“Leid,” I said, dropping all formalities, “if you take another step, I’ll have my men detain you for—”
“I will kill your men.”
My voice caught in my throat. As surprising as that had been, I laughed. Yeah, that was real threatening coming from a five-foot-nothing girl in a fancy dress. But before I could tell her that, she marched off to the land mech.
I didn’t budge, watching her departure. A part of me wanted her to wander off and get killed, but then another part of me thought about the backlash I’d receive from the Eye of Akul.
‘The death of a Scholar is seen as negligence by the Court of Enigmus, and punishment will be severe.’
Ugh, fuck.
“You two,” I said, pointing at a pair of idle guards by the door. “Come with me.”
* * *
The medical facility was located on the northwestern side of camp, one of the few concrete buildings in Crylle. It looked out of place with the rest of the scenery. Our land mech was the only one around, so my team hadn’t made it here yet. That was a little annoying, considering I’d clearly said their objective was to secure the medical facility. I was about to radio them and ask where the fuck they were, but Leid hopped off the mech and sauntered to the door. I jumped off after her and grabbed her arm, wrenching her back with a snarl.
“I can’t protect you if you keep running off. I told you to stay by my side, Advisor Koseling, and I meant it.”
She ripped from my grasp, smoothing her shirt. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting.”
“Keep forgetting what?”
“Sir, what do you want us to do?” called one of the guards.
“Stay there and protect our ride.” We could have flown and made it here faster, but Leid didn’t have wings and I refused to carry her. That was way too intimate.
Leid waited for me by the door; I entered first, keeping a steady hand on my rifle.
The cool air came as a relief. Sweat matted my hair to my head and my clothes clung to my body. It didn’t help that I was wearing armor.
We traversed a dim, shadowy hall that was covered in grime. We weaved around blood-stained gurneys and bewildered patients in wheelchairs, peering into every room along the way. The stench of feces and malady almost made me gag.
Again, guilt crept through my insides. This all was becoming a little too much to bear.
“What’s the meaning of this?” said a youthful voice ahead.
Leid and I looked toward the sound. At the end of a hall stood a child; not even an adolescent. Despite that, he wore a white physician coat and an irritated frown, hugging a clipboard to his chest. It didn’t take a genius to know that he was who Leid was looking for.
But I was stunned by the sight of him, and froze.
Leid stepped in front of me, smiling. “There he is.”
“This is a hospital, Nehelians,” the kid continued, not at all afraid of us. “There are only sick people here. Could you please raid somewhere else?”
His voice was that of a kid, but he spoke like an adult. Was he really the doctor here?
“We’re not here to raid anything,” Leid said, speaking Archaean. Unlike us, she was completely fluent. No accent.
That surprised the kid as well. “Then what are you doing here?”
Her smile grew. “We’re here for you.”
The kid stared at her, widening his eyes.
“Qaira, point your weapon at him before he runs,” she whispered.
I did, with a measure of disgust. Pointing guns at children, white or not, wasn’t really my style. “What are we doing?” I whispered back.
The kid raised his hands. “No, put it down. Don’t scare anyone, please. I’ll come along quietly so long as none of my patients or staff are harmed.” He moved toward us, but froze when he stepped into the light and got a good look at Leid’s face. His expression twisted with confusion. “Oh.”
I looked between Leid and the kid. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Leid said, smile unfaltering. “Everything is fine, isn’t it?”
“Yes,” the kid murmured, continuing his approach.
When he was close enough, I grabbed the back of his neck and shoved him in front of us. As we vacated the medical facility, I leaned into Leid. “Who is he?”
“His name is Yahweh Telei.”
“That isn’t what I meant.”
“I’ll tell you once we get back to the communications building.” She glanced over the crowd of patients and medical staff. “There’s too much of an audience right now.”
Right as we exited the facility, my radio beeped.
“Commandant Eltruan, come in. This is Lt. Uless Fedaz.”
“Hi, Lt. Fedaz. Can you tell me why you and your team aren’t at the medical facility?”
“Sir, we’ve got a situation.”
My frown melted. “What’s your status?”
“There’s a rebel angel; she has Ara.”
There were screams behind his transmission. Gunfire.
“Where are you?” I asked, trying to hide the panic in my voice.
“Southwestern Crylle. Qaira, she’s strapped to a bunch of fucking explosives! I don’t know what to do! We keep telling her to stand down but she’s not complying!”
“Keep talking her down. I’ll be there in a minute.”
I severed the call, and my wings released from my back with a thunderous clap. I looked at the guards. “Take the boy and my advisor back to the communications building.”
Leid grabbed my arm in protest. “I’m to be at your side at all times, remember?”
I wrenched free of her grasp. “Not this time. Because of you, I’m all the way on the other side of the city!”
The look in my eyes warned her to back away. She did, frowning sullenly.
And then I was off, soaring over the dilapidated shacks, praying my brother was still alive when I got there.
* * *
That had been the longest two minutes of my life.
