He damn near wasn’t.
As tired as he must’ve been, Pretty Boy was still attuned enough to sense the blast coming and fast enough to start moving. Just not fast enough to avoid it completely. The wall of force clipped him and threw his sideways dive into an awkward corkscrew. He hit the soft ground with a rush of expunged air, and Rachel wasted no time in preparing another blast.
“Ha!” Jarek cried from over by the tree he’d smashed into. “Ah, shit.”
Rachel glanced Jarek’s way to see what was the matter just in time to catch a man-shaped blur flying through the trees to crash into him. Only Jarek was ready.
He stepped with the rush, caught the arm of his attacker, and slammed the newcomer into the tree hard enough to crack through its trunk and plenty hard enough to kill any human. The glowing red eyes glaring at Jarek as the tree began to fall on them affirmed the attacker wasn’t.
The raknoth pushed Jarek off and sidestepped out from under the toppling tree. Jarek mirrored him on the other side. A dozen smaller cracks rang out as the tree’s branches caught their neighbors and dragged them down as well. The raknoth watched it happen, his back turned to Rachel.
She sprang forward before the fear could convince her not to and swung her staff at the back of the raknoth’s head, throwing a full dose of telekinetic oomph into the strike.
Half a foot from the raknoth’s skull, the staff slammed into thin air.
The raknoth rounded on her.
“Wait!” a strong voice called from behind.
The raknoth froze. And then Jarek slammed into him from behind, and the two crashed to the ground hard enough to leave a trail of torn earth.
Rachel spun around, staff at the ready. Pretty Boy finished pulling himself to his feet and raised his hands in peace. She watched him for a long few seconds, then spared a quick glance to see that Jarek and the raknoth were watching him as well. She traded a look with Jarek, and he scurried to his feet and back to her side. She kept her staff raised, and they backed up together until they could easily see both of them.
“Great,” Pretty Boy said, hands still raised. “Thanks. I think.”
The raknoth rose and went to stand beside Pretty Boy, the red glow bleeding out of his eyes until he looked like just another middle-aged man with salt-and-pepper hair—albeit a quite suave-looking one.
“Right,” Pretty Boy said. “Uh, my name’s Haldin”—he glanced over at the raknoth—“and this is Alton.”
Alton the raknoth gave them a mirthless smile and a creepy little finger wave, and Haldin continued, “I think maybe we should talk.”
7
In the tense silence that stretched between Jarek and Rachel and their mysterious company, the sounds of the Unity folk approaching the tree line were readily apparent to Jarek’s exo-enhanced hearing.
“We’ve got company,” he said.
Rachel pried her wary stare away from Alton the raknoth and Haldin the… whatever he was long enough to shoot him a What the hell do we do? look.
It was a good question. Talking it out with a raknoth and his buddy wasn’t exactly at the top of Jarek’s wise moves play list, but they’d come here looking for answers. If these two weren’t connected to that strange ship everyone was talking about, there were either a hell of a lot more raknoth running around than Jarek had ever imagined, or some universal law of coincidence had been severely violated.
Judging from the volume of the voices at the tree line, though, they had about ten seconds to make up their minds before people started asking questions.
Talk now, he decided, kick asses later, as required.
Who said he couldn’t be diplomatic?
“Let’s hear them out,” he said to Rachel.
“Okay.” She glanced back toward the tree line. “We’d better move then.”
“Sure,” Haldin said. “Lead the way.”
Rachel pointed over Alton’s shoulder with her staff. “That way. You first.”
Haldin shrugged. “Fair enough.”
Alton turned and trekked off in the indicated direction without comment.
Jarek stayed close to Rachel’s side as they followed the odd duo. Now that the skirmish had cooled, the two didn’t seem to harbor any violent intent toward him and Rachel, but it never really paid to drop one’s guard. Especially when one was dealing with a freaking raknoth.
“There’s something odd about these two, sir,” Al said quietly in his earpiece.
“No sh—”
“Aside from the obvious oddities, I mean.”
