“Gant works for Magnus,” Monty said, touching parts of the emulator in sequence. “If he didn’t use your creature as a pretense, it would have been something else. The key was to make sure you had this crystal on your person before you left the TINY.”
“How did I not see that?” I said, slightly angry at being duped. “I’m usually an excellent judge of character.”
“Says the person currently involved with a murderous ancient vampire,” Monty said. “Your history in character judgment is somewhat spotty.”
I opened my mouth to answer and then closed it. He was right. If I reviewed my recent choices, I’d say spotty was putting it nicely.
“I partnered up with you,” I said. “That has to count for good judgment.”
“Are you certain you didn’t suffer head trauma when you faced Evers?” Monty asked. “Having me as your partner, while probably the most sane decision you’ve made, is not an indicator of good judgment. Far from it.”
“Are you saying it was a bad call?”
“Absolutely not,” Monty said. “Having me as your partner has saved your life countless times.”
“See? Good call, excellent judge of—”
“Having me as your partner has also jeopardized your life countless times,” Monty finished, straightening out a sleeve. “In any case, Gant works for the Balfour Enclave. It’s possible the emulator was given with good intentions, but it can be tracked.”
“If I were Rell, I’d attack when I was most distracted,” I said. “That would give me the greatest chance of taking me out easy.”
“He may be operating on incomplete information,” Monty said, going into a closet and coming out with a jacket. “I had Piero make this for you some time ago.”
I looked at the jacket. It was identical to the one I was wearing.
“You asked Piero to make the exact jacket I’m wearing?” I asked. “Why? This one fits perfectly.”
“This one has been specially runed,” Monty said. “I understand your condition will keep you alive. This jacket has been runed to prevent your perforation.”
“You mean it’s bulletproof? Nice,” I said, taking the jacket and holding it up. “This is like runic Kevlar, thanks.”
“Bullet-resistant, not proof. It’s more designed to prevent runed rounds from doing damage,” Monty said. “I noticed your mala bracelet is gone. Does this mean you lack a shield?”
“I’ve been upgraded,” I said, focusing and creating a small dome of energy around me, which disappeared a few seconds later. My brow was instantly covered in sweat, and my head pounded from the effort. “Kali disintegrated my mala bracelet, but I can make this now. It’s hit and miss—well, mostly miss.”
“A dawnward?” Monty asked, surprised. “How? Why did it only last a few seconds?”
“I need practice. I can’t seem to hold it for long unless I have Ebonsoul materialized, and even then, pfft,” I said. “I still don’t know how it works, but I think it has something to do with the pendant Nana gave you and my being a shieldbearer.”
“You don’t know how it works. Fascinating,” Monty said, rubbing his chin. “Do you know how you obtained it?”
“Something Kali did when she gave me her upgraded mark,” I said, recalling her words. A shield does not require a shield. You will be my aspis—a shield-warrior. “That was followed by mind-shattering agony. When she was done, my bonds were straightened out, my brain had been liquefied, my eyes were glowing, and she’d left me with this.”
I opened my shirt and showed Monty where the pendant used to rest. It was now a dim violet outline etched into my chest.
“She merged you with it?” Monty asked. “What do you mean, your eyes were glowing? Your eyes aren’t glowing.”
“They were when she merged me with the pendant,” I said. “Anyway, the merging wasn’t fun—more like agony. Then she destroyed my mala bracelet, but forgot to leave me an instruction manual for my purple bubble of protection.”
“It’s called a dawnward and it’s an incredibly potent defense,” Monty said. “Why didn’t you use it against Evers?”
“I could barely create it just now,” I said, rubbing my temple. “And it’s giving me a migraine. I don’t think Evers was going to give me the opportunity. She was a little focused on shredding me.”
“Have you created it prior to this moment?”
“I only just managed to create it against Dex,” I said, shaking my head. “Even then, he managed to slice through it with his psycho mace-axe.”
“You never did tell me how you survived facing Nemain, or Dex for that matter.”
“It wasn’t so much me surviving as Dex refusing to shred me to nothingness,” I said. “He is off-the-charts powerful. Are you sure we can’t call him?”
“No, we can’t,” Monty said. “Since your proficiency with the dawnward is unreliable, you will need to wear the jacket and try not to get shot.”
“That’s on the top of my to-do list every day,” I said, switching jackets along with the contents of my pockets. “I have a bad feeling about this entire op. They’re going to try and kill us, aren’t they?”
“You said it yourself: Shadow Company doesn’t believe in loose ends,” Monty said. “The information we possess makes us liabilities. They can’t afford to leave us alive.”
“Remove all sources of information that can blow back on the Company,” I said. “It’s SOP. They’ll try to sanitize the op, and everyone involved who’s not Shadow Company once it’s done. Starting with—”
“Us and everyone we care for, yes,” Monty said. “We’re going to stop them.”
“You know what’s not on my to-do list today?” I asked. “Getting taken out by insane zealots and power-mad assassins looking to exterminate what they perceive as threats to their way of life.”
“Now that your to-do list is sorted, I can rest easy,” Monty said, heading to the kitchen. “All I need now is a good cuppa.”
He grabbed the kettle and began filling it with water. He was acting normally, but I could tell from the number of times he straightened his sleeves that he was upset.
“We’re
