by TR Cameron
Tanyith added, “Us,” and Zeb nodded in agreement.
“Okay, us.” She shook her head. “I wonder how that’ll play out. Maybe we should let the council take them on and deal with the fallout when it comes.”
“You know you can’t do that,” the dwarf replied.
“Yeah. I do. But for once, it would be nice to throw all the pieces in the air and let them fall where they may.” She took another sip of her drink and pushed it away. “Can you replace that with a soft cider?” He nodded and she swiveled to face Tanyith. “So, do you feel like going on a trip that will almost certainly result in danger and possibly death?”
He laughed. “Where do I sign up? You make it sound wonderful.”
Barton frowned, and Cali thought she saw a hint of possessiveness in it. Nah, I’m surely imagining that. Detective Kendra Barton has a heart? No chance. “Where are you going?”
“China.”
Tanyith coughed on his drink. “Come again?”
She nodded. “Yeah, that China. I started to tell you in New Atlantis but we were sidetracked. It turns out the scumbags who scattered the fragments of my parents’ sword sent my mother a message telling her where one was—in the hands of a really scary person who lives in Shenyang, a city in southeastern China. I have to go there to get it.”
“Is he likely to give it up easily?” Zeb asked. He set the glass in front of her and she took a deep drink.
“It doesn’t sound like it. But Diana has agreed to provide both transport and help so we have that going for us.”
“That’s a lot and not a lot at the same time,” Tanyith observed.
“It’s a big task. But who knows? Maybe he’ll simply decide to hand it over if we ask nicely.” Disbelieving looks appeared on the other faces, and she added quickly, “Hey, it could happen.”
Barton shook her head. “And when it doesn’t?”
Cali sighed. “I can’t save my brother without it. So, at that point, I’ll do whatever I have to do.”
The other woman faced her boyfriend. “And you’re enough of an idiot that you’ll do it with her, aren’t you?” It wasn’t a question.
“Guilty as charged,” he countered. “And what kind of person would I be if I didn’t?”
“A smarter one, that’s for sure,” she replied and swiveled to look at Cali again. “Try not to do anything overly stupid, would you, please?”
“When have you ever known me to be stupid?” They all tried to speak at once, including Fyre, and she raised a hand and yelled, “Shut it!” Everyone laughed, and she shook her head. “Honestly, aren’t you supposed to support your friends? What is wrong with you people?”
She hid her grin behind the act of taking a drink of cider and sent a silent thank you to the universe for having such an amazing group of companions in her life.
Chapter Nineteen
Cali and Tanyith had pulled together their battle gear and stored it in two large duffel bags, which they brought to the basement of the tavern to wait for Diana’s team to open a portal. When the rift appeared, she looked through it and saw a strange corridor, somehow ancient-looking, made of unfamiliar material. Cara, Diana’s second in command, smiled at them from the other side.
“Come on through,” she called. “It’s about time you saw our place.”
They dragged their bags through the opening, Fyre crossed immediately after, and it closed behind them. The hallway they were in ended in a heavy door, and their guide led them toward it. Beyond was a small room with a bed, a dresser, and little else. Cara said, “Cali, this is yours. Drop your stuff here and we’ll head to Tanyith’s.”
Impressed by their willingness to give her a space, however temporary, she obeyed. A right turn and a short walk took them to Tanyith’s room, and he left his bag there as well. Cara led them out of the area through a door that led to a larger hallway. She turned to face them, and Cali was once again momentarily jealous of her muscles, her long black hair that fell so perfectly, and her classically attractive features. “So, welcome to our Vimana.”
“The what now?” Tanyith asked.
Cara laughed as she began to walk down the corridor. “Vimana. It’s like a Kemana, only less geographically limited.”
Cali frowned. “So we should be worried about earthquakes?”
The agent smiled. “Not exactly. The Vimana can fly, apparently, but we don’t have the amount of magic it would take to make it happen. For us, it’s merely a base that’s well hidden.”
