Niki crossed his arms on his chest. "Then there are the other assholes."
"The Inquisition of Purity. They take the other role in this battle for top evil. They are also a group of Chronomancers, but they want to undo all that the Zurvan Syndicate is changing. They try to keep history the way it is. They also kill a lot of people, mainly other Chronomancers. They believe that any Iskaydrians other than their members need to be eliminated. The Syndicate wants to enslave all Chronomancers and make them work for them. The Inquisition wants to kill them all."
"And you believe that one of these two organizations has Jack?" Dean asked.
"Yes."
"And you said it's your fault he got taken, Niki?" Dean asked. "Why? What would you have to do with it?"
"We had an argument."
Opal chuckled. "It was way more than that."
"I beat the shit out of him."
"With a weapon?" Dean asked.
"My fists. But I know how hard I can punch. I hit him in the stomach and ribs. I think I felt a few crack. Oh, God. What if he's injured badly? What if he's dead? What if I killed him?"
Opal rubbed Niki's shoulder. "You didn't kill him. He ran off to be alone because he was upset and in pain, but you didn't do enough damage to kill him."
"Yeah? If the Syndicate or Inquisition took him, then he's probably dead anyway."
Dean stopped that line of thinking before it could do more harm than good. "Don't talk like that. We need more information before we can know our next steps to take. We need to get to the beginning, to where and when Jack went missing. Is there a way to take us to Venice in 1503?"
The two of them looked at each other with questioning glances before Opal retrieved a silver disk from her coat pocket. "We need a Chronomancer to take us. It is possible for you to be part Iskaydrian and not know it. Do you mind if we tested your blood to find out?"
"That disk will tell you?"
"It will tell me every relevant thing about your DNA, Mr. Detective."
"Dean. Just call me Dean." He rolled up his sleeve and held his arm out. "All right. Do whatever you need to do."
"Hold still. This will hurt, but less than getting that ink done. Nice tattoo, by the way."
"Thank you." Dean winced when the thin blades of the disk sliced into this skin. It was over in a flash. "Well, that was unpleasant."
Opal held up the disk where strings of numbers and letters scrolled across the screen on the back. After a few moments, she frowned. "It's done."
"Well? Any good news?"
Opal put the disk back into her pocket. "You're not Iskaydrian."
"I see. Well, am I the other one, like you two?"
"Avelayan? Not one drop. We couldn't take you back in time with us even if we did have a Chronomancer."
"That's not true, is it?" Niki asked, seemingly confused. "Only Avelayans can warp with Chronomancers?"
"Only Time Knights. At least, that's what everyone says. I don't know if anyone has ever tried with someone else."
Niki's hands tightened into desperate fists. "Then what do we do? Jack has been missing for three weeks now. I'm losing my mind. This is the longest I've ever been away from him. I've been sick, like with a permanent cold and body aches. I don't know if that's from being away from my Chronomancer for so long."
"It is. I'm feeling it, too." Opal shifted in her chair. "We become so dependent on that bond that our bodies begin to fall apart without them. It's a way to keep Time Knights near their bonded Chronomancers."
None of that sat well with the detective. "This entire system sounds barbaric. I don't mean to offend, but if you are suffering because of some controlling thing that forces you to stay at your Chronomancer's side, then that sounds an awful lot like slavery to me."
"We choose this life, Dean. We all get a say."
Niki hid his face in his hands. "Speak for yourself. I didn't get a choice. I was trained since I was an infant for this. I was threatened with being homeless or selling myself on the street if I didn't do what was ordered of me."
"Allen Lambert said that to you?" Dean asked, letting his pen fall to the desk.
Niki nodded his head then stared down at his gloved hands.
"So, tell me again how this isn't a form of slavery."
Opal put her arm around Niki's back. "Niki's case is abnormal. It's awful, but not how most Time Knights come into service. I'm sorry, Niki. You should have been given a choice."
"It doesn't matter." Niki closed his eyes. "What matters is finding Jack."
Dean picked up his pen once more. "I agree. Can you tell me more about this Zurvan Syndicate, Niki?"
