by Cait Ashwood
“Is the trail any fresher this time?” Hound’s voice normally was gravelly and deep, but he sounded like straight-up shit right now.
“As far as I know, he’s still there.”
Hound beckoned for him to follow him into the guard tower. The folks inside kept an eye on him, though no one was openly hostile. Hound led him into a small room hardly larger than a closet with a single bunk. The commander appeared to have a few belongings stashed here, as he armed up and adjusted the straps of his armor that he’d hastily thrown on when the alarm went up. Hound gestured to the bed and Rowan sat on it in the absence of actual seating. It was still warm, like he’d just gotten up. What the hell is he doing sleeping down here? Doesn’t the First have posh quarters at the top of the Tower or something?
“You wanna tell me why this guy is so interesting to you?” Hound’s back was to him, but the question caught Rowan by surprise.
His mind raced. The truth is a tool to be used as it can. Choose what you reveal, and take care not to spill more than necessary. Zeche’s words had been absorbed by his brain like a sponge since youth. Here he was, talking to the commander of the Tower’s forces, and step-father of the missing girl. If the tainted boy was still in Lily’s room, Hound was going to be aware of her presence. At this point, Rowan’s job was damage control, and hopefully surviving the process.
“I’m not sure Zeche was prepared for me to brief you, sir.” He had to at least attempt to dodge the question.
“It wasn’t a request. You want the assistance of a Tracker, you’re going to have to be frank with me, Rowan.” Hound finally turned, leaning against the small table pressed against the wall. It was long and narrow, barely able to hold anything, but he seemed to be making do with it. He crossed his arms over his chest as Rowan debated what to say, his eyebrows knitting together the longer Rowan delayed.
Rowan swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “We’ve had eyes on Lily for the past two weeks, sir. The only problem is, a heavily tainted Seeker keeps visiting her. Never stays long, never does her any harm. We tried to have you track him last time, but the trail was too cold. We warded her room and keep a watch on her 24/7. The wards were tripped this afternoon. We believe he’s waiting in her room for her, and we want to make sure he doesn’t escape this time, so I was sent to bring you in early.”
Hound blinked slowly at him, his face stony and unreadable. The man didn’t appear to move except for the throbbing artery in his neck and the twitching of his jaw. Rowan shifted, looking away.
It seemed like an eternity before Hound spoke again. “Do you have reason to suspect that he’s part of a larger group?”
Oh thank Jaiden, he’s ignoring it for now. “We don’t know, sir. But if Lily is our only chance at discovering a greater threat to the Order, we couldn’t let the opportunity slide by.”
Hound’s gaze bored into his own, but Rowan stood his ground. He may not have been raised with his sister and thus wasn’t as attached to her as people here, but the Order was a necessary evil if humanity were to survive. Surely the man who had fought so hard to bring it into the modern era could understand their position?
“How well is he trained?” Hound seemed to be sticking to the facts, not offering any opinion on the Watchers’ course of action.
“I’m not very well versed in the Seeker arts myself, sir. I didn’t know how to ward until recently.”
Hound’s stare flattened. “Then you’re sure they were tripped?”
Seeing as I’m not the one that set them, yeah, I’m pretty sure Jasper knew what he was doing. “Yes, sir.”
Hound kept him sweating a minute longer, then sighed. “I can’t bring in too much backup without the chance of alerting him. I’m going to bring another Tracker with us for now, and that’s it.” He paused in the doorway, blocking it with his arm.
“I know you follow Zeche’s orders, but I need you to realize something.” His eyes traveled up to the Tower, barely visible from the open doorway. “There’s a woman in that Tower that is literally wasting away in grief for a daughter she fears is dead. Lily is coming home, regardless of what we do or don’t find tonight.”
“Sir, I don’t think--”
Hound turned on him, grabbing his collar and bringing them face to face. “I feel every ounce of her pain, boy, whether Lily is mine or not. My own daughter is too young for the duties being thrust upon her. My family is the head of this Order, whether you like it or not, and they’re falling apart. Your job is to protect the Order from outside threats. Mine is to make sure it doesn’t fail from the inside. Got it?”
