by Amy Sumida
“Yes, Sir.”
“I'm glad you're all right.”
“Thank you, Mr. President.”
“And, Amara, we all have our roles to play; you're the hero, not me. I'm the man who talks others into being heroic.”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Landry parked his car in his garage—a converted alley beside the bar—and we headed toward the door.
“Amara,” a deep, male voice stopped us.
“Fuck,” Landry growled as he grabbed my hand and ran.
But Malik beat us to the door and blocked our way.
“Move aside, Bleiten,” Landry growled as he pushed me behind him.
“I'm not here to hurt anyone.” Malik held his hands up. “I only wanted to make sure that Amara was all right.”
“I'm fine now that I've escaped your lab, thank you,” I hissed.
“Lab?” Malik's eyes narrowed at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Are you seriously going to play the innocent now?” I asked in amazement. “I found the other women, Malik!”
“What other women?” His scowl deepened.
“The other women with purple eyes!” I waved a hand to my own eyes. “The ones your men thought were me and abducted.”
“Amara, we've always known who you are,” Malik said slowly and with a confused frown. “We never abducted any women.”
“Bullshit!” I hissed. “All of them said that it was a bleiten who kidnapped them, and I saw the equipment that you used to make the bioweapon.”
“What bioweapon?” Malik's voice was rising in what sounded like true confusion. He shook his head and held his hands out in frustration. “Look; there's no way that one of my soldiers abducted anyone without my knowledge—it just isn't possible. So, I don't know who took those women, but it wasn't a bleiten.”
“So, someone impersonated a bleiten?” I asked skeptically.
“Amara, I was tracking you in that cab, and then it turned into an alley and just disappeared,” Malik said patiently. “I've been searching for you ever since. I don't have any knowledge of abducted women, or a lab, or a bioweapon.”
“You're saying that you didn't kill the Triari?” I went still and narrowed my eyes at Malik. “I suppose you're also going to deny that your people are preparing to battle the Triari here on Earth.”
“Battle the Triari?” He gaped at me. “We aren't here for death, Amara; we're here for life.”
“Don't fucking listen to this bullshit, kid,” Landry huffed. “Just blast the motherfucker!”
“Blast me with what?” Malik lifted his brows. “What's he talking about?”
“Just answer the question,” I snapped. “Did you kill the Triari?”
“The ones at the hotel?” He countered.
“Of course, the ones at the hotel!”
“No!” Malik shouted back. “That ungaru trailed your blood to the hotel, but you were already gone, and the Triari were already dead. It's the reason I ended his contract; he failed. Honestly, Amara, I thought you had killed them. I was damn impressed.”
“Why would I kill them?” I nearly screeched.
“For trying to take—”
“Get away from her, you demon spawn!” Davorin shouted as his motorcycle screeched to a stop beside us.
Dav jumped off his bike—letting it crash to the pavement—and launched himself at Malik. Malik swung about and knocked Davorin aside with his forearm. But Dav was barely down a second before he was right back at Malik's throat.
“Don't make me hurt you, boy,” Malik growled in Davorin's face and then bared his teeth like a wolf.
“You can fucking try,” Davorin snapped back as he reached for Malik; the tips of his fingers turning ashy with his power.
“Hey, what's going on?” Bob—an evolved with bright orange skin—stuck his head out of Mama's Diner. “You need some help, Landry?”
People were lining the windows of Mama's; staring at us—several were on their cell phones. I had a feeling that the Market Police would be giving us another visit. Malik noticed it too. His eyes narrowed at our audience before flicking to the stone energy in Davorin's hand and then, finally, to me.
“We'll finish our conversation later, Amara,” Malik promised grimly as he punched Davorin in the face. “Just do me the courtesy of not convicting me before you allow me to defend myself.”
As Dav went sailing down the street, Malik disappeared into the alley beside Mama's Diner. Bob rushed out to shout after him but wisely didn't give chase. Davorin rolled as he hit the ground, jumped to his feet, and went running after Malik, but he returned just minutes later.
