Pride X Familiar ReVamp (Pride X ReVamp Book 1) (22 page)

Then she focused on me, and me alone.

And I focused on running and making myself a hard target.

As I ran, I wondered why she wasn’t using the stealth Fragment to hide herself. Hadn’t she been using it before?

She had even fired while remaining cloaked in a thermoptic camouflage field.

So why wasn’t she using it now?

Was there a limitation to the stealth Fragment’s use?

I ran past a car just as it swelled and exploded, showering me with shrapnel. My Valkyrie Legs kept me safe courtesy of the barrier they generated around me. I kept running, circling back to the girl.

Then I heard an enormous explosion off to my right in the direction of the cannon girl. The yellow-orange flash of light lit up half the parking level floor.

I stared in her direction and saw the floor and ceiling wrecked all around her. She was on her knees, and slowly gaining her feet.

What the Hell just happened?

I ran toward her. In the corner of my eye, I noticed an Enforcer fielding an enormous shoulder mounted rocket launcher. It must have been inside the van I’d kicked into them.

They had brought something like that to subdue
me
?

The Enforcer was down on one knee, hurriedly attempting to fire again but the weapon appeared to have failed him.

And the cannon girl was aiming at him as she swayed drunkenly on her feet.

I kept running, my mind overclocked, and came across a lone vehicle, one that had been spared the damage of the last few minutes.

I slid to a stop beside it, using the effect-fields around my Valkyrie Legs to drag my body to a halt.

Kicking the small lev-car into the air, I put everything I had into the next kick. My legs were starting to feel a little heavy, but I had more than enough strength left in them.

A good deal more than I’d used up.

I put that strength into the kick that sent the car sailing into the cannon girl.

Half the car shattered and crumpled into an unrecognizable mess from the kick. The rest of it disintegrated when it struck the cannon girl’s protective barrier.

But I didn’t get the chance to charge in after the car.

The Enforcer fired the second heavy ordnance rocket at the girl while she was distracted.

I had enough time to drop to one knee before the explosion rocked the parking level and debris sailed everywhere. Without the protection of my Valkyrie Legs, I would have been sent tumbling through the air with my skin and clothes badly scorched. After all, I wasn’t wearing a skinsuit or armor-skin like the Enforcers.

But my Fragment kept me alive and safe.

I could only wonder how well the cannon girl’s Fragment would protect her.

I had an answer in a matter of heartbeats.

She was standing surrounded by floating dust and black smoke, and bits of ceiling that rained down. Swaying unsteadily, she glared at the Enforcers and at me, then raised the cannon arm and fired a wide, yet weak beam at the ceiling a few feet from her. It caved in, and as the rubble settled to the ground, I saw her leap through the hole in the ceiling, undoubtedly aided by the skinsuit she wore. A Regular would have had trouble catching onto the edge of the hole, but an Aventis might have matched her jump.

I watched and waited to see if she would fire down at the remaining Enforcers, but none was forthcoming.

She was gone. She had made her escape. She had fled empty handed, and left destruction in her wake.

I felt unsatisfied. She hadn’t been defeated. She had simply chosen to retreat.

As I looked at the hole in the ceiling I noticed the few standing Enforcers stare in my direction. The one conscious special agent pointed at me.

“Stay where you are.”

Like Hell I will!

I spun on my heels and ran away. I was running up the exit ramp long before they managed to fire a single shot.

I didn’t waste time thinking it might have been better to let cannon girl kill them. That might have saved me the trouble of having to flee from them, but then I’d have their deaths on my hands because I didn’t protect them.

Ungrateful as they were, I still had a duty and responsibility to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves.

I ran up the parking levels.

The entrance gate was up. I had feared I would encounter it down and locked.

I slowed my run to a walk, then cancelled the manifestation of my Fragment.

It disappeared into Pocket Space amid the swirling, writhing black mist that accompanied every breach into real-space.

I had to wait for the mist to fade away, before stepping out into the sidewalk sans the Valkyrie Legs.

I joined the throng of pedestrians.

Overhead and in the distance I could hear the sound of emergency sirens. Some of the pedestrians looked up and around, but most were too busy walking to their next destination or fiddling with their palm-slates to pay attention to the vehicles flying high over their heads.

I continued to walk away from the arcade.

It wasn’t until I was three blocks away that I felt my palm-slate vibrate in my skirt.

When I answered, Arisa yelled at me so loudly I had to hold the slate at arm’s length away from my ear.

“What the Hell happened?”

I cleared my throat lightly before replying.

“I ran into a little trouble.”

Chapter 9
.

(Caelum)

At the hospital I was quickly separated from Simone and Prissila.

A group of men and women dressed in functional black business suits and wearing narrow, wraparound visors, were waiting for the ambulance to land at the hospital.

Half their number escorted the doctors and nurses into the emergency ward.

The other half escorted me to a room on a different level.

They wore the crest of the Raynar Pride pinned to the left breast of their jackets.

That alone was reason for me not to make a scene or argue with them.

Inside the room, I sat on a chair before a rectangular white table, in the presence of two other Raynar special agents. At least, I assumed they were special agents. The room had the air of an interrogation room. I’d seen enough crime holovid movies to recognize it for what it was.

