Moonlight(Pact Arcanum 3) (12 page)

Andrea blinked in shock.
“Baby?”

“Long story.”

She folded her arms in front of herself and gave him a hard stare.
“Then start at the beginning.”

CHAPTER 14

Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Prince George’s County, Maryland; Four hours, ten minutes remaining

Collins paced nervously in the conference room of Air Force Two. “What’s taking so long?” he asked the lead agent of his security detail.

“The tower just says all air traffic is grounded temporarily.” The agent watched the Vice President’s agitation carefully. “I could see if I can get specifics, if you like.”

“Yes,” said Collins. “Find out what you can.”

Just then, another agent came into the room. “Mr. Collins, the President has arrived at the base and is demanding permission to come aboard.”

The lead agent frowned. “Why weren’t we informed that he was coming?”

The other agent glanced at Collins. “Headquarters says that the President gave the order, sir.”

The lead agent raised his eyebrows for a moment but controlled his surprise as he turned to Collins. “I presume you’ll want me to let him in?”

Collins looked at him sourly. “If I said no, would you let him in anyway?”

The lead agent showed no emotion. “I’m sure you won’t make that necessary, sir.”

Collins nodded and unlocked a pitcher from the table to pour himself a glass of water. “Let him in. I’ll wait for him here.”

After the junior agent left to convey the order, the lead agent looked pointedly at Collins. “Sir, if there’s something I need to know about this situation, then you should tell me now, while there’s still time.”

“There’s no more time, Agent,” Collins said with resignation.

The agent stared at him, saying nothing.

A minute later, the door opened and Daniels and Nick walked in, followed by eight Secret Service agents.

Collins frowned at Nick. “Andrews is a secure facility, Kevin. Why did you bring one of them here?”

Daniels glared at him. “My daughter has been captured by the Court.”

“That’s terrible!” Collins feigned surprise. “How did they find out?”

Daniels shot him a look of pure hatred. “Someone tipped them off that she was a Sentinel, and you’re the prime suspect right now.” He gave Collins a predatory smile. “I told you I would come looking for payback if they found her, Alex. Did you think I was kidding?”

Nick ripped his claws across the Vice President’s left lapel, shredding the cloth and tearing away the psychic inhibitor. A bright violet light burst from Collins’ chest, and Nick stumbled backward and fell to his knees with a harsh cry.

Collins grabbed the glass of water he had poured and smashed it against the table. Immediately, the President’s Secret Service agents drew their weapons and held Collins at gunpoint. The Vice President raised his hands, bloody with embedded glass.

“Sorry, Kevin,” Collins said. “It was nothing personal.” Then he slapped his bleeding palm against the glowing violet amulet under his shirt. A bright white light surrounded him, and he disappeared.

* * *

Nick got to his feet. “He had a second psychic inhibitor on him, and it had a feedback pulse programmed into it that would have killed a Second Order telepath.” He extended his senses to the space where Collins had been. “That was a teleport matrix—stronger than anything I’ve ever seen.”

Daniels scowled in frustration. “How did he get through the jumper block, damn it?”

“Class four teleportation. Very rare, and difficult to achieve, and it goes right through a normal jumper block,” Nick explained. “It’s only possible with pre-constructed artifacts, because of the complexity of the spellforms. We don’t consider the spell to be very useful because it requires blood magic to target the teleport matrix, so it can only be used to jump to the location of a specific person. He’s probably gone right to Yvette.”

CHAPTER 15

House Daviroquir stronghold, London, England; Three hours, forty-six minutes remaining

William Consul Daviroquir counted the angry faces of his fellow scions. “She’s late.”

The Consul from Edinburgh sneered at him. “Perhaps Yvette simply chooses not to debase our honor to become lackeys of House Diluthical.”

William smiled, showing his fangs, the challenge sparking his instinctive desire for combat. “The Challenge of Kings was decided by Court protocol and custom. Do you wish to challenge my honor in recognizing the verdict?”

The other Nightwalker scowled. “He used forbidden magic in the duel. That invalidates the verdict, in and of itself. You were a fool to surrender.”

