“You trust me?” she repeated, looking at me with sullen eyes.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Leid leaned in and rested her cheek against the center of my chest. “Thank you.”
A camera flashed from somewhere above. A journalist had probably been waiting for that moment. We were going to make headlines tomorrow. Oh well.
All I did was wrap my arms around her. We were hugging more than dancing now. Ara and Tae were smiling at us from the refreshments table, making remarks to each other that I couldn’t hear.
The song ended and we broke away. Leid gave me her signature smile. “Thank you for the—” But then her face changed and she looked behind me, searching the crowd. Her eyes rose, and then widened.
Before I could ask what was going on, she whirred in front of me with her arms out.
Gunshots thundered through the theater. All three of them hit Leid. One in the chest, one in the arm and one in the head.
She collapsed at my feet, looking up at me with a smoking hole in the center of her forehead, blood trickling down the bridge of her nose.
As the crowd screamed and scattered for the exits, all I did was stare at Leid. Everything in me went completely numb.
But then she blinked.
“Qaira,” she slurred, blood seeping from her lips, “run.”
My despair turned to horror in an instant. How…?
When I didn’t move, she struggled to get back on her feet. Her back arched inhumanly, movements stiff and disjointed. It was like she was an animated doll, obeying the whims of an invisible puppeteer.
She grabbed the gun on my belt as shots rang out again. Leid returned fire, aiming somewhere above. A figure fell from the north-tier balcony, hitting the dance floor with a thud. The assailant’s wig slipped off when he fell, a mop of black hair now lying beside him. An angel in disguise.
Angels.
More shots. One whirred by my head, hitting a woman behind me as she attempted to flee for the lobby. I couldn’t tell how many gunmen were above us, but I knew there were a lot more than I could take alone. They were picking off the crowd at random.
No, not at random.
Ara was knelt at the refreshments table, hugging Ceram. She was covered in blood and her eyes were closed. My brother ignored the spray of bullets that hit our guests around him, face contorted in a confused wince.
“Go!” Leid was screaming. “Help your people!”
When I looked at her again, the bullet wound was gone. All that remained was a smear of drying blood on her forehead.
“I’m not leaving you here!” I shouted.
“I can handle myself, don’t worry. Get your family to safety.”
She was telling the truth. I darted for Ara, ducking bullets on the way. He still hadn’t moved.
“Come on!” I shouted, trying to pull him to his feet. “We need to go!”
“I-I can’t!” he cried, not letting go of his fiancée, who was clearly dead. “We need to get her to a hospital! S-She’s—”
“Ara, she’s dead! And you’ll be too if you don’t move! Help me find Tae!”
He didn’t answer me so I yanked him to his feet with all the force I could gather. He dropped Ceram and we fought all the way to the exit.
“No!” he screamed. “No! I can’t leave her there! Don’t make me abandon her!”
I smacked him across the face, snapping him out of it. “She’s fucking dead! Are you going to leave her unavenged?”
The pain in Ara’s eyes waned, giving way to darkness. That was exactly what I wanted to see.
“Come on, I need you.”
As we hurried into the lobby, I looked back at Leid. She was still in the middle of the dance floor, her beautiful white dress drenched with blood. Half a dozen bodies scattered the floor around her, and she wasn’t finished. My scholar would be just fine.
But my city was burning.
When we reached the rooftop port, pillars of smoke slithered over the night sky, illuminated by the flames that birthed them. Entire blocks were lit up like torches, and we gazed across the city-scape in horrified awe. The hum of Enforcer crafts was carried over the roaring fires and explosions, and I grabbed my radio.
Then, I remembered Raith’s call.
* * *
Bullets.
Fire.
Explosions.
Screams.
Fuck the council’s rules; I was balls deep in the chaos.
“Get back, get back!”
I dove from behind a ruined craft as it erupted into chunks of smoldering metal. My men scattered behind other debris, returning fire at the angel gunmen. One of them had grenades, but we couldn’t tell who. It was kind of scary; the smoke and cinders made it near impossible to see our enemy until they fired.
We had pushed the angel rebels out of Upper Sanctum for over an hour, having finally surrounded the handful that was left on Main Street.
“Clear!” shouted Lt. Fedaz.
I waved the men behind us forward, and we weaved through the wreckage. It was hard to focus because I was worried about my sister. I hadn’t seen her since the rebels attacked the theater. I also couldn’t stop thinking about the state of ruin that Sanctum was in; the body count would be horrifying.
My mask felt constrictive, but I wouldn’t dare take it off. I’d already figured out why the angels had come here tonight. A failed assassination attempt.
Tink-ta-tink.
A little metal sphere rolled along the left side of the street, giving off strange blue light.
“Grenade!” someone shouted, and again we dove for cover.
Angels did not use typical grenades; we only called them that for lack of a better term. When they detonated, a flash of blinding blue light disintegrated anything it came into contact with. This time, another ruined craft exploded. Some of my men had been hiding behind it and they were torn to shreds by the blast. Blood and body parts rained on us.
A charred, severed arm fell into my lap. I recognized the ring on its thumb. It belonged to Garan Geiss.
I tossed it away, bile rising in my throat.