Sunday did turn out to be a disaster.

I was thinking of the events of the last half hour when a knock on the door preceded the entry of a tall young man with long black hair. He wore it loose, and it brushed his shoulders. Girls would undoubtedly find him easy on their eyes. I just felt a twinge of envy that I quickly kicked aside.

Remembering my manners, I stood when he entered, and shook his hand when he offered.

Why the Hell was I trying to make a good impression?

Was it because of Simone?

I’d had no news on either of the girls. My only other company in the room had been starkly silent after pointedly warning me not to ask any questions until the agent in charge arrived.

I assumed this was him.

“Caelum Desanto?” he asked, seeking confirmation.

I gave him a short nod.

“My name is Alessandro Alucard Raynar. Please, be seated.” After we both sat down on opposite sides of the table, he said, “Before we begin, I would like to thank you.”

“How so?”

“Simone is my younger cousin.”

I felt my stomach tighten.

It must have shown on my face because he smiled faintly and said, “Please be at ease. I doubt you were responsible for anything but saving her life.”

“Have you spoken to her? How is she?”

“Recovering. Before we go into details, I need to know what happened. Please, don’t leave anything out.”

I stared at him and managed to hold back a frown. “Are you with the Enforcers?”

He smiled thinly. “No, I’m with Public Security, Section Thirteen.”

“I didn’t know Section Thirteen existed. I was told the sections ranged from zero to twelve.”

He nodded very faintly. “Section Thirteen is a little different from the rest. We handle Executive Protection.”

My frown almost slipped through.

Did that mean the men I’d seen protecting Simone at the station were also part of Public Security? I had assumed they were family hired bodyguards, but maybe I was wrong.

Alessandro tapped away at his palm-slate. “Now then, shall we continue? Tell us what happened, and as I said, don’t leave anything out. Even the smallest details can be of value.”

I sat back in the chair and recounted the events from the time the restaurant was hit by the beam weapon, to the time I walked out of the ruined shop while carrying two unconscious women. However, I didn’t tell him about the girl’s offer to join Crimson Crescent.

Alessandro made notes on his palm-slate.

When I finished he asked me to tell it to him again.

I sat in silence.

“Mr. Desanto, I asked you not to leave anything out.”

“I heard you,” I replied in a low voice.

He eyed me for a moment, then placed his palm-slate on the table between us. I watched him lace his fingers together. “Mr. Desanto, do you understand your position?”

“You already know what happened inside the restaurant because you were listening in on us.” I tipped my head slightly. “Simone was wearing something, wasn’t she. A tracking device, or wireless bug. Something that recorded conversations. Am I right?”

“She is an important daughter of the Alucard Family. Naturally precautions are taken to ensure her safety when she’s out-and-about town.”

“Then you know I had nothing to do with that attack.”

“To be honest, we cannot completely rule out your deliberate participation in the event.”

“What? You really suspect I had a hand in that massacre? Are freaking serious?”

“I asked you to leave nothing out.”

I nodded. “Which is exactly why I did. Now I know I was right. You already knew what happened in there.”

He studied me in complete silence for a long moment. “Why didn’t you accept the girl’s offer?”

“I had no reason to.”

“You don’t feel a kinship to Familiars?”

“I don’t like people that run around blowing other people away. It doesn’t matter to me whether they are Familiars, Regulars or Aventis. I simply won’t accept acts of terrorism as a fair means to wage war. Those Aventis were innocent civilians. Crimson Crescent had no right to kill them. If they wanted to target Aventis, then they should have aimed for you special agent types.”

“And indeed they do,” he replied matter-of-factly.

“Huh?”

“Crimson Crescent and the Prides are effectively at war with each other. There have been losses on both sides.”

This was news to me.

With the Prides controlling all aspects of Pharos, then a media or news blackout on the struggle between both sides was not impossible.

I was living in a cocoon, or should I say under a rock the Prides had dropped on me and the civilian population of Pharos.

I swallowed as lightly as I could. “So that’s what she meant by the Prides killing her comrades.” I remembered something else she said. “Did Crimson Crescent really blow up that super freighter that killed my parents?”

“They did indeed.”

“So she was trying to bait me with the promise of learning the truth.”

“Indeed she was. Of course, if you wish to learn what Crimson Crescent has to say, then by all means join them. However, we simply ask that you leave the Fragment behind.”

I laughed in disbelief.

“Are you telling me I’m free to make my own choice? You’re not going to stop me?”

“Familiars are rare, and highly valued because they serve a purpose. However, we can do without Familiars that pose a security concern. You’re Fragment is a rare piece. We could do without it falling into their hands.”

I stared at him for a moment. “I’m starting to see why Crimson Crescent hates your kind more than I do.”

He blinked at that. “Should we be concerned about you, Mr. Desanto?”

I swallowed tightly before replying. “I won’t answer any more of your questions unless a representative of the Lanfear Pride is present.”

“You misunderstand, Mr. Desanto, we’re not charging you with a crime. We’re simply asking for your co-operation.”

I sat back in the chair. “I want to speak to my Guardian, Arisa Imreh Lanfear.”

