The Anathema by Zachary Rawlins Page A

he was a node on the Etheric Network. “Conditioning, per his normal schedule. Michael should have finished his rounds two-and-a-half minutes ago.”
    “She probably knows where to find him,” Rebecca said, reaching for her black bomber jacket and shrugging it on. “That is probably where they started from. If Alex’s uses his card, think in my direction. Actually, do that if Vivik or Anastasia or… I don’t fucking know, you’re the genius. Tell me relevant things as you learn them.”
    “What is it that Eerie is doing?”
    “Seeing the future isn’t everything, I suppose. Sometimes it’s better to look back. Eerie is doing what I would have done in her situation, when I was about her age. She’s looking for the person that she knows we’re going to prevent her from seeing, for as long as she can get away with it,” Rebecca said, smoothing her hair back in the mirror he kept near the door as a courtesy. “Read my file if you don’t believe me. There is a disciplinary note. I pulled something like this my first year. I’m going to find her before she manages to do... well, pretty much anything she tries.”
    Uncharacteristically, curiosity got the better of him.
    “What did you do back then?”
    Rebecca paused, made another vague gesture, then blushed and looked away.
    “I’m going to do my job. Be ready to turn in a more credible performance as the Bad Cop when I bring them back, okay? Read the damn file if you really want to know.”
    Rebecca opened the door, stepped halfway into the hall.
    “And then don’t ever, ever mention it. To me or anyone else.”
    She slammed the door. Gaul turned off the lights in the office, so he could fully appreciate his headache. Already, in the back of the marvelous machine that his multitasking mind was, a new Bad Cop routine was formulating. His face muscles twitched, approximating a grimace, while he searched the Etheric Network for Rebecca Levy’s disciplinary file.

7.
     
    “That went well.”
    To Margot, they felt like the most genuine words she’d ever said, her hands sticky with blood. There were bodies all around, but none of them moved, none of them even breathed. They had been smart enough to post guards on the roof, but the guards clearly hadn’t expected to face off with two Auditors.
    “I’ve seen so many of the silver Weir in the last couple days that the novelty wearing off.”
    “If Godzilla showed up every day, he’d just be a big lizard that made it a pain to fly into Tokyo.”
    Mitsuru considered it from where she sat, crouched, watching the scene beneath them. Margot already regretted the words, but it was too late to stay quiet. It was nerves, pure and simple.
    “I’m not sure that I follow.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I get that a lot.”
    Mitsuru frowned, stood up from the side of the building where she crouched, giving Margot a quick appraisal before moving along the rooftop, trailing the figures far below, motioning for Margot to follow her.
    “You’re more talkative than I was lead to believe,” Mitsuru observed coolly.
    “I get that a lot, too. That’s because of the vampire thing. People have expectations. We have a mythos, you know?”
    Mitsuru’s expressionless face and red eyes held no hint of a response. Margot was glad when she decided to return to observing the Anathema below them.
    “I want to take them after they leave the building. This bunch can’t take us any further.” Mitsuru glanced again off the side of the building, the perspective dizzying and exhilarating. As it usually did when she was near the edge of something very high, a part of Margot exulted in the idea of jumping, of plunging into the open air. “I downloaded an apport protocol, earlier. We’ll wait for them to leave, and then we’ll eliminate all but two. I’ll see if I can’t get Alistair to do a remote scan for me so we know which ones are the most important, and then we’ll gut the little fish. Are you going to be alright watching my