Conjured Defense (Terra Chronicles Book 4)

by J. C. Jackson

  Silver sighed right before he took my head in his hands and leaned his forehead against mine. I pulled back, but his grip, while not painful, was firm and I was unable to move.

  It was a minute or so before he backed away. “The divine energy you absorbed is disappearing rapidly and if you had a concussion, it’s gone now.”

  What he said made no sense. I absorbed it before and it never acted this way. “Can we save this for another time? I’d really like to get what we need to done and get out of here before I find any more surprises.”

  “Yeah. I'm going to need to do some research anyway.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. “Never thought I'd hear you voluntarily doing research.”

  “I do it all the time in what interests me.”

  “Like?” Now he had my curiosity.

  “I’ll leave that for you to figure out.” The broad grin on his face told me he thought this was a game.

  Shaking my head, I made my way back down the hall to the office. Jonim sounded like he was in the front set of rooms.

  I put my bag down just inside the door and dropped the cold pack next to it. This room was less of a disaster, but still enough of a mess it could take a while.

  “Hey,” Silver said quietly. His tone got me to stop and look up at him. “Don’t overdo it, okay? If we need to, we'll come back another day.”

  “And find someone else hiding in his bathroom?”

  “The military is assigning a detail and I’ve requested the security footage. To get more than just this guy though, we’ll probably have to contact Lockonis to get the proper paperwork.”

  I sighed, my shoulder slumping. “Can we not tell her about this?”

  “She already knows. You missed most of the conversations.”

  This was not my week. I leaned over the short chair and powered up the computer. Getting what we needed and out of here was my top priority.

  Something cold rested against my head. “I don't need it,” I told Silver.

  “Humor me.”

  The computer immediately went to the main screen - I never saw a login request. Poor security?

  The background caught my attention. It was a propaganda piece from the Free Terra Foundation. While not personally familiar with the group, I got the idea from the image they wanted the Terran Council dissolved and for the territories to be free to govern themselves.

  Last I knew the territories were free to govern their own way for the most part, but the Terran Council handled issues on a global scale. The group was something I would need to research.

  “Ketayl,” Silver said softly, “We need to get this to the main office. This looks much larger than we can handle.”

  I clenched my jaw, knowing he was right, but wanting to do this myself. Sighing, I caved, hoping perhaps this would extend our duties further. “Yeah, I’ll shut it down and dismantle it. Let’s get this out right off. We can come back for the rest.”

  “You two are done.”

  I turned upon hearing Vince’s voice. Why was the director of the TIO here? Two others who I had not met before stood outside the door to the small office.

  “I’ve already gotten the reports you found the source. That was the extent of your duties. Pack up and get out of here - go finish updating the case file. Start your downtime tomorrow,” Vince ordered. He signaled the two men with him to enter.

  I looked nervously at the men who flanked us. “Sir, I think there’s more to this.”

  Vince eyed me for a moment. “There is, but it isn’t your job to continue the hunt.”

  “Why not?” I could not leave this partway done. We had come this far.

  I shifted back as Vince moved to stand over me. It was not often I could sense the power rolling off of him, and right now he made it hard to breathe. My own pushed back enough so I could continue to stand my ground.

  Vince stared me down. “You cannot take on a faceless organization such as the Free Terra Foundation. I’m not risking the two of you further. Get going.”

  Silver put his hand on my shoulder. “Come on. We have our orders.”

  I stood my ground. I came here for a job and I intended to complete it.

  “I’ll have you removed if I have to,” Vince said.

  I clenched my teeth, glaring up at the director. I finally looked away and stormed over to my bag, gathering my things. I told myself fighting over this was not worth potentially losing my job.

  It did not help. I bit the inside of my mouth, to quiet my agitated power. Rarely did it respond to my emotional state since I broke whatever spell had been put on my reserves a few months ago.

  Setting off at a quick pace from the apartment, I punched the elevator button and stalked back and forth, waiting. Silver remained silent all the way back to our vehicle.

  “Kela, what in the Hells has gotten into you?” Silver snapped at me once we were in our vehicle.

  I clenched my teeth at his continuing use of that name, but unless I could come up with a better reason than I disliked it, he was going to ignore me.

  “Me?” I snarled at him. “We had this. Why didn’t you back me up?!” I think that stung more than being pulled off of the case.

  “Because I’m tired of watching you get hurt!”

  I sat back, staring at Silver with wide-eyes. The previous thought of I did not know him returned.

  “I can’t protect you from an unknown enemy. This is one fight we need to walk away from.”

  “I don’t need you to protect me,” I grumbled at him.

  “Yeah, because I sure as Hells don’t know how to protect you from yourself.” Silver threw the vehicle into gear and we left. He was still mad, but his driving was at least controlled.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Silver merely growled at me and continued driving in silence. What was going on with him? I needed to focus. Get the remainder of the information filed and then I could take some time away from my partner.

  ~*~

  “Kela…” Silver said softly. He finished whatever he was working on a while ago and sat across the room watching me.

  I clenched my teeth at the name.

  “Ketayl, you need a break. We should talk.”

