Enemies(4)

I felt the slow grind of my molars. “No, thanks. I’ve already been part of one sham of a meta organization that nearly killed me. You know what they say about not learning from your own mistakes, right?”

He stared at me blankly. “I don’t believe I’ve heard that one.”

I ran the old phrase back in my head to make sure I had it right. “A wise person learns from the mistakes of others, a normal person learns from their own, and a fool learns nothing, ever.”

“So does that make you a fool or normal?” Fries asked me with a pained cackle.

“I’ve shot you on several different occasions now,” I said, “so what does it make you for continuing to get shot by me?”

“I’d avoid you if I could.”

“Come on, James,” I said with a little false enthusiasm, “you can do it. Try harder.”

“If I may,” Janus said, “might we come back to my offer? I could give you assurances that Omega means you no harm—”

“All of which are meaningless to me,” I said, “because of Wolfe, Henderschott, Fries,” I waved the gun at the mess of James still huddled on the couch, “Mormont, the vamps, Bjorn—hey, he’s a real charmer, and now I’m stuck with him forever in my head—”

Janus’s eyes twitched closed for a moment then reopened as he grimaced. “He is … with you, then? In your mind?”

“Usually at the moments of least convenience,” I said. “He’s blissfully quiet right now.” A voice sounded in my head: Just listening, Cookie. “It would appear I spoke too soon.”

A slight look of concern crossed his face but he waved it away. “This is ultimately irrelevant.”

“It’s relevant to me; he’s really annoying sometimes—”

Janus’s expression darkened. “I meant to our discussion.”

I rolled my eyes. “Try living with three former employees of Omega in your head. I swear, the only thing I have more of than former Omega employees is former Directorate ones.” I went on, feeling a little like a gossip. “And Gavrikov! Do you know he never shuts up about your stupid girlfriend?”

“You want Winter,” Janus said, his voice straining to get us back on topic even as he seemed to be trying to keep emotion off his face, “I can give you assistance in killing him. But there will be a price.”

“Why don’t you just tell me where he is and call it a … present.” I smiled. “Like a goodwill present to make up for all the shit you’ve put me through.”

His expression turned to pitying. “Let us call him what he really is—leverage. A motivator for you to begin going through the actions it will take to convince you that Omega is the sole force fighting to preserve meta-humans from the impending calamity that Century is bringing.”

I felt a tug at his words. “I don’t care about Century. About any of that.” Liar, liar, Zack said quietly in my head.

“No?” He stared coolly back at me, and let a hand go to one of his pockets, smoothing it shut. “I find it hard to believe that somewhere, beneath that … hard-edged exterior you carry around you, that there is not a care present at all for your fellow man—and woman, I suppose they would say nowadays.”

“I care about paying back Winter.” I let the knife edge in my voice reflect the emotions I had beneath the surface. “I want him to die for what he did to me. You give me him, and I’ll help fight your little war.”

He hesitated, thinking over his next line, and I caught a hint of pity. “It is a war that belongs to all of us, I think. I hope in time you will see the truth of that.”

“So long as I see Erich Winter’s head on a pike first.”

Janus gave me a low nod, but his shoulders seemed a little more slumped than when he had come in. “Very well. I will set our intelligence gathering in motion to track him down. But,” he said wagging a finger at me, “it will be some time before we venture off to get him, even if we were to locate him tomorrow. That is the bargain—you will come with me, see our efforts. I tell you this so there is no misunderstanding. You see our work, what we do, and in three months, I will give you Erich Winter. Can you agree to that?”

“Will I find him without you?” I asked sarcastically.

He shook his head. “I think not. He has not survived for thousands of years through countless feuds among our fickle and murderous people by stupidly walking into danger.” He waited in silence for a moment before speaking again, as though hoping I would leap into the conversation to answer before he had to ask the question. “Will you come with me to London?”