Foreboding Skies (The Skybreaker Saga Book 1) (18 page)

              The city was in full lockdown once the sun went down. Only official personnel could move freely. Well, there were still the numerous checkpoints we had to pass through. It was much better than what everyone else in the city had to deal with. They were choking on their fear, and I drank it all in. Like a whale feeding on plankton I swept up the fear spirits that were gathering to feed. I pushed the power into the plastic tiki heads bought at Wal-Mart. Though they were cheap crap it was the symbolism that counted. I have always associated tiki heads with fear. My tiki heads would act as fear grenades, sending out waves of crippling fear. Disoriented and paralyzed foes made easy pickings. Totems were a tool I rarely used. They were already in my pack, a passive-aggressive way to say I needed to use all the weapons in my arsenal.

We rode through the deserted streets without challenge while I absentmindedly flipped through all of the various plans, but stopped short of turning the last page. Doing so would trigger the spell on the booklet that would cause it to disintegrate, for operational security. I couldn’t stop contemplating the absurdity of how severely the situation escalated. In the span of two days I went from doing my job as usual to mounting an assault on the Federal Bureau of Investigation. If we did nothing, Goodwin wiped out Detroit in a single night. If we stopped him we laid the groundwork for world war three. A true damned if you did and damned if you didn’t situation.

I didn’t see a way to cover-up what we were about to do. It was simply too damned big of a show for the world to miss. I hoped to hell that Vladimir had an out, because if he didn’t I knew I’d be spending the rest of my life hiding in a depressing hole in the ground, if I even lasted long enough to find one. The bosses of the Community would not allow me to live for long after what i did and what a failed to prevent. No one aired the Community’s dirty business and lived happily ever after. For the particularly unfortunate there is an ever after, where magical healing keeps a person alive long enough to be driven insane by unfathomably wicked torture. Even if my own people didn’t kill me, I still had to worry about the human authorities.

Goodwin thoroughly trashed my reputation by plastering mug shots and warnings across the world. It was time to pick up a new identity and go to a place with a less established government. The council would need to send a replacement regardless of the outcome. The council. They would be pissed that I hadn’t kept them informed of events and for allowing the situation to escalate to its current state. I was in a lot of trouble no matter what. I figured that at that point it would be better to wait until one of the following conditions was met, the situation was successfully resolved, I had a sizeable head start, or I was dead. In the words of the Scorpions, “What is wrong with another sin?”

The weight of my thoughts pulled my head down to thunk against the window. On the bright side my condition hadn’t gotten any worse, but I was still concerned about how well I would be able to fight after the trials of the past few days. A quiet voice over the radio informed us that all teams were in position. It was time. The power would be cut. Communications would be jammed. Lives would be lost. It was only another collection of sins to my name, and just another name to abuse and abandon. I knew I was off kilter. Normally I would be enthusiastic about the prospect of violence, but I was unable to muster even a sliver of excitement. As far as my eyes could see there were only grim tidings for me.

“Roger that. Begin operation Kingpin in T-minus two minutes.” Vladimir might as well have been ordering a pizza as opposed to an attack on the F.B.I. Two minutes from the start of the operation was not the right time to bring up my bad mood. Less than twenty seconds later a French fuck informed us that he had been forced to kill two agents who were about to alert headquarters, and somehow still managed to succeed in doing so. We had lost the element of surprise. Vladimir’s voice snapped out across the radio ordering all teams to begin operation Optimism. An upbeat name for the worst-case scenario plan. I immediately flipped to that plan and tried to commit as much to memory as possible. Except I flipped too far and my booklet fell apart in my hands. It would not take a tactical genius to see who the weakest link in the group was. I wasn’t overly concerned by my ineptitude at that moment, I trusted my companions to pick up the slack. “All gods damn you Pierre.” I am not ashamed to admit that I felt chills from being close to Vladimir. “You arrogant, incompetent unredeemable worm.” That little gem was just for us.

