Synarchy Book 2: The Ascension (24 page)

Simone didn’t look at him. “Don’t make
me regret leaving you alive, Victor,” she said before her mouth met
the rim of her glass. She took a healthy swallow so that she didn’t
turn around, pull Caleb’s gun, and shoot Victor right in his big
fucking head. She couldn’t believe she’d thought she was in love
with him, once upon a time. Whatever might have been left of that
emotion was further tainted by her anger every time she had to
interact with him.

Victor tried to push past Caleb,
shoving a finger at Simone. “If you think you can just write me off
like this, after everything I’ve done for you, you selfish
cu—”

The final word exploded into a loud
whine of pain as Caleb punched him; a hard line of knuckles, right
into his mouth. Before Victor could clear his vision, Caleb grabbed
two handfuls of Victor’s shirt, dragged him out the door, and threw
him into the arms of the SVT Agent that was walking up to the bar.
“Make sure Mr. Russo gets home.”

Victor held his jaw and glared at
Caleb. “I’ll have your job for this!”

As diplomatically as possible, the SVT
Agent ushered Victor firmly over to the car, putting him in the
back seat.

Caleb sent Victor a hard, unmoving
look, watching until the car pulled out of the small lot. He turned
around to see Simone leaning against one of the beams. She looked
at Caleb. “Thank you.”

The lines of Caleb’s face faintly
softened, and he gave a short nod. “To be honest, Madame President,
I’ve been looking for a reason to punch that clown since I met
him.” He walked up to her. “I told you I wasn’t that
friendly.”

Simone felt her body tense pleasantly
as he drew closer. The nearness of his presence made the memory of
his touch, soft and expressive against her back, flash vividly
through her mind. And the scene had brought back another memory; of
a time when Kyle had lost his temper and gotten into a bar fight on
Lil’s behalf. Lil instigated it a little bit, because riling her
husband’s temper in that manner led to the most amazing…

Keeping that less than innocent thought
hidden, Simone smiled faintly. “Neither am I.” She simply looked at
him for another heartbeat before she walked back inside.

It was the way that Simone looked at
Caleb that kept him motionless and wanting. If things like this
kept up between them, and if Vasco didn’t lift that gag order soon,
Caleb was going to break orders. For a very good reason; she was
asking for it. His gaze made a quick pass down the length of her as
she took three steps in front of him, and then he was nothing but
professional as he followed behind her.

Neither one of them noticed the small
mosquito, hovering.

§

July 12, 2012 - 11:01 PM

Alcyone Island

Residential Complex

Victor stumbled out of the MP car when
it came to a stop in front of his beach house. He flipped the SVT
Agent off, just on principal and staggered down his short sidewalk,
digging into his pocket for his keys.

He and Simone needed to put a stop to
their whole divorce mess. Sure, he thought, he’d fucked up, gotten
caught, but come on what Italian man didn’t cheat? Simone was
overreacting, and she knew it. Victor loved her. He really did! He
wasn’t sure he was go¬ing to at first, but when he’d gotten the
offer to attach himself to a Terenzio in return for feeding Dominic
and Olivia small bits of information on her movements, why the hell
not? He loved the perks that came with being Simone’s husband. The
arrangement had worked out all around. But now, just for one little
silly affair, it was almost like he was fucking blacklisted, and
that was unacceptable.

“
Stupid women,” Victor
mumbled to himself. He pushed open his front door, a hand flailing
behind him to shut it as his opposite fumbled along the wall for a
light switch. When he flicked it on, he jumped and gave a short,
startled shout. “What the fuck are you doing here?”

Dominic stepped forward, a raised gun
in his hand. “You’ve outlived your usefulness, Victor.”

Victor’s eyes widened. He held up his
hand. “Now, wait a minute, wait just a fucking minute. I can get
her back. I can—”

Dominic pulled the trigger twice,
putting two bullets in Victor’s temple. Another man came to stand
next to him, Dominic’s bodyguard for the last ten years. He was the
only man Dominic trusted. “Take him out to the car.” Dominic pulled
his cell phone from his pocket, and punched in Kayla’s number. It
was answered on the first ring.

