The Blood Eagle In The Big Easy Part 16

"Oh but you have!" Chuckling more to myself than anyone else. "We took your silence as consent. Not to worry! We will make everything official on Kings Day after the first of the year."

"Oh for G.o.ds sake will you guys stand and tell me what's going on?"

"By your command." Rex intoned as he flopped into his seat breathing heavily. "You are the new Gatekeeper, may you guide us wisely."

"I will do my best." he answered sheepishly.

"Care for a drink?" I asked as I patted him on the shoulder. "I have an excellent bottle of rye whiskey I picked up just a few days ago."

"Can you make it a double?" Nathan rubbed his head furiously.

Pouring a fresh drink for everyone we all toasted the new Gatekeeper. Rex and Zulu were quick to explain his duties, which made him pale as they got to some of the nastier bits. It wasn't long before everyone from my office stepped into the lobby to announce the new Gatekeeper to the waiting throng. Kings Day this year would be something to remember. The courts would be in full regalia lead by Comus through the streets of New Orleans as the Gatekeeper's t.i.tle would be officially cemented in ceremony, something that hadn't happened in nearly a hundred years.

Chapter 23.

It was just after dusk when the last of the court's delegates left the building. Still angry over our earlier conversation Katherine had taken the first opportunity to vacate the premises several hours earlier. Kira hated such gatherings and had excused herself to return to her duties, which meant she was willing to suffer through taking a second look at her new best friend Owen to escape the revelry. This gave me an opportunity to speak with Nicholas to see how he was holding up. He seemed like a good kid and the past couple days had to have been extremely hard on him. He entered my office door and nervously took a seat.

Each time his nerves got the better of him his foot to tap as he waited to see what might happen next. To his credit he tried to force himself still. "You wanted to see me?"

His voice trembled as he spoke. I just couldn't tell if it was from anger or sadness. I didn't blame him for either emotion. He had been forced to watch his mother being butchered in front of him, and now was forced to deal with strangers as he tried to figure out his next step.

"I know it's hard but try and relax." G.o.d that sounded weak and stupid even to me. How the h.e.l.l was he supposed to relax especially after the last few days. It wasn't as if he were on vacation.

He gave me one of those you have to be kidding looks. "Yeah that's a lot easier said than done at this point." He cracked his knuckles. "I'd really like to get my hands on Smith truth be known."

"That's a good sign..." Getting up I crossed the room and poured us both a gla.s.s of whiskey.

"What's a good sign?" He growled.

"Your p.i.s.sed!" Handing him his gla.s.s I took the seat opposite him as I relaxed. "You should be. Thing is you want to do something about it and not wallow in self pity."

He sniffed the tumbler before taking a swig. "This is some good stuff."

"It ought to be." Raising my gla.s.s in toast. "To vengeance! It isn't just for the lord anymore."

That nearly made him laugh before he polished off the gla.s.s. It was a good thing I'd brought the bottle. "So is that why I'm here? Vengeance?"

Pouring us both another gla.s.s I just didn't know where to start. "Kira said you were pretty cut up..."

That made him smile as he grabbed his gla.s.s. "So much for HIPPA laws I suppose..." He took a drought before sitting his gla.s.s aside and pulling up his s.h.i.+rt. He'd almost healed from his wounds. "As I said before, I heal up quickly."

Yeah too quickly to be anything natural! Unless he were more like me than I'd guessed. "Has that always been the case?" Maybe Gullveig had succeeded in pa.s.sing along the nanites to the triplets somehow or maybe they'd been implanted with more of the infamous cane.

"I suppose it has. I'd always healed quickly but when I hit p.u.b.erty it seemed to hit overdrive."

Pouring a third round I sat back and thought of the possibilities. "Did anything other than p.u.b.erty happen around then?"

He pondered that as he sipped his drink and I practically saw the light bulb go off over his head. "When I was twelve I went in for wrist surgery after I broke it playing ball." Taking another long drink he nodded his head. "Yeah it was after that things really kicked into high gear. I'd always attributed it to p.u.b.erty, but I'm betting you think the surgery had something to do with it."

