Dread Nemesis of Mine

chapter 20

Elyssa

Fausta clenched her fists. "Punishment? Commander, have you ever known me to do something stupid for no reason?"

He shook his head. "And that's what has me so puzzled. You were on track to become an officer. But you've thrown it all away by recklessly acting on misguided notions. You'll be lucky to ever make up for it." Christian turned his gaze on Elyssa. "And you." He shook his head. "You've been given more chances than most."

Meghan appeared with Healer Delgado in tow. "Before you condemn these loyal Templars, perhaps you should defer to the experts, Commander."

He looked at Healer Delgado. "Do you have anything to add?"

The woman looked a bit off balance, Elyssa thought. Hardly surprising considering what Meghan might have told her on the way over.

"I'd like to hear a full recitation of events," Healer Delgado said after taking in the faces of the others in the group. "Healer Andretti explained a few things on the way over, but I'm afraid my mind is a bit discombobulated from all the commotion."

Christian set his jaw but let Elyssa explain everything, including her own experience with taking the White and the dreams she'd had about the house with fog and rain in the back and sunshine in the front. She also gave the healer the inside scoop on Daelissa, the blonde so-called angel whose sanity seemed to hang by a thread.

"Why have I heard nothing about this Daelissa person being the Divinity?" Delgado said. "My god, if everything Recruit Borathen says is true, we're in terrible danger."

"Our discovery about Daelissa was very recent," Christian said. "Commander Borathen and I were discussing how to proceed with the information. As you can imagine, this revelation would be a shock to Templars."

The healer's eyes tightened. "Better to shock them now than lead them to their deaths, Commander. We need to question everyone and discover if these dreams are plaguing anyone else, or if they're limited to Lieutenant Martinez."

"But they're just dreams," Christian said, shaking his head. "I can't recall and abort a mission based solely on one officer's unusual dreams."

"Wait," Elyssa said with a gasp. "Did you say recall? You mean, the assets are already in the field?"

Christian paused as if considering whether he should answer the question, but relented. "Commander Borathen got wind of Artemis's unofficial visit and knew he might try to stop our offensive. In case you hadn't noticed, nearly half the legion isn't here. We sent the stealth teams ahead and the remainder of the force is waiting in the wings."

"Crap!" Elyssa's chest tightened. "You have to recall them now. They're walking into an ambush."

"What is going on over here?" Thomas Borathen said in a low voice as he pushed into the circle. He looked Elyssa and the others over with his cold blue eyes.

Christian pondered the question for a moment before turning to Elyssa. "Perhaps you should explain. Again."

Elyssa wanted to throttle him. "We don't have time. When are they going in? Is it too late?"

"Someone had better explain the meaning of this immediately." Despite the blaze of his eyes, Thomas's voice was low and calm but not without menace.

Seeing no alternative, Elyssa spit out the story once again, taking time to read the diary entries. Her emotions warred within her as she read. Would Underborn still go ahead with his rescue mission? Elyssa traced the outline in her pocket of the arcphone Underborn had given her. She had to contact him immediately and tell him what was happening. But she couldn't let hundreds of Templars walk into a deadly ambush. This legion had already lost good people during the attack on the drug lord, Franco's, compound barely more than a week ago while trying to apprehend Justin. Sadness nearly choked her as she read the diary entry. Poor Justin. He'd been kidnapped by Franco, only to have Maximus do the same thing to him.

The thought knocked loose the memory of a conversation she'd had with Justin a few days ago. He'd recounted his imprisonment at Franco's compound. How he'd nearly been beaten to death before tricking them into bringing him a woman so he could feed and regain his supernatural strength.

Franco and his right-hand man, Marcel—both of them vampires—had supposedly kidnapped Justin for Maximus. In return, Maximus was supplying them with weapons and ammunition. Ammunition. The cursed bullets Franco's thugs had used tore through the Templar's Nightingale armor like it wasn't even there. Elyssa cursed. So much had happened between that conversation and now, but it was no excuse. Forgetting to tell them about the cursed ammo was a deadly oversight.

"What is it?" Meghan asked.

Elyssa shook her head. "The ammo Franco and his gang used to penetrate our armor wasn't something they made. It was supplied to them by Maximus."

"Our people are still investigating those bullets," Christian said. "We still don't know where they originated, so how in the world could you know?"

She shook her head. "Justin told me. He said Franco was bragging about Maximus being their supplier. If that's the case, it doesn't matter if Daelissa knows our plan of attack. Our armor can't stop those bullets, and our people don't know it. They'll never even know what hit them."

Christian cursed.

Thomas pursed his lips. "Recall them," he said. "Now."

The Colombian commander put an arcphone to his ear. "Lieutenant Martinez, the operation is Foxtrot Utah. Do you copy?" He gritted his teeth. "I don't care. Do what you have to do." Christian lowered the phone. "We might be too late."

