“Tell me.”
She rose with another one of those tired sighs. “I guess it’s a good thing you’re not working this for the Assembly, hmmm?”
* * * * *
She didn’t take me to her workroom.
I found myself inside the medical ward and she gave me a deprecating smile. “If I want the assurance this conversation will stay private, then we go to the most private room I have…which is here.” She brushed a hand down one of the walls. “This is one of my finest accomplishments, you know. I sank ten years worth of magic into these walls. Unwanted souls cannot come through. Even a witch stronger than I can’t break these magics without doing herself harm…fatal harm.”
She settled on one of the beds and smiled at me. “We can talk in peace here. Undisturbed. And undiscovered.”
The kindness in her eyes was almost my undoing. The understanding. And damn it, I could feel the words I wanted to say boiling up in my throat, but even that was enough to ratchet up the pain. As it tore at me, I forced the words out. “I can’t tell you anything—”
Her hand touched mine and her eyes, near colorless pools of gray, started to glow. “You needn’t say a word, Kit…oh. That’s displeasing,” she murmured, her voice echoing around me. Through me. “Who would lay an oath on you—Greaves. Why am I not surprised?”
I flinched as I felt something shift inside me. Magic working, shifting—
“I can break it, but it makes little sense,” she said. “You never planned to discuss this with anybody and if I break it, Greaves will know and he’ll feel bound to let his superiors know. It will compromise things.”
I opened mouth to answer, but she was already moving on to something else. “Yes, yes…I knew these people and Damon was right to suspect them…Marlowe is the last one, Kit. After him, it’s done.”
Then she let go of my hand and instead of moving away, she placed it on my side. I tried to recoil, but she was already acting, shoving her magic inside me, like she had a right to and I was caught, trapped in it and swearing at the heat of a healer’s magic went to work on the lingering damage inside me. Colleen was good. She was damned good, but she couldn’t undo what had been done to me with a few tonics.
Es, on the other hand…
As the supernova force of her magic hit me, it felt like I was dying inside. It burned through me and when it was done, I sagged to the floor and she went with me, never once breaking contact. Distantly, I heard her talking to me, but I couldn’t make out the words.
And then, for a few minutes, I was too weak to do any damn thing. Swearing, I slumped to my side and eventually rolled onto my back, staring up at the ceiling. “Damn it, Es, you aren’t supposed to pull that shit without my okay,” I grumbled
But as the rush of her magic faded away, I felt better. Stronger, clearer.
Not only physically, though. It was deeper.
“I made a few…adjustments,” Es said quietly. “He shouldn’t have placed the grip so tightly. Your thoughts should be your own.”
Bonds I hadn’t even been aware of loosened. Swiping the back of my hand over the back of my mouth, I finally found the strength to sit up and glare at her. “Damn it, Es, what the hell?”
“What? Would you prefer to have to censor your own thoughts?” she said.
“Not what I’m talking about,” I snapped. And immediately, I wanted to kick myself. “Ah…”
She arched a brow. “Go ahead. Try…think anything that would have caused you pain this morning.”
I pictured myself standing in front of Damon and telling him everything.
And there was…nothing.
“Oh…” I covered my face with my hands as relief slammed into me.
“This isn’t a complete fix, my dear.” She curled an arm over my shoulders. “You need to understand that.”
Not a complete fix. Got it. But still, for the first time, though, ever since this had started, I could actually think. I could think it all through.
And that meant…
Relief made my legs boneless. I sank back to the floor and drew my knees to my chest. Sitting there, I pressed to my face to my knees as all the implications sank in. I could think clearly, which meant I could plan. But I could think clearly…which meant I could easily picture myself failing.
* * * * *
It felt like hours passed. It was really only minutes. Not long enough, but yet each second was a precious waste. Finally, I shoved myself upright and faced her. She’d settled back on the bed, allowing me a modicum of privacy while I had my miniature collapse.
“Can you help me?” I asked softly, flexing my hand. The one thing that mattered here was taken care. Damon wasn’t coming after Es, so she was safe. Now I had to focus on making him safe.
“I can give you the answer.” A serene smile curved her lips. “It lies in the charter. Article 7A. Acting in defense of—”
“Family, spouse, clan, dependent, yadda yadda yadda,” I said, shaking my head. I knew the fucking charter, but that wasn’t giving me an answer, because I still didn’t know the damned question. “Why in the hell would a couple of witches and a vampire be a threat to his Clan? They are the largest faction of NHs in all of the eastern US.”
“His Clan isn’t at risk.” Her pale, nearly colorless eyes held me all but spellbound as she watched.
My heart slammed against my ribs and part of me wanted to leave. It was time. Time to run, I knew that now. My instincts had always whispered when it was time to move on and although I’d been in this area for a long, long time, that didn’t mean I had to stay.
I didn’t even know how I knew; I just knew it was time to get away.
I could get away before I made things worse—
Es leaned forward and caught my hand. “For Damon, this is more important than the Clan. It’s your safety he’s protecting, Kit. It’s you…it’s been you all along.”
