Legacy(108)

They both took it slow, human speed, and Wolfe tossed aside the brother—Reed, his name was—slamming him into a parked car. Weissman came at Wolfe slowly enough to warrant a hard hit. Sovereign saw a glimmer of time displacement before the impact, enough that he knew Weissman had prepared himself, had paused time for a second to move himself just a hair farther away to lessen the power of the blow. He still flew across the parking lot, landing in the snow.

Sovereign went on, charging at Wolfe. Play it slow, play it dumb. Grab me, you silly bastard. Wolfe obliged, planting thick, terrible fingers around his neck, flesh to flesh, skin to skin. Now just hold on for a bit. Wolfe’s fingers dug in, and Sovereign held his breath, tried to widen his eyes. Let him think he’s winning ... just hold on ... hold on ... He could feel the first sense of the fire kindling in his flesh, the first burning of his powers stirring to work where Wolfe’s fingers met his skin. He watched the girl hammer at Wolfe’s hands, trying desperately to break them loose from around her throat. Finally, she reached down and pulled out a gun, firing it into Wolfe’s face as Sovereign fell, released from Wolfe’s grasp at last. I bet you feel that, you son of a bitch.

A dart poked out of his eyebrow, hanging on by the bushy hair. Wolfe staggered, and she fell from his grip then shot him again in the leg. He smacked the weapon out of her hand and it slid across the slushy ground.

“Little Doll,” Wolfe breathed. “That’s not a fair toy for playtime.” His eyes unfocused, widening, his steps uncertain. “What have you done to the Wolfe?”

Sovereign could feel it, the shadow, the little bit of Wolfe’s soul that he’d taken. Let them think it’s a dart. Like there’s a dart out there that could penetrate Wolfe’s skin.

“Back away from her,” came another voice.

“New playmates are not part of our game,” Wolfe breathed quietly into Sienna’s ear. Sovereign watched, laying still, willing the beast to run. If he makes one more move on her, I’ll just finish him myself ...

Wolfe took one last look at the two agents and ran, sprinting across the parking lot, bare feet slapping on the melting snow. The agents dropped down next to her talking, both at once, focused on her. Sovereign could sense their distress, their fear—We failed an assignment, oh no. Old Man Winter will be so angry. He smiled. Winter, angry. He was certain it was a pitiful sight.

“Hey, you!” the younger agent shouted. Sovereign looked up in time to see the brother stagger to his feet and run off through the rows of parked cars, bouncing off them until he reached his own. A moment later, the sound of an ignition turning over roared to life.

“We gotta get her out of here,” the older agent said. “Get her to Dr. Perugini.”

“Yeah,” the younger one said, and swept her up in his arms, carrying her. “She’s bleeding everywhere.” He carried her off, cursing, running across the wet, cold parking lot to the black Directorate sedan that waited. Sovereign heard the engine turn over almost immediately, and they skidded out moments later, splashing mush into the air as they did so.

“I hope that was worth it,” Weissman said, appearing at Sovereign’s side. He rolled his neck from right to left, making an exaggerated motion with it. “That big bastard doesn’t pull punches. Even with the time skip I pulled to cushion the blow it still hurt like hell.

“It was worth it,” Sovereign said, picking himself up off the ground. There was blood underneath him, all over the place where he’d fallen. That hadn’t happened in a long time. He watched the car running down the street outside the parking lot as it skidded toward the freeway. “I’m in.”

“In?” Weissman was rubbing his neck with one hand. “You’re ... you’re in? Like in?”

“I’m in,” Sovereign said. “You’re right. Let’s make the world a better place.”

“You don’t even know if she’s a succubus yet,” Weissman said cautiously.

“I’m sure she is, but it doesn’t matter,” Sovereign said. “I read her mind. I saw her story. I know what Omega wants her for, I know what Winter would want from her, and it’s not fair. No, I can wait.” He let a smile break across his face in the cold, icy wind. “Besides, girls are into older guys nowadays, right?”

“Yeah, immortal vampires are pretty popular with the teenage girl set,” Weissman said, nodding. “Should we go get her then? Go on out to the Directorate campus and ... ?”

“No,” Sovereign said, watching the last turn where the Directorate car had disappeared. “The last few times I screwed up because I came at them head on. There are ... so precious few succubi. Even fewer that you would actually want to spend a year with, let alone five thousand.” He watched the freeway ramp, contemplating. “I don’t want to screw it up again. I blew it with her mother and her grandmother.”