Veil of Justice, Shadows of Justice Book 3 (26 page)

"Calm yourself." Her voice rolled over him,
prickling at this skin like liquid needles.

"But you have the maps," he cried. "I've paid
my debt. You must save me!"

An odd rasp which might have been a laugh,
but felt like a hot wind, blasted his face. Kristoff cringed away
from it, grateful no one was close enough to see the desperate fear
he could no longer conceal. "I met your bargain," he insisted as
the ingrate Nathan bellowed, calling him to the battlefield.

"And you have always served your purposes
above mine. Stand against the telepath on your own and earn your
reward."

Kristoff fell prostrate at Nin's feet.
"Please, my Queen." Nathan's telekinesis dragged at his body and
his fingers dug for any purchase in the hard-packed clay until his
nails were gone and only tracks of blood led back to Nin's
throne.

The noise of battle swelled around him, and
Kristoff tried to resist Nathan, tried to regain control of any
part of his body. "Simon!" Where was that boy? "Simon!" he shrieked
in terror.

Nathan sneered, ready for the fight. "Your
pet is distracted, Doctor. Which means I have you all to
myself."

Kristoff looked about wildly, searching for
any help. Nathan hadn't lied, Simon was busy eviscerating the same
soldiers he'd led on recent missions. "What have you done?" he
demanded, his scientific mind needing the explanation.

"I've shown Simon a new truth. He was so very
adaptable, thank you."

Kristoff felt a sharp pressure behind his ear
that circled around his skull. Then, like a vise, that band of
pressure tightened, becoming an unbearable pain.

"You'll never forgive yourself," he gritted,
fighting the affect. Through squinting eyes he saw Nathan's stony
expression. "I created you."

"You know nothing of creation. You only know
destruction."

Kristoff felt Nathan advance with his mind
rather than his body.

"Reap your harvest."

Kristoff prayed for relief to any deity who
might listen, but all turned a deaf ear to him. "You'll lose your
lovely girl if you kill me now."

The pain eased a fraction, and Kristoff took
advantage. He managed a single breath before the vise tightened
again.

"You lie."

"No! The queen is not vulnerable as you
believe."

Nathan swore and with only his mind, wrenched
Kristoff into the air. He kicked his feet and his hands clawed at
the air, but he was helpless against the telekinetic fist gripping
his throat.

"You are nothing but a rat."

Probably true. Certainly the queen treated
him no better than the rats he used in his lab. "Look inside.
Truth." His vision was failing and the battle noises grew distant.
Death was close and not unwelcome.

Suddenly Nathan's hold broke.

Kristoff tumbled to the ground. He heard the
pop of bones breaking in his arm, but the pain didn't stop him from
crawling as fast as possible from the myriad threats.

Nathan ignored Kristoff's retreat in his
panic to reach Cali before the queen destroyed her.

"No, Nathan! Stay with Kristoff," Petra
shouted, her voice ricocheting around his head.

He closed her out, desperate now to reach
Cali. Running back to the bus, he sent his mind ahead, searching
for her. His legs felt like lead slogging through a swamp. He
couldn't get there fast enough. He knew, well before he reached the
bus, that he was too late.

* * *

"Calisto, my dear," the evil queen said,
strolling toward her as if they were meeting for a picnic. She was
still several yards away, but Cali could hear her perfectly despite
the clashing of men and women. She flexed her body to run, but she
was paralyzed. "It is such pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Cali barely resisted the urge to spit in
Nin's face when the goddess closed in. Only knowing the queen would
happily seize any possible part of her body kept her lips
sealed.

"The Guardians have ignored me far too long.
Surely you and I will come to an agreement."

Cali looked with terror on the ancient evil
currently posing as a tall woman with the luminous healthy glow of
alabaster skin. While it pained her to admit it, the guardians,
mainly her father, had frequently ignored her too.

"Historically woman succeeds where man's ego
interferes. This is your historic moment, Calisto."

Cali's first instinct was to reach for
Nathan. Her last, fraying thread of logic knew it would be a fatal
error. She had a vague comprehension of his power, but she knew
with total clarity that Nin could capitalize on it for her own
selfish intentions.

