Synarchy Book 2: The Ascension (33 page)

“
Hey, Ricky,” Tony called
out hurriedly as he walked past the desk and over the
elevators.

“
Um, hi, Mr. DeMarco.” Ricky
kept his eyes glued to his computer screen.

Tony pressed the button to call the
elevator and glanced over at the kid. Ricky glanced in his
direction, and then quickly looked back down. Tony quirked a brow.
Stepping away from the elevators, Tony walked back over to the
front desk. “What’s wrong Ricky?” he asked flat out.

“
I do not know what the
protocol is for this, sir.” Ricky continued staring at the
desk.

“
Protocol for
what?”

Ricky hesitated. “You outrank Mr.
Medicci, don’t you, sir?”

Mr.
Medicci
, Tony thought.
Sonofabitch
. With the triplets’
escape, the SVT offices empty, and the SVT Think Tank gone with the
crystal, Caesar had been in deep shit; possibly awaiting his death.
What the fuck was he doing here? “Is he in my
apartment?”

Ricky looked uncertain again, but
slowly nodded.

“
Don’t worry about it. You
don’t have to tell them you told me. I won’t say anything. Thanks,
Ricky.” Tony smiled reassuringly at the kid, and then went back to
the elevators. “This could get ugly, Gabriella. Move to a safer
spot, honey.”

As he stepped into the elevator
Gabriella fluttered out from underneath his collar and perched on
his shoulder. A second later, she faded from sight. Tony pulled his
9mm out from underneath his suit jacket when he got off on his
floor. Inching over to his door, he pressed his ear against it. No
movement inside. He used his keycard on the door, kept one arm
behind him, and walked in.

“
Drop it, Tony. Slowly,”
Caesar’s voice echoed out from the shadows.

Tony stilled just inside the doorway.
“You know, you’ve got a lot of fucking nerve, subordinate.” He took
the step inside and kicked the door shut

“
You’re caught, you fucking
traitor.”

“
That’s a big accusation
coming from the idiot that just fucked up his last assignment.”
Tony searched for him in the darkness, and saw the shadow of
Caesar’s figure in front of him and just to the right.

“
Save it,” Caesar snapped.
“I knew it had to be you when Kayla reported that Leone told us
Simone’s going to blow the underground bases. What she knows she
could have only gotten from you, or your brother.”

“
You’re pointing a gun at a
member of the Illuminati. You better think real hard about what
you’re doing. Drop it now, and I’ll think about asking them not to
feed you to the Greys.” Tony took one step forward, keeping his gun
hand slightly behind his back.

“
No, I’m pointing a gun at a
traitor to his God. Drop the act. I knew you’d find the bug on your
balcony, that’s why I put one on the roof.” Tony could hear the
smug smile in Caesar’s tone. “You can imagine what I have recorded.
And I know that all the information we’ve been collecting from the
triplets HI-MENS are going to a dummy server. Enlil isn’t getting
any of those reports is he?”

Fuck
, Tony thought. This would be a big kink in the plan. Caesar
had to die before he told anyone else. “You know what, Caesar, you
were a real lousy agent. I bet you can’t use that weapon, either.”
He didn’t remain standing to find out. Tony dropped to the floor,
whipping his arm around him and fired at Caesar, just as Caesar’s
bullet lodged itself into the door where Tony’s head had been.
Tony’s bullet didn’t miss, though. He heard Caesar grunt and fall
to the floor.

“
Fuckin’ mook.” Tony
clambered to his feet, walking through his dark house and over to
Caesar’s motionless form. Tony kicked his gun away, pointed the
muzzle down at Caesar’s face, and was about to put one in his
temple, when Caesar’s eyes suddenly sprang open. He kicked Tony’s
legs out from underneath him. Tony released a startled grunt as he
landed on his back. He brought his gun up again, only to feel
something that felt suspiciously like a needle stab into his calf.
Three seconds later, he couldn’t feel a thing, and he couldn’t
move, either.

Caesar stood over Tony, smirking. He
pulled apart his shirt, exposing the Kevlar underneath. “You really
thought you were going to win, didn’t you?”