Rowan’s eyes narrowed. “At least she cares enough for her daughters to mourn them.”
Fury radiated from the older man in waves and his face twisted into a pissed-off grimace. “I’m going to let that go for now because we’ve got work to do. Say anything like that in her presence, and you’re going to regret it.” Hound shoved him back as he released him and stormed out of the guard’s room. He whistled at the group of milling Seekers and Jasper padded over, all smooth strides and lethal grace.
“We’ve got a stakeout tonight. Come prepared.” He rattled off the coordinates and Jasper saluted, disappearing into the Tower under the auspices of packing for the trip. Hound didn’t wait for Rowan but phased out of the courtyard.
Well. That went... well. Rowan glanced around, pointedly ignoring the upper floors of the Tower. He phased after the commander, not looking forward to the ear lashing Zeche was sure to give him for spilling the beans.
Hound was crouched beneath the window, eyes roving over the inn across the street. “She was here. I was within fifty feet of her, and she was here the whole damned time.”
Rowan didn’t respond to that; he didn’t need to. He stepped out of the hovel into the street, gauging the light in the sky before phasing to a rooftop not far from the stables where Lily worked. He flattened himself against the roof and crept to the edge, trying to get a visual on either Lily or Zeche. He wasn’t exactly jonesing to spend more time with Hound, so he might as well try and be useful.
He was pleasantly surprised that he saw Zeche before he saw his sister. Then again, the assassin was doing a technique they called ‘leading;’ making sure the path ahead was clear for the target. Lily likely had no clue he was there, which was intentional. She also was probably one of the few people in Ebonwallowe to walk the streets and not run into beggars or pickpockets. Rowan waited for them to pass him, then phased to another rooftop closer to the inn. He watched Lily for a tail and saw none. Waiting a bit longer wasn’t going to hurt anything, though.
The path behind her remained depressingly empty of any pursuit, just normal people going about their normal, everyday lives. I wonder what that’s like. Probably boring as hell. In truth, he was avoiding everything that was going on. His sister, his half-brother, and his, what, stepdad? They were all in the radius of a city block from him. A month ago, he hadn’t had a family. Now he had too much of it. All that’s missing is good old Mom and Dad.
Rowan kept tracking them until Lily made it into the inn. He phased to a nearby building, keeping an eye on one of her windows. He landed almost on top of Jasper, who was already hunched on the roof.
“Didn’t take you long to pack,” he grumbled, moving off to the side a bit and returning his attention to the windows.
The kid shrugged. “Wasn’t expecting him to call me along, but I know more of what to expect than he does.”
Rowan grunted. “Zeche with him now?”
Jasper nodded.
“I should get down there, then. Probably told the old dog too much.”
Jasper gave him an odd look that seemed the combination of exasperation and a warning. “Be careful with him. He’s not the friendly sort on the best of days, and it’s been weeks since he’s had a good day.”
Rowan brushed that off. He’d already tangled with the man once and came away without a scratch. Zeche was down there too, so unless they both decided he needed thrashing, he was goi
ng to be just fine.
He glanced about for any passersby that were paying particular attention to him. With the coast clear, he slipped silently into the hovel.
“I see you already caught the commander up on current events.”
Rowan’s eyes flicked to his master’s face, wary. He didn’t see the taught, angry lines that normally appeared on Zeche’s face when he was upset. Rowan let out his breath in a silent sigh before nodding. “Yes, sir.”
“Good. It’s saved us time.” Zeche turned his attention back to the window on this side of the inn. Jasper had the other one covered, and now all they had to do was wait.
“You’re just letting her walk in there with him waiting up there?” Hound stood with his arms crossed over his chest, feet planted shoulder-width apart.
Zeche remained silent, so Rowan shrugged. “There’s still another month left before the next moon. The worst he could do is phase her out of there, and with two Trackers here, I can’t see how we could be more prepared for that outcome.”
Hound turned on him, eyes narrowed. “You think that just because she can’t conceive, rape isn’t an issue?”
