Shadows (Ultrahumans Book 2) (30 page)

‘Diamante Trading,’ Twilight added.

‘I think we have a theme. They seem to be breaking up.’ In fact, two of the men were already outside the house and heading for cars with most of the others following. ‘I wonder what they’re up to?’

‘Well, we could follow one, but I don’t know which. And the two top guys seem to be staying put.’

‘Probably no point in tracking them, and it wouldn’t be easy around here anyway. Too few buildings to watch from. No, we’ll circle the house and work out the best points of attack. Tomorrow we come back with Cygnus and put this diamond-fixated woman behind bars.’

~~~

Penny had changed into Cygnus, because June wanted to dance and Penny dancing was a recipe for disaster. Twilight walked in to find them moving around each other to a fairly slow track which did not look like it should be interrupted, so she took off her sword and mask, putting them in her room, before Andrea poured a glass of wine and sat down to watch. Changing seemed pointless; her costume was pretty good party-wear anyway.

‘How did it go?’ Cygnus asked, still moving against June.

‘Fine, but I am
not
going to discuss it while you two writhe in front of me.’

‘This isn’t writhing,’ June told her. ‘Writhing is a little more random.’

‘If you say so.’

‘Ten dollars says they don’t last until morning,’ Twilight said from the back of Andrea’s mind.

‘That’s kind of like betting with myself,’ Andrea replied. ‘Besides, I don’t think June will let it happen. Too soon.’

The track was ending anyway and June backed up a step before saying, ‘I need a drink anyway. Get the business talk done and we can get on with getting drunk.’

Andrea shrugged. ‘I saw her, the woman. Seems to like red, and diamonds. She’s got twelve men with her.’

‘Like a card suit,’ June said.

‘That was my thought.’

‘Think she’s an Ultra?’ Cygnus asked, settling onto one of the sofas. She had dressed in a cropped top and short skirt, and arranging the latter to cover herself was not so easy.

‘No way to tell, but… I kind of doubt it. I’m betting she’s been to the Den. Red would have noticed her.’

‘Twelve guys?’ June said, pursing her lips. ‘Was there a really big one, and another one who looked kind of like a martial artist?’

‘Actually, yeah?’

‘She was at the Den. At least it fits the woman we saw. Red couldn’t smell Ultra on her.’

‘There you go then. There’s not much cover around the house they’re using, so it’s going to be a frontal assault. We do it the old way. You go in and make a lot of noise, Cygnus, and I’ll sneak in and take them down while they’re busy.’

‘That sounds kind of dangerous,’ June commented as she sat down beside Cygnus.

‘It’s worked pretty well in the past,’ Cygnus replied.

Andrea nodded. ‘She’s a
huge
distraction.’

June smirked. ‘I suppose that’s one way of putting it.’

7
^th
June.

‘How come you’re not drunk?’ June slurred in Andrea’s general direction. ‘You know I really did a good job on that coshtume.’

‘Because,’ Andrea replied, ‘I’ve been pacing myself.’

‘Why? Ish my birthday.’

‘Because… I don’t want to get drunk enough to give in and put my mask on.’

‘Spoil sport,’ Twilight commented.

‘What’ll happen if you pu’y’re mashk on?’ June asked, oblivious to Twilight.

‘The evening would likely end up in a threesome, and I’m not going there.’

‘Nuh-huh. Not happ’nin’. Nope. Not making Pen, or Cygnus, the rebound girl. Nope.’

‘Methinks the lady doth protest too much,’ Twilight said. You could
hear
the smirk.

Cygnus chose that moment to return from the bathroom adjoining her bedroom. She had changed, taking off her skirt and T-shirt to put on her robe. June made slightly strangled noises before muttering, ‘Nope…’

Then the phone rang. Everyone frowned at it, but it was Cygnus who growled, ‘Who the Hell’s calling at one in the morning?’ She stalked across to the offending instrument and stabbed the speaker on. ‘Yes?’

‘Good, you’re still up.’ It was Heather’s voice and they all got a sudden sinking feeling. ‘We had seven Excelsior releases in nightclubs about an hour ago–’

‘Why didn’t you call us then?’

‘Because we knew it was June’s birthday and there wasn’t really anything you could do anyway.’

‘Thoughtful,’ Andrea said warily, ‘but why are you calling us now?’

‘Because three more went off. They were designed to catch the emergency services once they’d figured the coast was clear.’

‘Are you okay?’

‘Yes…’

‘Jacob?’

There was a slightly too long pause. ‘He didn’t get much. Didn’t seem to affect him, but then he started feeling dizzy. They’ve taken him into hospital. It’s like it’s caused a recurrence of the hypothermia he had after the freezer thing. I’m on my way there now.’

‘I’ll beat you,’ Andrea told her, getting to her feet.

‘Right.’ The line went dead.

‘I’ll change–’ Cygnus began.

‘Stay with June,’ Andrea told her. ‘You’ve had more to drink than I have and there’s nothing your strength can help us with. This is personal.’

‘All right, but tonight we’re taking her down.’

‘Yes, we damn well are.’

