Zero Sum (44 page)

Rei swallowed. Her pupils had blown as wide as saucepans.

“Right. Sure. No problem,” I said abandoning my effort. “I’ll go clean up.”

I hustled off to the restroom and didn’t dare look back.

Rei didn’t wait. She bit into the first corpse as I rushed away.

More like an incision my ass.

+

I washed out my wound in the sink. It was just a graze—the bullet’s friction had done a decent job of sealing it—but I made extra certain to remove all the dried blood. (No point in being a tease.) I looked up at my reflection and let out a puff of air. We had evacuated the innocents. We had gotten our proof. But one question remained: Should we go after the six initiates or just let Sadie blow the tower? Part of me wanted to bolt. What were Rei and I gonna do against a coven full of mages with mercenaries and trolls backing them up? Our job was to get our proof and get out. We were supposed to leave the rest to the ICE. We had met and exceeded our objectives, but a dying girl had begged me to storm up there and save her sister. I frowned. I didn’t even know if her sister was still alive. This wasn’t a call I could make alone. Rei and I needed to talk this over.
 

She was finishing up when I arrived. Puddles of red had soaked through the carpet.
 

“Feeling better?” I asked tentatively.

She stood up and shook out her hair. When she looked at me, her eyes were grey but lazy.

“You have no conception.”

She wiped her mouth off on the back of her hand.

“Cool,” I managed. Rei was a sight. Mussed up makeup and a face-full of blood. I didn’t even bother to look at her snacks. How you extracted blood out of dead men was beyond me; Rei must have gotten inventive. I walked straight past them and looked out the window. Thousands of tiny dots mingled about below. Revelers were getting warmed up for this night’s festivities down the entire length of the strip. A bout of vertigo took me, and I was forced to look away.

“So what do we do now?” I asked.

“Pardon?” Rei asked, covering a burp. She looked confused.

“I mean, do we go after Carrera or just let Sadie blow the thing? I promised that girl I would find her sister—but you didn’t, Rei. I’ll understand if you want to call it a night. You did everything Albright asked. Your job is done.”

“Have you not been listening to the radio? Sadie Thompson is not reporting in. We are all that is left.”

“What?” I exclaimed. “My radio started screeching when the lights went out.”

“Indeed, mine as well.” Rei pulled off one of the men’s jackets and wiped off her face. “It was rather annoying.”

My jaw dropped. “The speaker was screaming in your ear this whole time?”

“The noise ceased when Carrera and his men ascended above us.” She tossed the used jacket on its owner’s head and shrugged. “I have recovered.”

“Is Ichijo okay? Is the ICE going to intervene?”

Rei’s lips drew into taught lines. “Fukimura-san was shot in the gut. The Druid managed to stop the bleeding, but his condition remains grave. Lieutenant Dante delivered our evidence to the ICE reps. They confirmed that the ACT is indeed contraband from beyond the frame, but Monique fears they will arrive too late to avert the reaping.”

“What the hell, I thought there was a team ready to go?”

“The assault on the Salt Lake leynode has the international community in an uproar. There are running street battles in downtown Salt Lake. The ICE is more concerned about information control.”

“Stars above,” I groaned.

“Indeed.”

I fished the radio out of my pants and stuck the device back in my ear. “Thank God,” Monique said over the comm. “We were listening to the shuffling of your pants for the past fifteen minutes.” I swallowed. Thank goodness that was all they heard. If they had heard what I told Ms. Curray…

“Um, sorry about that. What do you want us to do, captain?”
 

The question was met with silence.
 

I shook my head. “Monique is freezing up again, isn’t she?”

“I believe the captain is past that, Dieter.” Rei reloaded the two submachine guns. She went through the motions with the same fluid creepiness as my dad.
 

“Did hurling plaster at Monique grant you some sort of insight?”

Rei shrugged. “We bonded.”

“No, you shaved her head.”

Rei rolled her eyes. “Would you prefer we do one another’s nails while watching mind-numbing romantic comedies?” She handed me a gun. “You have thirty rounds. I’ve set the weapon to fire three rounds with every trigger pull. Aim low. The muzzle kicks upwards as the rounds fire.” She frowned. “You are holding it too far out. Nestle the stock in the pocket of your shoulder.”

“I’ve never used one.”

