Praetorian Series [4] All Roads Lead to Rome (55 page)

She laid there stunned, and my first thought was to advance on her, but then another, more important thought, hit me.  I whirled around to face north and threw up a halting hand.

“Don’t shoot her!”  I said emphatically into my radio.  “Not yet.”

Long seconds passed before I received Helena’s reluctant double click.

I let out a breath and returned my attention to Agrippina, who cowered in the corner.  Assessing her as no longer a threat, I held up my forearm and looked at the knife embedded there.  I sighed at its presence but knew better than to yank it out.  I retrieved a random piece of cloth that I happened to have in a pocket and wrapped my arm as best I could around the knife, thankful that it was only a small knife and seemed to have missed my artery.

I looked down at Agrippina, only one word on the tip of my tongue.  “Why?”

She started to inhale deeply, seething.  “I will be the one to kill him, not you!”

“What?”  I asked, jerking my head back.  “Why?”

“He lied to me!”  She spat at me.

I almost laughed.  “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

She didn’t answer and I didn’t have time to press her further when I heard Helena’s voice in my ear.  “Get ready, Jacob.  I’m nearly out of ammo and they’re almost on you.”

I nodded, knowing she’d see it, and gave Agrippina one last warning look with a finger thrust in her direction.  “Don’t you move.  I’ll deal with you later.”

She ignored me but didn’t seem inclined to leave either.

I turned around and faced east, retrieving the orbs in the process.  Gunfire was accompanied now by screams and destructive crashes, and I knew the twins were close.  I stepped up to the edge of the platform and glanced down, seeing nothing at first, but then Bordeaux and Brewster stepped out onto a main road that led directly to my position, their weapons at the ready.  Meanwhile, to my right, I finally saw the distinct forms of Romulus and Remus heading toward me.  I couldn’t believe they were still fighting, let alone still standing, but then it hit me that only twenty minutes had passed since Helena had taken her first shot on Remus.  Even if their brawl had taken them clear across the city, these were pseudo-gods we were dealing with. 

They could probably beat the shit out of each other all week long without ever needing a break.

I let them come, still unsure how I was going to approach Remus, but was sure I certainly didn’t need to go to him.  This was either the bravest or stupidest thing I’d ever done, but I wasn’t going to do it recklessly.  Not after Artie had volunteered for the mission and Helena had let me do this alone. 

Below me, I saw Bordeaux and Brewster open up on the twins, sending a dozen rounds to impact against their bodies, each one leaving welts, small bruises, or minor impact points that bled only a little.  Now that the twins were so close, I could see that they were covered in these kinds of wounds.

I looked away from the twins and saw Santino, Wang, and Titus coming in from behind them now, continuing to rain fire on them, although both Santino and Wang had been reduced to their pistols.  And then came Stryker and Archer from between the two groups, except only Archer was firing, using his pistol as well, and I assumed TJ was completely out of ammo.

I saw Artie with them too, cowering behind her companions – as well she should – and I thought she’d seen me as well.  I wanted to wave to her, to offer her encouragement and support, but didn’t want to draw attention to myself or grow distracted.  I turned back to my duty and saw that the overwhelming fire from my friends was finally starting to slow the twins down.  I couldn’t yet tell if a single bullet had actually struck an organ or bounced off a bone, but evidence was mounting that they could be brought down through traditional means.

Eventually.

The gunfire slowed as the twins did.  They appeared exhausted and were covered in blood, welts, and red splotches.  Romulus had a welt so bad on his forehead that he looked to have grown a horn, while a closer examination of Remus revealed that he’d even lost a part of a finger.

I drew my pistol now that I thought I had my opening, ready to drop myself on Remus from my elevated position, but now that they were so close, they could see me as easily as I could see them, and Remus noticed me immediately.  His face grew furious, enraged, and with a bout of energy that he must have been keeping tucked away in reserve, he ducked under a fatigued right hook from his brother and snatched his leg by the ankle.  With a spin and a tremendous heave, Remus managed to swing Romulus off his feet and send him flying into the wooden struts that supported the platform I was on.

