Moonlight(Pact Arcanum 3) (29 page)

She raised an eyebrow and took the book from him, noting that the spine and covers were blank. She opened it to the first page and found it covered with his handwriting.

“I’m going to do it,”
she read.
“Tonight. It’s the perfect opportunity. How bad could it go? At worst, she says ‘no’. Well, no, that’s not the worst. Not really. She could always rip my throat out with her claws, just to make a point. Still, I won’t know until I try. And who knows? She might say ‘yes’.”
She turned her attention to the date at the top of the page. December 17, 2041. Nick’s wedding day. The day he asked her out.

She flipped to the page marked with a slip of ribbon, about three quarters of the way into the book. December 17, 2042.
“A year ago, she said ‘yes’. Today, she’ll say ‘I do’. Please God, don’t let me screw this up. I want her to be happy. The first night, she asked me if I thought I was the man for the job. I said she could do worse, and so could I. I know I was right about me. I could have done so much worse, so easily. Let me be right about her, too. A hundred years from now, I hope she looks back on us and remembers me fondly.”

The rest of the pages were blank.

She lifted her gaze to meet his eyes, watching her anxiously. “Why did you stop writing?”

He suddenly appeared calm and completely at ease. “It’s what you said after the wedding. ‘Peace, Leshir. I will never leave you.’ After that, there wasn’t any need to write it down anymore. I knew you’d keep the memories for me.”

She closed the book and stroked her fingertips across his cheek. “Thank you, Tobias.”

He shook his head. “No, Leshir. Thank
you
.”

She raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

He grinned at her. “You said ‘yes’.”

She worked a spell in her mind, and the book glowed with a bright green light, and then disappeared—teleported to her Sanctum at the base of the House Curallorn stronghold beneath the ruins of Cahokia, along with the greatest treasures she had gathered over the millennia. “If you do not mind, I will read it another time, when I can give it my undivided attention.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“Tobias—” she began, but was interrupted by a loud musical tone from the teleport gateway in the living room, announcing an incoming traveler.

They both hurried to the door when they heard Nick’s voice.

Toby walked into the living room to see his brother talking to Noah, Matt, and Andrea in a harsh whisper.

“Nick!” Toby said with surprise. “What are you doing here? You’re supposed to be watching Antonio.”

Nick faced Toby. “I left him in Anchorpoint. Rory and Take are standing guard over him.”

Layla strode forward imperiously. “You left our son protected by the former Wind of Earth and one of the strongest vampire lords in existence. What has happened that caused you to take such precautions and then leave his side?”

“Ethan Clark flew into New York City about two hours ago,” Nick said, his face creased in anger. “He signed off on the Armistice Declaration and sailed through the Test of Reason. Legally, they had no basis to refuse him provisional citizenship. That gives him free passage throughout the Armistice Zone, not including the Hidden Cities. He doesn’t have the access codes to pass the jumper block around Anchorpoint, so Antonio is probably perfectly safe, but I didn’t want to take chances in case he changed destinations to misdirect Armistice Security.”

“What do you mean, ‘changed destinations’?” asked Andrea.

“He jumped directly from New York to the San Francisco chapterhouse. He’s probably already on his way here.”

Organic Underground Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois

Reese looked up when one of his subordinates entered his private office. “What is it?”

“One of our automated listening devices just updated. There’s activity in Tobias Jameson’s apartment in San Francisco. We reviewed the recordings. He’s definitely on site, but they appear to be packing up. It looks like he’s on the move.”

Reese slammed his fist against the desk. “Damn! That’s the only vulnerable point he frequents that isn’t locked up by Armistice Security. If he leaves, we’ll never get to him.” He typed furiously at the keypad in front of him. “What assets do we have in place in San Francisco that are ready to attack on short notice?”

“Currently, almost nothing that can be brought to bear without a few hours’ preparation. We may not be able to move against him in time.” The operative frowned. “There’s one dormant asset that’s recently shifted position, however. It appears to be entering the target area.”

Reese paused in his work. “What dormant asset?”

“Ethan Clark’s car. It was impounded for parking violations after he left the country and has been stationary for the last two months. It began moving again less than an hour ago.”

