Russell:

The world flowed past my window, like a river of color. The images smeared and blended. My eyes couldn’t focus on anything. Not even Marguerite, although she sat beside me in the company car. But I hadn’t been able to see her for years. She’d been a wisp of smoke, her emotions transparent and inconsequential. More of an irritant than an inspiration.

Ellen. Memories of Ellen clouded my vision.

I thought we had a chance together. Then she betrayed me. I glanced down at my lap, realized my hands were knotted in fists.

I had been a fool. But those days were over. I was tired of trying to fix the problems with the rest of the world. I only wanted to salvage what I could. The jet was ready. A villa hidden in the Andes waited. As soon as I was finished at the hotel, I was leaving. Taking Isabelle and Marguerite and flying off into the blue horizon.

After I got rid of Angelique. At this point I didn’t care whether she was neutralized or given to Neville. I just wanted her and her Ellen-past gone.

The flow of color outside my window stopped. The world came back into focus. Sharp and immediate.

“We’re here.” Marguerite’s voice. Already I was looking forward to the jet ride that would get us away from New Orleans.

One of the guards opened the car door and I stepped out. Took a shallow gulp of city air. Stared up at the towering hotel. Then I headed toward the lobby, unconsciously wiping my hands on my shirt.

As if that bloodstain splatter I had been dreading was already here.

“Where y’at, boss?” Pete stood in the door, a shallow husk of who he had been two weeks ago. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days. Like something horrible haunted his dreams.

“Where y’at?” Marguerite answered him with a grin. She gave him a hug, then strolled inside Chaz’s hotel suite. “Isabelle? Where are you, sugar?” she called out. “It’s Mama.”

Our daughter came dancing out of a bedroom, ran and jumped into my wife’s arms. Her hair was neatly combed and she wore an oversized T-shirt that came down to her knees. But she was fine.

My heart skipped a beat. I hadn’t realized until now just how terrified I’d been that something might happen to her.

“Mama, Daddy.” She nuzzled her face in my wife’s shoulder, then reached an arm out to me. We embraced as a trio for a long minute. For a crazy moment it felt like this was going to work out after all, the three of us together, us against the world.

“Boss?” Pete stood over by the VR screen. “I needs to show you somethin’.”

I nodded. Kissed Isabelle on the cheek. “We’ll be going home in a couple minutes, baby,” I told her. Then I met Pete by the monitor.

“The news gots a video that’s been runnin’ all morning,” he said as he hit a REWIND button.

“Where’s the Newbie?” I asked, keeping my voice low. I didn’t have much time. Chaz could be here in a few minutes. I needed to erase my past mistakes before he got back.

“Sleepin’ in there.” He pointed a thumb back toward the room where Isabelle had been. “Trust me, you gots to see this first.” He hit the PLAY button.

The video began to run. For an instant I forgot about everything else. The dog we had experimented on was alive. But there was something going on that didn’t make sense. “It’s Omega,” I said.

“Yeah.”

“But that other dog, how did it come back to life?”

“See hows he licked her wounds?” Pete asked.

“But that shouldn’t make any difference.”

“There weren’t never any tests like this, boss.”

“Still—”

Just then Isabelle tugged at my shirt. “Daddy.” She held her arms outstretched.

I picked her up and cradled her close. “Where was this taken?”

“They says it was the City of the Dead.”

I thought I heard something, Marguerite talking to someone, probably a Verse call from one of her sous-terrain société. I shrugged it aside, tried to stay focused on the dog and the Newbie, tried to figure out what my next move should be on this complicated chessboard. But that was probably my biggest mistake. I had been focusing all of my attention on pawns and rooks.

In retrospect, I should have been guarding my queen.