§

December 11, 2012 - 12:12 PM

Somewhere in Egypt

Terenzio Compound

Caleb jogged down the corridors until
he reached the veranda doors off the kitchen. Throwing them open,
his gaze centered on Simone’s back. He walked quickly up to her and
touched her shoulder. “Madame President? You’ve got a video
conference call. They found Isabella.”

Simone tensed. It felt like a very long
time since Caleb had touched her. His words spurred her into quick
action, though. “Is she all right?” Simone asked as she followed
him back into the house.

Caleb’s brows drew together. “No. She
escaped Alcyone Island in Kyle’s old seaplane. It ran out of gas
about twenty miles from Cape Verde. Someone, maybe our friends from
our air fight, found her and hid her until word could get to
Xavier. He had her moved to a more secure location. It’s a goddamn
miracle she survived the crash, and she was unconscious for a few
days. She’s awake now, but she’s in rough condition. Real
rough.”

Simone had always been fond of Aunt
Isabella. She’d always felt a very strong connection to the woman,
and after her little past life regression session, she understood
why. Those past connections deepened her affection, and now would
heighten her pain when Isabella died. Simone rubbed her fingers
against her temple, frowning deeply. She was tired of
loss.

Caleb pushed open the doors to the
security room. Vasco and Lucien were already there. He hadn’t been
terribly close to Isabella this lifetime, but that didn’t matter
anymore than it had with Christopher. Caleb had grieved that loss
privately.

On the central screen was Isabella’s
face. She looked beaten up, beyond exhausted, yet triumphant.
Simone’s brows pinched, and she struggled to get control of the
expression on her face as he walked past Caleb and over to her
brothers.

“
Xavier has the journal.
It’s on its way to you,” Isabella said.

“
Thank you for getting it,”
Vasco said. That was no small thing. If Kayla or any of the others
had gotten their hands on it first, checkmate might not
occur.

“
No thanks needed, Vasco.
I’m glad to go out this way. Though Christopher might have crashed
with more finesse.” There was a mixture of sadness and amusement in
Isabella’s aged eyes.

“
Do you need anything, Aunt
Isabel? Can we do anything for you?” Lucien asked, his voice
cracking slightly.

“
Win.” Isabella smiled and
closed her eyes. “Just win.”

“
You bet your ass we’re
going to win,” Simone said, coming to stand next to Vasco. He and
Lucien nodded in agreement.

Isabella’s gaze snapped open, and her
smile deepened. “I imagine that you’re very much like mother used
to be when she was younger.”

“
I’ve drawn a few
comparisons,” Simone said softly.

“
You don’t know what it
meant, to Christopher and I, to see you two again before it all
ended. Even if you look different.” Isabella gazed at Simone, and
then lifted her eyes to Caleb. “Sorry about the plane.
Dad.”

Caleb gave Isabella a trembling smile.
“Frankly, Bell,” he said, using the nickname that Kyle had for his
daughter, “I’m surprised you didn’t crash it sooner.”

Simone pressed her fingers against her
mouth, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill over.
Isabella laughed, but the motion caused her face to quickly contort
with pain. She took a few deep breaths to work through it, and then
dropped her head back against the pillows. “We missed the two of
you so much when you left. To watch Caleb look at you, Simone, the
way Dad use to look at mom, it just reminded us what we were
fighting for.”

Caleb couldn’t find his voice, so he
smiled. Simone lost the battle and the tears came, sliding silently
down her cheeks. She didn’t look back at Caleb, but kept her gaze
on Isabella. “I’m glad we could give that to you.”

Isabella suddenly looked more alert.
Frowning, her gaze darted between Simone and Caleb. “Oh, for God’s
sake, you two can’t possibly be playing that game.”

Vasco refrained from comment, though he
did slide his sister a sideways glance. He was not surprised when
she ignored him. “We’ve got a job to do right now, Isabella,”
Simone said quietly.

“
There’s always a goddamn
job to do. You and Dad died together doing a job.” Isabella threw a
hand up in the air. She set the full force of her gaze on Simone.
“The past is just a memory. The future hasn’t even gotten here yet.
The only thing that’s real is the now. Why are you wasting
it?”

