Nightfall (Pact Arcanum Integrated Serial Edition) by Arshad Ahsanuddin Page A

dismissed her concern. “It’s Antonio, and he’s alone.”
    The Fire Sentinel, wearing an all-access security pass around his neck, brushed past Take as soon as the door opened and sat near Rory. “We’ve had a setback.”
    “How bad is it?” Take locked the door and took a seat across from Antonio.
    Antonio shrugged. “We lost three of the four teams in Denver.”
    Ana blinked. “Three! How the hell did that happen?”
    “Apparently, the remaining local vampires rallied around a leader we haven’t seen before. He was strong and powerful. He went up against two Earth Sentinels at once and cut them to pieces. He also broke through another team’s kinetic wards and allowed the vampires to take them all down with machine gun fire.”
    Rory frowned. “And we have no idea who he was?”
    “That’s the only upside,” Antonio said. “Most of the security footage survived, and our remaining team in Denver has been studying his moves in case he attacks them next. One thing is clear: he’s definitely one of the older vamps to be that tough, and he’s Asian.”
    Takeshi raised his eyebrows. “Jiao-long himself?”
    “Either him or one of his lieutenants from before Jiao-long moved his house from China to America more than a thousand years ago. Most of the vamps after that period were sired here and are of Native American descent.”
    “Antonio, I want to see that security footage,” Takeshi said, his expression growing fierce. “If this was Jiao-long, then that’s our best evidence of his fighting style. It will be invaluable when we finally track him down.”
    “I agree.” Antonio reached into his pocket and handed Take a scrap of paper scribbled with symbols in Arcolin, the iconographic language spoken when the Gift was created. “Here are the jump coordinates for the base where the last team is reviewing the records. I already told them to expect you.”
     
    April 2020; Denver, Colorado
    The white light of the teleport matrix faded, and the three of them looked around to find four Sentinels guarding them, their machine guns unwavering.
    Takeshi raised an eyebrow. “Brothers and sisters, my name is Takeshi Nakamura, and I am the Wind of Earth. My companions are Anaba Nizhoni, the Wind of Fire, and Rory Brennigan, the Wind of Air. I was told you were expecting us.”
    A woman with blonde hair tied back in a long braid strode forward and gave them an appraising glance. She looked to be around fifty years old—ancient in their profession. Standing directly in front of Take, she glared at him in challenge for a minute and then gave a silent signal to the rest of her team to lower their weapons.
    “Forgive the discourtesy, my Lord,” she said. “We can’t be too careful these days. My name is Marjorie Clemens, element Earth.” She indicated each of the others in turn. “My quad members are Thomas Jackson, Fire; Helena Carinne, Air; and Joseph Harvey, Water.” She turned back to Take and extended her hand. “It is truly a pleasure to finally meet you. Your strategy of watching and waiting was difficult to follow at first, but I can’t deny that it has worked.”
    Takeshi shook her hand. “I’m glad we’ve been so successful, Marjorie, but they’re not out of the fight yet. This counterattack proves they’ve still got some cards up their sleeves.”
    She nodded. “Yes, my Lord. We’ve been studying this new bloodsucker; he’s a tough one.” Her mouth thinned into a bitter smile. “I knew most of the team members who died. They were well protected and experienced. The footage we’ve recovered from their security setup shows they were overwhelmed in minutes.”
    Take grimaced. “Show me.”
    The three Winds followed Marjorie to a bank of security monitors where the other members of the quad were waiting. Joseph slipped a DVD into the player, and they all watched as the base was attacked, an explosion ripping through the walls of the concrete bunker. The first vampires through the breach were