Sunset: Pact Arcanum: Book One by Arshad Ahsanuddin Page A

Rory. He won’t be able to handle it if we tell him. Maybe you’re right and he’ll turn his life around after today. But for now, we need to keep him in the dark.”
    Rory seemed about to disagree but finally shook his head. “I know you’re right,” he said, “both of you. It will hurt to have to lie to him.”
    “This is necessary for our survival,” Layla insisted. “You must isolate yourself from your feelings for him.”
    “I can’t argue with that, either,” said Takeshi. “On that note, I suggest we adjourn. It’s going to be a long night.”
     

P ART II :  T RUTH
     

C HAPTER 6
     
    Marina District, San Francisco, California; Five hours after public exposure
    Tobias Jameson fumbled for the remote and turned off the video feed, silencing the news anchor’s confused commentary. His thoughts were a maelstrom of questions and fears. What the hell just happened? Nothing made sense. The world was tilting off its axis. It had to be some kind of stunt, didn’t it? It couldn’t have been real. He’d watched the events play out on the award show just as everyone else had, tuning in after the news brief about the terrorist threat had broken on every channel, and he’d stayed glued to the set until the broadcast had finally been cut off while the Special Forces soldiers were carting the unconscious bodies off the stage.
    Afterward, he’d made the rounds of the news programs for a couple of hours. They were pretty much still chasing their tails. No one understood what had happened or what to make of it. The only thing Toby knew for sure was that his brother had been on tour with his band, the Journeymen, in Australia as late as that morning. Nick had called from Melbourne just after their concert, and Toby had heard the screams of the crowd in the background. There was no way Nick could have been in Los Angeles not even six hours later. Teleportation doesn’t exist. It can’t exist.
    Toby stood and paced around his apartment, pausing occasionally to look at the framed photos of his family that adorned the walls and noting how rarely the images contained the four of them together. Nick and Toby’s performing careers, not to mention Faith’s busy medical practice, tended to keep them apart.
    Another image popped into his mind before he could suppress it: Nick yelling at Scott and the terrorist, showing visible fangs and claws. Somehow, his voice was an entire octave lower than it should have been. Toby pushed the memory from his mind. He didn’t know what was going on, but that was not his brother. His thoughts marched in circles as he wandered through the empty apartment, looking for answers.
    His cell phone rang, and he answered it quickly. “Nick? Is that you?”
    “Toby.” His brother sounded exhausted. “Did you see the broadcast?”
    “Yes, I saw it! Who was that? They looked just like you guys! What’s going on?”
    “Toby, do you trust me?”
    “What?” Toby was shocked. “Of course.”
    “Someone is coming to get you. Go with him.”
    Toby took the phone away from his ear and stared at it in disbelief. Nick had actually hung up on him. At that moment, the doorbell rang. Toby walked to the door and disarmed the security system. The front office should have called the apartment before letting in any unknown visitors, so whoever it was must have been on his list of trusted friends. When Toby opened the door, he was surprised to see a man he didn’t recognize at all. About Toby’s age, he was dressed in a tan suit.
    Toby’s fingers quickly moved to rest on the security system’s panic button. “Can I help you?”
    “Mr. Jameson? Would you please come with me?”
    The man’s tone was pleasant, but Toby knew that didn’t mean anything. He’d seen enough in his life to know that people were capable of anything.
    “Do I know you?” asked Toby, ready to slam the door in his face if he tried anything.
    “No, sir. My name is Lucas Daviroquir. Your brother asked me to pick you