Necessary Pursuit (A Trinity Masters Novel)

by Lila Dubois

  Oscar grimaced. “All I know is, I’m a few hours away from computers and cell phones and—”

  Selene silenced him with a kiss. “I think it was good for you to unplug for a few days. You look less grumpy.”

  “The fuck-fest is what made me less grumpy.”

  Selene hummed. “Fair, and imagine how much more fun we could have had if we had an internet connection and access to weird inspirational porn.”

  She put out the coal fire while Oscar and Luca attempted to put the place somewhat back to rights. There was no way the owners wouldn’t realize someone had been there, considering the broken window, the garbage in the kitchen, and the sheets they’d stripped from the bed, but there wasn’t time to do more.

  As Oscar said, they were in for an uncomfortable, cold hike to the helicopter landing site.

  And forty-five minutes later, Luca had decided uncomfortable was an understatement.

  They’d found a pair of relatively thick coveralls, something Oscar referred to as Car Hearts, that they’d put Selene in. Oscar had managed to scrounge up a second pair of gloves and another cappello—toboggan, according to Oscar—in addition to the gloves and silly hunter’s cap he’d been shoveling snow in earlier. Both were thin, better suited to a chilly fall day than a frigid winter one, but Luca was still grateful for the extra layer of warmth they provided.

  As it was, he was concerned they might all be flirting with hypothermia. Trudging through the deep snow was strenuous and exhausting, and his pants, socks, and shoes were soaked through. Luca clearly spent too much time sitting at his station in the lab and not enough time working out. Though he was certain they hadn’t walked more than two kilometers, he felt as if he’d run two consecutive marathons.

  It offered him a small amount of comfort that Oscar and Selene, who were both in good shape, didn’t appear to be faring much better.

  They reached the clearing, but all that meant was they were now standing still in the snow.

  “Jesus. If that helicopter doesn’t show up soon, my nads are going to break off,” Oscar grumbled.

  Selene nodded, her teeth chattering loudly enough that Luca could tell speaking was beyond her at the moment.

  Mercifully, Luca heard the buzz of a helicopter approaching.

  “Thank g-goodness,” Selene stuttered. She was currently stomping her feet, bouncing in an attempt to keep warm.

  Oscar held his hand over his eyes, shielding them. It was amazing to Luca how absolutely blinding all this white snow could be. “I hope the pilot thought to pack us some dry clothes and blankets.”

  They huddled closer, watching as the helicopter hovered overhead. Oscar waved his arms, though Luca figured the action was unnecessary. They were the only spots of color in a sea of white.

  The helicopter descended slowly, so slowly Luca began to fear the pilot wasn’t going to be able to set the vehicle down. Apparently, whoever Oscar had spoken to on the phone this morning assured him landing in deep snow was possible. Luca prayed that was correct because he wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to make a return trip to the cabin, if not. His legs had gone completely numb.

  As it got closer to the ground, the whirling blades kicked up the snow, producing white-out conditions. Luca closed his eyes and lowered his head against the freezing bits of ice pelting him all over.

  Finally, after what felt like a year and a half, the helicopter landed, the blades slowing, then halting. The helicopter sank until the belly of the vehicle nearly touched the snow, particularly the underside of the nose.

  As the snow began to settle, Luca looked up and saw the pilot open the side door, gesture for them to approach, then jump back into his seat.

  Somehow, Luca managed to make it the last twenty-five meters to the vehicle. Oscar helped Selene and then him inside, before climbing in himself and closing the door. The second they were sealed up in the helicopter, Luca felt the hot blast of air coming from a heater at the front of the vehicle. He’d never been so grateful for warmth.

  There was a bench seat with room for three. Selene had claimed the spot directly behind the pilot, Luca the center, and Oscar, the place on Luca’s right.

  The pilot gestured to the headphones tucked into the back of the cockpit seats, then to his own headset.

  They put them on as the pilot worked his magic and the blades began to rotate once more, kicking up a mist of snow all around them.

