Chapter 30: The Taste of Blood
Doc felt it coming even as the voice whispered in his ear. He knew what tactics they would use, because he had used them once; he had even taught them to others. He fought off the attack on his brain and kept it at bay as a dozen drones ambushed Karl.
“Karl, watch out!”
Karl whirled, pulled energy through his conduit stone, and knocked the tall, lean, Asian man coming toward him against the wall. The blow was hard enough to leave an Asian-man-shaped dent. The man crumpled to the ground.
A woman tried to strike from behind Doc.
“Karl, there!” Karl quickly took care of the situation.
This went on for ten minutes before all the attackers were lying on the ground. Doc had been so focused on the six individualistic minds that resided in these rooms that he’d completely passed over the dozen or so collectivized ones that were also present. The collective drones were part of the background of this place. Doc assumed they acted as servants to the Council; it didn’t occur to him that they might be walking into an ambush.
As the fight progressed, the feel of the six individual minds melted away. They’d used the drones as a diversion so they could escape.
When the floor was littered with unconscious bodies and Karl’s chest was heaving, he swung around to look at Doc.
“Where are the Six?”
“Gone to other parts of the compound. These were a decoy.”
“So what now?”
“They said they knew we were coming. I’m not sure how, but if we were ambushed…”
“Maggie, Marcus, and Nat might have been too. They may need help.”
Doc nodded. “Let’s go.” He turned and headed for the door. Then he felt it—the whisper of something both achingly familiar and hauntingly evil. He shivered as the age-old sensation ran down his spine. Then he heard a dull thud. He hesitated out of fear but only for an instant. Then he whirled around. Karl was unconscious on the floor.
The Asian man Karl had thrown into the wall had risen and clocked him in the head with a heavy vase. Doc could sense that Karl was all right, just knocked out.
This was not the same man Karl had fought with earlier, though. The same body, yes, but not the same entity. He was a lean, lanky Asian man with black hair and dark brown eyes.
Now the whites of his eyes glowed with an otherworldly light, and he was seething anger in a way that no man enslaved by a collective could. Collectivists couldn’t show that kind of passion; they were part of a whole that constantly monitored and mediated emotions. This man looked ready to attack.
It was not the look but the earlier sensation that told Doc exactly who this was. “It’s you, isn’t it?”
“It is me, Johann. It has been many years since we’ve spoken face to face.” His English was perfect, and there was an echo of a deeper voice over the top of his. The effect of the two voices together was a deep, dull, droning sound, like a voice echoing in a cave. It was all the more sinister for its droll quality.
“You call this face to face?”
The young man merely looked at him.
“And was it also you that invaded Lila’s mind a few weeks ago?”
“Of course.”
“Why?”
“To kill the Executioner.”
Doc sighed. He had hoped this man didn’t know who Maggie was.
“Come,” the unnatural voice said, seeing Doc’s sigh. “Did you really think I wouldn’t know her when I saw her, that I wouldn’t have people looking for her and know the moment she was found?”
“I suppose I hoped you wouldn’t. Foolish hope.”
“Indeed. But you were always foolish, Johann. It is foolish of you to come here. Aren’t you afraid I might kill you?”
“I stopped fearing death long ago. Besides, if you had the power to kill me, you’d have done it already. So you still haven’t found an answer to the Binding.”
The man didn’t answer for a time. When he did, the pompous smirk was on his face once more. “You are right, Johann, and I am impressed. Your…people are far better than any other time you’ve come against me. But they are still not good enough.”
“We’ll see.”
“Indeed we will. I’ll make you watch them all die as you watched her die. Until we meet again, Johann. I pray that the next time will be the last.”
“You always say that, but I seriously doubt that you pray.”
“I’m always sincere. I always hope that the next time we meet will be the time I am finally able to kill you. Praying is merely a figure of speech.”
“Nat is with me again.”
The man barked a laugh. “The two brothers together again. How quaint.”
“There were more than just the two.”
“But not anymore, not for a long time now. Good-bye, Johann. I wish you luck. You’re going to be in desperate need of it.”
Karl was stirring, but whether he’d been awake for several seconds or had just awakened, Doc wasn’t sure. Either way, Karl was playing dead and listening closely.
“One more question. You told Maggie to call you B. What does it mean?”
“It stands for Beholder. I watch you more than you know and see more than you could possibly imagine. Remember that the next time you believe a rogue member of my collective.”
He walked away, and as he did, the strange light left the young man’s eyes, and his body slumped forward, falling heavily and awkwardly onto the hard floor. B was gone.