An Uncommon Truth of Dying (Broken Veil Book 2) Read online

  “Might I ask why you’re here?” Reece stepped forward.

  “Like I told the dolt over there, New York headquarters wanted me to keep an eye on them.”

  “Ignoring the fact that you’ve been watching us far more than them.” Maeve smiled.

  “Eh, I know what they’re doing.” He dropped his voice. “They’re all young agents, even younger than pretty boy here.” He motioned to Reece. “New York is worried about the repositioning of so many untried agents. I’ve spent a lot of time out here in past years, but I am part of the New York office. You might say that I’m internal affairs for Area 42. Or as close as we get to it. But I’m watching them, not you all.”

  Any questions they might have had were lost as three massive helicopters flew into range. They were the military grade, grav lift copters, but even with them Aisling wasn’t sure they would get the building section out.

  “Ahh, the cavalry has arrived.” Bart watched as the helicopters hovered in place and another car drove down the cross street to the gathering of agents. This one wasn’t black but was less bright than Bart’s.

  Aisling recognized Captain Driyflin as she got out of the passenger side. The driver stayed in the car. Captain Driyflin was Reece’s direct boss. She was a gridgen, a small species of fey. A bit shorter than Bart, but far less stocky than a gnome. She called a few of the agents over and from the look on her face she was chewing them out.

  “How’d they piss her off that fast? She just got here,” Aisling said.

  “There is a lot going on with this branch.” Bart scowled across the sinkhole. “And it started before that attack on their building.” He peered over the edge of the hole. “I do wonder how many more pieces will be landing around here. Seems a bit stupid to go through that much work to pull something like that off, only to drop parts randomly around town.”

  Captain Driyflin finished whatever she was chastising Rockquet about as a military truck pulled up on their side. People clad in camouflage got out and came to the edge of the sinkhole and started motioning to the choppers. Lines dropped and an electric arc formed over the hole. The magic charge it emitted crackled through the air.

  “Shouldn’t you be on their side of the hole?” Maeve had stepped forward to make sure she looked down at Bart. Aisling recognized the stance; she was still deciding if he should be on her shit-list or not.

  “Nope. I can watch them better from here. Missed the first drop in that parking lot, was just landing at LAX when they found it.”

  “You were on your way here before the building pieces started showing up?” Aisling saw the answer on Reece’s face as she asked. Bart’s visit really was about the agents. The issue of random and potentially deadly chunks of buildings crashing to the ground was a chance for him to see how the agents performed, nothing more.

  Except Mott mentioned that Bart knew about veil issues. Which brought him back into the knows-more-than-he’s-letting-on club.

  Chapter Eleven

  Bart switched back and forth between watching the agents on the other side and keeping an eye on the maneuver with the building. The concept behind the grav lift utilized magic and tech combined to encase and lift heavy, awkward, and dangerous objects. The agents had used smaller versions to gather the rubble from the parking lot, but just to get it into trucks. They still couldn’t see how big the chunk here was, but there were no trucks around for hauling.

  “Are they planning on carrying that through L.A. airspace? Because that will be noticeable.” Aisling jumped as her phone buzzed in her pocket. “Hey Caradoc, what’s up?”

  “Where are you guys? If you just didn’t want to help carry things into the house you could have said something.”

  “And then you’d still make us do it.” Aisling laughed. “Nope, not avoiding. A big chunk of a certain building made a nice sinkhole at the exit near your house. Right in front of us.”

  “Damn!” Caradoc covered his phone, most likely yelling at Harlie. “We’ll be right there.”

  “I wouldn’t suggest it, the place is swarming with agents, cops, and what look like military.” She looked over to where Bart was still inspecting the slow upward movement of rubble coming out of the sinkhole. “Hold on a sec.” She walked next to Bart. “My brothers are close by. If you want to meet them, this would be a good time.”