“He's gone. I don't know how he did it, but he disappeared without a trace,” Davorin reported. “Are you all right, Amara?”
“I'm fine,” I said. “Thank you, Dav.”
“Nice timing, kid,” Landry said to Davorin. Then he called over to Bob, “Don't be a hero, Bob; that was a fucking Bleiten! Get back inside the diner!”
“A Bleiten?” Bob squeaked and ran inside.
I lifted a brow at Landry. “Kid” was a term he reserved for people younger than himself who he liked. And Landry didn't like a lot of people. He shrugged at me and smiled. Yeah; Davorin grew on you... like the plague.
“I came as soon as she called,” Davorin said as he righted his bike.
“Did you damage your motorcycle?” I asked with a concerned glance at the chrome.
“I don't give a fuck about the motorcycle, Mara,” Davorin snapped as he propped it on its kickstand. “I'm just relieved that you're safe.”
“Thank you,” I whispered. “That's very chivalrous.”
Davorin blinked as a tremulous smile twitched over his lips; as if it wasn't sure it wanted to be there. “Chivalrous, huh? I'll take that.”
“Come inside, you two,” Landry said. “We don't want to be out here when the cops arrive. Or when that fucker brings his friends back with him.”
I shared a grimace with Davorin, and then we followed Landry into the packed bar. It was a good thing The Wilds didn't have any windows or there would have been a handful of drunk supes rushing outside to help us; alcohol making them braver than Bob.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“What if he was telling the truth?” I asked Davorin.
We were settled at a table near the back of The Wilds; waiting for the rest of his team to arrive. I'd already been up to the apartment to take a quick shower and change into a comfortable knit dress and some knee-high boots. Davorin had called in Lily, Jason, and Leo while I was upstairs.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Davorin gaped at me.
“His aura didn't have even a hint of deceit in it,” I mused.
“His aura?” Davorin huffed. “Oh, well, if his aura was clear, then we should absolutely trust him.”
“I trust colors,” I snapped at Davorin. “Colors never lie.”
Davorin's jaw clenched as he glared at me.
“For example; your aura tells me that you can't decide whether you want to throttle me or kiss me,” I said with a smirk.
Dav's eyes went wide, and he made a surprised bark of laughter. “Yeah; all right. I think I'd rather go with the latter, though.”
“Not until the third date,” I teased him.
“Does that mean you'll give me a first date?” He shot back.
“I might consider it,” I said. “If you insist on being so gallant.”
Davorin laughed more, but then he abruptly went serious. “Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the Bleiten is telling the truth. Then who killed the Triari? And why were those men talking about a Bleiten-Triari war?”
“I haven't a clue,” I murmured. “All I know for certain is that I didn't kill them.”
“It wasn't me either,” Davorin said. “But neither of us have a motive. In fact, no one has a motive to kill a bunch of Triari; except for your demon boyfriend.”
“He's neither a demon nor my boyfriend,” I said tiredly. “Are you going to be te
rribly boring and get jealous of a man whose people killed my parents?”
“No, of course not,” he said with instant regret. “I don't know why I... just forget I said that.”
“I found Devlin's notes on how to create a bioweapon to kill Bleiten,” I whispered.
“Where? In the lab?”
“Yes,” I said. “I offered them to the President, and he declined.”
“Why?” Davorin gaped at me.
“He believes that it's an evil way to fight,” I said with a smile. “He wants to save it for a last resort measure.”
“Damn; he really is that good a guy?” Davorin asked in shock. “I didn't think there was such a thing as a good man in office.”
“Me either.” I chuckled. “I like him. He's the first man who has made me question my own morality. I think I needed that. It's easy to get wrapped up in revenge and justify your own actions, no matter how terrible they might be. He stopped me from going there.”
“Oh?” Davorin asked softly.
