Masks and Mirrors: Book Two: The Weir Chronicles

by Sue Duff

  She plopped down on the bench. He sat on the concrete floor next to her and fidgeted with the laces on her sneaker.

  For so long she’d resigned herself to living life with Ian at a distance. The feather, as promising as it had been, only proved that their relationship would always be based on compromise. Being kept out of this might have been Ian’s definition of compromise, but it was far from Rayne’s. “I hate not knowing what’s happening,” she said. Buster laid his head in her lap. She stroked his back and found an odd sort of peace.

  The revelation that there was a Sar child that she could never touch triggered an avalanche of childhood memories, and of the short life she lived with a father who could never hold her. Thoughts touched upon her mother and eventually came full circle to Carlene. Did the young mother even know what her son was? Ian swore that Carlene was human, that she didn’t display any signs of being Weir. How could they help her learn about the magical beings that had cared for Earth for centuries, and appreciate that her son was a ray of hope for their dying race?

  A knock at the door. Rayne opened it to find Dr. Mac standing in the dim light of the Primate House entrance. “What are you doing here?” she said.

  He lifted his old, worn medical bag. “Ian sent word to meet him at the zoo and to come to this building. That I might be needed for triage.” He glanced over his shoulder. “What does he think I am, a veterinarian?”

  “You’re here for Zoe, my roommate.” The realization that Ian called the doctor confirmed that he was prepared for the worst. Seeing Dr. Mac standing there, clutching his bag, brought a tidal wave of reality. If Rayne didn’t lose her best friend tonight, she still lost the life they’d shared. She stepped to the side. “He’s trying to rescue her and save a mother and child from a Duach.”

  Shock grooved deep creases in Dr. Mac’s face. “Where’s Marcus? Why isn’t he taking care of this?”

  She thought fast. “He and his squad infiltrated the Duach’s lab,” she said. Ian hadn’t told Marcus what they were doing. The Drion might have triggered the Curse with Bryant. It dawned on Rayne that she would have to keep Dr. Mac on this side of the zoo.

  “Where’re Ian and the others?”

  “They’re on the opposite side of the grounds,” Rayne said. “Ian insisted I wait here.”

  “Are you alone?” he asked.

  “Not exactly.” Rayne looked at Buster. The orangutan was stretched out on the bench, one arm dangled over the side while he picked at his butt.

  “Let’s find the surgical offices,” Dr. Mac said. “I passed a map on my way here.”

  Rayne closed the door behind her and together, she and Dr. Mac found the medical building.

  “It’s locked,” she whispered. “Can your power get us in-side?”

  “No,” Dr. Mac said, peering down the path. “But my ingenuity shouldn’t be discounted.” He gripped the doorknob tight and jerked it. Nothing. He gestured for her to stay put and walked out onto the path, grabbed a large rock, and threw it at the window. It bounced off but hit with enough force that it set off an alarm.

  “Why’d you do that?” Rayne asked.

  “So someone will let us in,” Dr. Mac said matter-of-factly.

  A couple of minutes later, running footsteps approached. They slowed. “Stay where you are!” A security guard stood at the edge of the path with a gun pointed at them. “Who are you?”

  Dr. Mac cleared his throat. “Young man, I am a doctor.” He held up his bag. “I was called to tend to an injury. I was told someone would be here. I’m afraid I accidently triggered an alarm when I tried the door.”

  The security guard lifted a walkie-talkie to his ear. “Luis, come in.” Spitting static. The guard stepped toward them. The tip of the gun pointed toward the ground. “Where’s your ID?” he asked.

  Dr. Mac shook his head. “The vet on duty couldn’t come. He called me to cover.”

  “Larry. Do you know if someone called in an outside vet tonight? Respond.” Sizzle. The guard grunted and approached. “Is it about the cat that got loose? The other guards took off to check on that,” the man said. “I’ll need to call and confirm this.”

  “Of course, but in the meantime, would you be so kind as to let us in? We have to familiarize ourselves with the place. My assistant and I have to prepare for surgery.”

  Rayne conjured her best veterinary assistant smile.

  “Sorry Doc, but I can’t admit you until I verify this.”

