Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Ocche leaned back in his chair, his fingers steepled. His eyelids fluttered as an eerie blue light flickered beneath them. It had taken forever for him to spread his Ethereal Eye across Florence. Each new eye had been taxing, but he could move them at will and position them wherever he needed. With his gaze everywhere, nothing escaped him. Including the drones that Amos Carter had checked on in his room just before Verde and Veloce had attacked. It was a good thing too, those things packed one hell of a punch. But that was exactly what they were looking for.Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

What else could he make with a little bit of percussive encouragement?

He grinned, “You didn’t kill him, did you?” He asked into the earpiece.

“Of course not!” Veloce snorted back, “I’ve been practicing. A few broken ribs at the most.”

“Good to hear it,” He said and tilted his head, “Verde, there’s a woman in the bathroom. She’s the fashion designer. Grab her too.”

“What’s the point?” Verde grunted over the channel. “She can’t make us anything.”

“She looked... close to the CEO of ASTA. Close enough for a ransom I bet,” He said and opened his eyes, the light fading. He reached for a drink on the desk in his darkened office. The room was devoid of any distractions or light sources. He needed total darkness to use his ethereal eye at his best, external light caused his eyes to reflexively open. He sipped his drink while Verde fell silent, “What’s the problem, Verde?”

“Nothin, I’m on it,” Verde groused. A bang rang out followed by a scream.

–

Amos curled over himself on the ground, doing his best to play dead. It hurt like hell, but it wasn’t bad enough to knock him out. This is why I say ‘always be prepared’. He thought to himself, while the bathrobe had been given to him by the hotel staff, the t-shirt was one of his own make. He coughed, unfortunately the thin fabric could only absorb so much shock. It could stop a bullet but it would definitely leave a bruise. This woman... practicing my ass, she would have killed me with that punch.

Now who are you talking to? He thought, concentrating on her earpiece. Oh good, you’re using cell towers, He forced himself not to grin. Now I just gotta figure out how to-

BANG!

Mikayla screamed.

Son of a bitch!

He reached out to his drones and took control, getting a full view of his surroundings through their cameras. Veloce was peering into one of the cameras, her blue eye filling the view. The other views gave him a clear image of Mikayla struggling against Verde’s grip. He grit his teeth, Damn it, I can’t just sit here. He willed the drones to spread out and open fire first on Veloce. A staccato of gunshots rang out, the woman cursing loudly as she darted backwards and towards the far wall, dodging the first salvo, her long brown hair fluttering about.

“He’s still conscious!” She snarled.

One of the drones pivoted towards Verde, the man frowned, his dark eyes glowing green beneath a mess of brown hair. The drone’s barrel turned and he pulled Mikayla to his chest, positioning her between him and the lethal machine. Shit! A green blade formed in his hand, extending to brush the skin of her throat. She let out a cry of alarm before falling very, very still, her teary eyes looking wildly around the room. Amos sighed audibly and pulled himself to his feet. He swayed a little, favoring his gut with his hand. “You piece of shit,” He snarled, “She’s a bystander.”

Veloce glared at him out of the corner of his eye, “Asshole, you almost shot me!”

“Yeah, shame I missed,” Amos spat back.

She clicked her tongue and opened her mouth just as Verde tightened his grip on Mikayla, his glowing eyes fixed dangerously on Amos. “Shut your toys off, now.”

“Dick,” Amos snarled before relenting, he jostled Mikayla awake and did his best to urge her to remain calm. Verde waited impatiently until the two dragged themselves out onto the cobblestone driveway of a spacious florentine manor, the elegant building was practically one with the trees and greenery around it, giving it a refined but rustic feel. Amos focused, feeling for anything that could send a signal to the nearby towers. He caught hold of Verde’s phone. Looks like they still haven’t figured it out yet, good, stay stupid.

He sent out the GPS signal and a fresh text message, Now we just have to survive.

“Nice place,” Amos grunted.

“Shut up,” Verde growled while Veloce zipped past them, going up to the door and opening it. She reached into a satchel slung across her shoulder and pulled out a gun, pointing it at the two of them and gesturing for them to proceed inside.

Mikayla trembled next to him, utterly silent, and Amos forced himself to move, taking her hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. He had no way of telling her that help was on its way. He sighed and stepped into the building, it was so dark. He looked up and could barely make out that the light bulbs had been stripped from everything. A quick mental scan revealed that besides the phones in their captor’s pockets and another signal coming from nearby, this place was devoid of electronics.

“The CEO arrived at the hotel a little over an hour ago.”

Amos whipped his head in the direction of the voice. A man stepped out of the darkness, his eyes closed as a faint glow burned beneath them. His dark hair was slicked back tightly and he had a thin frame and face, “Amos Carter, finally.”

Amos frowned, “You got us here, now what?”

“Now, you work for me,” The man said and gestured to himself, “I am Ocche, the all seeing eye,” The man said confidently as Veloce arrived at his side, “You’ve already met Veloce and Verde.”

Amos snorted, “Work for you? Why the hell would I do that?”

“Because we need weapons and you want to live,” Ocche said, “Your boss wasn’t exactly shy about crediting you with ASTA’s breakthroughs. I’ve been keeping an eye on your company ever since it was formed, I’ve been looking forward to meeting a genius like yourself in the flesh.”

Amos swallowed at the threat, “And if I refuse?”

“Then we’ll kill the girl, she’s worth a ransom I assume, but money isn’t exactly an issue,” Ocche said with a shrug. Next to Amos, Mikayla winced and tried to shrink even more, fresh tears running down her cheeks.

“You touch a fuckin’ hair on her head and-” Amos snarled only to get a fresh punch to the gut from Veloce who had crossed the distance between them in an instant. He gagged and fell to his knees again, “Son of a... you’re not making it easy to want to work for you.”

Ocche chuckled and opened his eyes, “You’re right, I apologize, why don’t we have a seat and talk instead?” Ocche said, gesturing to a couch in the darkened room.

Amos ground his teeth but the sight of Verde grabbing at Mikayla forced him to move. As he stepped towards the couch a jolt went through his mind immediately before Verde reached into his pocket, letting go of Mikayla for a moment. He pulled out his phone and frowned. “The hell?”

“What is it?” Ocche asked.

“Text from an unknown number, just says ‘duck’,” Verde grunted.

Amos’ eyes widened and he lunged for Mikayla. She gasped as he grabbed her and pulled her to the ground. Just as he did, the world around him exploded.

BOOM!