Soulwalker (7 page)

Ghostly eyes looked skyward to study the outside of the building. Rya had no choice but to go up, and Tarris sighed. Things were never easy. So far the mission had gone from bad to worse, so this turn of events, while unexpected, wasn’t out of the realm of her worst nightmare. Whoever had betrayed them would pay.

Slowly Rya climbed the wall. She reached for minute crevices to aid her ascent. From her vantage point outside a window on the second floor, she looked out over the illuminated courtyard and was able to easily pick out the members of her group. Efficiently, her unit moved to their assigned targets, easily silencing their breaths with the twist of a shadowed hand. Her vision found the heated aura of Gareth as he stealthily crept up on his prey. A spike of fear pierced Rya from her connection with Tarris, both of them waiting to see if Corman would obey.

The silence could nearly be tasted as time seemed to stand still. Nothing. An eerie quiet before the storm. A piercing scream broke through the darkness. Tarris pursed her lips as the screaming deteriorated into an agonized gargle. Was Corman doing this to make her look bad? Knowing him as she did, he would do it just to piss her off.

She had no time to hesitate. Tarris gave whatever strength Rya needed to complete the mission and encouraged her to hasten. Rya crept past the window on the second floor and headed for the roof. To gain access meant having to cut the power supply situated on top of the building.

Rya wasted no time locating the microwave dish and disabling it. Moments later, the roof access door opened and two armed guards nervously paced across the flat top toward their target. Arcs of light shakily broke the darkness as they scanned for their enemy. Little did they suspect that she had been behind them all the way across the expanse of rooftop.

“Hurry up, will you?” The young man’s gaze swept the darkened area in front of him.

“Hang on. I’ve still got to check it out.” The older guard magnetically attached his maxi-torch to his torso. He felt around the box containing the circuitry illuminated by his torch. “Damn. It looks like we’re going to need some replacement stuff. You stay here, and I’ll be right back.” He removed three circuit boards and walked away. The beam of light slowly faded as he found the door and disappeared inside.

The young guard hummed to himself as he waited.

Rya’s shadowed head shifted to one side as if studying the young guard in front of her. As quick as a viper, she struck. Her hand slid through the guard’s back and spine, all the way to his heart. His body jerked as the invisible hand squeezed tightly.

“I’ve got the…” The second guard arrived just in time to see his compatriot slump to the ground dead. “Holy—” His eyes swiveled around hurriedly. “Who… who’s there? I know you’re there.”

Tarris knew he had no knowledge of who, or what, was there, but he had surely heard stories. Gruesome, supernatural stories that were meant to scare children and old women.

Another scream could be heard from the compound, and Tarris muttered “Shit!” from her apartment. Panicked voices shouted at each other as they tried to make sense of the terror that sat over the courtyard like a cloud heavy with rain. The mission had gone to hell, and Rya was stuck on the roof.

“You’re stuck here, you know.” The guard tried to sound confident, but the timbre in his voice rose and fell. Tarris didn’t need to see his face to know he was probably peeing in his pants right about now.

Through Rya’s eyes, Tarris watched him as he moved around nervously while he prepared to make his move. His heat signature was different from her unit. His nervousness elevated his body heat and made him an easy target.

She understood the need for darkness to try to complete her mission and to achieve Rya’s escape. Another gargled scream echoed across the night air. It seemed Corman had lost his senses and was having Gareth kill indiscriminately. He had finally stepped over a line he couldn’t return from.

Rya shifted through the deepening shadows and found her target. Her hand slipped though skin, muscle, and bone to his heart. His ragged breathing became more labored as her fist tightened, ending in an agonized sigh as the guard’s last breath left his slumped body. This was not good. Their work was meant to be done by stealth and in sleep, not in the heat of battle. This was supposed to be a simple elimination of enemies of the state, not a wholesale slaughter.

While Rya didn’t express an emotion, Tarris knew her warrior didn’t like change and she could only agree with it. If not for Corman, they would have been in and out of the house before anyone knew something had happened. Now the compound was wide-awake. At least they were in darkness for now.

