Shards of Hope

Chapter 70

WHEN AMIN CALLED in the discovery of Blake’s body, Aden went to collect it himself. The cause of death was simple enough to determine, as was the fact that he’d been murdered.

“No surveillance feeds anywhere in the vicinity,” Amin told him, and though his dark face was impassive, Aden could guess at his frustration. “I have him two blocks from this location, but no glimpse of any other viable suspect.”

Leaving a team behind to go back over Blake’s entire trail in case he’d left behind a fail-safe data cache, Aden took Blake home, and that night, he was laid to rest in the simple graveyard situated at the foot of the mountains on one end of the valley.

“When Blake did what he did,” Aden said, “he surrendered his status as an Arrow. Many of you have asked me why I brought him back.” He looked around at his gathered brethren, Zaira’s hand tight around his. She, too, had asked, and when he’d told her why, she’d nodded in solemn acceptance.

“He is here because, for all his mistakes and the horrific acts he perpetrated, he was family,” Aden told the others now. “Just because he went rogue and we had to hunt him with a view to execution doesn’t mean he was excised from the family. He was no longer an Arrow, but he remained part of us.” Those words, he spoke for all the Arrows around them, young and old. Every child from age thirteen onward was present.

It was important they understand that this family was forever.

Even Beatrice had chosen to attend. Zaira had spoken to the girl ahead of time and her other hand was currently linked with Beatrice’s. She’s fine, Zaira told him when he touched her mind with the question. Your words mean more to her than what Blake did. She’s been hurt before, but she’s never been certain of belonging anywhere.

That was exactly why Aden was doing this, not just for Beatrice, but for all his people. Squeezing Zaira’s hand, he continued to speak. “We can abhor the actions Blake took without cutting him from the family tree,” he said, wanting to make sure no one had any doubts about the point he was making on this dark night veiled with starlight, the mountains shadowy sentinels around them.

“We can consider him a murderous threat to society and a traitor to the oaths that bind us together as Arrows, without attempting to erase the fact that he was one of us. He wasn’t a good man but he was an Arrow. He watched my back and yours for many years.” Blake hadn’t been all evil all the time. “We do not erase those who were our own. We do not forget. He existed. For better or worse, he was one of us.”

Stepping back, he watched as the memorial was put in place, Blake’s ashes buried in a biodegradable container that meant he would eventually become part of the earth. The small memorial set into the ground with his name on it would remain, however, and it would be kept clean and free of debris by a rotation of Arrows and older trainees.

For many years, there had been no memorials, Arrows passing and gone without leaving a sign. Aden had begun the memorials behind Ming’s back. The day he’d finally ousted the other man, he’d ordered a larger memorial that listed the names of all the Arrows who had come and gone from the formation of the squad, starting with Zaid Adelaja.

Each had existed. Each had a claim to the family of Arrows.

Warm, strong fingers flexed against his palm, curled even tighter around it. He let Zaira’s fire warm him as they committed Blake’s soul to whatever lay beyond.

WITH Blake dead, and his incipient reign of terror ended, the squad and Aden had one less thing on their plates, but that didn’t mean much.

“Olivia tried so hard,” Zaira told him that night as they got ready to catch the five hours of sleep that was the minimum on which they could function at full capacity. “I could see her trying to squeeze her memories dry. She even offered to let me smash her shields even though it might cause permanent brain damage or death.”

Zaira rubbed her face. “She was hysterical by the time we finally left.” Eyes bleak, she put her head against Aden’s shoulder. “Vasic ’ported to every location he could think of from Olivia’s scattered memories, but she didn’t see anything specific enough.” Her arms slid around his rib cage, her hands closing over his shoulders from the back as she held on to him. “If we don’t find Persephone, I think Olivia will find a way to commit suicide.”

Aden wanted to promise her it wouldn’t come to that, but they’d both seen too much evil to believe in fairy tales. “We’re fighting for Persephone,” he said instead. “And if her mother, drug addicted and abused, is strong enough to retain some memories, then the child will also be strong.”

Zaira nodded. “I just hope we make it in time.”

They fell asleep tangled in one another and woke to their duties.

First, the technical specifics of Blake’s death remained under investigation—the neurotoxin had been quickly identified, but, while not common, it was readily enough available that no one supplier could be pinpointed.

