Afterlife (21 page)

Chaz:

A VR video was waiting for us when we got back to Fresh Start, my headquarters for the auction. A beacon pulsed, red and orange, at the top of the list of bids. I glanced at Angelique and Skellar. This one was a live feed. I told Skellar to get out of sight. I waited until he walked around the corner, then I flicked the system on.

“Messages.”

The Grid sizzled and crackled, then with a jolt the live feed shot through.

Somebody was standing in front of Angelique and me, wearing an antique VR suit, face concealed. Clever. When the voice came through, it was impossible to tell whether it was male or female.

“Domingue.” He paused. I was convinced it was a man, even though I had no evidence to prove it. “I have what you want.”

“Really? You have two billion dollars?”

He laughed. “You don't want money.” His transmission
sputtered, like it was corrupting the system, like it might crash at any moment.

“I don't know,” I answered. “Money sounds pretty damn sweet right now. Lots of it. But since you're the genius here, what do I want?”

For a second he held still, like a mountain lake on a midsummer eve.

“Revenge.”

This guy was smart. I nodded, glanced at Angelique, then shrugged. “Yeah, revenge sounds good too. Just exactly what kind of revenge are we talkin' about here?”

“Revenge for your father's death.”

“You tellin' me you were responsible?”

“Not exactly,” the VR creature said. His voice went up in pitch, the transmission faded out, then snapped back in place. “But I can give you the guy that set it up.”

“We already know who that was,” Angelique said. “Neville Saturno.”

“But you don't have any evidence. And you probably don't know what he did to your mother.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I knew that would get your attention.” I couldn't tell if our VR visitor was laughing or if the transmission was crackling. “He gave her that virus she has now. Made her live in quarantine, took her away from the rest of the family. I guess you could say he's not a very nice man.”

“Or I could say that he does everything you tell him to.”

He shrugged. “Did you know that he was also the one that broke into your brother's house the other night?” He shook his masked head as if mourning what had happened. “That beast killed all those kids with liquid light. I warned him, told him to use a lower dose, but he's like a wild horse. Impossible to tame. You know there's only one thing that
can stop him.” There was a long pause. “He needs to be exterminated.”

We agreed on that point.

“Are you making me an offer for the immortality serum, or are you just wasting my time?” I asked. I wondered what Skellar was doing right now. He'd had plenty of time to run a trace on this transmission. As far as I knew, his men might already have this VR monster's house surrounded. But I kept up the facade. Besides, I still needed more information. “Because I have two hundred other bids clogging up my system and I need to—”

“You want to see your niece, alive and unharmed?”

“If you hurt Isabelle, you can forget about eternal life. You might not even live to see tomorrow.”

His transmission crackled and hissed again, this time I was sure he was laughing. Nice to know I amused him. I imagined Skellar giving me five minutes alone with this cockroach, thought about how much damage I could do in that amount of time.

Just then an image appeared beside him, the auction video of Isabelle, the one that was still running. I hadn't seen it yet, we'd been too busy setting up our own auction. But as soon as I saw it, I wanted to erase it from my mind. I wanted to reach into the nether world of virtual reality and yank her out. She was tired, the rouge on her cheeks and lips had smeared, but she still sat on that painted pony. Superimposed on the bottom of the video was a list of questions that the bidders had asked, along with her answers; above her head, like a thorny crown, was the current high bid.

“Neville's running that auction,” the human beast wearing the ancient VR suit said. “And he has your niece.”

I didn't realize I was trembling until Angelique took my hand. Blood-hot rage coursed through my veins, forced its
way into my chest. I felt like a pressure cooker ready to explode, ready to burst into metallic shrapnel. But I had to hold it in, I had to complete this deal.

All the way or not at all.

“Send me your evidence on Neville,” I said, a slight tremor in my voice. “Immediately.” I couldn't let him know our plans, I had to ask for more. “And give me his coordinates, give me info on the layout of his hideout. Once you send that, we'll make arrangements for you to get the serum.”

