Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One (56 page)

Margaret turned white.

“Get the fuck out of my house, you son of a bitch.” Jason lurched to his feet, his fists clenched.

Nick remained seated. “No, sir. I can’t do that.”

“You’re telling me you killed my boy?” yelled Jason. “If you’re not out of my house in ten seconds, I’m calling the police, no matter who the hell you are!”

“I promised Michael I would give you a message,” Nick said sadly.

“Sit down, Jason.” Margaret put her hand on her husband’s arm.

“Meg! You heard what he did!”

Margaret looked at Nick. “You said you had a message from him. I want to hear it.”

With a sour look at Nick, Jason shrugged off his wife’s hand and sat back down on the couch. “Fine. So talk.”

“He told me thing he regretted most in his life was that he never said goodbye to you before he left.”

“What else?” Margaret asked.

“You can read his words for yourselves.” Reaching down and opening the bag, Nick withdrew two large leather-bound volumes. “He wrote each of you a letter for every day since he left you. He asked me to deliver them.” Nick placed the two books on the coffee table. Each volume had one of their names embossed on the cover. “These are printouts of those letters. No one has read them. They are for your eyes alone.”

Jason glared at him. “Fifteen. He would have been fifteen, and you ordered him to die. Why would he give you his letters?”

“He said it was his choice whether he wanted to call me his friend.” Nick looked up to meet Jason’s eyes. “It took eight minutes for him to get into position, Mr. Danvers. I talked to him the entire time. Solitude didn’t appeal to him anymore, he said.” Nick reached into the bag again and pulled out a pair of data crystals in plastic cases. He laid the first on the table next to the books. “Your son was a private person. This is the only publicly available video record of him I could find. It shows an interview he gave after he declined command of the
Odyssey
.”

“The
Odyssey
?” asked Margaret.

“The only one of our spacecraft designed specifically for interstellar travel,” Nick explained. “He was chosen to lead the first expedition to the nearest star, but he turned it down.”

“Why?” Jason asked in spite of himself.

“In the interview, he said he didn’t want to give up flying solo. That was a lie. In his journal, he wrote that he knew it would be at least twenty years before he could return, if he made it back at all. To accept the mission would have meant giving up any hope of ever seeing you again.” Nick sighed. “He believed he was a coward for walking out on you when his Gift kindled, and he wasn’t willing to run away again. He turned his back on his dreams so he might someday have the chance to see you again.”

“But he didn’t get that chance,” Jason said, his voice heavy with contempt. “
You
took it away from him.”

Nick said nothing in reply, merely placed the second data crystal on the table. “This is audiovisual security footage taken from the fortified bunker at the Los Angeles Air Force Base where the attack originated. It includes our entire conversation, from beginning to end. The U.S. Attorney General plans to use parts of this recording as evidence against the rogue spies and soldiers who attacked us, and he provided us with advance copies. I thought you’d want to see it before it becomes public knowledge.”

“Fine,” Jason spat. “If that’s everything you came to say, you can go now. You know the way out.”

Nick nodded and stood to leave.

“Mr. President,” Margaret said, picking up the second recording, “the crystal player is behind you.”

Nick blinked, off-balance for the first time since he stepped inside the door. “Excuse me?” he said as Jason turned to stare at his wife in surprise. She held the data crystal out to him. “Show me how my baby died. I want to know why he called you a friend.”

“You should watch it together. I don’t want to intrude on your grief, Mrs. Danvers.”

“I’m asking you to stay, Nick,” she said quietly. “You were there. I wasn’t. I want to know what happened.”

Hesitantly, Nick reached out and took the crystal from her hands. Cracking open the case, he turned to face the crystal player and slipped the recording into the slot in the top. Jason picked up the remote from the coffee table and started the playback. The three of them watched from the moment Kensington led Nick into his control room until just after the
Horizon
’s destruction. At that point, Nick reached out and pushed pause.

Margaret broke the silence first. “You didn’t know how old he was when you gave the order?”

“No,” Nick said, his voice thick with remorse. “But he was right about me. If I had known, I would have done the same thing.”

Jason continued to stare at the screen. “Why did you pause the recording?”

