To Whatever End (Echoes of Imara Book 1) (32 page)

The transference itself had been far more intense than the others, the assault of energy battering him. He had felt Number Fourteen’s presence in the process, the energy bouncing back and forth between them like echoes of sound on a canyon wall.

He had emerged from the transference stronger than before. It had taken him days to gain control over his ability. He’d accidentally killed a servant just by brushing past him in the hallway as Sindre led him back to his room. The man had shriveled up, his skin crusting with ice almost instantly. The effects had diminished after the first few days, and Sindre had drilled him mercilessly until he was able to keep control over his ability. A swath of death no longer followed him, but he could feel the power churn within, begging to be let out.

He picked up another rock, pulling its heat, and let it crust over with frost. The woman from Fourteen’s memory haunted his mind. He dreamt of her nightly, her face hovering before his vision. He longed for those dreams, so calm and serene. Calling forth her image helped him rein in his powers. She was like an anchor holding his mind in place while a storm raged through him. Each time he absorbed energy from Fourteen, his vision of her grew stronger, coalescing into a memory he could almost believe was his own. He dared to whisper her name to himself, late at night when he knew no one would hear.
Cecily.

Fourteen worked faster, tossing rocks behind him, and pushed forward down the tunnel. He had seemed increasingly erratic since the last transference and Number One was beginning to fear he wouldn’t last much longer. He had seen it before. Nihil would push too hard, force them through one transference too many, and their mind would break. It was too much to be inundated with the life energy of another, forced to carry a piece of them with you. It took a certain type of strength to survive.

He was strangely concerned for Fourteen. He had worked with the others, watched many of them die, but he had never felt any kinship to them. Perhaps he saw them as Nihil did, as test subjects to be used and discarded when they failed. His connection to Fourteen, and to the woman in his mind, brought out feelings like distant memories, emotions from a past he could not find the courage to recall.

Fourteen stopped his work and crouched down. His shoulders rose and fell with heavy breaths. Number One squatted next to him to look at the other man’s eyes. He found himself wondering what he looked like without his mask. The silver in his eyes had gone dull, mingling with the browns, greens and blues that were the telltale sign of Nihil’s tampering.

“You’re getting shaky again,” Number One said.

Fourteen held up his hands. They trembled. He clutched them together, his breathing still heavy, and nodded. Number One wondered if he’d ever speak again.

The first time Number One had absorbed Fourteen’s energy, he had been hesitant. In the weeks since, he had found himself craving the surge of power and the mingling of his mind with Fourteen’s. His vision of Cecily always improved when he was connected to Fourteen. She constantly intruded into his thoughts like an itch he couldn’t scratch. He told himself he was only helping his cohort, but deep inside, he knew he craved the connection.

He placed his hand on Fourteen’s forearm and Absorbed. Fourteen’s swell of energy surged into Number One and filled him almost instantly. The power reverberated through his body and spread warmth to his usually cold hands. He relished the feeling of exhilaration and strength. His life was not his own, but when filled with this much energy, he felt in command, as if he could control his own fate.

Number Fourteen’s outward lack of emotion ran deeper than Number One had anticipated. He braced himself for the assault of feeling, the anger and fear that ran through Fourteen’s being. It was gone. It was as if he drew energy through nothing but emptiness. There were no visions, nor pulses of emotion. His alarm grew as he realized Cecily was not there. He cast about for her, struggling to find even an echo of her image, but there was nothing. It was as if Fourteen was gone, and he’d taken his very essence with him.

Number One continued to Absorb, frantically searching for some sign of Cecily in Fourteen’s mind. It was like walking through an abandoned building. He pulled harder, determined to find a trace of her, some glimmer of emotion.

A hand clasped his other arm and the flow of energy suddenly reversed. He opened his eyes and saw Fourteen grabbing his arm, his cold eyes boring into him. Number One’s heart began to race as he realized Fourteen was Absorbing energy from him. Cold spread over him and he shivered, fear growing in his belly.

“Too much,” Fourteen growled before he released his arm. He held his eyes a moment longer, then stood and reached down to grab another stone.

Number One stood and backed away. Nihil seemed to think Number Fourteen was his greatest triumph, but Number One was beginning to wonder what he had made.

***

The debris from the tunnel once again clear, Number One and Number Fourteen stood in the courtyard along with several of the others. Nihil strode in, Sindre at his side, and the men fell in line, military style, hands behind their backs and eyes straight ahead. Number One’s arm still throbbed from Fourteen’s grasp, like a burn that was beginning to heal.

Nihil wore his customary black robes. “We have an opportunity,” he began. “My work has come under an intolerable level of scrutiny of late. I have made entirely too many breakthroughs to be interrupted now. There are still loose ends that continue to plague us, despite my very explicit instructions to tie them up.” He wandered in front of the line of his subjects and glanced up and down at each of them. “A rather simple fix has been presented. I have need of some of you elsewhere, but Number One, I need you to take Number Four, Number Six, Number Nine and Number Fourteen with you. The trap will be laid; you will simply need to proceed once it has been sprung. Sindre will give Number One the details. The rest of you are to obey his orders as if they were from my own lips.”

He stopped in front of Number One and looked him in the eyes as Sindre hovered behind him. “Let me be very clear about this. I want them all dead. Every last one of them.”

Number One nodded, a quick up and down of his chin. Despite his burning antipathy, a strange sense of gratification spread over him at Nihil’s implicit trust.
Obey his orders...

Nihil turned to the others. “Very good. You are dismissed.”

Number One turned to go, but Nihil put a hand on his shoulder. He stood there, silent, until the other subjects had left.

