Dread Nemesis of Mine (22 page)

The Colombian commander put an arcphone to
his ear. "Lieutenant Martinez, the operation is Foxtrot Utah. Do
you copy?" He gritted his teeth. "I don't care. Do what you have to
do." Christian lowered the phone. "We might be too late."

Gigi Martinez was in charge of the
attack?
This was worse than Elyssa had imagined. True, just
because Daelissa had invaded her dreams didn't mean the woman was
under the angel's direct control. But Commander Salazar obviously
didn't believe Elyssa's warning about the diary enough to remove
Martinez from command.

Thomas nodded. His eyes betrayed not a lick
of uncertainty or stress as he said, "Sergeant Gaetano, I'm placing
you in charge of a rescue team."

Fausta stiffened and saluted with a fist over
her heart. "Yes, Commander."

"Healers Andretti and Delgado will be part of
the team. You choose the others and get to the front.
Understood?"

She nodded. "Borathen, you're with me."

"Add me to your number," said a deep voice.
Michael Borathen appeared, two katana hilts protruding diagonally
above his muscled shoulders.

"No way in hell," Elyssa snarled, as anger
boiled up inside her. It took all her control not to fly at him
with everything she had. Unfortunately, it would mean she'd have to
explain her reasons. Now was not the time to settle this. Rescue
Justin first. Beat the crap out of Michael second.

"Explain yourself, recruit," Christian said,
eyes puzzled.

Elyssa stammered. "I—uh, I think he's too
tall for a stealth mission."

"This isn't stealth," Fausta said, her eyes
looking the hulking figure up and down. "This is search and rescue,
and I could use a big man with big swords. Hell yes, Michael.
You're on the team!" She took a quick headcount. "This should be
good for now. I'll pull from the main force at the front if I need
any more bodies."

Christian nodded.

They rushed to a slider disguised as a
helicopter and hopped in. Adam Nosti climbed in behind Meghan.

"Wait for me!" came another voice outside and
Bella clambered into the cabin.

"Oh, no, you don't." Fausta shook her head.
"You two aren't Templars."

Adam clenched his teeth. "My sister is in
Maximus's compound. You're not keeping me off this mission."

"I can vouch for him," Meghan said. "He can
take care of himself."

"And I can vouch for myself, young lady."
Bella took a seat and belted in. "Heaven knows I've been through
more than you could ever imagine."

Fausta shrugged. "Fine, but if either of you
gets fragged, don't come dragging your broken, bloody bodies to
me." She dropped into the pilot's seat and hovered a hand over a
control. The illusionary rotors on the slider turned on, mimicking
a chopper warming up as they spun increasingly faster. "Buckle in,
people. This is going to be bumpy." The Italian woman didn't wait a
second longer, and took them into the air fast enough to press the
passengers hard into the seats. Pressing forward on the control
stick, she catapulted them toward the compound.

Elyssa glared at Michael. He returned her
burning gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you want me to say?" he said at
last.

"There's nothing you
can
say. Does
you-know-who
know about you coming along?"

"I already told him about the spy issue. You
only repeated your story three times." The barest hint of a smile
lifted the corner of his mouth. "He said your findings were too
vague. In other words, he's not risking his assets. So I told him
to go to hell."

Cold fear settled into Elyssa. It was all on
her now. As usual, Underborn couldn't be counted on to do the right
thing. Anger and disappointment clawed at her throat and it was all
she could do not to scream curses at her brother. "How could you
work for him? How
could
you?"

Michael glanced around at the other curious
eyes in the cabin and shook his head. "Not now, Ninjette. We'll
discuss this at a more appropriate time."

Adam's eyes lit with understanding as he met
Elyssa's. But he kept his mouth shut and didn't say a word.

"Now is always an appropriate time for
gossip," Bella said, her violet eyes bright with curiosity.

Elyssa saw no further reason to hide the
truth. If anything, she felt guilty for holding back on them.
"Underborn is the one who told me there might be a spy in the first
place. He told me he had people inside Maximus's compound who could
rescue Justin, but he wouldn't go through with it until I found the
spy."

Fausta's head whipped around. "Everything we
did tonight was just to save your boyfriend?"