“The rest isn’t relevant, Mr. Danvers. I came here to tell you what happened to your child and to put my friend’s spirit to rest by granting his last wish. Nothing else matters.” Nick stood and walked toward the hallway. “That’s all I wanted to say. Goodbye.”

Jason lifted the remote again and hit play, searching forward until he saw them all turn as Layla showed herself.

Hearing Layla’s voice, Nick stopped and stepped back into the living room. He watched as the pair of humans listened to Layla explain the Triumvirate’s actions. After Toby left to release the captured Winds, the screen went black, and Margaret and Jason both turned to look at him again.

“Is all of that true?” asked Jason in a hushed voice. “Did he really save the world?”

“He prevented a war that would have destroyed both sides. What he did will never be forgotten, Mr. Danvers, not as long as any of the Children of Magic draw breath.” Nick paused, weighing his words before continuing. “I wasn’t planning to tell you yet, because I thought you would both need time to think, but there’s a memorial service for him in a few months. We’d be honored if you would join us.”

“Why wait?” asked Margaret.

“Every jumpvessel in the fleet has requested fly-by clearance during the service, Mrs. Danvers. All of the Spacers are coming home to pay their respects to their fallen brother. We had to wait that long so the
Odyssey
could make it back to Earth. They were several weeks into deep space, beyond the edge of the Solar System. They made a unanimous decision to abort the mission so they could say goodbye to the one who should have led them.”

Mrs. Danvers stood, her eyes bright with tears. “Just give us the details, Mr. President. We’ll be there.” She held out her hand. “Thank you for bringing us this news in person.”

“I’ll be sure to have the full invitation sent to you, Mrs. Danvers.” Nick took her hand, clasping it in both of his own. “I am truly sorry for your loss. Please believe me when I say I would have done anything to prevent it.”

“I believe you, Nick,” she said. “You tried to save him, even when it would have cost so many lives. I get the impression you don’t hold back at all when you set your mind to something.” She smiled sadly and turned his clasped hands to look at the plain gold band encircling his finger. “And you obviously don’t waste any time.”

Nick’s face reddened, and he released her hand. “I’m sorry you had to see me propose on that recording. It must have seemed totally heartless, after everything that happened.”

She shook her head. “You said it yourself. There has been too much death, too much pain. We saw the footage from your Armistice Day. I don’t begrudge you a moment of happiness, not after everything you’ve been through.”

“Thank you.” Nick nervously rotated the ring on his finger. “I should be going. I have to get back to the wedding reception.”

Her eyes widened. “Reception?”

“Mr. President, are you telling us that this is your wedding night, and you’re spending it with us?” Jason asked incredulously.

“Your son gave me back control over my life, sir. I needed to pay my debt to him before I could let myself live it. Jeremy understands.”

Jason sighed. “Shit.” He stood and walked up to Nick. “I hate you, Nicholas Magister Luscian. I really do. But my son forgave you for what you did, so who am I to judge?” He held out his hand. “I will see you at the memorial service.”

Nick reached out and shook his hand. “Yes, sir. You will. I grieve for the loss of your son. If there is ever anything I can do for you, for either of you, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I don’t forgive you, Mr. President, but thank you for carrying out his wishes.” Margaret turned away to stare at the bound books on the coffee table.

“It was my honor, Ma’am.”

She nodded and reached out to pick up the book with her name on it, still not looking at him. “Goodnight, then. I think it’s time for you to leave now.”

Nick turned to her husband, whose face was twisted with equal parts anger and despair.

“I think you’re right,” Nick said.

C
HAPTER 47

Armistice Embassy, Ottawa, Ontario

Rory watched as Take and Jeremy concentrated, totally absorbed, on the chessboard in front of them. Despite the music and the dancing all around them, Jeremy had flatly refused to go anywhere near the dance floor, so several of the reception guests had taken time away from the festivities to watch the game. It had taken subtle maneuvering on Rory’s part to rope his lover into playing, but he knew Take would be hooked once presented with a tactical problem to solve.

Satisfied that the two were completely engrossed, Rory went in search of his quarry. It didn’t take long to find him. He was standing alone at one end of the banquet hall, watching the last light of the setting sun slip below the simulated horizon. “Imperator Ruarc.”