Reese stared at him. Then he began to laugh.

Marina District, San Francisco, California

Ethan looked through his grimy windshield, noting a cordon of Armistice Security agents surrounding Toby’s apartment building. Standing on either side of the front door were Nick and Layla. He pulled over to the side of the street and got out of his car, which was covered with dust.

Ethan walked toward the cordon alone and unarmed, noting the layered jumper block as soon as he entered its influence. When he reached the line of Sentinels, one of the agents gestured him forward. “They’re waiting for you at the door, my Lord. I hope you’re not here to cause trouble.”

“No trouble, agent,” answered Ethan. “I just want to talk to them.”

The agent nodded gravely. “I hope so, sir. It would be unfortunate if we were forced to kill one of the Winds over a misunderstanding.”

Ethan didn’t answer; he just walked past. A quad of Sentinels peeled away from the cordon to keep pace beside him. Ethan ignored them.

When he reached the door, he faced Nick. “I’m not here to fight.”

“Glad to hear it,” said Nick. “So why are you here, then?”

“I want to talk to Toby and the others.” He took a deep breath. “It’s time we settled a few things.”

“How did you know they were here?” Layla asked.

“I masked the link one way only so I could look through Matt and Noah’s eyes. They’re so used to me blocking them out that they don’t bother to hide their thoughts from me anymore.”

“Careless,” she said in contempt. “Sentinel, the last time we met, I told you that I would not kill you that day. You stained my honor when you conspired to have my mate killed. Why should I not kill you now, rather than let you anywhere near him ever again?”

“He asked me to come back,” Ethan said simply.

Layla raised an eyebrow at that and remained silent.

“You will submit to a telepathic scan in order to verify your intentions before I let you get any closer, Ethan,” said Nick. “That’s not negotiable.”

Ethan met his eyes and lowered his mental defenses. “Go ahead.”

He felt the Daywalker’s thoughts insinuate themselves into his mind, rifling through his memories, and forced himself not to resist the intrusion. Eventually, Nick pulled back and withdrew. Ethan raised his defenses again with relief.

Nick turned to Layla. “He’s telling the truth. Toby did invite him to come back. Apparently, they had a long chat via the Wind Link.”

“Tobias is too tender-hearted for his own good,” said Layla. She considered Ethan through narrowed eyes. “Very well. If he invited you here, then you may speak to him. But you are not trusted, Ethan. If you take this opportunity to attack us, then I will gladly see you dead.”

Ethan nodded but said nothing. Then he raised his eyebrows when Nick produced a set of charmed restraints. “Are those really necessary?”

Nick snorted. “You’re the Wind of Fire, Ethan. I know how strong you are. We’re not taking any chances.”

Ethan sighed and held out his hands. When Nick fastened the restraints around his wrists, he felt the integrated ward deaden his abilities. Even after living without his magic for most of the last year, he was still acutely aware of the separation, as if he had lost a limb.

Nick and Layla led him upstairs until they reached the door of Toby’s apartment, glowing green with the light of the defense field. Nick spoke briefly to his AI, and the green light faded. Then Andrea opened the door and motioned them inside. Ethan followed the two vampires into the apartment, and then Andrea closed the door behind them and rearmed the security system.

Toby stood in the middle of the living room with his arms across his chest, Noah and Matt on either side of him. “Welcome back,” he said in a neutral voice. “What do you want?”

Ethan stepped forward, only to be brought up short by Layla’s claws on his arms. He glanced at her, meeting her red eyes. “That’s close enough, Ethan,” she said. “Say what you came to say.”

Ethan turned back to Toby. “I know I can’t change what I did. I used you to fuel my revenge. I endangered your life and the lives of your wife and son. You have no reason to forgive me, and I don’t expect you to. In spite of that, I’m hoping that you’ll give me a second chance.” He turned his attention to Noah. “That’s all I ask, another chance.”

They waited for a moment. Noah frowned when it became clear to him that Ethan had finished speaking. “That’s it? You want another chance? Not exactly a strong pitch, Eth.”

Ethan shrugged as best he could with his wrists locked together. “There was more, but there doesn’t seem to be any point in saying it. Either you’ll let me in or not. It’s your call.”

