"Richards?" Caelum whispered.

Marie nodded.

"He doesn't sound too good," Caelum said.

"Then we shouldn't wait any longer."

Caelum fell forward from the force of wind as Marie exploded toward the voices. He reached out with his hand, ready to yell for her to come back, but realized there was no use. She would already be wherever Richards and his tormenters were.

18.

Deception

Fuyuko escorted Jason the rest of the way to his quarters where two guards were posted. One fished a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

"They're not bad rooms," Fuyuko said. "You have your own washroom and a television with access to the approved national channels. Most of the shows are boring, propaganda, or repeats, but you might catch the odd movie. If you need anything, there's a phone in the room. Pressing zero will get you an operator. It can't call any other numbers, so don't bother trying."

"Sounds cozy," he said.

"Quetzalcoatl isn't lying, it's much nicer than the cells."

"It's still a cell."

She smiled weakly.

"If everything goes as you say, hopefully, this won't be for long."

Fuyuko shut the door behind her. A moment later he heard a metallic sc.r.a.ping and the solid click as the deadbolt slid into place.

The function over fashion sensibility of the room reminded him of Suture. Compared to the hastily constructed bunkers of metal and concrete he'd slept in the past seven years, it seemed opulent.

Jason sat on the edge of the bed, enjoying the soft give of the mattress. Staying alert was a priority, but he hadn't laid down in more than twenty hours, and it seemed a shame to waste the opportunity to lay down on an actual mattress.

He flopped back and let his eyes shut.

The sound of a key sliding into the lock woke him. He rubbed crusted sleep from his eyes and moved his jaw and tongue trying to get some moisture back.

The guard who had spoken out against him, Hildy as he recalled, stood in the doorway.

"Does Lord Quetzalcoatl need me?" Jason asked.

She didn't answer, just pulled the door shut behind her.

"There are still other guards outside," Jason said, reminding her any actions she took would be heard.

She smiled-more predatory than friendly.

"Do you really think most of the people here have any loyalty to these false G.o.ds?"

She shook her head ruefully.

"They only follow out of fear or a desire to share a little of the power. Enough money or the promise of a better position in the regime to come, buys their silence effectively."

"The regime to follow..." Jason said. "You mean Woten, naturally."

"You shouldn't use his name so casually. He is a truer G.o.d than any of these impostors. When he arrives, the people will rejoice."

"I don't think people will welcome one tyrant over another."

She looked ready to strike him, but stayed her hand.

"If this didn't need to look like a suicide, I would dismember you slowly for your disrespect."

"I guess my intelligence about Valkyries infiltrating was pretty accurate."

She shook her head.

"You know very little, I'm sure. Did you think it was only Anubis' pride making him so intent on destroying you in Egypt? We did that-not only to eliminate a thorn from Asgard's side, but to further destabilize this world's," she hmphed with disgust, "political structure. Soon we will control everything beneath these fools' noses, and then we'll topple them to make way for Woten. Your death while under Quetzalcoatl's watch will help discredit him with the others. You're arrival here has helped us in many ways. I almost feel like I should be thanking you."

Jason laughed.

"Actually, I should be thanking you," he said.

His whip lashed out, snaking around Hildy's body.

"Don't struggle," Jason said. "The barbs have a bad habit of shredding things."

Her eyes widened.

"How...? You have a nullifying collar on."

"Oh, this?" Jason said, pulling the collar from his neck. "Fuyuko deactivated it before she left me here. You get everything?" he called out in a louder voice.

The door opened and Fuyuko stepped inside. In the hall, the two guards watching his door were shackled and escorted away.

"Fully recorded," Fuyuko said. "Both audio and video. She'd tried to set up a loop to cover what happened in the room, but it was easy to disable. I did tell you there were eyes everywhere in this facility."

Jason shrugged apologetically at Hildy.

"So, thank you," he said. "I actually didn't know about the Valkyries on this world until I saw you in Quetzalcoatl's throne room. I faced you six years ago in battle-I never forget a face. I would've outed you there, but I thought waiting for solid proof would be better. And now you've given me that. Fenrir is one step closer to its goals thanks to you. I'll let Woten know before we chop his head off."