  Once they all had the headphones on, the pilot twisted around to look at them once more, pointing to bags on the floor at their feet.

  “Dry clothes,” the pilot said. “And blankets. We aren’t cocked, so change now.” The pilot seemed to realize they were freezing and confused. “We have time. While the rotor speeds up. Change.”

  After issuing his command, the pilot turned back to the control panel, pressing a series of buttons before picking up the handset of a radio. “Pickup confirmation. Skids in sky, approximately four minutes.”

  Selene reached down for the bag at her feet, but her hands were trembling so badly, she was struggling to grasp the strap. “I’ve never been this cold in my life.”

  Luca pulled off his wet gloves, bending over to grab her bag. He placed it on her lap as she smiled gratefully. Then he got his own.

  Oscar was already pulling off his shoes and socks, unfastening his jeans. Luca watched as the other man lifted his ass and fought to peel the wet, frozen denim down.

  Oscar caught him watching. He started to say something, then his gaze drifted to the pilot. With the headsets on, everyone in the helicopter could hear what everyone else said. Instead, he shut his mouth and winked.

  Luca chuckled, the sound catching Selene’s attention. She watched Oscar strip, then blew a kiss before fighting her way out of the thick coveralls.

  With much wiggling, struggling, and, of course, cursing on Oscar’s part, the three of them managed to replace their wet clothing with the sweatpants, soft long-sleeved Henleys, and thick socks in each bag.

  “Seat belts.” The pilot’s hands were moving over the levers and buttons.

  Selene unfurled a blanket—there was one at the bottom of each bag—and tucked it over her waist after she buckled her seat belt. Oscar and Luca followed suit.

  The pilot turned then. “Ready?”

  Oscar gave him the thumbs-up and Luca took a deep breath as the sound of the rotor shifted. The world outside went white.

  “What’s going on?” Oscar demanded.

  “Recirculating snow for a tower takeoff. Gotta take it slow. Snow takeoffs are tricky.”

  “Not comforting,” Selene muttered.

  The pilot barked out a laugh before focusing all his concentration on getting them off the ground.

  The helicopter began rising from the Earth at a snail’s pace.

  Luca reached over and grasped Selene’s hand. She smiled and squeezed it, letting him know she appreciated the support.

  Luca was surprised when Oscar took his other hand. The three of them sat quietly, Selene with her eyes pressed closed tightly for the first few minutes, as the pilot expertly maneuvered the chopper off the snow.

  And then, they were flying.

  “We should be in Boston in about two hours,” the pilot said after a few minutes. “So just sit back and relax. We’ll be back on the ground before you know it. By the way,” he said, turning to look at them, “there’s no snow in Boston, but with the wind chill today, you’re going to be disembarking in negative temperatures.”

  Luca sighed. “In Dante’s Inferno, hell burns with cold, not fire.”

  Selene looked at him. “Are you saying being trapped with us was like being in hell?”

  Oscar unsubtly pinched him.

  “Ouch. No. Of course not,” Luca stammered.

  “Danger,” the pilot said.

  They all froze. “What danger?” Oscar demanded.

  “The guy with the accent is going to choke on his own foot if he shoves it any farther into his mouth.”

  “Fuck, dude. Do
not say danger unless there’s something wrong with the fucking helicopter,” Oscar snarled.

  “Oh, the helicopter is fine.”

  After that demonstration that anything they said would be heard by the pilot—who also apparently had no reservations about joining in—there were no further conversation attempts during the trip.

  Instead, Luca sat replaying the past several days in his mind. If he wasn’t in such a sexual haze, he might have used the time preparing himself for what was to come.

  But he couldn’t do it. He’d spent too many years of his life worrying about the future. He realized now that was probably because there was nothing in his past worth remembering.

  He startled slightly when, after nearly two hours of silence, the pilot said, “We’re ten minutes out if you want to start gathering your stuff. There will be a car waiting at the landing pad for you.”

  Selene and Oscar exchanged a look and he could read the concern on their faces. Then Oscar placed his hand on Luca’s knee and gave it a comforting squeeze.