Standing I made my way back around the desk, opening the bottom drawer to pull out the evidence bag Pete had given me. "I don't know what to think but he surgery may have sped things along." Tossing the bag to Nicholas I asked. "Ever seen anything like that before?"

He examined the bag closely. "Do you mind if I take a closer look?"

"Knock yourself out." Coming around I watched his face as he opened the bag, longingly looking at the bone. "Have you seen this before?"

He shook his head slowly as if he were mesmerized by it. "No, but there is something about it that calls to me. What is it?"

"Before I answer that we need to talk about your mother."

He forced himself to put the bag in his lap as he tore his eyes off the small bone and tried to give me his full attention. "What about her? Did you find the woman who murdered her?"

"Not yet but we're working on that even as we speak."

Pulling my tablet off my desk I opened the file with several personal photo's we discovered on Creepy George's computer. Handing it to him, he gingerly took it and scanned through the photos. The two he seemed focused on were of Helena, Galvez, Smith and Creepy George all standing around holding Gullveig's cane, looking like the best of friends. The second one was a photo of his mother and Galvez holding both he and his brother as babies for a family photo. I felt bad for destroying the image he'd had of his mother but in this case it couldn't be helped. He took the news exceptionally well all things considered which made be a be concerned. If I'd thought he was angry before he was well beyond that petty emotion and was now numb. It barely phased him when he learned he was actually a triplet. I knew that at some point he would need to process this information and I could only hope he wouldn't break.

To make matters more complicated his brother was two floors below in the medical facility undergoing a second examination. Nicholas seemed torn between wanting to meet his brother and coming to terms with the fact his mother wasn't the woman he thought she was. He was surprisingly quick to connect the dots and figure out the woman who'd tortured him and killed his mother was his long lost sister. Honestly that last bit of information more than anything else seemed to turn his all consuming fury up to eleven. As he s.h.i.+fted in his chair the bone rolled out of the open bag which he quickly caught before it hit the floor.

The effect was nearly instantaneous. The long inactive nanites sprung to life as they melted into the palm of his hand. Within seconds nothing remained but his flesh of his palm. Nicholas grasped his arm as he fell to the floor convulsing. Rus.h.i.+ng to his side I held him still as I called for help. Kira was through the door almost instantly. "What happened?"

Nicholas suddenly stopped thras.h.i.+ng as he fell unconscious. "Long story short, that bone we recovered from Creepy George liquified and crawled inside of him!" I told Kira "How the h.e.l.l can that even be possible?"

"I have a sneaking suspicion but I need you to examine him immediately, and yourself for that matter, and look for an implant like mine in the ear ca.n.a.ls." Making him as comfortable as possible I called for a gurney to take him downstairs. "It would seem that you two might have more in common that it would appear."

"We need to talk about this after we get things settled." Kira commanded as she waved in the nurse and two men carrying the stretcher. "Also, Owen has asked to speak with you. Are you up for it after this?"

"Sure why not." I answered. Watching Nicholas's unconscious form being loaded onto the stretcher I caught sight of my daughter eyeing him closely. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

"Just trying to figure this whole thing out is all." Her frustration at the situation was evident.

She told the nurse to keep an eye on Nicholas's vitals until she arrived, and waited for them to leave the room. Closing the door she wanted to know how it could be that he might have the same implants. It was only a theory but I told her what I knew, that both his parents were forced to insert the bones of a fallen royal that were covered in nanites under their flesh. Due to their exposure for several years prior to the birth of the children it was only a presumption that they too would inherit the nanites. Kira on the other hand would have inherited these traits from me but we wouldn't know if any of this was true until she completed the tests.

"Good luck with Owen. Maybe he will promise to sperm you too." Kira rolled her eyes as she left the office.

My office door swung open a few minutes later as Owen slinked in before kicking my door shut behind him. His demeanor was more than a little insulting and presumptuous and downright arrogant. He eyed me with contempt as he oozed into the chair before kicking his feet up on my desk. He was a few inches shorter and several shades darker than Nicholas. They had similar features that would have been more p.r.o.nounced when they were younger, but as adults those features were muted with age.

"Would you mind taking your feet off my desk? I would really appreciate it."