  “Not interested,” I snapped.

  Silver took a deep breath before continuing. “No, you need to understand why I chose the path I did.”

  I continued getting images uploaded and tagged.

  “I may not have backed you up with the Director, but we can’t take on an organization like that. There’s a pretty good chance they were or at least worked with the pirates. We can’t be a visible part of this case.”

  I stopped and tilted my head at him, dropping my tablet to my lap.

  “We’re already after one faceless organization, do you really want to take on another?”

  I shook my head and returned to my work. It was true we normally trailed one, but it felt wrong giving up this far in.

  “Talk to me?”

  I sighed, putting my tablet aside. “I don’t like leaving this unfinished.”

  “I never said I did, but this isn’t our fight. They know who we are - we have to leave and let someone else take over. They’ve come after us more than once already and I’m fairly certain they aren’t happy they were unable to acquire the ship. We should probably go to Watered Down tonight.”

  I raised an eyebrow at him. How did he go to reasoning why we needed to leave the case to food?

  “They deal in information, right? All we have to do is let it out that we’re off the case and hopefully we’ll be left alone the rest of the time we’re in Sandpoint.”

  I bit my lower lip considering his words. Vince must have foreseen the same thing. I had gotten too focused on the task at hand. “Fine.”

  Leaving work unfinished still did not sit well with me. Given that thought, I picked up my tablet again to continue working.

  “What do you want to do with our downtime?” Silver asked.

  “I haven’t
thought about it. I’d like to spend it alone.” I had a lot to think about and it would be better without Silver around.

  “That’s not a good idea.”

  “Silver, I…” I paused, trying to come up with a much more polite way to say what I wanted, but gave up. “I really need some time alone.”

  He came over and knelt down next to me, touching my cheek gently. “And you can have it when we get back. Right now it’ll be safer if we stick together.”

  I sighed and shifted away from him before rubbing the bridge of my nose. Was there any possible way to get out of this? I understood the dangers we currently faced, but I knew he would want to take the opportunity to talk. I needed to think through everything and come to my own conclusions first.

  “What're you thinking?” Silver asked softly. He reached for me again and I moved away.

  “I need time to think without any outside influences,” I said.

  “Then let's see if there's any information floating about someone wanting us before we decide on a course of action.” Silver stood, grabbing his wallet off of the nightstand. “Besides, it’s getting late and I'm hungry.”

  “You're starting to sound like Sparks,” I said, putting my tablet aside.

  “I’ve been keeping an eye on him because someone’s got to make sure he doesn’t fall into your habits.” Silver held a hand out to me.

  I rolled my eyes and took the offered hand. He stayed still after I was on my feet.

  Looking up, his attention was down at me. Was he lost in thought on something? “I thought you were hungry.”

  “Yeah. Yeah, I am.” Finally Silver backed away so I could have some room.

  “I’m not going to have to pay to get the information out, am I?”

  Silver smirked at me. “I’d love it if you did, but I think we’ve got enough credit there to cover.”

  Then I would refuse to get up on stage again.

  Chapter 18

  It was busy again at Watered Down. As we were led to our table, I stiffened up, feeling eyes on me, but could not tell if they were friend or foe. Thankfully we got a table where I felt a little less exposed.

  Silver leaned across the table, taking my hand in his. “What’s wrong?” he asked just loud enough to be heard over the noise.

  I bit my lower lip, debating if I should say anything, but the last time I had this sensation, he took me seriously. “Do you feel like you’re being watched?”

  He tilted his head, eying me carefully. “No, but I’m not as attuned to it as you are. Good or bad?”

  “I don’t know. Couldn’t tell when we were in Mystic Port either.”

  Silver let out a soft huff. “You had both trailing you then.”

  I caught sight of the owner making his way over to our table and pulled my hand back. “Ah, my favorite Elven couple. Bring me anythin’ else good?”

  “No,” Silver answered first. “We’ve been taken off of the assignment. I’m afraid we’ll be leaving soon. Just hoping to get a few quiet days.”

  “A shame. Lass, any chance I can convince you to take the mic one more time before you leave?”

  I shook my head. “Not tonight.”

  “Keep it in mind. Oh, I need to make that call for you. See if my friend has room for two more. I’ll make sure I get you an answer before you leave. I’m afraid I can’t settle my debt with you tonight, but…” The owner paused, stroking his beard. “I might be able to, but not in the traditional way. I’ll get back to you.” He waved and left.

  I tilted my head, confused about what just occurred. This might be more problematic than I wanted.

  “Have you figured out what you want to eat?” Silver asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  I picked up my menu to refocus, but my mind continued wandering back to the short conversation. I chose something I had ordered previously before returning to the puzzle at hand. It felt like I witnessed a secret coded conversation between Silver and the owner.

  “Talk to me?” Silver asked, rubbing the back of my hand with his thumb. When had he taken my hand again?

  This was more like the Silver I knew, but his actions during this assignment still bothered me. I pulled my hand away again. “I think I missed what actually went on during that conversation.”

  “I’m not entirely certain either, but we’ll have to wait and see what Caradoc says when he comes back.”