Rei looked surprised. “So Picasso’s son cannot paint…” She smiled. “Very well. If you survive, I shall give you private lessons.”

Monique clicked in: “Dieter, Rei, I’m sorry, but I need you to get up to the observation deck and set up a translocation circle. We still can’t raise Sadie on the radio. We can’t count on her to blow the tower. An ICE assault team is en-route, but they’re cutting it tight. We have to buy time. Lambda is going to have to conduct an assault.”

Rei mimed an I-told-you-so.

I stuck out my tongue.

She motioned to bite it.

“Captain,” I asked, “did you just order us to kick ass and chew bubble gum?”

“Hell yea, baby,” Roster replied. “I finally get to see your bitch ass in motion. Last one to five thugs has to score us some beer.”

“Deal. We’ll radio when we are in position to set up the circle.”
 

I took a deep breath. “Okay,” I said to myself. “We can do this.”

I looked up at the ceiling.

“Hold the phone, kumpadre. How the heck do we get through a foot of concrete?”

Rei smiled. “Through? Dieter, you are thinking too linear. We go around it.”

“What?”

“Be honored. I’m going to give you a piggy-back ride.”

I glanced out the window and put two and two together.
 

“No way,” I said backing up.

“Dieter, phobias are to be overcome. Hop on my back.”

“You can lift
both
of us?”

She crossed her arms and cocked her head.

“I know, I know. This is the part where you say: ‘Dieter, my most misinformed compatriot, do not doubt my power. I am not some lowly catacomb cat. I am a Pure. Tremble at my potency.’”

Rei nodded in agreement.

Cursing the day I was born, I strapped my new death stick onto my back. “Let’s get this over with.”

Tapping a finger against her chin, Rei nodded to herself. “Roster was correct. I do see the resemblance. However, you are a bit taller—and you have more hair—and you are still wearing shoes.”

“Huh?”

“My sisters and I loved the part where he ran across the broken glass.” Rei touched a finger to her lips. “And that scene in the bathroom was most—”

“Stow the Bruce Willis fantasy session, will you? And speaking of your sister, what the hell is the Duchess of Whatever doing here anyway?”

“Meddling.”

I opened my mouth, but Rei gave me the don’t-you-dare-ask-me-about-internal-Bathory-affairs glare. I put my hands up. “I get it, family business and whatnot, but Rei, if Anna tears my head off, I’m holding you personally responsible.”

The air popped, and the color drained from Rei’s eyes. “She shall not touch you.” I took a step backward. Rei’s voice was as cold as ice. “You aren’t
hers
.” The greed couched in her tone…This was not the girl I knew. This was an entirely different person, pleonexic to the core. But the moment passed, the tension in the air released, and her features returned to normal. “Now stop stalling,” she cooed. It was like she’d come out of a trance. “It’s piggyback time. Hop on Aunty Rei’s back.”

+

Rei bashed the window with a chair until it shattered. I watched the shards began their thirty-second journey back to planet Earth and yelped like a schoolgirl as the pressure change caused air to gust out into the night. Rei grabbed me by the collar before I could flee.

I had every reason to run. The whole damn thing slanted outwards. Who the hell slants windows that are three-hundred-and-fifty meters above the Earth’s surface?
 

“Take all the blood you want!” I pleaded.

“Maybe later.” She patted her back. “Hop on.”

“I want Albright to tear up that damn contract right now!”

“My most acrophobic sidekick, you are immune to wipes. The Department would have to puddle your diminutive brain before they released you…which is equivalent to the worst outcome of this adventure.”

I frowned. She had a point. “Did you just call me the sidekick? I’m not the sidekick. You’re the sidekick.” I jumped on her back and clung like a baby koala. “Advance, my minion.”

“Goodness, you are fat,” she lamented.

I had second thoughts, but before I could bolt, Rei leapt out the window and snatched hold of the window frame with a single hand. We swung out in a gut-wrenching arch. The metal groaned, but Rei’s grip held firm. I started shivering uncontrollably, but I had to admit it was amazing. We were hanging off a building, dangling from a 45-degree ledge, gust after gust was knocking into us, but Rei wasn’t even breaking a sweat.
 

I frowned. I wasn’t sure if Rei
could
sweat.

Hand-over-hand, she began a slow climb up the thin windowsill. Each grip change left bent metal in its wake. “Holy crap,” I muttered. I reminded myself to never declare a thumb war.

