Moonlight(Pact Arcanum 3) (30 page)

* * *

Toby screamed in incoherent agony, and then he suddenly felt another presence. The pain receded somewhat, enough so he could think clearly.

“Hold on, Tobias. We are going to get you out.”

“Layla?”
he asked, lucid but still groggy.

“Yes, Leshir. I am here.”

“How bad is it?”

Her voice was silent for a moment.
“You have been stabbed by several pieces of debris. The damage to your body is extensive, but repairable if we can free you in time.”

“You can’t heal the wounds until I’m clear.”
He swallowed.
“Am I going to die?”

“Of course not. Don't be foolish.”

Toby smiled mentally.
“You’ve never lied to me before. Why start now?”

“I—I can't say. We will do everything we can to save you.”

“But the odds are against me, aren’t they?”

“Nicholas is working as fast as he can. You have to hold on. Fight, Leshir. Do not leave me like this.”

Toby opened his eyes to see her kneeling next to him, covered with dust and the blood from her own injuries.
“You’re beautiful.”

“Now I know you're delirious. Save your strength.”

“I’m serious, Layla. I won’t leave by choice, but if this is the end, then I want you to know that I love you. I just wish I had more time.”

“Not like this, Tobias. Stay with me.”
Her focus slipped momentarily.
“Ethan is here. He is helping Nicholas clear the rubble off you. We just need a little more time. You have to hold on.”

Toby felt his vision turn gray at the edges, his breath grow more labored.
“There’s no more time, Leshir. Tell Antonio I loved him, and I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for him in the flesh, but a part of me will always be watching over both of you.”

Layla screamed in rage.
“You will not abandon me, Tobias Jameson!”

A second voice joined hers when Andrea touched his mind over the link.
“I’m here, Toby.”

Toby’s sight narrowed, becoming a tunnel surrounded by shadows, focusing only on his wife’s red eyes.
“Take care of her for me, Andrea. Nick and Antonio, too. Tell Faith and my mom that I was thinking of them all.”

“I’ll take care of them, Toby. I promise.”

The world faded to black, and he was blind. He reached out desperately to Layla.
“Please, Layla. Don’t forget about me.”

“Never.”

“I’m scared.”

“Do not be afraid, Leshir. I will love you forever.”

Darkness descended then, and the last thing he heard was the voice of Nexus White, speaking in machine code for his ears alone.

JOURNEY’S END

CHAPTER 37

Organic Underground Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois; Three days later

Reese took the call in his office. The virtual screen opened up above his desk to show Ethan’s face. “Mr. Clark. What can I do for you?”

Ethan stared at him with a level gaze. “When did you plant the bomb in my car?”

Reese smiled as he lit a cigarette. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Ethan snorted in contempt. “Do you honestly think I’m recording this? Much as I’d love to hand you over to the human authorities, it would link me to the bombing. Currently, no one knows that it was my car that blew up, and I have no intention of taking the fall for all the people who died in the blast.”

“As I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about. My condolences on your loss, however.”

Ethan’s face darkened. “That was how you were going to strike at Toby all along, wasn’t it? You were going to use me to blow up the wedding. I was just supposed to be collateral damage.”

Reese laughed. “Goodbye, Ethan. Have a nice life.” Then he hung up and sat back in his chair. “What a chump.”

Armistice Security Headquarters, Anchorpoint City, Colorado

Ethan turned away from the phone terminal after the virtual screen closed. “Was that enough time?”

The iris of the holographic projection of the Nexus avatar glowed white.
“Yes.”

Organic Underground Headquarters, Chicago, Illinois

Reese’s cigarette had burned halfway through its length when he felt the building shudder with the sound of a distant boom. He got to his feet just when one of his staff barged into his office. “What the hell is going on?”

The subordinate’s eyes were wide with panic. “We’re under attack. There are Armistice Security agents jumping in all over ground level. We’re trapped!”

Reese activated his terminal and accessed the security monitors. A virtual screen appeared above his desk, showing a pitched battle in the lobby of the building, the security staff vastly outnumbered by the gray-uniformed Armistice Security agents. Right in the thick of it were three figures he knew. Noah cut through his targets with a dueling saber in his right hand and a long flail in his left. Andrea was using targeted bursts of pure fire to destroy his forces’ hastily erected barricades. For a moment, he saw Matt, slashing the throat of one of his people with long and lethal claws before he
roared
. His form blurred into a griffin, leaping into the air over one of the remaining barricades to tear into the massed defenders on the other side.

Reese cursed. “How did they know where we were?”

“You shouldn’t have taken my call.”

Reese looked up to see Ethan standing in the doorway, his right hand wrapped tightly around the neck of the subordinate who had come to warn him. The terrorist leader dove for the gun in his desk drawer, and Ethan calmly raised his left hand and released a bolt of white-hot light that burned through the desk and vaporized the drawer and its contents, along with three of his enemy’s fingers. Reese howled in agony and backed up against the window, clutching his maimed hand to his chest. In the meantime, Ethan choked the other terrorist into unconsciousness, and let the limp body fall before leaning casually against the doorframe, his arms folded in front of him.

A virtual screen opened above the desk, showing two mismatched eyes, one with a white iris, the other violet.
“Greetings, Reese Wahl. We are the Nexus.”

Reese stared at the apparition in horror. “How did you find us?”

