Sunrise(Pact Arcanum 2) (44 page)

“Unknown, my Lord. But Nicholas appears to have recovered from the ordeal.” Lorcan kept his tone carefully neutral.

“Very good.” Aleksei regarded the floating head of Kukiko, still pristinely preserved in its jar. “He seemed to have potential. It would have been unfortunate to lose such a useful resource. From your reports, I see you have used the episode to ingratiate yourself with his allies. I am impressed, Lorcan. A lesser spy might have allowed the opportunity to pass him by.”

Lorcan smiled. “My Lord Imperator, I also am a useful resource.”

Aleksei cocked his head in amusement at Lorcan’s arrogance. “Lorcan, you might actually live up to your Master’s admiration. I thought Brion was exaggerating your skill.”

Lorcan bowed. “Thank you, my Lord. How do you wish me to proceed?”

“Continue as before. You play the role of the concerned lover well, if my reports are accurate.” Aleksei smiled. “Maintain the charade as long as possible, and pass me whatever intelligence you can gather from Nicholas and his circle of allies. You are one of them now, Lorcan, for all intents and purposes. Until the time comes for us to strike, you will remain our eyes and ears within the Armistice.”

Lorcan bowed again. “Your will, Master.”

“You are excused, Lorcan.”

As the door closed behind Lorcan, the Night’s Herald appeared from behind her shroud, her sword unsheathed. “Master, it would be a mistake to trust him. His devotion to Nicholas may be his true face, not merely a role that he plays.”

Aleksei nodded. “To be sure. But until we know for certain, he will continue to pass us information to maintain his deception, whichever side he intends to betray. In the end, Lorcan will serve his purpose, one way or another.”

August 2039; Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, California

Nick padded silently through his deserted house, the night sky showing through the bare windows. It seemed only an empty shell now that the furnishings had all been packed up for shipment to his new home in North Carolina, where he was due to start the treatment program Rory had organized.
My life ended twice in this room
, he reflected, turning to look at the far wall, where Luscian had crucified his body after torturing him to death. Then he dropped his gaze to where he had knelt when he begged for his brother’s life.
Death and resurrection.
How many more second chances will I be offered before fate casts me into the sunrise for real?

The fake intervention had satisfied Toby, and had allowed the others to vent their anger once they withdrew from the Wind link and their normal personalities reemerged. It had also given Nick a lot to think about. He still didn’t know if he could face eternity with the memory of his two—no, three—encounters with death ever present in his mind, but for the moment, he was willing to make the attempt.

Rory walked up behind him and laid a hand on his shoulder. “They’ve loaded the last of the boxes. We can leave whenever you’re ready.”

Nick nodded, saying nothing.

“I remember when you bought this place.” Rory indicated the empty walls. “You were so proud. It was the first thing you did when you got your advance on the fourth album, before the royalties started pouring in. You were so innocent, I thought. The way I was before Jiao-long or the Gift.” He faced Nick. “I don’t think I ever told you how much it meant to me, that night we spent after the Christmas party. You gave me someone to care about again—a window into the world I left behind.”

“I was so young,” Nick said, tracing the faint lines that marked where the pictures of his family and friends had hung. In his perfect memory, he could see their faces smiling at him. “I was alone on top of my world, and so were you.” He lifted his gaze to meet Rory’s eyes. “I never told you how much that night meant to me either. Despite all the darkness that came after, just for a moment maybe we saved each other.”

“Nick, we’ll get through this,” Rory said, wrapping his arms around Nick. “You just have to have faith, and trust in the people you love. We’re all behind you.”

Nick murmured in his ear. “I believe it.”

“Are you going to miss this place?”

Nick pulled away from Rory and studied the ghosts of memory that still haunted the room. “No.” Turning his back on the life he had led, Nick walked out of the room with Rory, side by side.

