Queen of Diamonds (Lilith's Shadow Book 4) Read online

  Queen of Diamonds

  Benjamin Medrano

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Epilogue

  Queen of Diamonds by Benjamin Medrano

  © 2020 Benjamin Medrano. All rights reserved.

  Contact the author at [email protected]

  Visit the author’s website at benjaminmedrano.com

  Sign up for the author’s mailing list at http://eepurl.com/cGPT-b

  Editing by Picky Cat Proofreading

  Cover Art by Mario Wibisono

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  The following characters are the property of Patrons from Patreon and are used under license. Clever Croc, Damper by Godeater, Ruby Cacophony by Jesse Cunningham, and Silent Note by S. Nutter.

  For my readers, who allow me to live my dream.

  Prologue

  Wednesday, May 21st, 2031

  Destruction Corps Headquarters, Unknown Location

  “What a mess,” General Mayhem said mildly, and Commodore Catastrophe suppressed a wince.

  The others around the table had varying reactions. Major Destruction just looked bored, while Corporal Punishment looked concerned, Ensign Exterminator shifted uneasily in his chair, and Admiral Apocalypse just looked attentive as she steepled her fingers in front of her. It was rare for this many of Destruction Corps’s commanders to gather in one place, and Commodore Catastrophe did not like being the one whose performance was in question.

  After a moment, General Mayhem looked up at Commodore Catastrophe, his brown eyes deceptively mild and his salt and pepper beard carefully trimmed. “Commodore, what do you have to say for yourself?”

  “I advised against the attack, as Hill is LANCE’s headquarters, and Archon is located too near the base. If you or the major were with us, I would have gone ahead with the assault, but under the circumstances it didn’t seem advisable. We might have been able to capture the alien, but it likely would have died, and based on what I’ve heard, most of its equipment was destroyed,” Commodore Catastrophe said, looking back at him fearlessly. “The tools might have been useful, but it wouldn’t have been worth the losses we’d have incurred if we’d succeeded. Besides, I doubt the military will be able to keep anything they discover to themselves for long, not with how many moles they have.”

  “Agreed,” Ensign Exterminator chimed in, his voice higher pitched than most of the other men around the table, though he didn’t look like he was concerned about that. The tall, thin man had overly prominent ears, the criticism of which was what had driven him into their arms, Commodore Catastrophe guessed. “I already have some preliminary information from my agents. Not enough to make use of yet, but the alien appeared to have turned the project it stole from Paragon State into some sort of faster-than-light drive system. Additionally, its tools were stored in a machine that compressed space, allowing it to carry far more than normal. I look forward to getting schematics into Da Vinci’s hands.”

  “He’d have made quicker work of it,” Major Destruction rumbled, sitting back in his chair with his arms crossed. Commodore Catastrophe opened her mouth, only to be interrupted.

  “That doesn’t matter. The problem is that this entire endeavor, as well as the events in California and Libya, have cost us resources. Worse, they’ve damaged our reputation,” General Mayhem cut in. “Some people are beginning to view us as laughingstocks. This is intolerable, and we need to send a message.”

  “I could bombard New York, and see how strong the shield they have is,” Admiral Apocalypse offered eagerly, the brunette sitting up straight.

  “No, your battleship is still hidden from the world governments. I’d rather make a decisive strike than a statement with it,” General Mayhem said, his gaze drifting around the table slowly as Admiral Apocalypse sat back in her chair, obviously disappointed.

  Commodore Catastrophe considered for several moments, then asked quietly, “What about the Vegas Hero Convention? We’ve been discussing striking there several times, and I could always try to draw in Lilith, Morgan, and Warden.”

  The others looked at her skeptically, with Major Destruction frowning heavily. He didn’t look happy, and after a few seconds he spoke. “You think that would work? They’re mages, the two dangerous ones, anyway, so couldn’t they just escape? Warden can teleport, thanks to that idiot Blue Impulse.”

  “Not according to Da Vinci’s tests,” General Mayhem interjected, his tone musing as he looked at Commodore Catastrophe thoughtfully. “We’ve trapped a member of the Atlantean Ascendancy in a similar situation, and despite being able to teleport, he’s been unable to free himself. That means that the plans should work. Of course, with heroes involved it’s entirely possible that they’d come up with some way of escaping either way.”

  That caused a wave of grimaces around the table, and Corporal Punishment spoke up. “If they do, wouldn’t that undermine the entire attempt? I mean, we’d have failed again.”

  “Not necessarily,” Ensign Exterminator said, his voice thoughtful as he tapped his chin slowly. “As long as we manage to trap the heroes, as long as we manage to injure or kill a few of them… I believe it would strike fear into the hearts of many of our foes.”

