Veil of Shadows (Book 2 of The Empire of Bones Saga) Read online

  Three threats remained: the man she’d knocked down with the door, the man taken down when she kicked his friend on top of him, and the man struggling with Jared. The man behind the door had lost his pistol, so she downgraded his threat potential. The man in front of her still had his, but he was struggling with his companion’s dead weight.

  That left her time to deal with Jared’s problem. She didn’t consciously decide what to do, only that he was the top threat. Her right hand struck backwards at maximum strength into the base of his skull. The crunch of bone wouldn’t be a sound she easily forgot. He instantly became a non-threat.

  Two running steps forward and she launched herself into the air, landing on the man in front of her just as he rolled out from under his friend. His breath shot out explosively as she drove her feet into his gut. She bent and ripped the pistol out of his hand to the accompaniment of snapping finger bones and a scream.

  She turned the weapon on the man crawling from behind the door. He’d just grabbed his pistol off the floor. She emptied her appropriated weapon into him.

  Royal Guards and Fleet marines flooded into the room, still firing at the men outside. One of them slammed and locked the double doors. They must’ve been tough, because they didn’t give when the men outside started shooting them, though Kelsey could hear the impacts.

  A quick scan of the room didn’t reveal any other threats, so she went along when Talbot tugged on her arm. “Let’s get out of here before they find another way in.”

  All of them ran for a set of stairs leading down to the chamber floor. The Royal Guards split between guarding the rear and leading the way. They made it down unmolested. The police were herding panicked men, women, and children out the main exit as they joined the throng and fled the building.

  Chapter Seven

  Jared halfway expected another attack before they exited the building, but they fought through a growing crowd of policemen and piled into the grav van without further trouble. Their vehicle took off at a high rate of speed before any of them had a chance to put on their restraints.

  Talbot staggered in front of Princess Kelsey. “Let me look at that shoulder.”

  “I’m okay,” she said in a shaky voice.

  “Then how come your sleeve is covered in blood?”

  Jared turned toward her and saw that it was true. He watched the marine rip her sleeve open and examine the long gash down her upper arm. It must’ve been four inches in length, but it didn’t look too deep.

  One of the Royal Guards handed him a medical kit. The marine found a bandage and efficiently wrapped it around the Princess’ arm. “As far as bullet wounds go, this isn’t too bad. If you’d been half a second faster, he’d have missed you entirely. It’ll regenerate without any issue. You won’t even have a scar.”

  “I wear all my scars on the inside.”

  Jared shook his head disbelievingly. “Faster? I can’t imagine how she moved as fast as she did. She took them down while I was still wrestling with one guy. I have never seen anyone move that fast in my life.”

  Elise nodded vigorously. “It was unbelievable. It was as if she was fighting all of them at the same time. Hitting one, kicking the other, she was almost a blur. I had no idea that that’s what a…”

  Kelsey grimaced. “What a Pale Ones attack looks like? It wasn’t really. They’re tough and fight like that, but they move about the same speed as everyone else. I’m pretty sure my implants have some features theirs lack.”

  Jared had to agree. While the marines hadn’t let him into the fight on the orbital, he’d seen the Pale Ones moving. His sister was significantly faster. “Kelsey, you saved our lives today. There’s no doubt in my mind. Whoever those people were, they had us dead to rights. If you hadn’t spotted them and then literally broke the attack behind the door, they’d have shot us down. Thank you.”

  She looked a little embarrassed at his words. “You’re welcome.”

  Jared turned his attention to the King. “Are you all right, Your Majesty? I had no idea that you had that dedicated of an enemy.”

  King Raymond smiled wanly. “Neither did I. Nothing like this has ever happened before. Not just during my reign, but ever. There are always individuals who are opposed to the Monarchy—sometimes violently—but never this organized.”

  Elise shook her head. “Obviously, we have an underground movement. I receive the same briefings as my father and no one has ever mentioned anything like this. That’s a serious intelligence failure on our part. Someone out there considers us an enemy and we need to figure out who it is.”

  She looked at one of the Royal Guards. “Craig, what is the situation back there? Did we lose anyone? And did we capture any of them alive?”

  He muttered into a microphone on his collar and pressed an ear bud more tightly into his ear. He grimaced. “It’s not good, Highness. We have seven men missing. The police were still closing in when something exploded. The damage to the structure was significant. They haven’t found any survivors from the second floor.”

  Talbot shook his head. “Dedicated and ruthless. Someone wanted to make sure that none of their people talked. Dead men tell no tales.”

  Elise said something very unladylike. “Unbelievable. How could we have missed something like this? We were totally unprepared for anything of this magnitude.”

  The guard gestured towards Kelsey. “Our losses would’ve been a lot worse if Princess Kelsey hadn’t given us a warning. She sprang the trap before it was ready to close. If they’d gotten close to us, they could’ve taken us. They had numerical superiority and tactical surprise.”

  “What exactly happened back there?” Jared asked. “What tipped you off? And what happened when the fight started?”