“Where are we?”
The woman grinned. “That would be telling.” They came to a large doorway and walked through it into a room that was clearly a technical area. A wide array of equipment stood on plain white tables around the chamber, most of it unrecognizable. The few items she could identify were both expensive and impressive. “This is Glam’s lab. She makes and breaks things of every kind here.” A blonde woman who every man in the universe would describe as “cute” rolled into sight on a wheeled desk chair and waved at them. “Hey. Welcome to my lab. Touch nothing.”
She laughed. “Ready Player One, right?”
Glam pointed at her. “You’ll get along with Rath really well.” She looked at Fyre and grinned. “Hey, I’ve heard about you. The troll thinks you’re awesome. His words.”
He smiled and nodded. Cara shook her head and moved to a different door. “And through here is Deacon’s workspace.” They entered a room with server racks covering one wall and displays filling the one opposite. In the middle was a desk with several keyboards, mice, and other computer equipment that she assumed was probably as impressive as the equipment in Glam’s lab had been. Behind them sat a frowning man with dark hair, and he paid them no notice as he pounded the keys on his keyboard and muttered curses.
“He’s playing Fortnite,” Cara whispered. “There’s a kid in Brazil who’s making his life miserable. Everyone else thinks it’s hilarious. When he’s not playing games, he’s a computer wizard. Literally, he uses magic and computers together.”
“I’ve heard of that,” Tanyith replied, “but could never quite understand how it worked.”
“We basically feel the same. All that matters is that it does.”
She led them into another hallway and Cali asked, “Who will come to China?”
“I will. Hercules will since he’s our pilot and we’ll have support from Glam and Deacon. But the others are all out working on a different issue, even Rath, so they can’t join us.” She grinned as they came to an otherwise undistinguished door. “But you have to meet the most important member of our team.” She opened it to reveal a long-legged off-white dog with a long nose, who leapt up from a sound sleep to bark and wag his tail furiously at them.
Cali cried, “Doggy,” and fell to her knees to pet him.
Cara laughed. “This is Max, Rath’s partner in crime. He’s a Borzoi.”
The dog licked her face and bit at her ears, and she collapsed to the floor to protect herself. He barked and danced around her, which made her laugh even harder. In her mind, Fyre observed, “Rather undignified.”
She replied in kind. “Shut up you, he’s adorable. Take notes.”
After a few minutes during which the others gave the dog some attention and the canine and Draksa exchanged suspicious sniffs, they extracted themselves from him and headed out the door. Cali shook her head. “You have quite a setup here. It feels like family.”
Their guide grinned. “It’s exactly that. We’ve been through so much together. Most of us are closer than siblings, at least.” She tapped a small earpiece and asked, “Hercules, are you about ready?” After a small pause, she nodded. “Okay, we’re mostly set. You’ll want to sleep on the flight and you’ll get some medication to help you with that. But first, let’s have something to eat.”
The meal had been good—including several fish dishes for Fyre—and Cara had shown them the rest of the facility after. The agents had exercise rooms, a training room with customizable obstacle blocks of some kind, innu
merable weights to lift, and all kinds of other resources scattered around the place. Still, it seemed like they used a very small section of a very large…well, whatever the Vimana was. Their tour guide hadn’t offered much more information than that.
They retrieved their gear and hurried to the plane. It was unexpectedly huge, and the cargo area held vehicles and even more equipment. She guided them into the fuselage and pointed them toward cabins after she handed each of them a pill. “If you have any problems, move forward. That’s the direction of the green lights.” She gestured toward a tiny LED that protruded from the wall. “Otherwise, I’ll wake you when we’re about sixty minutes out so you can get ready.”
Tanyith looked a little bewildered at the suddenness of it all as he asked, “How close is the landing area to our destination?”
“About an hour’s drive. The plane is our home base while we’re there. Hercules will stay with it in case we discover the need for a fast exit.”