I landed in the middle of a crowd that had gathered in the street, the gust of air accompanying my descent blew trash in every direction. Before me, an angel girl had her arm wrapped around my brother’s neck, forcing him on his knees. In her hand was a remote control—a trigger—to the incendiaries wired around her waist.
My brother stared at me with wide, fearful eyes. His mask lay several feet away. The angel girl was crying, and her face looked all messed up. Bruises and a bloody nose. I looked at Lieutenants Fedaz and Geiss, questioningly.
They were still shouting to release my brother, shaking their rifles at her. It was only making her more frightened. The crowd was screaming at them, about ready to storm us.
“Stop!” I shouted, pushing them back. “Stand down!”
They conceded, and the crowd grew silent. There were armed guards encircling us, but none dared to move.
I looked at the girl, holding out my hand. “You don’t want to do this. I know you don’t; I can see it on your face.”
“Don’t come near me!” she screamed, strangling my brother even harder. “I know who you are!”
“Let my soldier go, and we can—”
“They shot my parents!” she sobbed. “They didn’t even do anything and they shot them! Your men barged into my house and forced me to undress, and my parents tried to stop them! They’re not men, they’re monsters! ”
I looked at Uless and Garan. Now I knew why they weren’t at the medical facility. They had decided to ignore my orders and have some fun of their own. This was the final straw.
“What’s your name?” I asked the girl.
She didn’t respond.
“Tell me your name,” I pressed.
“Ariel,” she sobbed. “Ariel Triev.”
“Ariel, if you let my soldier go then I won’t kill you. You have my word. Release him and we can talk.”
“You expect me to believe that?” she cried. “The only reason I’m alive right now is because I have him.”
> “Ariel, my patience is thinning. I’m willing to work with you but first you have to let my soldier go.”
The environment changed in my peripherals. I looked over my shoulder, spotting Leid among the crowd. She was unaccompanied, and I couldn’t hide my shock. How did she get here so quickly?
She caught my gaze, smiling. I frowned and looked ahead. Apparently no one listened to me anymore. “You have ten seconds to release him, Ariel. After that, my offer expires.”
I couldn’t blame her for doubting me. Even I didn’t think that had sounded very convincing. She knew she was dead either way.
“No,” she almost whispered, thumbing her trigger.
Alright, I’d tried the civil route.
I raised my hand, sweeping it behind me. That was a cue for the guards to start pushing the crowd back. My men had seen this gesture before, and knew what it meant. Get out of the way, and fast.
The girl watched the crowd recede with waning courage. She looked back at me, unsure of what was happening.
“Last chance, Ariel; let my soldier go.”
“No!” Ara was screaming. “No, Qaira, don’t!”
I ignored him. My brother had made his bed.
Ariel was noncompliant, and I squinted.
She brought her hands to her head, screaming. Blood began to trickle from her nose, ears and eyes. She dropped the trigger and sank to her knees. Even though she’d released my brother, he didn’t move. He couldn’t. He was screaming and bleeding, too.
To the rest of Sanctum, I was a deity. A man born with the ability of murder by thought. They looked to me for salvation, because my people believed that I was born for that very reason. Sanctum’s Savior.
But my gift had come with consequences. Severe ones. Such was the balance of the cosmos.
I released my psychokinetic grip and nodded to my men. Uless and Garan swooped in and dragged my brother off. Ara was still clawing at his head and screaming, but he’d live—albeit with a migraine for a couple of days.
In an act of desperation Ariel tried to crawl to her remote, her bloodied face twisted in a frozen sob. I walked after her, raising my rifle.
Right before Ariel could reach it, I shot her in the back of the head. She collapsed face-down on the road, hand still outstretched, a growing pool of blood beneath her.
I watched her bleed out at my feet, feeling something twisting and snapping inside of me. Lt. Fedaz was approaching from behind.
“Commandant, I’m sorry,” he said. “We didn’t know that she had weapons—”
I spun and punched him in the face, feeling his nose crunch under my knuckles. I would make Uless Fedaz an example of what happened when my soldiers ignored my charge.
He stumbled and fell, holding his broken, bleeding face. I grabbed him up by the collar with another fist wound.
“I SPECIFICALLY SAID—”
I punched him again.
“NOT TO—”
And again.
“FUCK AROUND WHILE YOU’RE—”
And again.
“ON THE JOB!”
I threw him down and he curled into a fetal position.
“What part of that was unclear, you fucking twats?!” I looked at Garan, who backed away with his hands up. I walked toward him. “If I have to say it again then you’re going to end up like that angel bitch!”
Very seldom did I lose control like this, but when I did, everyone took heed.
Most of the crowd had already scattered. Leid stood amid the stragglers, watching the ordeal. She was placid.
“Sir, I’m sorry!” Garan screamed, still backing away. “Never again, I swear!”
I turned to the remaining crowd and shot my gun at the sky. “Get out of here before you join your friend!”
Within seconds, my team and I were alone. Leid was helping Ara to his feet. He was clearly in pain, but relieved to be alive.
“Do you need medical assistance?” I asked. I was angry at him, but he was still my brother.
“I’m good. My head is killing me, though.”