Rowan opened his mouth, then closed it. I... hadn’t thought of that.
Hound didn’t seem to be expecting an answer, returning to his previous pose.
The next hour passed in uncomfortable silence, none of the men in the room speaking to each other. Rowan figured he was in more trouble with Zeche than he’d thought, but stakeouts were just that: long, boring periods of time while they waited for something to happen. Zeche tensed a split second before Hound did, and Rowan crept to the hole where a window should be to get a better look.
The kid had stood, and Lily looked distraught. He vanished in the blink of an eye. A green glow immediately lit the interior of the hovel, but Rowan couldn’t see if Jasper was following as well. The kid had been wearing his mask around his neck last time Rowan saw him, but he’d probably moved it into place a while ago.
“We’ll be back.” Hound vanished, a green aura lingering where he’d stood for a moment.
Rowan’s eyes checked the roof, and Jasper was also gone. He could hear Zeche approaching him, but his eyes were on the tear-strewn face of his sister, standing alone in an empty room.
“You did well.”
He tore his eyes away from her room and faced Zeche. “I did? I figured you were going to have my hide for briefing him.”
Zeche shrugged, keeping a casual eye on Lily’s room. “You did what you had to do to secure his cooperation. And you found a way to bring Jasper along as well. That kid’s got potential.”
“That was all Hound.” Rowan was grateful he wasn’t in trouble, but he wasn’t about to start taking credit for things he didn’t do.
Zeche waved a hand. “Regardless, it’s working out.”
Rowan headed for an overturned stool next to the table, flipped it upright, and took a seat. “What do you think they’ll find?”
The assassin was silent for a time. “It’s hard to say. No one ever found Zaddicus after the assault, but there were several other tainted Seekers that escaped notice. Most of those were later hunted down, but without a manifest, it’s impossible to know if we got all of them. The kid could belong to any of them.”
He nodded. “So either it could be nothing and we’ve wasted the last two weeks, or...”
Zeche’s tone was grim. “Or we finally get a location on an old enemy.”
Rowan grunted. There was a lot of play here, and no possible way for them to relax.
The minutes stretched into an hour, then two. Zeche had slept most of the day, so Rowan took a nap first. There was still no response from the Trackers by the time the sun was dawning and Zeche took his turn sleeping.
When they did appear, it was so sudden Rowan nearly fell off his stool. He didn’t have to wake Zeche; the man slept like a cat, though he might feign otherwise.
The expressions on the men’s faces were nearly opposite. Hound, in what was likely a normal state for him, looked pissed as hell, but also weary. Jasper, on the other hand, was pale, examining everything around him cautiously, like he expected a trap to spring on him any moment.
“What is it?” Rowan had a sinking feeling in his gut that they hadn’t just followed the kid home and found out he had daddy issues. Hound didn’t seem like the compassionate sort. If he was pissed, there was likely a big bad reason behind it.
Zeche answered from the shadows. “Zaddicus.”
Hound nodded in confirmation, pacing the room, eyes narrowed and staring at a fluid point a few feet in front of his boots as he moved.
“He knows he was followed, too. Took us around the world a few times before finally giving up.” Jasper shook his head, then looked at Hound. “Does my Dad know that magnetic fields don’t throw you off?”
The older Tracker shook his head.
Jasper was obviously impressed but kept the remainder of his comments to himself.
“I’ve got to get to Ace and give my report. Jasper, you’re coming with me.” Hound paced over to Zeche, stopping in front of the man who only came up to his shoulders. “Lily is coming home. Are we going to have an issue leaving her in your care?”
Zeche raised an eyebrow. “Not at all.”
“Then I’ll expect her there when I return.” Hound nodded to Jasper and the pair vanished once more.
Rowan blinked in the sudden silence. “Damn.”
“Indeed.” Zeche sighed, shaking his head.
“So, what does this mean for us?” This kind of scenario was the exact reason the Watchers had been formed. However, there were all of two of them.
