Nighthawks (Children of Nostradamus Book 1) (25 page)

“Did Eleanor send you a letter?”

“Of the Nighthawks, I am the only person who did not receive a letter.”

Twenty-Seven wished she could remember her letter word for word. There was something in the woman’s tone, in the very way she curved her letters that showed sympathy. Twenty-Seven knew Eleanor understood her situation, perhaps far more than she cared to admit.

“I think she only gives letters to the people who need them, those lost on their journey. Eleanor must have known you existed. Maybe she wrote somebody else a letter because she knew you’d find your own way?”

The silence hung in the air for several minutes. Twenty-Seven wanted to say more, but she didn’t know how to explain herself. She had been at her weakest and Eleanor had raised her up. She wondered if Dav5d was forging a path that did not need Eleanor’s input.

“Thank you.”

She grinned as she closed her eyes. He might be the smartest man alive, but she was certain it was only the teachings of a determined mom that forced his thanks. He meant it as much as he could, but he had no idea why two words could alter a person’s mood so much.

“You’re welcome.”

Chapter Twenty

May 20th, 2032 6:27AM

“
Seriously
? There must be more guards,” Dwayne said, looking at the crude map in front of them. They all huddled around the table, inspecting the sheet of paper on which Jasmine had drawn the complex. Small x’s littered the map, showing the most likely locations of the security guards.

“Did you see more? And there will probably be fewer because somebody slaughtered half the detail.”

Dwayne stared at Jasmine, reading the anger on her face. “Fine. What about mechs? They must have a good detail to deal with the more hostile powers in the facility.”

Conthan watched as they went back and forth, arguing out the plan. It was obvious that Dwayne wasn’t used to taking orders from somebody so aggressive. As much as he was attempting to take the backseat during their planning, Jasmine wasn’t used to being questioned by her subordinates.

“There will be at least a dozen synthetics.”

“Dammit,” Dwayne hissed.

“Two nearly killed us last time,” said his sister. They all turned to Skits. “What? I’m all about kicking some ass, but I would like to make it out alive.”

“Where is their remote outpost?”

“Not at the facility. All synthetics are controlled from a base in DC. There is no way we can infiltrate their computers.”

“Where’s Dav5d when you need him?” said Alyssa.

“We fight through,” said Dwayne. “Where are we going to find the Warden?”

Conthan pointed to the map. “I think that’s where his office is. Should we take him out first? What about the guards?”

Jasmine shook her head. “If he’s a telepath like you say and he can control that many humans, then the guards will be operating under his direction. After exposure to him for so long, there’s a good chance he has their powers under his influence.”

“He does,” Conthan said. “Sarah was completely vacant.”

“See?” she said. “We need to get in and free who we can. If we can take out the Warden, consider it an additional perk.”

“There will be Paladins,” Dwayne added. “I can’t imagine them letting their most valuable target loose.”

“Holy shit,” Alyssa said.

They all looked up to see Vanessa walking toward them. She was dressed in one of the black tactile uniforms they had confiscated on a raid. It was rare to see her not in her robes, but it was the exposed skin making them stare.

Dwayne’s lip curled. It was hard to work with her for so long and not suspect she was hiding something. Even with her serpentine wings stretched out on either side, he was glad to see a darker battle with herself had ended. The nails on her bare feet clicked loudly as she approached the table. He wanted to inspect her more closely, but he turned back to the map. “Vanessa, your thoughts?”

Thank you, Dwayne.

I’ll admire your complexion after we win.

Then let’s be sure we win.

Jasmine lacked any of Dwayne’s tact. Her mouth gaped at the gargoyle-esque woman standing beside them. She began to speak. Vanessa held up her hand. “Jasmine, your expertise will be extremely useful, but let us do what we do best.”

Jasmine got quiet for a moment, an action not lost on the rest of the team. “Your thoughts?”

Vanessa nodded to her. “We will need to coordinate this flawlessly. We get one chance and the moment one of you missteps, you have to realize it will be the death of all of us.”

“He’ll know we’re coming,” Dwayne said.

“Leave the Warden to me.”

Conthan wanted to say something witty. The woman next to him was one of the most amazing things he had seen. He thought to the grotesques that lined the walls of churches, protecting its patrons. While she wasn’t made from granite, he did see a comparison between her and the stone gargoyle’s mission. She wasn’t fearless, nor was she ruthless, but she was taking the burden of leadership and he admired that. He listened to her talk about where each of them would be located and how they would attack.

“Conthan,” she said, “this all depends on you…”

Chapter

Twenty-One

May 20th, 2032 6:59AM

“
Let
me guide you,” she said, her voice just a whisper. “Remember why you are doing this. Sarah is counting on you.”

There had once been a small stage for live performances in the bar. The old wood was peppered with the stains of many dropped drinks. Conthan stood face to face with Vanessa, rotating his shoulders, trying to loosen his muscles. The others stood nearby, waiting for Vanessa to activate Conthan’s abilities.

Conthan relaxed the moment Vanessa’s hands rested on his forehead. Her skin was cool to the touch. There was strength in her hands and an uncanny amount of restraint as she gently rested her hand on his brow. The hair on his arms stood out straight as he listened to her thoughts.