“Thanks again for all this, Cara,” Cali said.
The woman grinned. “We consider it an investment. We’ll be sure to use you mercilessly any time something is going on in New Atlantis or New Orleans, count on it.” The agent made a shooing motion at them and moved toward the front of the plane.
Cali turned to Tanyith. “Sleep well, I guess.”
He chuckled. “Yeah. I have to say, this outdoes all the other crazy stuff you’ve dragged me into.”
“Somehow, I think it’ll only get weirder.”
Fyre snorted. “Epic levels of weirdness.”
“Look who’s talking,” she countered,
“Yeah, the smart one.”
She sighed and stepped into her cabin. “Get in here or be shut out.” He complied and she took her pill and stretched on the bed like a good non-agent before she buckled the straps across her chest and waist to keep her from becoming airborne if something unexpected happened. Inwardly, she laughed.
Oh, I think it’s a guarantee that something unexpected will happen. Probably any number of somethings.
As promised, Cara woke them before they landed. Cali dressed in one of her mother’s outfits, a black suit with a matching blouse. She put on the fashionable boots her mother had left too and pinned the compass symbol to her lapel. It took far too long to get her hair untangled, but she managed it and pulled it into a bun. She checked the look in the mirror and thought she carried off “professional business type” fairly well.
From his position on the bed, where he was stretched with all four paws in the air, Fyre disagreed. “No, you don’t.”
She turned and ordered reflexively, “Shut it, you.” When she realized what had happened, she asked, “Wait, you read my mind?”
“Yes, I guess.” He flopped onto his side and looked at her. “You were thinking loudly.”
“What does that even mean?” She frowned.
“I don’t know.” Fyre gave her his Draksa shrug. “All I can say is that I could hear you—like you’d whispered it.”
“Awesome.” She rolled her eyes. “Less privacy is exactly what I need in my life.”
He snorted frosty mist into the air. “I bet Nylotte will teach you how to better guard your mind. Of course, that might require a higher level of intelligence than you possess.”
“Just for that, I’m glad you have to stay in the car.” She stuck her tongue out and headed into the corridor. Tanyith was waiting, dressed in his own surprisingly fashionable suit. She frowned. “Did the little woman choose that for you?”
His expression scornful, he closed his eyes and shook his head. “First, I have very good taste in clothes. Second, if Kendra hears you call her that, she’ll shoot you—or at least use a taser on you.”
“She’s welcome to try. Heck, when all this ritual combat nonsense is over, let’s set up a cage match. No weapons, no magic, and only talent and strength.”
“Yeah, I’ll get right on that.”
She laughed. “Your sincerity is overpowering. Dial it back, man.” Cara appeared from behind him and waved for them to follow her. The agent was dressed almost identically to her, except that in place of boots, she wore low heels and completed the outfit with a dark-scarlet blouse instead of a black one.
With a wink, Cali strode forward and Tanyith followed, and Fyre padded out of the room to join them. The agent led them to a large SUV, black with tinted windows, and climbed into the driver’s seat. Cali and Fyre chose the back, which left Tanyith to ride shotgun. The broad ramp that comprised the rear of the plane’s lower level descended to reveal a grassy patch with a dirt track ahead.
The agent gunned the engine and the car rocketed forward, and Cali twisted to look at the plane. It was in the middle of a wide field, barely visible except for the open ramp. She remarked on it, and the other woman nodded. “It has a sophisticated camouflage system, mainly cameras and displays. When it works, it’s great, but if one panel is damaged, you’re suddenly not nearly as hidden.”
“Do panels get damaged often?” Tanyith asked.
She laughed. “Our work isn’t exactly boring, so yeah, it’s fairly frequent.” As they drove, they talked about random things, none of them important. When they reached the ten-minute mark according to the navigation system, Cara turned far more businesslike. She pointed at the glove compartment and said, “The comms are in there. Find the one that best matches your skin tone and ear size and put it in.”
