Rise of the Gryphon (Belador)

by Kenyon, Sherrilyn

  Grady was in danger. She should go back and check on him. She should . . . stop panicking. The bone. She had to keep a grip on the stupid bone. Forcing calm into her tone, she asked, “How many Beladors are infected?”

  “We have five here, and I’ve sent a team to hunt down a couple who’ve gone MIA who probably thought it was the flu, then lost consciousness, or might be walking around exposed to dangerous elements. That’s why I told everyone no telepathic contact until we can quarantine this infection.”

  Trey McCree walked up, his thick body stuffed in a gray T-shirt, brown corduroy jacket and jeans that might be his favorite pair, based on the worn knees and pockets. He said hello to Evalle, then started reporting on all his people. As Trey was one of the most powerful Belador telepaths, they couldn’t afford for him to get infected.

  Evalle hated to put one more thing on Tzader’s shoulders, but as soon as Trey finished, she had to tell Tzader what was going on. She’d kept her activities with Macha secret long enough, and Macha made it clear Evalle was flying solo now.

  Macha might be her goddess, but Tzader and Quinn were the closest Evalle had ever come to having family. If she didn’t make it out of the ABC, she wanted Tzader to know the truth behind why she’d entered. Because Sen would convince everyone she’d gone inside to gain immortality.

  When Trey finished his report and walked away, Tzader made a move to follow him.

  “You got a minute, Z?” Evalle asked.

  He stopped and looked over his shoulder. “Is it important? I need to get these agents back out on the street.”

  Would I ask if it wasn’t? Her temper jumped at his sharp tone and her skin started baking. She clamped her jaws to keep from saying something she’d regret. Tzader was doing his job. Breathing through her teeth, she waved a hand to move him on. “Yes, it’s important, but I can wait.”

  With a quick nod, he was off again.

  Pulling on the long sleeves of her vintage Army BDU—Battle Dress Uniform—shirt to keep the armband hidden, she followed Tzader.

  “Where’re you going, Z? The conference room’s in the other direction.”

  “The amphitheater.”

  “How many agents are in?”

  “Thirty-eight. We’ve alerted the other divisions electronically.”

  Did that mean there was more to this meeting than discussing an outbreak of infection? Inside the cavernous amphitheater lit by torches, Tzader took the steps down to the stage two at a time.

  Why the medieval look, when Sen could conjure up anything with a snap?

  Evalle scoped out the crowd, finally locating Trey and a few others she’d teamed up with in the past. The room was curved, with tiered seating of carved stone steps going down to a stage that glowed around the edges. Picking her way across legs that pulled aside for her, she plopped down next to Trey, who sat one row in front of Lucien, Casper and Adrianna.

  Evalle nodded at Reece “Casper” Jordan, who was every inch a Texas cowboy, except on rare occasions. He got the nickname “Casper” because he shared his body with a thirteenth-century ghost. Every now and then the ghost would show up for a battle.

  A grin lit up his rough and rugged face when he noticed her. “Things sure have been calm since you got over your EMS attack.”

  She would not rise to the bait. Another agent had accused her of suffering from EMS—Evalle Missing Storm—while Storm had been MIA for three weeks. She’d put a couple of vicious gang members in the hospital on her crankier days. They’d deserved it for raping and killing a young girl. “Surprised to see you here, Casper.”

  “Why?”

  “So many sheep, so little time.”

  He just grinned that much harder. “But I’ll always make time for the black sheep in your Belador tribe.”

  The hole’s deep enough. Stop shoveling now.

  Evalle ignored him and spoke to Lucien Solis, who dipped his chin to acknowledge her in his usual mysterious way. The dark Castilian seeped sex from his pores, but none of the women she knew of had made any headway with him. Evalle had heard rumors about Lucien and Trey’s sister-in-law, a witch.

  But not a dark witch like the one who sat next to Lucien.