  “We got this,” Oscar said, unconcerned if the pilot heard them or not.

  Twenty minutes later, they were on the ground, safe and sound. Peering out the window on Oscar’s side, Luca saw that there was indeed a car waiting only fifteen meters away.

  “I’m not putting my shoes back on,” Selene said. They were speaking normally now—sans headphones, though the rotor hadn’t completely stopped yet and was humming above them.

  “I say we make a run for it in our socks,” Oscar clearly agreed. Their shoes weren’t only damp, but still sopping wet and freezing cold. Luca nodded. Though they’d been ensconced in the warmth of the helicopter for over two hours, he hadn’t completely shaken off the cold that had gone bone-deep.

  And when Oscar opened the helicopter and their heat was whisked away by air so cold it took Luca’s breath away, he suspected it might be years before he ever shook off the frigidness of winter in northeast America. For the first time since he’d left on this venture to find his tablet and the plans to the bomb, he found himself actually missing Italy and its mild winters.

  They each grabbed the bags containing their wet clothing and shoes and sprinted toward the waiting vehicle.

  The driver opened the back door of the town car for them and they slipped inside.

  Once the driver was back behind the wheel, Oscar leaned forward. “Where are you taking us? Hotel? Because we need to get cleaned up. Need clothes and shoes.”

  Luca knew that was wishful thinking on Oscar’s part. He was certain they would be given no reprieve for such comforts.

  The driver shook his head. “I’m not at liberty to reveal that.” He twisted from the front seat then and held out what appeared to be a black pillowcase. “I need you to place that on Mr. Campisi’s head.”

  “You’ve got to be kidding,” Selene said hotly, just beating Oscar, who had opened his mouth to issue a complaint as well.

  “It’s okay, Selene,” Luca said, taking the bag from the man’s hands. He saw a brief moment of surprise on the driver’s face. “I expected this.”

  Luca pulled the bag over his head on his own, not wanting either of his lovers to feel guilt over the simple task.

  “Stupid fuckers,” Oscar muttered as the car engine turned over and they started to move. “Did the same goddamn thing to me.”

  Luca didn’t know what to make of that, but now that they were on their way to meet the Masters’ Admiralty, the assurances he’d given Oscar and Selene about his having made peace with what he’d done, what he’d become, faded away. He did what they’d wanted in order to protect his sister, and it hadn’t mattered to him because he’d had no future, either in this life, or in the fiery afterlife he had stopped believing in long ago.

  That had been true a few days ago. He’d been determined to do whatever it took to keep Joli safe, and to someday, hopefully rescue her from the Bellator Dei. There had been plenty of days he’d considered ending his own life—it would be easy to make it look like an accident, a bomb defusing gone wrong—but he couldn’t protect his sister from beyond the grave.

  Still, he knew the price for his crimes would be death. And death at the hands of their enemy, the Masters’ Admiralty, would make him a martyr among them, which, he was sure, would insulate her from any repercussions if, after he was gone, they managed to discover he hadn’t been as devout as he’d pretended.

  His life had no future—a white blankness to pair with his black past.

  But now…

  Now, as stupid as it was, he wanted a future. Not one in which he lived lies in order to protect Joli. Not one in which he did horrible things for other people.

  He wanted a future.

  A real one.

  Because now he had something worth living for.

  Chapter Twelve

  The room, a cave perhaps—he was fairly sure they were underground—was dramatically lit. The edges were shrouded in darkness, while a cone of light illuminated a huge medallion embedded in the stone floor. It bore a Celtic triangle symbol.

  Luca hadn’t bothered to try to track where he’d been taken, or how he’d gotten where he now was. There hadn’t been a need to because Selene and Oscar had been by his side. As long as they were with him, he was safe.

  But ten minutes ago, he’d been separated from them. He’d been brought into what he was fairly sure was an elevator, a man’s hand on his shoulder guiding him since he still had the hood on.