Gigi Martinez was in charge of the attack? This was worse than Elyssa had imagined. True, just because Daelissa had invaded her dreams didn't mean the woman was under the angel's direct control. But Commander Salazar obviously didn't believe Elyssa's warning about the diary enough to remove Martinez from command.

Thomas nodded. His eyes betrayed not a lick of uncertainty or stress as he said, "Sergeant Gaetano, I'm placing you in charge of a rescue team."

Fausta stiffened and saluted with a fist over her heart. "Yes, Commander."

"Healers Andretti and Delgado will be part of the team. You choose the others and get to the front. Understood?"

She nodded. "Borathen, you're with me."

"Add me to your number," said a deep voice. Michael Borathen appeared, two katana hilts protruding diagonally above his muscled shoulders.

"No way in hell," Elyssa snarled, as anger boiled up inside her. It took all her control not to fly at him with everything she had. Unfortunately, it would mean she'd have to explain her reasons. Now was not the time to settle this. Rescue Justin first. Beat the crap out of Michael second.

"Explain yourself, recruit," Christian said, eyes puzzled.

Elyssa stammered. "I—uh, I think he's too tall for a stealth mission."

"This isn't stealth," Fausta said, her eyes looking the hulking figure up and down. "This is search and rescue, and I could use a big man with big swords. Hell yes, Michael. You're on the team!" She took a quick headcount. "This should be good for now. I'll pull from the main force at the front if I need any more bodies."

Christian nodded.

They rushed to a slider disguised as a helicopter and hopped in. Adam Nosti climbed in behind Meghan.

"Wait for me!" came another voice outside and Bella clambered into the cabin.

"Oh, no, you don't." Fausta shook her head. "You two aren't Templars."

Adam clenched his teeth. "My sister is in Maximus's compound. You're not keeping me off this mission."

"I can vouch for him," Meghan said. "He can take care of himself."

"And I can vouch for myself, young lady." Bella took a seat and belted in. "Heaven knows I've been through more than you could ever imagine."

Fausta shrugged. "Fine, but if either of you gets fragged, don't come dragging your broken, bloody bodies to me." She dropped into the pilot's seat and hovered a hand over a control. The illusionary rotors on the slider turned on, mimicking a chopper warming up as they spun increasingly faster. "Buckle in, people. This is going to be bumpy." The Italian woman didn't wait a second longer, and took them into the air fast enough to press the passengers hard into the seats. Pressing forward on the control stick, she catapulted them toward the compound.

Elyssa glared at Michael. He returned her burning gaze with a raised eyebrow.

"What do you want me to say?" he said at last.

"There's nothing you can say. Does you-know-who know about you coming along?"

"I already told him about the spy issue. You only repeated your story three times." The barest hint of a smile lifted the corner of his mouth. "He said your findings were too vague. In other words, he's not risking his assets. So I told him to go to hell."

Cold fear settled into Elyssa. It was all on her now. As usual, Underborn couldn't be counted on to do the right thing. Anger and disappointment clawed at her throat and it was all she could do not to scream curses at her brother. "How could you work for him? How could you?"

Michael glanced around at the other curious eyes in the cabin and shook his head. "Not now, Ninjette. We'll discuss this at a more appropriate time."

Adam's eyes lit with understanding as he met Elyssa's. But he kept his mouth shut and didn't say a word.

"Now is always an appropriate time for gossip," Bella said, her violet eyes bright with curiosity.

Elyssa saw no further reason to hide the truth. If anything, she felt guilty for holding back on them. "Underborn is the one who told me there might be a spy in the first place. He told me he had people inside Maximus's compound who could rescue Justin, but he wouldn't go through with it until I found the spy."

Fausta's head whipped around. "Everything we did tonight was just to save your boyfriend?"

"Oh, Elyssa." Bella tutted. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

Elyssa's heart sank. She'd been selfish. But telling the others about Underborn might have cut out a lot of the unnecessary wrangling and explaining. Thanks to her discretion, a lot of Templars might die. "I'm sorry. I should have told you all from the start."

Fausta slapped the console. "Figlio di Troia! If you ever bring me into something like this again, you'd better tell me everything." Her voice was low and harsh.

Bella touched Elyssa's arm. "Now, now. Don't be too hard on yourself. Judging from the way Commanders Borathen and Salazar run things, they probably wouldn't have listened to you if you'd mentioned Underborn. If anything, they'd be running a top-to-bottom search for the scoundrel."

"She's right," Michael said. "You know Thomas would have overreacted, especially if he knew Underborn had come to you."

"You did the right thing," Adam said.

"Stop enabling her," Fausta said.