“I have a secondary job for you,” Nihil said and leaned in close. “This will be an interesting test for Number Fourteen. I am intentionally putting him in a position that will tell me a great deal about the results of our work on him. I want you to observe him closely and report his reactions back to me, every detail. If he deviates from orders, you are to neutralize him immediately. I would send Sindre with you, but I need her here. I want him back alive, but do not under any circumstances allow him to depart. Is that understood?”

Number One nodded again as Nihil lifted his hand from his shoulder and walked away, leaving him alone in the courtyard. A light rain began to fall, droplets settling on his mask. He stood still a moment longer, wondering what test Nihil had in mind for Number Fourteen and whether he realized the full extent of Fourteen’s alterations.

It appeared it was now his job to find out.

32. REVELATIONS

Cecily crouched, wedged in a tiny alley, and scanned the street. Most of Wesfell was quiet and empty, the residents down by the river, dancing around the bonfires to celebrate the solstice. The sounds of their merriment drifted over the town. Griff, Serv, Edson, and Merrick were scattered around the area, similarly hidden. They had yet to see any sign of Nihil’s men, but the last shadows of dusk were still stretching and fading into darkness.

Stars began to twinkle in the clear sky. The frigid air stung her cheeks, and her breath misted in front of her. She pulled her cowl down lower and tucked her hands into her cloak. Her Awareness was spread wide, looking for any signs of movement.

Serv appeared from behind, stealing through the alley on light feet. “Anything?” he asked, his voice a whisper.

She shook her head. “Only townspeople.”

He nodded. “We haven’t seen them either. I would suggest we move closer to the docks, but I have my doubts we’d find them dancing around a bonfire on the riverbank.”

Cecily smiled and let out a breathy laugh. He nodded to her and crept back the way he had come.

She closed her eyes and traced the streets in her mind.
Where are you?
Her heart beat quickly and she felt the telltale tingle in her limbs as her adrenaline rose. She tapped the toes of one foot inside her boot, careful not to make any noise. It was hard to keep still.

A lone figure crossed into her circle of Awareness. This one wasn’t heading for the river, but cutting across the town. She slowly stood, melting into the shadow of the alley, and kept her back pressed against the rough wood wall. The figure came within sight as he walked down the street and cast glances all around. He was dressed all in black, his dark clothes blending into the night. Cecily had to stop herself from gasping. He was hooded and masked.

She let him pass, his quick stride taking him down the street toward the center of town. She narrowed her Awareness and pointed it in his direction to make sure they didn’t lose him. She didn’t want to follow too closely; she had no intention of discovering what unnatural abilities this man possessed. She stepped out of her hiding place and kept close to the building, signaling Merrick with a quick flick of her hand.

Creeping along the street, keeping to the shadows, she pursued the masked figure, her friends following along behind. His movements seemed wary, as if he was trying to remain unseen. He turned up and down several streets, stopping at corners, and took time to look up and down the empty street before emerging.

He proceeded to the central town square and stopped before what felt to Cecily like a stone fountain. She waved her friends along, turned down a side street, and edged into an alley. They gathered behind her and she crept to the end, a clear view of the town plaza in front of her.

The figure walked around the other side of the fountain and suddenly disappeared from her mental sight. Cecily gasped and drew her Awareness back to sharpen the image of the plaza. He was simply gone, as if he’d never been there.

She leaned toward Serv at her shoulder and whispered, “He’s gone.”

His brow furrowed and he leaned out to scan the area. He glanced back over his shoulder and tilted his head toward the fountain. They emerged from the alley into the plaza. Large wooden buildings rose up from the cobblestone, arranged in a circle around the fountain. Streets and alleys snaked off in all directions, stretching out from the center. They crept out into the open, turning, as everyone looked for some sign of Nihil’s men. Griff and Serv stood to her right, Sumara and Merrick on her left, Edson at the far end. Other than the six of them, the entire square was empty.
Where did he go?

The soft scratch of feet on the ground whispered behind her and Cecily whipped around. Two men, masked and dressed in black, stood behind them. She turned again and found three more facing her. Her stomach clenched with fear as she watched them from underneath her cowl. They had barely escaped their last encounter with one of these masked Wielders, and there had only been one. With five surrounding them she had the sinking feeling they weren’t getting out of this town alive.

Anger at the prospect of death burned away her fear. “Town Guard, Edson. Go!” she shouted and he took off running, back through the streets toward the river. Serv drew his sword and Griff hefted his heavy axe. Sumara’s fingers crackled with power and Merrick nocked an arrow into the string of his bow.

A laugh came from the masked man in the center. She glanced at the two behind her. One looked poised to spring and follow Edson.

“Let him go. He’s nothing but a child.” It was the man in the center. He took a step forward and cocked his head to the side. “This will be over soon enough.” Cecily hesitated and shrunk back at his voice. “Fourteen, you take the swordsman and the brute with the axe. Four, the bowman and the dark woman. Six and Nine, guard the rear and keep them from escaping. I’ll have a little chat with the lady in the center.”

He sauntered toward Cecily as the other two men spread out toward her companions. A trail of sparkling ice crystals spread out from his feet as he walked, as if he was absorbing the heat from the ground.
Maybe he is.
He stopped a few feet in front of her as the clang of metal rang out next to her.

She glanced to the side and saw Griff and Serv close with one of the men. He was a head taller than they were and swung an enormous sword through the darkness. Merrick had retreated back as far as he could to rain arrows at the man approaching him. The masked man threw something at each arrow, exploding them midair. Sumara’s fingertips crackled with lightning and she let loose, unleashing a bolt into his chest. He stumbled and threw something at Sumara that burst into flames at her feet.