“They need to be stopped,” Tango called as he walked across the room, hearing the mention of the Tianzu. “They're the ones who killed Foxtrot.”
“Stop brainwashing him,” Skye pleaded. “I'm trying to ease him into everything slowly.”
“No time for that,” the defiant man dismissed. He snatched the tablet from Skye's grasp. “Roman, listen to me. The Heaven Clan need to be killed. They're far too powerful and dangerous to just be walking around the streets.” Tango found the image he was looking for on the tablet and handed it to Roman. “These two are especially dangerous. They're the ones who killed Foxtrot.”
Roman stared at a blurry image of two mysterious figures: a man whose face was covered by a hooded mask, and a boy who looked like he was only a teenager.
“Don't listen to him,” Skye said to Roman. “Yes, someone from the Tianzu killed Foxtrot, but we don't know why. As I said, we can't risk starting a war with them right now.”
“And now there's another one in the city,” Tango added. “There seems to be no end to them.”
Roman put the tablet down and buried his head in his hands. The conflicting information was too much to take in all at once. He felt that he was beginning to understand only minutes ago, but the divided group made everything exceedingly difficult to grasp. He got up silently and retreated back to his room.
“Why?” Skye asked, shooting an aggravated glance up at Tango. “He doesn't need this right now. He was almost killed today.”
“He needs to get his priorities straight. You're the one brainwashing him about Archie.”
Skye took a deep breath to calm himself, weary of the endless bickering. “It's not going to be the same, is it? We're never going to function as a group again.”
Tango walked off. “The game has changed, Skye.”
“What about saving innocent people?” he called after him. “I thought White Shadow was about justice.”
Tango stopped and turned around. “It is about justice; justice for our brother, Foxtrot.”
“So you're not going to help anyone else anymore? You're just going to focus your attention on finding his killer?”
“Exactly. We can't save everyone, Skye.”
Skye shook his head in frustration. “You're far too focussed on revenge. You're going to turn into Sierra.”
“And you're too heroic. You're going to get us all killed.” He stormed out through the back door of the warehouse.
Skye turned to Ren, who sat idly by at her workstation on the other end of the room. They knew that a divided group severely hindered their chances of success, and would only lead to more needless deaths. They both looked equally as worried and exasperated over what White Shadow has become.
Twenty-three
Adam and Karen strode swiftly down the hallway, passing and greeting numerous different personnel working for the newly elected president. The villa was buzzing with dozens of frantic staff, all of them swamped with work. Some were desperately trying to prepare everything for the impending inauguration, whereas others were taking the necessary steps required for the change of government leadership.
Adam smiled and nodded at anyone who looked up at him, and they smiled back. He wondered if perhaps they hadn't yet been informed of his dismissal.
They reached the end of the foyer and ascended the stairs to the third floor. Home to numerous vacant rooms and living quarters, this level was much quieter than the rest of the heavily guarded compound. They turned right, and then left, and arrived at yet another long hallway, with the president's suite located at the end.
“There it is,” Adam said, spotting a small and insignificant door halfway down the corridor. He thought back to the footage they'd just watched with Guard One of the strange corpse that had entered the villa. He wasn't sure what to expect, but hoped it wasn't a weapon that was going to be used against Archibald or the Athenian people.
They approached the room cautiously. They were the only people in the hallway, but crept forward slowly and silently, keeping a vigilant watch on their surroundings. Adam placed his hand on the door handle and began to turn it.
“Careful,” Karen whispered. “Don't open it too quickly.”
Something in the corner of Adam's eye caught his attention. He stopped turning the handle. Both of them looked to their left to see Nikolai emerge from the suite.
It took Nikolai a moment to speak. “Oh,” he said with a frown, surprised by their arrival. “Mr Price and Ms Bowden. What are you doing up here?”
Adam stared at Nikolai, his eyes wide with surprise. He didn't think Sweeney would be back in the villa so soon. “Where's the president? Is he safe?” Adam asked, concerned for his leader's safety.
“Of course. He's back at West Tower,” Nikolai responded, strolling toward them with a confident gait. His gaping eye sockets looked down at them both. “And what are the two of you up to? I was under the assumption that you were returning to Government House, Mr Price.”
“I am,” he replied quickly. “I was just collecting the remainder of my possessions.”
Nikolai took another step forward. “Is that so?” he asked sceptically. “And what brings you to this floor? I don't recall seeing you spend any time up here today.”
Karen wasted no more time discussing the matter. “We believe there's a bogey in this room,” she said, not avoiding sharing her obvious suspicions of him.
“A bogey, you say?” Nikolai took another step closer. “Well, I assume this word is perhaps an idiom of sorts that pertains to threats to the president?”
“That's right,” Adam said. He swung the door open, uncertain of what was waiting on the other side. He only hoped that, whatever it was, it could be used as evidence to prove Nikolai was conspiring against Athenia.
The foul stench of rotting flesh poured out into the hallway, causing all three of them to flinch and recoil in disgust.
“What is that?” Karen asked, distressed from the vile odour.