In response to my request he kicked off one of his penny loafers which skidded to a halt by my right hand. His cheeks flushed crimson as he sneered at me. "Actually I do mind." He leaned over and blew a snot rocket on my floor. "What the h.e.l.l is this place? Are you in charge of this circus?"

"I suppose I am." Eyeing his shoe that rested near my hand I had to resist the urge to return it to him hard and fast across his face. "Why do you ask?"

"When can I go home?" He wiped his nose across his sleeve. "I am tired of that dike poking and prodding me all hours of the day and night."

"As soon as this current crisis is over we can find you a way back home." The urge to plant the shoe across his face grew with each pa.s.sing moment. Maybe Kira really did deserve the extra pay for having to put up with this boys antics.

"You should really consider firing that b.i.t.c.h. Her s.e.xual orientation is against the natural order of things." His southern drawl dragged out a few of the words and even made b.i.t.c.h into a two syllable word. "Or perhaps we should pray over her and have the Lord fix her for you."

"You do realize that you are speaking about my daughter."

"If I were you I wouldn't be at all proud of that fact!" He scratched his chest like he had fleas, fumbling with his s.h.i.+rt as he did so. "You must have been a poor father figure for her to turn out that way. Good thing my church back home has a program that can fix her given enough prayer, time and money of course."

I couldn't help but smile at the boy's attempt to provoke me. G.o.d knows why he would want to, but it was as if he couldn't help himself. Galvez had gone through a lot of trouble to get him here with me... alone. Oh c.r.a.p! At times I become so focused that I miss things are directly under my nose, and unfortunately this was one of those times. Things were about to get bad. I didn't know how bad but something in my gut had been bothering me about this little s.h.i.+t since I talked with Nicholas earlier. "You know I've heard suggestions on how to *fix' my daughter a million times before, and while I am sure you could go on and on for days, I'm sure that isn't the reason you asked to speak with me."

His eyes opened wide as a stupid crazy smile spread across his face. "Oh, do tell me why do you think I asked to come up here?"

Something about his tone caused my s.h.i.+elds to wrap around me unbidden and my senses went on high alert. Something was transpiring but I just couldn't put my finger on the stimuli running through my minds eye. My mouth opened but nothing came out and he started laughing.

"You don't have a clue do you?" Reaching inside his jacket he ripped the lining and pulled out a push b.u.t.ton trigger connected to G.o.d only knows what with a thin wire. "My father prepared me for this day and now you're going to die!"

He pushed his thumb hard on the b.u.t.ton as I tried to duck under my desk. Time slowed as I watched his body disintegrate as the explosion filled the room. The blast wave shattered the heavy gla.s.s that protected the top of my desk, sending shards like missiles at me as the wave threw me against the wall. Several of the larger gla.s.s remnants pinned me to the wall as they slipped through my s.h.i.+elds. They had protected me from the blastwave, heat and most of the smaller projectiles but they have their limits and this had far surpa.s.sed them.

As soon as I tried to moved the gla.s.s shards broke and I fell to the floor. Smoke filled the room as the fire tried to take hold. As I lay on the floor I saw my office door was blocked by part of the ceiling that had caved in from the blast and several of my office windows were shattered or missing. I knew that if I didn't move the smoke and fire would kill me. Crawling through the scalding water leaking from the bathroom, I screamed as my arms and legs began to blister. Alarms sounded throughout the building and I heard people pounding on my door. It was only a matter of time before the room would be engulfed in flames. I couldn't wait for them to break through the rubble. The windows or the lack thereof were my only escape if I wanted to live.

Forcing myself to my feet I grabbed hold of the window sill and mostly fell through the opening. Rolling across the pitched roof, gravity took control of the situation and I landed hard on the asphalt driveway below. Two or three ribs broke on impact knocking the wind out of me. I used what precious little oxygen I had left to cough up blood and my vision started to go black. Two of my men standing at the side entrance rushed over. Hualing me roughly to my feet they quickly carried me inside and down the stairs before I finally lost consciousness.