  “Excellent! We can go over...that’s not what you meant.” He gave a smirk that was similar to Garran’s when he was about to pull something over on someone. “They could both be extremely helpful in their observations. And being as I outrank everyone here, it’s my call. Send them over quickly. This move will take a while but I want them to observe as much as they can.”

  Aisling nodded and flashed him a smile. “Okay, you and Harlie get here ASAP.” She looked around, the other side wouldn’t be the best idea, even if Bart outranked them all, they weren’t going to be happy about more people being involved. “Go north and come off the 17B ramp. The cops and firemen will be asked ahead of time to move.”

  “On our way.” He disconnected.

  “Larkin? Could you do me a favor?” Bart was still watching the move and the agents across the sinkhole. “Make sure that Caradoc and Harlie have no trouble getting down here past the officers up top. I’d like their feedback on this.”

  Reece nodded to the crowd of agents on the other side. “They are going to be pissed.”

  “I know. It’s good to have power, isn’t it?” Bart gave a sigh of contentment.

  Reece jogged up the ramp and stayed there.

  Aisling knew Caradoc would probably break every speed law to get there. “You like egging them on, don’t you?”

  “Everyone needs a hobby.” Bart frowned. “Not all of them are bad, but there is something evil coming to L.A., or it might already be here. The entire reason for Area 42’s existence is to keep the bad things in life from destroying the good. I don’t think this crew can do what they might need to.”

  “What happens if they can’t?”

  “We have to pull from other Area 42 locations and we rebuild.” The grim look on his face didn’t bode well for the agents who were found to be wanting. Aisling had no idea what was done with people who no longer fit a super-secret agency. But it couldn’t be good.

  The front helicopter’s engines started a high-pitched whining and it dipped a bit, then steadied. But it still didn’t sound right.

  Maeve had been near the lip of the sinkhole but stepped back. “There’s something wrong.” She wasn’t looking at the helicopters but down in the ground.

  “Are those cracks?” Aisling pulled on Bart’s arm and moved them both away from the hole. Lines radiated out from the edges, deep ones that hadn’t been there a moment before. “Get back! Something is happening to the sinkhole!” She yelled across to the agents on the other side, but they were still in argue-and-debate mode. Captain Driyflin finally looked over. “The cracks are spreading!” Aisling yelled even louder as the helicopters increased volume, but eventually the captain nodded and had the cars moved back.

  The military people kept steadying the lines of the grav lift and the building.

  The fire engine moved aside and Caradoc’s SUV came down the ramp and parked off to the side. Both he and Harlie ran out.

  Harlie looked like a crazed prophet with his waist-length hair flying behind him in a long ponytail and a look of terror on his face.

  “Everyone has to get back! Now!” He grabbed Maeve and Reece since they were the closest to him and pulled them toward the cars.

  Caradoc didn’t grab anyone except Mott, but motioned for Aisling and Bart to follow him. “Harlie started freaking out the moment we got on the freeway.” He looked at the helicopters and the people on the other side. “They need to drop the grav lines and go higher.” He pulled out his phone. “Captain Driyflin, you need to get everyone out of there. Get the helicopters out too. No, I can’t explain it. Just move!”

  Aisling saw the captain yelling at the agents. All three helicopters jerked
up suddenly. Then an explosion rocked the area as at least one of them slammed into the sinkhole. Aisling barely stayed on her feet, while Mott tumbled over like a toy. The rest were tossed about, but upright. A wave of heat slammed into her as smoke and flames shot out of the sinkhole. Yelling came from both sides, but there was no way to hear anyone with the ringing in her ears.

  The fire crew brought their truck down and were putting out the flames in seconds.

  Looking up, it was clear that only the lowest helicopter exploded and the other two had cut their grav lift lines and were hovering much higher. Aisling wasn’t an expert in helicopters but neither one sounded good.

  One of the cars across the way got hit by debris, but it looked like the captain and the rest had made it clear.

  Aisling kept low as she went over to Harlie. “How did you know that was going to happen?”

  He still looked rattled, but not as bad as when he first arrived. “The air is permeated with...something is leaking.” He looked disturbed, but not freaked out. Yet anyway.