William shook his head, controlling his bloodlust with iron discipline. “The protocols state that combatants are forbidden to call magic against their opponents once the circle has been raised. It does not deny the ability to use personal protection spells. Imperator Lorcan armored himself in the Light. The magic was defensive. The fact that it had an offensive effect is immaterial.”

“A petty distinction, William,” said one of the other Consuls.

“But a valid one,” William argued.

The Consul from Cardiff looked around the room at the House Diluthical soldiers lining the walls. “If Lorcan is so convinced of the legitimacy of his position, then why is he keeping us waiting under guard?”

The door to the chamber opened and Lorcan walked into the Great Hall, flanked by more soldiers. “I was waiting for Yvette, but it appears she has declined my invitation.” He looked over the assembled Consuls. “This won’t take long. Does each of you agree to respect the outcome of the Challenge of Kings and submit to my authority?”

“Pretender!” yelled one of them. “We will never bend our knees to you!”

“Does he speak for all of you?” Lorcan asked, meeting the eyes of each in turn. When no one spoke, Lorcan nodded in approval. “Good, that simplifies matters.”

All of the Consuls suddenly collapsed on the floor, with the exception of the Consul from Manchester, who stood frozen in shock while an amulet under his shirt burst into bright violet light. William slammed his fist into the side of the Consul’s head. The Nightwalker collapsed to the floor with the others.

The air shimmered between the ranks of the House Diluthical soldiers who had followed Lorcan into the room. Jeremy appeared, shutting down his artificial shroud of invisibility. He faced Lorcan. “You were right. They were too angry to notice a mortal heartbeat in the crowd.” Jeremy drew a dagger from his boot and approached the Consul at William’s feet.

He dug into the collar of the unconscious vampire’s shirt and dragged the glowing medallion from concealment. With his knife, he cut the leather thong holding the amulet in place and threw it away. He studied the Nightwalker’s face intently. “The Triumvirate’s information from the arrest of the Court Embassy’s personnel was accurate. Yvette is definitely in Manchester, and they’re holding Toby and Andrea prisoner. It looks like Yvette’s ultimate plan is to convert Andrea. She’s only holding Toby for leverage against Nick in case we found out where she’s hiding. She’s going to kill him as soon as Andrea is turned.”

“Then we have our killer,” said Lorcan. “Have Nick tell the Nexus, and we can finish this.”

Jeremy shook his head. “He already tried. The Nexus insists that they require proof that justice has been served.”

William checked his watch. “We have less than four hours left. Manchester is a heavily defended facility. We’ll need time to break down its defenses. Surely they won’t hold us to the original deadline?”

Jeremy sighed. “They’re machines, William. They look at the world in binary absolutes. They set their terms, and they won’t deviate from them. We bring down Yvette before the deadline or they carry out their threat.”

“What about Collins?” Lorcan asked. “He’s as much to blame as she is. The Nexus will want us to get them both.”

Jeremy looked back into the Nightwalker’s mind again for information on Collins. His eyes widened. “Aw, crap.”

“What is it?” asked William.

Jeremy looked at Lorcan. “He had terminal cancer. She promised him a cure.”

Lorcan frowned. “You can’t heal a natural illness with magic, only physical wounds. How did her honor let her make that kind of promise?”

“Simple,” William replied. He looked at Jeremy with a wry smile. “She killed him and then brought him back.”

CHAPTER 16

The White House, Washington, D.C.; Three hours, twenty-six minutes remaining

“This is ridiculous!” said the Speaker of the House, Sebastian Avery. He was a tall man, with sharply defined features beneath his close-cropped, graying hair. Nick thought his severe expression and dark suit made him look like a small-town preacher on the warpath. Avery turned from the President to face Nick. “These are your machines! Can’t you control them?”

Nick spread his hands helplessly. “They’re intelligent constructs. I can’t control their thinking patterns any more than I can control yours. All I have is negotiation and persuasion, and right now, they’re not in the mood for either.” He looked around the room at the hostile faces of the Cabinet and key members of Congress who had joined them for an impromptu war council. “The question is what do we do in the time we have left?”

“You’re sure you know where the Court is holding them prisoner?” asked one of the senators.