"They are dangerous. They're the ones who killed those people in November. They're the ones who kidnapped Ellie and her father then pinned everything on me and Jack. And you have one working for you."
Dean leaned across his desk to whisper to him. "Working for me?"
"Your secretary. Her name is Olivia Morningstar. She and other Syndicate agents attacked us in the Asian Steppe. They tried to kill me and they slaughtered innocent Mongols."
Olivia? "Olivia has been working for me for nearly three years. I've never had a problem with her."
"She's one of them. If you check her arms, she'll have an hourglass tattoo. That is what allows her to travel through time."
"We'll solve this right now." Dean pressed the button for the speaker on the wall. "Olivia, get in here, please."
"Right away." A moment later, the door opened and Olivia Morningstar walked inside. She grinned as she closed the door behind her. "What can I do for you?"
Dean stood. "Please remove your jacket and roll your sleeves up."
"Excuse me? I don't think this is workplace appropriate. I-"
"Do it now, or you're fired."
"Do you think I'm stealing or something?" Olivia laughed as if it was a ridiculous request. "Like there's anything in this office worth anything."
Dean was not playing games. "Roll up your sleeves, Olivia."
"I quit. You can't fire me."
"Roll up your sleeves and show me your arms, or I'll put you under arrest right now. Do not test me."
Olivia's lips quivered, on the verge of speaking, but she slid her coat off, letting it fall to the floor around her feet. With narrowed eyes, she pushed the sleeves of her blouse up to her elbows then turned her arm over. "There. Happy?"
Opal gasped and glanced at Niki.
Dean squinted then stepped up to his secretary. He grabbed her arms, making her mewl. There was nothing. Just flawless skin . . . too flawless. No freckles. No scars. Dean spit on her left arm and rubbed it, wiping away the layer of thick makeup to reveal the black lines underneath.
Opal shouted at him. "Dean, look out!"
He backed away to see the cocked pistol in Olivia's right hand, pointed directly at him. "Olivia, there's no need for violence."
"Shut up and get on the floor, all three of you." She waited until they were on their knees before touching her ear. "Morningstar to HQ. I'm having an issue at Detective Amethyst's office. I need backup ASAP. The Avelayans are here. Yes, those two. All right. Hurry."
Dean took this chance. He lunged at his secretary, knocking her off of her heels and sent her crashing into the file cabinet. A picture of a mountain sunset fell from the wall, the frame cracking into pieces around them. He wrenched the gun out of her hands then threw her across the office. Before Olivia could recover, Dean was on her with his hand wrapped in her hair that had fallen loose from the bobby pins. With one quick swing, he slammed her face into the corner of his desk, knocking her out cold. He let her slide to the floor before helping Opal to her feet.
Opal covered her mouth with her hand. "Did you kill her?"
"No. Just run. If these people are as dangerous as you claim and she called for backup, then she will be the least of our worries." Dean pulled his tan trenchcoat on and checked the pockets to make sure his gun was still in the deep pocket. "With me, you two."
"But-"
; Dean ushered them out of the door and into the empty waiting room. He reached behind the receptionist desk and unplugged the computer, cutting off the video feed from the security cameras. He rushed outside to his bike and got on. "Good thing I had to go grocery shopping last night and left the sidecar on. Get in, Opal. Niki, you're on the back with me. Face backwards."
"What?"
"Get on backwards. You've got a job to do." Dean took a machine pistol from the bag on his bike. He thrust it into Niki's hands. "You know how to use it?"
Niki nodded his head.
"Then use it. Get on, Gunner."
Once Niki was seated, Dean headed out of the parking lot and north towards the interstate. For a few minutes, everything seemed like a typical quiet Tuesday afternoon in Memphis. However, the moment he got onto the interstate heading to a safe place, everything fell apart.
"Oh, shit. They're here!"
The motorcycle tires screeched against the pavement when Dean took a sharp left-hand turn across three lanes. He weaved in and out of the lunch hour traffic, feeling Niki tense against him with every loud honk of the cars. The first volley of shots from the machine pistol nearly sent Dean into a ditch when he jerked around a red light.
