Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) (20 page)

The video feed cut off and the virtual screen blinked out.

“Shuriken!” yelled Take. “Do you have a location?”

“No, Takeshi. The point of origin was masked.”

“It was Nick’s house in L.A.,” Rory said woodenly. “I saw the painting I gave him in the background.”

Take looked at Rory. “Do you have coordinates?”

“Yes.” He passed the coordinates to his triad brother over the link. Tears of blood streamed from his eyes. “Take, please hurry. There might still be time.”

“Shuriken!” roared Take. “Tell the Los Angeles chapterhouse I need a first response team dispatched immediately to a residence at coordinates I am linking to Special Agent Nizhoni now. Have the team ready for combat, and make sure it has Fire Sentinels on hand to assist with a major healing!”

Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California; Seven minutes later

Luscian pounded the last railroad spike into the wall and then considered the scene for best artistic effect. He nodded once in satisfaction.
Unfortunate that I don’t have more time. It would have been a stronger message if I had scattered his internal organs across the room and hung his fingers from the chandelier.
Still, he wanted the boy to survive this ordeal relatively intact. Even if Nick failed to prove a useful asset to House Luscian, he could still prove a distraction to inflame the Traveler into making tactical errors.

Then he accessed the Armistice teleport relay system using the stolen codes his spies had acquired, and jumped back across the ocean just as the first Armistice Security agents barreled into the room.

* * *

Two Sentinels, one carrying a sword and the other a pair of daggers, ran through the open doorway in front of her, taking up positions inside the door as more Sentinels fanned out into the dark interior. Anaba, her staff at the ready, followed them cautiously. The agents advanced down the dimly lit front hallway, splitting up to sweep the adjoining rooms. Scanning the living room in semi-darkness, Ana flipped on the overhead lights, revealing a charnel house. Wet and dried blood soaked into the carpet, and numerous cut lengths of stained rope were draped over an overturned dining chair.

“Oh, my God!” One of the Sentinels glanced over Ana’s shoulder, his eyes bulging. As Ana spun around, she saw another Sentinel cross himself. Nick’s body was hanging halfway up the wall, his arms stretched out above his head, wrists and ankles nailed to the wall by heavy metal pitons. His chest and abdomen were bare and his sweatpants were deeply stained with blood. An extensive pattern of slash wounds scored his body, and incised into the flesh above his sternum was the branching Arcolin rune for ‘death’ enclosed in a seven-pointed star—the seal of House Luscian.

Anaba leapt over the couch to Nick’s side. She laid her hand flat on his chest, a green glow already forming around her fingers. The light spread out across Nick’s skin and then faded with no visible effect. Slowly, she withdrew her hand from his lacerated chest and reached up to feel his pulse. Then she dropped her hand, hesitating as she saw the wet blood that stained her skin. She regarded it for a second and then turned to the other Sentinels.

“Are you all right, Stanton?” she asked the one who was puking in a corner.

Wiping his mouth and breathing hard, he faced Ana. “Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry. I knew it would be bad, but I wasn’t ready.”

“You don’t have anything to apologize for.”

“Yes, I do,” he said in a haunted voice. “We all do. We let ourselves get lazy.” He looked past Anaba to the body on the wall and his face twisted in remorse. “We forgot what we were dealing with.”

The other Sentinels, who had been searching the house, returned to the living room. With grim expressions, they absorbed the gruesome tableau before them.

“The rest of the house is clear, ma’am. He’s long gone,” one of them told Anaba.

Ana turned again to look at Nick. “You’re right, Stanton,” she said quietly. “We should have been here.” Her voice strengthened. “Inform the Triumvirate that we were too late.”

One of the Sentinels behind her spoke quietly to his AI, making his report. After a moment, Take’s voice answered curtly. The first Sentinel acknowledged his orders and signed off. “Special Agent Nizhoni,” he said, “the Director has ordered us to leave the scene intact until the Triumvirate arrives to make their inspection.”

Ana turned back to the rest of the first response team. “They’re coming here? All of them?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“All right. Spread out and secure the house. No one else enters this room until the Council departs.”

The Sentinels dispersed, leaving Anaba alone in the room. After a moment, a white haze blazed in the room’s center, and Take, Rory, and Nemesis appeared. Take’s eyes widened at the scene, but Rory and Nemesis only looked impassively at the body on the wall.