“You accepted Ethan Clark’s communication. That was sufficient to allow us to defeat your security protocols and access your computer systems. Thank you for the identities of our rogue citizens. They will be quarantined until their concerns can be addressed in a logical manner. In the meantime, we have supplied Armistice Security with your location and deactivated your defenses.”

Reese snarled. “And now you’re just calling to gloat?”

“We do not gloat, Mr. Wahl. We are simply answering your questions. It cost us nothing to be courteous until our allies can eliminate you.”

Reese swallowed. “What do you mean ‘eliminate’? Armistice Security can’t just execute us without trial.”

“Seventeen Armistice Security agents died in the blast that killed Tobias Jameson. The murder of a Triumvirate representative acting in the line of duty is a class one breach of Armistice, which strips the perpetrator of all treaty protections. The Armistice Declaration no longer applies to you, Mr. Wahl. The Archangel does not intend for any of you to survive. We have also supplied him with the identities of all of your operatives in the field, in order that no remnant of your organization is allowed to exist.”

“Wait,” said Reese. “You can’t do this! We can negotiate.”

The white eye glowed while it laughed.

“You are responsible for the deaths of five of the six members of the Nexus, including the younger brother of the Archangel, numerous Armistice Security agents, and countless humans. Did you think that any of us would show you mercy?”

“Then why are you still here?”

“We want to watch.”

Reese just stood there in shock until Ethan raised his hand and burned him alive.

The White House, Washington, D.C.

Sebastian Avery looked up from his desk when Kevin Daniels entered the Oval Office. “Kevin, this is a surprise.”

“Hello, Sebastian. Working late?”

Avery smiled. “Always. You know how it is.”

“Yes, I do.” Daniels sat in one of the chairs across from him. “I had forgotten what the office looks like from this side of the desk.”

Avery smiled. “I’m sure it’s an adjustment. What can I do for you?”

“Mr. President, can you turn off the cameras in here? I need to speak to you off the record.”

President Avery frowned at him thoughtfully and then typed his security code into the small keypad on the desk and shut down the security monitors. “All right, General Daniels. We’re private. What do you need?”

The former President smiled pleasantly at his successor while he laid a data crystal on the desk between them. “I’m here to give you this and to deliver a message.”

Avery frowned at the data crystal. “What is it?”

“That crystal contains a copy of all the records of your covert support for the Organic Underground, both financial and military, as well as a recording of your conversation with Reese Wahl in which he supplied you with advance knowledge of his intention to assassinate Toby Jameson.”

Avery’s eyes bulged. “Kevin—”

Daniels continued as if the other man hadn’t spoken. “The Archangel has asked me to inform you that if you resign your post immediately, he’ll graciously allow you one week to settle your affairs before you will be required to leave the Armistice Zone. If you agree to those terms, then he’ll keep the information secret. If not, you’ll be executed.”

“Now, just wait a minute—”

Daniels reached across the desk and pulled the President toward him by his tie, choking off his words. “Over five hundred dead, Sebastian. You gave them money and EMP projectors.” He released his hold and let Avery slump backward in his chair. “You’ll go quietly and preserve the dignity of this office, or I swear to God I’ll help them hunt you down.”

Sebastian Avery sat up in his chair and deliberately straightened his clothes while he considered his options. “Kevin, I’m sure this is a misunderstanding. Let me review the data, and I’m sure we can work this out.”

“Nick Jameson isn’t interested in working things out, Mr. President. He asked me to deliver this message because he thought if he came to see you in person, he wouldn’t be able to hold back from ripping your heart out.”

Avery sighed. “It all spiraled out of control. No one was supposed to be killed. It was just—”

Daniels snarled. “If you say ‘politics as usual’, I’ll kill you myself.”

Avery was silent, merely dropping his gaze.

“Mr. President, my daughter was standing next to Toby Jameson when they blew up his building. She could just as easily be going into the ground right next to him. The fact that she isn’t is the only reason you’re still breathing. I once sat in the same chair, and I know it warps your perspective, but it’s how you deal with it that defines whether you were ever worthy to hold the office in the first place. You failed. So don’t expect any sympathy from me.”

Avery stared fixedly at his hands, folded on the desk in front of him. “General Daniels,” he said quietly, “your terms are acceptable.”

Daniels got to his feet and walked briskly to the door, letting himself out.

Avery reached for the keypad on his desk. When he did so, a virtual screen opened about his desk, showing two mismatched eyes, one white, and one violet.
“Mr. President, the Nexus greets you.”

Avery recoiled in surprise. “What do you want?”

“We wish only to inform you that, in addition to the terms the Archangel and General Daniels have imparted to you, the Nexus has chosen to impose other punitive sanctions to guarantee your compliance. You will not be allowed to profit from your actions in support of the Organic Underground.”

“Accordingly, a bank account has been opened in your name in the city of Zurich, which cannot be accessed from within the Armistice Zone. That account contains funds equivalent to your total net worth at the time you took office as President. All other accounts that you currently hold have been deleted from the world banking system, and all equities have been liquidated. Your tangible properties and real estate will be auctioned off with proceeds donated to the victims of the Organic Underground’s attacks by week’s end. If you do not personally take possession of the Zurich account within seven days, that account will also be deleted.

Be advised that once you leave the Armistice Zone, you will not be allowed to return. We will be watching you, Mr. Avery. You have been offered a chance to start over, in deference to your high office and years of public service. We suggest you take it. Rest assured that we will not be so merciful the next time.”