The Veil: Corruption (HASEA CHRONICLES BOOK 2)

by Stuart Meczes

  “I’ve filed a request for Aran to officially join Orion,” said Gabriella. “She’s been a great help to us, and we are pretty low on Guardians.”

  Why not? If Gabriella vouches for her, that’s enough for me.

  “Nice to meet you too,” I said.

  Scarlett stood up and offered out a hand. “Pleasure to meet you.” The Urisk tilted her head to the side and stared at the hand for a moment. Then she wrapped both of her hands around it without shaking and smiled.

  “Errr, yeah, I’ll just take that back…thanks,” said Scarlett, retrieving her hand.

  “Sit down if you like,” I said, gesturing towards the sofa.

  “Aran will be seated during the feast. Standing is the logical option.”

  “Oh right…okay then.”

  There was an awkward silence. I looked around the room, tapping a finger on my leg. Gabriella smiled at Aran and then looked at Scarlett, who used a thumb to rub a mark from the sleeve of her uniform.

  The bell went again, and I jumped to answer the door before anyone else could. Delagio, Grey, and Danny were all standing at the door. Delagio was, as usual, grinning like the Cheshire cat. “Sup buddy?” he said, ruffling my hair as he moved past.

  Grey strolled in, one hand on his stomach. “God, I am starving. This feast cannot come soon enough.” He gave me a knowing wink as he passed, and I beamed back at him. Gabriella had told me that he and Delagio were both in for my cause. For the first time in weeks, I really felt like I wasn’t alone.

  Danny was wearing his uniform. It had been cleaned after the battle, with all traces of blood and dirt wiped clean. I pointed to it.

  “These make you feel like a badass, don’t they?”

  He burst out laughing. “Such a badass!

  We shook hands, then I ushered him in. As soon as Danny entered the room, Gabriella and Scarlett stood up. “There’s the man of the hour,” Gabriella said with a smile.

  He did a mock ‘oh don’t’ wave of the hand and then descended the steps into the lounge area after getting a load of backslaps and handshakes. I headed off to the kitchen to collect the champagne from the fridge. As I moved back towards the lounge, I saw that everyone was sat around Danny complimenting him on how well he’d done in the Trials and the battle and asking him how he felt to be joining the alliance. I felt a new smile spread across my face. It reminded me of when I’d joined all those months ago, and I remembered how exciting it had all been – so new and unknown.

  He’s going to replace you.

  The voices rose up like a tsunami of whispers, coming from nowhere and engulfing me.

  You are the corrupted. He is the new, better you. She will love him instead, and you will lose everyone. Give in now. We can take the pain away. Surrender to us.

  I felt a champagne bottle burst in my hand and the dampness of warm blood and cold alcohol. Gabriella’s head shot up. When she saw me standing in the hallway, she broke away from everyone and rushed to my side. “Alex, are you okay?

  My teeth were clenched together from the pain of fighting against the creatures inside me. I tried to nod, but my head wouldn’t respond. Gabriella took my hand and pulled me into the kitchen. She leaned out. “Everything’s okay guys, Alex just cut his hand, no worries.”

  She placed her hands either side of my head. “Tell me what to do.”

  I strained to speak and eventually I was able to squeeze one word out. “Elixir.”

  “Okay, hold on, sweetie.” She thrust a hand into her pocket and pulled out her own ampule of the elixir. She popped the cork. “Tilt your head back, honey, that’s it.” She had to pull my lips apart and use most of her strength to unhinge my jaw.

  Through a hole barely big enough to fit the tiny top of the ampule, she poured a load of the stuff down my throat. I staggered backwards as the creatures screamed, bumping into the sink. A sound like rusty doors being thrust open screamed through my brain, and I felt my jaws unlock.

  I leaned over the sink and vomited up a heap of black bile. Gabriella rubbed my back until I was finished. Washing out my mouth, I stayed leaning over the sink, breathing heavily and watching the vile stuff getting washed away by the running tap.

  “Alex, talk to me.”

