Forbidden Magic: The Complete Collection by Merchant Anya

Author:Merchant, Anya [Merchant, Anya]
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Publisher: UNKNOWN
Published: 2016-09-14T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 25

Victor smiled. He didn’t have time to admire his handiwork, but it was hard to not feel a bit of pride over the carnage he’d inflicted. As he stepped forward, the exhaustion hit him in a heavy wave, as though he’d just run a marathon and thrown in a few hundred pushups for good measure.

The hallway continued forward at a downward sloping angle, with doors on either side at regular intervals. He could hear something coming from further down the hall, and forced himself to slow down.

“I am well aware of that. What I want to know is where I’ll stand after it happens.”

There was a large room at the end of the hallway with dozen or rows of sleek black cabinets. Each one blinked with blue LEDs on the side, and a number of monitors and work terminals were installed in each corner of the room.

The Monteiro mainframe.

“Bullshit!” Bruce stood in the middle of the room, looking away from Victor and toward the mainframe. “I want your promise. Promise me…”

Victor scanned the room and found Kiara, lying limp on the ground not far from the door. He dropped into a crouch and took a careful step toward her. Bruce whirled around, sighting a gun and firing the trigger in a motion that went beyond what a human should have been capable of.

Pain exploded into the back of Victor’s calf. He let out a gasp and fell to the ground, his leg collapsing underneath him.

“Jesus…” Bruce muttered. “You could have told me he was coming!”

Bruce went silent, as though listening for an answer.

“I don’t fucking believe you,” he said. “You could be lying to me. I’m not stupid.”

“Bruce!” Victor clenched his teeth and forced out words through the torture of his leg. “Listen to me, Bruce! You can’t do this!”

“Shut up! This isn’t about you!” Bruce walked across the room and over to Victor, holding the gun in a manner that suggested a familiarity with carnage.

“Kiara…” said Victor. “What did you do to her, Bruce?”

“She’s unconscious,” said Bruce. “I’m not insane, Victor. I would never hurt her. Even lying to her about this was near enough to tear me apart.”

Bruce went silent again. His body language changed, and Victor could tell that he was communicating with the AI. Bruce was looking slightly upward, as if inclining his head to receive advice from heaven.

Victor summoned all of his willpower and made an attempt at binding his scarlet aura. His hand felt a bit hot, as though he was holding it in front of a heater, and that was it. He cycled through his others, onyx and the newly discovered azure aura, but he didn’t have enough energy left to make anything happen.

Bruce is right. He’s not insane, just misguided. Maybe…

“I’ve seen it, you know,” said Victor. “What Eternity can offer. The name is quite fitting.”

Bruce frowned and then squatted down next to him, folding the hand with the gun against the other and leaning his chin on his wrist.

“This would be easier if you didn’t talk,” said Bruce.

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