by Frank Morin
“You lie,” Reuben snarled.
The hunter snapped his rifle to his shoulder, but a shot cracked the air from above and behind him. Reuben yelped as the rifle tumbled from his hands as if yanked by an invisible string.
“Again, you judge too soon,” Gregorios said calmly. “John has betrayed the council and allied with the enemy responsible for the attack on your home.”
“You lie!” Reuben repeated.
Alter was looking unsure, and Eirene spoke to him. “Alter, use that mind of yours.”
“Shut up, demon witch,” Reuben snarled, but she ignored him, her attention fixed on Alter, who was staring back, his expression tortured.
“You were there with us during the memory hunt. Your strength alone provided a way for us to confront John, to begin the real process of avenging your family.”
“Kill her, brother,” Reuben urged.
Eirene put down her Tommy gun and extended her hands from her sides, palms up. “Are you a murderer, Alter? Or are you a hunter? Do you kill the easy targets, or the real ones?”
Reuben grabbed for Alter’s gun, but he twisted out of the way. “Brother, what they say is true.”
“Shut up,” Reuben snapped. “You’ve let the demons cloud your mind.” He grabbed for Alter’s rifle again.
“No, you’re wrong.” Alter retreated from him. “We’ve been hunting John. It’s confirmed. He’s allied with another Cui Dashi.”
“More lies,” Reuben growled. “Why do you stand up for them?”
That surprised Sarah. She’d thought Alter had planned the assault on the mansion.
“Because I want to see the real enemy destroyed,” Alter growled, letting the barrel of his rifle swing toward his brother. “You shouldn’t have come today.”
“You’re a fool. They’re the real enemy!” Reuben tapped his ear. “Sniper team, engage!”
Silence.
He actually turned to look up at the windows behind him.
Quentin stood in one of them. He waved.
“Did you kill them?” Alter exclaimed.
“Did you kill my security team?” Quentin called back.
“Four of them,” Reuben said, sounding pleased with himself.
“Their blood is yours to repay,” Quentin said in a cold voice. “I’ll hold you to the debt.”
“Come and collect it,” Reuben spat.
“He’ll have to wait,” Gregorios said. He put down his rifle. “You think I’m your enemy. You’ve brought death and destruction upon this home to get to me. I reincorporated you, even though by all rights, that suit belongs to me. Come on then, boy. Here’s your chance.”
Reuben drew a long fighting knife and moved toward Gregorios, a wild look in his eyes.
Gregorios faced him, looking unconcerned, but one hand slipped to his back and gripped the handle of one of those steel tomahawks.
“Stop.” Alter moved to block Reuben. “You’re in the wrong, brother. I hate the demons too, but right now we have to work together against the Cui Dashi threat.”
It sounded like Alter was switching sides again. Sarah wanted to slap him for being inconsistent, although she hoped he could make his brother see the truth.
“I’ll restore the family honor,” Reuben declared. “Get out of my way or share their fate.”
“Stand down,” Alter said. “You’ve already made enough of a mess.”
Reuben lunged with the knife.
Sarah cried out a warning, but Alter deflected the blade with the barrel of his rifle. He whipped the butt around, connecting with Reuben’s wrist and tumbling the knife out of his hands. Reuben closed and the two grappled over the rifle. Alter threw an elbow at Reuben’s face, ripping the gun free, but Reuben returned with a chop that knocked the weapon to the ground.
The two brothers ignored the fallen weapon, lashing out with hands and feet, pounding on each other with enhanced speed and strength. Alter had proven himself an incredible warrior in the training sessions with Sarah, but his brother matched him, his expression locked in a snarl. Alter looked calm, almost regretful.
Gregorios took a nearby chair to watch, looking pleased with the turn of events, and gestured Eirene to sit beside him.
“I really should intervene,” she protested.
“You’re not their mother. You wanted Alter to prove himself. Let them figure it out.”
The brothers fought across the court to the lip of the pool, near the diving board. Reuben snatched up a chair and clobbered Alter with it. He fell into the pool, and Reuben dove in after.
