Aetherial Annihilation (36 page)

We zipped toward the flying base. I braced for more attacks, but it seemed that Frankenberg had invested everything in offensive weaponry, and very little in terms of base defense. He'd probably thought he could rely on his robots and airships for protection.

He thought wrong.

Superheated air washed over us and threatened to send us tumbling out of control.

"Careful for the exhaust," Mom said.

I led the formation straight up, away from the bright blue flames shooting from the bottom of the saucer. We crested the edge of the platter and headed straight for the dome in the middle. The turrets on the opposite side of the platter couldn't target us without hitting the command center.

"That window is probably armored," Delectra said.

I grinned. "With all of us, it really doesn't matter."

The dome rose about twenty feet high and spanned probably a hundred feet in diameter. I saw Frankenberg inside and waved. Face beet red, he shouted orders at the crewmen. The saucer spun independently of the dome, swiveling the undamaged turrets toward our position.

"We've got to blow this thing open now!" I held up my hand and summoned Brilliance. Ivy pulled up beside me, right fist glowing white. Mom and Nightliss appeared to my other side.

I aimed at the Frankenberg's ugly face. "Fire."

Gouts of destruction blasted into the armored glass. A cherry red glow began at the center of our attack and radiated outward. Frankenberg and his people ran to the sides just as our attack blasted a massive hole through the dome.

The platter stopped turning, keeping the laser turrets safely away from us.

"Hold fire." Before I entered the dome, I shouted a warning. "If you fire on me, I'll simply shield myself and then incinerate you. Is that clear? Give up now and get on your knees."

Crewmen in drab gray military uniforms came out with their hands up and dropped to their knees. After a long pause, Frankenberg finally stepped from behind a large console and with some difficulty, lowered his generously rounded frame to his knees.

"Wait out here," I told the others. "Watch my back." I flew into the dome and landed. "Who can pilot this thing?"

Two women raised their hands.

"Land it now."

They shuffled to the controls, careful to keep their hands raised, then sat down and started pressing buttons and shifting levers.

Frankenberg looked down at the floor. His entire body trembled with fear. My body trembled too—with rage. I wanted so badly to kill this man for what he'd done. My demon half wanted to spill his blood a drop at a time and torture him for eternity. His actions had killed thousands of normal and supers. He'd nearly destroyed magic in Eden.

Everything he'd done severely pissed me off.

I took a deep breath and closed off those emotions. Lowering the hood of my armor, I spoke. "Frankenberg, look at me."

He slowly raised his head and looked at me like a wounded dog.

"Are you working with Cephus?" I asked.

Teeth chattering, he said nothing.

"Answer me!"

He shook his head. "They'll kill me if I say anything."

I roared and lifted him off the ground by his neck. Body flailing, he gasped and choked. I dropped him on his feet. "You'd better tell me, or by god, I'll devour your soul and leave you nothing."

He sobbed, and dropped to his knees. "They made me do it. They gave me this army and told me what to do." Frankenberg clasped his hands together. "Please, believe me. I didn't want to do any of this."

I dropped my voice to a hiss and leaned forward. "Who?"

"Serena and—"

In a blur of motion, one of the crewmen next to him drew a weapon, put it to Frankenberg's temple and blew a hole through his skull. I grabbed for the gun, but the man turned the weapon on himself and left a smoking ruin of his own head. It was then I smelled something very familiar. Putrid yellow smoke rose from the body and vanished in a flash.

"A demon," I growled.

The saucer jolted as it touched down. A klaxon shrieked, and a silver case the size of a coffin rose from the floor behind the captain's chair. A display flickered on and a calm female voice spoke. "Nuclear self-destruct activated. You have two minutes to abandon ship. Good luck."

I spotted a man behind a console offer me a cruel grin. I blurred to him and slammed him against the bulkhead. His body also reeked of brimstone.

"What did you do?"

He burst into maniacal laughter. "We're going to make a pretty explosion." Insane giggles shook his body. "Pretty, pretty, pretty!"

"Son of a bitch! How do I shut it off?

"No escape." He burst into laughter. I slammed his head on the console until he stopped laughing.

The remaining crew people screamed and ran for their lives down a corridor.

Two minutes until boom.
"Dear god. We're all gonna die."

"Please restate request," the computer replied.