Lorcan, dressed in a beige suit embroidered with the seal of House Diluthical surrounded by a serpent biting its tail, turned to face him. “Redeemer,” he said with mild surprise.

“How are you coming along with the Fifth Council, Huntmaster?”

“As well as can be expected, my Lord Traveler. They couldn’t oppose my elevation, since I had the most seniority in the Court after I assassinated the rest of the Fourth Council, but they’re certainly less than pleased to have a Daywalker set over them, let alone to have House Diluthical raised to primacy. The only thing that would have angered them more would have been if you, Nicholas, and Prince Layla had not chosen to withdraw your names from contention. The next century or two will be most critical in cementing my authority, but I’m confident I will eventually get them to fall in line without having to kill them all again.” He turned to face the darkening horizon. “And yourself, Redeemer? How do you find life as second to the Archangel?”

“I could ask the same of you, Primogenitor Luscian.”

Lorcan turned back around and smiled ruefully at him. “My Lord, Nicholas has released me from that duty, just as you released him from his. A head of state can owe no higher allegiance.”

Rory smiled pleasantly, but his eyes did not. “Magister Diluthical, do you honestly expect me to believe that Nick is not your Master, no matter what titles you carry?”

Lorcan scowled, tacitly conceding the point. “What do you want, my Lord?”

“I want you to walk with me for a bit, Ruarc, before Nick returns from his errand.”

“For what reason?”

“Because I would rather not spoil Nick’s happiness today. If I wait until he’s here, the talk I want to have with you will probably end in bloodshed, and it doesn’t have to.”

Lorcan’s eyes narrowed. “Do I take your meaning correctly, my Lord?”

“Yes, Ruarc,” said Rory. “It is time for us to dance.”

Red sparks chased themselves across Lorcan’s irises, but he kept his bloodlust tightly leashed. “Then lead the way, Magister Jiao-long.”

Turning, Rory walked out of the banquet hall with Lorcan following close behind. Taking the stairs up to the second level, Rory made his way into Nick’s former office, now his own. He closed and locked the doors behind them and then used his access codes to shut down the cameras. Making his way behind the desk, he removed two champagne flutes and a small bottle made of black glass from a cabinet, setting them on the desktop. “Join me for a drink, Imperator.”

Lorcan watched, his expression calculating.

“Please. It’s important.”

Lorcan picked up the unlabeled black bottle and carefully stripped the metal foil from the neck. Using telekinesis, he drew out the cork. Then he poured a generous measure of red liquor into each of the two flutes and warmed them before placing the bottle back on the desk. “What shall we drink to, Redeemer?” he asked, picking up one of the glasses.

Rory tapped the other flute against Lorcan’s, making a high-pitched chime. “To endings and new beginnings.”

“To endings and new beginnings,” Lorcan said, closing his eyes momentarily as he took a sip. His eyes flew open immediately. “This is Selene.”

Rory nodded. “Yes. Can you tell who they are?” He took another sip, savoring the taste.

Lorcan rolled the flavor across his tongue. A small, involuntary sob broke from his lips. “Oh, Nicholas,” he said sadly. “Do you love him so much?”

“They were meant for each other, Ruarc. The two of them will be together as long as Jeremy is alive. I have no doubt in my mind.” Rory took another sip, larger than before, focusing his attention completely on the soul echoes within. “But that’s not what I wanted you to understand. Taste again. Focus only on the echo of Nick. Find his heart.”

Lorcan took a larger sip and concentrated deeply. Then his eyes opened, staring straight ahead. He blinked finally and turned in wonder to Rory. “Jeremy. Scott. You. Me. We are all here.”

Rory set his glass down on the desk. “He is at peace, Ruarc. He’s finally living his life as he wishes, without our interference.”

Setting his glass down beside its twin, Lorcan asked, “Why have you shown this to me, Traveler?”

“Someday, hopefully a long way in the future, there will be just two of us instead of four.” Rory focused all of his senses on Lorcan. “I once told you that if Nick found it in his heart to love you, I wouldn’t stand in his way. Can you make me the same promise?”