He complied and handed the box to Cali. She selected an earbud and slipped it in. Chatter was already active and after a few moments, she realized it was the pilot Hercules and Glam. She repeated what she heard in her mind, and Fyre gave her a couple of slow blinks to acknowledge that he received what she had sent.
Hercules’ deep voice reported, “The drone is overhead and I don’t see anything of concern. How about on your end?”
“Deacon is tapped into local systems,” Glam replied, “but he doesn’t have any blips either. I have satellite, but it’s less useful than your drone so that’s boring. I think everything’s on the up and up.”
Cara explained quickly. “We made an official request for this meeting through channels that Peng would respect—the head of a criminal organization in San Francisco who owed us a favor. The rules are simple. If anyone draws a weapon, everyone dies. Anyone who survives on either side is taken out by the gang for breaking his promise for peaceful negotiation. Otherwise, we’re good to have a conversation.”
Tanyith looked half-shocked and half-horrified. “You people don’t play around at all, do you?”
The woman chuckled. “Well, this arrangement is kind of weird even for us but yeah, our games are generally at the high-stakes tables.”
The resort that had been chosen for the meeting appeared in the distance, a venue mainly for wealthy tourists in the style of Taoist architecture with a multi-layered roof that jutted upward at the corners. Fyre clambered into the back at the sight of a checkpoint, and she felt the tingle of magic as he veiled himself. Their car was stopped about a half-mile from the building, and when Cara rolled the window down, they were informed that they’d have to walk the rest of the way.
In her ear, Glam quipped, “It’s a good thing you all dressed up. There’s nothing like a long walk in high heels, right, Croft?”
Chapter Twenty
Cali was impressed by Cara’s lack of complaint as they crossed the distance to the resort. The grounds were immaculate and she could almost picture the clientele in vacation wear—which for some reason, in her mind, always included the slouchy boating hats rich people sometimes wore on television. She maintained a running mental commentary for Fyre about what she saw. Tanyith chatted to the agent during their walk and occasionally, their earpieces would carry a snarky comment to them from Glam. No one else seemed worried.
She, on the other hand, was full of concern. The Draksa’s calm, sarcastic presence in her mind was all that kept her from displaying it. The main building grew larger as they approached, and she questioned whether she should h
ave involved the others at all.
I’m sure I could have found someone to portal me to somewhere nearby rather than risking their lives for my brother’s.
“You’re thinking loudly again,” Frye replied. “And we chose to be here. Stop being a drama queen.”
“You’re a drama queen.”
He gave a mental snort. “Mature. Real mature.”
The walk ended at a dark wood bridge that stretched over a man-made waterway. It was blocked by two men in black suits and sunglasses, who greeted them with aggressive expressions. In a heavy accent, the one on the left demanded, “Weapons.”
She opened her coat to show she wasn’t carrying anything and endured an overly friendly pat-down from the second guard. The process was repeated on Tanyith and Cara before they were permitted to advance. On the opposite side of the short bridge, two almost identical guards awaited them and a Chinese woman in a beautiful red dress stood in front of them. She had dark hair that flowed in waves to her chest and a smile on her perfectly made-up face.
With a slight bow, she said, “Your bracelets, please.” One of the men stepped forward holding a lacquered black box, which he opened to reveal an ivory inner layer of sumptuous fabric. Cali slid the items off her wrists and set them inside it gently. The fact that it felt so weird sparked the realization that she hadn’t been without them since the moment Zeb had gifted them to her. The man stepped away with the box, and the woman bowed again. “We shall take very good care of them and they will be returned when you depart. Please, follow me.”
She turned and led them through the automatic doors, which swished aside to permit access to the cool interior of the lobby. Sunlight poured in through the peaked glass roof and its tinted windows reduced the potential glare to comfortable levels. The large area was notably empty, save for a ring of chairs and low tables set in a horseshoe shape at the far end.