Jarek didn’t quite know what it was, but he didn’t disagree with Al. The questions churning through his head were about as numerous as the leaves in the canopy above them.
This Haldin guy had definitely worked some telekinetic mojo on him during their fight. Jarek wasn’t a doctor of arcanism, but that probably meant Haldin was gifted like Rachel, right?
Hell if he knew. And it still didn’t exactly explain how the guy had managed to catch a punch that would’ve knocked a raknoth on his ass with a bare hand. Maybe it had just been a clever use of his abilities. Or maybe Haldin was something else entirely. Hell, maybe they were dealing with a raknoth arcanist. Was that a thing?
It probably would be in his nightmares now.
And, of course, there was one more possibility. Haldin—and maybe Alton too—could be one of these rakul the Red King had warned them about.
Without any way of knowing, Jarek’s only real option was to keep on his toes and be ready to fight until he had damn good reason not to be.
If Haldin was human, that still raised the pointed question of what the hell he was doing running around with Alton the raknoth. Jarek, like pretty much everyone else on the planet, didn’t know all that much about the raknoth, but he’d never heard tell of such a thing. Sure, the Red King and the Overlord had plenty of human cronies—thousands actually—but those men were more slaves than partners. Some had started as mercenaries. Some had been plucked from the streets. Most, though, seemed to have been tortured or otherwise mentally tampered with until they were loyal servants.
The relationship between Haldin and Alton seemed like something else entirely.
Beside him, Rachel called for a slight adjustment to their trajectory. About a hundred yards later, the woods opened into an impressive outdoor amphitheater.
A dark wooden stage—old but in good repair, like the rest of Unity—stood at the base of the semicircular basin. Opposite the stage, the amphitheater’s seating rose along the incline of the basin in a series of large, grassy steps, each one lined along the edge with smooth gray stone to form natural benches. Four lines of neatly groomed trees separated the basin steps into organized sections, contained within sets of smaller stone staircases on either side. Clearly, someone—or multiple someones—put a lot of time into keeping the place pristine.
It was one of the most unnecessary things Jarek had seen in the past fifteen years.
It was also kind of cool.
Haldin and Alton followed the direction of Rachel’s waving staff and sank down on the first stone step to the left. Jarek and Rachel remained standing. Jarek focused back the way they came with help from Fela’s auditory sensors and decided the voices in the woods behind them didn’t seem to be coming any closer.
For now, they were alone.
“Right then,” Haldin said, hazel eyes shifting back and forth between them. “I’m sure you guys have a few questions.”
No shit.
And now, on top of the other thousand, Jarek had to wonder why Haldin was expecting the questions to be unidirectional. Sure, a human/raknoth duo was weird, but between Fela and Rachel’s abilities, it wasn’t like he and Rachel were just another pair of everyday citizens. So why was Haldin’s default assumption that they should be confused and intrigued by his and Alton’s presence?
Maybe these two had simply been around and seen a lot of shit. Maybe they were just spectacularly self-centered. Or—and this seemed like the most likely op
tion—maybe they were hiding something, and Haldin was self-conscious about it.
“What,” Jarek said, “you think this is the first time we’ve just happened to bump into an arcanist, chase him into the woods, and get jumped by his raknoth sidekick? I call that a Tuesday. But now that you mention it, I guess there might be a few particulars, like who you are, why you’re here, and, uh…” He tapped at the chin of his faceplate. “Oh yeah. Whether you happen to know anything about the weird ship that’s been causing a stir around here. Word on the street is that it looks like a—”
“Let’s start with the first two,” Rachel said. “What are you doing here?”
Haldin glance at Alton. “We’re looking for someone. It’s kind of a long story.”
Rachel looked less than impressed. “You’re trespassing in my home with a raknoth. I think it’s safe to say we have the time. So you can give me some fucking answers, or I can wipe these steps with you until they fall out.”
Haldin watched her for a long stretch, his expression neutral and calculating.
Alton smirked, but his smooth baritone was only a hint condescending when he spoke. “We’re not here to hurt anyone. We came here to help.”