“Qaira, we need to get on the roof!” Ara screamed beside me. Another spray of bullets hit our cover. “They’re slaughtering us!”
I surveyed the street. There was an alleyway about ten feet from us, but taking a step out into the open was certain death.
“Have teams three and four cover me,” I ordered. “Everyone start shooting. I’m going to ascend.”
“Wait, no,” Ara said, grabbing my arm. “You’re the Regent now. Let me do it.”
“I’m the only one who can kill them,” I argued. “If you keep them occupied they won’t even see me.”
More bullets. Our cover was on fire.
“Ara, tell me you’ll do that!” I screamed. “It’s our only chance!”
With a reluctant nod, my brother grabbed his radio and commanded a full out assault. As our teams stood and began firing at the rooftops, I darted into the street.
No one had seen me.
My wings released and I rose into the black, reloading on the way.
I had a clearer picture from above. There were three teams scattered over the Agora roofs, all preoccupied by my men. I kept rising, until I was well over a hundred feet above them.
And then I dove for the closest team.
The whistle of my wings cautioned them to turn around, but it was too late. I landed right in the middle of them and closed my eyes. Blood splattered across the inside of their visors, and they collapsed simultaneously.
I took off again, diving for the next team. It was very important that Ara and his men kept their attentions to the street. The noise of gunfire muffled the sound of my approach, but if I was spotted prematurely then they would shoot me down. My life was in my brother’s hands, and for the first time, I trusted him with it.
Smoke and the night sky shrouded my armor; the whites didn’t see me until I dove between them. The second team fell as easily as the first.
One more.
My head was pounding. I hadn’t ever used my ability so fiercely. For the first time in my life, I was thankful to have it.
But the last team saw me coming, and sprayed bullets into the sky. I rolled mid-air, feeling a hot sting in my shoulder. I was hit.
The pain was nothing to my adrenaline, and I landed ten feet away. The moment I hit the ground, I sprinted toward them with my rifle raised, blade gleaming red in the rising cinders. The angels were still reloading. Two soldiers forfeited their lives to jump in front to protect the scrambling gunmen. One swung a blade they’d unsheathed from their belt, and I ducked, plunging my own through their stomach. I speared him all the way through, lifting him off the ground. With a snarl, I threw him from the rooftop.
The other turned to run while the gunmen pointed their weapons at me. I could see their faces through the translucent screens of their visors. They knew how hopeless it was.
And then they all fell, blood and brain matter leaking from their helmets and onto the ground.
“Clear,” I announced into my radio.
As my men cheered below, I winced and sank to my knees, clutching my wounded shoulder.
“Sanctum Militia, report.”
“This is Sgt. Kros, sir. The Agora has been stabilized. All clear, Regent.”
I breathed a sigh. Ara commanded our teams to do a final sweep of the area, and I stared woefully at my burning city.
Crafts descended through the smoke to collect our troops. One hovered above the rooftop, and the door slid open. Leid sat on the cabin bench, staring at me.
She was covered in blood, and I couldn’t help but stare back.
When I entered the craft, she tossed me my gun. “You’re hurt.”
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just a graze. Have you seen my sister?”
“Yes. She’s with the council at Parliament. We took her there because I didn’t know how safe Eroqam was. We’re picking her up now.”
I nodded, sitting next to her as our pilot flew over the carnage. “So, you can survive bullets.”
“Yes,” she said, looking away.
“Can anything kill you?”
“Yes,” she said again. “But not easily.”
“You violated your contract again.”
“Depends.”
“On?”
“Harm’s way doesn’t include bullets; you just said that yourself.”
“I don’t think that clause was based on a technicality.”
Leid smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Ceram is dead. I saw her body—”
“Yes, I know. Garan is dead, too.”
We sat in silence after that. The silence allowed my thoughts to roar. After a minute or two, I stood from the bench, narrowing my eyes at our pilot. “Take us to Eroqam.”
“Not Parliament, sir?”
“No, we’ll have another craft pick my sister up.”
“Sir.”
“Qaira?” Leid called, giving me a confused look.
“I’m done,” I said, staring out the window. “I’m done playing games, Leid. I’m going to find out who that insurgent is tonight.”
XVIII
THE ULTIMATUM
“QAIRA, LET’S TALK ABOUT THIS,” Leid begged, hurrying after me as I stormed through the Commons.
I said nothing, trying to ignore her. As I reached the door to Yahweh’s room, she moved to block me, covering the lock with her body. “Don’t do this,” she said. “Please, don’t do this. There has to be another way!”
“Leid, step aside,” I warned, quietly. She didn’t move. “I’m not saying it again.”
Still, she didn’t move.
I grabbed her neck, flinging her aside. And for some reason, she let me. Before she could try to talk me down anymore, I barged into the kid’s room.
It was dark and he was asleep, but the light from the hallway shined on his face and he stirred. His eyes opened and he saw me approaching him, covered in blood with a crazy look in my eyes.
“Q-Qaira…?” he stammered, still drunk from sleep.
I snatched him by the collar and yanked him out of bed. He yelped, falling to the floor and I dragged him halfway across the room until he finally got to his feet.