It started to buckle immediately and I felt gravity bring me down with it.  I wasn’t very high, maybe just a few dozen feet, but a shitty landing could kill me if I wasn’t impaled by a piece of broken wood.  I tried to keep my footing on the platform for as long as possible as it all collapsed, but when I knew I could no longer stay upright, I threw myself forward and leapt to the ground.  I hit the ground and allowed my knees to buckle, blunting the impact as my pistol flew from my grip.  I rolled forward, but fresh waves of pain shot up my damaged leg, and I figured the only thing holding it together at the moment was the cast.  I rolled a number of times before slamming into a stone bench on the other side of the street, feeling fresh pain flare up in my arm, which was when I realized the knife had torn free in the fall.

My first thought was to call for Wang to patch me up, but when I lifted my head, I found that he had enough to deal with.  In the time it’d taken the platform to fall and send me crashing to the ground, my friends had taken the opportunity to pounce on Remus.  I didn’t know why.  They all knew how powerful he was.  Maybe they thought him weakened after the sustained wounds he’d taken, and they seemed to be right. 

Bordeaux had his arms wrapped around Remus’ midsection, pinning his left arm to his side, while Stryker clung desperately to his right arm.  Remus tried to shake him off but was having difficulty finding his footing as Wang had both his arms and legs wrapped around Remus’ right leg like a toddler holding onto his mommy in a similar fashion.  I watched then as Santino and Brewster ran headlong into Remus, timing their approach together in an attempt to knock Remus to the ground, but before they could make contact, Remus tossed Stryker to the side like he was a ragdoll and slapped both Brewster and Santino aside in one fluid swipe of his arm.

I was immediately concerned for each of them, having no idea how hard Remus had hit them, but I couldn’t miss this opportunity.  Not when Remus was as immobilized as he was.  I spotted the orbs only a few feet away, together as they always seemed to find themselves.  I scrambled to my feet painfully and grabbed them, then limped toward Remus as quickly as my near-useless legs would allow.

Remus finally noticed my approach and a grin spread across his face, and I knew immediately that his vulnerability had all been a ploy.  He kicked Wang off his leg like he was a beanbag, sending the small Brit flying into the debris left behind from the platform.  He crashed roughly with a puff of dust and wood particles, and I lost sight of him.  Remus then reached with his hands and pried Bordeaux’s arms apart, although it didn’t seem easy.  But once Bordeaux had lost his grip, it was an easy enough effort then for Remus to yank Bordeaux around to face him, and I watched as Remus pulled back a hand, ready to smash the Frenchman’s face in.

All this happened in a second, barely enough time for me to react, but in moments such as these, even mere mortals could sometimes draw on great wells of strength to perform acts otherwise thought impossible. 

In my case, it was the mere ability to raise my voice and shout, “No!”

Remus heard me and kept his arm at bay, turning to me in the same moment.

“Don’t,” I said pleadingly, stopping only a few steps from where Remus stood.  I held up a hand and continued breathlessly.  “Don’t hurt him.  I’m the one you want.  Just… let him go.”

Remus glanced down at Bordeaux and the look in his eyes convinced me he was about to snap my friend’s neck just as easily as he had Boudicca’s, but then movement off to my left drew his attention, and instead of killing Bordeaux outright, he threw him instead.  I tracked his flight and watched as Bordeaux crashed into Stryker and Santino who had also landed near each other and had decided to renew the fight.  This ended poorly for all three of them as the trio crashed through a wooden door and disappeared into a nearby building.

I looked back at Remus, unsure if any of my friends were capable of helping any longer, but when my head was finally around, Remus was already looming over me, and with a tremendous slap of his hand, he sent the orbs flying from my grasp.

And just like that, I had failed.

