War Within (Death's Contract Book 2)

by KJ Harlow

  “...so with our new army of the leaders of the UK, we’ll…” I peeked into the room. It was completely packed. There must have been hundreds of people there, all staring at Mortimer. He was sitting in the Speaker’s chair. He was too preoccupied with talking to notice me slip in. I closed the door behind me then glided into the entrance to the lobby. I held my breath as I ascended the steps.

  “You can’t do this,” Agatha said. I froze, my foot in mid-air. She wasn’t dead! More importantly, she hadn’t been Ceased. As expected, Mortimer had brought her here and hadn’t harmed her.

  The room was so quiet I could hear Mortimer exhale deeply. He started speaking again and I continued up the steps.

  “Oh but I can, Aggie. It’s happening. Half of London has been razed to the ground. All we have to do is drive a stake through the heart of the country and the entire United Kingdom will be ours.”

  I sent a silent prayer of gratitude to the architects who designed the room. Not one of the steps creaked. I quickly scanned the lobby. No one was up here. Hunched over, I crept towards the front to get a clearer view of the room below. As expected, Mortimer was sitting in the Speaker’s chair. Agatha stood 10 feet away, arms and legs bound staring defiantly at him. Her eyes flicked to the Table of the House in front of her where her Lucent Gun lay. Every other seat was filled with the members of parliament. They were riveted to Mortimer’s every word, but that wasn’t on their own volition.

  There was one person who was out of place. He was slouched in his chair with one leg casually crossed over the other. His dark, unreadable eyes scrutinized Agatha with a hint of a smile playing on his lips. My heart rate sped up as I watched Dante stand up and saunter towards her. He circled her like a shark assessing its prey before it opened its jaws and ripped them apart. He stopped and stood next to her, draping his arm around her shoulder. I saw her stiffen.

  “Remind me Mortimer, why did you want to bring her here?” Dante asked softly.

  “Agatha… owes me,” Mortimer said, pursing his lips. “She made a decision a long time ago that has led to the downfall of London today. I thought I give her the chance to redeem herself.” Agatha started crying. Not silent, dignified tears, but sobs that racked her shoulders. She covered her face with her bound hands. Dante squeezed her shoulder in comfort as if he were a dear friend. What was going on?

  “How could I have said yes, Mortimer?” Agatha said, dropping her hands to look at him. “You were making me choose between you and the church. I… I couldn’t abandon the people who had saved me. I couldn’t abandon God. How could you have made me choose? How could you?” Mortimer stood up.

  “I would have created a beautiful life for us, Aggie,” he said, slowly walking towards her. “I would have quit my life of crime, we would have moved to the countryside, had children and lived happily ever after,” he stopped right in front of her. His eye twitched slightly and he looked down at his feet. “You were all I had!” Mortimer roared, his voice echoing through the room. I flinched. I wanted to blow a hole through his head right then and there but that would mean the end of both me and Agatha. I waited.

  “It doesn’t matter now, anyway,” he said, his voice soft. “Tomorrow, we’re going to unleash the leaders of the UK upon their people. The streets of London will be painted with the blood of the innocent.” Dante took his arm off Agatha’s shoulder and stepped away from her.

  “You can stop this, you know. All you have to do is bring the Deliverers to me,” Dante said, looking intently at her. “We won’t hurt you of course, Mortimer wouldn’t allow it.” He said, his eyes flicking over to his deputy. Agatha’s tears stopped flowing. A moment of peace flooded her as she closed her eyes.

  “You were meant to die on August the 1st, 2005. Then you escaped. Your crimes became more and more heinous. Each time I heard about them, a needle was driven through my heart. It might as well have been me committing those crimes. I was the one who turned you down. I wasn’t strong enough to abandon the church. I wasn’t brave enough to be with you.

  “And so I watched. I watched as more and more people died by your hands. Seven years, I bore with this. Seven years I hoped that someone would catch you and lock you up forever. But by the end of the seventh year, I couldn’t take it anymore. There were too many needles in my heart.” A fire of such ferocity I had never seen burned in Agatha’s eyes.