The warrior oozed down the stairwell wall like dark oil, until she reconstituted herself at the bottom of the stairs. She could be any shape she wanted to be, but she took comfort in the shape of her friend, her home…Tarris. It seemed a practical shape, one that moved her swiftly and silently, one that connected her to her unit.

Her blank eyes searched the darkness room by room for her original targets. The bedrooms on the top floor appeared empty, the beds not slept in. The occasional guard rushed by her as beams of light tried to find the intruder, but she paid them no mind. Too many had already died this night.

But her search couldn’t find her quarry. Tarris instructed her to return without completing their mission. It was a disaster, and they would all have to face the consequences at the meeting tomorrow. Rya dodged in and out of the shifting shadows to seek solace in the blackness that was her friend. It was only by the width of a finger that she escaped the compound before light was restored. She glanced down at one of Gareth’s victims, his flesh torn apart and scattered haphazardly across the ground. This was no subtle killing, but one to demonstrate what they were capable of.

Pretty, isn’t it?

Rya stared at the aura that had crept up next to her. Gareth.

Are you mad, Corman?
Tarris asked. When he was like this, trying to speak with him rationally was useless. The power he possessed was like a drug, and he was addicted to it.

Maybe you should watch your back, freak.

And what was the point of all this?

This is who I am. Unlike you, I say kill them all.

Rya shifted away, intent on returning home.

Too much for you, Tarris? Then maybe you should leave the unit to those who can do the job.

This had been their first failure, and the mixture of emotions roiling around in Tarris made her twitchy. She had to get Rya home immediately, so any care she might have led her to take through the streets was forgotten. She needed Rya, and Rya needed her as well.

Tarris lay in her bed and cursed at the ceiling. This particular mission had taken a lot out of her, as much from Corman’s insubordination as from the mission itself. The man was an arrogant shit hole. Man? Corman himself denied such a label. He thought himself God’s gift to the masses. Maybe that was his game. But it raised an interesting question. Could one member of the Special Black Shadow Corps overthrow a government? She doubted it. While each shadow warrior was virtually indestructible, the same could not be said for its host. And that’s where Corman’s plan would let him down. Kill the man to kill the shadow…

Rya slid effortlessly into Tarris’s apartment and settled like a well-worn blanket over the top of her. The familiar rush filled Tarris as the shadow melted away through skin and muscle to find her home deep within Tarris’s body.

Tarris blew out a breath slowly and allowed the sensations to die down to normal. How many more times would she let Rya roam the streets? Automatically, she reached for her wrist and briskly rubbed the patch, ready to seek respite from the worries flooding her brain. Tomorrow was going to be stressful enough without lack of sleep on top of it.

*   *   *

Tarris opted to walk to the meeting the next morning, so she had to tolerate the escalating discomfort from walking so far. Maybe it was a way to prolong the inevitable. The cloudy sky seemed to reflect her current life perfectly. Slowly building storm clouds gathered around her, and she was helpless to stop them.

She leaned against a wall outside the nondescript building and contemplated what was about to take place. She knew she would be dealt some sort of punishment. After all, she was the leader of the unit and therefore the responsibility of the mission ultimately lay with her. Suspension? Incarceration? Death?

She shivered at the last thought. Would it come down to that final of all punishments? Would she fight the sentence? Would it matter if she did? She checked her chronometer several times and wished it was all over, one way or the other.

She pushed off from the wall and traversed the final few yards to the front door. She touched her temple to clear the lens for scanning. The door slid silently aside. She took a deep breath and stepped across the portal to her future.

She felt a coldness in the room, and it wasn’t from the air. Corman and his two cohorts had already arrived, and by the frigid reception she got, they had already convinced the others that this disaster was all her fault.

Tarris was content to occupy one corner. She leaned against the wall so she could face all her enemies at once. One of the younger members approached her and took his place alongside her.

“How are you feeling today, Shark?” The question was more one of courtesy than one of concern. She knew exactly how he felt.

“Like shit,” he muttered. The others were studying the two of them keenly.