  He was sitting in the centermost of three chairs that abutted one half of the medallion. His guide had, after removing the hood, faded into the darkness.

  If they killed him here, now, would Selene and Oscar grieve for him? The idea that there would be someone left behind to mourn him was actually comforting. The Bellator Dei would celebrate his death if he died at the hands of the Masters’ Admiralty because it would be a sign that he’d paid the ultimate price for the cause. They wouldn’t let Joli show any sadness.

  Footsteps clicked on the stone, and then a robed, hooded figure appeared from the darkness.

  When the person spoke, he was surprised to realize it was a woman, though he shouldn’t have been. He thought he’d heard Oscar and Selene referring to the person they called the Grand Masters as her/she.

  “Luca Campisi,” she said. “We’ve been looking for you.”

  He remained silent. There was, after all, nothing he could say that would change what was about to happen.

  “You build bombs. You design bombs so horrific that the idea of them keeps me awake at night.”

  “The bomb does not work,” he said softly.

  “Yes. But that wasn’t by design, was it? Not the same way the flaw that allows it to be disarmed was.”

  Luca nodded, just to show he was listening.

  “When we looked at the bomb plans, we realized the person who designed it wanted it easily disarmed. We concluded it was designed under duress.” She took a half step, the hem of the long black robe brushing the edge of the medallion. “Mr. Hayden and Dr. Tanaka tell me that we were right. You hold no loyalty to the Bellator Dei, only to your sister.”

  Luca didn’t respond immediately, touched by Oscar and Selene’s defense of him. Oscar had offered reassurances in the helicopter. “We got this,” he’d said. It was the word we that Luca still couldn’t quite wrap his head around.

  “I have done terrible things to protect Joli. I do not deny that, or that I deserve to die for my crimes.”

  Emotion choked him. He knew he was facing the end of his life, but his final thoughts weren’t worry for his sister. Instead, he felt regret. Regret that he had shared only a few days with Oscar and Selene.

  “Do you prefer death to facing what you’ve done?”

  That snapped his head up. “You’re calling me a coward.”

  “There’s a phrase—suicide by cop. Is that what you were doing? Running all over the eastern seaboard, attacking my people in hopes that we would end your life for you?”

  “No
, of course not. All I wanted was my tablet back. I needed the bomb plans. It needed to be my bomb that they tried to build.”

  He’d revealed more than he should have.

  “Your bomb…” The hooded Grand Master was silent for a moment. “Because your bomb could be disarmed.”

  Luca leaned forward, too weary to sit up, so he propped his elbows on his knees. “I was not the only child they trained to make explosives.”

  “How many others?”

  He’d told Selene and Oscar about these things, but telling them to this woman in the hood, to a person who was, according to everything he’d grown up being taught, his enemy, was so much harder.

  “Three or four when I was there.” Thinking about the others caused his chest to tighten because he knew them well—had spent countless hours in classes and in the laboratory with them. He knew their hearts, knew they were truly committed to the Bellator Dei’s cause. Unlike him, they were determined to see their bomb designs succeed. The bigger the death toll, the better. “But there are many more. The technical institute is still operational, still recruiting, training. They have to be stopped.”

  “The more you say, the more it seems that you’re our ally rather than our enemy.”

  “I am no one’s ally.”

  “You say that, but do you believe it? You would not consider yourself Selene and Oscar’s ally?”

  A horrible thought occurred to him. “Please! Please do not punish them for…”

  To his surprise, she laughed. “For sleeping with you?”

  Luca froze.

  “I know the signs. Their vehement defense was not purely intellectual.”

  “I did not turn them against the Masters’ Admiralty,” Luca said quickly. His heart was slamming against his ribs. “I…I coerced them and—”

  “You didn’t. The Hayden brothers cannot be coerced, only bribed or outmaneuvered.” The Grand Master walked to the center of the medallion. “There is something you do not know, which I feel it is time you learn.”

  Luca tensed, waiting for a blow.

  “We—Selene, Oscar, Langston, Mina Edwards—are not members of the Masters’ Admiralty.”