  Adrianna LaFontaine. Rather than appear a jerk in front of the team, Evalle gave Adrianna a murmured hello. She embodied what Evalle would label “sex kitten,” with blond hair falling past her shoulders, full red lips, perfect skin and blue eyes that assessed everyone with cool reserve. Nice to see her in a cinnamon-red sweater and gray slacks instead of what she usually wore—something that showed off her legs.

  The Sterling witch cocked an eyebrow in answer.

  Worked for Evalle.

  She still hadn’t gotten over the fact that Adrianna had been the one to care for Storm during the three weeks he’d disappeared after Sen had crushed his jaguar body.

  Of course, she was thankful Adrianna had hidden Storm’s battered body when Evalle was in VIPER prison, but she still wanted to use her foot to wipe the smug expression off Adrianna’s face every time they met. Like now.

  No. Not now. Not here.

  Evalle tucked her fisted hands under her crossed arms, facing the stage and thinking calm thoughts. Storm had said there was nothing between him and the witch, and he would have been hit with pain if he’d lied.

  The new part for Evalle was that even without that consequence, she would believe Storm.

  He’d earned her trust.

  When Sen called the room to order, Evalle sat up straighter. Tzader stood a few feet away from Sen. The way this room was created, no one needed a microphone.

  Sen stood a head taller than Tzader, but she’d seen Sen even taller and broader. His body could change as easily as the length of his mahogany-brown hair. It was cut short today. Rarely did he appear in anything other than black jeans and a T-shirt. Today he wore a long-sleeved black tee. Many had speculated about his godlike powers, but no deity would be forced to act as liaison between VIPER agents and the Tribunal.

  His origins were anyone’s guess.

  Much like the unknown origins of Alterants, but many clearly saw Sen’s as a valuable pedigree, whereas she was considered mongrel.

  When Sen spoke, his voice rolled up the stair-step seating. “By now you know we have a contagious infection being transmitted by Nightstalkers. We have to find the origin of this infection, and we believe someone or something is passing this along when they shake hands with Nightstalkers. Healers are working on our agents to slow the infection, but without more information the diagnosis is grim, because the infected ghouls are deteriorating until their spirits are trapped inside half-visible bodies.”

  Evalle had to get back to Grady and make sure he stayed away from everyone. He wouldn’t like giving up his ten minutes of human form for a handshake with a powerful being, but he wouldn’t want to end up with his spirit trapped in a half-dead shell.

  VIPER would order those bodies destroyed, but what did that mean for their spirits?

  Continuing, Sen said, “We have incidents of the infection being passed through telepathy.” Murmuring broke out through the room until the torches on the stage flamed high and bright—Sen letting everyone know to shut up. When the room quieted, he said, “The agents affected are comatose, and it doesn’t look promising. We need to find out where this came from and if someone has unleashed this intentionally in the city. Our guess at this point is that someone might be trying to wipe out our intelligence network.”

  An agent halfway down stood up, taking the floor for a question. “Any suspects at all?”

  “No.” Sen crossed his arms and took everyone in with one sweep. “Unless you have a case that I’ve cleared as taking precedence, then every one of you is assigned to this problem until you hand me the person or group behind the infections. Tzader will hand out orders as soon as we finish here.”

  Another agent rose to his feet, asking about what to do if they found an infected agent, human or other.

  “We have a hotline monitored twen
ty-four-seven. Do not touch anyone or anything you suspect of infection.” When no one else posed a question, Sen looked over at Tzader before stepping a few feet away.

  Tzader moved to center stage. “We have another issue brought to my attention today. We want to make sure everyone is clear on VIPER laws. One of our Beladors learned of an Achilles Beast Championship event scheduled tomorrow night in the southeast corner of Georgia.”

  Warning crashed through Evalle’s chest. She clutched the edge of her seat.

  She should have talked to Tzader before this.

  Heat streaked up her arm.

  FOURTEEN

  This is not a VIPER issue as long as our laws are not broken,” Sen added from the side of the stage where he addressed agents filling the amphitheater, since Tzader technically still had the floor.