Nikolai pushed in front of them and kicked the door off its hinges in rage. Light flooded into the room, revealing a lone corpse standing inside. Nikolai clenched his fists and let out a loud growl at the sight of the hideous creature.
“You two are dismissed,” he said, composing himself momentarily. “Go home.”
“What?” Adam asked, confused. “But what is that—”
“I said go home,” Nikolai interrupted. “As your new chief counsel, I'm ordering the two of you to vacate the building at once.”
“I don't understand,” Karen admitted, not taking her eyes away from the strange and horrendous sight of the body. She realised that Nikolai knew what the bogey was, but he was clearly surprised to see it in the villa.
“Tahlia!” Nikolai's voice boomed from the hallway. A moment later, the woman in black appeared in the doorway of the suite. “Find Night. Tell him to get rid of this thing immediately. He's probably outside somewhere.”
Tahlia closed her eyes and crouched down low. Adam and Karen shrieked as they watched her vanish into thin air.
Adam could hardly believe his eyes. He stared at the empty doorway where Tahlia stood only a second ago, wondering how she could have possibly disappeared like that.
Nikolai spun around to see that the pair were still standing there, both with frightened looks on their faces. He flared his nostrils, pondering what to do with the bystanders. They had seen far too much for his liking.
He leaned forward and placed an arm around each of their necks. “Go home. Don't come back here again,” he ordered in a quiet and reasonable tone. In one quick movement, he ripped their staff passes from their necks.
Adam shot Nikolai an aggressive glance. His mind was reeling from what he had just witnessed, and he knew that they faced an incomprehensibly powerful enemy. Every instinct told him to leave immediately, but he was frozen to the spot. Whoever these people were, they were highly dangerous and posed a very serious threat to the nation.
Karen grabbed his arm and started leading hi
m away from the towering foe.
“Let's go,” she whispered.
Without a second thought, they both turned and started running back down the hallway, away from Nikolai and the suite.
Twenty-four
Skye sat against a large tree in the woods surrounding the warehouse and Nanping district. It had often proven to be a comforting refuge for whenever he needed to be alone with his thoughts.
He looked up at the late afternoon sun through the sparse canopy. The past three months had been far more challenging than he could have ever anticipated, provoking his mind to cast doubts over White Shadow and what it was they were fighting for. At times, even he himself was uncertain. It had so far been a long day, and was set to be an even longer night.
Sierra dropped from the tree above him and landed silently on the ground. He let out a quiet shrill, startled by the short warrior.
“Please stop doing that,” he begged after calming himself.
“Stop doing what?” she asked.
Skye shook his head. “Forget it. What are you doing out here?”
“Training.”
The two stared at each other in silence for a long moment. Skye looked into her vacant eyes, waiting for her to take her leave. Several more moments passed.
“Sierra,” he spoke, breaking the unpleasant silence upon realising she wasn't going to leave him be, “I have a bad feeling about tonight. I'm a little worried that someone might get killed.”
“Tahlia will,” she said definitively.
“I meant one of us,” he corrected.
“Tango and Echo might—they're reckless. Juliet and the boy might too—they don't know how to fight.”
Skye began to regret bringing up the topic. “You never worry, do you?” he asked.
“Why would I worry?”
“Because you might be killed at any moment. Tahlia can trace your location to just about anywhere on half of the island. What if she decides that she's tired of looking over her shoulder? What if she decides to take your life?” He would never ask any of his other teammates such blunt and callous questions, but he couldn't help but pry into the woman's intriguing mentality.
“I hope she does,” was the response. “I can't track Tahlia. If she comes to me, I'll be able to kill her sooner.”
“That's not what I meant. How is it that you're always so calm?” he pressed, eager for information.
“Because I have no reason to feel any other way.”
Skye scoffed. “In other words, you don't care about anyone's regard, including your own. You don't have any problems, so you don't need to care.”
“No,” she corrected, “I don't care, therefore I don't have any problems.”
Skye stared back at her for several seconds before letting out a soft chuckle. “You can be wise when you want to be,” he admitted. “It's just a shame that you enjoy killing people more than you do teaching them.”
“I don't know why you all assume I'm a killer—I've never killed anyone. But I'm prepared to kill Tahlia and anyone else who gets in my way.”
“I'm sure you will,” Skye said without a doubt in his mind. He looked back up at the glowing rays of sunlight high above, counting down to their perilous mission ahead.
“You should worry less,” Sierra suggested. “You told me that Nikolai will never kill you, so you have no reason to worry.”
“That doesn't protect me from the Tianzu,” he countered. “But I'm more concerned about Juliet and Roman. I really don't want to bring them tonight, but they're not safe here either. It's an impossible situation. Maybe Tango was right.”
“Right about what?”
“He said I was trying too hard to be the hero. But I'm just trying to keep everyone in our group alive.”
“You can't protect everyone,” she replied simply.
Skye sighed. “I know. And I know that it's not always my job, but I can't help but wonder how frightened Juliet and Roman must be right now.”
She nodded with agreement. “Of course they're frightened. That's why they need to train.”
He let out a soft groan. “All you seem to think about is training.”