Jeremy answered, tapping his fingertips on the map of the United Kingdom spread on the table before them. “Both Toby and Andrea are being held at Yvette’s underground stronghold in the Pennine mountains, northeast of Manchester. As of an hour ago, they were both still alive. Our scouts report that the base is now projecting a jumper block with continuously rotating frequencies, so no one can teleport in or out. We’ve already started laying our own jumper blocks over it to prevent them from making a run for it. So far, there has been no evidence that they’re trying to leave, so they’re probably dug in and waiting for our attack.”

“Armistice Security has assembled a small army at Castle Night,” Nick said, his expression grim as he pointed out the location of the fortress. “We have no option but a frontal assault at this point. The best we can do is to overwhelm them with numbers and hope they consider Toby and Andrea to be valuable enough as hostages to keep them alive.”

“What about Collins?” Daniels asked. “He’s a traitor, and I mean to make him pay for that. Is he on-site as well?”

“Collins is dead,” Jeremy said. “He was dying of lung cancer anyway, so Yvette converted him. He’ll probably rise as a Nightwalker within an hour or two.”

“Fine,” the President said curtly. “Then he can rot in prison for the rest of time. When do we leave?”

Nick raised an eyebrow as everyone in the room stared at Daniels. “What do you mean ‘we’?”

Daniels stood straight. “I’m going with you.”

Nick shook his head. “Not a chance.”

Daniels scowled at him. “I served my country in two wars, Nicholas. That’s more than you’ve ever done. This is my daughter we’re talking about. I have to be there.”

Avery put his hand on Daniels’ shoulder. “Mr. President, I know you want to save her, but you’re the Commander-in-Chief, and we are, for all intents and purposes, at war. You can’t go haring off into battle like a common soldier.”

“I agree,” said Nick. “There’s no way you’re going to fight, Kevin.”

Daniels shrugged the Speaker’s hand from his shoulder and faced him squarely. “If that’s the only reason, then I resign. Sebastian, you’re next in line of succession now that Collins is dead. Good luck.” He turned back to Nick, who watched in stunned disbelief. “I’m a private citizen now, so there’s no reason I can’t join you in the assault.”

Nick struggled to find his voice. “Kevin, I realize you’re upset—”

Daniels stepped forward into Nick’s personal space. “Are you going to fight?”

Nick looked him in the eye. “Yes.”

“You’re a head of state, Nick. If you’re going into battle to save your brother, then offer me the same courtesy.”

Nick considered for a long moment and then nodded. “All right.”

Avery scowled. “He’s not going alone.” He faced Nick. “Your AIs are going to destroy the entire country if we don’t move fast. We’re part of this now.”

“What do you suggest?” Nick asked.

Avery addressed Daniels. “Kevin, you were a Colonel in the Army until you entered politics. I’m going to reactivate your commission and promote you to General—assigned command of the Tenth Special Forces Group. We can have them outfitted with anti-Nightwalker ammunition and have them ready for deployment in thirty minutes.” He looked at Nick. “Your people will teleport our soldiers onto the battlefield, and their primary responsibility will be to rescue the hostages and protect General Daniels. Agreed?”

Nick was silent.

Jeremy put his hand on Nick’s arm. “Let them fight, Nick. He’s right. They’re part of this.”

Nick glanced at him for a moment and then turned back to Avery. “Thirty minutes to outfit your troops. Then we go in, with or without you. In the meantime, our forces have already surrounded the base to make sure none of them tries to leave by conventional means.” He looked at Jeremy. “I need you to go see Lorcan at Castle Night and scout the base telepathically to make sure our maps are accurate. Do you have the range to coordinate our attack from there?”

“Yes.” Jeremy gave Nick a hard look. “Is that the only reason you’re sending me away?”

“No.” Nick folded his arms and met Jeremy’s glare without apology. “I don’t want you to get killed. Can you follow orders?”

“Yes, I can. Thank you for not lying.”

Nick swept the room with his gaze. “Let’s move. We don’t have much time.”

CHAPTER 17

Castle Night, the French Alps; Three hours, fifteen minutes remaining

Rory walked into the Great Hall at the base of the High Tower to find the large room filled with Nightwalkers dressed in ceramic combat armor, led by Lorcan. He walked over to the Daywalker. “You asked to speak with me, Ruarc?”