An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) (30 page)

“That might be pretty cool…” I comment.

“COLE!” Cheza angrily shouts.

“Oh, I mean, let her go
!” I reply.

“No, I don’t think I will. We’ll be waiting
at the place where this all started.” Sydney says and waves.

“WAIT!” I shout, but she’s already ported away…

and Cheza’s with her.

Chapter 29: Sydney Showdown

I run back to cabin fourteen and change into my armored clothing. After clipping my holster on, I open the window and jump out
into the frigid air while engaging my flight. I slow myself down from the train’s speed so that I don’t go flying into a tree upon arriving in India.

My phone beeps as I’m waiting to port, indicating that I have a message before it beeps half a dozen more times. I pull out my phone and see that I have four missed calls, a voicemail, and two texts from Natasha. I tap on the voicemail and put the phone to my ear.

“Cole! Pick up! Something is going to happen to Cheza!” Natasha exclaims and the message ends. The texts basically say the same thing; did Sydney somehow block my phone because she anticipated that Natasha might get a vision?

Cheza was
taken by Sydney. I’m going after her.

I
send the text off to Natasha before porting to Mount Kailash and proceeding to my parents’ house.

“Cole?”
Parvati asks when I port into the kitchen.

“Cheza’s been
abducted.” I report.

“Oh… did you miss the train?”
Parvati inquires.

“No, she was kidnapped by Sydney after we got robbed by some train dwarves.” I explain.
Now that I think about it, I have been involved in a stupid number of kidnappings… it’s like I’m gunning for Liam Neeson’s job or something.
7

“Cole, I understand that you’re upset, but you should’ve taken the time to work on a better story that might
be even remotely believable.” Parvati replies.

“I’m being completely serious, mom.” I respond.

“Cole’s right; Chezarei is in an anomaly in Seattle.” Shiva informs us as he walks in.

“What do you mean an anomaly?” I ask.

“I can’t see her.” Parvati says with her eyes closed. “I can tell that she’s in the warehouse district of Seattle, but everything else is dark.”

“Can you remotely port her out?” I inquire.

“No, we can’t…” Parvati replies.

Yeah, this situation is exactly the same as the one I thought Cheza was in a few hours ago…
Loki must be laughing his ass off right now.

“Airi, can you see her?”

(No, the connection between us is broken for some reason…)

“Seattle’s warehouse district?” I ask for confirmation.

“Yes.” Shiva confirms.

“Thanks.” I reply and snap myself to the gate before porting to Seattle’s warehouse district.

My jaw drops when I get there and see the anomaly; there is a giant black dome covering the area in front of me and blocking out half of the moon. Based on the way that the moonlight isn’t reflecting off of the dome, I think it’s a safe bet that the dome is made of the Void. My mind flashes to the remains of Duniya al Jinn… Cheza’s in there!

I
engage my helmet and sprint towards the dome. The dome ripples like liquid when I break through it as my skin tingles and I enter my Void state. Once I’m in, I feel Cheza’s presence in front of me and see that the moonlight is illuminating the area, which is pretty unexpected; what’s more unexpected is the fact that I can breathe easily because of the cool, dry air in place of miasma. So I guess that this isn’t the same situation as Duniya al Jinn, but I still need to get Cheza out of here as soon as possible; since this placed forced me into a Void state so easily, there’s no telling what it might be doing to her or the baby…

(Although the easy slip into your Void state has to do with your closer connection to the Void than the one you had when you visited
Shehar, I still recommend that you hurry)

I race down the street as the area starts looking slightly familiar.
I turn a corner and reach an area that is cordoned off by construction signs; since that’s where Cheza is, I continue onward. If the crumbling walls and black streaks are any indication, I’d say a building was burned down here. A strange feeling of familiarity hits me as I continue through the remnants of the burned out building until I walk through a doorway and I see them: Cheza is chained to the burned remains of the far wall with some bizarre black binding and has bruises on her face that are in the process of healing while Sydney stands next to her.

“SYDNEY!” I roar as the bones in my right hand crack while both my hands warp into the bladed
Void claws.

“Yes, Cole; get angry. I want you angry for this.
” Sydney says as her hands warp into Void claws as well.

“
I have dreamed of this moment for years. This is where it is all going to end. THIS IS WHERE I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!” Sydney screams and raises her right claw up.

I port beside her when I realize that her target is Cheza. Sydney’s Void claw sinks through my jacket and into my stomach; just as I thought, our claws will work on each other since I was able to cut myself with them
. Her Void claw pierced through my armored jacket as though it were made of cotton. Pain sears my guts as I swipe at her with my left claw, but she jumps back before I can connect.

Sydney flashes out of the remnants of the building and over to an open space that is two hundred
yards away. A seal forms over my stomach while I pursue Sydney, puking up some blood for short-ranged porting mid-stride. I stop about fifteen feet in front of her for a moment before I charge. I go for a cross slash and Sydney counters by flipping over me. Sydney scratches at my head as I roll to the side to avoid her.

Using the powers she stole from Harry, Sydney tries to blind me
as she distances herself by about thirty feet and runs behind me, but Ra’s power nullifies the effects.

“That’s not going to work. What else do you have?” I ask as I turn towards her.

My body is engulfed in black flames before water flows out and neutralizes it. I hold my left arm in front of me and blast a torrent of water at her, with the intention to get in close while she dodges it. However, Sydney doesn’t dodge the torrent and lets the water hit her, or at least get close. When the water is about a foot away, it explodes outward like it hit an invisible umbrella; must be Manannan mac Lir’s power as a Sea god. Since water won’t work, I switch to lightning. Sydney sees it coming and raises her right hand; the lightning gets sucked into her Void claw in much the same manner as Perun’s was when we fought.