“To help who?” Rachel asked.
“Everyone.”
Thank god they weren’t going to be cryptic about it or anything.
Jarek rolled his hand in a keep it coming gesture. “You might have to use more than one word at a time if we wanna get somewhere today.”
Alton’s smirk only grew. “I thought you had the time.”
With a careful mental command, Jarek opened his faceplate so the raknoth could see his eyes as he patted the hilt of the Big Whacker. “You know, I cut a raknoth to pieces with this thing two days ago.”
“Okay, look,” Haldin said, raising a hand.
He probably meant it as a pacifying gesture, but Rachel tensed and raised her staff in return.
Haldin dropped the hand. “This isn’t necessary. We’re here to help your peop—to help rid you of the raknoth before it’s too late.”
Jarek made a show of looking around at their surroundings. “Yeah. Did you miss the whole Catastrophe thing? It’s already a bit too late.”
“And why would you be looking to save us from your own people anyways?” Rachel asked Alton.
Alton’s face was unreadable. “I have my own goals here, I admit. But they are synergistic with Haldin’s, and with the ultimate good of the people of Earth.”
“I know this planet’s been devastated already,” Haldin said, glancing at Alton for what had to be the hundredth time, “but it could get worse. A lot worse.”
Worse as is rakul worse? He almost asked outright then decided it was better to keep them talking before playing what limited hand he had.
“You can imagine our skepticism about a philanthropic raknoth,” he said to Alton. “Your kind don’t exactly have a peaceful track record with ours. Frankly, I’m wondering if you didn’t slam me through that tree back there and if I’m not just dreaming all of this right now.”
“I could pinch you if you’d like.” Alton held up his thumb and forefinger with a disconcerting grin and sprouted a pair of wicked-looking claws.
“Not helping, Alton,” Haldin said. “Look, I get it. My people have lost too much at the hands of the raknoth as well.” A shadow of genuine pain crossed his face. “I’ve lost more than most fighting them. For a long time, I wanted to wipe them away from this universe, but it’s not that simple.”
The more Haldin talked, the more something didn’t seem right about him. Something about the way he phrased things and the way he kept glancing at his raknoth pal—not to mention the fact that he had a raknoth pal at all—was just off.
“What do you mean, ‘it’s not that simple’?” Rachel said.
Haldin glanced at Alton. Again.
“Stop that,” Rachel said.
Apparently the constant furtive glances were itching her heebie-jeebie button as well. A quick look at her expression, though, made him think something else might be afoot.
“What’s up?”
Her eyes remained locked on Haldin and Alton. “They’re talking.”
It took a second, but it clicked. “Ah.”
Telepaths. Tricky bunch.
“Granted, I’m not so good at manners,” Jarek said, “but that seems pretty damn rude, fellas.” To Rachel, he added, “What are they saying?”
“I can’t hear them,” she said. “I just feel the connection.”
“Right.” He shifted his weight, suddenly feeling like it wouldn’t hurt to be ready to hack limbs off.
“Sorry,” Haldin said. “You’re right—it’s not polite. Here.” He pulled on a thin chain at his neck until a round pendant popped out from under his shirt. He turned a tiny dial on the pendant and looked at Rachel. “Better?”
Was that a cloak like Rachel’s then? The weary nod she gave Haldin suggested so.
“What we’re facing,” Haldin said, “what we’re trying to do, it’s probably not going to be a wildly popular idea. We were just discussing how much we should be telling you.”
“Well if that doesn’t just scream trustworthy…” Rachel muttered.
Haldin raised his eyebrows, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “I realize this might be your home, but it’s still kind of funny to hear that from the people who haven’t told us the first things about themselves. Not to be confrontational, but we’re talking in good faith right now, not because we’re trembling at your power.”
Rachel looked like she was deliberating whether to incinerate the pair of them or go for a record in the long toss. Jarek didn’t blame her. It wasn’t like he was a fan of people strutting their stuff in front of him, but he also had a certain amount of admiration for people who were cool under pressure. Plus, the fact that Unity wasn’t his home probably didn’t hurt either where keeping a level head was concerned.