  Silence fell between us and was only temporarily broken when we placed our orders. A vaguely familiar face came up to the table. “Hey! Haven’t seen you two since you came in for those files.” I searched for a name in my memory. Was it Aris?

  “Sorry I haven’t had a chance to make good on getting drinks,” Silver said.

  Aris waved off the apology. “You two have been busy. Been the talk of the base.”

  I bit my lower lip and stared at my glass of water. With knowing there were people on base who should not have been, it was not good news to me.

  “We finished what we came here to do so we’ll be leaving soon,” Silver said.

  I looked up when I caught movement. Aris sat down next to Silver. “Too bad. You guys livened up the place. The only entertainment we got outside of the casters fighting was Mr. Martin losing his mind over something,” our Navy friend said.

  Perhaps there was more to us being removed than simply attempting to take our duties too far. If we caused as many problems on the base as Aris suggested, it was no wonder they wanted us gone. Had we really caused so many problems?

  “Ketayl?”

  I looked up at Silver. “Sorry, just thinking about how much trouble we caused for them.”

  “Nah, you guys gave us something to talk about. We don’t have much to do without any major projects going on and Spelltech didn’t actually want our help for anything.”

  “Really?” I asked. Aris had my attention.

  “Yeah, anyone who got assigned was either kicked out within a couple of weeks or ended up relegated to guarding empty rooms. Not many people got a chance to actually look at the projects Spelltech had going on. Didn’t sound like any of them were functioning though. Except for the ship system and we didn’t think it worked until the fireworks started.”

  Silver turned his attention to our friend. “It was never mentioned the system had been operational before that?”

  Aris downed the rest of his drink. “No. Well, there were rumors someone finally got it up and running, but without them taking the ship out for a full test, we assumed it was just Mr. Martin going off again.”

  I shook my head and took a sip of water. I hoped Silver dropped it there. If we were the talk of the base, adding information about me operating the system only made me a bigger target. I could not afford to have Silver getting caught up in the potential fallout.

  The appetizer Silver ordered showed up. He slid the basket of breaded cheese sticks over to me. He looked down at Aris. “Can I get you a refill?”

  He looked at my partner for a moment. “Yeah, I’d appreciate it.”

  They slid out of the booth and Silver patted my shoulder before he left. Wrinkling my nose at not understanding what was going on, I focused on the food in front of me. Why was Silver always wanting to feed me so much?

  And what was going on with him?

  The momentary feeling of loneliness was overridden by the sense of being watched. It disappeared temporarily when Aris came over. Or maybe I had been too distracted.

  I scanned the area to see where Silver had gone. He stood over Aris at the bar, leaning down to talk with him. After both of them received their drinks and my partner paid, Silver leaned down to speak directly to Aris’ ear.

  I turned away at the intimate display. I pushed the basket of food away and closed my eyes. I really did not know the man who I considered my closest friend.

  “Can’t say I saw that comin’,” Caradoc commented. “Guess I can’t figure them all out, though you Elves are always tough.”

  Glancing up at the owner, I picked up my glass of water
. “I apparently don’t know him either.”

  “Cheer up, lass. I brought you some good news.”

  I raised an eyebrow at the Dwarven man.

  He handed me a brochure. “Won’t be able to schedule any of their services since they’re overbooked, but my friend said you’re welcome to enjoy the private beach. They’re very discernin’ about their clients so you won’t have to worry about someone causin’ a ruckus.”

  I looked at the brochure. “Thank you. I’m not sure what we’re doing yet.”

  “I think you’ll enjoy the quiet. Read through it when you get a chance. There are also a number of museums and the such in the area if you’re into that sort of thing. Talk it over with your boy. I’m sure the two of you can make the most out of the time you have.” Caradoc patted my shoulder and left.

  I cringed at the sensation. I wished people would not touch me.

  The brochure in my hands felt a little stiff in the center. I opened it to find a business card. Flipping it over, it read: “Relax, you two are covered.”

  I raised an eyebrow at the message. I missed something. I tucked the card away in my pocket and looked through the brochure. The Sandrock Resort claimed to be the best Sandpoint had to offer. It continued on to the amenities and I mostly skimmed it, looking at the pictures provided. I guess I could pretend to be a tourist and the private beach looked like it would be quiet.

  Silver slid into the booth across from me. “You haven’t eaten.”

  “Not hungry.” I kept my eyes on the brochure. “Where’s your friend?”

  “He was waiting for his husband. They’re seated over closer to the stage. Nice people.”

  What I witnessed and what Silver said refused to add up in my head. I shoved it into the growing pile of not understanding Silver. A pile which bothered me more the larger it grew.

  The brochure disappeared from my hands and the basket reappeared. “I said I wasn’t hungry,” I shot at him.

  Silver sighed. “No, you’re being stubborn. You need to eat. Did Caradoc say anything?”

  I glared at my partner for a moment before relenting and picking up one of the breaded cheese sticks. “We’re welcome to use the private beach, but they’re overbooked for any services. Also suggested checking out some of the museums.”