  “It all happened so fast. I’m not sure exactly what my implants saw, but a whole bunch of warnings popped up into my field of vision that those people were armed. It even showed me exactly where the weapons were. And once the attack started, it was like the implants took control of my body.

  “Not like with the Pale Ones. I could’ve stopped if I wanted to. I know that. It was like a pre-programmed set of responses to a threat. I saw the Pale Ones do something like that in hand-to-hand combat. The implants also helped me aim that pistol I picked up. My first shot missed, but then my aim seemed to compensate for the kick of the weapon. Believe me, I am nowhere near that good of a shot.”

  Jared believed her. He imagined she didn’t get much practice shooting things. That really wasn’t her style. “When you came in and fought them hand-to-hand, it was like one of the martial arts masters in an old B grade vid. I had no idea you could do that, even after everything we’ve learned about the Pale Ones. And you’re taking this situation remarkably well.”

  Kelsey rubbed her face. “I feel like I should be going into shock, but I’m completely calm. I think the pharmacology unit dosed me with something. Everything seems to be moving so slowly. It’s as if I have an eternity to think about everything. Whatever happened to me is only just starting to wear off.”

  Princess Elise put her hand on Kelsey’s. “Well, whatever happened, we are in your debt. Again. If you hadn’t been there, my father and I would have been killed. I deeply appreciate what you’ve done for us.”

  “Allow me to second that,” the King said. “Whoever they were, they must’ve been waiting for just the right moment to make their presence known. Now that we know that there’s a violent, clandestine resistance, we can take steps to figure out who they are and how to stop them.” His voice hardened. “And we will take those steps.”

  He grimaced. “Someone inside of our organization had to have leaked our travel plans to them. They were in place before we arrived.”

  The grav van and its escorts landed at the Palace. The grounds were swarming with people. Not just Royal Guards, but Pentagaran military in body armor with heavy weapons. The Guards hustled everyone inside as soon as the van landed.

  A pair of physicians rushed to His Majesty’s side. T
hey tried to take Elise, but she waved them away. “I’m fine. See to our guests. Particularly, see to Princess Kelsey. A bullet grazed her arm and she may be under the influence of an unknown combat drug that’s starting to wear off. I want her under close observation in case there are any complications.”

  Jared pulled his communications unit off his belt. “Speaking of physicians, I’d better let Doctor Stone know what happened. She can pass it on to the rest of our people before some kind of rumor starts circulating.” He looked at Kelsey. “And I’m certain that she’s going to want to examine you in person.”

  Kelsey rolled her eyes. “Wonderful. I finally get out from under her thumb for one day and now she’s going to lock me into a room and throw away the key. Somehow, she’s going to find a way to blame me for this.”

  He chuckled without humor. “Not everything is about you, Kelsey. She’s a military officer. She’s going to see this for what it is.”

  Kelsey went with King Raymond and the doctors, grumbling under her breath.

  Jared called Doctor Stone and explained what had happened. As expected, she cut the conversation short, shouting for her people to get moving as she disconnected.

  He put his communicator back on his belt. “You’ll probably want to tell someone that Doctor Stone is on her way.”

  Elise put her hand on his shoulder. “Kelsey isn’t the only hero today. You got into a fistfight with a man that was going to shoot me. That was very brave and I’m grateful.”

  Her hand felt hot through the fabric of his shirt and he became quite aware of how close she was standing to him. The recent life and death struggle had made him hyper-aware of her as a woman. A very beautiful woman.

  His voice was astonishingly calm. “You’re welcome, but he would’ve shot me too, so I had a horse in this race.”

  She gestured for him to accompany her into one of the rooms nearby. A number of the Royal Guards closed around them as they went, no doubt still worried about assassins. He couldn’t blame them.

  Her destination turned out to be a sitting room. The two of them took seats facing one another as the guards arrayed themselves around the room.

  “I’m so very sorry that your first real visit to our planet turned out this way. I promise you, Pentagar is a peaceful, wonderful place.”

  He felt the corner of his mouth quirk up. “I will admit that stumbling into a space battle on my first transition into your system, and then an assassination attempt on my first landing certainly seems to show a contrary trend. I’m sure Pentagar is a wonderful place and that this isn’t characteristic of your beautiful world. I promise I won’t hold it against you.”

  “I hope you don’t. Once we have everything settled, I insist that you allow me to show you what our world is really like.” She raised a finger when he opened his mouth. “I insist.”

  “Of course, I accept. However, I’m afraid that this attack is going to move up our departure timetable. I think it might be best for us to head to Athena as soon as Kelsey is ready to travel. No offense, but the last thing you need is to have us caught up in your internal affairs.”

  Elise nodded. “I understand completely, Lord Captain. We need time to figure out exactly what happened here. It would be best for everyone if any additional violence passes you by. Now that we know about this movement, we’ll be on our guard. The perpetrators of this atrocity will pay.” Her voice was as unyielding as steel.

  Chapter Eight

  Lord Admiral Shrike answered his communications unit with more than a hint of trepidation. If things had gone well, good and fine. But if they hadn’t, his life and his plans were about to become much more complicated.