Sarah still wasn’t sure if she wanted to punch Alter first or hug him for making the right choice. She approached the pool, but Gregorios waved her back.
“Don’t complicate things. Brothers need to understand each other sometimes.”
“You don’t care about them at all, do you?”
“Not really.”
Sarah edged closer and peered into the water. The two brothers struggled in the water and looked to be trying to strangle each other.
Then Alter’s hands began to glow, burning with purple flames.
“Whoa!” Sarah cried. “How is that possible?”
Gregorios and Eirene joined her. In the water, Reuben’s struggle changed. He broke away from Alter and swam wildly for the surface.
“That’s unexpected,” Gregorios said, watching Alter, who hovered near the bottom, staring at his hands in obvious horror.
Eirene clasped her hands together, her expression part exultant and part sad. She spoke so softly, Sarah barely heard. “I knew it.”
Reuben hauled himself out of the pool and collapsed onto the patio nearby. Gregorios clobbered him with a small table when he tried to rise, then drew his handgun. “Don’t move.”
The hunter looked so shaken he didn’t even try to fight back.
Alter surfaced a couple seconds later, looking ashen. Sarah reached to help him out of the pool but he slapped her hands away. “Stay away from me.”
Sarah felt hurt by his harsh tone, but then even angrier. He was the one who had screwed up. He was lucky she didn’t hit him with a pool chair.
“Demon,” Reuben snarled as Alter climbed out of the pool. Reuben glared at Gregorios. “What have you done to him?”
“It wasn’t my doing,” Gregorios said. “But it explains a lot.” He glanced to Eirene, whose eyes were glued to Alter. “It’s proving to be an interesting morning.”
Alter stood dripping, shaking. He looked at his brother and then down at his hands. His legs shook and he dropped to his knees.
Sarah could scarce believe it. How could Alter possess a nevra core like the facetakers? He was a hunter. Their clan never married facetakers. Somehow he possessed both gifts. Her eyes widened as she realized the truth.
Alter was Cui Dashi.
Eirene dropped to one knee beside Alter and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder. He cringed, but did not brush her away. “Oh my sweet boy,” she whispered.
Understanding struck Sarah. Alter was Eirene’s great-grandson.
Gregorios interrupted her wildly racing thoughts. “I should kill you, Reuben.”
Reuben grinned. “If I don’t report to my support team in the next two minutes, they’ll trigger all the explosives we planted throughout the house. The blast will destroy everything.”
“You demons may survive.” He glanced at Sarah. “But she won’t.”
“Call them off!” Alter shouted. “You’ve caused enough damage already.”
“You are dead to me,” Reuben snarled.
“I didn’t ask for this,” Alter exclaimed. “Do you think I wanted this?”
“You embraced the demons,” Reuben said, his voice soft, but cold. “You tainted your soul.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Eirene said. “Even you should understand that.”
“He is proof of your abomination,” Reuben shouted.
Quentin arrived from the north wing and Gregorios said, “Bring him one of their radio sets.”
He retrieved one from the bound hunters that Gregorios and Eirene had subdued and handed it to Reuben.
“Call them off or I’ll finish what we started the last time you tried to murder me.” Gregorios spoke calmly, and that only made his threat more chilling.
Reuben reluctantly took the earpiece. “Team Omega, this is Beta One. Initiate stand-down.”
“How many are outside?” Gregorios asked.
“More than enough. Tell me, demon. How did you corrupt my brother?”
“I told you. I did nothing. He’s the same as when he left you.”
“He’s tainted!” Reuben shouted. “And he will be cleansed, just like the rest of you.”
Alter, who had been huddled on the patio, head down, looked up sharply. “Wait a minute. Did you say your call sign was Beta One?”
“If you’re still my brother, you will accept your fate,” Reuben said, his gaze intense.
“He called in a mortar strike!” Alter surged to his feet just as a distant whistling sound grew overhead.
