Her eyes went wide, and a white smile spread over her face. She stood up straighter, her shoulders thrown back to emphasize her chest. She all but swayed across the room and settled into Nicholas’s lap, giving him a kiss as she did. Nicholas did not respond. At least, he didn’t respond very much. He gave her a faint smile, but otherwise did not lean into her or put his arm around her. He had to know what she was doing as much as I did.
“I brought you the Inquisition collaborator, Nicholas,” said Hailey.
I rolled my eyes and waited.
“I see that, Hailey,” said Nicholas. “I need to talk with her alone.”
Hailey flinched. “Alone?”
“Yes, alone,” said Nicholas. “You know the rules of the Revolution. Each one of us only knows as much as necessary, lest we fall into the hands of the Inquisition. I’ll see you at dinner.”
Hailey’s expression turned thunderous, and she heaved to her feet and stalked away without another word.
She slammed the door with more force than necessary.
Nicholas and I stared at each other for a moment.
“I bet you’re sleeping alone tonight,” I said.
Nicholas raised an eyebrow. “Do you think so? Volunteering to fill the lack?”
“You’re appalling,” I said. “She’s obviously in love with you, and you’re flirting with me behind her back.” Of course, I already knew he was willing to murder thousands of people to achieve his goals. Compared to that, what was cheating on a girlfriend?
And Riordan had been in love with me, and I had forsaken him.
No. That had been for his own good. His own protection from me.
“As it happens, Hailey has always craved a strong male presence in her life,” said Nicholas. “Before dinner, she will return to me and apologize. I’ll tell her that all is forgiven…and then I won’t need your services tonight at all.”
“Then she’ll suddenly learn how to Cloak?” I said. “Neat trick.”
Nicholas leaned back in his seat. “You don’t like her, do you? I didn’t think you were the jealous type, Kat, but…”
“It’s been three years, Nicky,” I said, putting stress on the nickname. “I told you, I’m married with a child. I’ve moved on. So have you. In fact, I bet you’ve moved on multiple times. Is she, what, the third or fourth woman you’ve been with in the last three years?”
“Only four?” said Nicholas. “Kat, I’m wounded. You underestimate me so.”
“You have no idea,” I said. “So. Do you want to get to work, or shall we trade insults some more?”
“Please,” said Nicholas. “Be seated.”
I grabbed one of the loose chairs and dragged it over to the front of his desk. As I sat down, I noticed that the chairs all had slightly shortened legs so Nicholas would seem to tower over any guests from the other side of his desk. To compensate, I leaned back in the chair and rested my shoes on the edge of his desk. Nicholas’s lips thinned a little but he said nothing.
It irritated me that we knew each other well enough that we could insult each other even without speaking.
“I am surprised,” said Nicholas, no trace of annoyance in his voice, “that you’re still alive.”
“Honestly,” I said, “so am I.”
“Swathe and Corbisher said that you had hundreds of undead chasing you as you fled the city,” said Nicholas. “After you passed out, Dr. Tocci was sure that you were going to die. Evidently, your body temperature, blood pressure, and heart rate were low enough that you should have died.”
“What can I say?” I said. “I made a miraculous recovery.”
“A recovery induced by magic,” said Nicholas. “That healing spell of yours seems to be most effective. Perhaps you could teach it to me.”
“Maybe if you ask nicely,” I said, “Natalya Karst will teach it to you. Since you and she are friends now.”
Nicholas’s smile was thin. “The Knight’s friendship carries a price, and I know better than to bother her with trivial requests. How did the undead wind up chasing you to the boundary of the city? I thought you could Cloak.”
“I can,” I said, “but the myothar was waiting for me. Or it was waiting for someone to visit Willis Tower again.”
“Explain,” said Nicholas.
I recounted to him my various misadventures in the ruins of Chicago. Nicholas listened without interrupting, without questions. Halfway through I realized that sitting with my feet on his desk was a strain on my ankles, so I got up and started pacing as I talked. Nicholas leaned back in his chair and listened, doing that thing with his hands where he made a little tent in front of his chest. It should have looked pompous, but it only made him look thoughtful.
