Shadow Heart (24 page)

After only one moment more of hesitation, she nodded in assurance to Liz and limped forward, ready to fight her way out of this at the first sign of betrayal. She crossed over the threshold of the doorway and entered utter darkness.

D
EREK SLIPPED ON A
rock and cursed just before he caught hold of the tree branch overhead, preventing his fall. He gritted his teeth in frustration. It would not have been the first fall of the day, but he doubted he would have come away from that one unscathed given the steep incline.

He hated the Wilderness in moments like these. Water fell in cascades, soaking his clothes and hair to the point where the trek seemed more like swimming than walking. He could endure that without complaint if not for the cold, which even now sank deep into his bones. Soon he would have to call off the search and seek shelter or risk hypothermia. The trail had disappeared, washed away with the onset of rain, but he had refused to give up. Sawyer was out there, somewhere, in that forest, and he was determined to find her.

As he contemplated the moment of his success, fuel for his waning resolve, his foot slipped again and caught under a raised root. Visions of glory shattered and were replaced instead with images of himself pitching forward, tumbling down the debris-laden slope until he landed at the bottom in a grotesque display.

A hand reached out and grabbed his arm, steadying him before that nightmare could begin. He drew in a deep breath of water and oxygen and exhaled slowly to calm his nerves. Then he nodded appreciatively to his companion, “Good catch, Specter Captain.”

“Of course, Grand Admiral,” the Specter replied. He moved on down the slope as if nothing had happened, and Derek was struck not for the first time with the notion that this man was different than most of the Spectorium. They were the best of the best that the System had to offer, but only when it came to physical ability. Their people skills were often lacking. In that same situation, Specter General Marcus would have wasted no time in turning it to his advantage somehow. He would, perhaps, have even allowed Derek to fall.

But this man had saved Derek’s life and asked for nothing in return. When Derek ordered his four companions to split up and look for the fugitives, the Specter Captain had insisted he remain by Derek’s side. At first Derek had taken it for posturing, but now he was not so certain.

They reached the bottom of the slope and Derek breathed a little easier on level ground. Yet still, this part of the forest looked no different than any other. Same bare trees, same soaked earth, still no sign of Grace Sawyer. For all he knew, they had been here multiple times before.

“What’s your name, Specter?” Derek asked, wishing for anything to distract from the frustrations of the search.

The Specter Captain stopped and turned, trepidation clear on his face. Derek couldn’t blame him. In the Great Army it had always been best to be ignored by superiors. If they started to ask personal, probing questions it normally meant they wanted something...something that might not turn out well in the end.

This is my army now
, Derek thought.
And I will make it greater than it has ever been.

“My name is Gentry, Grand Admiral,” the Specter Captain said after his brief hesitation.

“I can see that on your uniform,” Derek smiled. “What is your first name?”

Another hesitation. “Benjamin, sir. After my grandfather.”

“I imagine you had a legacy to live up to, then,” Derek said, motioning that they could continue walking.

Gentry fell into step beside him, “You could say that, sir.”

“And did you?”

“No, but not by choice,” Gentry replied, a note of bitterness thinly concealed in his tone. “My grandfather was a farmer, as was my father in his early years. Then the Persians came, and everyone became soldiers. My grandfather died in the fighting, and the rest of them became slaves until...” Gentry caught himself and suddenly stopped. “I apologize, sir. That was probably more than you cared to know.”

“No, please go on,” Derek said. “Help take my mind off the fact that I lost Grace Sawyer
again
.”

Gentry shrugged uncomfortably, but continued, “When the Persian Empire fell, the regional governor took absolute control of St. Louis. I was just a kid at the time, but I remember the despair. My parents’ depression. The feeling of inevitable doom. And then we were delivered by the Spectral Army.”

“Silent Thunder,” Derek said.

“Yes,” Gentry said. “They gave us back our freedom and rid the region of Persian rule. But even then it was known that the city would play a vital role in the post-war world. My father wanted to return to farming...wanted to continue old family traditions and leave death and tragedy in the past. But that was not our fate.

“When Alexander returned it was to fortify the city and absorb it into the World System. So I became a citizen of Corridor Prime, and despite my father’s attempts to train me as a farmer, I tested into the Great Army. He was proud for the chances it gave me, but with that his dreams of the family legacy were finally gone. The Persians wounded his dreams, but I was the one to finally put them out of their misery.”

“It’s difficult to live up to the expectations of our parents,” Derek said absently. “I know that better than most.”

“I imagine so,” Gentry said. “Especially since your departure from your father’s legacy was so much more public than mine.” He paused for a moment, “Can I ask you a personal question, sir?”

Derek shrugged, “Ask away.”

“Children of the nobility are exempt from Systemics and the OPE so that the aristocracy can continue down family lines. Yet you opted in despite your exemption and the certainty you would inherit the most powerful noble estate in Alexandria. Why?”

For a moment Derek no longer saw the rain or felt the bitter cold. He was back in that room years ago, his mother’s crumpled body on the floor and his father standing by, helpless in the face of Grand Admiral Spradlen’s execution squad. All the money and power in the world had not been enough for his father to save his mother. He had vowed then to never be so helpless. He would protect what was his, and woe to any who dared try to take it.

“I just wanted to prove myself,” Derek replied, giving the same answer he had given many times over the years. It was the easy answer, a partial truth but a truth nonetheless. “I wanted to be more than what my father was, and to do that I had to step outside his shadow.”

“Quite a large shadow,” Gentry said. “Were you ever able to actually get away?”