~~~

‘I’m fine,’ Jacob insisted as both Andrea and Heather glared at him. ‘I’m a little cold, but I’m fine. They’re keeping me in overnight for observation, but my temperature’s already stabilised.’

‘I’m more concerned about your reaction to the drug,’ Andrea replied. ‘It’s not… normal.’

‘Because exactly what that stuff does to someone is a totally known quantity, right?’

‘He does have a point,’ Heather said. ‘It seems to enhance communication between the hemispheres of the brain. That could result in all sorts of weird effects.’

Andrea’s frown deepened. It was an annoyingly good point. ‘We’re going to nail the woman behind this tonight, when it gets dark.’

‘You’re sure you’ve found the right person?’

‘Ten bombs, ten flunkies left the house with a purpose. I suppose it’s circumstantial…’

‘The NMCPD have camera footage from the entrance lobbies of three of the clubs,’ Jacob said. ‘If you could spot one of these guys entering the building, it would make it
less
circumstantial.’

Andrea sighed. ‘Let me get a few hours’ sleep and I’ll go down there. Can you arrange it?’

‘I’ll meet you there,’ Heather replied. ‘My partner is going to
take the day off
. Whether he likes it or not.’

Jacob gave a shudder. ‘Yeah, okay. I am still getting these cold snaps. I’ll rest.’

