“Drew, why did those monoliths make you so nervous? What has changed that makes you so determined to leave now?”
“The runes were from ancient Earth. I think I know who created them. If it’s her, we’re in trouble. But, let's wait until the food comes and then we'll talk. I have a device that will prevent them from eavesdropping."
As if on cue, the door to the room was opened, and a servant bearing a cumbersome tray entered. Drew hurried back in from the balcony to help.
"I've got it," the servant gritted. Behind her, the door to the hallway shut and we were alone. The woman staggered under the weight but somehow managed to open the door to the sitting room and fit the tray through without dropping it. I was impressed. She set the tray down and then beckoned for us to follow. Like fools, we did.
"Shut the door," she commanded quietly and looked up.
A startled gasp escaped my throat the moment her face was revealed. I knew her! She was the woman who'd appeared in my dreams when I was trapped by Hypnos. I squelched a sudden and implacable urge to call in my kukri because removing her head from her neck felt like an excellent idea
"I know you're hungry darling, but you must wait until the table is set."
I gave him a strained smile and relaxed a bit. The servant cocked her head and gave me an inscrutable look. "Interesting," she murmured.
"I'm sorry?" My tone was bordering hostile and Drew tightened his grip.
She pulled a button from her cloak and snapped it in half. A high-pitched whine overtook the buzzing already in my ear, and I opened and closed my jaw, trying to regain equilibrium.
"All right, now it's safe to talk. I hadn't heard that you two were a couple again. My intelligence is off. I'll have to speak to Maeve about that."
"You have us at a disadvantage," Drew said, putting himself between the woman and myself.
I peered over his shoulder and saw her give a small smile and an apologetic shrug. "I'm sorry. I haven't done this right. I'm Nemah. I'm part of a small resistance faction here in Sol, and I've been waiting for an Off-world faction of the Atlanceans to appear since Aliana went missing."
I stiffened against Drew's back. My reaction to her wasn't surprising all things considered, and I couldn't stop myself from bristling. Even the sound of her voice was setting off alarm bells in my head. "Clang. Clang. Clang! Get the fuck out of here!" they screamed.
"Who are you really? Don't think I don't remember." My voice was cold, and I was shaking from both fear and anger.
"Hmm. I have no idea what you’re talking about.” She looked away before I could see the lie. “You're both in danger, and we need to get you out of the palace."
"Why have you approached us now and not when we first came in?" I asked warily.
"They've been watching you since you Rifted in. There wasn't an opportunity to meet with you before now." She gave me a sympathetic smile that suggested she thought I was simple.
"We hadn't gotten reports of any Resistance - or for that matter - the need for one here on Sol," Drew interjected while grasping my arm to hold me back. I hadn’t realized that I’d tensed to spring.
"We'd asked Aliana to refrain from reporting our activities. We were afraid that her communications were being monitored. It seems our fears were not unfounded, as now she's missing." She swept the long black hair back over her shoulder and pierced Drew with an impatience glare. "Do you disagree?"
"And why should we trust and/ or help you?" I stepped out from behind Drew and crossed my arms over my chest. Two could play at the impatient game. It may have been quiet over the last year, but I wasn't born yesterday, and this felt disgustingly like a setup.
She narrowed her eyes briefly before she gave me a small smile and nodded her head. "Fair point, Grace Murphy. You don't know if you can trust me. But let me ask you a question. Have you been able to use any of your magics while you've been here?"
"And if I say no?" I wasn't letting her know that some of them still worked. What would be the fun in that?
"I can tell you why. A powerful witch has set a plan into motion, and with it, she'll destroy the people of this world. You need to do everything in your power to escape this palace, or you will both die. If you're interested in learning more, summon me this evening after you dine. I will explain further."
"Click bait," I muttered. She'd thrown me nothing more than click bait. 'You won't believe what this powerful witch has done! Click here to read more!' I snorted in disgust. "Why won’t you just tell us now? Saves me fifteen minutes of clicking through ads."