“Risky. But fair.” He turned and spoke to some invisible companion behind him. He was facing me again. “Okay, you should have it now.”

I scrolled through my in-box. Found a message titled “For Your Eyes Only: Neville Saturno.” Opened it and read. It was worth the trade. Too bad this guy wasn't going to get what he asked for.

“Did you get it?” a voice said in my ear. Skellar.

“Yes, this is exactly what I wanted,” I said.

“Good,” Skellar continued in a voice only I could hear. “'Cause my boys got this guy's place surrounded. They're gonna cut off all his communications in a second. Can't have him tippin' off old Neville. Keep him on the line for another minute or two.”

“This is good,” I said. “You're sure Neville has my niece and that he hasn't hurt her?”

The VR creature nodded. Silent.

“Just remember, if you're lying, immortality won't protect you from me. I can still make you wish you were never born—”

Just then his transmission sputtered. He looked over his shoulder as if startled. He didn't have time to say anything, his VR just zapped out. Gone.

A moment later Skellar walked back around the corner.

“We got him.” He was chuckling. “He's not happy, I can tell you that much. Good catch, Domingue. This guy just happens to be a U.S. senator. Raffaele Greco from New York—looks like the government is involved in this somehow. He's gonna be fun to interrogate. I had to tell my boys to wait for me. Don't want to miss this one.”

“I'd like to be in on that.”

“It can be arranged,” he answered. Then his face turned serious again, must have just gotten some update from his bust. “Yeah, I figured as much,” he said to one of his boys. Then he glanced up at me. “Your niece ain't there. At least he was tellin' ya the truth about that, so there's a good chance Neville really does have her.”

Angelique was rubbing her forehead. She leaned against the wall.

“You okay?” I asked. “Are you sure you're up for what we have to do?”

“You won't find the serum without me.” Her eyes were closed and beads of perspiration glistened on her face. The poison was still working its way out of her system.

“I told you we could use a placebo—”

“Do you really want to take a chance with Isabelle's life?” She unbuttoned her collar and pulled her hair back. Her skin was flushed, like she still had a low-grade fever.

I walked over to her and cupped her face in mine. She felt like she was on fire. “No,” I answered. “But I don't want to take a chance with yours either.”

“I'll make you a deal,” she said, licking her lips. “You do what you have to and I'll go to the lab and give myself a shot of antibiotics.”

“You'll be ready in about half an hour?”

She nodded.

I glanced at Skellar. He grinned. I still couldn't believe that I trusted him. I think he probably felt the same way.

“I'll already be there, waiting,” he said. “You won't see me, but I'll be able to see you. And keep your Verse on, that way I'll be able to hear everything.”

 

Pete's clone lay on the gurney, quiet, waiting for life. Within a few minutes his download would be complete. His new body didn't look much like the old one, but I wasn't surprised. Everybody wanted to upgrade. One-Timers stick out in a crowd, with all their pores and pimples and childhood scars. The room filled with a soft glow as the transfer of his memories completed. He was breathing now, slow and rhythmic, peaceful. I almost hated to bring him back here.

“Wake up. It's Day One,” I said. I could see Angelique outside the Plexiglas wall. She and Skellar were arguing about something, and it looked like he was winning.

Pete's eyes flicked open. Brown eyes, dark hair, skin the color of weathered oak. He looked he could have been my brother. He smiled. It felt strange to have someone recognize me immediately.

“How you feel?” I asked.

“Sleepy. Excited.” His voice was different, a shade deeper than before. “Like ten things is goin' on inside my head at once. Did ya finds Isabelle?”

“Not yet.”

He tried to sit up, but I put a hand on his shoulder. “You're not ready yet, bruh. I need you to stay here and rest.”

He yawned.

“You might not like it,” I told him, “but right now you're goin' back to sleep.”

“Yur not supposed to uses those Master Keys on me,” he said, yawning again. Then he lay back down and closed his eyes. In less than a minute he fell back to sleep.