EPILOGUE

February 2042; Chapel Hill, North Carolina

The game was tied, vampires vs. Sentinels. Nick’s husband Jeremy tossed the basketball in the air and quickly ducked out of the way to sit on the sidelines with Sike and Michelle. Nick caught the ball and passed to Rory who dribbled it between his feet as Layla and Rafael went for the goal. Ana and Scott immediately split up to cover them, and Takeshi tried to snatch the ball from his lover’s hands. Rory jumped over him and tried to pass the ball back to Nick, but the ball changed direction in mid-air and flew to Toby’s hands.

The Fire Sentinel tapped his Gift for speed and blurred toward the opposite goal, but Rory teleported ahead of him to cover the basket. Toby passed to Scott, who ducked around Rory and lifted the ball over the goal, his arms lengthening as he dropped the ball into the basket. When it touched the rim of the goal, however, the ball shattered into iridescent shards and evaporated.

Everyone stopped then, frozen in shock, before turning to face Nick at the other side of the court, holding the real ball. The Daywalker grinned and casually tossed the ball into the goal. “And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the game is played.”

Sike laughed and took another sip of his beer. “If the humans could see you guys now, well, they’d probably be just as awestruck.”

Jeremy tapped his beer against Sike’s. “They’d certainly make some cool cash as ringers.”

Toby draped his arm over Layla’s shoulders. “See, I told you you’d enjoy it.”

Layla attempted to give him a look of disdain, but then gave up and grinned. “Who knew your ideas weren’t all insane?”

Nick snorted. “Not me.” He dug a beer out of the cooler. “Any pepperoni left?”

Jeremy handed him a pizza box. “Don’t I always save you some?”

Nick reached in and grabbed a slice. “Bless you, Leshir. I knew I kept you around for a reason.”

Jeremy was about to reply when the perimeter ward chimed twice, announcing a visitor with access privileges. Everyone turned to face the backyard gate as Claire Jameson opened the door and walked onto the court holding a manila folder.

Nick and Toby stepped forward to meet her, their faces showing identical expressions of concern. Nick spoke first. “Hi, Mom. I thought you were supposed to be in California.”

“Is something wrong?” Toby asked.

“The Armistice Security garrison in Los Angeles did me a favor and jumped me to the local chapterhouse here,” Claire said. She hesitated as she chose her next words. “Boys, there’s something we need to talk about in private.”

Nick headed for the glass doors leading back into the house. “Sure. Let’s go inside.”

The three of them entered Nick’s house, and Toby closed the glass doors behind them. “What’s going on, Mom?” Toby asked.

“Nick, do you remember when your father died?”

Nick stiffened. “Of course. I was on tour, but I came home as soon as you called me.”

“Do you remember me asking you to watch Toby and Faith when I went to the reading of the will?”

“I didn’t want to go anyway. It felt morbid.”

She sighed. “There was a specific bequest he made the night he died. At the time, I didn’t understand what he meant, and there were so many arrangements to make with the funeral, that it slipped my mind afterward. I only discovered it again when I was going through his things to find his watch for your wedding.”

Nick glanced down at the heavy mechanical timepiece on his wrist. “Mom, that was two months ago.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. But it was just so unexpected that I couldn’t accept it. I debated whether to tell you since then, and I finally decided that it was your right to know.” She opened the manila folder and pulled out a yellowed business-sized envelope. “He left this for the two of you.”

Nick took it from her hand, and froze. Toby stepped to his aide and read what was written on the envelope.

To my sons, for when they open their eyes.

Nick lifted his eyes to pin his mother with a shocked look. “He was a Sentinel?”

Claire sat in Nick’s armchair. “It looks that way. I haven’t been able to open the envelope.”

“It’s been spell-locked,” Toby said. He reached out and tapped his fingers on the brittle paper, and a glowing sigil appeared over the seam, then faded. Nick broke the crumbling seal and drew out two sheets of paper covered with their father’s handwriting.

In Arcolin.

The two of them said nothing as they read the letter.

Boys,

If you’re reading this then I must not have made it back. Damn the Triumvirate’s black hearts for drafting me into service, but I suppose I can’t blame them. They needed as many Fire Sentinels as they could get to try and seal the borders before the Court attacked. If they’d given me a choice, I would have refused, for your sakes. But, if you’re reading this, then you’ve opened your eyes, as I always knew you would, and you understand that sometimes there is no choice.

