The Last City (42 page)

‘How’s it looking out there?’ he asked.

‘Quiet. Something must have changed overnight. No one’s talking yet,’ the commander said and the others nodded in agreement.

‘How’s Shawe?’ Silho asked.

After they defeated the witches, Shawe had gathered up the survivors of his people and gone underground. His brother, Stacy, had remained ill for a long time, but the latest word said his health was slowly improving. Copernicus had gone to see the gangster for information.

‘The same,’ Copernicus replied and Eli took that to mean loud, proud, stinky and fierce.

‘Did anyone see Luther?’ he asked.

Everyone shook their head. The Midnight Man had survived his metamorphosis, but he still kept to himself. Usually the only sign that he was around was a glimpsing of the white wolf running through the shadows.

‘And there’s still no word on Raine,’ Silho put in.

Diega sighed and said, ‘How many times do you have to be told – the Wraith is dead. You’re wasting time and resources. Even he thinks so.’ She gestured to the commander.

Copernicus leaned back in his chair and said, ‘What
I think
is that she’s gone to find her soulmate, wherever death has taken him. I’d do the same.’

Diega snorted and rolled her eyes.

The security alarm rang out and the team jumped to their feet with a clattering of chairs, drawing their weapons in readiness. Eli tried to draw his, but ended up pulling Nelly out of his pocket instead. She chattered indignantly and he stuffed her back in, hoping no one had noticed. The others spread out to the different corners of the room to take aim and the commander moved to a place beside the door. He looked to Eli, who was glued to the hologram footage of the hallway, waiting for whoever had triggered the alarm to appear. Much to Eli’s relief, he saw a tall Fen soldier turn the corner.

‘It’s just Santana,’ he told the team. They relaxed their positions and holstered their weapons.

Copernicus opened the door to let the rainbow-skinned sniper commander in. Santana saluted the commander as he always had.

After Eli and the others were marked as state traitors, the Regiment had imprisoned Santana for refusing to follow orders against them. He was now one of the main leaders of the United Resistance. He nodded to each of the team in turn then spoke.

‘I came to tell you that the war is over. Kry has been defeated and the Androts are surrendering. Caesar K-Ruz has called a meeting. He’s willing to hear from the different factions on their views of the future of the city.’

‘Sure it’s not a trap?’ Diega asked.

‘We believe it’s genuine,’ Santana replied. ‘And we won’t be going in unarmed.’ His focus shifted back to the commander. ‘We need the trackers there. I need your guidance. Will you come?’

Copernicus considered it then said, ‘Give us a moment.’

Santana started back down the corridor, but paused to add, ‘There’s another thing – there was a murder in one of our refugee camps. It’s brutal and it doesn’t make any sense to me. Would you and the team take a look after the meeting?’

Copernicus agreed, but Eli noticed the commander narrow his eyes in an uneasy way. The team gathered up their weapons and equipment. Jude lagged, distracted by thoughts.

‘Alright?’ the commander asked him.

The Ar Antarian nodded. ‘Kry made his choices. He wanted war. I’m just thinking, what will happen to the machine-breeds now? To the innocent? They’ve been enslaved for so long and now this . . .’

‘They’re going to need help and support, a strong voice to speak for them,’ the commander said. ‘This is the beginning of a new society, a new order. There is opportunity for change.’

‘Who will ever trust them after this war? Who will pity them?’ Jude asked.

‘You will. I will. They will.’ He nodded to the rest of the team. He handed Jude an electrifier and the Ar Antarian took it.

The commander left the apartment and the others followed. Eli was the last. He dashed around the room in an excited frenzy, stuffing random odds and ends into his belt and bag, until he forced himself to stop. He checked Nelly was snuggled safely in his pocket and went to the open doorway. There he paused to look back at his work desk, back to the possibilities, the chances – the hidden solution waiting to be discovered.

‘I’ll find you,’ he whispered.

He closed the door behind him and ran to catch up with the team.

All my love to my husband, George, for his belief, encouragement and support, and to the lights of my life – my boys, Josef and Daniel and niece, Charlotte.With love and deepest gratitude to my family – Mum, Dad, Berto and Emma, and Milena, Voislav, Igor and Alex.

Infinite gratitude to my incredible agent, Sophie Hamley, the person who has made all the difference. Words cannot express.

More thanks than I can ever say to all at Momentum Books, most especially to Joel Naoum and Mark Harding for their creative vision and support. Enormous gratitude to my amazing editors, Alexandra Nahlous and Sarah Hazelton.

For reading early drafts and for their continual encouragement, my heartfelt thanks and love to two wonderful friends, Claire Byrnes and Karla Johnston.

Eternal gratitude to my first mentors Judith Lukin-Amundsen, Hilary Beaton, Althea Halliday and Miss Dawn. Your words are indelibly printed in my mind.

And finally to the writers who have drawn me into their worlds and inspired me to dream beyond the walls of reality. I am indebted forever.  

Nina D’Aleo wrote her first book at age seven (a fantasy adventure about a girl named Tina and her flying horse). Due to most of the book being written with a feather dipped in water, no one else has ever read ‘Tina and White Beauty’. Many more dream worlds and illegible books followed. Nina blames early exposure to Middle-earth and Narnia for her general inability to stick to reality. She also blames her parents. And her brother.

Nina has completed degrees in creative writing and psychology. She currently lives in Brisbane, Australia, with her husband, George, their two sons, Josef and Daniel, and two cats Mr Foofy and Gypsy. She spends most of her days playing with toys, saying things like ‘share’, ‘play gentle’, and ‘let’s eat our veggies’ and hearing things like ‘no’, ‘no way’ and ‘NEVER!’. She is also working on more books – including the next book in the Last City series.

Nina's website is
www.ninadaleo.com
and you can also find her on Twitter and Facebook.