“I don't like him like that.” I shook my head. “You are going to be boring, aren't you?”
“Mara, if there's one thing I'm not, it's boring,” Davorin said with a smirk. “I was just feeling out where my competition is.”
“Well, it's not the President of the United States or a Bleiten lord,” I said.
“Then who is it?” He lifted a challenging brow at me.
“For the moment, you're in the ring alone, champ,” I murmured. “But that doesn't mean you win by default.”
“Perish the thought,” he mimicked me.
“The purple-eyed ladies are all recovering nicely in Market General,” Jason reported as he took a seat at our table. Then he looked back and forth between Davorin and me warily. “Have I interrupted something?”
“No,” we said in unison.
“Why do people even try to lie to me?” Jason asked the ceiling.
“Whatever,” Davorin huffed. “Where are the others?”
“We're right here,” Leo said as he walked up with Lily. “We were grabbing some drinks.”
“Nothing for you?” I asked Jason.
“I want to stay sharp,” he said. “Tell us all about this lab, Amara.”
“I didn't see much of it before it turned into a fireball,” I lamented. “There was a central work area with computers and equipment that looked standard for such a thing; not that I'd know. Then there were cells around the space where the women were held; myself included. The explosion seemed to come from another part of the lab; behind a door that luckily held the fire back long enough for us to escape.”
“The Market Police are interviewing the women,” Lily said. “But they haven't released a statement to the public yet.”
“I spoke to the women,” I said. “They didn't have much information, except that they dealt mainly with scientists who may or may not have been Bleiten. They were all certain that a bleiten abducted them, though.”
Davorin made a face and looked away.
“What?” Leo asked.
“That Bleiten Lord who accosted Amara in Flamethrower's showed up here,” Davorin said. “He told Mara that he's innocent, and he doesn't know who kidnapped her or the others. Or who killed the Triari, for that matter.”
“Bullshit,” Jason said. “I don't need to touch the guy to know that.”
“I'm not so sure,” I said. “Something about this feels wrong. Like broken clock gears clicking together; it makes a lot of noise, but it never chimes.”
“The only thing wrong is you,” Lily said. “The Bleiten are behind this; it has to be them.”
“Look, if anyone has cause to hate the Bleiten, it's me,” I said. “But whoever is doing this has a motive, and I think it's about more than getting my blood.”
They all rolled their eyes at me.
“Malik has fangs,” I blurted.
They gave me blank looks.
“He could have bitten me in the club, sucked out a nice mouthful of blood, and been done with it,” I pointed out. “Why release me? Why go through all of this trouble to offer me money and a new life if he were just planning on grabbing me the next day? It doesn't make sense. None of this makes any sense. I feel as if I'm missing something.”
“I don't know about all that,” Jason said. “But if the Bleiten are planning on war, an immortality elixir would be a weapon in itself. It would make them unstoppable, and it would explain why they're offering you so much for it.”
“But wouldn't they be even more inclined to just take it from me, if that were the case?” I asked. “The possibility of war makes this even more senseless.”
“Maybe one of his underlings acted without telling him,” Lily suggested. “A guy like that would be pissed off to be disobeyed.”
“Angry enough to blow up an entire lab?” Leo asked.
“Maybe.” Davorin nodded. “He punched me twenty feet down the street, and that was when he was calm.”
“He sent you flying twenty feet?” Jason's eyes went wide. “You?”
“I wasn't stone at the time,” Davorin grumbled.
“I need to think about this,” I murmured.
“Sure; take all the time you want.” Lily grimaced. “We'll just be here watching your back.”
“Your cold is gone,” I noted with surprise.
Lily blinked. “Yeah; I got better.”
“I'm glad,” I said. “And thank you for watching over me. But, honestly, at the moment, I'm more concerned about the Triari than I am about the Bleiten.”
“Because you're a damn fool, Amara,” Kyrian declared as he strode up.
Chapter Thirty
“How did you find me?” I asked Kyrian immediately.