“It means that once we get Lily home, you’re going to meet your dad. We need to be coordinating with the Seekers and pooling intel. We can’t act alone, but both sides possess skills the other lacks.”
Rowan let the remark about his dad slide and focused on the actual meaning of Zeche’s statement. “So, like a joint venture?”
Zeche tilted his head. “That’s one way of looking at it.”
He looked back up at Lily’s room in time to see her leaving to head to work. “I guess it’s time to go get her, then.”
Zeche’s jaw popped as he yawned. “I need at least another hour. Keep an eye on her, and when I show up, we’ll bring her in.”
“Roger that.” After weeks of watching her, the end was finally in sight. This is going to be weird. I’m a stranger to her, but she doesn’t feel like one to me. He snorted as he headed out to the stables. Guess that’s what you get for stalking people.
Chapter Seventeen
Shit. Shit, shit, SHIT! Stryker’s fist connected with the earthen wall of the tunnel, barely making a mark. He leaned his forearm against the dirt, resting his forehead on his arm and breathing heavily. He’d never phased so far and so quickly in his life, but those damned surface Trackers had kept up with him every step of the way. He’d lost one of them for a single jump, but somehow, he’d caught up again by the next one.
How the hell did he skip a jump and still find me?
That wasn’t the real problem, though. The real issue was that he’d led them straight here. He hadn’t even made the conscious decision to return home, he’d just found himself here and darted through the entrance down into the bellows of the earth. He’d waited for twenty minutes, but they made no further attempt to pursue him. You wanted a way out? You just led the enemy right to your stronghold. Way to go. The worst part was that he wasn’t entirely sure he was being sarcastic. He didn’t know what he wanted anymore, if he ever had.
“Well, well, what do we have here? Is my darling brother coming back from the surface to grace us with his company once more?”
Stryker turned his head to the side to stare at her, utterly exhausted. He felt like he’d run at least two marathons, and he could barely keep up mentally. Her mouth was twisted into a sick grin as her hand moved to the whip at her side, unfastening the buckle that held it firmly in place.
He sighed, de
feated. For so long it felt like he’d been stretched between sides, fighting what he’d been taught from birth with concepts he could scarcely grasp from a new teacher. The fact was, he was his father’s son, whether he wanted to be or not. So what if some random girl on the surface cared about him? It wouldn’t win him his freedom any more than her efforts had won her hers. If he couldn’t get out, that left him with exactly one option: he needed to make himself indispensable to Zaddicus, needed to do something so profound that he won at least a year’s worth of favors while he thought of something else to do. It had to be epic. Like bringing in a pure-blooded Lily?
“Put that away.” He pushed off the wall and turned to face her, every motion seeming to take up energy he didn’t possess.
Her grin froze on her face. “And why would I do that?”
Stryker rolled his neck to either side, letting it crack. “Because I have something better for you to do if you agree to my terms.”
Vex’s eyes narrowed. “Getting awful cocky there, aren’t you?”
He held her gaze until she finally broke eye contact. “I have a pure-blooded Lily eating out of the palm of my hand. She’s begging me to save her, take her away from where she came from.”
“You’re kidding.” Her tone was equal parts disbelief and disgust.
“Nope.”
Her foot tapped out her agitation against the stone. “So, you’ve had access to a full Lily, for weeks now, and you haven’t breathed a word of it?”
Well... shit. He forced his exhausted mind to come up with an excuse. “I figured she’d be more useful to us if she was cooperative, rather than a captive.”
“So, you’ve been what, wooing her with your manly charm?” She laid the sarcasm on thick. “Puh-lease.”
“She’s the First’s daughter. I’ve had to be careful.” Name dropping never hurt... did it?
Vex’s eyes widened. “You might have chosen to lead with that.”
He pushed forward, hoping to build on whatever momentum he’d started. “She’ll help us a lot more if she doesn’t know about Zaddicus. I’m sure they’ve told their kids stories about their encounters with him in the past, and I don’t want to scare her off.” He paused as Vex considered that. “I want to bring her here, but we would need to shelter her from the main compound.”