Hildy charged, the barbs constricted, cutting into her arms, back, and chest.

The shaft of Fuyuko's spear cracked across Hildy's head, sending her unconscious body crumpling to the ground.

Jason let his whip melt away to the Veil.

"Get her secured and taken to the cells," Fuyuko ordered several guards. "You got lucky," she said to Jason. "If she hadn't talked, only attacked you, we wouldn't have all the proof we needed."

"Perhaps. But even her attacking me would've put her motives into question. But I've dealt with Valkyries before-they love to boast how incredible Woten is at every turn. I knew she couldn't resist telling me how stunning his plan was."

"I'll request an audience with Quetzalcoatl immediately. I can't promise he'll be as pleased as he should be-we did defy his orders to make this happen."

"Nothing is without risk," Jason said. "I took this path to leave you out of it, but you deactivating this collar did the opposite, didn't it?"

Fuyuko shrugged.

"Maybe. But it's not quite open treason. I can probably justify this one."

Jason took a deep breath and sighed.

"If we get past this hurdle, we might just make it."

"I'll post new guards at the door. They're good men, I'm pretty sure they can be trusted, but you might want to stay awake, just in case. Oh, and one more thing."

She came close, reached her hands around his neck, and clipped on a new collar.

19.

Bogeyman

A cloaked figure held Richards against the wall, his feet flailing a foot from the floor.

Marie left Caelum only seconds before. She'd been delayed, checking a few rooms on the way.

Davies lay several feet away from Richards and his a.s.sailant. Marie couldn't know if he'd been questioned first, or just killed immediately. Either way, the man was lost.

She dove toward the cloak, daggers forward. At this speed, she'd punch her fists right through the b.a.s.t.a.r.d's chest.

The daggers struck flesh and drove deep inside, striking not air on the other side, but hard, unforgiving concrete. Marie looked up to Richards' eyes, wide, but quickly slackening. Warm blood gushed over her hands. She released the daggers, which faded back to the Veil, and stepped back, having to pull her hands free from Richards' abdomen. The lifeless body slid down the wall, smearing it red.

Marie's hands trembled. It was so hard to breathe.

A sledgehammer of a fist came from behind, smashing against her temple. She flew through the room, smashing against, and through, a table and came to a stop thanks to the concrete wall.

She gasped and coughed, tasting blood.

"At last," the cloaked figure said, "someone interesting."

Marie tried to get to her feet, but they bent at odd angles beneath her and she collapsed back to the ground.

"Marie!"

She heard her name coming from the hall. It registered it must be Caelum. She needed to tell him to stay away-this thing wasn't any normal Anunnaki. But words wouldn't come. Instead, she vomited blood and bile.

"You weren't invited," the cloaked man said.

He motioned toward the hall. Slabs of concrete broke free from the walls and floor and smashed into the hall, sealing the entrance.

"There," he said. "Now we can have a chat without interruption. And if you can't help me..." He looked over his shoulder. "There's some new candidates just outside."

She could only make out blue eyes, the rest of his face covered by a demonic mask.

"You're...you're Cain," she stammered.

Others who'd encountered him before told her stories-the bogeyman, devourer of Anunnaki, Gwynn from some alternate world. She'd only been in the same room with him for the briefest moment after escaping the Veil-and she'd only known after the fact. She trembled under his frozen stare. Even having the testimony of others who swore this man was Gwynn, she couldn't see any of the person she knew.

"Yes, I would be," he answered. "It helps, you knowing who I am. You should be far more inclined to answer my questions."

Marie tried to draw a thin line of energy from the Veil to heal herself.

Cain's hand smacked down on her head, crushing her cheek painfully to the floor.

"Did I say you could heal yourself? Stop, or I'll just end our conversation now and ask someone else."

How could he know? I took so little. I was so careful.

She let the energies slide away and closed her connection.

Cain nodded slowly.

"Good. Impulsive, but not stupid. That can be worked with."

He released her head, righted a fallen chair, and sat.