  Reece looked back to them. “Leaking, as in another explosion?”

  “No. Leaking as in something is coming through the veil down there. You probably want to destroy that chunk of building. Maybe a corrosive agent.” He nodded to himself as he looked at the sinkhole but didn’t move closer.

  “Something is using the building to cross over to this side?” The vallenians weren’t the only Old Ones, nor were they the worst. Aisling didn’t want to think about what else might come through.

  “Not sure,” Harlie said. “But it’s not good. Caradoc? Do you have gas masks?”

  Caradoc started to shake his head, then stopped. “Actually, I have some prototypes.” He opened the back hatch of his car and brought out a small box. He took what looked like a piece of cellophane out, put it over his face, and handed the box to Maeve. “Just touch it to your face, it’ll do the rest. Pass them along.”

  The results were a shimmery glow that Aisling saw on the others and also slightly colored her view once she got hers on. The box held way more than they needed, so Reece ran some up to the cops. The fire crew already had their own masks on.

  “There’s definitely something coming out from the sinkhole.” Harlie’s voice was slightly muffled by the clear mask.

  Bart had his phone out. “Captain Driyflin, get all of your people and anyone else over there to back up. There is something leaking through that hole. And tell the helicopters to land somewhere safe, away from everything.” He paused as he listened to her. “We’re testing a new gas mask from one of my consultants, don’t worry about us. Get out. That’s an order.”

  Driyflin put away her phone and started barking orders.

  “Something is coming out of the hole.” A nasty green ooze crept out along the edge of the hole on the other side. Maybe it was a gas leak, or her imagination, but it looked to Aisling like there were small, misshapen bodies in the ooze.

  “Damn it.” Bart didn’t move any closer to the hole but raised his voice toward the agents on the other side. “Get out now, you idiots!”

  There were still two agents not far from the hole as the ooze crept forward. One was the dark-haired elf, Rockquet. Both agents appeared more interested in what was going on across the hole than in it. They finally started backing away, but it was too late. The green ooze made a lunge and engulfed both agents.

  “That stuff is sucking out their life force. We have to stop it!” Harlie ratcheted back to hysterical as he frantically looked around. “Car keys.” He held out his hand to Caradoc.

  Caradoc looked confused but handed them over. Harlie ran to the car, started it up, and raced toward the hole.

  Everyone, even Mott, ran after him as they realized what he was doing. The car stopped, then the engine revved higher. Harlie rolled out as the car shot off and flew into the sinkhole. Which sent a fireball fifty feet into the air and the fire crew ran forward again. Two more fire trucks came down the ramp and soon three crews were fighting whatever was still burning in the sinkhole.

  The green ooze attacking the agents vanished and their desiccated bodies collapsed to the dirt.

  Sirens echoed down the freeway and ramp as more fire crews, more cops, and another unidentified car came into the area. The two remaining helicopters vanished during the car explosion and Aisling hoped they got away and managed to land without trouble.

  “I should have known that you all would find a way to be involved in this.” Garran got out of his car and stalked over to them. “Did you make the hole or the explosion?” He folded his arms but was saving his glare for Caradoc, Harlie, and Mott. Fair enough, if there was anything weird going on it would be those three.

  “Neither.” Caradoc paused as Reece raised an eyebrow. “Technically the explosion was caused by my vehicle entering the sinkhole at an excessive rate of speed.” He held up his hand. “But it was fully justified and probably saved everyone on that side of the hole. Well, most everyone.”

  Garran squinted at the other side and took a long, deep breath, then turned back. “They don’t look so good right now. A few of those bodies look like skeletons.”

  “That’s what they were saving everyone from.” Reece stepped forward. “There was a weird green substance coming out of the sinkhole. The car crash cut whatever it was off.” He gave a quick glance to Harlie, and Aisling saw him give a nod. “There was something coming through the veil.”

  Bart stepped into Garran’s space with a scowl. “If you’d use your eyes, you skunkwaffle, you’d see what happened.” He growled the last bit.

