Kate raced up alongside him. “Where are you going?”
“Wherever this pin goes.”
“Is Archon going to be there?”
Aaron stopped and faced her. “Probably. You should rest; you just came back from the brink of death.”
“So did you. No way am I going to miss a chance to get a piece of him.” The air warmed with a sudden wind from nowhere. “What he did to me…”
“I don’t want you to get hurt.” He walked off.
Kate caught up in two strides and grabbed his shoulder. “Didn’t you just tell that kid going in alone would get you in trouble? Fuck that, Pryce. I’m going to burn that bastard’s balls off.”
Aaron loped across the cafeteria, stopping into a lean against the wall by the hallway out, legs weak. “You had to say balls, didn’t you?”
Kate quirked an eyebrow.
“Stunrod,” whispered Aaron.
She cringed.
“Aye.” Aaron huffed a breath, got his balance, and kept going. “What about David?”
Kate caught his arm to stop him. “This is over his head. I already almost lost him twice. I don’t trust risking him a third time.”
“What about me?” Aaron summoned a sheepish grin.
“Syndicate’s still got a big bounty on you.”
He turned pale.
Kate punched him in the arm. “Jackass. I’m not serious.”
“You thought about it, though.” He grinned.
“Yep.” She folded her arms. “When you were a fugitive, not active duty… and I thought you were a bastard.”
“Oh.” He winked. “I am a bastard, but only to the right people.”
Aaron pushed the patrol craft to the limit of its engines. Loud crashing rumbled outside as they slipped back and forth across the sound barrier. Kate relaxed in the passenger seat, in total calm, as if they had merely decided to swing by Cyberburger for a mid-patrol snack. Even the occasional sonic boom shaking her back and forth caused little reaction. Sweat ran down the side of Aaron’s head, soaking into the neck of his uniform. The brick-like shape of the patrol craft didn’t lend itself well to control at that speed, and he had fractions of seconds to respond to turbulence.
“Wouldn’t it be easier to stay above Mach 1?” asked Kate.
“Bloody limiter keeps kicking on and slowing us down.”
“Perhaps you should listen to it before we explode.”
He whipped his head around to glare at her.
“No, I don’t feel an explosion coming… just saying.”
Aaron looked at the Navcon. The pin Anna sent went out into the Badlands, about forty miles past the western border of the area once called Arizona. Minutes crept by without conversation. He steered a bit to the right, further south, and slowed until the car no longer felt like a capsule trapped at the heart of a thunderstorm.
“What’s the plan?” asked Kate.
“I’ve no idea what to expect in there. ‘The city’s going to be destroyed, help’ doesn’t have very many details.”
“I mean if Archon’s there.”
“Oh.” Aaron smirked. “Probably best if we disregard the pleasantries and skip right to killing him.”
“Good. At least we’re on the same page.”
“Well, the bugger did point a gun at my face.”
“Not to mention—”
“Good idea. Let’s not mention that other bit.” Aaron licked his teeth and smirked. “And technically, that wasn’t him…”
“What?”
He smiled. “Teen angst. Lot of anger issues.”
Kate picked at her fingernails. “Every time I close my eyes, I see a demonic birthday cake trying to eat me.”
Aaron blinked. “I… No. You know what? I don’t want to know.”
Kate made a face as though her urge to laugh couldn’t quite dent her anger.
Beeping signaled the approach of their programmed destination. He eased off the throttle, letting air drag bleed off airspeed. A long strip of road up ahead, surrounded by massive hangar buildings with curved roofs came into view.
“What the hell?” asked Kate.
Aaron circled, peering out the side window. “Looks like some kind of old military airbase. Looks as dead as everything else out here.”
“There.” Kate leaned forward, pointing. “Cars.”
At the front of the largest hangar, a small, black sports car lay crumpled against the building. A dust-coated, gold luxury hovercar sat behind it, closer to the door. Aaron pulled in and set down a few meters off to the side, away from any angle people inside could see them. He ducked the slow gull wing door and pulled the E-90 from its holster, not waiting for Kate as he jogged to the edge of a small gap in the doors.