The goddess queen advanced and Cali sought
the memory of Petra's restful voice during her training and
research. 'Let the demon lead you to her downfall.'

A horrible roar doused Cali like a wave of
fire racing along her skin. She told herself the smell of burning
flesh was an illusion.

"We can both stand, child. Just prove
yourself worthy. Look at what I offer you. Want what I offer
you."

Whether Cali opened her eyes or if the
demonic and deranged queen was forcing the imagery into her head
didn't matter. It all looked real enough and felt terrifying
enough.

A beautiful landscape stretched out at Cali's
feet. It was a blatant opposition of Cali's rather stark childhood
home. Green grass, wildflowers, and trees. In the distance a forest
and somewhere close she could hear a cheerful waterfall.

A waterfall? She listened, but no sounds of
battle or conflict remained.

She inhaled the clean scent of grass and rich
earth and considered the offer.

Compromise. Easy. Compromise simply meant two
bending enough to become a stronger whole. Compromise. Easy and
smart.

Who knew temptation would speak so softly? It
was a little thing to sink her feet into the soft, thick grass and
create a moment she'd never had as a child growing up in the
desert.

The goddess surrounded her, embracing her
without any real contact. "This will be your domain. You want what
I'm offering." No question just a simple statement.

Of course she wanted. Even without the
hypnotic coaching, she wanted this vista all for herself. She
wasn't sure she'd ever miss Nathan if she could stay here. Cali
tore herself away from thoughts that led to Nathan. Much too
dangerous. Here was exactly where she needed to be.

"What shall I do, my queen?"

Battle sounds blotted out the waterfall and
the air clogged with the coppery scent of blood. "Dispatch he that
has displeased me. Do that which you were trained to do, my little
guardian. Guard me against all threats."

Cali bowed her head and layered her hands at
her heart. "It is done."

Then she turned, drawing her short sword and
charged into the fray in search of Kristoff.

She didn't have to fabricate anger or hide
behind a veil of obedience. She'd wanted to skin the bastard
scientist since the moment she'd learned he'd caused Petra pain.
Adding all he'd done to Nathan, and then her family only compounded
her determination to make him suffer. At the moment, the urging of
a nasty goddess wasn't necessary.

She spotted Kristoff at the edge of the
canyon and picked up her pace, short sword in her right hand, dirk
in her left. The ultimate reward was in her sights.

Kill Kristoff and gain the peaceful
meadow.

She lunged for the escaping coward, but a man
covered in blood deflected her and they spun to the cliff's
edge.

Nathan watched the scene unfold with
horrified awe. Cali and Simon circled each other and then clashed,
knives meeting, sliding, sparking in the weak pre-dawn light. She
dipped and rolled away as he took a swing at her midsection. She
kicked his knees out in the process. Too soon, they were both on
their feet, circling again.

Nathan closed his eyes against the temptation
to interfere. It would be so simple to throw Simon over, but Cali
had to make it look good. The plan was working – working too well –
and it frightened him more than seeing the woman he loved take on
an insane serial killer.

"Why won't he die?" Nathan asked, but there
was no one to answer, not in his head or nearby.

"Petra?" He tried to remember when he'd last
heard her. "Oh, you better not –"

"Too late." She was a wavering transparency
beside him.

"Gideon will kill you."

Her astral self rolled her eyes. "Found the
maps." Her astral hands wrapped around his. "Moved." She pulled him
by his hands, down to the ground, burying them both up to their
elbows in the sandy desert.

Nathan's view rippled along the surface to
where Nin's cloak brushed the sand. The goddess had managed to open
the box and she'd applied the true maps as a lining to her cloak.
When Cali offered her blood as planned to illuminate and trap Nin,
the goddess would have the access she craved.

Why hadn't anyone thought of this?

Petra's departure barely registered as Nathan
raced toward Gideon's position to adjust their strategy.

* * *

Cali had danced with Simon long enough. The
one scratch above her elbow had been hard to come by as he was so
intent on laying open her abdomen. Allowing all her suppressed fury
to surface – this monster had put Petra through hell – Cali slipped
under his guard and pressed her short sword into his gut.

