Fallen (22 page)

Sophia had been quietly laughing at me. She
gasped when the crystal goblet shattered, scattering pieces across
the table toward her. I hadn’t expected that to happen. Now,
everyone at the table, from Lycean and Oliver on one end to the
soldiers and Kron on the other end, were staring at me.

Sophia placed her hand over her mouth.
“Brody, you’re a Mover?”

I looked at Oliver. His eyes moved from the
shards of crystal scattered across the tabletop to me. His right
eyebrow cocked up with amusement. Oliver turned to Lycean then.

“Perhaps, we might stay another day before
going to Tartarus,” he said. “I think Brody might benefit from a
little training with Helios.”

A stinging blow woke Charlotte violently
from her unconsciousness. The last thing she had remembered was the
fallen angel, Black, smashing her repeatedly between his fist and a
brick wall. She attempted to emerge swinging. Had she been in
manacles, a transformation to her raven form would have freed her.
Unfortunately, her wrists, shoulders, neck and ankles had been
bound with strong chords.

When her eyes focused, she saw Black
standing before her. The room had the appearance of a dungeon and
the smell of death. A dim torch burned within an iron sconce upon
the wall. Fortunately, Charlotte’s eyes required only minimal light
to see a threat.

Her body ached from the beating she had
taken from the angel, though she couldn’t tell how long it had
been. Likely, not long. Still, down in this pit of despair, she had
no idea if it was even day or night.

“Why am I alive?” Charlotte asked when Black
did not speak.

Black smiled. “An appropriate question,” he
replied. “Your brother is still useful to me. I would like to keep
him that way while I’m working in London.”

“He’s your slave,” Charlotte spat.

“Which is useful, as I’ve said. Even you are
useful to me.”

“In what way could I possibly be useful to
you?” Charlotte asked bitterly.

Black raised his hands suddenly. Torches all
along the wall burst with flame, brightening the room considerably.
The very first thing to come to her attention was the bodies
fastened to the wall of the cylindrical chamber. Mutilated corpses,
all of them human, hung by chains. The smell of death had been
correct. Only it was far more grisly than she might have
imagined.

“What have you done?” Charlotte asked.

Black surveyed his handiwork. “I’d say I’ve
just made a gruesome discovery,” he said. “Could this actually be
the lair of the infamous Ripper all of London fears? And who would
have suspected that that individual would turn out to be a woman
and one of the vampires of legend?”

He grinned at her, waiting for his words to
sink in.

“You would reveal us to the humans?” she
asked. The very idea was shocking to her. “But why? To what end
could that possibly serve you?”

“Plans within plans, my dear. However,
should for any reason my designs upon London go unfulfilled, a
letter will be delivered to the authorities, and they will come to
this place to find you with all of the evidence they’ll need.”

Charlotte laughed. “Is that the best you can
do?” she said. “So what if the humans do find me here? They’ll kill
me and be done with it.”

Black smiled, and it unnerved her. “I’m not
sure your father would see it that way.”

Charlotte suddenly understood. “You would
start a war,” she said with as much certainty as she had ever felt.
She knew her father and his feelings for her. If ever a father
could be called doting, it was Tiberius. He had been the Lord of
Vampires for nearly a century. And he loved his many children, but
perhaps Charlotte the most.

She did not have to ask why Black would do
such a thing. It was in his nature to cause destruction and
devastation to the humans in whatever way possible. However, where
he sought subversion and control by replacing the humans with
dolls, a war with the Breed would simply kill the city. Inevitably,
that event would not happen in secret. Other humans would join that
fight, escalating it until either the Breed or the humans were
destroyed.

Charlotte struggled uselessly against her
bonds. She hung her head finally. “You’re a monster.”

Black grinned devilishly, backing toward the
wall as his form vanished. “My dear, you’ve no idea.”

Sophia had been eager to assure Oliver that
she could escort me to Master Helios. “You and Father can continue
your visit,” she had said. “I know that he misses your
conversations, even if he won’t admit it.”