Archon and Anna stood a short distance inside, facing a shirtless Mamoru. Aaron aimed, but couldn’t get a clear bead on the man without shooting through her. A brief flashback of staring over his gunsights at Allison caused him to picture Anna turning at him with that same pleading ‘don’t do it’ expression. He stifled a gasp and lowered his arm.
Outside, the whine of another hovercar shot overhead.
A weak tingle touched the tip of Aaron’s forebrain. His instinctive reaction to incoming telepathy snapped him out of his guilty fog. He swung his arm up, training his E-90 on Archon, but she remained in the way. “Anna, move!”
“Good grief, man. Have you not enough decency to stay dead?” Archon frowned.
Aaron grunted as invisible tightness grasped his weapon arm, pushing it to the side. He brought his telekinesis to bear in a mental tug of war that bounced the E-90 around, making it impossible to get a clean shot at anything. Forces mushed and twisted at his muscles, threatening to wrench all the bones in his arm to splinters at the slightest error anticipating which way the other man would push.
Anna backed around, hiding behind Archon, giving Aaron an icy stare.
What’s gotten into ‘er?
Archon focused, forcing Aaron’s arm up. “Anna, be a dear and deal with that toy.”
Sweat streamed down Aaron’s face. He growled, glancing at his gun, trying to hold back Archon’s effort to tear the weapon from his grasp.
Footsteps skiffed in the dirt behind him.
“Kate,” rasped Aaron past gritted teeth. “I think that tweed cunt is looking a bit flammable, don’t you?”
“How the devil did you get over there?” asked Archon.
The external pull on his E-90 released; Aaron’s telekinetic retaliation pulled him into a backward stumble. A small woman caught him, grunting from the effort.
When Aaron looked up, Archon stood alone, shooting a perplexed look past him.
“Aaron!” Anna hugged him from behind. “You’re here! You’re alive.”
60
And Dominoes Fall
Anna
Her arms around Aaron, Anna almost gave in to the urge to kiss him right in front of everyone. Archon twisted back and forth, glancing from her to a spot of floor right beside him.
“What are you doing here?” asked Anna.
“We came out here to collect Mamoru,” said Archon, eyes locked on Aaron. “Have you forgotten already?”
She squeezed herself to Aaron’s back, as if his body would shield her from Archon’s angry confusion.
Where the bloody hell is Kate going?
‘Round the side. Anna squeezed him, keeping her head down. This is going to get messy, isn’t it?
Aaron nodded. “Probably.”
Anna raised her voice, yelling over Aaron’s shoulder. “Where’s the ship? What did Lauren mean when she said the city was going to burn?”
“It will arrive in a few hours,” said Mamoru. His morose stance straightened to one of confidence, and he laughed.
“James.” Anna moved away from Aaron and crept forward. “What is wrong with you? You used to be so righteous. What justifies you taking over people’s minds because they don’t agree with you? Kate ran because you tried to program her. Having doubts doesn’t mean she want
ed to kill you.”
“Oh, she rather wants to now,” muttered Aaron.
Archon brought his hands together. “She is a powerful Awakened, Anna. People like her are too dangerous to allow to fall into the hands of our enemies. They are either with us or against us, and I cannot allow them to be against us.”
“What about Althea? Would you call her dangerous?”
He sneered. “She could not hurt a fly.”
“Explains why he bricks it every time she turns up,” muttered Aaron.
“You made me forget things. You’d have rewritten Aaron’s brain if it wouldn’t have killed you to do it. Meredith and Lucy were taken from loving homes, James. Loving homes! They weren’t the subject of government persecution. For feck’s sake, we kidnapped them. We kidnapped Althea.” Anna fumed. Sparks crackled and danced overhead, racing down girders and beams among dead gaslights. “How many of those children are still who they were before they met you? Shit, you’ve probably made Lauren into a lapdog as well.”
“No…” Archon let his arms fall. “That one lives in her own little realm… and I mean to have a chat with her about concepts like loyalty. You seem to be standing on the wrong side of a rather thin line, Anna. If Lauren had not assured me you would never betray me, I would have some serious doubts about your intentions right now.”
“As always, you’ve added your own misinterpretation to my words, James.” Aurora’s disembodied voice floated from everywhere.