She turned and faced him. “And none of you seem to think about it enough. You live very dangerous lives, and have more enemies than you can count. All I ever hear is complaining from your group, yet no one ever seems willing to train themselves enough to be able to kill their assailants.”
Skye stared back at her for several seconds before eventually letting out a short laugh. “Again, you can be wise when you want to be.”
“Maybe I'm just realistic. Everyone in White Shadow judges me because all I care about is killing Tahlia, and I spend every second of every day training myself so that I can kill her. If your group did the same, you wouldn't have any enemies. It's as though you want the results without putting in any effort.”
Skye nodded. “A good observation. You're not wrong. Tango and Echo are obsessed with finding the Tianzu, but they have no idea what they're getting themselves into.”
“I agree, which is why I said they might die tonight.”
Skye cringed. “Please don't say that.”
“But it's true, Skye. I'm not going to deny the truth about what might happen tonight.”
“I feel the same way, but you don't have to say it like that. You're one of us now. You should show some compassion to the others.”
Sierra groaned. “You think I lack compassion?”
“Absolutely,” he said without even pondering the question. “I feel as though if any of us were killed, you wouldn't be bothered in the slightest.”
“I wouldn't be,” she admitted. “But how I feel is no one's business. Your group shouldn't judge me just because I don't believe in your cause.”
“We're a team, Sierra. You should believe in our cause.”
“Well I don't. We have a common enemy, and that's all. I have other things to focus on.”
“Like what?” Skye asked, his mood shifting. “Killing Tahlia? Letting your friends die?”
“That's enough,” she said, her eyes starting to show rage. She grabbed Skye by his shirt and pulled his face in close to hers. “I'm not going to let any of you die. I'm not a monster like Nikolai, and you need to stop treating me as though I am. If you knew what I had been through before we met ...”
Skye swallowed hard, taken aback by her sudden admission. “What? What did you go through?” he asked cautiously. “It's okay, you can trust—”
“No, I can't. Don't ask me to trust you, Skye. I can't trust anyone ever again.” She dropped her gaze to the ground, her eyes becoming distant. “Tahlia took everything from me. She ruined my life. And the lives of others ...” She looked back up to Skye, a lone tear falling down her cheek. “... so she needs to die.”
Skye nodded, bewildered by Sierra's sudden reaction. “I'm sorry,” he said.
“No, I'm sorry,” she said sarcastically as she stood up. “I'm sorry if I don't consider any of you to be my friends. I'm sorry if wanting to kill Tahlia is too selfish for White Shadow.”
Skye looked up at her, unsure what to say or do. He'd never before seen Sierra show any anger.
“And,” she muttered. “I'm especially sorry if I have no interest in killing your elderly president. You keep telling me how corrupt he is, but none of you have any idea about corruption.”
Skye had heard enough. “Really? And you do?”
He flinched as a crossbow bolt lodged itself in the tree behind him, narrowly missing his cheek. Before he had time to react, Sierra had grabbed his shirt again with one hand and lifted him from the ground effortlessly.
“Yes,” she hissed, her eyes furious. “I do.” She dropped him to the ground, then trudged off through the woods.
Skye caught his breath and watched as she walked away. His head span from what had just taken place. When she was gone from view, he tilted his head up to the golden sun once again. Sierra's admission had taken him completely by surprise. He was curious to know abo
ut Sierra's past with Tahlia, but again decided not to pry. She was right in saying it's none of his business, he thought.
And for the moment, he had much more pressing issues plaguing his own mind that he needed to focus on.
Twenty-five
“I'm going to say this one final time,” Nikolai spoke through gritted teeth. “I don't want any of those things in the villa ever again. If you insist on resurrecting the dead, go and do it in the forest surrounding the bunker. I can't have anyone see them.”
“Nikolai, if I may interject ...” Night said, lazing casually on the large chaise in the suite, “you're no fun. You need to lighten up and enjoy yourself. This whole campaign has caused you too much stress.”
Nikolai's face twisted unnaturally. “I'm no fun?” he retorted. “You think I'm stressed?”
Night nodded his head, so vigorously that his top hat almost fell off.
Nikolai started laughing as he walked over to the large window overlooking the ocean. “Let me assure you, Night, that I'm a very fun-loving individual. It's the only way one can sanely pass the time over the course of his or her lengthy eternity in this realm. However, I must point out that I do not appreciate having the smell of rotting corpses filling my villa. I'm doing everything I can to stop the public, and the president's staff for that matter, from uncovering the truth of this operation.” In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of Night, their faces inches away from one another. Nikolai was cautious enough to not make contact with him, aware of what would eventuate from a simple touch. “Do you have any idea how difficult that is!” he roared.
“You see?” Night asked, turning to Tahlia. “He's stressed, isn't he?”
The woman in black suppressed a soft laugh. She averted her gaze and said nothing, not wanting to get involved in the pointless argument.
Nikolai tried to compose himself. “Sometimes I wish I never asked you to join Black Dawn,” he muttered.
Eternity's War (Books 1-3) (Eternity's War Boxsets) Page 13