  None of his concern reached his voice. He was pleased to note how steady he sounded. One always needed to sound like they were in complete command no matter what was happening. Any naval officer worth his salt knew that.

  “Shrike.”

  “Oh, I’m very sorry,” a woman’s voice said. “I must’ve entered the wrong number.”

  “That’s quite all right. Have a good day.”

  He disconnected and cursed under his breath. If the attack had gone as planned, his contact would’ve asked for someone named Blake. This meant they’d failed. Perhaps not completely, but at least one of the Royals had escaped the trap.

  Hopefully, his men had managed to kill the King. Princess Elise would have much less experience to fall back on as she tried to defend against his next move. He also hoped that the woman he’d placed in charge of the operation had made certain no one fell into the hands of Royal Intelligence. That would be truly unfortunate.

  The men chosen for this operation didn’t know anything about him personally, of course. The less the Royalists knew, the better his chances of ultimate success. They wouldn’t be suspecting him, but it never paid to take chances when the punishment for treason was execution by beheading.

  He knew it would only be a matter of minutes before word began circulating about the attack, so if he wanted to get an update of the true events he needed to get it now. He locked down his console, set his communications unit on the center of the blotter, and walked into the outer office. His secretary looked up inquiringly.

  “I’m stepping out for lunch. If there are any calls, take a message. I should be back in half an hour.”

  When word came in, he’d have the excuse that he left his communications unit on his desk. It was understandable enough. Everyone did it on occasion. In this case, it would give him the time he needed to get that update.

  He walked out of Royal Fleet Command and flagged down a taxi. He told the driver to take him to a place that he often frequented. He knew he could order in, but he made a habit of going to various locations to eat so that he didn’t spend all his time in the office. It would also serve as cover for this trip.

  It was somewhat earlier than the normal lunch rush when he arrived, so he quickly found a seat. The man behind the counter nodded in recognition of his arrival. He always ordered the same thing, so the man knew what Shrike wanted. The fact that he was also a member of the movement meant that he knew exactly what Shrike wanted by holding up two fingers.

  The man quickly made Shrike’s sandwich and brought it to his table with some unsweetened tea. As he set it down, he also laid a communications unit on the table under the napkin he carried.

  Shrike dialed a number from memory as soon as the man was gone. The woman he’d spoken to earlier answered on the second chime. “Go ahead,” he said.

  “Resistance was stiffer than anticipated. In the end, none of the primary goals were accomplished.”

  “What about our assets?”

  “I’m afraid it became necessary to liquidate them. I’m not certain of what went wrong, but the investment is a total loss. That is confirmed.”

  That, at least, was good news. “Keep me informed of any further developments.” He terminated the call without another word.

  He placed the communications unit under the napkin and slowly ate his sandwich, thinking about what steps he could take to minimize his exposure while simultaneously advancing his agenda.

  Unfortunately, he couldn’t think of anything in the short term. No doubt, security around the Royals would increase greatly in the wake of the attack. He’d have to take it slower and play a longer game.

  The Royal Family would be on their guard and both the intelligence services and police would be investigating all leads for weeks or even months. That didn’t mean that he had to wait that long to achieve the deaths of his enemies, but it did mean that he’d need to exercise greater care.

  The days where he had to bow and scrape to his father were almost done. Jared Mertz might be willing to live in the shadow of his legitimate siblings, but he wasn’t. He deserved the Crown and he would take it for himself.

  Perhaps Rawlins would seize the old Empire warship, if it proved possible to restore it to some functionality. Shrike thought that unlikely. Of course, the best time to act would be after the ship was functiona
l, but before it returned to Pentagar. With the small number of men that he would be taking with them, that would be quite the trick.

  However, the intelligence officer had proven himself quite capable in the past. Rawlins had removed several…hindrances…to the plan without anyone being the wiser. The accidents were never the same and the police never grew suspicious.

  Of course, Shrike still didn’t have the majority of Royal Fleet ships under his control, but the key officers he’d put into place would turn the tables with the right momentum. Unveiling the movement’s possession of an old Empire battlecruiser would be perfect.

  Shrike left the payment for his lunch on the table. He might have to wait for success, he thought, but he’d learned patience. Once he had control of the Royal Fleet, the Crown would be his and his family could rot.

  Chapter Nine

  Despite Kelsey’s objections, Lily insisted that she rest. The Princess was secretly glad the doctor put her foot down. After the attack, her body felt more alive than she’d ever been, though the crash when the drugs had worn off had been epic.

  Sleep was challenging, too. Nightmares had plagued her sleep over the last three days as Athena made its slow way out to the flip point. Last night, the fight on Pentagar played itself out again, only this time, no matter how many people she killed, there were always more. Just when she defeated the human attackers, the Pale Ones took over. She woke screaming several times before she gave up on sleep entirely.

  So, she was tired and more than a bit cranky. Talbot made her even more self-conscious when he made a point of looking at her dinner that evening and then at his own. His was the smaller of the two by a substantial margin.

  “I can’t help it,” she said. “I’m starving. Something is wrong with my stomach.”

  “I doubt that very seriously, Princess.” The marine slid a piece of pie over to her side of the table.