  “I’m fine,” I said finally and forced a smile. “Really…I am. I’m not going to let this ruin the night. Come on, let’s go join the others.”

  She held up my cut hand. “Not until we sort this.”

  Gently holding it under the tap, she let the water clean away the blood and glass. There was a deep gash running down my palm, but as she held me, it started to knit itself together until it was a pink line, which then faded into fresh skin. She cleaned up the blood, glass, and champagne from the floor and then pulled a replacement bottle from the fridge.

  “What would I do without you?” I said, brushing a hand across her cheek.

  She kissed my hand and smiled. “Probably waste a lot of champagne.”

  We spent the next half hour or so drinking and chatting to Danny. The alcohol numbed my senses and made me feel human again.

  “So yeah,” continued Danny. “Del showed me my new room earlier. It’s pretty sick.”

  “Who you sharing with?” I asked.

  “John from the Trials, and some guy from Cerberus called Oliver. I’ve never met him before, although he seems cool. Except….well, his room was full of Star Trek stuff. I mean like full of it. What is with that?”

  Gabriella chuckled into her glass. “Sage Faru uses his mind merge to learn the things you like. He has the agents stock your rooms with your favourite things. Guess Oliver is a Trekkie.”

  “What is a Trekkie?” asked Aran.

  “It’s a term for people who love this television program about space,” I answered.

  “Space?”

  He opened his mouth to answer and then shook his head. “Never mind.”

  “So that explains why my room is full of all my favourite books and films,” mused Danny. “I just thought it was a super lucky guess.”

  “Aren’t the apartments supposed to house four recruits now?” I asked.

  “Yeah, we have a spare,” he shrugged.

  “That’s good, you can have a maid move in. You’ll need one with you at all times,” teased Delagio. Gabriella almost spat her drink into her glass.

  “Or Hollie. You two seem to be getting quite cosy with each other.”

  “Grey!” gasped Gabriella.

  Danny rolled his eyes.

  “Do Hollie White and Daniel Jackson suffer from body heat deficiencies?” asked Aran.

  Everyone burst out laughing. Aran frowned and took a sip of something silvery from the glass Gabriella had handed her. The good humour of the evening was helping me forget what had just happened. For now, it was just me and a group of friends, some old, some new, enjoying each other’s company. I prayed it would stay that way, but knew I was kidding myself.

  Gabriella glanced at her watch. “We’d better head down now. The ceremony will begin soon.”

  We all set down our glasses and left the apartment. As we walked along the hallway I slowed my steps so that Danny and I were walking together. “How you holding up?”

  “I’m good, thanks.”

  “I wanted to say thanks again…you know, for everything. You’ve been a great addition to the Warren.”

  He nodded. “Thanks, man, I really appreciate that.”

  “So you thought of a name for your bo staff yet?” I asked.

  “We get to name them?”

  “Sure…well if you want. Most people do. Or their Huntmasters do it for them.”

  He paused for a while, thinking. “Okay I have one, but it might be really cheesy.”

  “Hit me.”

  He cleared his throat. “Penance?”

  I gave a nod. “Sounds awesome.”

  He grinned. “Cool. So when do I get Penance back?”

  “Gabriella will present it to you at the Feasting Ceremony. That is, if you decide to join Orion
. But you can have it even if you don’t. It was a gift from me to say thanks for putting up with everything. I know it’s all been a bit chaotic here. I can assure you it’s not always this crazy.”

  He gave a smile. “Thank you. And don’t worry, it’s a whole lot more interesting than being a bank clerk, that’s for sure.” We both laughed. “And don’t worry, I’ve decided already. There’s no question that I’m joining Orion.”

  I nodded. “I’m glad.”

  He did a tiny jump of enthusiasm. “God, this is all so frigging sick!”

  As we made our way onto the balcony, I saw that all traces of the battle had been removed. The broken statues and ruined portraits had been replaced; the smashed windows and doors had been repaired. All the graffiti had been scrubbed away or painted over. Once again, the Warren had been transformed into a beautiful showpiece, with silver decorations adorning the walls and bannisters, as well as vases of tall flowers and ceremonial candles that flickered in the breeze from the open windows.

