House of Sky and Breath (Crescent City) (60 page)

The mer had silently shifted positions again, putting himself within a few easy bounds of tackling Pippa.

“I haven’t said anything to them about you yet,” Cormac said with impressive iciness.

“Oh? Then why were you in such a rush to get here? I can only assume it was for one of two reasons: to convince them to put
you
in charge of the Valbaran front, presumably by slandering me, or to try to capture me so I can tell you everything I know about Emile Renast.”

“Who says both can’t be true?” Cormac countered.

Pippa grunted. “You needn’t have bothered with capturing me. I would have worked with you to find him. But you wanted the glory for yourself.”

“We’re talking about a child’s life,” Cormac snarled. “You only want him as a weapon.”

“And you don’t?” Pippa sneered at them all. “It must make it easier for you if you pretend you’re better than I am.”

Tharion said, deadly soft, “We’re not the ones torturing people to death for intel on the kid.”

She frowned. “Is that what you think I’ve been up to? Those gruesome murders?”

“We found human scents
and
a piece of one of your soldiers on the kid’s trail,” Tharion growled, a hand drifting to his knives.

Her lips curved into a cold smile. “You arrogant, narrow-minded Vanir. Always thinking the worst of us humans.” She shook her head in mock sympathy. “You’re too coiled up in your own snake’s nest to see the truth. Or to see who among you has a forked tongue.”

True to form, Bryce stuck out her tongue at the soldier. Pippa only sneered.

“Enough, Pippa.” Cormac punched the code into the small box at the foot of the sarcophagus. Bryce’s eyes had narrowed, though. She held Pippa’s gaze—and a chill went down Hunt’s spine at the pure dominance in Bryce’s face.

Pippa drawled, “It is of no concern now. anyway. The boy has been deemed a waste of resources. Especially now that we have … better weapons to wield.”

As if in answer, the lid popped open with a hiss, and Hunt threw an arm in front of Bryce as it slid aside. Smoke from dry ice billowed out, and Cormac cleared it away with a brush of his hand.

Pippa said, “Well, Umbra Mortis? I await your insights.”

“I’d mind how you speak to him, Pippa,” Cormac warned her, voice sharp with authority.

Pippa faced Bryce, though. “And you’re Cormac’s bride, yes?” No kindness, no warmth filled her tone.

Bryce flashed the female a smile. “You can have the job if you want it so badly.”

Pippa bristled, but Cormac gestured Hunt forward as the last of the smoke cleared.

Hunt surveyed the suit in the box and swore. “The Asteri designed this?” he asked. Pippa nodded, lips pursed tight. “For Vanir to pilot?” he pushed.

Another nod. Pippa said, “I don’t see how it can possess more
power than ours, though. It’s smaller than our models.” The quicksilver-bright suit would stand about seven feet high.

“You know what you’re looking at?” Ruhn asked Hunt, scratching his head.

“It’s like a robot,” Bryce said, peering into the box.

“It’s not,” Hunt said. He rocked back on his heels, mind racing. “I heard rumors about this kind of thing being made, but I always thought it was a long shot.”

“What is it?” Pippa demanded.

“Impatient, are we?” Hunt mocked. But he tapped a finger on the suit. “This metal has the same makeup as gorsian stones.” He nodded to Bryce. “Like what they did with the synth—they were seeking ways to weaponize the gorsian stones.”

“We already have them in our bullets,” Pippa said smugly.

He ground out, “I know you do.” He had a scar on his stomach from one.

Perhaps that threat alone was what had kept Tharion from making his move. The mer had a clear shot toward Pippa. But could he run faster than she could draw her gun? Hunt and Bryce could help him, but … Hunt really didn’t want to outright attack an Ophion leader. Let Tharion and the River Queen deal with that shit.

Pippa shifted a few inches out of Tharion’s range once more.

Hunt went on, “This metal … The Asteri have been researching a way to make the gorsian ore absorb magic, not suppress it.”

Ruhn said, “Seems like ordinary titanium to me.”

“Look closer,” Hunt said. “There are slight purple veins in it. That’s the gorsian stone. I’d know it anywhere.”

“So what can it do?” Bryce asked.

“If I’m right,” Hunt said hoarsely, “it can draw the firstlight from the ground. From all the pipes of it crisscrossing the land. These suits would draw up the firstlight and turn it into weapons. Brimstone missiles, made right there on the spot. The suit would never run out of ammo, never run out of battery life. Simply find the underground power lines, and it’d be charged up and ready to kill. That’s why they’re smaller—because they don’t need all the
extra tech and room for the arsenal that the human suits require. A Vanir warrior could climb inside and essentially wear it like an exoskeleton—like armor.”