"Oh, Elyssa." Bella tutted. "Why didn't you
mention this before?"

Elyssa's heart sank. She'd been selfish. But
telling the others about Underborn might have cut out a lot of the
unnecessary wrangling and explaining. Thanks to her discretion, a
lot of Templars might die. "I'm sorry. I should have told you all
from the start."

Fausta slapped the console. "
Figlio di
Troia!
If you ever bring me into something like this again,
you'd better tell me everything." Her voice was low and harsh.

Bella touched Elyssa's arm. "Now, now. Don't
be too hard on yourself. Judging from the way Commanders Borathen
and Salazar run things, they probably wouldn't have listened to you
if you'd mentioned Underborn. If anything, they'd be running a
top-to-bottom search for the scoundrel."

"She's right," Michael said. "You know Thomas
would have overreacted, especially if he knew Underborn had come to
you."

"You did the right thing," Adam said.

"Stop enabling her," Fausta said.

Meghan simply narrowed her eyes, as if trying
to discern how someone could be so stupid.

Before Elyssa could say another word, the
slider bumped down in a courtyard. She noted that none of the
Templars present except Michael wore armor, not that it mattered if
cursed bullets hit them, but she still felt naked without it.

"Speaking of Underborn," Michael said as they
piled out of the cabin. "I know of two secret entrances we can use
to get inside the compound."

Fausta threw her hands into the air. "Why do
you people not tell me these things before we go?" Her Italian
accent was stronger than Elyssa had ever heard it. Fausta retrieved
her arcphone and activated a three-dimensional map of the
surrounding area. "Show me."

Using his fingers to rotate and zoom the
image, he homed in on an alleyway across from the compound, and
marked it with a red "X". "There's a hidden hatch in the ground
there." He flicked the image and went to the other side of the
building where he marked a building. "In the basement, there's a
door behind a set of lockers that opens into a tunnel as well."

"If Underborn planned on having his spies use
these secret tunnels, why didn't he just have them leave Justin at
the exit? Nobody ever would have seen them."

Michael indicated several points on the map
right next to the hidden hatches. "There are Templars sentries
stationed right next to them. They'd report the hatches and the
mole would find out. Should that happen, Maximus would be sure to
seal them off."

While his argument made sense, Elyssa
couldn't help but feel Underborn was playing at something else.
Something bigger. What it was, she couldn't say.

Fausta considered the map. "We are closest to
the alley, so we'll take that route." She picked up her phone,
configured it into wireless radio mode, and contacted the main
force of Templars near the compound. After a moment, she got
through to Lieutenant Martinez.

"Commander Salazar told me you're leading in
a rescue team," the officer said. "I'm ready to commit the rest of
our forces, but he told me to wait on your go-ahead." An
exasperated note sounded in her voice.

Fausta's eyes gleamed in triumph. "I'm
transmitting the location of a secret entrance to you. I suggest
you send a force there. My group will enter via a tunnel on the
other side. On my signal, we can flank them, and once we have their
attention, you can lead the main assault."

"Where did you get this information?"
Lieutenant Martinez replied after a brief pause. "Why wasn't I
informed?"

"It's new intel." Fausta sent the
coordinates. "What's the status of our squads on the inside?"

"The stealth squads went in before the
command came down to withdraw. They're surrounded and cut off. We
had no idea about these cursed bullets the commander told me
about."

"No time to waste then," Fausta replied. "Get
your people in position and tell me when they're ready."

"I don't think the lieutenant is happy taking
orders from a sergeant," Bella said.

Fausta grinned. "I know. Isn't it great?"

Michael unlatched a compartment on the bottom
of the slider and slid it out to reveal an array of weaponry.

Fausta grabbed a pair of katanas, and
fastened the sheaths on her back in less than thirty seconds, then
raised an eyebrow at Elyssa as if daring her to do better.

Elyssa ignored the other woman, deciding on a
pair of sai swords, a couple of flash grenades, and a lancer on
each wrist. The darts would incapacitate anyone who got in their
way.

Fausta groaned. "Sai swords again?" She
looked appreciatively at Michael's katanas. "At least your brother
has good taste in swords."