  Evalle was gripping the edge of her stone seat. It sucked as a stress reliever. Her heart rate had gone into Mach speed. Where was Storm when she needed a calm-me-down spell?

  Trey glanced over at her. “Problem?”

  Yes, I want to shout at Tzader that we need to talk now! Instead, she whispered back in a strained voice. “Indigestion.”

  He nodded and returned to listening.

  She just had to figure out how to spin this ABC event to be a VIPER issue.

  Casper stood behind her. “Whoa now. When I was in the Texas division, Beast Clubs were illegal. What’s changed?”

  Thank you, Casper.

  “Nothing.” Tzader’s gaze swept the crowd. “Beast Clubs are still illegal and within VIPER jurisdiction for sanctioning if the battles are held on any land that is not under diplomatic protection. In fact, one of our people spotted a Beast Club in progress in the area of Oakey Mountain last night. By the time agents arrived there was nothing left but torches staked around a circle.” He continued sharing the report, details Evalle knew firsthand.

  Cold raced along her skin at how close she and Storm had come to being caught. But they hadn’t. She focused on keeping calm. Don’t react here. She leaned toward Trey, hoping he knew more. “That was some get. Who called in the Beast Club alert?”

  “Horace Keefer,” Trey said softly. “He heard about it from a Nightstalker, but that must have been before the infection broke out. Old guy comes up with surprising intel sometimes.”

  “No kidding. Poor old guy needs a hobby.”

  “I think working with VIPER is the only thing keeping him going after losing his wife and son years ago.”

  She nodded, listening as Tzader moved on to VIPER’s response to the report.

  “We’ve sent out several trackers who are following scents, but no leads as yet. These illegal Beast Clubs have sprung up overnight, primarily here in the southeastern region, but we don’t expect them to continue once the Achilles Beast Championship is over.”

  Evalle made a mental note to tell Storm about Horace having reported the Beast Club to VIPER, but she wouldn’t reach him by cell phone until she got out of this mountain. If Horace had seen her or Storm, he’d have reported to Tzader, so she might be worrying for no reason.

  Down in front, Horace swung his head around, eyeing the crowd, then his gaze paused on her. He gave her his grandfatherly smile, and she returned one as warm to him.

  Trey shoved to his feet. “What about this beast championship? What makes that legal?”

  What about sitting down and shutting the f—

  Evalle sucked in a breath at even thinking a curse like that. Trey was only asking what she’d ask any other time when she didn’t have to talk to Tzader about the ABC first. Her emotions were erupting willy-nilly, landing on the closest target for no particular reason. Please get me out of here soon.

  Tzader turned to Sen, who stepped forward to answer. “I informed the Tribunal, who indicated they knew of the event and the host. According to them, the host is holding the games on his land, and he has diplomatic immunity as long as there’s no illegal activity.”

  How about telling us who the host is? Evalle couldn’t ask, because she didn’t need to show any interest in the championship, not in front of Sen. Engaging him directly while she was wearing the Volonte armband would be asking for trouble, but you’d think someone else would want to know.

  A female agent on the far left gained the floor. “You mean like tradin’ fairy dust?”

  “Exactly.”

  Evalle had to lock her knees around the edge of the bench to keep from jumping up and asking if Horace had found out that the buy-in was stolen Volonte bones, or that the Medb were offering Alterants immortality. She clutched the stone seating harder, feeling pieces crumble under her fingers.

  Saying a word about the ABC right now would burst a dam on questions that would drown her the minute she tried to explain.

  Trey sat back down, but his gaze traveled over to where she dug finger grooves into her seat. He leaned over. “I’ll explain to Tzader if you need to leave.”

  Relaxing her fingers, she shook her head and squeezed out, “No. I’m good.”

  Sen’s booming voice drew all attention back to the stage when he explained, “If anything illegal does occur during the event, we won’t find out until after it happens. By that time, the event will be over.”

  The female agent pressed, “Don’t you want to send in a couple of agents just to monitor the event?”

  Yes! Thank you, whoever you are.

