Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One (7 page)

Toby stood and paced around his apartment, pausing occasionally to look at the framed photos of his family that adorned the walls and noting how rarely the images contained the four of them together. Nick and Toby’s performing careers, not to mention Faith’s busy medical practice, tended to keep them apart.

Another image popped into his mind before he could suppress it: Nick yelling at Scott and the terrorist, showing visible fangs and claws. Somehow, his voice was an entire octave lower than it should have been. Toby pushed the memory from his mind. He didn’t know what was going on, but that was not his brother. His thoughts marched in circles as he wandered through the empty apartment, looking for answers.

His cell phone rang, and he answered it quickly. “Nick? Is that you?”

“Toby.” His brother sounded exhausted. “Did you see the broadcast?”

“Yes, I saw it! Who was that? They looked just like you guys! What’s going on?”

“Toby, do you trust me?”

“What?” Toby was shocked. “Of course.”

“Someone is coming to get you. Go with him.”

Toby took the phone away from his ear and stared at it in disbelief. Nick had actually hung up on him. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Toby walked to the door and disarmed the security system. The front office should have called the apartment before letting in any unknown visitors, so whoever it was must have been on his list of trusted friends. When Toby opened the door, he was surprised to see a man he didn’t recognize at all. About Toby’s age, he was dressed in a tan suit.

Toby’s fingers quickly moved to rest on the security system’s panic button. “Can I help you?”

“Mr. Jameson? Would you please come with me?”

The man’s tone was pleasant, but Toby knew that didn’t mean anything. He’d seen enough in his life to know that people were capable of anything.

“Do I know you?” asked Toby, ready to slam the door in his face if he tried anything.

“No, sir. My name is Lucas Daviroquir. Your brother asked me to pick you up.”

“You know Nick?” Toby asked, uncertain.

“No, sir. We’ve never met—but I live in this neighborhood as well, so I was the closest person he could find. He asked me to bring you to him.”

Toby looked the other man over again and noticed something he had missed the first time. The man was wearing a metal lapel pin, about an inch and a half across, in the shape of a white circle with the right half filled in. In the center was a silver Maltese cross overlaid with three gold circles—exactly like the symbol on the shirt of the person on TV who had looked so much like Nick. Toby swallowed and let his gaze rise to meet the other man’s eyes.

“It was really him, wasn’t it?”

The other man looked at him sympathetically.

“I think he wants to tell you himself, Toby. We’re already working on finding the rest of your family.”

Toby stepped out of the apartment and pulled the door closed behind him. “Then let’s go.”

“Initiate priority transit for two, relayed through the Anchorpoint master gateway directly to the Citadel.” Lucas reached out his hand and laid it on Toby’s shoulder.

A voice spoke out of the air. “Teleport ready.”

“Execute.”

The world disappeared in white light. When the light faded, they were standing in an open courtyard in the center of an eight-pointed star inlaid on the floor. Surrounding them were low white metal buildings. Narrow pillars stood at each of the eight points of the star, each about six feet high and four inches in diameter. The pillars and the outline of the star design glowed a luminous blue.

Toby looked around in wonder. Crowds of people moved purposefully about their business on all sides, most dressed in simple two-piece outfits of white, gray, or green that resembled surgical scrubs. The rest wore regular clothes, but again, the colors of white, gray, and green predominated. All of them completely ignored Lucas and Toby. There was a curious deadness to the sounds of their footsteps, as if the very air was muffled. Then Toby looked up. The area was brightly lit by overhead floodlights, suspended from an open framework of white metal that curved across the night sky. But what really caught his attention were the stars: there were so many, more than he had ever seen.

“Toby,” said Lucas.

Toby tore his eyes away from the sky to look where Lucas was pointing, at one of a number of slightly raised circular platforms. Each was about six feet across and situated at one of the points of the star.

“This way.”

Not trusting himself to ask any of the questions that threatened to burst from his lips, Toby followed.

When they both stood on the platform he’d indicated, Lucas said, “Initiate transit for two to Tower Alpha Seven, observation level.”

“Teleport ready.”