Of course, he really was thoughtful. The problem was that his brilliant mind was unhindered by anything resembling a conscience.
“Interesting,” said Nicholas when I had finished. “Interesting indeed. How did the myothar even guess that you were there? It must have suspected a Cloaked wizard, else it would not have cast the dispelling spell in the first place.”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I can think of a few possibilities. Maybe it could smell me. It couldn’t smell me through the Cloak, but the Cloak wouldn’t extend to any scent trail I left behind. Maybe it realized I was there from the reaction of its undead. They sensed my presence a few times before I Cloaked or hid behind the ice wall. The myothar can probably see through their eyes when it wants to.” I snapped my fingers. “Or maybe it just saw the bicycle. I left it propped against the wall outside Willis Tower. Maybe the myothar happened to be walking by and saw a bicycle there, realized that someone had snuck into the city, and sat outside to wait.”
“It may well be a combination of all of those things,” said Nicholas. “Certainly, the myothar are more intelligent than either humans or Elves. Nevertheless, you did find Jeremy Shane’s tomb?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Lowest basement of the tower. It’s in a bank vault. I would have opened the tomb and taken that briefcase you wanted, but there was no way I could get inside.”
And I would have looked inside that briefcase to see what Nicholas wanted so badly.
“A bank vault,” muttered Nicholas, staring into the distance. “Of course it had to be in a bank vault. Then again, if it had been stored in anything less secure, it would have disappeared centuries ago.” His cold eyes snapped back to me. “The plaque you saw next to the door. What else did it say?”
I shrugged. “His dates of birth and death, a thumbnail biography…and it also said ‘Operation Sky Hammer’ and that the keys to humanity’s freedom lay within. I’m going to guess that’s thing you want…”
My voice trailed off. Nicholas had sat up straighter, his eyes blazing. The last time I had seen him look so keen had been when he had been planning to bomb that stadium with Sergei Rogomil.
“Operation Sky Hammer?” said Nicholas. “It said that? You’re absolutely positive?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I took a video if you don’t believe me. I suppose we’ll need that to plan the next steps.”
“Yes,” said Nicholas. “Yes, we will.” He let out a breath. “I was right. At long last, I was right.”
“Operation Sky Hammer,” I said. “What is it?”
“Just what it said on the plaque,” said Nicholas. “The key to humanity’s freedom.”
“Great,” I said. “What is it? A weapon? A bomb? What?”
“It was,” said Nicholas, “the plan Secretary Shane was preparing when he was assassinated. Unfortunately for mankind, the idiots who assassinated Shane and took over his insurgency lacked both his vision and foresight, which was why they failed. They didn’t know what he was planning.”
“But you do,” I said.
Nicholas only smiled.
“Fine, don’t tell me,” I said. “But unless we figure out a way to get that bank vault open without the myothar killing us in the process, then whatever they buried Shane with is going to stay down there.”
“Yes, I am aware of the difficulty, thank you,” said Nicholas. He tapped his fingers together again, thinking. “Which is why I asked the Forerunner to procure a thief with your particular talents. I had hoped you could simply stroll into the tomb and walk off with the briefcase. Unfortunately, it seems that it is impossible. Well, this won’t be the first complication we’ve faced. You said you videoed your excursion into Chicago?”
I nodded.
“Perhaps it is time to share that video,” said Nicholas.
I didn’t let him touch my phone. It was a burner phone, true, but there was no way I was going to let him handle any electronic device I used, for much the same reason I wouldn’t have eaten anything Dr. Tocci gave me. Nicholas closed the shades and dimmed the lights, and I plugged my phone into his projector and turned it to face a blank section of wall. A memory flashed through my mind as he did that. He had closed the shades and dimmed the lights in the same way in his apartment in Los Angeles as I had lain naked on his bed, smiling at him and waiting for him to undress and join me.
What a fool I had been.
I grimaced at the memory and turned my attention to my phone.