Gregorios shouted, “Take cover!”
Quentin tackled Sarah into the pool just before the world erupted into flame and thunder. She barely closed her mouth before plunging into the water. A shock-wave rippled across the surface just above her head, shredding the waves they’d created. Fire boiled the air, followed by billowing smoke that concealed everything and blanketed a suddenly silent world.
Sarah followed Quentin to the surface, and the two of them climbed out of the pool into devastation. The mortar had struck the patio right where Gregorios had been standing, creating a gaping crater and destroying the beautiful stonework.
Dirt and broken tiles had sprayed everywhere, shattering windows and scoring the walls of the wings on both side. She saw no sign of the others through the haze hanging over the scene like a funeral shroud. Flaming debris still rained down around her, and she shrieked when a burning piece of chair cushion settled onto her shoulder.
“Get under cover!” Quentin pushed Sarah toward the south wing and she started running in that direction, but then halted.
“Tomas!”
Coughing from the smoke, she raced around the gaping blast hole. She caught sight of Gregorios crawling toward the north wing. His face and hands were bloody, and debris stood out from his bulletproof vest. One leg ended just below the knee in a bloody stump that was leaving a thick crimson trail behind. He looked furious and his eyes glowed with purple fire.
Sarah gagged, torn between the need to find Tomas and to help Gregorios. Then Quentin appeared through the smoke at Gregorios’ side and bent over him.
Sarah left them and ran to find Tomas. The blast had tumbled him out of his chair, and debris had slashed his torso in multiple places. He struggled weakly, clawing at the ground, his face a mask of pain.
He was alive! She kissed him fiercely. “I’ve got you.”
Eirene arrived just as she reached for Tomas’ wrists. Eirene looked battered, her clothing covered with dirt, and blood ran down the side of her face.
“You should be helping Gregorios,” Sarah protested as Eirene grabbed Tomas’ legs.
“Quentin’s got him.” Eirene cast a rather nervous glance in that direction, even though they were lost in the smoke. She leaned a little closer and added softly, “He’s not happy I urged restraint with those hunters. Reuben’s sealed his fate, I’m afraid.”
He’d called in a mortar strike on them. To Sarah, that justified whatever response Gregorios deemed necessary. She didn’t really care. All she wanted was a quiet place to care for Tomas. She gripped him under the shoulders and together they hoisted him into the air and moved toward the north wing.
The whistling began again, and they broke into a run as Sarah’s fear flared into near-panic. They only needed a few more seconds to reach safety. It couldn’t all end like this.
The second mortar landed in the pool. The explosion geysered water above the roof. It sprayed them so hard, Sarah almost lost her grip. She nearly burst into hysterical laughter when she noticed the spray had cleansed Eirene’s face.
“Fortuna be praised, that was a lucky strike,” Eirene said, grinning wildly as she led the way through the shattered doorway of the north wing. As they retreated down the hall, Eirene cocked her head a bit, listening. Only then did Sarah realize she’d lost her earpiece.
“The hunters are gone,” Eirene said. “Quentin and Gregorios are in the south wing and spotted them escaping.”
“Do you think they’ll regroup and attack again?” Sarah asked as they moved far down the hall, away from the broken windows.
“No,” Eirene said. “Reinforcements will be here any minute. If they linger, they’ll be taken.”
Sarah wasn’t sure whether she wanted them to get away. Part of her wanted the enforcers to intercept them, but she didn’t want any more killing.
When they gently lay Tomas down, Eirene left to check on Gregorios, but Sarah dropped to her knees beside Tomas. His skin was cold, but she wasn’t sure if it was due to the water or his injuries. He was no longer conscious and it took several terrifying seconds to find his weak pulse.
He lived, but just barely. The shrapnel wounds didn’t look severe, but the sight of so much blood brought back memories of those terrifying moments after Mai Luan had stabbed him. He’d nearly died, and now she felt that same helpless panic returning.
Eirene returned a few minutes later. “Help is on the way. The staff is coming.”