“Execute,” said Lucas. The world turned white again, and they were standing on a similar platform in the center of a large disk of bright white metal. The smaller platform was surrounded by numerous tables and chairs, all clear as glass except for the white cushions. Overhead, the numberless stars blazed brightly.

Toby barely had time to step off the platform before he heard someone call his name and felt himself wrapped in a tight embrace.

“Mom?” Toby was floored. All of his questions flew out of his head at the sight of her. He pulled back out of her arms. “What’s going on? How did you get here?”

Struggling to hold back tears, Claire Jameson met her younger son’s eyes. She turned to the side so Toby could see past her.

“Your brother brought me.”

Beyond her, Nick stood at the edge of the metal disk, facing away from them. Still dressed exactly as he'd been when Toby had last seen him on television, in a white collarless shirt and white slacks tucked into his boots, he stood with his hands clasped behind his back, staring straight ahead at the stars. Beside Nick, Scott stood next to another man seated in one of the clear chairs. Toby’s eyes widened.
It’s the terrorist from the broadcast, Jeremy something or other.
Toby turned back to his mother.

“It was real, wasn’t it? All of it.”

“I think so, Toby. He said he’d explain everything as soon as we were all here. We’re just waiting for your sister now.”

“They just picked her up in New York City, Mrs. Jameson,” said Lucas, standing beside them. “She’ll be here in a few minutes.”

Toby turned to face him. “You have the same kind of cross Nick wore. Are you a vampire, too?”

Lucas glanced nervously at Nick.

“Mr. Jameson, if I were to answer that question before your brother has a chance to talk to you, he would probably have me killed. If you will excuse me…” He stepped back onto the platform. “Initiate transit for one to Armistice Security garrison, main level.”

“Teleport ready.”

“Execute.” Lucas disappeared in a white haze.

Toby turned back to his mother. “Will you be okay if I go talk to him?”

She nodded. “I’ll wait for Faith and then join you.” She sat down at a nearby table.

Toby squared his shoulders and walked to Nick’s side, his footsteps silent in the heavy air. From the edge of the disk, he could finally see below the level of the sky. The view took his breath away. The black sky had led him to believe it was night, but the vista before him was starkly lit by bright sunlight. They were standing on top of a conical tower of white metal that swept downward to join a network of white buildings interconnected by cylindrical tubes. Clear domes atop the buildings shone in the light, like droplets of dew clinging to a spider’s web. Toby realized they were standing in a similar dome, so transparent that it was invisible from the inside.

Toby lifted his eyes to look beyond the edge of the city. A barren wasteland of tumbled gray and white rock stretched monotonously to the horizon.

“What is this place?” he whispered.

“The Citadel,” Nick said from beside him.

Toby turned to meet his brother’s eyes. “Everything I saw on the broadcast, everything I heard you say—it was all real, wasn’t it?”

“Why don’t you sit down? I’ll explain as soon as Faith gets here.”

“I’ll sit if you answer my question.”

“Toby,” Nick said, his voice deepening, “sit down.”

“Yes or no, Nick? Either way, I promise I’ll stay to hear your explanation. Just tell me the truth.”

Nick gazed into his brother’s eyes, measuring his resolve. Then he turned away and looked back out over the city again.

“Yes … it was all real.”

Toby took a deep breath. “Okay,” he said. Then he strode over to the table next to Scott and slugged Jeremy in the face as hard as he could, knocking the former terrorist onto the floor. “That’s for trying to kill my brother, you son of a bitch!”

Scott looked at Toby, then at Jeremy who lay on the floor in a daze, and burst out laughing.

“Go, Toby!” Scott smiled. They ignored the other Sentinel as he slowly rose to his feet, righted his chair, and sat back down without saying a word.

“Why is he even here?” Toby directed his question at Scott.

“I wanted to be here for Nick and the rest of you, but I don’t trust Jeremy enough to let him out of my sight,” Scott answered.

“Fine. Keep him away from me.” Toby walked back to one of the tables on the other side of Nick and sat by himself. A moment later, the rest of his family joined him, his sister and his mother wearing identical expressions of apprehension. “Well, we’re all here now, so go ahead,” he told his brother.