Oliver had released me to her care with a
wink and a smirk intended for my benefit.

To my surprise, this master assassin also
dwelt in the palace, according to Sophia. We came to a courtyard
surrounded by a garden, complete with fountains of water.
Strangely, the courtyard itself was made entirely of sand—several
large mounds of it in fact. A tall thin man with dark skin and no
hair stood in the midst of the courtyard, waiting for us.

He never took his eyes off of me, even when
Sophia made introductions. She turned to me before leaving. “Good
luck, Brody. I’ll be watching.”

She walked away, attempting to suppress a
smile. I wasn’t sure why, but I thought maybe she knew something
about the training I was about to receive that I didn’t. Sophia
made her way to the other side of one of the decorative fountains
and sat upon the ledge there, watching as she had promised.

As soon as I turned my attention back to
Helios, a handful of sand hit me in the face. I just managed to
close my eyes, however my mouth had been open about to speak. I
staggered backward, spluttering, spitting sand out of my mouth.

“What was that for?” I asked.

Helios smiled slightly, then he picked up
another handful of sand and threw it at me. I was prepared this
time, but still not happy that this man was throwing sand at me. I
started to protest again, but he threw another handful at me, only
harder this time.

Now, admittedly, I was angry. I picked up a
handful of sand for myself, hauled back and let it fly. My sand wad
came close to Helios then rebounded, hitting me in the face again.
My mouth had been open that time also. I spit the grit out
immediately and heard the not-too-distant laughter of Sophia by the
fountain. I glanced at her in between my gagging. It was at least
enough to calm her down a bit, but not completely. Helios’s
composure remained unchanged.

“Kinesis is more than simply pushing on an
object, young man,” he said. “It should be a total manipulation in
any direction. A master Mover can manipulate objects and their
parts with greater care than even the human hand.”

To illustrate his point, Helios called a
lute to his hand that I had not even seen sitting nearby. The
wooden stringed instrument came to him, flying obediently through
the air as if by magic. I asked him as much.

“This is not magic, but a manipulation by
the power of my mind. If that is magic then perhaps you’re right,
but it would not be my definition.”

The lute hovered next to him and then began
to play. Helios observed the instrument, but he never touched it.
Still, even apart from the hands needed to press upon the strings
and pluck them, a sweet melody emerged from the instrument. I
walked closer, examining the lute, watching invisible fingers fret
each note in succession, strumming out chords and arpeggios
effortlessly.

I stammered for words, but could only come
up with one question. “How?”

Helios smiled. “A lifetime of practice,
Brody. And, as I understand it, you have considerably less time
before you are due to depart.”

“Will you teach me the basics of this power,
at least?” I begged.”

He placed a hand upon my shoulder and
smiled, as the lute stopped playing. “We’ll see what we can
do.”

Helios spent the majority of that evening
putting me through a rigorous pace of mental exercises that wore me
out. When I was finally allowed to sleep, I didn’t even take the
time to leave his home. The closest sofa I could find inside his
modest domicile would have to suffice.

Oliver was waking me after what seemed like
only mere moments. I felt exhausted, but a bit more confident in my
newfound abilities than I had before coming to Tidus. Oliver seemed
refreshed by a good night’s sleep and a filling breakfast. I was
famished and disheveled looking, as though I might have spent the
night wedged beneath a rock.

However, a tray of food was soon wheeled in
on a cart, along with a new suit of clothes. Helios met with us
while I wolfed down the eggs, bacon and biscuits with jam.

“I did what I could, given the limited
time,” Helios said to Oliver.

“I’m sure what you’ve imparted will prove
sufficient,” Oliver replied.

Helios regarded me as he continued. “I do
believe he has the makings of a fine Kinetic, with ample time and
training under the appropriate master. Do you expect to bring him
back to Tidus?”

Oliver smiled. “Are you so wanting for a
pupil, Master Helios?”