  “Do you know how I died, Mort?” Mortimer took a step back but didn’t say a word. “I took a knife from the kitchen one day, stared down the edge of it and drove it into my own heart. I don’t even remember it hurting. I just remember feeling… relieved. My pain was finally over. I had betrayed the church, I had betrayed my people. The least I could give was my life.

  “But God had other plans. He sent an angel to retrieve me and gave me a choice: go back and make things right or face judgment. I made my choice, Mortimer. I’ve come back to make sure you can’t hurt anyone else. I’m not going to let the guilt of the past defeat me. Mark my words: I will Cease you if it destroys me.” A barrel jammed into my back, right behind my heart. I had been so captivated by Agatha’s story that I’d dropped my guard. A Conflicted guard stood behind me, his gun on the trigger.

  “Ah, hello Rose!” Dante said brightly as I put my hands up and stood slowly. “Didn’t see you up there. It’s been a while hasn’t it?” I ignored him as I looked down at Agatha. She looked up at me, her eyes still burning brightly. Mortimer stared down at his feet as his hand balled into fists by his side. He turned around and picked up her Lucent Gun. Slowly turning back towards her, he paused before pointing Agatha’s weapon at her.

  “It seems like you have made your decision,” he looked at Agatha softly, his eyes glistening. “Then I have made mine too.” He had never shot Agatha before. Surely he wouldn’t do so now? Dante stepped aside and directed his attention back to Agatha.

  “Any last words?” Mortimer asked. He raised Agatha’s Lucent Gun, pointing it at her head. Even from my distance, I could make out a slight tremor in his hand.

  Just then Big Ben started chiming. The bell rang once, twice then three times before it fell silent. He was going to do it. Agatha was going to Cease right in front of my eyes. After he shot her, he would shoot me too. I was all out of options. Then, before I could think, I shouted the first words that came to my head.

  “Happy birthday, Mortimer Weston!”

  Fourteen

  Agatha stared up at me in bewilderment. Dante looked up, his eyebrow raised. He glanced across at Mortimer. His arm was dropping as all the color drained from his face. His mouth opened and closed as if he was choking.

  In one swift movement, I spun and smashed the grip of my Lucent Gun into the Conflicted’s wrist. I wrested control of his hand gun with one hand and fired into his head with my weapon in the other. As black ashes rose all about me, I aimed the Conflicted’s hand gun down at Agatha.

  “Rule Number One,” I whispered to myself before firing a single shot. Agatha fell to the ground and after a moment became enveloped in white light before promptly disappearing. In unison, the 300-odd Conflicted in the House of Commons drew their weapons out and pointed up at me. I leaped backward and covered my head as a barrage of bullets pinged off the walls. I commando crawled towards the steps then got to my feet. I fired my Lucent Gun at the Conflicted that had started coming up the stairs, kicking him into the ones behind him before spraying them with a flurry of shots.

  I got the hell out of there. Bursting through the doors, I Soul Stepped as fast as I could, the halls of the Palace of Westminster streaking past me in a blur. I was prepared to see Mortimer or Dante appear, but they never came. In a matter of seconds, I was back outside. The fresh air cut into my lungs as I turned left and blazed back the way I came.

  “Walter!” I yelled.

  “Yes, what’s up?”

  “We need to retreat, now. I saw Dante and Mortimer, they –”

  “You saw them? Are they after you now?” I turned the corner and saw Walter with a baffled
look on his face. His Lucent Gun was back in handgun form as he fired a round every few seconds into Matylda.

  “I don’t know,” I said, catching my breath. “I don’t think so, they could be still in the Palace of Westminster.” Walter looked behind me.

  “Where’s Agatha?”

  “I shot her.”

  “You what?” He exploded.

  “Only with a regular hand gun, not with ours. There’s no time to explain, we have to –”

  “Look out!”

  I ducked as Walter pointed his gun straight at me. He fired a round at Mortimer. He tried to dodge it but it ended up hitting him in his right shoulder. I raised my weapon at pointed it at him. Just as I was about to shoot, he put his hands up.