Nemah gave me a look filled with confusion. "I can't. The tech only lasts for a few minutes. But I'll come back later and not only explain but also have a way for you to escape."
"I think we'll be okay on our own." She wasn't on our side, and I couldn't come out and say it without looking like a hostile idiot. I'd explain it all to Drew when she left. "You can go now."
The high-pitched noise faded and she shot me a frustrated look before shaking her head. "As my lady wishes." She bowed, bumped into Drew, apologized, and then swept out of the room.
"I don't like her," I murmured.
"She seemed okay." Drew shrugged and lifted the domes off the dishes. "What are the chances any of these are poisoned?"
I sighed. "Likely pretty high. However, I don't care because I'm hungry enough to eat a poisoned hippo right now. If I die, I go willingly."
"I'm going to make sure your headstone says Didn't Die Hungry. It will be fitting."
"Heh." I pulled a chair out and sat before the veritable feast. "I've been poisoned before. Which is why we've been drinking the water Diana sent for such cases. She told me that we'd be immune to most poisons and potions if we drank it." I shrugged and lifted a piece of flat bread and sniffed at it. It smelled edible, so I shoved it into my mouth and chewed.
"Your mother is a canny woman. I should have known better. Is that why you’ve been forcing that water on me?" He sat beside me and lifted the dome off a dish of steamed seafood. It didn't exactly look like the clams, mussels, and fish from Earth but it smelled good.
"Yes. More importantly, tell me how that tastes." I garbled around a mouth full of food.
He held up a shellfish and gestured for me to open my mouth.
"Uh uh. I'm not putting that in my mouth until you give it the go ahead first."
"C'mon. What's the worst that could happen?"
"I could go into anaphylactic shock? Writhing around on the floor, and foaming at the mouth doesn't sound like a good time to me." I edged back into my chair away from the food. That phrase was starting to become a mantra.
"I thought your mother’s water prevented that. Where's your sense of adventure?" he teased.
"Somewhere back on Earth. So, the plan's been diverted-"
Drew's hand covered my mouth, and he shook his head. He pulled the flashlight out of his pocket and twisted the bottom. The whine was back. "Okay, now it's safe. Go on."
I growled, "As I was saying - We're not where we were supposed to be staying, and I still don't have a communication device which leaves us at a disadvantage if we become separated."
"I can help with that. Nemah slipped this into my pocket as she was leaving." He held up a tiny device that would fit into my ear. "Put this in your ear and cover it with some hair. Nobody will know you can understand them. It will give us a bit of an advantage."
I held out my hand. "Okay."
It was barely larger than my pinkie nail, and I was afraid that it would fall out, but I shoved it into my left ear anyway. I didn't expect the pain, so I'm embarrassed to say that I shrieked when needle-like prongs pierced my ear canal. "What the fuck, Drew!"
"Shhh!" He took me in his arms and swept my hair back from my face. "The pain will lessen in a minute. Just try to relax."
It felt like a thousand tiny daggers were stabbing my eardrum. I let it happen. I mean, was it worse than childbirth? No. Was it worse than torture? Maybe, but not by much. Besides, he was right. This would
give us an upper hand that we so desperately needed right now.
"Tell me when it's over." He was stroking my back now, and I just accepted the comfort. Jesus that hurt.
It was a few more minutes before I could breathe easy again. "I'm okay now. How will I know that it's working?"
"Well, can you understand what I'm saying?"
"Of course I can, you're speaking English."
He grinned. "No, I'm not."
"Ooh fancy. How many languages does this translate?"
"All of them."
"What? Why don't we have this on Earth?"
"We use something similar that Georgie rigged up through our phones. She loaded everyone up that goes out on regular missions early last year."
That explained it; I hadn't been on an Earth mission in some time. "Ahh. Okay, so now onto important matters. How is that food?"
He shook his head and popped something that looked like a shrimp into his mouth. "Delicious."
CHAPTER SIX
Drew took another tentative taste of the dish in front of him and then groaned with pleasure. "Gods this is good."