Well, since the lightning by itself won’t work, perhaps using it as an enhancement will. I reach behind my back and pull my .460
S&W, turning the silver gun black on contact. Sydney sees what I’m doing and sprints towards me as I put the gun on target and pull the trigger. She holds her right hand out and absorbs the lightning as she flips to the side to avoid the bullet. Since she’s avoiding the bullets, she must not be confident in her ability to stop them; I think I just found my advantage.

I aim and fire seven more times as she keeps dodging the bullets without signs of fatigue. I finally go for a three-shot combo; one round goes to where she’s headed, forcing her to stop, the next round goes behind her, and the third round goes directly at her. Sydney jumps back and into
the path of the second bullet as she absorbs the lightning. She sees the third bullet coming and spins, turning the bullet that was aimed at her heart into a grazing shot at her left arm that takes out a chunk of her left triceps. The wound stalls her as I take another shot, only to find that I’m out of bullets; right, that was eleven…

Seeing her opportunity, Sydney rushes forward as I eject the clip and bring the gun around my back to reload. She throws her right leg at my left arm as I lash out with my right claw. I
graze her left shoulder as I notice her blood filling in the missing part of her triceps made by the bullet wound. Her right foot connects with the gun and sends it flying as something sharp pierces the left side of my ribcage. Now that I’m disarmed, Sydney jumps back, ripping my left side with the black bladed spikes that are protruding from her ankle as she does so.

We face off with about
ten feet of distance between us and assess our damage. My left side starts healing as Sydney’s shoulder does the same.

“Ready for round two, princess?” I ask. Sydney makes a lighthearted scoff in response.

We both lunge forward and take a swipe at each other. Her right claw comes in towards my face as my right claw sails towards her head. I reach out with my left claw and catch her right as Sydney does the same. We stand there with our hands clasped together, each of us cutting into the other’s hands while trying to get the advantage.

“It looks like we’re pretty evenly matched.” I comment.

“Not quite… there is still one area in which I excel while you fail.” Sydney replies.

“Oh really? And what might that be?” I inquire.

“This.” Sydney says and swiftly kicks me in the balls.

“AH!” I yelp and drop her hands as I bend forward on reflex.

I can tell her follow up is going to be a knee to my face so I lash out wildly with my left hand. My left claw connects with her chin as she leans back, minimalizing the damage to a grazing scratch that shreds the strap of her helmet. Sydney’s knee connects with the front of my helmet and sends me flying onto my back. Sydney pounces on top of me, landing on my torso and pinning my arms at my sides. I’m about to retaliate in any way that I can when I notice that her helmet has flown off and several things connect in my mind: short silver hair, Void-black eyes, five black spike reaching into both of her eyes across her pale white face, a face that can’t be older than fifteen, but what stops me in my tracks is the familiarity. It’s been four years and she’s aged twelve, but it’s definitely her.

“Addie…” her name surfaces to my lips.

“Hello…
Daddy
.” Addie venomously says.

“This is all your fault! For abandoning me in that wretched place! Do you know what it
’s like to feel like you’re choking for years!? YEARS I WAS TRAPPED IN THAT PLACE! BECAUSE OF YOU!” Addie screams while repeatedly punching my helmeted-head.

Suddenly the bizarre dreams th
at I had start to make sense: they’re what Addie perceives as her past.

“I didn’t abandon you! You were killed!” I exclaim in between punches.

“What?” Addie asks curiously, but with the same intense anger. I retract my helmet to talk to her.

“I watched you get shot in the head! You died… and there was nothing I could do to save you. I didn’t abandon you… how could I ever abandon my
little girl? I carried your ghost around for months after you died and had to be heavily medicated to be granted any peace…” I softly reply.

“LIES!” Addie screams and punches me
again as I notice that her hands have warped back from claws.

“I’m not lying… just drip some of your blood into my mouth… and you can see for yourself…” I tell her
in between punches, her left punches having become significantly weaker.

Addie looks at me warily before doing what I said.
I feel her blood travel into my brain as my memories get replayed in my head: the situation of her death, me sending her to the Void, frantically grabbing at the smoke in a futile effort to bring her back, the dreams, the hallucinations, the conversation with Loki where he admits to having her killed, all of it. Addie’s eyes glaze over slightly as she watches the memories and several tears stream down her cheeks.

“Daddy?” Addie softly asks.

“Welcome back, Sweetie.” I softly reply as I tear up.

I finally get a second chance to make things right; to be a father for Addie.
We have a lot of catching up to do…

A giant icicle sudden
ly penetrates through the left side of Addie’s chest. She looks down in surprise at the spear of ice that is four inches in diameter and sticking out of her chest.

“Daddy?” Addie says before she cough
s blood onto my face and falls over.

I scramble up and cradle her in my arm
s.

“Addie! Addie, no! No
, no, no, no, no! I’m not losing you again!” I panic as I push the icicle out of her chest and start pumping blood from my left hand into the hole to save her.

(Master, her body is rejecting your blood… you can’t save her)

“Don’t argue with me, Airi! I don’t care what you have to do, just save her!” I shout as my blood goes into the hole, only to trickle out the back. I reach around and cover the back of the hole with my right hand.

“Dammit… dammit…
DAMMIT!” I scream as the futility sets in and the life drains from Addie’s eyes.

“I’m sorry, Daddy… for everything.” Addie whispers.

“No, I’m sorry, Sweetie. Everything that’s happened to you has been my fault!” I frantically say as tears stream down my face. Addie smiles softly at me as her eyes close. I hug her body to my chest as I cry.

“Cole…” Cheza softly says as she set her hand on my shoulder; I bat it away and turn towards her
as the dome cracks and sheets of the Void fall like panes of glass that turn to dust on impact with the ground.