Simon's eyes went wide. Stunned, mortally
wounded, he dropped to his knees. She immediately snatched his
Keris
away, twirling it in front of his face.

"Do you want to finish it or do you want to
live?"

He glanced at the blood pulsing from between
his hands. "Finish me."

Just as they'd predicted. Simon had been
programmed with a depraved need to see what was inside. "Tell me
what I want to know and you can have your blade to finish
yourself."

He shook his head.

She gave the blade another twirl. The rising
sun splashed across his tortured features. "Tell me now or you'll
never know what you're made of."

Simon glanced down at his hand, then back at
her.

She almost felt sorry for the distorted
creature. "Redeem yourself."

"Only suicide." He clutched at his gut. "Or
twins. Twins can split his mind."

She was mentally cursing the goddess.
Wisdom indeed to install such safeguards
. Too bad the bitch
didn't realize she wielded the wisdom of the damned.

"Calisto!" The queen's cry spun her around
like a paperclip to a magnet.

She dropped the rippled knife just out of
Simon's reach and ran toward the queen. It was time to launch her
final deception.

Success or death. Hardly a wealth of
options.

"Work all things for good, Calisto."

She stumbled at the sound of her father's
voice. It was as clear as if he ran beside her. Suddenly, racing
toward the most evil thing she'd never imagined seemed an easier
task. Her uncertainty fell away, her heart burned with a pure fire
and she cared no more for compromise or deception.

* * *

"You idiot!"

Nathan landed with a thud next to his
brother-in-law who was clearly unhappy to see him. "It's a trap.
Nin has the maps –"

"Kristoff was your only assignment and you're
blowing it," Gideon declared, between rifle shots. "This isn't the
time to mess with the plan."

"But Petra –"

Gideon cut him off again. "Petra relayed news
from Simon. Kristoff has to take his own life to break the
goddess's hold. Pet put a dent in the doctor months ago. Now get
busy and finish what she started."

Nathan opened his mouth again, but Gideon
kicked his shin. "I'm done arguing with you. Do it or I'll have
Danny-boy shoot you."

Considering what he knew of the Gairden
family values, he figured odds were good Daniel would happily take
the shot.

He applied himself to the doctor, using the
back door the man had left wide open and followed the remnants of
Petra's lead until Kristoff was a broken husk of what had once been
a brilliant, if evil mind.

* * *

"Help me Calisto," the queen cried as Cali
reached the summit where she watched over the battle.

Cali skidded to a stop, trying to behave like
a supplicant. The scene shocked her and warned her of the pending
treachery like nothing else.

She knew she was supposed to see Nathan
holding a knife to the queen's throat, ready to behead her. But
those images were a transparent veil over the truth. Kristoff was
holding a short sword, much like her own, but it hung at his side,
posing no threat to Nin.

"Kill him. Quickly."

The command brought Cali's attention to the
horrific truth that was the evil queen goddess. She couldn't
suppress the urge to cringe at the scuttling claws, the greed in
the red eyes glowing from the depths of a skeletal face draped in
ash colored parchment. No wonder she applied such a careful
illusion for those she wanted to corrupt.

"Calisto, your reward awaits."

She went back to enticement. Still Cali
didn't move.

"Is there any other way?" she asked with the
awkward wonder of a small child. It was her only chance to buy
Nathan time to finish Kristoff. If he'd even gotten the
message.

"Your vow, guardian!" Nin snapped, her voice
lashing out in a whip of fire across Cali's cheek. "Have you
forgotten?"

"Moody much?" Cali couldn't resist lashing
back. She reached up, pressing fingers to her wounded cheek,
smearing the blood Nin's voice had drawn. She nodded to the
illusion of Nathan. "He saved me once. He got me here in one piece
for you. Must he really die?"

The images sifted, making Cali's stomach roll
as the Queen moved closer, but she kept her eyes open, playing her
part. She knew the blood made her the magnet, but vengeance filled
her with a need to see the queen dance like the paperclip.