I nodded and then scooped some onto a plate before me. "Okay tell me about Serena. Apollo's reaction to her was strange. And then fill me in on those pillars. Because your response to them was absolutely bizarre."
"Right, pillars later. But first, in regard to Serena, it was the only ordinary thing about that entire encounter," he replied.
"He didn't seem odd to me, I mean, other than the blatant misogyny. Ugh. I couldn't decide who I wanted to hit more — him or you. "
"That's because you didn't know him before. He was too…" he paused, looking for a word. "Magnanimous. The Apollo that I knew was a jealous, petty man who spent more time worrying about who was in his bed and who'd be a rival for his attentions. This generosity is making me wary. And the obvious choice is always hit the other guy instead of me."
I looked heavenward and tried not to smile. Of course, he'd opt out of me giving him a black eye. "Well, we didn't spend much time with him. He could have mellowed out, or you could be remembering him wrong."
"You remember the scar over my left kidney?"
I had to pause to think. I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen Drew shirtless, and that was a pity. "Not that I can recall. What of it?"
"Apollo gave that to me in a fit of jealousy when he suspected his lover thought I was more handsome. The man loathes me. For him to welcome us with open arms isn't like him. Not like him at all. For him to offer us sanctuary in his home, well that is even more suspicious. I do believe that a man can change, but from the reports of him, he's not quite a tyrant, but he's not a loving, generous man either. Something is wrong."
"Okay, let's assume that he's not himself. Why wouldn't you have talked about Aliana with him? And why is he surprised that we sent another woman in Serena's place?"
Drew grimaced. "Because of the condition of Serena's body when we found her."
I swear to the gods that getting straight information from any of my contemporaries was like pulling molars. Nobody seemed to be capable of just answering a damn question without me leading them through the story. "Drew," I said resignedly. "I'm tired. I'm nervous about not being able to Rift out of here. Just tell me the damned story so we can figure out what to do from here."
He swallowed hard and shook his head. "I'm not trying to be evasive. I just don't like remembering. It was one of the most horrific things I'd ever seen done to a woman."
I suppressed a shudder. If Drew said that it was the most horrible thing, he meant it. "Maybe I don't need the description of her body. Maybe just the Cliff Notes."
"She and Apollo became lovers shortly after she arrived here for duty. Serena was a new conquest, and Apollo can be extraordinarily charming when he chooses. She'd messaged us that he was going to take her as his wife, making her the reigning Goddess of this World and that she'd be resigning from her position with us. Two days later, they found her washed ashore below the palace. Her face had been sliced in a cross hatch pattern from her forehead to her chin. Her breasts were cut off and what they did to her…" He trailed off and gagged. I could only imagine and didn't want the details.
I handed Drew a cup of water. "It's okay. I don't need to know. Did Serena have a jealous lover here? Perhaps someone from Earth followed her? Was there a rebel faction that wanted to punish Apollo?"
Drew gulped down the water and scrubbed his hand over his face. "He's always had, enemies. Apollo is nothing, if not a sanctimonious prick. We sent a team to investigate, and nothing turned up. It was several years before we sent another Hunter. Aliana was Serena's cousin and specifically requested the duty. However, we didn't send a message to Apollo this time letting him know a new emissary was arriving. The only person who knew was Dmitri. He understood the discretion because we didn't need a repeat of Serena's fate. Aliana looks much too like her cousin."
"Had Aliana sent anything back with clues as to what she'd discovered if anything?"
"No. I'd hoped that we'd be able to search her lodgings. But," he waved toward the room. "Here we are."
"Wanna blow this joint?" I sat back from the table. I'd stuffed myself silly while we were talking and felt like a new woman. Well, one that had eaten at least.
"I don't see how we can without our powers."
I scoffed at him. "You've lived on easy street far too long. Leave it to me. I was the queen of sneaking out of the house. If all else fails, we can jump off the balcony and swim really fast for it."
Drew grinned at me. "Remember that big squid-like thing you saw?"
"Yeah?"