"Shut down self-destruct."

"Command not recognized," It said. "One minute and forty-five seconds remaining."

I heard a series of roars and saw escape pods flying off into the air.

I was desperate. "How do I stop the self-destruct?"

"The failsafe has been activated," it replied calmly. "The nuclear destruct sequence cannot be aborted. For your safety, a distance of one mile from ground zero is recommended. One minute and thirty five seconds remaining."

I radioed Elyssa. "How close are the troops?"

"We're a few hundred yards away and closing," she replied.

"You need to go into a full retreat." I checked the timer. "In a minute forty, this thing is going up in a nuclear explosion with a one-mile radius."

"There's no way we can get clear in time!"

"Use the aether generator shields if you have to." I switched to the Skywraith channel. "Get the hell out of here." I told them what I'd told Elyssa. "I'm going to try to shut this thing down."

"Justin, no!" Ivy said. "Get out of there!"

"If I don't stop the bomb, it'll take out everyone."

"We're not leaving you, son," Mom said.

The rest of the Skywraiths flew inside.

"I must go find Victus," Delectra said. "Perhaps he knows how to disable it, but I can't reach him over the radio."

I nodded. "Go find him, but we don't have much longer to spare."

"One minute twenty-five seconds remaining," the computer said.

Nightliss examined the silver coffin on the floor. "This is the bomb?"

"I think so." I looked for a way to open it, but couldn't find anything.

"It's bolted to the floor," Ivy said. She dual channeled Murk and Brilliance. "Hit the bolts with Stasis."

The four of us each shattered a bolt with Stasis.

"One minute fifteen remaining," the computer said. "Please clear the area immediately or you will be obliterated."

"Politest damned bomb I ever heard," I muttered. I gripped the front of the case and lifted it off the floor. "There's got to be a way to get it out of here."

"The escape pods," Mom said. "Hurry!"

Mom lifted the back of the bomb and we hurried toward the corridor the crew had used to escape. Only one pod remained. We positioned the bomb inside and realized a problem.

"I don't see an automatic pilot button." I examined the controls—a large red liftoff button and a joystick. "Someone will have to fly it."

"One minute," the bomb computer said.

We went back into the corridor to talk options.

"Maybe it'll fly straight up if we hit the button," Ivy said.

I shook my head. "Can't take the chance. I'll fly it as high as possible and—"

The pod door slid shut. With a roar, it blasted off, straight up into the air. I looked at the group and realized someone was missing.

Nightliss.

Chapter 31

"Nightliss!" I shouted into the comm link. "What are you doing?"

She replied calmly. "Justin, you and all my friends are my family." Her voice broke. "But you have your real family—Alysea, Ivy, David, and Elyssa. I knew if I didn't take this bomb, you would. I couldn't allow that to happen. You are the hero everyone needs, and I have played my part."

Tears stung my eyes. "Nightliss, you can't do this! We need you."

"Nightliss, I love you!" Ivy pleaded. "Please come back."

Mom slumped against the bulkhead and lowered the hood of the armor. Tears glistened on her cheeks. "I love you, my friend."

"I love you all," Nightliss said in a broken voice. "I have managed to keep the pod going straight up. I pray it is far enough away."

In the background, I heard the bomb computer speak. "Thirty seconds. If you can still hear this, you will likely die. Please put your affairs in order."

Victus's voice came over the comm link. "Nightliss, there's an unlabeled green switch to the left of the takeoff button. Hit it and the autopilot will take the escape pod straight up and out of the atmosphere. Underneath the pilot seat is a rocket stick. Jump out of the hatch and freefall as long as you can, then use the rocket stick. Do you read me?"

Static crackled over the comm link, but Nightliss didn't reply.

"Nightliss, did you hear him?" I shouted. "Are you there?"

We ran back down the corridor and into the command center. I looked up in the sky, but only a thin white contrail showed the path the escape pod had taken. The pod itself was a tiny dot almost too far away to discern even with my supernatural sight.

An orange ring of fire spread across the sky, annihilating the pod. Thunder rumbled, as if a distant storm loomed on the horizon.

My voice was so choked with emotion, I could hardly speak. "Nightliss?" I grabbed my broom and flew straight up. I spotted a black-clad figure tumbling through the air and raced toward it. My heart soared. "Nightliss!"