“I’m Jarek Slater,” he said, consciously shifting to a slightly less confrontational stance.
Haldin gave him an appreciative nod.
Jarek gave Rachel an expectant look.
“Fine,” she said. “If it’ll make this conversation less annoying, then fine. I’m Rachel Cross. Pleased to fucking meet you.”
If Jarek hadn’t happened to be looking straight at Alton, he probably would have missed the way the raknoth’s brows twitched when Rachel said her name. Somehow, for some reason, that name meant something to Alton the raknoth.
Now what the hell was Jarek supposed to make of that? Alton’s eyes shifted to meet his, cool and controlled once more. Next to him, Haldin’s expression had gone somber. Did Rachel’s name mean something to him as well?
“So there,” Rachel said. “We’re all great pals. Now why don’t you tell us what’s so complicated about wanting these assholes”—she pointed at Alton—“off our planet?”
Alton chuckled. “Oh, believe you me, we would love to leave this planet behind in a heartbeat if we could. But we can’t. Your own people saw to that.”
“I’m guessing there’s an explanation in there somewhere?” Jarek asked.
“Long story short,” Haldin said, “some of the people of Earth already tried to wipe the raknoth off this planet. They almost succeeded, even. But their actions had other consequences, ones I doubt they’d expected. What started as a mission to destroy the raknoth ended up being the accident that effectively bound our species’ fates together.”
Jarek traded a confused look with Rachel. “Say we don’t follow exactly what you’re talking about…”
“The blood,” Haldin said. “You must’ve wondered why raknoth need to feed on human blood to survive.”
Shit. That was actually a thing?
“Yeah,” Jarek said. “Say we didn’t really know about that either…”
Haldin raised his eyebrows. “Really?”
Jarek had heard the stories, of course. He’d also seen the Red King drink the blood of one of his own men, and then again wi
th Pryce. Hell, he even knew some people had taken to calling them vamps, but he’d kind of figured it had all been a bunch of fear mongering and dramatic effect—or that the raknoth just happened to enjoy blood. There’d been no reason to think the whole requiring human blood to survive thing was anything more than another one of a thousand rumors floating around about the raknoth.
Before he could say any of that though, Rachel stepped in.
“It’s not like we’ve had much time to swap diet plans what with them nuking the planet to shit and holing up in their big dark fortresses. How the hell do you know any of this?”
Haldin looked at Alton. “Well I learned some of it when I broke into one of his clan member’s minds, but Alton’s filled me in on some of the missing details since.”
Granted, Jarek knew next to nothing about telepathy, but if Haldin had succeeded where Rachel had failed in invading a raknoth’s mind, it seemed like a safe bet he was packing some serious artillery in that pretty little noggin of his. The fact that Rachel’s hand had drifted to the pendant at her breastbone told Jarek she was having similar thoughts.
What if Haldin and Alton decided to throw a psychic double-whammy at Rachel right now? Would she be strong enough to get her cloak up?
If it came to that, it might be up to him to remove one of them from the equation before they could overwhelm her.
He tried to dispel the tension building in his shoulders. He’d deal with it if he had to, but his instincts told him that the two weren’t about to try anything.
“Let’s say we believe any of this,” he said. “I still don’t see how that lands you working with a raknoth. This all just sounds like more reason to want them gone.”
Haldin nodded. “I don’t necessarily disagree, but for two things.”
“Enlighten us,” Rachel said.
“Well for one, it’s not really their fault.”
“Bullshit,” Rachel said. “They were the ones who decided to come prey on us in the first place.”
Alton showed them a bitter smile. “Right, right. Except that we weren’t. We came to Earth because we were made to.”
“Which brings me to point number two,” Haldin said. “There are worse things than the raknoth out there, and they’re probably gonna come here someday if we don’t stop them.”
The Complete Harvesters Series Page 30