"They're everywhere. And, the fish here make the piranhas of Earth look like kittens. They’re fast. You’d be nothing but bones in seconds."
I blanched. "Okay, so an ocean escape is out. I suppose we'll have to rely on Nemah after-all."
He cocked his head to the side. "It looked to me like you'd rather spit on her than trust her."
My fingers started tapping on the arm of my chair. I was suddenly restless. "Remember when I was trapped in Hypnos' dream?"
Drew's face filled with instant anger and he nodded once.
"I’d started talking to a vision of a woman I thought was myself. As it turns out, she wasn't me, and I didn’t realize that soon enough. I shared such personal fears and thoughts with her, Drew. She knows so much about me, and a hundred bucks says that woman was Nemah. I haven't stopped thinking about her since that night, and while I don't have a clue how she visited my dreams from off-world, I'm unquestionably sure it was her. The way she carries herself, her voice, her hair." I shook my head to cut off the old paranoia tapes that were starting to blare in my head. "She's not to be trusted, Drew."
I couldn't stop myself from going back to those coma dreams. She'd told me that I was weak and unworthy. Played my emotions like a piano, up and down the keyboard, pressing all the right buttons to elicit just the right amount of pain. I remembered her parting words in that dream. "Game on." Was this all a part of that?
"Grace that is not a reasonable reaction to a stranger. Did you see her face in your dreams?"
I shook my head, and he leaned forward and peered into my eyes, checking to see if I'd been drugged.
"Stop that," I said pushing him away. "Aside from the obvious fact that I'm suspicious of this underground rebellion, Nemah feels familiar, and I can't help but think it was her."
"She may be the only person who can help us. You should probably get over whatever resistance you have to her."
My jaw dropped open in surprise. He didn't believe me. Even knowing that I was prone to dramatic over-reaction at times, I still thought that he'd take me at my word. That he didn't, hurt.
"Whether you believe me or not Drew, I don’t think we should fully trust her. But,” I let out a long sigh. “Maybe we can see if she can find a way for us to get out of this shit-show."
"Agreed. Finish your food, and we'll take a nap. I doubt we'll be disturbed before dinner."
I looked around at the room and realized that we were in a single bedroom suite. "Uh.." I couldn't get out the protest. I mean, what was I going to say?
Drew's eyes followed mine around the room, and he looked back at me, confused. "What?"
"We can't stay here."
"Well aside from the obvious, why not? It's a perfectly good room."
"Well yeah, that's just it. There's only one bedroom."
He threw his head back and laughed. "Are you getting virginal on me, Grace? I assure you that I won't attack you in the middle of the night in a fit of unrequited lust."
I threw my napkin at him and frowned. "You don't have to be a jerk about it."
His snicker turned into a full-blown laugh. "You're ridiculous." he stopped for a gasp of air. "Of course they gave us a single bed, they assume we're lovers."
"Well -" I paused, thinking of something tart or even smart to say. I ended with a lame. "Well, we're not. C'mon, jokey jokerson. Let's get a nap in before the urge to toss you off the balcony gets worse."
"You are a surprisingly violent woman for being a romance novelist."
"Yeah, maybe I should change genres." I stood up and stretched. My legs were still burning from the forced march. "I feel like my legs are going to fall off, and since I'm likely going to be running again..." I shrugged instead of finishing the sentence.
Of course, we'd be running again. Nothing about this mission was turning out as expected. I made a mental note to tell Diana that she had a mucked-up definition of an easy mission.
Drew yawned. "Yeah, but I'm not sleeping on the floor to preserve your chastity."
I threw him a black scowl. "I never said you had to sleep on the ground. I can assure you; I'm not going to attack you in a fit of unrequited lust." I parroted.
He just grinned and chuckled. "Okay, stop making me laugh. I'll check to see if the guards are still at the door."
Drew twisted the flashlight again, and a light went dark, then he brought his finger up to his lips. "Darling, I am going to see if the servant can clear away these dishes and then perhaps we can take a siesta before dinner tonight with our host."
Illusions: A Grace Murphy Novel Page 5