“What?” Her answer bounced inside my head, not connecting. “That doesn’t make sense. I’d only briefly met a couple of them and it wasn’t like I was going after them.” Not that I knew of anyway.
“No, you weren’t. And none of them were that interested in you. But…” she rose from the bed and paced over to the window, staring outside. “I, like them, knew Fanis.”
The sound of her name on the lips of another struck me in the heart. The weight of my sword hit my hand and I looked down, a little dazed. I didn’t even remember calling her—
Go back, I whispered to her. Go back—
I didn’t need the blade just because somebody had said her name…
Fanis—
Useless waste. I’ll make a warrior out of you yet—
“You have to stop letting her inside your head,” Es said and her voice, for once, wasn’t serene, quiet or gentle.
It sounded through the room like the peal of thunder and struck me right in the heart, slashing the threads that were trying to jerk me back into the past.
Gasping for breath, I shoved the heels of my hands against my eye sockets, hoping it would block out the memory of her face. So similar to my own. Lovely. More elegant, though. Very refined. So very evil.
“What does she have to do with anything?” I demanded.
“It seems she’s only now realized that you’re still alive,” Es said softly. “And she’s been making…inquiries.”
“Inquiries.” I shook my head and lowered my hands, staring at Es. “Damon wouldn’t kill over inquiries.”
“A few people have made mention that she’s approached the World Council.” Es stared at me. “She claims you stole a blade and you’re to be returned for discipline.”
Stole it? And now, I didn’t even bother resisting her when she came back to me. She came to my hand, a brilliant gleam of enchanted silver, as much a part of me as the color of my hair, the color of my eyes. As much a part of me as me.
“The sword came to me.”
“Oh, I know this.” She smiled a little as her gaze dropped to the blade. “It’s a
blood bond in that blade and I’ve already written the World Council my thoughts on the matter. I did that at the very first whisper of her name, Kit. The blade was your mother’s, was it not? Bonds like that come down the line. They never go back. Nobody who understood that sort of magic would refute this. But she won’t let it go so easily if she’s determined. And it would seem she is. I heard that she’s made…overtures to some. Then she made one to me. Offered to send one of her healers to teach us some of the older ways if I would return the favor and offer anything that might be of help when it came time to handle her wayward granddaughter.”
My lungs burned. It hadn’t dawned on me that I needed to be breathing, not until that moment. Sucking in a desperate breath, I popped my wrist and stared at Es. The blade’s song was a gentle murmur in my mind, but not a scream. More of a reassuring stroke. I tightened my hand on her grip and then I slid her into the sheath I’d donned earlier. Right then, I felt better just having her with me. I had some serious issues.
“You talked to my grandmother.” I was able to force the words out without breaking down into hysterical screams. A good sign, right?
“Well, I wouldn’t call it a pleasant conversation, but yes. We had words. I told her she could get fucked,” Es said, smiling. “Then I reminded her that you were well over the age of being ‘handled’ and nobody in the Assembly would see it otherwise. She laughed and said, ‘we will see’. I informed her I spoke for the House of Witches and I’d make damn sure that line wasn’t crossed.” Es shrugged. “Our conversation didn’t end happily.”
Turning away, I stumbled over to a bed.
She knows…she knows where I am—
“She thinks she knows.”
I jerked my head and stared at Es as she sat beside me. “She doesn’t often come into this…bit of reality,” Es said.
This bit of reality—
I stared. “You know…”
“Yes.” She shrugged and said, “If she were to try and successfully locate you, she’d have a hard time of it. She knows vaguely where you are, but finding you easily…wouldn’t happen.” She caught my eyes and held them. “You consider it a weakness and I know it sometimes hampers you, but that human blood that you hate so much made it easier for you to adjust to…living here.”
“I don’t hate having human blood,” I whispered. “I just hate…”
“Hate being weak.” She sat on the bed across from me. “There are different kinds of strength. Different kinds of weakness. If you were truly weak, you would have broken under her care. Don’t forget that. And don’t forget—you have allies here now. You are not the broken, solitary child who fled from her. You made yourself stronger. You made yourself more. And you’re not alone.”
I gave a tight nod, even though it felt like I’d break if I moved.
The words might be a comfort later on. Right now, it was all I could do to keep myself together.
“The real danger to you came from the few who didn’t realize just what you were,” Es murmured. “Maxine, Silas and Cedric? They wanted you simply because they believe you can show them Aneris Hall.”
I closed my eyes. “None but our blood can find it. It’s like the fabled Fountain of Youth or Pandora’s Box.”
“Well, those aren’t quite so fabled,” she said, shrugging lazily. “But their powers are…well, we’ll say they’ve not been fairly labeled. And this is all irrelevant. They think you can show them a hall of warriors who might be able to overtake any enemy. Plenty have searched for warriors like the aneira. You’d think they would have learned after…”
She grimaced and rose. “Never mind. But they won’t listen when you tell them otherwise. So they gave lip-service to her while they gathered information. She knew it and she laughed.”
“Sounds like her,” I muttered. “If I’m dead, I’m not her problem.”
“Why aren’t you surprised?”
I blinked my burning eyes and stared at the floor. “Because part of me always feared she’d come for me.”