“This is your foster father's bar,” Kyrian huffed. “It didn't take a brilliant mind to work it out.”
“No.” I rolled my eyes. “I mean; how did the Triari find me here on Earth? Prince Atren said that the Triari discovered that I was alive and had been given the elixir. How did you discover that?”
“I tracked you from the site of your old home,” he said. “I told you that.”
“No; you told me that my scent was still there and you had been there,” I reminded him. “You never said that was how you knew who I was.”
“Well, it was.”
“You're being evasive, Kyrian,” I snapped.
Jason grabbed Kyrian's shoulder suddenly and then announced, “You're lying.”
I rounded my eyes at Kyrian as he shook Jason off.
“I can make you tell the truth,” Jason warned him.
“We received an anonymous message,” Kyrian admitted grudgingly.
“You were sent here to find me because of some random message?” I narrowed my eyes at him.
“That's weak,” Davorin said.
“It included a photograph of you and a mention of the Supermarket,” Kyrian added when Jason lifted his hand menacingly.
“What photograph?” I asked in a deadly calm tone.
“Just a photograph,” Kyrian said.
“Show it to me, Kyrian!” I snarled.
Kyrian sighed deeply and pulled out his little communication device. He spoke into it; asking it—in Triari—to bring up photo 226. An image appeared as a hologram above the device; it was of me standing next to a doorway that was bordered by pairs of half-circle side tables and sconces.
“Damn it all to hell!” I cursed as I pulled out my cell phone.
“What?” Davorin asked while I texted furiously.
Kyrian just frowned at me.
“That's the White House,” I said and hit Send. “That door leads to the Roosevelt Room.”
“So?” Lily asked.
“The Roosevelt Room is a meeting room directly across from the Oval Office,” I added with more meaning.
“Son of a fucking fishbitch!” Davorin cursed.
“Ironically, it's been called the fish room,” I muttered absently. “Because Franklin Roosevelt displayed an aquarium and his fishing mementos
in it.”
“Thanks for the history lesson.” Lilly rolled her eyes.
“There really is a spy,” Kyrian murmured thoughtfully. “I need to inform Prince Traegus.”
Kyrian pushed a few buttons on his device; the image of me disappeared, and then he held the device to his ear. Before anyone answered his call, the President answered my text. It was short and sweet; Stay hidden until I contact you. I will handle this. I angled the phone for Davorin to see.
“Good advice,” Dav said. “My place?”
“I don't think so,” I said. “I need someplace new.”
“I'm on it.” Davorin started texting too.
As I answered President Colton with a thumbs-up emoji, Kyrian ended his conversation and gave me a grim look.
“You can try to take me into custody, Kyrian,” I said. “But you're outnumbered. We may not be as strong a soldier as you individually, but our talents are significant, and when we use them together, we're stronger than any Triari arc.”
“And if they don't scare you, this should do the trick.” Landry lifted his Bleiten Blaster from behind the bar and leveled it at Kyrian. “No one makes my girl go anywhere she doesn't want to go.”
Kyrian's eyes went wide. “You're threatening me with a weapon made to kill Bleiten?”
“It should work just fine on you,” Landry pointed out calmly. “It took out an Ungaru with it recently.”
“An Ungaru?” Kyrian scowled at me.“Was it the tracker?”
“He won't be a problem anymore,” I said cryptically.
“You should have told me,” he said sternly.
I just made an annoyed face.
“I can't return without you, Amara. It was a direct order,” Kyrian said soberly.
“Then you won't be returning at all, Arc.” Landry cocked his gun.
“I'm on your side,” Kyrian ignored Landry. “We are your people; we're not going to hurt you.”
“No, darling. These are my people,” I waved my hands around me at everyone in the bar. Then I pointed at Landry. “And he is my family.” I stood up and glared at Kyrian. “But you? All you've done is cause trouble for me. You're not anything to me but a pain in my ass.”