Opal screamed and ducked own in the side car as the popping of gunfire came from behind.
"What's going on back there, Niki?" Dean asked.
"Syndicate goons in vans. They're coming up fast and shooting at us."
"Then shoot back. And don't miss."
The sound and blazing heat from the explosion on the overpass up ahead hit Dean before the smoke enveloped the interstate. It billowed across the highways, sending cars crashing into each other. Steel beams twisted and squealed as the bridge crumbled.
"What the hell was that?" Opal shouted at him. "A bomb? Go faster, Dean!"
"I'm going as fast as I can. Just hold on. Hold on!" Dean sped up through the chaos, the crashing of metal, the cries of injured motorists. Blindly racing between wrecks and boulders of cracked concrete. A second blast sent his ears ringing. The stench of blood burned his nose as a yelp came from from the sidecar.
"She's been hit. Dean, Opal's been shot."
"Oh, hell. I'll get us there. Don't worry. Keep shooting, Niki."
Two black vans without license plates jumped the curve and raced into the traffic, headed towards them. They sped along beside the motorcycle while the back windows rolled down and two masked men in purple suits pointed the barrels of their rifles out and fired. Dean swerved when a bullet hit the back seat.
"Niki, you okay?"
He could barely hear the shouting over the rush of the wind. "Oh my God!"
"I'll take that as a yes. Shoot them, Gunner." Dean kept his eyes on the blurry, smoke-distorted road in front of him, the lines smearing together as he throttled the engine. One of the vans veered across the line and attempted to ram him over, but he drew his Glock from inside his trenchcoat and fired a quick shot through the front window. Dark blood splattered against the shattered glass before the van drove into the median, passing inches behind the motorcycle.
Dean sped onto an off-ramp, glancing over his shoulder to see the other black van vanish from sight into the thick smoke up ahead. He continued down the back road that led the long way into Mana Glen. After a few minutes, he came to the sleepy town where rows of angry-looking people lined the road. They held up signs and posters while chanting something that Dean couldn't make out over the roar of the engine. He caught a glimpse of a common symbol on a few of the signs. A police badge with a red X through it.
When he slowed to a stop for a red light, the protesters gathered around the motorcycle and their chanting grew louder while some of them pelted the trio with small rocks and empty soda bottles. Dean brandished his pistol, making the crowd back off with more taunting and insults being hurled along with the garbage.
"Police pig!"
"Why are you hiding those murderers? Justice for Mana Glen!"
"Kill the kids already! Corrupt cops!"
Dean reached behind him to touch Niki's hip and comfort him before taking off through the intersection, not waiting for the light to turn green. Had the hatred for Niki and Jack grown that much? What had the media made them out to be now?
He pulled into the gravel parking lot just as two helicopters headed towards the interstate and sirens blared.
"Who were those people?" Niki asked, trembling. "Rioters? What's going on?"
"I don't know. We're here." Dean parked outside the white stone building and turned the bike off. He leaned over to check on Opal. "Are you all right?"
With Niki's help, Opal stepped out of the sidecar, clutching her shoulder where bright blood had soaked through her torn jacket. She shrugged out of the coat and looked at her wound. "I'm fine. It's not deep. I think it just grazed me."
"We'll get you some help either way. First, I have something else to do." Dean took out a pair of handcuffs then spun around. With well-practiced movements, he bent Niki over the back of the motorcycle and clicked the cuffs tightly around his wrists, sending the gun falling into the gravel.
Niki squirmed under him. "Hey! No, no! You said you wouldn't do this. You said you were on our side!"
"Shut up." He picked up the machine pistol before straightening up and shoving Niki forward. "Just shut up and listen to me very carefully. This is an off-the-radar police interrogation building. Opal, you are coming inside for questioning as a witness and I will tend to your injury. Both of you will do as I say, or worse will come to you."
Opal called after them. "You can't arrest him."
"What part of police detective don't you understand? I have the badge, I have the gun. I can arrest whoever I want. I promise you that you will not remain here too long."
