the leader of the Court. “For mine.”

The White House, Washington, D.C.

President Daniels stood from the conference table, where he had been meeting with the Cabinet, when the door opened and four Secret Service agents ushered Toby inside.

“Mr. President, thank you for seeing me. I realize I gave you no notice,” Toby began.

The President frowned. “Sentinel Jameson, if you have something so important to say that it possesses you to teleport into the front hallway of the White House and demand an emergency meeting, then let’s hear it.”

Toby nodded, taking a deep breath. “Mr. President, it has come to our attention that your government has conspired with our enemies in an extensive espionage campaign against us for more than a year and a half, culminating in the development of a first-strike weapon of unknown destructive potential, based at the Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, California.”

President Daniels blinked. His gaze swung left to the Director of National Intelligence, who returned his stare and shook his head slightly. “I assure you we have not, Sentinel. Your accusations are both baseless and insulting,”

“The evidence we unearthed was conclusive,” Toby continued. “For that reason, Mr. President, we hope you will forgive us for the preemptive military attack that is currently underway to eliminate that weapon.”

Daniels’ jaw dropped.

“You attacked a U.S. Air Force base?” The Secretary of Defense leapt to his feet, his fists balled in fury.

“Yes, sir, about thirty minutes ago.” Toby’s expression remained neutral as President Daniels regained his composure.

“Are you saying the Triumvirate has declared war on the United States?”

Toby shook his head. “No, Mr. President. You have declared war on the Triumvirate. We are simply acting to bring that conflict to an end with a minimum of bloodshed.”

“This is outrageous!” said the Secretary of State, her face turning red.

Toby snorted contemptuously, losing his cool. “I can’t believe I ever respected any of you. You idiots don’t seem to understand that the Court of Shadows plans to roll right over you if the Armistice falls. Their armies are just waiting for the signal to attack. You would have signed the death warrants for millions of people if we hadn’t found out what you were up to.”

“Sentinel Jameson,” President Daniels said through clenched teeth, “I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, pull the other one, Mr. President!” Toby said heatedly. “Do you really expect us to believe that this whole operation went on without your knowledge?”

“There is no operation!” the President shouted. “You have attacked us for no reason. I will see to it that you all pay!”

Opening his mouth to say something truly unpleasant, Toby was interrupted by a voice from the air next to him. “He doesn’t know, Toby.”

Jeremy appeared beside him, turning off the artificial invisibility shroud he wore.

“What?”

“He doesn’t know,” Jeremy repeated, looking directly at President Daniels, who was staring at him in surprise. “There’s no hint of deception in any of their minds. None of them know.” He turned to face Toby. “We are all being played.”

Director Mitchell narrowed his eyes, realizing the implications first. “By whom?” he asked.

Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California

Without warning, their attack faltered. Water withdrew from the link, and Scott collapsed. Nick watched in disbelief as the Wind link shattered, leaving him alone in his head as Anaba and Take passed out around him. Taking advantage of his distraction, the defenders struck, wrapping Nick in a web of containment spells that suppressed his magic. He fought to move but found himself held fast. The rogue Sentinels dropped their shrouds of invisibility and grinned triumphantly. They were all wearing gas masks.

Ignoring the bodies of the fallen Winds, Andrew Kensington walked calmly past his Sentinel allies to stand before Nick. “Ambassador,” he said with a wry smile, “I have been quite looking forward to meeting you.”

C
HAPTER 42

Court of Shadows Council Chamber Complex, Alexandria, Egypt

Lorcan’s face split into a huge grin in response to Aleksei’s wide-eyed surprise. His AI had just informed him that, using the combined computational power of the entire AI network, all of the jumper blocks had finally been decoded. He immediately subvocalized a command to the AI implants Takeshi had ordered the Castle Night garrison to give him. “Now, Sunburst.”

The Council Chamber vanished, washed away in the dazzling light of the teleport matrix. When the light cleared, the assembled Magisters spun around in shock. They were standing on a wide lawn in the center of an eight-pointed star, which was laid out in the grass in lines of pure blue light. Then they fell to the ground, convulsing; only Lorcan stood calm and unaffected in the center, his eyes closed in rapture as he listened to their screams. Finally, there was silence. He opened his eyes, taking in the heavy pall of dust that cloaked him on all sides.

Gabrielle left the wide circle of Fire Sentinels and Daywalkers who were working to maintain the temporary teleport gateway. Calmly striding through the deep drifts of white dust, she stood before Lorcan, waiting patiently for his hysterical laughter to subside. “Are you content, Magister Diluthical?” she asked.

“I once swore I would grind them into dust and curse their remains.” Hatred seeped from his voice. “Honor is satisfied.” He spat at the pile of dust that was once the Huntmaster of the Court of Shadows. From their position on the Champ de Mars, he gazed up at the Eiffel Tower overhead. “Welcome to Paris, my Lords.”

Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California

“What did you do to them?” snarled Nick, his talons biting into his palms as he clenched his fists.

Kensington shrugged. “When we first started recruiting Sentinels to join us, we began studying their physiology. We screened more than thirty thousand pharmaceutical compounds for a chemical agent that would incapacitate a Sentinel but have no effect on humans. Once we found one, it was a simple matter of weaponizing into an aerosol gas. As soon as your initial attack hit the building’s magical defenses, I ordered it released throughout the lower level.”

He stepped to the side and nudged Take’s shoulder with his boot, rolling the Sentinel onto his back. “Vampire physiology has been more resistant to our efforts to develop a neutralizing weapon, but we’ll get there eventually. You might have actually taken the building if you had brought more of them with you. Too bad. I suppose it’s too early in the day to bring in Nightwalkers, and you Daywalkers have that whole honor complex about not killing.” He looked thoughtfully at Nick. “Rather impractical, really. I prefer pragmatism.”

Nick growled at him. “So now what are you going to do?”

Kensington looked again at Take, out cold on the floor at his feet. “I’ll tell you what, Ambassador. If you surrender to me and swear on your honor to make no effort to escape, I will have them all restrained instead of killed.”