A tingle rushed through his body. He clenched his fists instinctively as the sensation intensified through his arms and then chest. The spot in the back of his mind locking away his abilities flared to life. The darkness that controlled his portals looked for an escape as the pressure built. He stared into Vanessa’s eyes and let her ease the panic washing over him.

“We have faith in you,” she said aloud.

Her thoughts began to consume his. He couldn’t make out specific words, but flashes of memories assaulted his senses. He focused on her eyes, thinking about how much he trusted the woman. He knew she would do whatever it took to keep him safe. Now that he was one of her people, he knew she would risk her life for his.

“You’re going to be exhausted. Alyssa is going to stand guard. I will do what I can to protect you from here.”

He nodded. “Do it.”

His powers flared without any direction. His fists both opened wide. He could feel the portal open, the darkness calling to him, attempting to consume him. He was beginning to understand Dwayne’s warning. There was something alluring about losing himself to the grandeur of his own abilities. He wondered how strong he was to resist a drug constantly at his beck and call.

A stray emotion from Vanessa washed over him. The anxiety from a dangerous situation left his mind as quickly as it entered. The portal was open and like before, it beckoned him to create a sister void tying the two points together. Unlike before, he didn’t let his powers force open a second portal. His mind raced from his body and he felt as if he were flying over a great expanse. The wind rushed by his imaginary self. The hair on his physical body began to stand on end.

Not quite a telepath,
Vanessa’s voice whispered in his head,
but there is more than meets the eye to your powers.

The research facility sped toward him at an uncanny speed. He closed his eyes as his body penetrated the giant wall. His projected self slowed, but still moved fast enough that every living person remained frozen.

“Don’t let your powers control you,” Vanessa coached. “You are the master of your gifts.”

In a blink of an eye he stood in front of a massive machine. There was no sound, just the still image of mammoth metal contraptions all around him. He released the tension in his hand and a portal appeared in a dark corner of the room. He could see guards frozen in time, and behind each of them, a shadowy figure.

“Don’t worry about him,” she said. “I will take care of that.”

Another moment passed and he was standing in the control room. Two figures sat at a large computer. He stepped back and opened another portal. His powers worked in tandem with his wishes, no longer resisting his control.

“One more, Conthan,” she said.

He stood in a small room with Sarah sitting on her bed. Behind her, the same shadow caressed side of her cheek. His chest clenched with anger as he realized the Warden had tainted her like he had the Outlanders. He wanted to reach out to her, but knew he was hundreds of miles away from his friend.

The rushing sensation as he returned to his physical body was so fast it was deafening. He opened his eyes and Vanessa smiled at him, her canine teeth showing under her lip. “Good work, Conthan.”

His muscles fought to keep him standing. She looked to the others. “Godspeed, Nighthawks,” she said confidently. “You know why we fight.”

Vanessa rested a hand on Jasmine’s shoulder as she prepared to walk through the portal. “Fight for a young teenager,” she said.

Fight for your penance.

“Out of my head, telepath,” she said.

From here on out, I’m in all of your heads.

Dwayne took Skits’s hands and stepped into one of three portals in the bar. The moment he passed through, Conthan felt the tug and he closed the rip in space. Jasmine tapped one of the bands on her wrist and the air vibrated as she grunted. She buckled over for a moment and then staggered upright. “Remember our quid pro quo, angel,” she grumbled as she vanished into the portal.

Alyssa grabbed Conthan’s hands and they crossed the threshold through the remaining void. It was like every other time; as they touched the black void, only a fraction of a second passed. The darkness sapped all the heat from their skin. Before he stepped through the other side, the pressure on his head began. They emerged on the other side, the power raced out of his body and as he tightened his muscles, the last two portals vanished.

“Holy shit,” he said as he collapsed to the ground.

***

Alyssa could feel the air rush by her head before she saw the fist causing it. It was like a club smacked her across the face, knocking the spit from her mouth and drawing blood. It only took a moment before her abilities surged, assessing the environment and the immediate threat. Her body adapted.

Alyssa ducked beneath the next clumsy punch and kicked out to push the woman backward. Her assailant was covered in bones just like Conthan described. Alyssa hooked her arm around the woman’s slow moving fist, immobilizing her arm. She moved quickly, striking at the back of the bony woman’s leg, knocking her to her knees. Alyssa reached back to punch the woman and realized there was no vulnerable area to attack.

Before Alyssa could react, the woman’s rigid skull slammed back, knocking the wind out of her lungs. Alyssa assessed their environment. The cell was ten by ten feet with only a bed, while a solid metal door blocking their exit. Alyssa grunted as she backed against the wall. Sarah spun about and pulled back for another punch. Alyssa sidestepped the blow and gasped as the bones in the girl’s hands chipped away at the solid brick cell. “Damn, chick.”

She looked down to Conthan taking up valuable square footage on the floor. Then she jumped up on the bed and put two feet between her and her assailant. She looked through the room and realized that other than a bed, there were no furnishings to use to her advantage. She had watched plenty of close combat videos an hour ago, but none prepared her for an enemy she couldn’t hit. Her muscles reacted, dodging one punch, evading a knee to the chest, and throwing another oncoming hand out wide.