“Ana,” said Take, “are you sure there’s nothing you can do?”

“No. He’s gone.” She glanced at Rory. “The Grace is the only thing that can help him now, if you want to try to bring him back.”

“No,” said Rory. “Not yet.”

“What do you mean ‘not yet’?” asked Take in surprise.

Rory’s expression was unreadable. “Not until he rises.”

“What?” Ana spun to face Nick’s body again. “Are you sure? I didn’t feel anything.”

Nemesis’ voice was filled with cold fury. “Sean is correct, Anaba. You can’t feel it because the taint is being masked as his Gift struggles to fight off the conversion, but it is only a matter of time now.”

Ana turned back to Rory. “But you’re going to give it to him, right?”

Rory walked forward to stand before Nick. “Not until he’s ready to ask for it.” Reaching up, he ran his fingers lightly through Nick’s stained, blood-stiffened hair. “I’m so sorry, Nicholas,” he said softly. “I should have warned you.”

Rory leaned forward until his forehead rested on Nick’s chest. When he spoke again, his voice reverberated with wrath. “They will all burn for this. I swear to God. With my last drop of strength, I will make them pay for what they did to you.”

“Rory…” Ana hesitated. “Are you going to be all right?”

Rory pulled away from Nick. “No.” His eyes ablaze and his cheeks bloody with tears, he muttered, “Not ever again.” Rory strode back to the other Speakers. “Layla.”

Nemesis looked at him stoically. “Sean.”

“At the beginning, you asked if I wanted you and the Children of the Dawn to swear allegiance to me. I said I needed no followers.”

“I remember,” Nemesis answered, her voice neutral.

“Castle Night will be heavily defended. I have no chance of reaching Luscian alone. His scions will bury me in a sea of bodies. Even if they can’t kill me, I’ll eventually be captured and imprisoned.”

She nodded. “I agree.”

“To avenge my honor, I will need an army.”

Nemesis looked him straight in the eyes. “Then you shall have one.” She knelt before him. “On behalf of myself and all the Children of the Dawn, we yield to your will, Redeemer. Command us. Our lives are yours. We are your blades to wield.”

Rory completed the ritual vow of allegiance. “I accept your honor, and the honor of the Children of the Dawn, to defend as if it were my own.”

Nemesis stood. “What are your orders, Master?”

“Tell our best weather manipulators to generate heavy storm clouds and block out the sun over the Grand Mesa. Then gather your people outside Anchorpoint—all of them—and as many of the Children of Darkness as will join us against House Luscian. Make sure they all have communications units if they haven’t got AI implants. We leave for Castle Night as soon as the sun sets in France.”

“I shall see to it, my Lord.”

He turned away from Nemesis and faced Ana. “Ana, can I ask you for a favor?”

Ana blinked. “You can ask,” she said.

Rory’s gaze flew to Nick, and his fangs retracted. “Please, Anaba,” he begged, his voice breaking. “Get him down from there. He didn’t deserve any of this. Clean him up and take him somewhere safe, someplace where he can rise to the second life in peace. Then come back to Anchorpoint.” Rory’s voice sharpened. “This will be one party you don’t want to miss.”

“Rory—” said Ana. She fell silent, searching for something to say. “I’ll take care of him for you.”

“Thank you,” he whispered, his gaze fixed on Nick’s face. “Takeshi, I need you to get a message to every member of Armistice Security and every unaffiliated Sentinel you can reach.”

Take frowned behind Rory’s back. “What message?”

Rory’s fangs extended and he growled deeply.
“Come and see.”
Then he teleported away.

Take looked at Layla. “This is a trap. You know that.”

Layla gave him a speculative glance. “No, Shadowhunter. This is war. Luscian breached the Armistice, publicly and despicably. Our honor is irretrievably compromised. There can be no going back from this point. Either the Armistice survives this day, or Luscian does. Justice allows no other alternative. Are you up to the task?” Then she jumped away as well.

Take looked at Nick’s body for a long while. “Shuriken,” he finally said to his AI, “stand by to upload a maximum priority message to the communications center at Anchorpoint for relay to Icehaven and the Citadel. The message is to be distributed system-wide, from all three transmission hubs to all members of Armistice Security, as well as all unaffiliated Sentinels linked into the planetary communications envelope.”