  “Don’t shoot!” He shouted. Walter turned his gun back to Matylda.

  “Shoot him, now!” He roared at me. “We need to retreat before Dante gets here.”

  “He’s not coming you fool, he’s too busy,” Mortimer sneered. He looked back at me, his eyebrows knitted together warily as he stared at me in anger.

  “Weston – where did you hear that name from?” He demanded. I kept my gun trained on him, not daring to blink. “Answer me!” He roared.

  “What’s wrong?” I said with a smile. “Scared we might find out more about who you really are?”

  Mortimer continued staring at me for a few seconds before he smiled. “Fine, have it your way. Not like it will do you any good.” He plunged his hand into his holster and drew out his black Ombre Gun. Before he could fire it at us, Walter and I felled him. As he crashed to the floor temporarily incapacitated, I turned back to Walter. We put our fingers on the reload of our Lucent Guns and pressed at the same time.

  “You’ve got a lot of explaining to do,” Walter growled as we were whisked back to the Underworld.

  “Rose what–”

  I bolted across the room past a bemused Death and flung open the door. I narrowly avoided colliding into one of the workers in the control room. Spinning around on one foot, I apologized before heading straight towards the stairwell leading down to the resting chambers. I took the steps down as fast as I could, flew past The Room then skidded to a halt in the middle of the circular resting chamber.

  I looked around the room as I calmed down. Silas, Tor, Tracy, Agatha. Who did I visit first? There was a flash in my mind as I was taken back to Westminster Bridge. I closed my eyes; I could feel Tor’s immense shadow shielding me as he took the bullets meant for me. I remember feeling the blood splatter on my face and the nightmares that threatened me even when I was awake. He drove the terrors away and protected me. He had to know how I felt about him. I stepped towards Tor’s door and rested my hand on it.

  “Tor?” I said softly. “Are you awake?” There was no response. I rested my forehead on the door. What was I thinking; he had just been filled with bullets by military machine guns bolted to a helicopter. I stepped away and started heading towards Tracy’s room. I spun back when I heard a door open.

  Tor stood in the doorway looking weaker than I had ever seen him. It seemed like it took him every ounce of strength just to stay upright. After a moment, his knees buckled and he slumped into the door frame.

  “Tor!” I exclaimed, rushing towards him. “Go back to bed, you need rest.” He clung onto the door frame with his hands and looked at me.

  “I’m… awake,” he said before collapsing on the floor. I looked around frantically. How could I move him back to his bed? I crouched down and threw one of his arms around me. Right at that moment, he came to. He forced himself to his knees and together we shuffled back to his bed. It took him a monumental effort to climb back in but eventually, he got there. Kneeling on the floor, I touched his cheek with my hand. His eyes fluttered open as he tried to stay awake.

  “You…” he started to say before his eyes closed again.

  “Shhh,” I whispered, putting my finger on his lips. His eyes closed as he fell asleep again. I knelt there for a little longer, stroking the hair out of his face. I wanted to tell him how much I cared about him and how thankful I was that he always had my back. But now wasn’t the time. I stood up and started making my way back towards the door.

  “Rose,” Tor said quietly. I turned around and looked at him. He pulled his hand out from under his face and reached out to me. “Stay.” I hesitated then turned around. I walked towards the foot of the bed then climbed in. I bent my knees and nestled them into the crook of his legs, bringing myself in close to the rest of his body. He shivered as I lifted his shirt up and placed the palms of my hand against his back. His muscular body was tense and damp with sweat as it waited for my next move.

  With the tip of my finger, I started wandering all over his back. I rode the contours, applying pressure here and there. Gradually he relaxed, his muscles growing suppler as he fell asleep. I rested my hand flat against his back again for a moment, feeling his body rise and fall in slumber. With a finger I traced a letter into his back, followed another, then another then one more. I left his bed quietly then walked back to the door. Looking back at him, I noticed the faintest hint of a smile on his feverish face. I wonder if he realized what I had written? I opened the door and slipped out.

  “What on earth were you doing in there?” Tracy said as I turned around and bumped into her.