Organic Underground Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois

“The second asset is in position.”

“Then light it up.”

Marina District, San Francisco, California

Toby saw Nick and Layla stagger. Behind them, the green light of the defense field flickered and went out. “What the hell?”

Icarus spoke urgently to him. “Electromagnetic pulse detected. Get out, Toby!”

Toby’s eyes widened. “Group transit, Icarus. Now!”

“I can’t. The gateway is damaged.”

Reaper appeared in Nick’s hand as he drew on the Crown of Souls for power and furiously began casting the spell to jump them all away.

Then the walls buckled when a shockwave slammed into the building, and a roar of fire and thunder knocked Toby senseless.

Organic Underground Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois

Reese calmly took a drag on his cigarette. “Report.”

“Our spotters have confirmed deployment of the first asset with high-order detonation. Several of the surrounding buildings have been entirely destroyed, including the target structure.”

Reese blew smoke as he exhaled. “I said you’d be hearing from us, Ethan. Thanks for the assist.”

CHAPTER 36

Marina District, San Francisco, California

Layla shook her head to clear the ringing in her ears. Her hastily erected telekinetic shields around the room had shattered at several points, and the apartment was showered with debris from the destroyed building.

She cast her senses wide and found all six of the other life traces. She followed the strongest trace to Nick, who was throwing pieces of masonry off his legs to free himself. She moved to help him, grabbing a metal girder to help shift the largest piece of concrete. She cast the lever aside once the debris was cleared.

“The others are still alive. Can you keep the room from collapsing while I dig them out?”

Nick nodded, obviously in significant pain while he repaired the damage to his crushed limbs. “I can do that,” he said, his voice strained.

Layla followed the traces to find Andrea unconscious under a table next to Matt, who was trying to revive her, but his Gift obviously didn’t have much strength in healing magic. Layla assisted him with the more complex repairs, and Andrea’s eyes fluttered open.

“Andrea, I need you to reach out to the other minds in this room and see how badly they are injured.” Layla passed her the locations of the life traces she had identified.

Andrea concentrated. “Toby is buried in the rubble over there.” She pointed. “His mind is clouded with pain, and he can’t think coherently.” She pointed to the other side of the room. “Noah is unconscious, but Ethan is with him and says they’re okay, just trapped in an open space where one of the walls fell on them.”

Layla growled, her fangs showing. “Is he responsible for this?”

Andrea frowned. “No, he’s practically in shock, too dazed to hide anything from me. He was as taken by surprise as we were.”

“You two dig them out—and get those restraints off of Ethan as fast as you can. We might need another healer. I will see to Tobias.”

They split up, and Matt shifted form into a gorilla to toss the fallen slabs of concrete aside as if they were gravel. Layla followed the trace to Toby, finding his head and left arm sticking out from under a pile of metal support beams. She began pulling the beams off him, only to stop abruptly when he screamed. Probing the tangled metal with her mind, she realized that the spars had pierced his body at several points, and he was quickly bleeding out. She also saw the precarious balance of the internal tracery of the metal shards. If she tried to physically shift the weight of them, they would almost certainly finish him off.

“Nicholas!” she screamed. “Help me!”

Nick dragged himself to his feet and stumbled clumsily toward her. “What?” Then he saw Toby. “Oh, God.” He started pulling the beams off the pile and snarled when she grabbed his wrist.

“No! It’s unstable. If you disturb the load, the entire mass will shift and kill him. We have to clear the debris without upsetting its balance.”

Nick controlled his panic and examined the mound of rubble more carefully. “We can’t melt it down; he’ll fry. I could disintegrate it, piece by piece, but it’d be tricky to control, and he might be caught in the effect if I’m not careful. It’ll take time. Can you keep him alive while I work?”

“I will try,” she said, not allowing her doubts to show. Toby’s injuries were severe, and she couldn’t heal them so long as the wounds were kept open by the shards of debris that held him impaled. At best, she could help him regenerate his blood volume, but that was a losing battle. Steeling herself against what she would find, she linked her mind to Toby’s. A wave of nauseating pain rolled over her, but she pushed through it to rouse him to consciousness.