Meghan and the others grabbed lancers as
well. Adam pshawed and pulled out a pair of automatic pistols.

"We're trying to keep casualties low," Elyssa
said.

Fausta shook her head. "Not if I can help
it." She slapped the compartment shut and motioned the group on.
"Those bastards are taking out Templars. Friends of mine. I plan on
getting some payback."

Elyssa had mixed feelings about it. "Most of
Maximus's recruits are probably kids or young adults no older than
me. In case you've forgotten, he has a knack for brainwashing
people and using vampire compulsion to make them do what he
wants."

"Are you saying his rogue army is full of
innocent wittle kiddies?" Fausta said, her tone mocking. "Maybe we
can tell their parents."

"Elyssa has a point," Michael said. "Maximus
and his lieutenants are responsible for this. Let's not
indiscriminately kill everyone until we sort things out."

Adam took a polished wooden rod about six
inches long from a pouch on his side and shook it. It sprang into a
staff. "I'm looking forward to sorting this out." With the
automatic pistols in holsters at his side and thick glasses on his
nose, he looked like an odd cross between a cowboy, wizard, and
geek. He pulled the glasses off and stuffed them into the
pouch.

"Don't you need those?" Elyssa asked.

Adam chuckled. "My eyes are perfectly fine.
Those are just for show." He winked. "Don't tell anyone."

They reached the alley. Michael hunted around
on the paved ground until he found a brick embossed with the tiny
symbol of an eye. He pressed the symbol three quick times and a
hatch popped open, revealing a ladder.

"Ladies first," said Fausta as she slid down
the ladder.

Elyssa followed close behind, swallowing the
ball of nerves in her throat, and followed Fausta into the dark.
The Italian woman shouted.

Elyssa turned just as someone rammed Fausta
and sent her tumbling back.

Katie screamed bloody murder.

She whipped out the automatic rifle she'd
taken from the vampire. Pressed it against her hip. And unleashed a
hail of bullets at the vampires. Her entire body shook with the
explosive kickback. Vampires dove left and right. One screamed as a
bullet struck his leg. Another dropped lifeless to the ground as
crimson blossomed on his forehead. I could only stand in stunned
silence watching Katie rampage like a Mafioso with a Tommy gun,
spraying the vampires' positions until the gun clicked empty.

She stood frozen, her breath coming in
ragged pants before apparently realizing there were no more
bullets. Her eyes grew wide as she took in the bodies, the blood,
the carnage. The gun dropped from her hands. Vampires poked their
heads from behind cover. I jerked Katie behind the dumpsters as
they returned fire.

Bullets dinged and ricocheted off the dull
green metal. We crawled through the smelly refuse on the ground
toward an open hatch protruding from the ground. Its top was lined
with bricks. When closed, it would blend in with the surrounding
pavers—perfect camouflage. The gray man appeared ahead of us. His
hat was gone, as were his Jersey-boy shades, but I didn't notice
any bullet holes in him.

I'd been in danger before. Giant dragon
worms had nearly run me down; creepy, dark, cherub creatures had
tried to drain me, and even shadow people had taken a shot at
sending me to an early grave. But there was something about being
shot at that made my bowels turn to water. I crawled at top speed
along the ground, like a baby whose diapers were on fire. God knew
I'd need diapers if I didn't get down that hole in a hurry.

"Stop firing, you idiots!" Amanda screamed
from somewhere behind us. "They're out of ammo. Go get them!"

Katie trembled as she reached the open hatch
and climbed down a ladder inside. I saw tears streaming down her
face as she vanished into the darkness below. I waved the gray man
to go ahead of me and followed him down, closing the hatch with a
click as the sounds of running footsteps approached. With any luck,
the vampires wouldn't find it. I didn't plan on waiting around to
find out.

"I didn't think, Justin." Katie sobbed and
almost dropped to her knees in the cramped tunnel. "Oh, god,
they're dead."

I grabbed her before she collapsed and
surveyed the darkness with the aid of my night vision. Flashlights
hung on a rack nearby, but I didn't bother with them. The tunnel
was dry, roughly hewn from rock. We could stand, but judging from
the irregular ceiling, I didn't dare put Katie on my back and run.
One of the crags in the roof might brain one of us.