“Do not pee on the dress, sidekick,” Rei ordered. “It is a Gar Vanderlik original.”
 

“Yes, ma’am,” I managed.

We made good progress in the next five minutes. Rei was breathing hard, but her pace wasn’t slowing. The steady pace of her hands buoyed my confidence. It looked like a kersplatting wasn’t in the cards. Relieved, I started to perk up. Then I did something extraordinarily stupid: I looked down. A swirl of bright lights greeted my vision. The massive hotels glimmered like tiny models. The merrymakers milled about like ants.
 

My head spun. My vision whirled. I didn’t dare say anything, but I was teetering on the edge of a full-blown panic attack. I imagined the gun dangling from my back slipping off and plummeting to the ground. I imagined the hard metal shattering into a million pieces on the asphalt below. I saw my own grip falter. Felt my own body do the same. My heart racing, I gripped Rei more tightly and buried my face in her hair. The familiar smell of lavender helped stave off the freak out.

Rei stopped climbing.
 

“Dieter!” She gasped. “You’re squeezing my…”
 

I ignored her. The scent of lavender was comforting. So was the perfect, hand-sized pillow my left hand was holding. It was soft and tender on the outside, but nice and firm at the center. I felt a tiny pebble growing inside my palm.

“Dieter!” she squealed. “Stop it! That really hurts!”

Blood rushed to my head.

Boob. I was holding onto Rei’s boob…

“Sorry!” Rei was going to kill me. I released my grip, and my Sight sparked to life.

It actually took a few moments before I realized I was falling. I was grabbing at the air for about the third time when the ocean of silver shrapnel greeted me. Death. It was all around me. Impatient for its prize, it overloaded my Sight. The blades raked against my skin, caressed my hair, and whispered with delight. I could hardly believe it; this was all happening so fast. I didn’t want to be eaten. I didn’t want to be swallowed. But my body was already on its final trajectory. There was nothing more I could do. And it all felt so
wrong
. There was so much to see. Questions I never asked. Feelings I never explored. I didn’t want to fall. I didn’t want to lose her hand.

And so you won’t, my child
.

I would find out later that the thing had been waiting for my call. It guided my hand upward. I reached out into the void for the hand that fit mine all too well. The silver blades screamed in fury, and the world popped once again.

And then I heard her voice...

No…not like this. Not after finally finding him: Someone who sees me. Someone who needs me. A person that’s so warm. A person that fills the emptiness. A person that asks for nothing but me in return. That soft hand. That easy walk. That sad smile…I want this one. He shall not fall. I shall not allow it…

Rei’s voice and a strange world of white…

I’ll slaughter the whole world before I…

Nothing but white…

Pain. Bátor’s Ghost, there’s so much pain…

The rush of wind against my face…

But I feel his weight…

Her hand, satin smooth…

I have to climb…

The brush of silk against my skin…

Almost there. Almost there…

Gentle…so soft…

I must. The top. The top. The top. Not alone. Not again. But the world is so white…
 

Just like when I…

Just like when Dieter…when he…

The link…Rei’s using the…

Oh, fasz kivan!

+

A full moon filled the sky over my head.

I wasn’t falling anymore.
 

I felt my body to make sure it was still there. This wasn’t supposed to be. I should’ve been dead, but there hadn’t been any splatter. No sayonara, Dieter Resnick. Instead, I was lying on a slab of concrete, my feet dangling below me. I urged my body up and looked down.

I was sitting on a 350-meter tall bench.
 

Terrified, I dragged myself away from the ledge of the building until I ran smack into a wall. My senses returning, I spotted Rei. She was lying near me. Unconscious. Everything below her waist was dangling off the side.
 

A surge of adrenaline got me moving. I scrambled over and pulled her away from the edge. Satisfied she was safe, I wiped dried blood from my nose. I felt spent. Exhausted. I leaned against the wall and took stock. We were on the wrong side of a safety barrier, a good four feet below the main deck. This was the very edge of the tower. Nothing but a thin ledge with a bunch of mechanical equipment. A/C units and the like. I counted my blessings. This ledge was probably only accessed for maintenance. The lighting was poor, and there was excellent cover. As quietly as I could, I grabbed hold of the top of the wall and pulled myself up.