Silence.

Pippa said, voice full of awe, “Do you know what this would mean for the cause?”

Bryce said dryly, “It means a Hel of a lot more people would die.”

“Not if it’s in our hands,” Pippa said. That light in her eyes—Hunt had seen it before, in the face of Philip Briggs.

Pippa went on, more to herself than to any of them, “We’d at last have a source of magic to unleash on them. Make them understand how we suffer.” She let out a delighted laugh.

Cormac stiffened. So did Tharion.

But Hunt said, “This is a prototype. There might be some kinks to work out.”

“We have excellent engineers,” Pippa said firmly.

Hunt pushed, “This is a death machine.”

“And what is a gun?” Pippa snapped. “Or a sword?” She sneered at the lightning zapping at his fingertips. “What is your magic, angel, but an instrument of death?” Her eyes blazed again. “This suit is simply a variation on a theme.”

Ruhn said to Hunt, “So what’s your take on it? Can Ophion use it?”

“No one should fucking use it,” Hunt growled. “On either side.” He said to Cormac, “And if you’re smart, you’ll tell Command to track down the scientists behind this and destroy them and their plans. The bloodshed on both sides will become monstrous if you’re all using these things.”

“It’s already monstrous,” Cormac said quietly. “I just want it ended.”

But Pippa said, “The Vanir deserve everything that’s coming to them.”

Bryce grinned. “So do you, terrorizing that poor boy and then deciding he’s not worth it.”

“Emile?” Pippa laughed. “He’s not the helpless baby you think he is. He found allies to protect him. By all means, go retrieve him.
I doubt he’ll help the Vanir win this war—not now that we have this technology in our hands. Thunderbirds are nothing compared to this.” She ran a hand over the rim of the box.

Tharion cut in, “Where’s the kid?”

Pippa smirked. “Somewhere even you, mer, would fear to tread. I’m content to leave him there, and so is Command. The boy is no longer our priority.”

Bryce seethed, “You’re deluded if you think this suit is anything but a disaster for everyone.”

Pippa crossed her arms. “I don’t see how you have any right to judge. While you’re busy getting your nails painted, Princess, good people are fighting and dying in this war.”

Bryce wiggled her nails at the rebel. “If I’m going to associate with losers like you, I might as well look good doing it.”

Hunt shook his head, cutting off Pippa before she could retort. “We’re talking machines that can make
brimstone missiles
within seconds and unleash them at short range.” His lightning now sizzled at his hands.

“Yes,” Pippa said, eyes still lit with predatory bloodlust. “No Vanir will stand a chance.” She lifted her attention to the ship above them, and Hunt followed her focus in time to see the crew appearing at the rails. Backs to them.

Five mer, two shifter-types. None in an Ophion uniform. Rebel sympathizers, then, who’d likely volunteered their boat and services to the cause. They raised their hands.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Hunt growled, just as Pippa lifted her arm in a signal to the human Lightfall squadron standing atop the ship. Herding the Vanir crew to the rails.

Guns cracked.

Blood sprayed, and Hunt flung out a wing, shading Bryce from the mist of red.

The Vanir crumpled, and Ruhn and Cormac began shouting, but Hunt watched, frozen, as the Lightfall squadron on deck approached the fallen crew, pumping their heads full of bullets.

“First round is always a gorsian bullet,” Pippa said mildly in the terrible silence that followed as the Lightfall soldiers drew long
knives and began severing heads from necks. “To get the Vanir down. The rest are lead. The beheading makes it permanent.”

“Are you fucking
insane
?” Hunt burst out, just as Tharion spat, “You’re a murdering psycho.”

But Cormac snarled at Pippa, getting in her face, blocking Tharion’s direct path. “I was told the crew would be unharmed. They helped us out of their belief in the cause.”

She said flatly, “They’re Vanir.”

“And that’s an excuse for this?” Ruhn shouted. Blood gleamed on his neck, his cheek, from where it had sprayed down. “They’re Vanir who are
helping you
.”

Pippa only shrugged again. “This is war. We can’t risk them telling the Asteri where we are. The order to put the crew down came from Command. I am their instrument.”