  “Of course.” Dr. Mac touched the guard’s forehead with his index finger. The man went limp and Dr. Mac caught him. He grunted. “He’s heavier than he looks. Rayne, be a dear and open the door.”

  She grabbed the passkey hanging from the guard’s lanyard and swiped it. The red, steady dot turned to green. A metallic click and she swung the door wide. “What was that?” Rayne propped it open and helped Dr. Mac drag the unconscious guard inside, careful not to come in contact with the Pur Sar doctor.

  “I have the Somex power.” Dr. Mac removed the guard’s lanyard from around his neck and unlocked a door at the far end of the room. He turned on the lights. “I trust you to keep my secret.”

  “How long will he be out?” she asked. The man looked like he was sleeping peacefully.

  “I can revive him with another touch, or he’ll wake up within two to three hours on his own.” Dr. Mac said. He opened a door and turned on the light. “The surgery is in here. I’ll get prepared. What of the other security guards?”

  “Ian was taking care of them,” Rayne said.

  Dr. Mac looked at the slumbering guard. “He missed one,” came out gruff and full of gravel.

  Rayne grabbed the walkie-talkie and handed it to Dr. Mac. “When Ian secured the other guards, he may have hung onto one of these.” She headed for the door. “Use it if you need to connect. Don’t go looking for him. You might mess up his plan.”

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “I’ve got a job to do,” she said. She slipped out of the building, but took her time returning to the Primate House. Tara was to leave clues for Ning to head there, but Dr. Mac’s unconventional entry made his location vulnerable. Rayne had to keep Ning away from the medical building.

  A few furtive glances over her shoulder at the quiet surroundings failed to reassure her that the coast was clear. Had something happened to Ian or the others? Where was Tara?

  A laugh from the depths of Rayne’s nightmares came from the bushes. A core blast slammed onto the concrete at her feet.

  Sulfur snaked up Rayne’s nose. The sickening odor lit her muscles on fire. She ran toward the Primate House and slammed the door. Bump. The metal door grew warm. Smoke peeked through the cracks. Buster jumped to his feet and let loose a deafening screech.

  Memories of Ning chasing her and Patrick through a snowy forest sent shivers down her spine. Ning liked to have fun with his prey. He enjoyed the hunt.

  She rushed to the door marked for zoo personnel, but the piece of wood Ian used as a doorstop was missing, and she was locked out. Perplexed at what could have happened to it, she spied it balancing it on the orangutan’s upper lip like a mustache. He gave her a wide, toothy smile and chattered. Rayne let loose a curse. She’d left the guard’s passkey with Dr. Mac.

  “You did this,” Rayne yelled and slapped the locked door. “How are we supposed to get inside?”

  Buster rushed over and knocked on the door. “No one’s home, Buster,” Rayne snapped. He grabbed her hand. The orangutan dragged her through the winding hallway. He pounded on the far door marked Exit. She opened it and he shoved her outside. The door banged shut behind them. The outdoor exercise pens would have offered ideal places to hide, but they were covered in wire mesh attached to a network of steel bars. Rayne looked for a ground level entrance. There wasn’t anything she could squeeze through. The orangutan climbed the bars like a jungle gym. He slipped through an opening at the top and dangled from a beam. He waved as if wanting her to follow.

  The lowest steel bars
were too high and out of her reach. She grasped the wire mesh and pulled, but it cut into her fingers and she let go, rubbing her stinging hands. Buster climbed down and peered at her from the inside.

  “I can’t follow you,” she said. She looked around. The tree canopies were wide and thick on this side of the Primate House and they blocked out much of the moonlight. She couldn’t see but a few yards down the path.

  Ian stared at the barrel of the tranquilizer gun and raised his hands. “Calm down, Donovan, and we might all just walk out of here tonight.”

  “My son is dead because of you!”

  “You’re the one who brought the Duach head case into this,” Ian said. His pulse quickened. His heartbeat revved. Ian drew upon the only weapon that Donovan wouldn’t see com-ing. The weather’s reaction to Ian’s emotional upheaval.

  Nearby birds squawked. Their voices rose to a deafening pitch and mixed with lion roars and elephant trumpets. Shriek-ing monkeys filled the gaps between. Ian dropped to one knee and pressed a hand to the ground. This wasn’t his doing.

