Dread Nemesis of Mine

by John Corwin

Page 25

 

  He stared blankly into space. I snapped my fingers and he jerked. My blue-tinged night vision hadn't come on yet, so I couldn't make out his features, just his general outlines.

  "You will help me?" he said.

  "Are you a vampire?"

  "I am still unsure of my designation. "

  Whatever was wrong with this guy might slow me down, but my conscience told me it would be wrong to leave a poor, lobotomized dude tied down like this. Touching the straps restraining him didn't do anything, so I had to run back across the room to retrieve the bloody tissue Felicia had used to free me. I brushed it against each strap and they parted. The man sat up. Pivoted and set his feet on the ground. He stood in one fluid motion and looked at me.

  "Thank you. " His voice remained dull and almost without inflection.

  "You're welcome. Want to escape with us?"

  He nodded. "It seems the next prudent move. "

  Man, I really had some questions for this guy. Maximus must have given him electro-shock therapy or really strong drugs. I didn't understand how his vocabulary could be so good with such obvious brain damage, though. I motioned him to follow me, walking around the outside edge of the room. My night-vision kicked on and off as I looked around the half-lit room.

  Katie came in and hit something on the wall. The lights in my section flicked on.

  "What are you doing?" she said. "It's almost time. "

  I came to an abrupt halt as the flickering light revealed a heap of arms, legs, hands, and heads. A sick feeling came over me. Good god, it was a pile of bodies!

  Maximus, you sick bastard.

  I spun to warn my former roommate. Shock froze me in place. I fumbled at the sword, but the girls had strapped it on at such an awkward angle, I couldn't get it out of the scabbard on my back in time.

  "What is wrong?" asked the man I'd just rescued.

  Except he wasn't a man at all. He was a golem. A gray man.

  Chapter 18

  Elyssa

  A klaxon wailed in the Templar compound.

  "Crap, crap, crap!" Elyssa said as she and the others left the officers' quarters. "Why are they sounding the assembly?"

  Fausta shook her head. "No idea. But maybe it's a good thing. We need to warn Christian. "

  And I need to tell Underborn about our discovery, Elyssa thought. But would it do any good to tell him every Templar was a potential spy?

  "Is Healer Delgado stationed on this base?" Bella asked Fausta.

  The Italian woman nodded. "Yes. Why?"

  "I want to consult her patient file on Lieutenant Martinez. Perhaps something in there will shed light on matters. "

  "Why don't you ask her yourself?"

  Bella shrugged. "It would probably be faster if we continued our criminal activities. "

  Fausta looked toward the brightly lit assembly area, a large paved area as big as a football field. "I'm going to warn Christian first. Maybe he'll check into it himself. "

  Elyssa wasn't all that sure how Christian would react upon hearing their report. What if he didn't believe them? What if he had them arrested? They had to convince him. Find evidence to support their claim. "I'm going with Bella. "

  "Me too," said Adam, face grim.

  "I can't go tell Christian one of his lieutenants is a mole all by myself," Fausta grumbled. "I'll look like an idiot. "

  "I'll go with Fausta," Meghan said. "I'm a healer, after all. Perhaps I can run a diagnostic on Gigi and find out how vulnerable we are to Daelissa. " Her lips tightened. "I did not join the Templars to be used for evil. "

  The two groups set off in opposite directions. Healer Delgado's office was located just outside the center of the compound next to the armory. The building was dark, but Bella detected no wards guarding the door. Elyssa looked around the deserted area, assuming everyone had responded to the assembly signal.

  Bella unlocked the door within a few seconds. They filed inside and looked through the building until Elyssa found the door with Delgado's name on it. The room was devoid of filing cabinets or any paperwork for that matter. A quick search revealed a complete lack of such mundane things.

  Adam found a slim tablet on the Healer's desk and turned it on. An orange logo appeared, but a flick of his finger to peel it met with an error.

  Warning: This device is property of Healer Delgado and cannot be accessed without her permission. Any further attempts to access this device will be met with unpleasant countermeasures.

  Elyssa cursed.

  Bella looked the device over and gave a helpless shake of her head. "I'm not so good with these fancy gadgets. "

  "Just happens to be my specialty," Adam said, pushing thick glasses up his generous nose. He pulled out an arcphone and held it next to the tablet. "It uses a face print," he said after a moment. He looked around the desk and found a picture frame lying flat on the surface. He touched the edge and a holographic image, presumably of Healer Delgado and her family, flickered on above the frame. Adam smiled. "Perfect. "

  He activated a spell on his arcphone. A pale light wrapped around the three-dimensional holograph of Delgado's head, taking in her auburn hair, brown eyes, and fair skin. He stared at his phone for a moment, and grunted. Elyssa forced herself to remain patient, though she couldn't help stalking back and forth while he worked. After that failed to keep her anxiety at bay, she pulled out Gigi's journal and read more of the entries to see if anything else stood out to her. Bella watched over Adam's shoulder, apparently fascinated with his process as she oohed and aahed.