“Given Blake’s disruptive activities and mode of death,” Aden said to Vasic that afternoon, “it’s possible he was either inadvertently or consciously working for the people who’ve been trying to undermine the squad. The fact that it’s highly likely he caused Jim Savua’s death further ties it all together into a single conspiracy.”

His back to a dark green fir that echoed the others around them, Vasic flexed the robotic arm that was Samuel Rain’s latest attempt at a functional prosthetic. “This thing creaks.”

“So it’s a no?”

“I’ll give it another three hours.” Stretching out the fingers, he froze midflex. “Or maybe not.” He teleported out and was back within a minute, sans arm. “The entire thing froze up.”

“Samuel won’t be happy.”

“He threw the last one into a deep hole, then had me ’port in and retrieve it after he calmed down.” Vasic pinned up his sleeve as the wind riffled through his hair. “As for Blake, the fact that he was taken out so cleanly, with minimal fuss, fits our enemy’s MO.” Vasic’s eyes tracked Sienna Lauren’s small movements as she sat on a tree stump in the distance, Arrow teenagers on similar makeshift seats around her.

The cardinal X, her distinctive dark red hair currently pulled into a ponytail, had requested they all leave, giving the teenagers freedom to ask the questions they wanted to without fear of oversight. Aden hadn’t been able to agree to that for security reasons, and he knew the changelings hadn’t either, but they’d all withdrawn out of view and out of hearing range.

Like Aden and Vasic, the leopards and wolves were scattered in the trees surrounding the compound deep in pack territory, a compound normally used for the training of empaths. “I would’ve bet money Hawke Snow would rebuff my request.” The wolf alpha was viciously protective of his pack.

“If Ming hadn’t claimed Sienna as his protégé, she’d have ended up in the squad,” Vasic said. “And Hawke is mated to her—a man does many things for love.”

Yes, Aden thought, he did. “Do you think she’s sharing a manual? I’m not sure the squad is ready for such well-armed teenagers.”

Vasic glanced at him, a faint curve to his mouth. “I’m glad to see you’ve found laughter.”

Aden didn’t smile, but his friend was right. No matter his and Zaira’s duties, they continued to manage to find each other, managed to rest skin to skin. The intimacy of having his deadly commander fall asleep in his arms was blinding and perfect. “Being with her . . . it makes everything else bearable.” Her fire lit up his life.

“Yes,” was all Vasic said, his next words about someone else altogether. “Alejandro has adapted surprisingly well to the valley.”

“The children love him because he’ll play a simple game with them for hours with no sign of impatience.”

“Did Zaira order him to do that?”

“No. Her only order was that he not cause harm to the children.” Zaira didn’t like controlling Alejandro, but she’d taken on the task because without it, the brain-damaged Arrow would be confused and dangerous. “He simply walked out of his cabin one day and joined in a game. Added to the fact that he made the independent decision to get me during the incident in Venice, there’s cautious optimism among the medics that his brain may have started rewiring itself.”

“The chances of a full recovery?”

“Nil.” The drug had done too much damage to Alejandro’s brain. “But if he stays on this trajectory, he could eventually have a life that requires very little supervision.” The latter would take longer to achieve with Alejandro than it would with a civilian because of the male’s deadly training. “For now, he appears content living in the cabin next to ours, and doing tasks within the compound. Nerida has him on the security detail to protect the children and it’s an assignment that suits him.”

In the clearing under the sunlight, an Arrow teen leaned forward, face more animated than Aden had ever seen it. It bolstered Aden’s view that this had been the right decision, the time he’d carved from his schedule to arrange it more than worthwhile. Even though she was now twenty, Sienna Lauren could reach these teenagers in a way he and other adult Arrows couldn’t. “Did you talk to Judd?” he asked, thinking of another member of the Lauren family.

Vasic nodded. “SnowDancer’s had three more reports of dissension-causing events.” He telepathed the details to Aden. “Hawke and Lucas are handling it, keeping the changeling groups calm.”

“Bo is doing the same with the Alliance.” Krychek, meanwhile, was speaking to the heads of powerful Psy family groups in order to alert them to the situation.

All of them were aware that the very people they were warning might be involved in the conspiracy.

There was no help for that, not at this stage. They had to work on the theory that most people weren’t involved—not a theory without cause, given how well the people behind the conspiracy had managed to contain all data. That simply wasn’t possible with a larger group. It had to be a small, intelligent cohort.