“
Because she wouldn’t be
Simone or Lil if she wasn’t sabotaging herself,” Lucien said,
sniffling as he glanced over at his sister.

Simone didn’t bother shooting Lucien a
murderous glare. She was too busy being proud, and heartbroken, and
terrified that everyone was right. “Lil was very proud of you. And
I’m so lucky to have gotten to know you this lifetime, too.” She
smiled through her tears. “I love you, Aunt Isabella.”

Isabella’s eyes shone wetly. “Regret
hurts more than loss. Remember that.” Thoughts of John, briefly
took up space in her mind. Kayla had shot him as they were trying
to escape. Swallowing back her own tears, Isabella pushed the
thought away so she could smile at Simone. “And I love you, too.
You, too, Caleb.”

Caleb swallowed hard, searching for his
voice. “Kick ass and take names your next lifetime, too, Bell. Your
mother wasn’t the only one who was proud, and I love you,
too.”

“
Sir, that’s time. We’ve got
to terminate the connection per Mr. Xavier Zhane’s instructions,”
said one of the Security officers.

Vasco nodded. “Try and hang on, Aunt
Isabella. Your son is on his way.”

Isabella smiled. “I’ll wait for him.
Good luck, you three.” Without lingering any longer, Isabella
pressed the button to terminate the connection on her end. It would
be the last time they saw her.

Caleb cleared his throat. “Excuse me.”
Turning on his heel, he quickly left the room.

Simone continued to stare at the blank
screen, biting her bottom lip as the tears ran down her
cheeks.

Lucien dragged his hands over his face.
“I really can’t wait until we end this.”

“
Me too, brother,” Vasco
said quietly.

Lucien looked over at Simone and nudged
her with his shoulder. “Isabel was right, yah know.”

Simone closed her eyes, slowly shaking
her head. “What’s the point of getting close to someone if you’re
just going to lose them?”

“
Loss sucks, Si, but it
comes with the territory. Besides, our remembering past lives
proves that we don’t really lose anything. Apparently, we get to do
it all over again, anytime we want to,” Lucien said.

Simone’s face pinched as she wrapped
her arms around herself. “That doesn’t change the now.”

Lucien glanced over at Vasco, and Vasco
stepped closer to his sister. “You were right about me, about last
lifetime, and this one. Well, semi-right. There’s no denying that
SVT loved himself and his ego, but we loved other people,
too.”

Simone opened her tear-filled eyes and
looked up to Vasco. “I know you did. Do. I didn’t mean—”

“
Wait. Let me finish.” Vasco
blew out a breath. Confessions didn’t come easily. “Simone, I am
going through the motions. I’ve done a lot of self-searching these
past five months, figuring out where Stefano begins and I end. And
what I keep coming back to, when I think about the world, is that
moment I had with Cleona before she left.” For once, the veil
lifted from Vasco’s eyes, exposing so much emotion. “I miss her so
much I can barely function, and that moment I had made it worse.
But I can’t imagine not having that opportunity. I can’t imagine
not taking it, even if I had known that she would be gone when I
woke up. I cannot fathom the rest of the world not having their own
moments of connection in between ego, and selfish ambition, and all
the other petty, human drama we choose to engage in. There’s no
point without it. The rest is just a game. A silly fucking game.
Those are the moments that are real.” He set his hands on his
sister’s shoulders. “Take them, Simone.”

Simone drew in a deep, trembling
breath, lifting a hand to wipe her tears away. She traded glances
between her brothers, allowing the words to sink in. It was the
same type of language her heart had been trying to communicate with
her, ever since she’d shut Caleb off. She gave them a small nod.
“I’ll think about it.”

Lucien chuckled, and a small flicker of
amusement passed through Vasco’s eyes. “Stubborn to a fault.”
Lucien leaned forward and kissed Simone’s forehead. “Don’t think
too long, or hard. I’m going to go do laps in the pool.”

Vasco gave Simone’s shoulders a gentle
squeeze, and then released her. “I’ll be in the library.” Both men
left the control room.