Sighing, Nick gazed at the expectant faces of his family. “Did all of you see what happened in Los Angeles?”

They nodded.

“Then you heard what Scott and I said about the war between Sentinels and Nightwalkers and the peace treaty in North America.”

“We heard it,” said Claire. “We also heard you say that you were one of these Daywalkers.”

“That’s right. I am.”

“You’re a vampire?” asked Faith.

“I’ve been redeemed,” Nick mumbled defensively. “I got my soul back.”

“Does that mean you lost it at some point?” asked Claire.

Nick met her eyes. “Yes.”

“When?” asked Toby. “How long have you been like this?”

“Over six years.”

June 2033; Castle Night, French Alps; Six years earlier

Nick picked his way through the rubble and flaming debris that littered the spiral stone staircase, breathing shallowly to avoid the acrid smoke. The white cloth of his short-sleeved shirt was stained with ash and blood. Reaching out with his mind, he scanned the main keep, starting with the lower levels and slowly working his way up, using a light touch that shouldn’t have been detectable by anyone less than a Third Order telepath.

A number of Triumvirate soldiers were scattered around the intersections of the major corridors, but the castle was so huge he was able to avoid them easily. He didn’t want to answer any awkward questions, and he knew that if he were caught, the Armistice Security forces would pin him down long enough for the Triumvirate to arrive and take charge. The soldiers would only be doing their jobs; he didn’t want to have to kill any of them.

To remain hidden, he kept to the shadows and back corridors, occasionally snuffing out the mystical white flames of the torches as he passed. He ignored the priceless tapestries that adorned the walls, as well as the bronze sculptures and marble statuary Luscian had plundered from every era in human history. His destination was one of the secret escape routes on the fourth level, and to get there he was reading from the map he carried in his mind—the one he had stolen from the vampire lord’s memories. It would lead him to a passage down the mountain and out of the layered jumper blocks Luscian had erected to keep unwanted visitors from teleporting into the fortress. Nick knew Luscian’s master codes to get through them, of course, but if he teleported through the blocks, it would leave a ripple in his wake that could be tracked.

He didn’t want to be followed when he left, nor did he have any desire to deal with the aftermath of the battle.
Let the Triumvirate loot the place and burn it down, if they want. They deserve it for exterminating House Luscian. Good riddance.
He idly continued his mental scan of the fortress up to the High Tower, where Takeshi had destroyed Luscian’s physical host, and found it to be oddly deserted. Then he realized a single mind waited alone on the upper battlements.

“Hello, Nick.”
The unexpected voice boomed in his head.

Cursing to himself, Nick withdrew his psychic probes and tried to remain hidden.

“I know you’re there, Nicholas,”
said the psychic voice in amusement.

Nick sighed and extended a tendril of thought out to the mind that had detected him.
“Hello, Rory.”

“Come up and join me for a drink. You know where to find me.”
Rory broke contact, leaving it up to Nick whether to accept the invitation.

Silently cursing himself for being overconfident in his new abilities, Nick changed course for the staircase up into the High Tower. He hadn’t detected anyone inside, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. Plenty of Sentinels in the upper echelons of Armistice Security were strong enough to mask their presence from him. Takeshi was by far the best, and Nick knew that wherever Rory was, Take wouldn’t be far away.

Nick made his way up the tower stairwell to the roof, stepping into the open air for the first time since he arrived. Night was giving way to dawn, the violet sky fading to dark blue as the stars began to wink out in the face of the rising light. However, Nick could instinctively feel that sunrise was still almost an hour away. Looking around, he easily found Rory standing between the crenellations of the chest-high stone wall that ran around the rooftop. He was facing east, toward the rising sun, and wore a long-sleeved black shirt, black pants, and black fingerless gloves.
God, he looks so young. He hasn’t aged a day since we first met.

Snow-capped crags reached for the sky all around them and glowed faintly in the reddish light, although they seemed brightly lit to Nick’s enhanced senses. With a grateful breath of crisp mountain air, Nick walked across the cracked, burned stone, his bare feet avoiding the worst of the bloodstains. Rory stood watching the flickering blue flames of three huge bonfires in the courtyard below.