He started to stay something, but glanced away as though listening to something in his ear. A moment later he pocketed the palm-slate he’d placed on the table.

“It appears our time here is at an end.” He rose to his feet unhurried, then nodded at one of the two visor wearing agents in the room. The man walked across to the door and opened it.

Almost on cue, a familiar young woman with flowing coppery red hair stepped into the room. She was short, perhaps a tad over five foot five, and dressed in dark denim pants, boots, a summer blouse, and denim bolero jacket much like the one Simone had worn.

Speak of the Devil and ‘she’ shall come.

Arisa Imreh Lanfear – in the flesh.

The woman whose blood had triggered my awakening into the life of a Familiar.

Alessandro faced her and bowed to her politely.

A blink and I would have missed the slap she gave him. The impact rocked him on his feet. However, he managed to retain his composure and simply looked down at her as though she were a child playing at being an adult.

She looked up at him with faintly veiled disgust.

“Alessandro, don’t ever disrespect my Familiar, or any of them for that matter. Be thankful your people are still alive. If she hadn’t been there it could have been much, much worse. A lot more of your men could have died.”

What did she mean? Who was she talking about?

I suddenly thought of Caprice and remembered her telling me she needed to contact Arisa. Had something happened to Caprice when we parted ways? Was she attacked or found herself in the middle of another fight?

Alessandro straightened slowly.

Arisa added softly, “Are you looking to start a conflict with the Lanfears? Do the Raynars seek a war on two fronts?” She tipped her head to one side. “Tell me Alessandro, did you have anything to do with that little ‘incident’ seven months ago. Caprice still bears a grudge against the Raynars stemming from that time.”

“Careful, Lanfear,” he warned. “It’s dangerous to make unwarranted allegations. You may find yourself facing the Primogen Council for your insinuations.”

Arisa smiled thinly up at him.

“I’ll gladly stand before the Council. After all, I still haven’t forgiven the bad apples in your Pride for taking action against mine. To be fair to the Raynars, it’s a pity those few spoil the bunch.” Arisa glanced at me. “And now I’ll be taking my Familiar with me.”

“You’re playing with fire, Arisa.”

“I don’t play with fire, Alessandro. I wield it. Fire is a tool, something the first cave men on Earth learnt to use thousands upon thousands of years ago.”

“Is that how you see them? As nothing more than tools?”

“I see them as much more. I see them as people. I see them as kin—distant kin, but kin nonetheless.” She took a step closer to him. “We should be giving Familiars a reason to trust us, and to work with us—to help us protect our homes and our families. Instead, you’re treating them like the enemy, even those that save your cousin’s life, and the lives of others.”

For a short while they simply stared hard at each other.

Then I noticed Arisa look at him with a deep hurt in her eyes, and I just caught her whispered words.

“…you’ve changed so much I hardly recognize you….”

I saw hurt bloom across Alessandro’s face.

Arisa turned away from him. “Caelum, let’s go.”

I chose to ignore Alessandro as I followed Arisa out of the room. In the corridor outside three other men were waiting for us, each one marking the special agent by the door. These were Arisa’s men. They were Lanfears. Like Arisa, they were dressed casually, but I had the feeling they were armed which made them Lanfear guardsmen.

The formed a protective cordon around Arisa and I.

Rather than take the elevator, we descended down the stairs.

It wasn’t until we were down in the hospital’s parking garage that I spoke again. I was simply too concerned about being overheard.

“Lady Arisa, thank you.”

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner. Let’s talk in the van.”

The van was one of three parked near each other. They were black and non-descript, with polarized, reinforced windows, and metal skin resistant to kinetic weapons. They had wheels to travel on, but possessed effect-field levitators that gave them the ability to hover or fly a few feet off the ground. Able to pressurize, they could travel between the Islands through the vacuum of space so long as they kept to specific ‘lanes’. If they travelled off these lanes it was considered going, ‘off-road’.

To put it simply, these vans were like small shuttles, each one almost half the length of an inter-Island bus.

I climbed after Arisa into the closest of the three vans. One of the guardsmen climbed into the passenger area with us. The other two were designated driver and shotgun.

The small convoy of three vehicles drove out of the parking garage sublevels in single file. In the passenger area Arisa sat across from me. I faced forwards while she faced toward the back of the van.

Again, I was first to break the silence between us. “Lady Arisa, I’m sorry. I thought I was doing the right thing by accompanying Simone and Prissila to the hospital.”

“You’re not at fault. I should have warned you about the Raynars’ upper enforcement echelons.” She stared at out the window with a self-deprecating expression. “I should have warned you about him….”

“Should I be worried?”

She inhaled deeply and loudly. “You are my Familiar. You are under my authority and protection.” She turned to look at me sharply. “Caelum, that sounds like I own you, but I don’t want you thinking that way. I’m sorry. I just don’t know how to express our relationship properly.”

I gave her slow shake of my head. “I understand what you mean. I think of you as…a really rich and powerful aunt.”

“An aunt?” Her eyes widened.

“Yeah.” I suddenly understood the nature of her reaction. “A really, really young and beautiful aunt.”