  “No. The Tribunal indicated the buy-in is too high to send in a covert team.”

  Evalle’s head throbbed with the need to use telepathy and tell Tzader she had the buy-in.

  Tzader asked Sen, “What’s the buy-in for these ultimate games?”

  “Volonte bone.”

  “Thought those were stolen.”

  Evalle wanted to cheer Tzader, to tell him to keep going.

  Shaking his head, Sen said, “It’s rumored that the bones were stolen after the archaeological discovery, but the humans haven’t reported a theft, so we can’t charge anyone with theft.”

  That had to be good and bad news for Evalle, but she wouldn’t celebrate until this armband was off. Until then, she was channeling Storm’s soothing voice through her mind to hold on to her control.

  “And,” Sen continued, “those bones are so rare the event host will be lucky if they see two or three.” He paused, his tone heavy with warning. “There is another way for someone to get inside the games without a buy-in. An Alterant can enter for free.”

  Tzader’s eyes flicked at Evalle for only a second, but in that moment she could see that he understood the nature of what she’d wanted to discuss.

  Evalle pretended that every set of eyes in the room hadn’t just locked on her. Stay calm. Don’t smile. Don’t frown.

  Didn’t take long for someone to ask, “Why would they get in free?”

  Sen’s voice warmed to the subject. “They’re the main attraction in this freak show. The marquee battles are a non-Alterant against an Alterant. The last Elite matches are five beast-against-beast battles, with the winners offered immortality by the Medb.”

  Silence overpowered the room.

  Emotions burst forth and raked across Evalle’s senses so quickly that she clenched against the onslaught. She shut down her empathic side, but not before shock, fear and anger sang through the energy around her.

  She didn’t have to hear their thoughts to know many of them would be quick to believe that she’d enter the championship for a chance at immortality. Sen had to be loving this.

  I hate you, you miserable piece of . . . She’d lifted her hand to toss a kinetic blast, but she caught Trey’s hard stare. She forced a smile at him, hoping she didn’t look like a rabid dog baring its teeth. “Hand cramp.”

  Nodding, Trey turned back to face the stage.

  She was going to snap if this didn’t end soon.

  Sen had paused, anticipation building during the silence until his voice boomed through the room. “Make no mistake on this, people. No member of VIPER is allowed to enter these games as a fighter
or observer. The coalition bylaws are clear about any agent fighting for personal gain. It will not be tolerated. To do so is to bring down the full force of our laws on your head. The last time a VIPER agent was caught in a Beast Club, the agent was terminated and his direct supervisor sent out of this country.”

  Terminated, as in destroyed.

  Heavy thumps pounded in Evalle’s chest, each beat echoing through her with the finality of a death knell. She crossed her arms again to keep her hands out of trouble and to hide the rage trembling through her. Sen expected her to go rogue.

  Someone far down near the front asked, “What about Alterants? They don’t have a pantheon. What’s their status?”

  Another round of stares swept up at Evalle. She kept her gaze locked on the stage.

  Sen answered, “Any rogue Alterant found after this event will be considered dangerous and a threat due to the possibility of their becoming immortal.” Snickers of disbelief erupted. “Regardless,” Sen said, quieting the room. “Once the ABC is over, these beasts are to be apprehended or terminated. Agents have autonomy to make that call.”

  That bastard. No thought of trying to rescue any Alterants being forced to fight against their will, like poor Bernie.

  Sen’s motto ran along the lines of the only good Alterant is a disintegrated one.

  When rumbling percolated through the room, Tzader took a step forward on the stage, and every Belador in the audience snapped to attention. That quieted the rest. He said, “Finding whoever is behind this infection problem is our priority. I will contact you immediately by text if there is any breakthrough or change in this situation. Until then, telepathic communication risks a pandemic problem. Everyone is dismissed.”

  Evalle stood on wobbly legs, then made her way downstairs against the throng of agents heading upstairs to exit. She managed not to lash out at suspicious glances and whispers, pushing past the last group, when she came face-to-face with Sen.