Meghan simply narrowed her eyes, as if trying to discern how someone could be so stupid.

Before Elyssa could say another word, the slider bumped down in a courtyard. She noted that none of the Templars present except Michael wore armor, not that it mattered if cursed bullets hit them, but she still felt naked without it.

"Speaking of Underborn," Michael said as they piled out of the cabin. "I know of two secret entrances we can use to get inside the compound."

Fausta threw her hands into the air. "Why do you people not tell me these things before we go?" Her Italian accent was stronger than Elyssa had ever heard it. Fausta retrieved her arcphone and activated a three-dimensional map of the surrounding area. "Show me."

Using his fingers to rotate and zoom the image, he homed in on an alleyway across from the compound, and marked it with a red "X". "There's a hidden hatch in the ground there." He flicked the image and went to the other side of the building where he marked a building. "In the basement, there's a door behind a set of lockers that opens into a tunnel as well."

"If Underborn planned on having his spies use these secret tunnels, why didn't he just have them leave Justin at the exit? Nobody ever would have seen them."

Michael indicated several points on the map right next to the hidden hatches. "There are Templars sentries stationed right next to them. They'd report the hatches and the mole would find out. Should that happen, Maximus would be sure to seal them off."

While his argument made sense, Elyssa couldn't help but feel Underborn was playing at something else. Something bigger. What it was, she couldn't say.

Fausta considered the map. "We are closest to the alley, so we'll take that route." She picked up her phone, configured it into wireless radio mode, and contacted the main force of Templars near the compound. After a moment, she got through to Lieutenant Martinez.

"Commander Salazar told me you're leading in a rescue team," the officer said. "I'm ready to commit the rest of our forces, but he told me to wait on your go-ahead." An exasperated note sounded in her voice.

Fausta's eyes gleamed in triumph. "I'm transmitting the location of a secret entrance to you. I suggest you send a force there. My group will enter via a tunnel on the other side. On my signal, we can flank them, and once we have their attention, you can lead the main assault."

"Where did you get this information?" Lieutenant Martinez replied after a brief pause. "Why wasn't I informed?"

"It's new intel." Fausta sent the coordinates. "What's the status of our squads on the inside?"

"The stealth squads went in before the command came down to withdraw. They're surrounded and cut off. We had no idea about these cursed bullets the commander told me about."

"No time to waste then," Fausta replied. "Get your people in position and tell me when they're ready."

"I don't think the lieutenant is happy taking orders from a sergeant," Bella said.

Fausta grinned. "I know. Isn't it great?"

Michael unlatched a compartment on the bottom of the slider and slid it out to reveal an array of weaponry.

Fausta grabbed a pair of katanas, and fastened the sheaths on her back in less than thirty seconds, then raised an eyebrow at Elyssa as if daring her to do better.

Elyssa ignored the other woman, deciding on a pair of sai swords, a couple of flash grenades, and a lancer on each wrist. The darts would incapacitate anyone who got in their way.

Fausta groaned. "Sai swords again?" She looked appreciatively at Michael's katanas. "At least your brother has good taste in swords."

Meghan and the others grabbed lancers as well. Adam pshawed and pulled out a pair of automatic pistols.

"We're trying to keep casualties low," Elyssa said.

Fausta shook her head. "Not if I can help it." She slapped the compartment shut and motioned the group on. "Those bastards are taking out Templars. Friends of mine. I plan on getting some payback."

Elyssa had mixed feelings about it. "Most of Maximus's recruits are probably kids or young adults no older than me. In case you've forgotten, he has a knack for brainwashing people and using vampire compulsion to make them do what he wants."

"Are you saying his rogue army is full of innocent wittle kiddies?" Fausta said, her tone mocking. "Maybe we can tell their parents."

"Elyssa has a point," Michael said. "Maximus and his lieutenants are responsible for this. Let's not indiscriminately kill everyone until we sort things out."

Adam took a polished wooden rod about six inches long from a pouch on his side and shook it. It sprang into a staff. "I'm looking forward to sorting this out." With the automatic pistols in holsters at his side and thick glasses on his nose, he looked like an odd cross between a cowboy, wizard, and geek. He pulled the glasses off and stuffed them into the pouch.

"Don't you need those?" Elyssa asked.

Adam chuckled. "My eyes are perfectly fine. Those are just for show." He winked. "Don't tell anyone."

They reached the alley. Michael hunted around on the paved ground until he found a brick embossed with the tiny symbol of an eye. He pressed the symbol three quick times and a hatch popped open, revealing a ladder.

"Ladies first," said Fausta as she slid down the ladder.

Elyssa followed close behind, swallowing the ball of nerves in her throat, and followed Fausta into the dark. The Italian woman shouted.

Elyssa turned just as someone rammed Fausta and sent her tumbling back.