“It’s piecemeal, though,” Aden continued, thinking about his and their allies’ efforts to foster calm. “Things will fall through the cracks.” Creating conflict that caused bitter divisions. “We need a better system to communicate data between all three races, as well as mediate disputes.”

“Silver Mercant’s network?”

“A good start, but it’s targeted at first responders rather than the leadership.” And the agreed-upon operating protocols applied only to emergency situations. “We need a system in place that equals day-to-day communication so even an organized enemy can’t pit us against one another with a little fancy maneuvering.”

Vasic bent down to pick up a pinecone, rising with it in his hand. “Set it up.”

It was exactly what Zaira had said when he’d mentioned the topic a while back, but Aden wasn’t ready to change his focus from the squad to the world. But even as he thought that, part of him knew that if the squad was to become an integrated piece of the fabric of the world, it couldn’t remain separate.

POLITICS reared its head two hours later, Nikita Duncan adamant that the members of the Ruling Coalition have a very public meeting. She’d discharged herself from the hospital against medical advice because it was her belief that people—and not just Psy alone—needed to see them alive and well and handling their responsibilities. It would put paid to the surge of rumors that called the Coalition’s unity and strength into question and nip any others in the bud.

Rather than making a formal appearance, Nikita had suggested they do a walk-through of one of the New York neighborhoods that had suffered the worst casualties when the infection in the Net went viral. She was certain that she could maintain the facade of health for that long.

“You’ll be asking us to kiss babies next.”

Aden agreed with Krychek’s cool comment. “Such a walk-through will appear false when it comes to those of us who aren’t politicians,” he pointed out. “Better if we advise the residents we’re coming in and will be available to answer questions in a central location.”

Krychek’s eyes met his, the two of them standing side by side in the valley because Krychek had come to help teleport in materials for more homes. “Are you actually planning to allow the populace to question you?”

“No. And neither should you.” The Ruling Coalition didn’t need to become a regular political body, not yet. The PsyNet was too fragile at present; people needed to believe that its leadership was unassailable. “Our simple presence will be enough.” A sign of the power that backed the Coalition. “Ivy, Nikita, and Anthony are seen as more approachable—Ivy, in particular—and can be the ones who speak, unless they have objections.”

“Yes, fine, but your option leaves us wide open to threats,” Nikita said via the mobile comm in Aden’s hand, her face thinner than it should be and dark shadows under her eyes.

“Hiding allows the enemy to win.” Anthony Kyriakus’s tone was resolute, and though he was disagreeing with Nikita, he was also currently standing right by her chair, in what appeared to be a study in her private apartments. “We must show our enemies—and our people—that we aren’t afraid and can’t be intimidated.”

“I agree with Anthony,” Ivy said from one side of the split screen. “My Es tell me people are edgy, scared. I can feel it, too.” She rubbed a fist over her heart. “Seeing us all out in force, unafraid, will go a long way toward easing the fears fostered by the spate of rumors and speculation.”

Kaleb glanced at Aden, the sunlight making the white sparks in his cardinal eyes appear golden. “Can you set up security measures? This could be our chance to catch the people targeting members of the Coalition.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Aden had already discussed such a move with the cardinal Tk and knew Krychek was right; this would be the perfect opportunity to put it in play. “If you second a small squad of your people to me, I can make sure our security strategy is fully integrated.”

Rumors continue to swirl in the Net about the efficacy of the Ruling Coalition. Nikita Duncan is no longer in the hospital, but she has not been seen in public since the shooting.

Aden Kai, too, has disappeared from public view, perhaps as a result of questions about his capabilities—or lack of them—to lead the squad. However, it is possible that he is simply involved in covert work, as per the Arrow mandate. Regardless of his location, he must understand that the squad is under fire and he has to respond.

The Beacon has contacted the squad and is currently awaiting their answer.

Quite frankly, I’d lose respect for the squad if they did make a public statement. Even so, it’s worrying to realize that the people we rely on to protect us might be just as weak as any other man or woman in the street.

Anonymous

(Tauranga)

Are we sure Nikita Duncan is even still alive?

H. Dwyer

(Dublin)

Kaleb Krychek should simply take over and execute anyone who doesn’t want to follow the rules.

C. Tsang

(N’Djamena)

It feels as if we’re going backward instead of forward. With the fall of Silence came hope for a better world, but now chaos lives on the doorstep.

V. T. Jose

(Ushuaia)