Amusement aside, I truly did pity Pierre for what would be done to him. The punishment for such a magnificent failure would be harsh, regardless of whose liaison he was. The modified vehicle surged forward with a confidant purr as the city fell into darkness. I knew how the original plan went. “What happens now?” I whispered to Alewyn. I hoped everyone else would be too distracted to notice what I said but Caleb huffed in amusement.

“Smoke the nest and enter from multiple points. We go in from the front.” He sounded eager and I could see there was steely coldness in his eyes. The elf already flipped his switch from campy to killer. I was sure all of the others had as well, even Gousie was most likely steeling herself for what was coming. I was the unusual one, not being excited about or even ready for some righteous bloodshed.

I could see the dark outline of Goodwin’s HQ looming before us even after the lights went out. He chose a moderately upscale vacant office building rented out at the expense of the hapless taxpayer for his covert headquarters. The last concrete roadblock between us and our target exploded into a cloud of dust and smoke that we bulled though, emerging less than fifty yards from the entrance. We bounced over the curb onto the large patch of grass in front of the building and the show started. A painfully bright ball of light streaked from the building to hit our car and spread over its body, highlighting it for the barrage of bullets that followed. The Wiccans were playing their hand early and it was weak. I skidded to a stop twenty feet from the entrance with Vladimir and Gousie on my left and Kovo on my right, Alewyn and Amare were on the opposite side of the grassy patch. Gousie was still trying to process the fact that we were not still in the car. Our now empty vehicle continued to accelerate across the grass until it hit the front doors and exploded as it triggered the enemy’s defenses.

Plumes of dark smoke climbed up the side of the building, obscuring the entire front entrance. Nearby explosions and gunfire signaled the other teams were beginning their entry as well. We were one of four teams that comprised the first wave to infiltrate the building. We were the vanguard meant to shatter the enemy’s front lines. And shatter them we would. As soon as the explosion passed we were up the ornate steps and took flanking positions by the smoldering entrance. Amare shoved the smoking remains of our car into the lobby before leaping aside and taking cover from the haphazard gunfire, even for a wolf it was an impressive feat. The car screeched across what must have been tile floor and crashed into the reception desk. Vladimir, with an increasingly pissed Gousie in tow came next. He bit his own wrist and uttered a few grating syllabus. An immense wave of disorienting blood magic flowed into the lobby, crippling both living defenders and magical defenses. Oh what a fool I was for thinking I could stand against him. I did not know what came next. Vladimir made a motion that I interpreted as a sign that I was supposed to do something useful while he explained the sequence of events to our human companion.

I made an educated guess that my part involved deploying a distraction. I began forming a spinning sphere of air in each hand. After a painfully long five seconds the two spheres were ready to go and I immediately released them. They came out far stronger than intended. It was supposed to be a stiff wind the kicked up enough particles to obscure vision. What I got was the roar of twin jet engines that overwhelmed everything else. Large chunks of debris were hurled through the air with enough force to shatter bone. I quickly dispelled the winds. “My spell has already neutralized anyone in there. I do not believe that was necessary Dragomir.” Vladimir panned to my embarrassment.

Much abashed I fell in beside Alewyn at the rear to receive a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. “Don’t sweat it too much my friend. You were mostly dead not too long ago.” Kovo and Amare ghosted into the lobby while Vladimir and Gousie issued orders to the rest of the assault force. A sharp whistle announced the all clear and we proceeded through the lobby. It must have been a nice place before we arrived. It was spacious enough, the only major piece of furniture being the now crushed reception desk. Two hallways on opposite sides of the lobby led to the handful of offices on the first floor. On both sides of the lobby a staircase led to the second floor. Amare began to pile the dozen or so disabled Feds below the left-hand staircase, under the right-hand staircase was a metal utility door that most likely led to the basement.