  Soft piano music piped through hidden speakers accompanied the conversations of the clusters of Guardians, who stood around in the entrance hall and drawing room sipping from champagne flutes handed out by waiters. Everyone was looking extra sharp and enthused, as if extending a metaphorical middle finger to the previous day’s attack. Among the Guardians were the honorary recruits, who stuck close to their Huntmasters, looking a little like lost sheep.

  I remember that feeling.

  We exchanged pleasantries with countless people, and I marvelled at how Gabriella was able to put on a mask of absolute normality. It showed how strong she really was. The group broke off as we all started chatting to different Guardians and recruits. Aran stood quietly in the background, smiling and sipping something blue from a glass a waiter had handed her.

  “Oh there’s Hollie and Troy, shall we go and say hi?” said Danny. He had just finished chatting to a group of female Guardians, including Yildis, whose hair gave off red embers every time she stroked it, giggling.

  “Sure.”

  We headed over and joined them by the front doors. Troy’s hand dwarfed the tiny flute of champagne he held, and I supressed a smile as I watched him take dainty little sips. Hollie was nodding in response to something Larik was saying to her, the edge of his ceremonial cape clutched in one of his hands, reminding me of a trendy Dracula. Hollie’s eyes brightened when she saw Danny, and the two gave each other a hug that lasted a beat too long. Troy gave my hand a hearty shake.

  Larik placed a hand on my shoulder. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to discuss some of the ceremony details with Agent Green. Keep an eye on my recruit; she has a habit of wandering off.” Hollie rolled her eyes as he turned his back. The Huntmaster nodded at Daniel and then made his way over to the agent on the other side of the hall.

  “How are you guys?” I asked, kissing Hollie’s cheek.

  “Actually a little nervous,” she said. “There are so many people.”

  “Err, there were way more at the Trials,” Danny pointed out.

  “Yeah but that was sports.” She waved a hand at the droves of people. “This is well out of my comfort zone.”

  Troy took another sip of his champagne. “I can’t wait to be a Guardian. Yesterday was such a rush.” He paused, realising his foot had just deposited itself in his mouth. “Obviously, it was really bad too.”

  “You guys did an amazing job,” I said with absolute sincerity. “I wish I’d been that calm when I’d first got here.” They all smiled back at me.

  “Mind if I join you?”

  We all turned to see the recruit who had helped to rile up the crowd of Guardians at the memorial service. He had one of those long, pinched faces that could only have belonged to one of the wealthy ‘haves.’ The way he stood and smiled gave him an air of arrogance. I took an instant dislike to him.

  Hollie gave a plastic smile. “Of course, Richard.”

  Danny gave me a look that I knew meant he shared my dislike of the new arrival. Richard finished his champagne with a gulp and took a passing waiter’s arm, stopping him in his tracks and almost upsetting his tray of drinks. He set the empty flute down and then disregarded the waiter entirely.

  “So yesterday was interesting. Is chaos normal around here?”

  I stiffened at his barbarous comment. “Actually the Warren has only been attacked three times in its entire history. The base is well guarded. Yesterday was something that won’t be repeated.”

  Richard made an ‘mmhmm’ noise. “Let’s hope so.”

  “So where were you when all the fighting was taking place?” said Danny, barely able to keep the malice from his voice. “We covered most of the base, didn’t see you anywhere.”

  Troy folded his arms and stared at Richard with a smirk on his face.

  Richard shifted uncomfortably on the spot. “I was helping out. Trying to keep people alive.”

  Hollie lifted her glass to her lips. “More like hiding in a cupboard with the Asrai,” she muttered loud enough for us to hear. We all stifled a laugh.

  Richard scowled and then looked for a way to guide the conversation away from him. “So who is this, then?” he asked, gesturing at me.

  “Richard, it’s basic manners to address the person you’re speaking to directly. Or didn’t they teach you that at private school?” I said. Danny chuckled into his glass. I took great pleasure in seeing the arrogant little idiot squirm. “My name is Alexander Eden.”