“No,” Helios said. “I’m merely curious about
the prospect of a Kinetic warrior who possesses the other abilities
I’ve heard mentioned. Intriguing.”

“Well, if we manage to make it back from
where we’re going in one piece, I’ll see to it that he’s brought to
you straightaway for further instruction.”

Helios nodded, shaking Oliver’s hand. He
turned to me as I stood up from my tray. To my surprise, he held
out his hand to me also. I took it eagerly.

“Thank you, Master Helios,” I said. “I’ll
practice the exercises you’ve shown me every day.”

“See that you do,” he said. “When we meet
again, I expect to see great progress already made.”

“You will,” I assured him. “And I’ll do what
you said, never accepting that something is impossible.”

With that, he turned to escort us out.

Outside, we found both Sophia and her
father. A royal guard waited nearby, ever watchful. Oliver and King
Lycean walked together ahead while I fell into step with
Sophia.

“How was your night with Master Helios?” she
asked.

“Educational,” I admitted. “From watching
the Movers at the temple site, I had no idea this power was so
complex and as interesting as Helios showed me.”

“Have you learned anything that you can show
me before you leave?”

“Well, he really wore me out,” I said. “Look
down.”

She did and gasped when she discovered that
I wasn’t actually walking beside her. I had been floating just
above the ground since leaving Helios’s home.

“How’s that?” I asked as my feet came back
to the ground and began walking again.

“Impressive for only one night of
instruction,” she admitted.

“He’s a great teacher,” I said. “I’m hoping
to come back soon and learn more from him.”

“That would be nice, Brody. I hope you
can.”

“I’m not even sure where we’re going,” I
said.

I was sure that King Lycean knew our
destination, but unsure of whether Sophia had been made privy to
that information.

“I wish I could say,” she said. “But I will
hope that you both come back soon and safe.”

By the time we reached the gate, I was
wishing that we could simply forget about the war in London and
stay forever in Tidus. But I knew that wasn’t possible. So, we said
our farewells to the King and his daughter and prepared for Oliver
to transport us wherever it was we were headed once we passed out
of Tidus.

Oliver walked through the gate ahead of me.
Sophia came running forward and took me by the arm. She kissed me
on the cheek and said goodbye again. I nodded, feeling quite
strange as I passed through after Oliver. As the gate closed shut
behind us, I stood there, touching the spot where her lips had been
only a moment before.

Oliver gave me a puzzled look, shaking his
head. “Best to reclaim your wits, Brody,” he said. “Where we’re
going, you’ll need to keep a clear head if we want to make it out
alive.”

Oliver raised his hand as a wave of light
issued around us, enveloping our persons.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Oliver looked at me with uncertainty in his
eyes.

“Tartarus.”

Tom surveyed the local warehouse where Breed
warriors stood watch. Black was inside. He had seen them take
Charlotte from the place where the angel had confronted her. He
felt like such a coward allowing it to all transpire as it had. He
should have saved her. But how?

In the hours since he began watching, Tom
had seen no sign of Sinister. He wondered if his former friend even
realized that Black was holding his sister. Tom had considered
trying to find the vampire leader and inform him, but the risk was
too great that Sinister simply wouldn’t care. No. He had to take
action now before anything more happened to her.

Tom knew what he had to do. He just hoped
his shape-shifting abilities would be up to the kind scrutiny he
would encounter here. He concentrated upon his old friend’s memory,
incorporating as much detail as he could remember: his clothing,
the grime of the city, even his smell. When Tom stood up, he was
the very image of Sinister.

Taking the form of a raven for effect, he
flew from the shadows where he had been hidden all this time,
soaring high up in order to be sure that all of the Breed warriors
noticed him. He landed in bird form, hopped once across the dusty
ground then morphed into his disguise as Sinister. If any Breed
warriors had a doubt about whether or not this was their master, it
should be quashed by this display. Only a master chameleon like Tom
could pull it off. It helped that he knew Sinister so well.