“Conthan,” she said, “when you’re done throwing up, I wouldn’t mind help with your friend.”

She heard the fist connect with the brick again. She could continue to dodge the woman and evade the direct force of her blows, but even blocking the attacks was going to take a toll on her fleshy body.

Alyssa put her foot on the woman’s chest and threw her back, knocking her over Conthan’s puking body. She ripped the sheet off the bed and spun it around into a long narrow band. “Let’s improvise,” she said.

The bony girl clambered to her feet, ignoring Conthan, and lunged at Alyssa, who used the sheet to wrap around her attacker’s wrist. She ducked beneath the outstretched hand and pulled it up behind the woman’s back. She kicked at her knee again, knocking her off her feet and rendering her immobile. She grabbed the other hand and was surprised; despite the bone husk encasing her body, there wasn’t more strength than a typical Child of Nostradamus.

She wrapped the sheet around the other hand and ripped off another strip. Using her knee to hold the woman down, she bound her ankles and tied the restraints together. The woman continued to struggle. “Jesus, you’ve got some fight in you.”

Alyssa grabbed Conthan and helped him stand long enough to sit on the edge of the bed. “Now that your girlfriend is done trying to kill me, we wait.”

He nodded. She tried to hide the worry on her face, but she could see Conthan was feeling the same thing. “It’s up to them now.”

***

The
cold penetrated her skin. Being tough as steel, Jasmine was used to not feeling the outside world. She shivered as the heat siphoned away from her body. She emerged from the portal to see two men standing with their backs to her. The control room wasn’t very large; had she been any bulkier, it’d be a tight fit. The computers overlooked a massive bay window showing giant turbines two floors below.

She closed the distance between them and punched as one guard turned. Her fist connected with his jaw. His bones crunched under the weight of the blow. Despite its force, she couldn’t feel the impact through her epidermis.

“What the…”

She kicked the other man, knocking him over a chair in front of the control panel. He reached up for the computer and she grabbed his hand, snapping his wrist. She realized he was attempting to start the automated defense systems. He didn’t care to alert the humans in the facility, no, she knew that with the Warden in charge, they were already aware something was amiss. The moment she walked through the portal the vile telepath was beginning to infiltrate her thoughts.

She kneed the guard in the face, destroying his jaw and leaving his still frame on the ground. As she turned, another guard in the doorway caught her attention. The bullets connected with her skin and impaled themselves, unable to penetrate her hide.

Before he could fire another round, she grabbed the gun, breaking the barrel. She clutched either side of his body armor. Her arms strained as they adapted to the uncanny amount of weight from her epidermis. While her skin could mutate in the blink of an eye, it took the rest of her body a few moments to increase her muscles.

He lifted his leg, pulling a knife from the side of his boot. His enhancements allowed him to slam the blade into her neck with twice the strength of an average man. The blade bent as it glanced off her skin. He dropped the knife in astonishment.

“Seriously?” she mocked.

She dragged him into the computer station and hurled his body. He smashed into the computer, leaving a dent in the sparking screens. Jasmine grabbed the door and pulled it shut. She broke off the handle to prevent outsiders from entering. She turned her attention to the man scrambling to his feet.

His face grew vacant. There was a moment when she wondered if he was receiving messages from central command. It dawned on her the only person contacting the guards was the Warden. His eyes followed her, but he didn’t make any move to remove himself from his throne on the computer station.

“I didn’t expect to see you again, traitor.”

“I owe you a serious ass kicking,” she said.

“So much fear underneath all that bravado.”

She slugged the man’s face with a closed fist. His head barely moved at the blow. The machines inside his body were hard at work augmenting his strength. She grabbed him by the neck and leg and raised him above her head, then brought him down over her knee. The man’s body went limp as his spine snapped. She hurled him against the wall. “Stay out of my head, telepath!”

She almost felt bad for killing him, a pawn in the Warden’s game. The body didn’t appear human as it lay on the control room floor folded in half. As she began to think of him as a man, she pushed aside the thoughts. Everybody who died today was in the hands of the Warden. The pressure at her temples increased. She could tell the telepath was attempting to touch her thoughts. She wanted to see his body crumpled on the floor like the guard.

Keep dreaming, bitch,
the voice echoed.

***

Dwayne
scooted up against the wall. Skits followed suit, her elbow brushing up against his body. They both watched as the portal vanished. Dwayne took stock of their surroundings. They were in a small alcove on the second floor of the football field-sized room containing the generators. The metal grates underneath their feet showed large hoses and wires connecting to three large turbines.

His body vibrated. Underneath layers of insulation and metal, an uncanny amount of electricity called to him. He dared a glance around the corner and could see several guards talking amongst themselves. Two stories higher was the control room where Jasmine should have landed.

He looked his sister dead in the eye. “Follow my lead,” he mouthed.

“Make it interesting,” she whispered.

He grabbed her by the shoulder. “I’m getting us out of here in one piece.”

Her hands started to flare blue. “Time to feel alive, brother.”