Niki growled at him. "'Cause I'm going to prison, huh? You back-stabbing-"
"Shut up. Niki, keep that mouth of yours shut or I'll fill it with my Glock. Is that what you want?"
Opal squealed in fear. "You're going to shoot him? Oh my God!"
"Opal, I'm not . . . stop. Take a breath, then follow me. Niki, keep your head down and don't let them see your face." Dean pulled Niki to his feet and marched him up the steps to the tinted glass doors. He opened them, breathing a sigh of relief that only the receptionist was there. "Gonna take this one to the back. Just some small-time kid trying to deal pills at the gas station. Gonna see if he's working with anyone."
The petite ivory-skinned twenty-something woman with a platinum blonde pixie cut and a short teal dress pushed her oval glasses back up her nose. Her light blue eyes squinted as she smiled warmly. "Go ahead, Detective Amethyst. After you put him in a room, you should watch the news."
"Will do, Sasha. Thanks."
"And what about the girl?" Sasha asked, the buckle of her thick braided belt glinting around her waist. "Is she injured?"
"Yeah. She, uh, she's a witness. Saw some drugs changing hands, got caught up in some scuffle. Check on her injuries, will you?"
"Of course." She took Opal's arm and guided her behind the reception desk. "This way, ma'am."
Dean pushed Niki down the side hallway where white doors lined the even whiter walls. He pushed a door open into a thick-walled room with a wooden table and a single chair in the middle. He sat Niki in the chair and unlocked one wrist from the handcuffs, only to attach them to the arm of the chair, securing him there.
Niki whispered to him. "You promised."
"Shut up. I'll be back. Just cool off and then we'll talk."
"But-"
Dean shut the door, cutting off the boy's pleas. He didn't have time to deal with that right then. Instead, he went back into the lobby and sat in one of the plush pink chairs next to a fake palm tree in the corner. He found the remote for the television mounted on the wall and turned it to a news station. He turned the volume up to take in what the male reporter was saying.
The reporter was in front of the interstate on-ramp where a sea of emergency vehicles had gathered around the debris fr
om the collapsed overpass. Bodies were being carried away into ambulances and lifted into helicopters. Bomb squads attempted to clear the area while dogs inspected the stranded vehicles. He held the mic while he spoke with sweat streaking down his face. "Officials estimate the number of dead to be more than twenty and with forty more injured. At this time, Police Chief Daniels is calling this an act of terrorism. Five more attacks in Tennessee and Arkansas are responsible for more than one hundred casualties. We do not have the exact numbers at this point in time. Chief Daniels and Governor Harris urge everyone to remain off the roads until the all-clear is given. Again, this is an active and ongoing situation. The suspects have already been determined in this case. If you have any information on the whereabouts of Jackson Carter and Nikolas Valentino, please call any emergency number and they will direct you to our investigators."
Dean muted the television and watched as two ambulances from Mana Glen rushed up the road with lights flashing. Black smoke blocked out the afternoon sun like storm clouds. His cell phone vibrated constantly in his pocket, but he could not bring himself to answer the frantic calls or read the messages condemning the boys he promised to help. Why was everyone trying to make them out as evil criminals? How could two teenagers have the resources to pull of multiple simultaneous attacks like this? Unless they were part of something much bigger, it was impossible. It could have been the work of a terror cell, some organization radicalizing people, or homegrown terrorists from a hate group, but not the boys. Was Chief Daniels losing his mind?
After a few minutes, Sasha returned through the front door and went to her desk where she began gathering up her purse. "I took the girl to the clinic down the road. Her injury was more than I could deal with on my own and I didn't want to chance taking her to a hospital. They're going to be packed full with victims from these attacks. I booked her a room nearby."
"Is she okay?"
"Yeah. It didn't look bad, just gonna need some stitches."
"All right. Thanks."
Sasha rubbed her neck as tears swelled behind her glasses. "I, uh, I need to head home. I think my boyfriend might have been hurt in the attacks. I got a call."
Chronomancer (Time Mage Saga Book 1) Page 14