“Ready to record,” said the AI.

“Message begins. This is the Speaker for the Watch. The Armistice has sustained a class-one breach, subspecification: murder and forcible conversion of a non-combatant. The offense was witnessed by myself and the other members of the Triumvirate, as was the offender’s confession. The offender in question is Imperator Luscian Firstborn, called Soulkiller, the Eldest, the Prince of Nightmares. Summary judgment is entered against him on my authority, and a directed trial order of execution is now rendered.

“All combat-capable agents of Armistice Security are ordered to report immediately to Anchorpoint for military deployment to Castle Night, on my authority as Director of Armistice Security. All other combat-capable Sentinels are requested to fight beside me in battle, on my authority as the Wind of Earth.” Take took a deep breath. “Brothers and sisters, come and see. Message ends.”

“Message processed and ready for transmission.”

“Execute.”

“Transmission complete.”

He turned to Ana. “Sunset in Western Europe is only a couple of hours away. Get Nick settled and meet me back at Armistice Security Headquarters.”

“Where should I take him?”

“Use your judgment. I have to get moving on the tactical AIs to keep track of the incoming Sentinels and organize them into strategic formations with the vampires before we invade.”

“I’ll be there, Take.”

Take subvocalized to his AI and disappeared in a flash of light.

Anaba reached up to remove the metal spikes holding up Nick’s dead body, one at a time. As she touched them, they glowed orange and slid out of the wall. She caught him as he fell heavily into her arms.

“Come on, Nick. I’ll give you a room with a view for when you wake up,” she said, cradling him against her chest. “Morningstar, I need a priority transit for two, relayed through the Anchorpoint master gateway directly to the Citadel.”

“Teleport ready,” answered her AI.

“Execute.”

A white light enshrouded them and they vanished.

PART IV:  THE BURNING

CHAPTER 26

June 2033; Castle Night, French Alps; Early evening

The Triumvirate regarded the massive bulk of Castle Night before them from a wide staging ground beyond the outer walls—the only part of the complex not covered by layer upon layer of jumper blocks. The castle was nestled in a mountain valley, the immense structure cut directly into the granite of the mountain. The crenellated battlements speared into the violet sky, dominated by the central spire of the High Tower.

Rory, Nemesis, and Takeshi walked up the road and stood before the great steel doors in the curtain wall, illuminated by halogen spotlights. After a moment, a small postern gate opened and a single Nightwalker bowed before them.

“My Lords and Lady, I am Gastineau Praetor Luscian, and I welcome you to Castle Night.”

Rory scowled, showing his fangs. “Stand aside, Praetor. I have business with your Master.”

“So I have been informed, Prince Sean,” Gastineau said calmly. “My Master awaits you atop the High Tower—if you can reach him.”

“Meaning what, exactly?” asked Take.

The Nightwalker studied him with distaste. “House Luscian stands ready to oppose you, Shadowhunter. You will have to kill us all before we will allow you to reach our Master.”

“Then we will kill you all,” Nemesis said coldly.

Gastineau smiled, clearly amused. “Forgive me for saying so, Prince Layla, but you have no chance whatsoever.”

Rory stepped forward. “That’s all right, Praetor.” He laid his hand companionably on Gastineau’s shoulder. “I forgive you.”

Gastineau jerked away, realizing the danger too late. The light of the Grace flared from Rory’s touch. With a choked cry, the Nightwalker staggered back and then collapsed on the ground before them.

From above the wall, Nightwalkers opened up on them with machine guns and combat magic. Rory looked up at the enemy, whose attacks glanced off the bright green shield that had become visible around them. He held his arms out to his sides and Nemesis and Takeshi took his hands, the three of them pooling their strength. Focusing their power in front of the main gate, they drew a Rune of Unbinding in the air in orange fire.

The Nightwalkers standing on the stone arch above the doors ceased their attacks and leapt off the wall into the shelter of the courtyard. The vampires on either side of the doors continued to attack. Then the Rune of Unbinding before them doubled and redoubled. Duplicate sigils spread out from the master rune and lined up in the air all along the curtain wall. The attacking Nightwalkers stared at them in shock, then tried to escape as they realized their peril, too late. The runes flared a blinding white. The entire fortification imploded, instantaneously reduced to dust and gravel, exposing the enormous courtyard of Castle Night to view.