“No,” Derek said with a grim smile. “After graduating from officer training I knew that I would have to leave Alexandria if I could ever be given a chance on my own, so I requested a transfer to the front when war broke out in Rome. Transfers were unheard of, but people will pull strings for a Blaine. Over there, I very nearly broke free. But then I was recalled to Alexandria for the Specter reformation. My father’s shadow was still there, waiting for me.”

“But now you are grand admiral,” Gentry said. “Surely that achieves what you set out to do. You command the entire force of the Great Army, Specter, the Spectorium. And one day you will inherit your family estate. You will be the most powerful man in the world. More powerful, maybe, than the MWR.”

Derek stopped walking, and Gentry turned back to him, face white and eyes wide in distress, “I’m sorry, sir. That was over the line.”

It was, and if Gentry had made a comment like that even five minutes ago Derek might have disciplined him harshly. But he had welcomed the conversation and nearly forced the Specter Captain to drop his decorum. Plus, he appreciated the honesty. That very thought had crossed his mind multiple times in the past year, and if Gentry had seen it then it was doubtless Napoleon Alexander did as well. The MWR was a dangerous rival. He would need to be careful.

But that was not why he had stopped. The branches of two large trees covered their heads and blocked the rain, keeping the small patch of ground relatively dry. On the nearest trunk, just below eye level, was a dark red smear. He twisted his head around to survey their surroundings, heart beating very fast.

“Sir, I—” Derek held up a hand to silence Gentry, and then pointed to the tree. The Specter Captain’s expression hardened and he placed a hand on his Gladius, the transgression forgotten. After a moment he whispered, “Cave. About twenty feet on your right.”

Derek’s eyes narrowed in that direction and after a moment he saw it: a dark hole in a nearby outcropping of stone, nearly concealed by bare branches and brush. If not for the red stain he might have wandered right by it none the wiser.

“Recall the others to our position,” Derek ordered, unclipping
Exusia
. “Proceed with caution.” He stepped forward, the thrill of the chase warming his frozen bones. Disappointment and fatigue dissolved, washed away by the icy rain, and the emerald casing of his Gladius felt alive in his hand. The time had come. He would have her at last.

They knew from their initial search that at least one of them had been wounded. Both, in all likelihood. Dressings within the tent had indicated a broken leg or arm, but the blood they had found on the back of that rock betrayed something much more serious. They would not have been able to run far, which is why Derek kept his search close to this edge of the forest.

Gentry finished relaying his order and then trotted up soundlessly beside him, Gladius ready.

“Remember, Specter Captain,” Derek whispered as they paused behind a tree just a few feet from the mouth of the cave. “Disarm and capture the spare if you can, but leave Grace Sawyer to me.”

“Understood, sir.”

“Cover my advance, then come up behind.” Derek moved forward, ignoring the rain that still pelted his skin, hand tightening around
Exusia
as he neared the mouth of the cave. He swept the area for any sign of booby traps, but saw nothing. The first inkling of doubt hit him then, as Sawyer would surely have been smarter than that.

Exusia
came to life as he crossed the threshold, blood pumping in anticipation of battle. But he had barely taken three steps inside when his adrenaline fled, washed away in disappointment.

Empty.

His Spectral Gladius hung limp at his side as he inspected the cave. He had been so sure they had found her, and now he felt like a fool. Hope had driven him to error. But the blood on that tree...a human had to have made it. And they couldn’t have gone far.

Gentry entered the cave a few seconds behind, expression grim.

“You probably think I’m crazy to keep us out here this long.”

“She is a very valuable target,” Gentry replied.

“But?”

“Sorry, sir,” Gentry averted his gaze. “It is not my place to say.”

“It is if I request it of you.” Derek said, a bit more forcefully than he had intended. Now that they were out of the rain and no longer moving through the forest, he had no distraction from the cold. It was difficult to keep control of his body and his emotions at the same time. Hypothermia? No, not yet. “Out with it, Specter Captain. Speak your mind.”

Gentry shivered, obviously in the same physical and mental state as Derek. The man probably didn’t trust himself to speak, but could hardly disobey a direct order. “We had little to track even in the beginning, sir. And whatever there might have been will now have been washed away by the rain.”

“You saw that blood on the tree.”

“Anything could have left that, sir,” Gentry said. “This region is crawling with predators: a mountain lion or bear could have made that mark.”

Could have
, Derek thought, gritting his teeth in frustration.
But didn’t.
It was almost the exact same type of mark they had found on that rock. Made by the same person. A person who quite likely had stopped there to catch a breath, only to see this cave and decide to take shelter.

He looked around again with the nagging suspicion that he was missing something.

“No one has been in this cave recently,” Gentry said. “And Silent Thunder is off to the west. Even if Grace Sawyer is out here, if we destroy Silent Thunder the end result will be the same. What will she be without them?”

“Alive,” Derek said bitterly. “The Spectorium is still outmatched by Silent Thunder. To be able to take Grace Sawyer now, when she is separated from them in the Wilderness...we may not get such a chance again.”
But
, a voice echoed in his head, too similar to his father’s,
a true hunter knows when to change his tactics.

He released a long sigh, “Call for a Halo to meet us at the edge of the forest. We will continue to harry Silent Thunder westward toward the wall of the Corridor. Eventually Sawyer will attempt to make her way back to them. We will take her then.” He strode from the cave back out into the rain, which oddly seemed more comfortable to him now than standing sopping wet in the dry air. He noted the way Gentry’s shoulders slumped with relief as he passed. Perhaps if the man had felt free to speak up earlier, they could all have avoided hours in the cold.

I can’t see clearly when it comes to her. I know it, and yet I do not care.
Perhaps it would be wise to have someone close by who did not share his vendetta.