“I don’t understand why she would. Unless it’s sheer cruelty that drives her.”
“Well, sheer cruelty is reason enough, for her.”
“For some reason, that doesn’t shock me.” She pushed my hair back from my face. “In the end, it doesn’t matter. What matters is this…Damon heard. I don’t know how. He has ears in the Assembly and I think that sleek piece of work that he calls his Adviser is behind much of the information he ferrets out. But he has ears. And he heard. It was the single biggest mishap any of them could make. He’s down to one final name now.”
“Your name was on his list.”
She blinked. “He made a list?”
I swallowed and jerked my gaze away. “In his private chambers. Nobody but me is likely to ever see it, but…”
“And he isn’t likely to realize the impact of you seeing it,” she finished.
The stone in my chest weighed so much heavier. I think it used to be my heart but now… “This is all my fault.”
“No. He is doing the same thing you are, Kit. Protecting what is his. Just as you’re protecting what is yours. It’s a dangerous game on all sides.”
Coming off the bed, I started to pace. “The Banner squad has him down for execution if I don’t find justifiable cause for what he’s done.”
“And I’ve given you one.”
I snarled, stopping in my tracks as I turned to glare at her.
She was holding a letter.
I blinked as I stared at it. “What…what’s that?”
“Something I wrote the day after he left. There’s a notarized copy in my files at the Assembly House. This is your copy and I have another for my files here.” She inclined her head. “Once upon a time, I briefly worked with Banner. I was one of the witches they’d called to read a mark. They will not refute what I’ve given you.”
The knot in my chest tightened.
“He’s still going after one of the Assembly members.”
“Yes. Cedric.” She shook her head. “You won’t be able to stop him, Kit. Maybe you shouldn’t try.”
“I have to see this through,” I said quietly. “If he kills another one, they’ll move up the damned timetable. I’ll call Justin, let him know I have this…” I looked at the letter I held. “But I can’t just ignore it when I know he’s going after somebody else.”
Her eyes were terribly sad as I walked away.
But I couldn’t let it stop me.
Damon was risking his life to help me.
I was going to give everything I had to help him.
* * * * *
The aneira are the world’s greatest assassins for a reason. It’s the same reason we are good thieves, good treasure hunters, all that jazz. Give us a target and we find it.
I hadn’t lied when I said I’d never had a lucky shot in my life.
However, luck had guided me more than once in my life.
Maybe I was a watered-down offshoot and so far, I’d only done a handful of assassinations and I’d much prefer a different way of earning a living, but still…I am what I am. The descendent of Amazons, and something whispered to me, tugged at me.
Warned me.
Damon wasn’t going to wait long. Was maybe even on the move—?
Yes…yes...it was an odd little tug inside me. Drawing at me. I’d felt it before. Pulling me in and drawing me toward my target. We were the world’s greatest assassins because we always found our target and we never missed a mark.
This time, my target was my lover and my goal wasn’t to kill him.
Just stop him.
Halfway between East Orlando and Es’s, I had a call.
“I’ve got your proof,” I snapped into the phone. “But I’m on a—”
“He’s on the move,” Justin bit off. “And I can’t come to you. They’ve got me watching him.”
The pit of my stomach dropped out.
“Kit…if he kills another…”
My belly went cold. “He’s got a re
ason. It’s justified by the charter and I can give you proof. I’ll get it to you and if I don’t, tell your superiors they can’t do a damn thing without conferring with Delores Richards. She used to do work for Banner and they should listen to her.”
“What’s the reason, Kit? And I need more than a reason. I need proof of it.”
I stared at my reflection in the mirror. “I’m the fucking proof…he’s doing it for me.”
“You?”
“Yeah. You can thank my dearest grandmother for this mess. There’s no time to explain this right now, though. Where the hell is he?”
“Your grandmother?”
At any other time, I might have appreciated the pure, undiluted hatred in his voice. “Justin, tell me where he is, or I’ll kill not only your bike, I’ll break into your house and destroy every single thing in there. And you know I’ll do it. You know I can.”
“Kit, what the fuck is going on?”
“Tell me what I need to know,” I shouted.
“He’s heading south, that’s all I know. Now tell me about that evil bit—”
I hung up the phone. South. That told me everything I needed to know.
Justin couldn’t help me. I was hoping like hell somebody else could. As I dialed another number, I prayed.
Colleen came on the phone.
“I need a cloaker and I need it so bad, I’ll give you a kidney if you can make it happen.”
“Ah…that’s a bit extreme,” she said. “And gross.”
Chapter Twelve
My plan was simple.
I had to get to the Assemblyman’s house before Damon and head him off.
I had to do it without being seen or sensed or detected.
That required something my handy little knack wouldn’t cover. I could go invisible for short periods of time, but I could still be heard. I was quiet, but I couldn’t stop the beat of my heart or hold my breath. Nor could I eradicate my scent trail.
A cloaker could hide all of those things.
The ability wasn’t common among witches. Those born with it tended to be their warriors or have a lot of pent up aggression. I think that’s why they didn’t see the cloaking skill very often.
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