The next thing I saw was a blinding light, causing me more than a little trepidation about experiencing a near death experience. I was still in so much pain and it had always been my hope that when we die it would alleviate the pain not make it worse. Kira was barking orders at someone but the ringing in my ears was too loud to understand anything she was saying. Finally darkness came to me again and wrapped me in her warm embrace as the pain faded like a distant memory.

Suddenly I was running through the halls of Valaskjalf with Gullveig close behind. Fear, gut wrenching fear, gripped me for the first time as my body grew weary, knowing that if I stopped even for a moment any chance of survival would be ripped away. She was still keeping pace with me even though her breathing was ragged and with each step she became less steady on her feet. She was just too dangerous to be left behind. She knew how we would escape the wrath of the L.O.K.I and Jormungandr. Long ago she had once been an ally of the Allfather during the war against the Jotnar (Ice Giants), and it was with her help our forces were able to subdue the creatures.

She had possessed the Queen of the Jotnar, only to be changed by the experience forever, making her into the creature she was today. She had eluded capture for centuries only to be captured by me a few days before L.O.K.I's final attack on our homeworld. Their only objective was to exterminate life throughout the universe. Their forces were nearly unstoppable, numbering in the billions and as they conquered each new world they infected the population enslaving them into willing soldiers in their eternal cause. This was our enemy that Gullveig had sold us out to. She gave them access to our defense grid, allowing them their first foothold in our empire. After that it was just a matter of time before they would march through our kingdom leaving broken worlds filled with the dead and dying in their wake. When I brought her before the council we discovered she knew of our plan to escape our fate. The only hope we had was to let her die alone in The Pit. The L.O.K.I. had no hope of extracting her without killing her as well. There was no way we would risk bringing her with us to the New World for fear they might track her there.

The L.O.K.I. wanted the information of our escape we carried and would stop at nothing to get it. Gullveig realized too late that they couldn't be trusted and her will to survive was currently overriding her desire to kill us all. Her only hope of survival was to escape in transit and that was something I couldn't allow to happen.

The sound of my own screams woke me as snapped the restraints meant to hold me securely in bed. Kira put a steady hand on my shoulder forcing me back down. "You need to lay back, everythings alright but if you keep moving around you're going to rip out your st.i.tches." Her voice was calming and I complied with her request.

The tube in my throat prevented me from speaking. Nicholas put a hand on my other shoulder to hold me down as Kira examined me. Fear crept into my soul as I slipped into unconsciousness once more. This time however nothing was there to hunt me down like an animal. The bliss that was sleep took hold allowing me to start the healing process.

Chapter 24.

December 3rd The incessant humming of the overhead fluorescent lighting woke me. Opening my eyes were the first of many mistakes I would make today as the stark white light seared my retinas as I tried to blink away the pain. It took a few moments for my eyes to adjust to being open once again and taking in stimuli. My throat was dry and I croaked as I tried to use my strained vocal cords. Trying to sit up I found myself pinned down by one of Nicholas's ma.s.sive paws on my chest.

Kira leaned over me, s.h.i.+ning a bright light in each of my pupils which was exactly what I didn't need at that very moment. She seemed satisfied, nodding at Nicholas who released me. "What's your name?"

The electric hospital bed shook and hummed as someone moved me into a sitting position. "We are really going to play this game again?"

"Just answer the question!" She gave me one of those don't make me slap you looks before flicking the pen light on once more. "It will just go faster if you cooperated."

"Fine... My name is Viktor Engel Warden or at least it has been this time around for about seventy years or so."

"This time?" Kira was curious but bit her lip as she changed the subject. "Do you know today's date?"

"How long have I been out?"

"Do you have short term memory loss? I just told you if you cooperated this would go along much faster."

I rubbed my forehead gingerly as a headache started to sink in with a vengeance. "You should be more specific because on December second, Owen was kind enough to vaporize in front of me taking most of my office along with it." Stretching I felt pain radiate through my body from what I could only imagine were several impact sites or burns, probably both. "Depending on how long I have been out will determine today's date!"

"Good to know you're still a wisea.s.s." Kira's face relaxed as she allowed a small smile to slide across her face. "You were out for the better part of the night and most of the morning. I will have someone bring you some food in a few minutes if you think you could eat something."