“
You’re
the one I want?”  Remus asked as he glared down at me, frothing at the mouth, his once beautiful and flawless countenance blemished by the venom in his eyes and the horrible welts and sores that covered his body.  “This is not a movie, Jacob Hunter.  I left you to die once before and I am prepared to finish that job n…”

He was cut off when something slammed into him, and I half expected Romulus to have reentered the fight, but there was no one there.  It had appeared as though he’d been struck by an invisible fist, but the only explanation I had was that Helena had shot him, directly in the head, saving my life from…

But then Remus was standing again, his hand moving swiftly to take hold of my neck and lift me off the ground, placing me directly in Helena’s line of fire.  I looked at him and saw that Helena’s bullet had in fact took him directly in the skull, only that it had found itself lodged in his forehead just as her very first direct hit had found itself buried in the side of his chest.  Only inches away, I could see the wound already beginning to heal itself, pushing the bullet out.

“Perhaps I won’t kill you so quickly after all,” Remus growled.  “I now wish to make you watch as I tear your beloved sniper apart, limb by limb.”

I had nothing to fight him with.  My pistol was gone, my knife inaccessible, no grenades, bricks of C-4, claymores, nothing.  Just myself and the realization that it was over…

***

Archer and I watched from behind an overturned wagon cart as Remus threw poor Jeanne through the air.  When he slammed into TJ and John, I wanted to cry, but then Archer wrapped an arm around me as he placed his free hand over my mouth, but not before I saw Remus moving with blinding speed to stand just in front of Jacob, although my brother had not yet noticed his attention.

“Shh,” he warned, keeping me close.

Somehow, I found a way to nod, and he removed his hand.

“What are we going to do?”  I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.  “What the hell
can
we do?  It’s over, Paul!  Ov…”

“It’s not over,” he said, his voice brimming with confidence that couldn’t possibly be warranted.  “There’s still something we can do.”

“What?”  I asked.

He nodded over the cart and I looked in the appropriate direction, finding the orbs just on the other side.  I hadn’t any idea how they got there.

“Give me your gun, Diana,” Archer said.

I found myself handing it to him as I watched Remus suddenly fall to a knee like he’d been smashed in the head with a wrecking ball.  I wasn’t sure what had happened to him but…

I turned to Archer, more confused than ever.  “Wait, what are you going to…”

“I can’t believe I’m going to ask this of you, Diana,” he said quickly, like he was trying to convince himself.  “But we’ve got to help your brother.  I’ll maneuver around them and distract Remus while you grab the orbs and get them to Jacob.”

“Wait, you want me to…”

He didn’t let me finish as he leaned in quick and stole a kiss from me, but I was more surprised that I let him.  He pulled away and I stared into his bright blue eyes.

“Paul…”

“I’m so sorry, Diana,” he said as he popped up to look over the cart again.  “For everything.  For how I treated you, for what I did to Jacob, everything.  I don’t expect your forgiveness.  I don’t want it.  Not now, not ever, but I’m most sorry for what I’m asking you to do right now.  Because we have to go.  We have to go now!”

He was already rising to his feet and sprinting to the left, circling around so that he could approach Remus from the side.  I watched with wide eyes, having not a clue what he could possibly hope to accomplish with a pistol and his knife against something as monstrous as Remus.  I tried to seek additional help from the rest of the team, but most were either still out of sight or just barely struggling to their feet. 

With Archer gone, I was all alone.

Alone with nothing but the orbs.

Thinking of them, I slowly picked myself up so that I could peek over the wagon, but when I pulled myself up, I saw Remus holding Jacob a foot off the ground, his massive hand wrapped around Jacob’s neck.  Out of the corner of my eye I could still see Archer sprinting like the wind in a wide circle to get around Remus, the sight of it all setting something off in the back of my mind like a long forgotten timer suddenly striking zero.

After all this time, I still wasn’t sure if I could pull a trigger on someone, even when it was needed most.  But I no longer had a trigger to pull, at least not in the literal sense.  I didn’t have a gun or a bomb or even a bow and arrow to use against Remus, but I had the orbs.  I couldn’t kill him, but I had an opportunity to do what needed to be done.  I couldn’t just stand by and let Remus kill Jacob, or any of the others.  I had to do something, and I was the only one left to do it.