Her body tumbled like a rag doll, blasted armor trailing smoke. I realized I couldn't simply catch her—I'd have to match her speed. I went into a dive, slowing just enough so her body caught up with me, and wrapped an arm around her torso.

The ground approached frighteningly fast. I pulled up hard and gravity seemed to redouble its efforts to crush me. The broom handle cracked and splintered. The arm holding Nightliss felt as though it would tear from the socket. But I couldn't let go. I
wouldn't
.

"Pull up, damn you!" I shouted as the ground grew closer and closer.

The broom evened out, but it was too late.

Earth slammed into me in a blur of white. I lost my grip on Nightliss and tumbled blindly until I slid to a stop. Every muscle in my body ached and a sharp pain raced up my right arm. Groaning, I pushed myself up and staggered to my feet. I saw Nightliss's still form face down in the snow and stumbled over to her.

I knelt next, rolled her over. Barely anything remained of the protective mask and parts of it looked as though they'd burnt into her flesh. A gentle breath from her cracked and swollen lips fogged the air. Tears blurred my vision. Shaking with sobs, I rocked my dear friend back and forth.

"I've got you, Nightliss," I whispered. "Help is coming." I switched my comm link to Elyssa's channel. "Nightliss is down. I need help now."

"Where are you, Justin?" Elyssa asked.

My throat was so constricted with emotion I could hardly speak. "I'll fire a flare." I raised a hand and sent up a volley of Murk to light the way.

"I saw it," Elyssa said.

"Hurry," I begged her. "Please!"

"They're coming." I heard her shout orders. "Justin, how bad is it?"

I removed my hood, heedless of the cold. My tears froze to my cheeks as I lowered an ear to Nightliss's mouth and listened for a breath.

"Justin?" she said in a harsh whisper.

I cradled her head in my lap to keep it out of the wind. "I'm here, sweetie. Help is on the way."

"Everyone out of danger?"

I burst into fresh sobs and nodded. "You saved us all, Nightliss. Now you've got to hang on so we can save you."

Her hand reached up and touched my face. "It's okay, Justin." She sucked in a wheezing breath.

I held her hand in mine, leaned down and kissed her cheek. "No, it's not." I switched back to the comms link. "Elyssa, how far? I need help now. Please, tell me they're close!" I pulled Nightliss close. "Hang on, Nightliss. Your family needs you. The Templars need you. We all need you!"

Nightliss shivered and her green eyes went wide. "Tell my family I love them." She looked at me. "I love you, Justin, my sweet hero." Her body slumped and the light faded from her eyes.

"No." I pressed my ear to her mouth. Nothing. "Don't do this, Nightliss. Please, come back," I croaked. "Come back!" I reared back my head and screamed. "No!"

Flying carpets arrived, and healers rushed over. Meghan was the one who pulled Nightliss from my limp arms and helped put her on a carpet.

Meghan turned to me moments later, tears in her eyes. "Justin—" her voice broke and she knelt in the snow next to me. "I couldn't do anything for her. The burns and damage from the explosion were too much."

"The Clarion is dead," another healer whispered in a ragged voice. "The light of the Templars has been extinguished."

Mom arrived and leapt from her broom. She ran to the carpet and stared, horrified. Tears streaked her face. She turned to me. "Did she say anything before—" She choked on her last words.

"She wanted me to say that she loves her family." I forced myself to stand and helped Meghan to her feet. I walked to Mom and hugged her. "She can't be dead. She just can't."

Mom trembled. "My dear friend."

"She's the best hero that ever was," Ivy said. "I wish I could tell her that I love her for saving us."

I took a deep breath and straightened despite the crippling heartache stealing my breath. "I'm
furious
at her for doing this."

Mom shook her head. "Don't be, son. Be grateful that she loved you so much she sacrificed herself to keep you from doing the same thing." She brushed away tears. "True love has many forms, Justin. Nightliss's selflessness should be celebrated, not mourned."

More tears wanted to come, but I had no more to give.
I'm in shock
. The last time I'd felt anywhere close to this awful was when I thought Elyssa would die after a Seraphim burned a hole through her chest. Nightliss had gone with me to Seraphina in search of a healer. She'd helped me rescue Elyssa from the cusp of death.