Now that she mentioned it I was starving but there were things I needed to know before we satiated my appet.i.te. "How bad are things upstairs? Was anyone hurt?"

"Other than you?" Kira waved a hand in my direction. "It seems that the blast was contained in your office... mostly, but structurally the building took a beating. Justine's place is ruined and the building will probably be condemned later today, so we're moving."

I tried to adjust myself to a more comfortable position but my body objected painfully to each movement. "Moving? Where the h.e.l.l are we going to go?"

"You should probably sit still." Nicholas pushed me back against the upright bed as he looked to Kira. "He's going to pull out the st.i.tches again."

Kira pulled back one of my bandages revealing blood leaking from one of the wounds on my chest. She grabbed a nearby tray that held a needle and thread. Pus.h.i.+ng me back she plunged it through the flesh of my chest without warning and pulled it through a few times to prove a point, and just for meanness I think.

Pus.h.i.+ng the tray back she glared at me. "You should have more respect for all the hard work I put into sewing you back together last night!" She walked across the room and washed her hands. "That is six hours of my handy work keeping you together. Your system is working overtime on your burns which are fading away at an impressive rate, even for you. Until it finishes with that I wouldn't rip out any more st.i.tches unless you want to bleed to death."

Nothing like righteous anger of a child to make you feel ashamed of yourself and put you in your place. I stopped struggling to move around and sat there as quietly as possible before changing the subject. "You said something about moving the office?"

"We can get to that." She looked at Nicholas who seemed to understand he wasn't needed at the moment and left the room.

"Is everything alright?"

"No, not really." Tears came to her eyes as she sat on the bed next to me holding my hand. The look on her face tore my heart to pieces as sadness nearly overwhelmed her. "I almost lost you last night, and I thought of all the stupid things I've done over the years and realized that I don't tell you often enough how much you mean to me."

Carefully I slowly reached over and put my hand on her shoulder. "You're not going to lose me anytime soon..." Those were the exact wrong words to come out of my mouth. She bawled even harder than before and I felt helpless.

"You can't promise that, not after last night." She held my hand tight and for the first time she realized that I was truly mortal and I might not always be there for her. "You flatlined in the middle of surgery and there was nothing I could do but watch as your heart failed to respond after pulling gla.s.s shards from your right ventricle."

Opening my mouth to speak I quickly thought better of it and to just let her get it out of her system. There was nothing I could say that would change what had happened and nothing I could do would bring her comfort. So I shut my mouth and listened.

"No matter what I did I couldn't save you, but those little nanites did their job and sealed the hole and your heart started on its own accord." Tears flowed like a river down her cheeks dropping heavily on my hand. She told me how she did her best to patch me back together and if it hadn't been for the nanites I would have died well before she was able to finish.

She wanted to shout at me to stop going out in the field so I wouldn't get hurt again but she knew that she couldn't do that. There were too many other families who depended on me. Families whose fathers didn't have my abilities or such an amazing daughter to put them back together again. One day though she knew my luck would run out and she would have to deal with the fact that I would die what would be most likely a very hard and painful death. Until that day she would be the best daughter she could be and I promised I would try to be a better father.

In light of our new arrangement she made a startling confession. The tacky furnished home she kept in the French Quarter was only there for her mother's and my benefit. Same thing with her car. She had another home on the North Sh.o.r.e which was much more tastefully decorated and the Audi R8 5.2 sports car she drove was an amazing piece of refined machinery. She only kept the garish house in the Quarter because I had bought it for her on her eighteenth birthday, and the obnoxious Hummer was to mess with me mostly. The fact that it bugged her mom was just a bonus. She admitted she loved to see me squirm and when we bought the place. She realized how horrified I was by the previous owners taste, so she adopted it as her own just to mess with us. Also to my great surprise she had actually been dating Nora for the last four years and was in a serious long term committed relations.h.i.+p with her. After a while though she didn't know how to get out of the web of half truths and flat out lies without embarra.s.sing herself so she had maintained the whole garish and flamboyant lifestyle all the while living across the lake in near wedded bliss.

"I'll tell mom when things aren't so crazy around here alright?"