  With a screech, Coco leapt onto Donovan.

  “Get off!” Donovan groped for the spider monkey with his free hand but managed to keep one eye, and the gun, on Ian.

  “Donovan, a quake is com—” A low rumble cut off Ian’s words.

  The ground shook with a subtle vibration under Ian’s hand. It intensified with every heartbeat. The building moaned, windows creaked. An overhead glass pane crackled into an ornate spider web.

  Coco reached up and grabbed the overhead eave. She swung away and scampered toward Ian. Donovan fell against the door.

  A blur of white. Saxon leapt at the CEO. The wolf’s powerful jaws clamped down on Donovan’s wrist. “Ahhh!” The tranquilizer gun slipped out of his weakened grasp. In his struggles with Saxon, he kicked the gun. It spun away.

  The quake wasn’t easing. The front eave at the entrance to the Big Cat House buckled. The large concrete lion and tiger statues at the entrance rattled. One spun around, then tumbled toward the ground.

  “Run!” Ian yelled. Saxon let go and took off. Donovan fell to his knees. Ian swept his arm and sent a hurricane wind to-ward the man, but the giant lion statue crushed him before the gust could sweep him out of harm’s way.

  The animals ceased their protests. The earthquake’s grinding mantle settled.

  {50}

  The trembling ground knocked Rayne to her knees. A crimson core blast struck the viewing wall beside her. A dry bush transformed into a fiery torch.

  She tried to remain upright, but the ground tossed her about like a pebble on a freeway. She grabbed for the wire mesh to stop from falling into the blaze, but it cut deep into her fingers and she let go with a yelp. The tip of her ponytail sizzled when it swung close to the flame.

  The exercise compound wall cracked and split open a few feet away. Rayne scrambled for the opening and fell through with a face-plant against the cool grass inside the compound. The trembling ceased. Rayne got to her feet and took off for the nearest tree.

  She pressed up against the wide trunk. Silence. In spite of burning lungs, Rayne held her breath. It didn’t ease the pounding in her ears.

  “You do have the sweetest, most pungent fear.” Ning’s voice came from the other side of the wide tree. He’d followed her inside.

  Grunts came from the branches. Something landed on the ground. Rayne stole a peek. Buster had left the tree and was confronting Ning.

  “Do you know what happens to the brain when a concentrated blast hits it?” Ning said.

  Rayne shrieked, “Don’t!” She lurched and grabbed him by the ankles. The core blast snuffed out in his hand, her drain extinguishing whatever energy he could draw upon. He tried to kick free, but she held on with a grip that shocked even her. Buster jumped about chattering as if cheering her on.

  The blow struck Rayne across the temple. She fell against a picnic table bench. Its corner dug into her side and robbed her of breath. She gasped for air.

  Buster cried out and swung at Ning. The assassin dropped and rolled away. He rose to one knee and sent a core blast at the orangutan just as it grabbed a branch and swung up into the tree. The blast clipped the animal’s arm, setting its fur on fire.

  Buster disappeared in the thick foliage. Branches creaked overhead. The animal’s cries ripped apart Rayne’s heart. The smell of burnt hair blended with sulfur and floated down.

  Ning looked at her with a piercing madness. The assassin’s scuffle with the animal had at least erased his gloat.

  “You’re going to die for that,” he snarled.

  “You don’t dare kill her. She’s not worth anything to you dead, is she?” Tara had crawled inside the exercise compound and stood next to the crack in the wall. A bucket sat at her feet. She was backlit by the blaze. She held a large knife.

  A core blast swirled in Ning’s hand. It lit his face in a bloody glow. He laughed. “You brought a knife to a core blast fight. You must be dumber than your sister.”

  “You went after the book the other night,” Tara said. “But I’m guessing you left empty-handed. Otherwise you wouldn’t be so intent on kidnapping Rayne.”

  “I was supposed to kill the Duach’s wife on her way down in the elevator, but I saw all of you arrive at the hotel. The opportunity to go after the book was too good to pass up.

  “You’re not a shyftor, how did you get there so fast?” Tara asked.

  “There was a vortex in the alley across the street from the hotel. It made it so easy to slip away.”