“You and Command are going to lead these people to ruin.” Shadows gathered at Ruhn’s shoulders. “And like Hel am I going to help you do it.”

Pippa only snickered. “Such lofty morals.” A phone buzzed in her pocket, and she checked the screen before saying, “I’m due to report to Command. Care to join me, Cormac?” She smiled slightly. “I’m sure they’d
love
to hear your concerns.”

Cormac only glared, and Pippa let out a sharp whistle—an order. With that, she sauntered down the quay toward the side cavern, where the rest of the rebels had gone. A moment later, the human Lightfall squadron walked off the ship, guns at their sides. Ruhn snarled softly, but they followed Pippa without so much as glancing toward them.

The humans were bold as Hel to stride past them, putting their backs to Vanir after what they’d done.

When Pippa and Lightfall had vanished, Tharion said, “She knows where Emile is.”

“If you can trust her,” Bryce countered.

“She knows,” Cormac said. He gestured to Tharion. “You want to interrogate her, go ahead. But with her and Lightfall now in charge of the Valbaran front, your queen will have a mess on her hands if you move against them. I’d think twice if I were you, mer.”

Bryce hummed her agreement, mouth twisting to the side. “I’d stay the Hel away from her.”

Hunt tucked in his wings. Assessed his mate.

She slid her gaze to him. Innocently. Too innocently.

She knew something.

She dropped the
Who, me?
expression and glared at him. As if to say,
Don’t you fucking rat me out, Athalar.

He was stunned enough that he inclined his head. He’d get the truth out of her later.

Tharion was asking, “All this ammo they unloaded … Ophion is bringing it into this region. To do what—stage some big battle?”

“No one would tell me,” Cormac said. “If they let Pippa have free rein, she’ll commit atrocities that will make that leopard massacre seem merciful.”

“You think she’d start shit in Lunathion?” Ruhn asked.

“I don’t see why you’d bring in guns and missiles for a tea party,” Tharion said, rubbing his jaw. Then he added, “They already had this base set up. How long has it been here on Ydra?”

“Not sure,” Cormac said.

“Well, with Pippa at the helm, it seems like they’re ready to strike,” Ruhn said.

Hunt said, “I can’t let them do that. Even if I wasn’t in the 33rd, I can’t let them attack innocent people. They want to go head-to-head on some muddy battlefield, fine, but I’m not going to let them hurt anyone in my city.”

“Me neither,” Ruhn said. “I’ll lead the Aux against you—against Ophion. Tell Command that if they make one move, they can say goodbye to their contact with Daybright.”

Tharion didn’t say anything. Hunt didn’t blame him. The mer would have to follow the River Queen’s orders. But his face was grim.

Cormac said, “You warn anyone in Lunathion, they’ll ask how you know.”

Hunt observed the bodies slumped against the boat railing. “That’s a risk I’m willing to take. And one of us is a master of spinning bullshit.” He pointed to Bryce.

Bryce scowled. Yeah, she knew he didn’t just mean spinning lies for the authorities about their involvement with the rebels.
As soon as we’re out of here
, he silently conveyed,
I want to know everything
you
know.

She glowered, even if she couldn’t read his thoughts. But that glower turned into icy determination as the others noticed the look. She lifted her chin. “We can’t let the Asteri get this suit. Or Ophion—especially the Lightfall squadron.”

Hunt nodded. At least on this, they were on the same page. “They’re going to be so fucking pissed.”

“I guess that means it’s business as usual,” Bryce said, winking despite her pale face. She said to him, “Light it up, Hunt.”

Cormac whirled. “What are you—”

Hunt didn’t give the prince time to finish before he laid a hand on the suit and blasted it apart with his lightning.

Hunt didn’t stop at destroying the suit. His lightning slammed the parked trucks, too. Every single one of them. Bryce couldn’t help but marvel at the sight of him—like a god of lightning. Like Thurr himself.

He looked
exactly
like that statuette that had sat on her desk a couple weeks ago—

Ruhn bellowed at her to get down, and Bryce hit the ground, covering her head with her arms as truck after truck exploded across the cavern. The walls shook, stones falling, and then there were wings blocking her, protecting her.

“There are brimstone missiles on those trucks!” Cormac roared.

Bryce raised her head as Hunt pointed to the untouched truck marked
Pie Life
. “Only on that one.” He must have somehow figured it out during the few minutes they’d been here. Hunt grinned wickedly at Tharion. “Let’s see what you got, Ketos.”