  “Indeed. And even if we can trap them for a short period, that may be long enough to strike elsewhere to good effect,” General Mayhem said, considering for several seconds, then nodded firmly. “I believe it’s a good plan. Any objections?”

  “If I can’t use my battleship… no, I suppose I don’t,” Admiral Apocalypse said, and a murmur of agreement ran through the room.

  General Mayhem nodded in satisfaction, focusing on Commodore Catastrophe again. “Then the decision is made. Commodore, you’re in charge of the project. If we can kill them, so much the better, but at the very least I want them trapped for as long as possible.”

  “Yes, sir,” Commodore Catastrophe replied, relief flooding her as she straightened a little. It was a chance to prove herself, and at least the task played to her strengths.

  “As for the rest of us, I want to figure out where to strike while they’re occupied,” General Mayhem said, his smile vanishing and turning almost hard. “While we could attempt to take down one of the class S heroes since none of them tend to go to the convention, I believe that may be biting off more than we can comfortably chew. Options?”

  For several seconds the room was quiet, then Major Destruction spo
ke up, grinning slightly. “Pearl Harbor?”

  General Mayhem sighed, looking at the rest of the room as he asked, “Any serious suggestions?”

  “Cape Canaveral?” Admiral Apocalypse suggested, tilting her head. “While they don’t usually have that much cutting-edge tech, I seem to remember they have a launch around that time. It might be valuable.”

  “Not a bad idea,” Ensign Exterminator said, smiling slightly as he continued. “Beyond that… let me see who’s confirmed they’re going to be there, first. I suspect several tech labs are going to be vulnerable…”

  As they spoke, Commodore Catastrophe sat back in her chair, considering her own task. Drawing in heroes wouldn’t be too hard, so the important thing would be timing her strike properly and drawing in Lilith and the others.

  At least Archon wasn’t likely to show up, as the heroine rarely left Paragon City.

  Chapter 1

  Tuesday, May 27th, 2031

  Eden Manor, Glendale

  “I think I hate dice,” Lilith said, glaring at the dice that had betrayed her again.

  “I don’t blame you. I mean… you outnumbered Gina’s army ten to one!” Rachel said, staring at the board, then at the dice. “Even if the defender has an advantage, this is ridiculous.”

  “Mm… true, though it is nice to win for a change,” Gina said, grinning wryly as she plucked two more of Lilith’s armies off the table, leaving only a single lone army in the Philippines. “I thought I was about to lose! You going to attack again?”

  “I can’t. I only have one army left, which means that I’m doomed,” Lilith said, sitting back in her chair, resigned to losing yet again. Rachel was about to take part of Africa, she suspected, which wouldn’t help at all. She pondered, then asked, “Circe, has my luck been any better in card games?”

  “No. According to my analysis, the only times you have successes with dice or cards is when it would put you into an even worse situation. It defies my understanding of statistics, and I find it truly fascinating,” Circe replied, prompting a giggle from Rachel, who then flushed.

  “Sorry, sorry… I shouldn’t laugh, but it’s… well, a little funny, considering everything else you can do,” Rachel said apologetically, shaking her head. “If we weren’t using the same dice, I’d wonder if they were weighted.”

  “Fair,” Lilith said, sighing heavily. “I suppose that’s it for my turn. I didn’t even take any territory, so no cards for me.”

  “True. Now, let’s see… Africa or Europe?” Rachel said, taking the dice and examining the board closely. She’d already taken both North America and South America, along with pieces of Asia and Europe, so Lilith suspected she knew who was going to win the game. It was just a matter of time. Rachel placed her new armies rapidly, obviously having planned out her offense while Lilith had been losing.

  “Mistress Lilith, you’ve received an email that you may be interested in. It’s from Director Esparza,” Circe said, a note of bemusement in the AI’s voice.

  “Oh? What does he have to say?” Lilith asked, raising an eyebrow. “Does he have the samples already?”

  “That isn’t addressed in the email. He says that he’s contacting us on behalf of Carolyn Ritter, current head of the Vegas Hero Convention committee. He stated that she considered contacting you via your contact form, but believed this would be more reliable and would ensure you knew the contact was legitimate,” Circe said, sounding ever so slightly miffed. “As if I would have mistaken it for anything but what it was.”

  “It isn’t like she’d know that. VHC, though? That sounds promising!” Gina said, looking at Lilith in interest. “Maybe your heroics at Hill got you an invitation! Maybe as a guest of honor?”

  “I’m afraid not. However, she is extending an invitation for the three of you to attend the convention as special guests, as well as offering to pay for plane tickets and lodging,” Circe said calmly. “She’d also like for each of you to be on a few panels.”