I sighed, wished he was able to come with me. I glanced back through the window. Angelique and Skellar were both
gone. It was obvious that they didn't want to work together, that we were all stretched past our limits. Our chances for success were pretty low, although I refused to admit it, even to myself.

I glanced at my watch. We had to get in position, fast.

Isabelle's auction ended in an hour.

Angelique:

Sometimes you die all at once. It's over before you even see it coming. And then sometimes you die a little bit at a time, a tiny sliver every day. It's like watching a door close, knowing that outside everybody else is still at the party, the lights are sparkling, the fountain of life is flowing. But inside, it's growing a little darker by the second.

That was how I felt right now. Ever since I got shot with that dart.

Heat flowed through me, my chest tightened. I left Chaz and headed toward the lab, walking on stiff, unresponsive legs. Stopped to lean against a wall, felt my eyes close. I thought I was alone, but I wasn't.

“You're not up to this.”

My favorite man in blue. Skellar.

“Maybe none of us are up to it,” I answered, my voice weaker than I expected. “But that doesn't matter, does it?”

“You're a liability. You're not even fully cooked. What day are ya on?”

I frowned. “Is that was this is about? The fact that I'm a
Newbie?” I realized that we were right outside the resurrection chamber, I could see Chaz and Pete through the Plexiglas. I turned my back to the window. “Or maybe you're just trying to find out where I put the key to eternal life. So you can slink over there and take it for yourself.”

Skellar grinned, a nightmarish sight as we stood alone in shadowy halls. “You don't trust me, do ya?”

The fever felt like it was rising, my throat was dry. “For some reason, Chaz trusts you,” I said finally, “and he's the quarterback on our little team, so—”

He pushed his face closer to mine, lowered his voice to a threatening whisper. “You wouldn't be doin' all this to get back at Russ, now, would ya? Cause there's a little girl out there that needs some help. If I find out that ya'll are just playin' some double-cross trick, you won't get no next life. I got my own connections, sister, I'll make sure ya jump into an infected clone.”

I felt a chill wash over me. I wished I could credit Skellar and his feeble threat, but I knew it was the fever, moving on to the next level. I closed my eyes again.

“You better go get your meds,” he said, almost as a concession when I didn't reply. “But just remember, I'm gonna be watchin' ya. If I see you do anything suspicious, I'll take ya down myself. You won't need to worry 'bout your old pal Neville.”

“Glad you're on my team, Lieutenant,” I said.

And I walked away.

 

I stood in the doorway, squinting when the fluorescent lights flashed on, bathing the room in a garish brilliance. The desks were in the same place, the computer monitors dark. The left side of the room was still lined with empty cages.

I forced my body to move, to obey my commands. It wanted to stay out in the hall, it wanted to run away. A
scream lodged in my throat, deep inside, like it was caught and couldn't get out. I passed the spot where I fell, four days ago.

Where Russ pinned me to the ground and strangled me.

A dark shadow seemed to move through the room, following me. At times I felt a chill, like it touched me, draped a black hand on my shoulder. Memories of my own death haunted me. I could almost hear the screams—my own—the lungful of air that I should have bellowed when he attacked me. But I didn't cry out. At least I don't remember if I did.

I flung a drawer open and grabbed a syringe, rifled through a bank of refrigerated cabinets until I found some antibiotics. I hastily filled the syringe and gave myself a shot. Then I grabbed an extra syringe, stuffed it in my pocket.

Might as well be prepared to introduce Neville to eternity.

I paused beside the cages; one door hung open. Omega's cage.

I knelt beside it, imagined that I could see his chestnut-brown eyes peering at me through the bars. He always watched me with hope in his eyes. Maybe he had known that I wanted to help him. And that I loved him.

Maybe he felt the same way.

I stood, my legs wobbly, my head spinning. I wondered if Omega and his pack were still roaming around the City of the Dead.

Dear God, I hope not. Please, let him be back in the bayou, or in some dark alley. Don't let him get anywhere near Neville and his Backatown demons. Not today. Not ever.