Kovo moved to search the hallway on the left side and Vladimir signaled Alewyn and me to search the other side. From the radio chatter I could make out it sounded like everything was going as well as possible. The perimeter had been secured with no more casualties on either side and two other teams were in the building. It felt wrong. I expected far more resistance. The night was still young and I certainly wasn’t going to tempt fate by calling a toast to our success.

Alewyn crept ahead of me, walking stick at the ready. If we did find someone I wouldn’t be able to get to them before Alewyn snapped them like twigs. The elf preferred close quarters combat and despite his normally mellow demeanor he had a savage side that peaked through in such times. I pitied anyone who found themselves in his sights.. Our search turned up nothing but the dust of offices that hadn’t been occupied in months. Alewyn was noticeably disappointed by the lack of opposition. It put me more on edge. It wasn’t going to be so easy.

We returned to the lobby to find another team descending the stairs with speed. I was supremely curious as to why our soldiers were leaving the building. Amare and Kovo were nowhere to be seen. Vladimir was slightly shaken, which was infinitely more shaken then I had ever seen him. Before I could even open my mouth to ask the question the ear splitting roar of an ogre, correction ogres, gave me my answer. 

Vladimir gave us a concise summary of the situation when we reached him. “We have hundreds of Fae pouring out from multiple points. Mostly low-level fodder with a few big ones. More big ones coming now. All tech based comms are down. But we have a serious problem.”

“As opposed to all of those other things that were minor inconveniences right?”

“A swarm of flies does not concern me. Both I and Aslan can communicate with our own in different ways. He will hold the perimeter. The problem is that the Wiccans are performing the ritual in two locations, the top floor and the basement. There are more Wiccans than we initially thought. Our forces are stretched somewhat thin at this point.” No shit. Fae were always trouble in large numbers, the ogres made it much worse. Someone truly did not care about secrecy. But, compared to the news there were more Wiccans afoot the rest was rendered trivial.

“Who else do they have to sacrifice?” A second ritual would require more righteous blood. I focused my senses and could feel two black spots, one close and one far. Bastards.

“We don’t know. We didn’t even know about the second until we arrived.” We were both understandably disturbed by the turn of events.

Alewyn wasn’t disturbed at all. It was another item on his to-do list. “How are we playing this then?” From the way he spoke it sounded like what should be done next was obvious. Vladimir smarted a bit at that. Though I never managed to get the exact dates of their respective births I was certain that Alewyn was older than Vladimir, and often treated him as a junior.

“The bulk of our forces will be needed to hold the line against the Fae and ensure they don’t spread into the city.” He stopped speaking and tilted his head to the side slightly. He always did that when one of his underlings communicated with him through the bond that Vampires share with their underlings. “There is something wrong with the Fae attacking us, as if they have been enthralled by bloodlust, they are far stronger and more fearless than they should be. Regardless, two strike teams will disrupt the rituals. I will head to the top floor. Ms. Gousie is already heading up with the rest of my team. Alewyn, you will lead the second team into the basement.” He handed Alewyn an ordinary looking compass. “That will help guide you toward the ritual.”

“Can we have everyone line up and pick or did you already assign teams?” I felt that an injection of humor was necessary at that stage to pick everyone up. I was feeling a little better myself since things had gotten worse and I didn’t have to wait anymore.

“It doesn’t matter for you Drag, you aren’t a team captain. But don’t worry honey, I wouldn’t pick you last.”

“What? Why aren’t I team captain? Vladimir this is bullshit. I demand to be captain of my own team.”

Vladimir’s lips tugged upward at the corner, a sign he at least appreciated what we were trying to do. “As soon as my people blow the door to the basement open move as quickly as you can. I doubt our enemy has much in the way of static defenses set up yet. Incapacitate when you can, kill if you must. Whoever is orchestrating this has blatantly disregarded the laws of the Community and has made themselves the enemy of all.” He placed a reassuring hand on our shoulders. “These are the times when legends are born gentlemen.” With that he bounded up the stairs with three more Vampires on his tail.