  Lilith’s eyebrows rose at that, then she grimaced as Rachel tapped the western territory of Africa, and she took the defensive dice from Gina. She only had five armies to defend herself from eight of Rachel’s, which should give her good odds, but she didn’t trust that. A distrust that turned out rather accurate, as she rolled a pair of ones and Rachel didn’t. As Lilith removed two of her armies, she asked, “What sort of panels does she want me on?”

  “The two that she’s suggested are ‘Potential and pitfalls of power armor’ and ‘Overcoming the shadow of villains’. Based on what little information is available on the latter, I believe that it’s a panel of former associates of villains, whether children or allies, or even of former villains themselves,” Circe replied, and paused before she added, obviously annoyed, “The convention’s security is annoyingly tight. I was hoping to get more information than this, but they appear to have expected someone to try cracking it. I cannot think of any other reason for the NSA to have helped them with security.”

  “Circe, you shouldn’t be trying to hack civilian networks,” Rachel said, letting out a soft sigh as she rattled and rolled her dice. “You could get Lilith in trouble by doing that.”

  “It could get her killed if I didn’t,” Circe retorted, while Lilith rolled and let out another sigh. While it wasn’t as bad as before, she still lost, which meant that she only got a single die the next time around. “Besides, most of the time I don’t hack. I stroll through gaping holes in the site’s security and look at the information that’s sitting in plain sight.”

  “Is it really that bad? Most security, I mean,” Lilith asked, going ahead and rolling a single die, and sighed as Rachel handily exceeded her four with a pair of fives, removing her last army. There went most of her reinforcements the next turn.

  “Yes. Far too many people, humans or AIs, take shortcuts when securing their websites. This leads to gaping holes in their defenses. I just examine the entire site, and usually can find a way in,” Circe explained.

  “Huh. Well, what do you think, Lil? About the convention?” Gina asked, watching as Rachel moved all of her armies across, then turned south.

  “The question is, is it worth it? The panels don’t sound too bad, but I don’t know. You two have more experience with this sort of thing,” Lilith said, and paused. “Actually, have you two been to this convention before? I know it’s huge.”

  Rachel nodded, smiling and glancing at Gina as she spoke up. “We have. Four times, I think? Once after we were with Ocean Shield, and the other times we were… undercover?”

  “I wouldn’t say undercover,” Gina disagreed. “We were still in college and trying to figure things out. Most of the reason we went the first time was to get advice on making suits that could defend ourselves. Somehow, fabric from the local department store just didn’t feel like it was good enough.”

  “Ah,” Lilith murmured, nodding appreciatively. “Then you have a better idea than I do about this.”

  “Well…” Rachel paused, rattling the dice in one hand thoughtfully, then shrugged. “Honestly? It’s great if you want to meet heroes, fans, and other contractors or suppliers. There are so many supers in the world that there are plenty of people who can help with anything from circuitry for a suit of power armor to specialized costume designers, or even makeup artists. Like Leisure, a heroine whose power is the ability to give the absolute best massages you can imagine.”

  “I think it’s more that she can help muscles relax with the slightest touch. She does have years of training, too,” Gina interrupted. “Which doesn’t really answer her question, does it?”

  “I don’t see you offering an opinion,” Rachel retorted, prompting Lilith to sigh. For a moment she thought Rachel might have forgotten about taking her territory, but her hopes were dashed as Rachel pointed at the next area, rolling her dice. Lilith lost, of course.

  “Fine. I think it is a good idea, simply because it gives a chance for both other heroes and civilians to meet you in a more relaxed setting, while sti
ll being formal enough that you aren’t going to have too many problems. They have security to help, and there are enough cameras around that no one is going to be able to attack you for no reason, not if they want to keep a decent reputation,” Gina said, sitting back with her hands behind her head. “I certainly don’t mind going, since I’ve always had fun at things like this, but I’m not going to pressure you, Lil. If you don’t want to, don’t.”

  “Mm…” Lilith mused, rolling her dice as needed, though it was mostly a formality at this point. She lost the entirety of Africa in short order, leaving her only a handful of territories in Europe and Asia, which she was fairly sure wasn’t going to last. It made her wonder why she played these games, sometimes. Finally, she came to a decision. “Well, I can’t say that the idea doesn’t make me a little nervous, but you have a point about the advantages it might give me. The one thing I’ll have to make sure of, is to stay as far away from gambling as I can get, given what my luck is like here.”

  “Yeah, we don’t want you to lose everything, Lil!” Rachel said, smiling warmly… and passed the dice to Gina, drawing her card in obvious satisfaction.

  Considering the grin on Gina’s face, Lilith sighed and asked, “Well, could you at least make this quick? Then I could read the email myself and work out a reply. You two are coming, then?”