“
Yes?”

“
It’s done.”

“
Make sure they don’t find
him.” Kayla ended the call and looked back up at her Trainer. “I’m
ready, now.”

§

July 12, 2012 - 11:11 PM

Denver, CO

Penthouse of Tony DeMarco

“
Jesus, I’m gonna die
sometime. Can’t I just go how I want to?” Tony shot Gabriella a
heatless glare as she pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his
shirt pocket and threw them out the window. Tony couldn’t help but
shake his head at the stubborn look she gave him. “Guess
not.”

He pulled his car into the parking
garage, killed the engine, and released an exhausted sigh. He
hadn’t slept in his own bed in two days. Rubbing a hand over his
face, Tony picked up the bag of Chinese food and climbed out.
Gabriella zipped underneath the collar of his shirt—her favorite
place apparently—as he walked into his building.

“
Welcome back, Mr. DeMarco.”
Ricky, the front desk man and another poor soul that the
Brotherhood controlled through mind manipulation, smiled in
greeting.

“
What’s the news, brother.
Anything?” Tony stepped over to his mailbox, using his
key.

“
Naw. Nothing much ever
happens around here. Mr. Medicci dropped off that package you
wanted. ‘Bout it.”

Alarm bells exploded in Tony’s mind,
but he didn’t miss a beat. “Great. When did he drop it
off?”

“
Two days ago.”

“
Cool. Have a good night,
Ricky.” Tony waved and got into the elevator. The moment he entered
his apartment, he dropped everything and tore it apart. Gabriella
helped. He scanned for every bug that he knew the Brotherhood used
to spy on people. He verified the books on his shelf, dumped out
the pens on his desk, searched underneath desks, chairs, rugs,
corners, every item of clothing in his closet. He found
nothing.

Two hours later, Tony leaned against
the wall of his ransacked house, itching for a cigarette that
Gabriella wouldn’t let him have. Medicci might have come just to
snoop around and decided it would be too risky to leave a bug
behind, but Tony wasn’t convinced of that yet. Caesar obviously
suspected him. Considering who Caesar had been last lifetime, Tony
wasn’t surprised.

Pushing off the wall, Tony went out
onto his balcony to get some air. As soon as he stepped outside he
noticed his plant in the corner. Aware that it was possible Caesar
might be watching him from a distance, Tony went back inside the
house for his watering can. When he returned, Tony bent down
seemingly to water the plant but instead he searched the leaves. It
didn’t take him long to find exactly what he was looking for. The
tiny HI-MEN could have easily been a spider, but Tony knew
better.

Smirking to himself, he walked back
inside, setting the watering can on a table. “Stay put honey,” Tony
said to Gabriella. “I’ll be right back.” Picking up his cell phone,
Tony left his apartment and took the stairs to the roof. He quickly
scanned the area, just to be on the safe side, then called his
brother. “Alex, can you talk?”

“
Sì. Go ahead.”

“
We’ve got an issue. Dominic
found a file about Kayla on Lucien’s computer. And Caesar suspects
I’m the leak. He put a bug on my balcony.”

“
We knew it would only be a
matter of time. But, he has no proof so he knows better than to act
on speculation. Put Caesar on an assignment that will keep him busy
for the next five months. Extremely busy.”

Tony nodded, even though his brother
couldn’t see him. “I’ve got a few things in mind.”

“
Good. Did you alert the
triplets about the incident?”

“
No, not yet.”

“
Don’t. There’s no
need.”

“
I thought so, too. Kayla,
apparently, held information back from Caesar. Marcello wrote her a
letter, and she didn’t share it with him.”

“
My heart aches for that
girl. It’s nice to know that her parents’ love almost undid
everything They tried to do to her.”