We watched the video three times. I fast-forwarded through most of it. Around halfway through the second viewing, I started to get a little queasy. I had no idea my head moved so much while I was walking. Nicholas had me rewind and pause several times during my walk through the basement levels of Willis Tower, and he produced a notebook and began scribbling notes. I knew that expression. He was planning something.
“You’ve got an idea,” I said.
“Several,” he said once the video stopped for the final time. “However, they need some refinement.” He crossed to his desk and picked up his phone. “Swathe? Call the others together in the conference room. Everyone is to be there in twenty minutes. We have a robbery to plan.”
“A robbery,” I said.
“That is exactly what we are doing, Kat,” said Nicholas. “We are planning a robbery. We’re going to steal from a myothar and its undead army.”
“Super,” I said.
###
We returned to our usual places in the conference room on the first floor.
Nicholas sat at one end of the table, and I sat at the other. Swathe, Vass, and Corbisher resumed their usual spots. Morelli settled in the corner and ignored everyone. Swathe and Corbisher commenced glaring at me at once, which I ignored. Vass sat down with a sigh and offered me a jovial grin.
“Miss Stoker,” said Vass. “You are looking remarkably healthy.”
“Thanks,” I said. In fact, I had a headache, and I was thirsty and hungry and wanted to sleep, but I had already displayed enough weakness to this gang of murderers.
“Actually, you look like you’re on the verge of death,” said Corbisher. He wasn’t wrong. I had stopped by the bathroom to splash some water on my face, and I was pale and drawn, with dark circles under my eyes. I looked sick and exhausted, which was better than looking like an undead corpse with glowing green eyes.
“True,” I said. I twirled a lock of hair around my fingers. “But I’ve still got all my hair.”
Corbisher, who had lost most of his hair to the bloodrat, glared at me. Vass guffawed.
Hailey and Dr. Tocci arrived after that. Tocci sat down without saying anything, staring at the table. Hailey scowled at me and sat with her arms folded.
“Thank you all for coming,” said Nicholas. “As you have no doubt realized, Miss Stoker returned from her scouting expedition to Chicago, and the time has come to plan the next phase of our operation. Miss Stoker?”
I gave them a thumbnail sketch of my discovery of Shane’s tomb and my encounter with the myothar.
“Then you screwed it up,” said Corbisher. “You weren’t supposed to be discovered.”
“Corbisher’s right,” said Hailey. Corbisher blinked in surprise. “The myothar and its pets will be ready for you a second time.”
“If either of you can do better,” I said, “then you’re welcome to do so.”
“Enough,” said Nicholas. “Setbacks are challenges to be overcome, and nothing is accomplished by wallowing in them. The fact that Miss Stoker escaped alive with valuable information is victory enough for now. Admittedly, it would have been convenient if she could have looted Secretary Shane’s tomb, but we all knew that was a long shot at best. Now the question is how to proceed.”
“There are thousands of undead in Chicago,” said Corbisher, “and the myothar is a powerful wizard. How can we possibly proceed against it?”
“In the same way we would proceed against any superior force,” said Nicholas. “With planning, discipline, and timing. I appreciate your concerns, Martin, but you know I will not tolerate defeatism.”
“I am not indulging in any defeatism,” said Corbisher. “I am pointing out the difficulties that we face.”
“Agreed,” said Nicholas. “Let us find ways to overcome those difficulties.”
“Miss Stoker,” said Morelli. I glanced at him in surprise. It was the first time he had addressed me. “You seem certain that these creatures can sense body heat?”
“I am,” I said. “Fireballs distracted them, and when I hid behind walls of magical ice, they couldn’t find me.”
“She’s right,” said Swathe. “I saw her use a fireball at the edge of the ruins. Dozens of them rushed to look at the hot spot left over from the explosion.”
“That may be part of the solution,” said Morelli, looking at Nicholas. “Thermobaric weapons and incendiary bullets.”
“Where are you going to get thermobaric weapons?” I said. I knew the basics of how thermobaric weapons worked. It was like a fancy firebomb that sucked the oxygen out of the surrounding air to create a hotter explosion than a conventional bomb. If the undead could see heat, using thermobaric weaponry on them would be like shining spotlights into the eyes of living soldiers.