As we emerged from the room, Leid grabbed my arm. I looked down at her.
“He didn’t do this,” she said. “Don’t hurt him.”
“He is my only leverage!” I shouted. “After everyone who died tonight, you’re still going to fight me on this? Ceram, Garan, all of those guests! Whose side are you on?”
She stared up at me, silent and stoic. Then, Leid stepped out of my way.
Yahweh kept quiet the entire time. He had a faraway look in eyes, like he knew the end was near. He didn’t even struggle as I led him toward the communications room. When I opened the door, he whispered, “Are you going to kill me?”
“That all depends on your father.”
* * *
As the projection screen connected, Commander Raith’s eyes settled on his son. More specifically, on the knife that I held to his neck.
Then, he looked at me. His expression told me that he already knew where this was going.
“Apparently I didn’t make myself clear the first time,” I said. “We agreed that—”
“I tried to warn you, Regent, but you wouldn’t take my call.”
“A message would have sufficed.”
“I don’t know how many of your soldiers have been compromised, Qaira. Leaving a message might have proven worthless.”
“The angel rebels were able to sneak through our airspace borders without detection. I find that odd, considering there were over a hundred of them. I know you know who the Sanctum informant is. This is your only chance to tell me.”
Raith’s eyes narrowed. He said nothing.
I grabbed Yahweh’s hair and wrenched back his head, pressing the knife harder against the soft tissue of his throat. He yelped, shutting his eyes.
“Again, who is the insurgent?”
“Put the knife down, Qaira.”
“The next thing that comes out of your mouth better be the answer to my question, or your son will die.”
Lucifer’s façade broke. Desperation flooded across his face. “I don’t know. They’re anonymous, even to me. I can’t identify which one it is.”
“Which one? Which one of what?”
Again, Lucifer said nothing. I could tell he was really fighting himself on this one. It was time to add some incentive.
I raked the knife across Yahweh’s face, slicing through his cheek. Blood trickled from the thin red slit now marring his perfect white skin. He screamed, clutching his face. The kid tried to break free but I was too strong.
“No!” screamed Raith, reaching for the screen. “Don’t hurt him!”
“Tell me who the insurgent is!” I screamed back, holding the knife to Yahweh’s eye. “Don’t make me do this, Raith!”
“Qaira!” Yahweh sobbed, unable to take his terrified gaze from the knife that grazed his eyelashes. Tears streamed down his face, mingling with blood from his gash. He was crying pink. “Please! Please, I beg you!”
“Don’t make me do this!” I screamed again, a tinge of a plea in my voice.
The fight on Lucifer’s face disappeared. He hung his head in tired defeat. “The Eye of Akul.”
I stared at him, unable to believe my ears. I almost dropped the knife. “Say that again. I don’t think I heard you correctly.”
“Your council. Someone in your council has been giving our base ship information in order to sabotage your reign. They wanted your people to lose hope in you so they could usurp your throne. When that didn’t happen, they planned your assassination. Your brother’s too. They want to rid Sanctum of the Eltruan family.”
“Who is it?”
“I don’t know. I said that already. They correspond with our base ship using a voice modulator and keep their messages brief. Coordinates, routes of safe passage through Sanctum;
those sorts of things.”
“And what do the angels get out of this?”
“If the Eye of Akul claimed Sanctum, they would let us stay.”
At this point, I had to try really hard to keep from falling. My legs felt like rubber and my stomach was knotting up. I knew that the council and I had issues, but I never thought they wanted me dead.
I looked away, letting everything sink in. Raith wasn’t lying—the moment he explained it, it all made sense. Shock had numbed me to the core, leaving no room for anger. Not yet.
My grip on Yahweh released and he scrambled to the other side of the room, hiding under a desk. Lucifer’s stare burned on me, and I returned his gaze with equal fire.
“I told you, and now you must promise not to hurt my son.”
I reached for the switchboard, my index finger hovering over the CUT FEED button. “If the Eye of Akul catches wind that I know about this, the next time you see me I’ll be waving your son’s head around on a fucking pike. Sleep tight.”
I pressed the button. The screen went black.
For a second I stared at the blackness, recalling memories of the council in our home, with my father, at our family gatherings… All this time, and they would kill me? They would kill my brother and sister, too?
‘They’re upset because you aren’t as easy to manipulate as your father was.’
Leid was right. She was always right.
And the council had left my ceremony early. They’d known what was going to happen. But who was it? Isa? Kanar? Shev? All of them?
The shock finally receded, anger filling up the empty space. I searched for Yahweh, finding him cowering beneath a desk nearest the door. I reached under and dragged him out, and he pressed his back to the wall. His face was still bleeding. My anger waned.
“Come on,” I said, guilt clenching at my insides. “It’s over.”
The kid didn’t budge. My eyes trailed to his pants. There was a wet stain over his crotch, leading down his legs. I looked away, disgusted. Scaring children wasn’t usually my thing, white or not. Although I got what I had wanted, I wasn’t proud of how I’d done it.
“Don’t make me say it again,” I muttered, heading for the door. He followed at a safe distance.
The Antithesis- The Complete Pentalogy Page 37