When she rose to leave again, Sarah asked, “Where are you going?”
“To speak with Alter.”
Chapter Fifty-One
In my youth, my strength was that of a berserker of the lesser tribes. Through Baladeva’s instruction, I now rival the great Hercules, and my strength is as the blizzards or the howling tempest, for I have eclipsed mortal man. My most hated enemies will fall in mortal combat and honor my legend with the glory of their broken excellence. I will tear down every stone they have built and throw down the power of Caesar.
Come, mighty enemies, and our battles repeated will shake the roots of history.
~Spartacus
Eirene found Alter in the main salon, sitting on the edge of an expensive leather couch. He leaned forward, face in his hands, oblivious to the water and mud dripping onto the furniture.
When she approached, he looked up, his face stricken. Despair radiated off of him and Eirene was glad she’d come immediately. He might have killed himself had she waited.
“I’m a demon,” Alter spat.
“Do you really think so?” She settled onto the couch beside him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.
He shrugged it off. “I pledged my life to destroying the Cui Dashi and now I’ve become one of them.”
“You’ve discovered a new aspect of yourself,” Eirene agreed. “But that doesn’t define you.”
She’d seen hints, had suspected the truth, but part of her had feared what she’d find if she probed further. Alter struggled just maintaining close proximity to facetakers. To find he actually possessed the rare Cui Dashi powers must have shaken his world to its deepest foundation.
“It’s your fault!” He rose and paced away. “You brought this curse on my family.”
“You’re right.”
He looked surprised when she agreed, so she continued. “I didn’t expect anything like this to happen. You’ve seen with my children how hard it is to produce offspring with an active nevra core, and that’s with two facetakers trying to make it work. I never even considered one of your family inheriting it. Chances of producing a Cui Dashi heir between my blood and that of your family were so slim as to be laughable.”
“I’m not laughing,” he growled.
“Perhaps it’s not all bad.”
“How can you say that? My family will disown me. They’ll kill me to purge the stain from our blood.”
“Their bad choices don’t need to define you. You think me evil, worthy of death?”
“I don’
t know what to think.”
“Then let your actions define you, not your fears.”
She drew him back to the sofa. “Never before have we had a chance to explore the Cui Dashi power. Always they were the enemy, a terrible force that had to be stopped before they could destroy everything we hoped to preserve in the world.”
“Like I said, I cannot live.” He sank back on the couch, despairing.
She knuckled him on the head. “You’re not listening. Stop wallowing in self-pity and listen. You must study your gift, learn what you can do. We may need all your strength to stop Paul. He’s the one who attacked your family, and right now you’re the one best positioned to avenge them.”
That finally broke through to his rational self. Eirene allowed herself to relax just a little. The powers he possessed were usually terrifying, but he was family. Eirene draped an arm around his sagging shoulders and pulled him close. He leaned against her, accepting the comfort she longed to give him. He was her great-grandson, and she loved him more than she was usually allowed to show.
Cui Dashi had always turned evil, but Alter would not. Together, they’d find a way to set things right.
Sarah appeared in the doorway. Eirene was surprised to see her so soon, but grateful she had come. Her soothing presence could build upon the groundwork just laid.
“Consider what I said. I have to check on Gregorios. He always gets cranky when he loses a limb.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
This rune warrior is a different creature than any heretofore encountered. The runes of Constantinople proved no match for the enhancements of my Janissaries, but Vlad and his ciphers threaten even their superiority. He impales with impunity, breaking enhancements and overwhelming their valiant souls. Rune warrior or no, I will destroy him and shatter his ciphers. I am in my wrath and the fullness of my second life, and I will see him fall.
~Mehmed the Conqueror, 1462
Sarah approached Alter hesitantly, not sure how to treat him. Eirene had given her a reassuring smile before she left, but Sarah would have preferred she stay. Part of her wanted to beat Alter with the nearby wrought-iron lamp for betraying Tomas. But he had fought Reuben, turned against his own family to help them. That made it hard to hate him.