“We have a stockpile on hand,” said Nicholas. He smiled at me. “They’re occasionally useful for dealing with collaborators.”
I glanced at Tocci, but she didn’t seem to be listening.
“If we can hide a ring of thermobaric bombs around the base of Willis Tower,” said Morelli, “we can conceal our movements from the undead when we set them off. That should give us time to get into the basement, open the vault, and get out again.”
“You can open the vault door?” said Nicholas.
Morelli nodded. “Easily. It only requires shaped charges to take the door off the hinges. Granted, that does not make it easy to rob a vault undetected, but if we are successful, I doubt the myothar will complain to the High Queen. I will need to review any images or video taken of the vault.”
“Miss Stoker will provide you with the video,” said Nicholas. “Now, we also need to consider the method of reaching Willis Tower and retreating again. Miss Stoker can Cloak. None of the rest of us can share that ability.”
“Perhaps she can teach those of us with magical ability the spell,” said Corbisher.
Yeah. Like I was going to teach him the Cloak spell.
Before I could tell him off, Nicholas spoke. “That would be a waste of time. The Cloaking spell is exceedingly difficult to master, and it takes decades of practice to learn to walk while Cloaked.”
“One wonders where Miss Stoker learned,” said Corbisher.
“Well,” I said, grinning at him and thinking of the Eternity Crucible. “I’d be more than happy to take you to the place where I learned it.”
Corbisher harrumphed but said nothing more.
“Maybe a rift way?” said Hailey. “I can cast the rift way spell. The Knight taught me on our last trip to Venomhold.”
Nicholas smiled. “Ordinarily, that would be a good idea, but it would be too risky for this operation. Any rift way opened within Chicago would be influenced by the stable gate in the center of the city. I don’t know where that gate leads in the Shadowlands, but I do know it’s somewhere outside of the influence of th
e Knight of Venomhold. We might open a rift way and end up facing something more dangerous and powerful than the myothar.”
Hailey’s face fell, but she nodded.
“Also,” I said, “the myothar can cast Seal spells. Almost certainly it knows the Seal of Shadows spell. If it finds us and casts the Seal of Shadows over us, we can’t open a rift way.”
“Motorized transport will be necessary,” said Morelli.
Corbisher snorted. “What, a car or a truck? There’s no way they could get through that many undead. I suppose we could rent a bulldozer, but even that would get stuck after a few hundred undead.”
“A helicopter is the answer,” said Vass with a broad smile.
“Just because you’re a helicopter pilot doesn’t mean that the answer to every single problem is a helicopter,” said Corbisher.
“In this case, I’m afraid it is,” said Vass, folding his hands over his belly. “Helicopters, planes, and even zeppelins overfly Chicago on a regular basis. The undead might be able to jump, but they cannot fly, and the myothar will obey its promise to the High Queen. It might try to kill any human that sets foot in the city, but it doesn’t attack aircraft.”
“If the helicopter lands,” I said, “the undead will attack.”
“That is what the thermobaric weapons and the incendiary bullets are for,” said Vass.
“Then we have the skeleton of a plan,” said Nicholas. “We will place thermobaric bombs, wired to burner phones, around the perimeter of Willis Tower. Once the time is right, we shall detonate the bombs, distracting the undead and the myothar, and we will take a helicopter to Chicago. While the undead are distracted, we will rush into the tower, breach the tomb, and escape with the briefcase before the myothar can react.”
“Okay,” I said. “How are you going to get that many thermobaric bombs hidden around Chicago?”
They all looked at me.
I sighed. “Great.”
###
We spent the next two hours planning.
As much as it annoyed me to admit it, Nicholas was a good leader. He assigned tasks, set clear areas of responsibility, and laid out expectations. Of course, that had its dark side. All his lieutenants were competing for his favor and approval, even Hailey, and they would happily stab each other in the back. If Corbisher had been able to get away with it, I had absolutely no doubt he would have killed both Vass and Hailey, and Hailey and Vass would have killed him right back before they killed each other.
Cloak Games: Tomb Howl Page 15