  Adam sat in the chair before the desk. He said a few words, closed his eyes, brow furrowed in concentration, and drew his fingers in a wavy pattern across the surface of his arcphone. A beam of light speared from the phone and struck him in the head. His face screwed up in what Elyssa guessed might be pain, though he didn't scream or shout. The blinding light from the phone covered his face in a red glow then faded, leaving spots in Elyssa's vision.

  She hoped nobody had happened to look at the office over the past few minutes. They'd have to be blind not to have seen the glow coming from the spell. The dancing colors in her eyes faded and Elyssa sucked in a breath as Healer Delgado looked back at her and smiled.

  "Adam?"

  He nodded. "Hang on. This effect won't last long, and it hurts like hell. " He flicked the tablet on.

  "Good evening, Healer Delgado," the tablet said in a soothing female voice. "How can I help you?"

  "Grant full privileges to Bella—uh, what's your last name?"

  The Arcane smiled at him. "Bella will do just fine. "

  "Are you sure you'd like to add Bella Will Do Just Fine to your list of administrators?" the tablet said.

  "Yes," Adam said, his face tightening and twitching.

  An orb of light spun from the tablet screen and settled around Bella's face. "Welcome, Bella Will Do Just Fine. I am now yours to command. "

  Adam lurched from the chair and ran down the hall, hands pressed tight against his face. Elyssa stared after him in alarm.

  "It's a side effect of the spell, dear," Bella said. She motioned Elyssa closer. "Let's see what we have here. " She held up the tablet. "Computer, please show me all files on Gigi Martinez. "

  "There are ten recordings, ranging from two hours in length, to thirty minutes. Which would you like to see?" A holographic list sprang into the air in front of Bella's face. She jerked back and almost dropped the tablet.

  Elyssa took the device and laid it flat on the desk so she could see the list. Bella gave her a sheepish grin.

  "Did Healer Delgado come to a conclusion or guess as to what was wrong with Gigi?" Elyssa said.

  "Bella, would you like me to answer the question from Unauthorized Individual?" The disembodied voice spoke the last two words in a robotic monotone.

  "Please answer all of her questions," Bella said.

  "Very well. Here are excerpts f
rom recordings made by Healer Delgado as to the cause of Lieutenant Martinez's medical issue. "

  Delgado's face flickered on in place of the holographic list. "In conclusion," she said, "I prescribed her a potion from the apothecary made up of fish oil and green tea, and recommended a series of treatments with Healer Arroyo, who specializes in treating dysfunctions of the mind. I do not think this issue will persist. It's likely caused by stress. "

  The image vanished to be replaced by another. "Lieutenant Martinez's issue has persisted for quite some time. According to Healer Arroyo, his many sessions with her have failed to pinpoint any specific trauma, save for one. When she was still a raw recruit, she escorted a group of Arcanes into El Dorado to map out the caverns beneath the cursed city. Lieutenant Martinez was one of two survivors of the expedition and was so scarred by the experience, she requested the White from then Commander Anise Pratt, who, with great reluctance, granted this request. "

  Healer Delgado looked down, as if consulting something and then back up. "I can only assume the trauma from this scarring event continues to haunt the officer despite taking the White. Since we know so little about what happens in the communionary, or the effects of taking the White, I can only theorize it did not completely wipe away her memories. Healer Arroyo observed a much greater gap in Lieutenant Martinez's memory than just the expedition, however. Indeed, she was missing almost two months' worth of memories. For now, I have no easy answer to this issue, but maintain Lieutenant Martinez is still fit for duty as these dreams have not, so far, affected her exemplary performance. "

  They watched through the remaining excerpts, but the healer had no further clues as to the cause of Gigi's dreams. Elyssa, however, had a sinking feeling she knew what caused it. The White. It was a rare ritual, but using it for Gigi's purpose—to forget a traumatic experience—was not unheard of. Elyssa had no idea how many people had taken it. She wasn't even sure if the Templars kept records on such a thing. Daelissa obviously tampered with the memories of anyone who underwent the rituals, even the Blessed or Novice, because nobody remembered a thing about what happened during them. Elyssa was an exception, thanks to Nightliss, the dark angel and friend of Justin’s, who opposed Daelissa.