Andrea and Heather glared at him and chorused, ‘You’d better.’

~~~

‘We’re sure about this?’ Cygnus asked.

‘I spotted the guy going into one of the nightclubs that was hit last night,’ Twilight replied. ‘Facial recognition ID’d him as Daniel Trey, known as Danny, minor criminal from Atlanta. He’s done time for assault and robbing a liquor store.’

‘Sounds like a nice kid. A fine, upstanding member of society. Okay, so I walk up to the door and say I’m going to arrest him?’

‘Yup.’

‘And if they
don’t
attack me on the spot? This woman scares Ultras, so one of her own thugs is
not
going to talk.’

Twilight smiled. ‘They’ll fight. If they’re harbouring someone implicated in the Excelsior releases, it’s grounds to have the building searched.’

‘Okay. Let me know when you’re ready.’

Twilight turned and vanished into the shadows. The woman clearly knew what she was doing since the house was well lit all the way around. The power to the building was supplied from a pole at the edge of the property. Climbing it was easy and, once at the top, she attached a small pyrotechnic device to the cable with a radio detonator. Dropping to the ground, she tapped her ear. ‘Go.’

Cygnus dropped lightly onto the ground in front of the large, glass frontage and started for the door, but she could already see people moving inside. By the time she was raising her hand to the buzzer mounted beside the door, there was a large man walking over to answer it. He was exceptionally smartly dressed. June was the fashion expert, but the suit looked like it came from a designer outlet. His tie had a red diamond on it.

‘It’s Cygnus, right?’ the man asked, his voice a rumble. ‘To what do we owe the pleasure of a personal visit from New Millennium’s personal protector?’

‘One of the people at this address was sighted entering a nightclub last night,’ Cygnus replied, smiling back at him.

‘Boys will be boys.’

‘Yes, but there was a release of a hallucinogenic gas there later that night and Mister Trey has a previous conviction record we’re concerned about.’

‘Danny? Well, he
was
out last night… Isn’t this a matter for the police?’

‘Under the Specialist Policing Act, registered Ultrahumans have the same powers of arrest as the police.’

‘Of course… Hold on a second. I’ll get him.’ The big man turned and walked into the house and Cygnus waited quietly, wondering whether they were actually going to be this smart.

Inside the house, the big man could be seen talking to a blonde woman in a red dress. Cygnus watched them, watched their body language, and saw the woman stiffening. She was keeping her voice down, but she was angry and a little confused. At a guess, the confusion was the cause of the anger. How had Cygnus found them? That was probably the big question, but there was no time to answer that one, so the next one would come up. That would be how they were going to get–

The big man was turning, the other men around the room starting to rise. Just from his posture, Cygnus knew he was pulling a gun. She waited.

‘I said to run, Diamond!’ the man roared as a pistol the size of a small cannon opened up and the glass dissolved in front of Cygnus’ face. Bullets struck her skin, the sharp impacts indicating armour-piercing rounds; they were prepared for her sure enough, but they just had no idea how tough she was.

And then the lights went out and the screams started a second later as Twilight dropped herself into the darkness in the middle of the room. The guns stopped firing, but that was possibly because they could not see what they were shooting at as much as anything. There was one figure moving in the darkness, not the big lieutenant, but the smaller one, rushing for one of the windows. He fired as he ran, shattering the glass before he bolted through it.

‘I’ve got him,’ Cygnus called out. ‘Take care of the others.’

‘I’ve got them,’ Twilight said, her voice carrying a hollow ring to it in the supernatural darkness she was enveloping them in. ‘Where did the woman go?’

‘No idea.’ Cygnus was already airborne and swooping at the running man, but she caught sight of something red running away on the far side of the gardens. There would be time for ‘Diamond’ when her thugs were all–

There was a sudden sensation of intense cold and nausea as though some ghost had just ripped through her body with icy claws. She dropped out of the air, tumbling to a stop on the grass with a yell of pain. Her limbs felt like they were made of lead, and her brain felt numb. She looked up and saw nothing. There was no attacker, but somehow she could
feel
something huge and menacing standing over her. She heard Twilight scream…

And then the black-clad girl was standing beside her, one arm outstretched as though she was fending something off. There was a roar from the air above her and Cygnus flinched, but Twilight looked down at her… The look in the jet-black eyes was terrifying. Hard, cold… Cold like the emptiness of space.

‘Light,’ Twilight hissed. ‘You have to focus. Blast it with light, a wide beam.’

‘D-don’t… Don’t know if…’

‘Do it!’ The voice was hard and low, but it cut through Cygnus’ mind like a knife. ‘Straight up, where I’m pointing. Now!’

Cygnus raised an arm, imagining the pulses Svetilo could fire, but broader, brighter. She felt power draining from her muscles as she summoned up the new ability and… Light burst from her palm, striking upward in a wide cone. It hit
something
and there was another loud roar which cut off suddenly before a cloud of darkness evaporated out from above her.

When she looked around, Twilight was on her back on the grass, blinking and looking dazed. ‘What happened?’

‘You don’t know?’ Cygnus replied, lying back and trying hard not to black out.

‘There was something standing over you. Big, monstrous. Like one of those imps, but huge. And then… Then I was here.’

‘Right… We’ll deal with that later. I think if I move I’ll pass out, so you need to get those men rounded up.’

‘On it,’ Twilight snapped and she was gone.

Cygnus closed her eyes.
Thinking
was an effort. One of the Shadow Court’s spies, or a bigger version, had been waiting for them. That seemed like it was a bad thing.

Part Seven: The Shadow Court

New Millennium City, 8
^th
June 2014.

‘I’m fine, June,’ Penny said. ‘Honest. The tiredness is gone and I just feel a little sore. By tonight I’ll be good as new.’

June peered at her friend, curled up on the couch in her thickest robe with a mug of coffee. ‘You were lucky.’

‘Yeah. Kind of anyway.’ Penny peered at Andrea on the other sofa. ‘So… what happened?’

‘We don’t know,’ Andrea replied. ‘One second there was this… terrifying monster hanging over you, and then we were lying beside you and it was gone.’

Penny frowned. ‘I heard you scream, I think, and then you were there, right beside me. It was like you were holding something back, and you looked at me and told me to blast it with light.’

‘I don’t remember that.’

‘Your voice was different. Harsher. And your eyes… Your eyes were cold. You don’t think… Well, you know that
other
you?’

‘There’s another one in there?!’ June squeaked.

‘She’s not very sociable,’ Andrea replied. ‘And I’m not sure she’d be that helpful if she
did ever
…’ She paused briefly as though listening. ‘Twilight thinks she might, even if it was for selfish reasons.’