I did everything I could to shield our family from the world I left behind, but some doors just won’t close. You’re Sentinels now, and that means I failed. It’s a father’s duty to protect his family, but it’s also his duty to prepare his children for the life they must lead. The life of a Sentinel is a lonely, bleak existence, and dying in the line of duty is scant comfort at the end of a long life of denial.

Don’t make the same mistakes as I did. Live your lives, and be happy. But don’t ever think you can escape your duty. If you ever think you’re out, then it’s an illusion, and the truth is always better than any illusion. I learned that from my friend, Antonio. He chose duty. I chose family. And both of us died for the cause in the end.

I’m sorry I wasn’t there to teach you this last lesson in person, but I only just now learned it myself. Take care of your mother and your sister. They may not be part of your world, but you’re part of theirs. Live in both worlds, and you won’t die alone, as so many of us do.

So live.

My name is Sentinel Edgar Francis Jameson,

and my words are true.

Nick handed the letter to Toby and walked back to the glass doors, looking out at his friends, who had become his family. He listened as Toby translated the letter for their mother. Then he slammed the doors open hard enough that the glass shattered in the frame. Everyone on the basketball court turned to stare at him as he stalked out into the backyard, his vampire senses fully open.

“My father was a Sentinel.”

He saw Layla’s shields strengthen quite clearly, but both Ana and Take appeared unsurprised. Of the metahumans, only Rory, Rafael, and Scott seemed genuinely shocked. Behind him, he heard Toby and Claire follow him outside. “He died 2024, apparently during a Triumvirate operation. How many of you knew?”

“I knew,” Takeshi said.

Ana’s answer was surprisingly matter-of-fact. “I created the simulacrum that we planted in your house after he died.”

“I take it he didn’t die of a heart attack, then?” Toby asked, his voice heavy with sarcasm.

“He died a hero,” Layla said. “He blocked an attempt by the Inquisition to blow up one of the power stations with a Radiant Burn, the night the coastal defense grid went online. His actions saved an entire city of innocent lives. But he was caught in the Burn, and there was nothing left for Sean to resurrect.”

Rory paled. “Edgar Jameson? He was your
father
?” He turned to Takeshi. “How long have you known who he was?”

“I spoke to him after Antonio died.”

Rory just stared at him.

“I researched him thoroughly when I planned my move against Antonio Martinez,” Layla said. “In the end, he seemed like too much trouble to use as bait.”

Takeshi gave her a sour look. “So you used Nick instead.”

Nick raised his head at that. “What do you mean, she
used
me?”

Layla met his gaze. “I held you hostage to force Antonio to surrender. It’s how I captured him. I knew he owed your father a debt of honor for saving him from the Radiant Burn at the battle in Alexandria, so it was reasonable that he would feel obligated to ransom you.”

Toby exhaled sharply. “Dad was at Alexandria?”

“He and Antonio were the only survivors of the first-strike team,” Take answered.

Nick was seething with rage. “And why am I only finding this out now?”

“I wiped your memory when I let you go,” Layla said. “There was no reason to raise these issues again.”

“And if he had wanted you to know, then he would have told you,” Take said.

Nick jabbed his finger at Layla, Take, and Ana in turn. “The three of you, get out of my house. I can’t stand to look at you.”

Take and Ana stood and walked toward the gate. Layla followed them, but stopped momentarily to look at Toby. “Are you all right?”

Toby shook his head. “Not right now. But I will be. I’ll talk to you later.”

Layla nodded, then walked away.

Nick turned to stare at Toby. “You’re going to let her off the hook? Just like that?”

Toby shrugged. “It was Dad’s secret. He could have told us himself, instead of writing us a damn letter from the grave. I don’t blame her for not bringing it up.” He handed the letter to Nick and led his mother back in the house.

Nick faced his remaining friends. “The rest of you can leave now as well. The party’s over.”

Nick sat in one of the chairs at the edge of the court and stared at the letter in his hands, the last words from his father.