  Considering how much Bart clearly didn’t like the L.A. Area 42 agents, and yet was mostly civil to them, Aisling was surprised at the nastiness he was sending toward Garran.

  “Peace, ya fat guts!” Garran peered down and snarled back.

  Bart got an inch away from Garran with his hand reaching for his gun. Then burst out laughing. “Ha! Henry the fourth, part one. Try and fool me!” He punched Garran in the gut, but not hard.

  “At least I’m not making up shit. Skunkwaffle? Will had naught to do with a waffle.” Garran laughed.

  “Ah, but he would have liked that one, I know it. I was a bit rattled what with sinkholes, deadly gases, exploding helicopters and cars. It’s been a day. How the hell have you been and what are you doing here?”

  “Things have been changing out here. Surratt is out of the picture, and they made me chief. Crazy idea. You here to see what’s going wrong with Larkin’s crew?”

  Bart’s levity vanished. “With what’s left of this branch of Area 42. As far as I can tell Larkin and Jones are both legit; I’ve no reason not to trust them. The rest of this branch is under investigation at the moment.”

  Garran shot a glare to where ambulances were arriving on the other side to take in the injured Area 42 people. And two coroner’s wagons. None of which said County of Los Angeles. “They’ve shut everyone else out. Our people were the first on scene at the parking lot where the first piece landed. That crew showed up, wouldn’t say anything nor share with anyone as they cleared us out.”

  Bart shook his head. “I’m working with you now. There’s no one left standing in this branch that outranks me and even if there were,” he pulled out a badge holder and flipped it open. “I’m internal affairs now, so they can’t say boo.”

  “Wait, there’s no higher-ranking people left?” Reece had been standing back but came forward with a frown.

  “Your captain over there is the highest one left. Apparently, the rest were all still in the building when it was taken. Now tell me that isn’t suspicious.”

  Chapter Twelve

  “But you said Captain Driyflin was cutting us out to protect us because she didn’t trust her superiors.” Aisling had only met the captain twice, but she seemed like a good person. Then again, her former longtime friend Heike had tried to get her killed, so maybe she was just becoming a shitty judge of character.

  “She said people above her, she could have meant Ne
w York.” Reece narrowed his eyes. “It’s interesting that information didn’t come up at all in the past week. They kept everything moving, so unless we knew someone who was missing personally, we didn’t know.”

  “Explains why they kept us out of things and eventually booted us.” Jones was suddenly there. Silent as ever and no car. Just there.

  “Where’d you come from?” Aisling was facing up the ramp, the barricade of cop cars was still in place. She would have noticed him.

  “There’s an access road a bit that way. I parked there and walked in. I gave the captain our list but then she and almost everyone in the building took off. They kicked me out before they locked up though.” He held out his hand to Bart. “Nice to meet you in person, Agent Churchill.”

  Even more than the fact he was obviously good friends with Garran, the tone of respect in Jones’ voice made Aisling believe Bart was trustworthy.

  “Eh, just call me Bart. Everyone else does. And I’ve read up on all of you, so I feel like we’re old friends.”

  Caradoc handed Jones and Garran gas masks. “If what Harlie was trying to do worked, then the danger is probably past. But since we’ve no idea what was sent up in the air, might as well be cautious.”

  The other side had cleared out, with Captain Driyflin the last to get in her car. There was still enough wafting smoke to partially obscure her, but Aisling thought she was looking at them for a while before she got in the car.

  A call crackled from one of the fire engines and one of the fire crews started packing up. The fire was out and now they were just doing mop up.

  One of the firemen came over. “Not sure why there was a helicopter and an SUV down there. It looks like there’s only one fatality, the chopper pilot. I take it here was no one in the car?”

  “No there wasn’t.” Garran stepped forward. “Thank you. We’ll take care of it from here.” He flashed his badge and Bart flashed an FBI badge. The fireman clearly wanted to ask more questions, but he nodded and left.