“Consider yourself lucky.” I turned the nearest guards, nodding at the dead angel in the middle of the street. “Search her house and find out who her associates are. I want to know where she got those incendiaries.”
As Ara was carried off into a land craft, Leid wandered to my side. There was a hint of reverence behind her stare, but she said nothing.
“How did you get here?” I asked.
“I ran.” When I only glared at her, she smirked. “I can run very quickly. But it seems like we both have unique talents.”
I glanced away, shrugging. I hadn’t wanted her to see that. I didn’t parade my ability around.
“So, do I have to run back or can you carry me this time?”
I eyed her. “Fine, but watch my jacket.”
* * *
My enforcers rounded up over twenty rebels. Most of them had weapons stashed in their houses, given to them by Archaean soldiers or stolen from our guards.
Two hours of interrogations later, we discovered that the Archaean soldiers were bartering acts of terror for food rations. The same problems were occurring on their base ship. Even though the Archaean Forces were giving the refugees food rations, it was barely enough. Rebel leaders, kept anonymous onboard the ship, stole rations and gave them to refugees willing and desperate enough to attack us.
As helpful as this information was, none of the rebels said anything about a Nehelian insurgent. The goal of our raid was left unfulfilled.
My soldiers lined the rebel men and women along the outer side of the communications building, blindfolded with their backs turned. The enforcers assembled into a line as well, pointing their rifles at them. I stood in the window, watching.
They waited for my signal.
I looked over the trembling whites, a flicker of conflict in my gaze. Then, I nodded.
My soldiers opened fire. Within moments, all of them were dead and sprawled across the ground. Blood splatter decorated the wall.
Leid stood beside me, watching the soldiers pile the bodies into the back of a cargo craft. I had sorely underestimated her. She was just as desensitized toward death and violence as me.
“You’ve done this before,” I said.
“I am a specialist of my field,” Leid replied, her eyes on the window.
“And what field is that?”
“War philosopher and tactician.”
“How many wars have you aided?”
“I’ve lost count, Commandant.”
“How many have you won?”
“As many as I’ve aided.” Before I could pry any more, she turned. “We’re taking the angel boy back to Sanctum.”
“That’s not your decision to make, Advisor Koseling.”
“That boy is an asset that Commander Raith can’t afford to lose. Yahweh Telei is his son.”
My eyes widened. “Why would his son be working at a medical facility in Crylle?”
“He’s a physician, among other things. A prodigy.”
“How do you know that?” I asked, incredulous.
“As I said, scholars share notes. One of them has aided the Archaeans more than once. If you want to find out whether or not there’s an insurgent, this is the way to do it. With Crylle’s radio transmissions jammed, the only way Lucifer Raith could find out that his son is being taken hostage is by an outside source. One of yours. If there is an insurgent, Commandant, you’ll hear from Commander Raith, and soon.”
All I could do was stare. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? I would have made it a priority to find that boy.”
Leid smiled. “You’re worried about an insurgent, Qaira. Have you ever considered the possibility that the insurgent is one of your men? I wasn’t going to take that chance.”
Without another word, she vacated the hall. I watched her disappear around the corner.
I’d been wrong. Advisor Koseling had served me well today. She was smarter than I’d given her credit for, and
I felt like an asshole.
I grabbed my radio. “Lakash, come in.”
“There you are, sir. I think I fell asleep for a while.” He’d been waiting in our craft for nearly eight hours. Poor him.
“Get the craft ready; we’re moving out.”
VII
TENUITY
“ARE YOU GOING TO KILL ME?”
I looked over my shoulder, responding with an irritated frown. My obvious want of silence went ignored.
“I deserve to know if you’re going to kill me.”
“Could you shut up? I’m trying to concentrate here.”
I was checking the digital lock on Yahweh’s door, installed by our analysts an hour ago. We had arranged a room for him in the Commons, as Leid had insisted that no harm come to the boy and we treated him with a bit of decency. Since I couldn’t chain him to a wall, a computerized lock would have to do.
Yahweh sat on the edge of the bed, staring daggers at my head. As smart as Leid claimed he was, he couldn’t be that ingenious if he thought I’d go to all this trouble just to kill him.
“You know, that really isn’t necessary,” he said.
“Oh?”
“It’s not like I’d try to escape. Where would I go?”
“If you won’t try to escape, why do you care if there’s a lock on your door?”
The kid frowned. “It almost seems like you’re afraid of me.”
“Yeah, you’re absolutely terrifying.” The lock was activated and I stood up, brushing off my pants. “A guard will be by in a couple of hours to bring you something to eat.”
I lingered in the door, staring at him. His eyes glittered like blue diamonds, and his unevenly cut ice blond hair spilled across the bridge of his nose. I hated angels. So nauseatingly perfect-looking.
I slammed the door behind me.
It was almost five o’clock in the morning, and there was little point in sleeping since I had to be at Parliament in three hours. The enforcers who had accompanied me were given the day off, but there was no one to replace the Regent.
I headed for the dining room to down four cups of coffee, but I froze in the hall when I heard music. A cello.
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 28