“
Yeah, but her parents
aren’t around anymore, and she’s at a training center right now,
getting her programming beat back into her.”

“
Let’s hope some things run
deeper. I’ll talk to you soon, Tony. Stay safe.”

“
Yeah, you, too.” Tony ended
the call and dropped the phone back into his pocket. He dragged his
hands over his face. Five more months. They just needed to keep it
all together for five more months. Tony let out an exhausted yawn,
and trudged back to his house to clean up the mess and toss his
food into the microwave. He never noticed the mosquito that sat
patiently on the ledge on the rooftop. But it had heard every word
he’d said.

Chapter 13

“
If you tell a big enough
lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.”

-Adolf Hitler

October 20, 2012 - 12:12 AM

Washington, D.C.

The White House

After the bible had been twisted into
an acceptable story for the masses, and the pages of moral code
hidden with instructions for the Brotherhood, Revelations had
foretold of this moment in history. Freedom could not be allowed to
linger for too long, lest the slaves act as they were acting now;
like they were free. They, the Anunnaki and the Brotherhood, had
brought famine, war, and death to keep the populace of the world in
the right, lower vibration. But, it was not commonly known, except
to those that gave religion great independent study, that not all
four horsemen of the Apocalypse were evil. There was a white horse,
a warning to the Brotherhood that it was possible they might
fail.

Enlil was more determined than ever to
make sure that didn’t happen. According to his Anunnaki Magi and
Seers, it was possible that Terenzio might have one of the great
crystals of Atlantis. If that was true, they could open the Cave of
Creation. Regardless of the fact that ELMINT was finished and
ready, he would not allow them to access it.

At the stroke of 12:12, Enlil felt when
the last of the Bodhavista, the great Ascended Masters of the past,
came into form on planet Earth. From his spot beside the President
of the United States, the rush of positive energy made Enlil sneer,
his serpent-like tongue hissing out in clear protest.

“
Sign it,” he ordered the
president. The man was a pawn; a smooth orator with a convincing
smile, like every other president had been. Distant cousins of one
of the thirteen bloodlines, they were all loyal slaves. Without
pause, the president signed his name to the executive order. By the
time the sun rose, every single debt owed by American citizens
would be called in. Money that could not be paid on the spot would
bring criminal charges. Protests would follow. So, too, would the
call for revolution. The people would arm themselves, lock
themselves in the duality of us versus them, and give the
Brotherhood, their government, more reason to take their freedom
away. It would be the beginning of the end of the nonsense of this
Ascension.

“
Good boy,” Enlil cooed
mockingly. He petted the president like the man was a dog and
looked over at Alex and Tony who were standing in front of the desk
in the oval office, watching. “I want those SVT Offices shut down
and Terenzio removed.”

“
Too soon, Enlil,” Enki
said. He sat on one of the couches, disguised in a common,
unassuming human form, watching his brother.

Tony nodded. “I agree, sir. You’ve got
your hands full right now. Let your inside men keep riding on
Terenzio and verify whether or not they have the
crystal.”

Enlil frowned. “I do not want any
surprises.”

“
Did your Seers tell you
that Terenzio had the crystal?” Tony asked.

“
Of course not,” Enlil
snapped. “If they had, Terenzio would be dead.”

“
Then leave it be for now,
brother,” Enki reasoned. “They can’t stop you, no matter what they
try and do. Their time is coming, but you have more important
things to worry about.” Enlil studied his brother in silence, and
then smiled. “I am glad to see that you are finally coming
around.”

“
I have accepted, Enlil,
that some things must be done.”

“
Good.” Enlil looked over at
Tony. “I want their team of scientists in Guatemala arrested and
kept out of the way. I want their SVT Think Tank building on
twenty-four surveillance. And you inform me the moment Kayla has
found out whether or not they have the crystal, do you
understand?”

“
Of course, my God.” Tony
clasped his hands together as if in prayer and bowed
low.