Archon rolled his eyes. “You and your cryptic nonsense.” He clapped his hands together then gestured at Anna. “Well now, the gang is all here.”
“James,” said Aurora. “If you recall, I said there was zero chance she would betray you.”
Archon glared at Aaron. “You…” He pointed, shaking his finger. “You devil of a sylph. Division Zero. You knew all along she would turn on us for that sodding wanker.”
Aaron held up one finger. “She’s promoted me to twat, mate.”
Redness spread over Archon’s face.
Anna grabbed her chest, over her heart. No wonder Lauren insisted she be the one to ‘recruit’ Aaron. She’d been pushing her toward him since minute one.
“No future is a guarantee, James,” echoed a ghostly feminine voice. “I told you abducting Althea would kill you. I told you I saw a vision of great metal claws tearing you in half. You chose to disregard me.”
“Yet here I stand,” said Archon. “Just what are you up to, Lauren? After all my effort keeping the authorities away from you… Why?”
“Dominoes.” Silence hung thick for a few seconds. “A fate envisioned is not a fate guaranteed. Taking her may have very well set in motion a chain of events that will mean your death. I know without a doubt, the girl will choose to let you die.”
“Rubbish, Lauren. The girl does not have it in her to wish anyone dead.” Archon’s eyes widened. He pointed at random spots. “She could not bear it once. She saved my life.”
“Mamoru has been influenced by something beyond your understanding. The starship is on a course that will drive it into the heart of West City. I have seen the flames devouring the streets.”
“I have seen the ruler of the new world I have made,” said Mamoru in a near-whisper. “She is but a child now, but shall grow into a queen who bears a spear tipped with diamond.”
“Sounds like our samurai’s gone off the deep end,” muttered Aaron.
Anna grabbed Aaron’s arm, shaking, tears streaming from her eyes. “Oh, shit, Aaron! All those people. We have to stop it!” She looked desperately at the room. “Lauren, can we stop it? What’s going to happen?”
“Ungrateful women! All of you traitors!” Archon screamed. “I never should have put blind faith in such hormonal, emotional, weak creatures. Lying deceivers, all of you!” He rasped, spittle flying from his teeth. “Everything I have done for you. Lauren… the CSB would have hounded you until the day you died. Anna, you forget how I found you? You would rather be back in London whoring yourself, suckling from the government tit?”
“No!” Anna screamed, her face hot with blood. “It’s not like that. I don’t hate you, James. I hate what you did. There is nobility inside you, but you’ve gone cack-handed with it. You cannot force people to agree with you. That is why the world hates us, James. You are doing exactly what they fear. You are perpetuating all the scary stories and worst nightmares. Why is everything always an extreme with you? Anything less than total agreement does not mean hatred.”
Archon leaned back, eyes closed. “They would hate us anyway, Anna. It is how people are. They hate us for being superior to them. They fear what we can do, and the ignorant, bigoted masses will not have it. We must leave Earth and start over.”
She shuddered with nausea and anger. “No, James. I won’t do it. I’m not leaving Earth. There are people here I care about. Yes, there are countries where they do kill psionics. Leaving won’t save them. You cannot snap your fingers and wish every single psionic in the world onto the ship. Who’ll fight for the ones left behind if we go away?”
“Fine. Stay here with your government simpleton.” Archon waved his arm at Aaron and turned on Mamoru. “Stop the ship.”
“It is not that simple,” said Mamoru. “I ensured he burned the transmitter on the way out. Even if you could get this man to a place where he could enter the computer world, he would not be able to touch the Angel. It will fall, and bring with it the birth of my world. It shall wipe the glimmering scab from the face of the true earth.”
A chill ran down Anna’s back at the look in his eye. “I don’t think that’s Mamoru anymore.”
“Mr. Samurai’s gone loony,” said Aaron.
Archon waved his hand. Mamoru flew into the air and smacked chest-first into the wall thirty meters away.
Mamoru slid to the floor and stepped back, apparently unhurt. He turned to face the room, a trickle of blood descending from one nostril over a dark smile. “Your rage is delicious.”