  “Nothing,” I said far too quickly, blushing furiously as I turned away. My eye widened as I looked back at her. “You’re OK!” I laughed as I threw my arms around her. She laughed as she returned my hug, crushing me in her embrace.

  “Of course I’m fine. It was just a bullet to the head, geez,” he said, waving off her death in the Overworld as if it were nothing. “Not like Tor over here. He was in pretty shape when he came back.” She smiled wickedly at me again. “So what were you doing in there? Giving him some private therapy?”

  “No!” I yelled, before immediately shrinking back when I realized how loud I was. “No, he just wanted me to stay a while and be with him. Nothing happened.” Tracy gave me a skeptical look as she crossed her arms.

  “Alright, sure thing then,” she said with a twinkle in her eye. I had to change the subject otherwise she would keep going on and on.

  “How is Silas?”

  “He was shot but what killed him was being run over by the fuel tanker.” My hands flew up to my mouth in shock.

  “What?” Tracy nodded gravely.

  “Yeah, but he’s OK now. He’s already back upstairs. Tougher than he looks, that guy.”

  “And Agatha? How’s she doing?” Tracy’s expression changed as her usual brightness dimmed.

  “Ah, about that. Death told me to come and get you. He has a few things he wants to ask you about what happened up there.”

  “I told you, I had no choice!” I said. My eyes were blazing defiantly at Death as he stared at me angrily.

  “So let me go through the scene again,” he said, rubbing his temples with his thumb and middle finger. “Mortimer and Dante were both there. Agatha was tied up. You were up in the gallery and you were stupid enough,” – I rolled my eyes – “to let a Conflicted sneak up on you,” Silas and Tracy turned their heads back to me in unison as they waited for my response from the other side of the table.

  “Yes, that is correct,” I said wearily. Death’s hazel eyes flashed as he tried to keep his temper down.

  “OK,” he said, exhaling. “Meanwhile, Mortimer was about to Cease Agatha with her Lucent Gun and then…” This time, Silas and Tracy looked down. I glanced at them. What was the big deal?

  “Then I wished Mortimer happy birthday.” A pregnant pause filled the room as Death stared at me, baffled. After a few seconds, he started laughing. Silas and Tracy shuffled uncomfortably in their seats while I stood and regarded him calmly.

  “It worked. It completely took him off guard. I was able to take the gun from the Conflicted behind me, kill Agatha and help her retreat then get the hell out of there myself.”

  “What about her Lucent Gun?” Death said, barely kee
ping his anger in check. “Who knows what the Tormented are going to do with it.” I shook my head in defeat. I wasn’t going to say it again.

  “You have broken Rule Number 2, Rose Eaving, never shoot a fellow–”

  “I did it with a mortal hand gun Death, not a Lucent Gun! Or would you rather that we lose another Deliverer?” I slammed the table in front of me. “I did it to save her. Yes her Lucent Gun’s up there, but I’d rather it up there and her down here than her not here at all.”

  The space between Death and I sparked and fizzed with tension as we tried to stare each other down. Silas and Tracy tried to look anywhere else in the room but at either me or Death but eventually ended up staring at their hands.

  “I shouldn’t have let you go up there in the first place,” Death said with a resigned tone. “You will not be going on any more missions.” Without another word, he turned on his heel, put his hand on the glass door and left the room.

  I sat down, slumped back in my chair and tilted my head back to stare at the ceiling. Covering my hands with my face, I breathed to try and calm myself down.

  Looking to take my mind off what just happened, Tracy spoke quickly. “Rose,” Tracy said tentatively, “where did you have the idea to wish Mortimer happy birthday?” I dropped my hands as I stared at the ceiling.

  “Big Ben,” I said, “Big Ben chimed, just as Mortimer was about to Cease Agatha. It was 3 am. Only a few hours before, we had faced off with the Tormented outside Westminster Station. We moved the hostages away from danger. One of them was a man who called himself Sid. As I walked him toward Central Hall, he saw Mortimer.” Tracy and Silas stared at me curiously now, waiting for me to continue.