  “Saxon recognized your scent,” Tara said. “He spoiled your plan.”

  “I handled the wolf.” Ning sneered. “It was the Pur Guards storming the place and slaughtering the old monks that sent me shyfting back to the party. But by then, I’d missed my chance with the wife. You surrounded her after that.”

  “The Pur Guards didn’t murder them,” Rayne shouted. It came out raspy. It hurt to draw a deep breath.

  His laugh rang about the exercise compound. “Naïvety suits you, suckling. You still believe the Primary can be trusted.”

  “Rayne, you okay?” Tara asked.

  “Yeah,” she said and gulped air to refill her lungs. She got to her feet. “Zoe?”

  Tara didn’t answer. She took a few steps toward Ning while flipping the knife around in one hand. “If you’re waiting for Donovan, he’s not coming.”

  “That complicates things.” Ning raised his hand, and the core blast swirled. He took a step toward Tara. “But I can be quite persuasive. Either Rayne cooperates, or I’ll reunite you with your sister.”

  Tara tossed the knife high above her. “I do miss her.” She caught the handle on the way down and in one swift motion, threw the knife at Ning. The blade sliced through his raised hand, nailing the core blast to his shoulder. He screamed.

  The fireball swelled as if his core continued to feed the un-spent blast. The swirling ball of sizzling energy engulfed the assassin’s shoulder. Ning stumbled back with a shriek as the melting steel blade dripped down his chest.

  Tara grabbed the bucket handle.

  Buster swung out of the tree and landed solidly in front of Tara. He grabbed at the bucket.

  “Sorry, but this one’s mine, Buster,” Tara said. She approached and tossed the contents at the screaming assassin.

  He burst into flames, engulfed in a blinding funeral pyre. The overwhelming odor of gasoline and burning flesh choked Rayne. Ning’s screams ceased. The assassin collapsed onto the ground. Flames licked at the damp grass.

  The empty bucket slipped from Tara’s grasp. “Are you sure you’re all right?” She didn’t look at Rayne, as if unable to peel herself from her twin’s executioner.

  Rayne didn’t know what to expect from Tara, but this cold reaction unnerved her. Relief at no longer looking over her shoulder, made Rayne almost giddy. Not Tara. Revenge wouldn’t resurrect her sister.

  Tara approached the dying flames. “Dr. Mac said you know where to find him.” She grabbed Rayn
e’s arm. “It’s not good. Ning had his way with Zoe before they even brought her tonight. I’m sorry.”

  Rayne took off and crawled through the opening in the wall. When she looked over her shoulder, Tara stood stock-still, staring at the inferno.

  Movement out of the corner of Rayne’s eye. Someone with a bent back stumbled, farther down the path. A muted groan, and the man grabbed his arm. She ran toward him, frightened that Tara held something back. Had Ian or Patrick gotten injured? Rayne ran to catch up, then pulled ahead to intercept. She froze.

  It was Jaered. Blood covered the front of his shirt.

  “You,” she whispered and glanced about. “What are you doing here?”

  “I found out Ning was coming after you.” He clutched his arm tight against his chest. He swayed like he was drunk. “The Channel can really throw a knife.”

  “Tara, her name is Tara.” Rayne scrutinized him closely. “You need a doctor.”

  “I need to get out of here.” His head lobbed like he couldn’t keep it upright.

  She stepped to the side. He took another step, but collapsed against the nearby lamppost. He hissed and clenched his jaw.

  “Stop being so stubborn and let me help you,” she hushed.

  “What are you going to do, carry me?” He gave her a gri-mace that in the dark could have been a smirk.

  “Follow me,” she said. Rayne led him to the rear of the medical building, pausing long enough for him to catch up to her with dragging steps. She found a sturdy crate next to a large Dumpster and gestured for him to sit. The surrounding trash reeked of blood and antiseptic. Jaered rested his head back against the cool brick and closed his eyes.

  “I’ll be gone in a few minutes,” he said in a feeble voice.

  “What happened? Was it Ning?” she asked.

  Jaered shook his head but didn’t offer anything more. “I have to get inside,” she said. “But I promise I’ll bring help as soon as I can.”