A woman’s angry scream echoed over the hangar. Kate leapt out from behind a huge aircraft tire, whipping a two-foot wide fireball at Archon’s head. He zoomed sideways, yanked by a telekinetic pull. Mamoru raised his vibro-katana, squeezing the handle to activate the high-frequency inducer. Aaron waved his E-90 to the right, trying to keep pace with the blurred figures. Anna screamed, shoving him to the side.
“Don’t kill him!” She pointed at Mamoru, panting. “We need him to stop the ship.”
“Sorry.” Aaron shivered. “I’m rather allergic to long pointy things that large.”
Mamoru let off a roar and rushed Archon, sword high. At the same second, Kate threw a barrage of fist-sized fireballs. Anna opened her senses to the surroundings, but her psionic feelers found no significant electrical power sources from which to draw a boost. The hovercars outside sat too far away to reach. She raised her hand at him; warm tingles wrapped her back and slid along the underside of her arm.
She concentrated, sending a finger-thin strand of lightning out from her hand with a loud snap. It caught Mamoru in the chest, knocking his run into a tumble.
Archon slid back and forth on his feet, as though someone worked a magnet under the floor to pull him out of the way of the fireballs. He went from sliding to rolling and sprang twenty feet into the air. Kate kept chucking fireballs after him, but the slow-moving projectiles missed by inches. Mamoru growled and sat up, eyes locked on Anna.
Her heart skipped a beat. That should’ve knocked him senseless for a few minutes. “Aaron… Aaron…” She slapped his arm. “Something’s very wrong with our friend over there.”
“It’s a fucking demon,” shrieked Kate. She flung her arms out to the sides. A detonation of orange flames erupted around Archon, singeing his coat before he could shove himself clear.
The great tire flipped up on its side and toppled at Kate. Aaron pivoted and gestured as if catching a great weight. Kate yelped and dove back. The tire fell, pinning her to the ground, but its impact had slowed to the point it didn’t cr
ush her legs. She grunted and groaned as the tire bounced on her; Archon pushed it down while Aaron tried to lift it.
Anna grabbed an e-mag from the back of Aaron’s belt and concealed the flat, rectangular battery in her palm. Archon sailed across the room, landing at the middle near the right-side wall. He swiped his arm sideways, and a cart full of tools went rocketing at Kate’s head. Aaron shifted his attention. Kate howled as all the weight of the tire fell on her legs.
Mamoru stomped toward Anna. Somewhere off to the side, the tool cart smashed into something, bits of metal went clattering over the concrete.
“Something’s wrong,” yelled Anna. She projected another stunning shock into Mamoru’s bare chest. He strode into the electrical discharge like so much harmless light, grinning. “I don’t know what’s happening. It’s having no effect. He should be on his arse.”
Anna’s brain seized. The look in Mamoru’s eyes as he stalked closer with a vibro-katana made her want to cry out for help, but her jaw wouldn’t open. Aames! Jaaron! Another bolt of lightning had no effect. Daddy!
Boom.
Startled by a deafening explosion that made the walls of the hangar shake, Anna screamed. A blur of black caught her eye, drawing her attention up to where the burning aircraft tire wobbled near the roof, forty feet off the ground at the top of a huge billow of smoke.
Kate let off the angriest noise Anna’d ever heard come out of a woman. “Where are you, fucker? I’ll blow this whole damn building apart.”
Wham.
Anna clamped her hands over her ears as the massive, fiery tire slammed into the concrete floor, sending a shaft of thick, black smoke billowing upward from the hole at its center.
“Troublesome thing about smoke, my dear,” said Archon… somewhere off to the right. “You need to see. I can sense your mind.”
“That’s two of us then,” said Aaron.
Archon yelped a second before something thudded into metal.
“James, please listen to reason,” screamed Anna. “There’s no need for us to fight.”
The stink of burning rubber watered Anna’s eyes and made her cough. Mamoru came flying out of the fog in mid-leap, katana overhead. She drew another breath to scream, but gagged on smoke. He stopped in midair, blade less than ten inches from her face. The Japanese man’s eyes glowed red like coals and his presence swam into her mind.
Angel Descended (The Awakened Book 6) Page 52
