.” That sounded like the descriptions of a Boomer, though he’d never actually met one. “Imperium, anarchist, communist, or nut on his own?”
“Nobody knows yet.”
“This is a nightmare.” Sullivan rubbed his face. “Absolute nightmare.”
“Poor Roosevelt,” Cowley agreed.
“Poor Roosevelt, hell. Poor us. I saw a mob try to lynch a little kid once because they thought his magic was scary. What’s gonna happen when they’ve got a reason to be scared?”
Mar Pacifica had been his brother’s doing. His big brother had been a genius, an evil genius, but a genius nonetheless. The Imperium had drawn first blood, weakened its enemy, and gotten away with it. That same attack had cost Delilah her life. Matty, I hope you’re slow-roasting in hell.
“Whole place is going to blow up now. Good thing it’s too cold to riot tonight,” Sullivan muttered.
“Not down South it’s not. I’ve heard some awful things have happened already. Business burned, random Actives gunned down . . .”
He’d have to get in contact with the Society quickly. They would be doing damage control, and hopefully, if the assassin belonged to some group, making the rest of them go away permanently. This kind of thing was exactly why the Grimnoir existed, protecting Actives from Normals, and vice versa. He’d gotten rather good at communication spells, and that was much cheaper than a telephone call, but first things first. He needed to get rid of Cowley. “So why the visit?”
“Listen, Jake, this isn’t Bureau business. I’m on loan to another agency tonight. Things are a little chaotic right now. I can’t talk about it. You need to come with me right now.”
“Where?”
“New Jersey.”
“Why?”
“A matter of national security.”
As a straightforward man, he had no patience for evasion. “No.”
“Look, I can’t tell you until we get there. It’s top secret.”
“I’m going back to bed.” Sullivan stood up.
“Well . . .” Cowley relented. “Fine. I don’t know what’s going on, exactly. I said I would ask you because I reasoned that you seemed to like me more than anyone else who works for the government.”
“That’s not saying much, Sam.”
“This place is surrounded.”
Sullivan went to the window and pulled back the curtains. Sure enough, there were police cars parked along the street. NYPD uniforms and plainclothes overcoats both, the men five stories below were huddling for warmth beneath the lamps. It was a modest show of force, but he wasn’t impressed. Sullivan had fought through everything the German army could throw at him and the Chairman’s personal Iron Guards. The hardest thing about getting through the bull’s perimeter would be not accidentally hurting any of them. “Why all the law?”
“There are some new rumors about you . . . Things that made my . . . colleagues nervous. In particular something about you fighting the entire Japanese Navy by yourself.”
How did the BI know about that? None of the Grimnoir would have talked, because they certainly knew how to keep a secret, but it could have come from one of Southunder’s men or the UBF volunteers from the Tempest . “That’s just crazy talk . . . It was one ship with a skeleton crew and there were about fifty of us.” It had still been ten-to one-odds, but there was no need to exaggerate.
“Who is us ?”
Cowley, being a man of integrity, would probably make an excellent Grimnoir knight. However, that wasn’t Sullivan’s place to decide, though he would suggest the possibility to John Browning the next time they spoke. “Just some friends of mine.”
“I just know what I’m told. Orders are clear. You are to be driven to a certain location in New Jersey as soon as possible. You’re not under arrest. This is not to send you back to Rockville or anything like that. You have my word. This is a request from your government, but you absolutely have to be in New Jersey by morning.”
“And if I refuse,
“Nobody knows yet.”
“This is a nightmare.” Sullivan rubbed his face. “Absolute nightmare.”
“Poor Roosevelt,” Cowley agreed.
“Poor Roosevelt, hell. Poor us. I saw a mob try to lynch a little kid once because they thought his magic was scary. What’s gonna happen when they’ve got a reason to be scared?”
Mar Pacifica had been his brother’s doing. His big brother had been a genius, an evil genius, but a genius nonetheless. The Imperium had drawn first blood, weakened its enemy, and gotten away with it. That same attack had cost Delilah her life. Matty, I hope you’re slow-roasting in hell.
“Whole place is going to blow up now. Good thing it’s too cold to riot tonight,” Sullivan muttered.
“Not down South it’s not. I’ve heard some awful things have happened already. Business burned, random Actives gunned down . . .”
He’d have to get in contact with the Society quickly. They would be doing damage control, and hopefully, if the assassin belonged to some group, making the rest of them go away permanently. This kind of thing was exactly why the Grimnoir existed, protecting Actives from Normals, and vice versa. He’d gotten rather good at communication spells, and that was much cheaper than a telephone call, but first things first. He needed to get rid of Cowley. “So why the visit?”
“Listen, Jake, this isn’t Bureau business. I’m on loan to another agency tonight. Things are a little chaotic right now. I can’t talk about it. You need to come with me right now.”
“Where?”
“New Jersey.”
“Why?”
“A matter of national security.”
As a straightforward man, he had no patience for evasion. “No.”
“Look, I can’t tell you until we get there. It’s top secret.”
“I’m going back to bed.” Sullivan stood up.
“Well . . .” Cowley relented. “Fine. I don’t know what’s going on, exactly. I said I would ask you because I reasoned that you seemed to like me more than anyone else who works for the government.”
“That’s not saying much, Sam.”
“This place is surrounded.”
Sullivan went to the window and pulled back the curtains. Sure enough, there were police cars parked along the street. NYPD uniforms and plainclothes overcoats both, the men five stories below were huddling for warmth beneath the lamps. It was a modest show of force, but he wasn’t impressed. Sullivan had fought through everything the German army could throw at him and the Chairman’s personal Iron Guards. The hardest thing about getting through the bull’s perimeter would be not accidentally hurting any of them. “Why all the law?”
“There are some new rumors about you . . . Things that made my . . . colleagues nervous. In particular something about you fighting the entire Japanese Navy by yourself.”
How did the BI know about that? None of the Grimnoir would have talked, because they certainly knew how to keep a secret, but it could have come from one of Southunder’s men or the UBF volunteers from the Tempest . “That’s just crazy talk . . . It was one ship with a skeleton crew and there were about fifty of us.” It had still been ten-to one-odds, but there was no need to exaggerate.
“Who is us ?”
Cowley, being a man of integrity, would probably make an excellent Grimnoir knight. However, that wasn’t Sullivan’s place to decide, though he would suggest the possibility to John Browning the next time they spoke. “Just some friends of mine.”
“I just know what I’m told. Orders are clear. You are to be driven to a certain location in New Jersey as soon as possible. You’re not under arrest. This is not to send you back to Rockville or anything like that. You have my word. This is a request from your government, but you absolutely have to be in New Jersey by morning.”
“And if I refuse,
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