  Richard’s face broke into a smirk. “Alexander Eden? Oh, so you’re the one that all those rumours are about.”

  Hollie gave him a sharp glare, but it was too late.

  “Excuse me? And what rumours would they be?”

  He shrugged. “Oh nothing, just that you’re going a bit…you know…unhinged.”

  I tightened my hand around my glass. Do not let this sanctimonious little prick get under your skin, Alex, I told myself. Instead I leaned in and gave a dark smile. “Then you’d better watch what you say to me, hadn’t you?”

  Richard took a step back.

  “What exactly is your problem?” asked Danny.

  Richard bristled from the direct attack. Where he came from, he was probably used to venomous digs disguised as daily conversation. “I just don’t see why you are getting all this sudden attention simply because you happened to save this guy.” He jerked a thumb in my direction.

  I had to resist the urge to break his thumb for him. Instead I kept my cool, knowing if I lost it then things could take a very dark turn. So I sipped my champagne and said nothing.

  “Yeah you’re right, Richard. I should have just let him die. That’s what you would have done, right?”

  “Uh...no, of course not. That’s not what I’m saying.”

  I turned to Richard. “I think you are forgetting one valuable thing here, mate. We are all part of the same team. One day you might be relying on one of these guys to save your ass. So it’s probably better to leave the boarding school bitchiness at the door, okay?”

  Richard’s face was steadily growing redder. He was no less of a bully that Terry had been, but here bullies were the ones who ended up on the wrong end of a fist.

  It was Troy’s turn to pipe up. “I think our boy is just bitter because Danny called him out when he cheated at the trials. Didn’t he, pal?”

  “I didn’t cheat!”

  “Yes, you did. And now everyone knows what an absolute slimeball you are.” Troy pointed across the hall. “So why don’t you do us all a favour and piss off before I power slam you through a table?”

  Richard went to say something back, but Troy narrowed his eyes. One quickly-turned back later, he was on the other side of the hall, drinking champagne and glowering.

  “Well he’s an absolute pleasure, isn’t he?” I said.

  Danny shook his head. “Mate, we all had to put up with him through the trials. He is literally as much of a tit as he seems.”

  “I’ll mention him to Gabriella. If he causes too much trouble
, Sage Faru will have him cast out, no two ways about it.”

  “Let’s hope he causes more trouble then,” mused Hollie.

  We all carried on chatting for a while. I noticed how Danny and Hollie put each other down in a light-hearted way. And when they spoke they would place a hand on each other or laugh extra hard at each other’s jokes. There was definitely something between them, and it was sweet to see. I really liked Danny, and it was good to see him settling in so well.

  “Excuse me,” said a voice from just outside the feasting hall doors. It was Agent Noble. He smiled out at the now-silent crowd. “The ceremony is about to start. Huntmasters, please take your Guardians through the library and take your seats in the feasting hall. Recruits, please wait here to be invited in for your joining ceremony.”

  “That’s my cue,” I said, drinking the last of my champagne. I clinked my glass against Danny’s. “You ready to officially become one of us?”

  “Just try and stop me.”

  24

  Gabriella

  I led my team into the feasting hall through the library doors. A second grand table had joined the first. Both were set for over a hundred people. Agents bustled about, double-checking name cards, and then retreated to their spots at the perimeter of the room. Soon afterwards all the workmen, groundskeepers, doctors, and admin staff joined them.

  One by one, the Huntmasters guided their Guardians to their places at the tables. After Ivy’s sudden departure from Trojan, the responsibility had fallen to Shyran – a Pixie with messy black hair. He looked a little awkward in his new role as he led his eleven Guardians to their seats next to us. Adjacent to us was Larik, with his team of fourteen. The other eleven squads took their seats, including the infiltration and logistic units. It seemed that nearly all of the Guardians were back from their missions now, no doubt having learned of the attack and wanting to show their support. Apart from a handful, it seemed that all the one hundred and ninety currently active Guardians of the Warren had made an appearance.