“Happens.”

“Does it get any easier?”

“Not really, no.” She smiled as his head dropped. “But it doesn’t come as a shock anymore. You just learn to be more careful.” Her pale eyes caught his. At least he had the good sense to feel berated. “Now you know.”

“Yeah, now I know.”

She remembered the first time Rya was blinded. It felt like her insides had been ripped out. Terror flowed through her tired body like a tide, the missing entity leaving a hollowness that threatened to swallow her whole. The experience was sobering, one that brought her mortality into sharp focus. Rya did return, and for that she was forever grateful.

“So what have they been up to?” Tarris nodded slightly in the direction of her nemesis.

“The usual.” Shark’s voice remained low; his words wouldn’t carry the length of the room. “Corman’s trying to convince us that it’s all your fault.”

“So what else is new? He’s a dick.”

The young man didn’t reply, but it did bring a hint of a smile to his face.

“And?”

“And?” Shark didn’t understand.

“And what’s the verdict?”

“I don’t know.”

“Oh, come on, Shark. You must know what’s going on.” Despite the cold shoulder, she felt she knew the members of her team. Tarris’s eyes met each person in the room as she tried to gauge their reactions. Apart from the open hostility of Corman and his followers, emotions seemed to range from mild interest to mild disinterest. No one would let her know where their loyalty lay.

The door slid open. The meeting was about to begin, and her fate was in the hands of the man who filled the doorway.

“Everyone, be seated.” The Monitor’s voice remained emotionless.

Everyone tried to sit as far away from the aggressive rogue as possible, leaving just a few seats available. Tarris had no choice but to sit next to him. When she reached for the chair, Corman lifted his feet and placed them on the cushion. She was tempted to smack the smile off his face, but she settled for leaning against the wall. No way in hell was she going to beg.

“Well, that was a massive cock up,” the Monitor said.

Tarris blinked once… then blinked again. Did he say what she thought he said? Or was it the fact that he said it so calmly that startled her?

“Don’t all answer me at once.”

“As far as I’m concerned”—Corman jumped in before Tarris had a chance to air her grievances—“the blame lies with the leader.”

“True…”

Tarris could feel her chances of survival drop at the word.

“But she wasn’t the one who openly disobeyed orders, was she, Corman?” The Monitor leaned forward and rested his arms on the conference table. “Oh, that doesn’t mean Tarris will escape unpunished for this… but you, Corman, deliberately screwed this mission up.” The Monitor wasn’t intimidated by Corman’s hard stare. In fact, he returned the look with one of his own. “Don’t you try that with me, soldier,” he growled menacingly.

“It’s her job—”

“I know what her job is!” he bellowed, “The least of which is to put up with your crap.” The Monitor leaned back heavily in his chair. “And thanks to you, the unit has been put on notice. One more screw-up and we’re all out of a job.”

While the conversation transpired, Tarris watched her enemy carefully. Corman didn’t seem surprised by the news. In fact, he nearly seemed pleased.

“Luckily it will be on full pay.”

Corman grinned.

“Except for Corman and Tarris. Corman, you’re suspended for four weeks without pay.”

His grin disappeared. “Four weeks! But—”

“Tarris, you’re suspended for two weeks without pay and loss of rank. You should have seen this coming.”

She did see this coming. She just couldn’t stop him. “Yes, Monitor.” In a way, it was a relief not to be unit leader anymore. Her only fears were who would replace her and would he be strong enough to resist Corman’s influence.

“Dismissed. You will be contacted when the backlash of this mess has blown over.”

The room emptied quickly, with Corman and his men near the last to leave. Corman looked over his shoulder at Tarris and mumbled, “Pathetic.” He sauntered arrogantly out the door as if the world were his for the taking.

Maybe she was pathetic. The blame ultimately rested on her shoulders for Corman’s actions.

“Get that thought out of your head, soldier.”

Tarris looked up from her musings. The Monitor stood a couple of feet away from her. “Pardon?”

“We both know Corman. What Corman wants, Corman gets.”