Part 27 (1/2)
I've had nutrition bars delivered to me throughout the day.
No one, she thought, wanted to lose any of the already depleted telekinetics-but Kaleb was in a league of his own. Take care with the structural damage. Some of the areas are really unstable.
Though he had to know that far better than her, he didn't reject her concern. I'll be careful.
Will you wake me in an hour?
Yes. Rest now.
”COUNCILOR.”
Turning at the voice, Kaleb found an older woman holding a bottle of the energy drink he'd been downing twice an hour to fuel his body. ”Thank you.”
”I can take the bottle once you're done.” A polite enough offer, but her eyes didn't move off the bottle in his hand.
Kaleb's instincts went on immediate and high alert. Pinning the woman's body in place using telekinesis and compressing her jaw to keep her silent, he unscrewed the bottle to take a sniff. Nothing smelled off. Vasic, a second.
The Arrow walked around the corner soon afterward. I'm near flameout. I'll need to rest for three hours at least before I can continue.
Kaleb nodded. ”Can you quickly test this?”
Holding up his left arm, Vasic slid back a small screen on the computronic gauntlet fused to his body. ”One drop.”
Kaleb placed the sample on the test surface.
Chapter 40.
”IT'S A COMPLEX poison,” Vasic said in less than a minute, ”would've incapacitated you almost immediately.” His eyes s.h.i.+fted to the would-be a.s.sa.s.sin. ”At which point, she would've killed you with the garrote in her bracelet.” Removing the bracelet, he snapped out the thin metal wire designed to cut off a target's air supply with silent efficiency.
”Who sent you?” Kaleb asked, releasing the woman's jaw so she could reply.
”Do what you will, Councilor Krychek,” was the icy response. ”My mind is set to implode at any attempt at an intrusion.”
”Interesting.” Having already told the DarkMind to entrap her so she couldn't connect to anyone on the psychic plane, he pinched a nerve that made her slump to the ground, then ordered another of his men on the scene to blindfold and tie her up. ”Put her somewhere out of the way. I'll deal with her later.”
He 'ported the poisonous drink into a biohazard container on-site, just as Vasic said, ”The explosives used at this site have been traced back to a Council depot in Europe under Ming's control.”
Kaleb had always believed Ming to be the martial mastermind behind Henry Scott during the time the now-dead Councilor headed Pure Psy, but this type of indiscriminate violence didn't fit Ming's modus operandi. Neither did Pure Psy's racial agenda. It was far too irrational and Ming was nothing if not rational; that was part of what made him so dangerous.
However, Ming was also fully capable of playing a deep game, Pure Psy likely nothing but a p.a.w.n to help further an agenda of which the fanatical group knew nothing. ”I'll have one of my men tug that thread,” he said to Vasic, ”see what comes of it. I want the squad to remain on Pure Psy.”
It wasn't until six hours later, having done everything he could to a.s.sist in the search for survivors, that Kaleb had time to deal with the woman who had attempted to poison him. But first he wanted to see Sahara. Locking on her image, he found her alone in the tent that had functioned as a canteen for survivors and those working in the field hospital. She was tidying up the detritus, the area quiet and calm.
From his telepathic conversations with her during the past hours, he knew the majority of the survivors were now in hospitals in Geneva and nearby cities. Each also had the support of at least one individual from his or her own country, the multilingual representatives having been flown in from around the world on high-speed jets courtesy of an airline controlled by Nikita Duncan.
The ex-Councilor wasn't famous for being a humanitarian, but she was smart enough to know the action would paint her in a positive light when the dust settled. It was an intelligent, calculated move worthy of the woman who had lasted more than a decade on the Council. Nikita, he thought, would always find a way to come out alive on the other side.
Anthony Kyriakus, too, had made his mark. An unidentified NightStar foreseer had seen a vision of further bombings in Luxembourg and Paris with enough specificity for both to be averted. ”It is unfortunate that we could not do the same for other recent tragedies,” had been the statement of the NightStar press officer when questioned by media in the aftermath. ”Nonbusiness foresight is a new area for NightStar, and we are learning that not all events can be foreseen or averted.”
Some things, Kaleb thought as Sahara looked up and saw him, had to be survived.
”Kaleb!” She flew into his arms.
Holding her close, her breath warm on his cheek, her body slender but strong against his, he felt as if he'd come home. He didn't know how long they stood locked together, but when they did draw apart, he kept his promise to not withhold anything from her and told her about the attempted poisoning.
Sahara hissed out a breath, eyes incandescent with fury. ”Take me to her.” No one hurts you.
”Only a retrieval, Sahara,” he said, gripping her chin. ”Nothing else, nothing that will affect your memories.” I need you to remember me.
”She's not worth a piece of my life.” A scathing judgment. ”Now take me to her.”
This time, he did as ordered. Sahara didn't speak, simply stepped close enough that her hand was an inch from the blindfolded woman's face, then nodded at him. He 'ported them directly to the Moscow house. Should her language skills be needed again, he'd take her back, but the nonspecialist volunteers were capable of handling the cleanup.
”That woman is one of Ming's people,” she said, heading into the kitchen to get them both energy supplements. ”A low-level operative who was in the area. It wasn't a well-planned operation, but a chance opportunity Ming decided to utilize.”
”He knows I'm on the verge of taking over the Net.”
Sahara stirred cherry flavoring into her drink, after pa.s.sing him an undoctored gla.s.s. ”What will you do to him?”
”Nothing.” Seeing her open disbelief, he traced the shape of her upper lip with his finger. ”There are others who have deeper grievances against Ming. It'll be handled.”
”Kaleb, you don't trust anyone except me . . . and your two friends.” Sahara nudged at him to finish his drink. ”Is it the fallen Arrow who has the prior claim?”
”Not Judd alone. He's simply the one with whom I have a connection.” Kaleb put down his empty gla.s.s. ”I'd be extremely surprised if Ming doesn't end up torn apart by changeling claws and teeth.”
Sahara halted with her own drink halfway to her mouth. ”Changelings?”
”Judd's niece is someone Ming wants dead or in his control. She's also mated to the alpha of SnowDancer, considered the most dangerous changeling pack in the world.” Kaleb tapped her gla.s.s until Sahara lifted it to her mouth. ”Man like that won't rest until he's eradicated the threat against his woman.” Kaleb wondered if the wolf alpha would be surprised to find he had something in common with Kaleb Krychek. ”Hungry?”
Sahara wrinkled her nose. ”Shower first.”
They'd just reached the bedroom when his cell phone rang. It was Aden on the other end. ”Vasquez is proving his intelligence,” were the Arrow's opening words. ”His entire team split up after Geneva and scattered in different directions. We captured one; two others suicided when cornered. There are signs two more remain at large.”
An impressive result, but they both knew it wasn't enough. ”Vasquez?”
”Signs point to him being here, but he slipped away.” Though Aden's voice betrayed nothing, his frustration level had to be high-in the icy way of any Arrow denied his target. ”Interrogation of the captive did yield one piece of data; he was a.s.signed to the Luxembourg site with a member of the team we haven't yet captured. Luxembourg and Paris, however, were also both meant to be distractions.”
”The prisoner didn't know why Pure Psy needed the distractions, did he?” Vasquez was smart, smart enough to keep information on a need- to-know basis.
”No,” Aden confirmed. ”But whatever it is, it's happening soon, and it's important enough that a lieutenant we were about to capture threw herself off the side of a building rather than surrender.”