Eris grinned at the Prime Minister. ‘I presume we are on the same page now.’
His eyes hardened. ‘Get to the point of your visit here.’
Eris laughed and leant back in her seat. ‘Good. Pleasantries bore me. I am here about the vein of daku you lost last night to the Others.’
‘Others?’ he enquired.
Eris tutted. ‘This is going to be rather unproductive if you insist on being coy. You know exactly who I mean.’
The U.S. Secretary of Defence glared at Eris. ‘You should be arrested for having the audacity to approach us.’
Eris looked at him. ‘You are already boring me.’ She turned back to the Prime Minister. ‘Either you shut him up or I will. My business is with you, not your lap dog.’
The U.S. Defence Secretary opened his mouth to say more but closed it when Eris stared at him. I could swear the temperature dropped a couple of degrees.
‘That’s better,’ Eris said. ‘Now, as I was saying, you have gone and lost your only source of defence against us.’
The Prime Minister dropped two sugar cubes into the small delicate cup on the table before him, maintaining his air of nonchalance. ‘Even if that were true, what is your aim here?’
‘I want the location of the daku vein.’
He stirred his drink and laid the teaspoon on the saucer. ‘Why would I give you that?’ I had to commend him for keeping his composure. If I had been on the other end of Eris’s gaze, I would have been quaking in my boots.
Eris smiled, though it didn’t reach her eyes which were hard with threat. ‘Because if you don’t, you are going to find yourself and your people in a whole world of trouble.’
The U.S. Defence Secretary leant forward with his clenched hands shaking. ‘You presume to threaten us?’
Eris gave him a cold look. ‘I told you to be quiet. I am happy to enforce the point if you speak again.’
The Prime Minister held his hand up, silencing the U.S. Defence Secretary. ‘It was a valid question.’
The British Defence Minister opened his mouth to speak but slammed it closed again. He continued to watch us in silence, a sheen of sweat coving his heavy, soft body.
Eris laughed. ‘I don’t need to threaten you, and neither do the Others. But let me tell you something. If you think we have been trouble so far, imagine how bad it is going to get when there are thousands of the Others using your guns. In case you have missed it, they don’t have a high opinion of you humans.’
‘And you?’ the Prime Minister asked. ‘May I enquire your stance regarding us?’
Eris shrugged. ‘You amuse me at times. In general, I have no real care for you.’
He sipped his tea before turning to me. ‘And your view?’
‘As I'm human, it would be a bit weird if I didn’t like my own race.’ I glanced at the bodyguards watching us with their weapons ready. ‘Even after everything you put me through.’
‘Why would you want the daku vein?’ the U.S Defence Secretary demanded.
Eris rolled her eyes, and the Secretary’s head dropped to his chest. The soldiers aimed their handguns at Eris’s head, their eyes flickering to the Prime Minister as if waiting for the order to kill us. The British Defence Minister pressed back in his seat. Fresh beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he studied Eris, afraid that she would do the same thing to him.
‘He isn’t dead,’ I said. ‘Is he, Eris?’ I hoped to God he wasn’t. If she had killed the man, she had just started a war.
‘No, just sleeping, for the moment anyway.’
The Prime Minister kept his eyes on Eris as he held his hand up. He managed to appear calm even though fresh fear spike in him. Upon seeing his command, the soldiers lowered their weapon a fraction, though not enough to ease my own fear.
‘Now we can get down to business,’ Eris said, not concerned by the weapons. Could she stop all the bullets if they opened fire? Unlikely, but it wouldn’t be her who got injured. ‘Let me guess where you are concerning the vein.’ Eris grinned, enjoying herself far too much. After all, the Siis were also at risk now that Cleas had the daku. ‘You plan to bomb it? Yes? If you can’t have it, we can’t?’
The Prime Minister took a sip of his tea. His hands shook a fraction, betrayed by a light clatter of crockery when he returned his cup to the saucer. ‘It would be a reasonable scenario.’
Eris laughed in a patronising way. ‘Maybe. But it will give the location away, which leaves you with one problem; we can still get to it.’
‘So why be concerned if we bomb it?’
‘Because if you do, we will need to sift through the rubble, creating tunnels leading down to it. It’s all a lot of hard work when there is already a structure in place.’ That sounded a little feeble to me, but I resisted looking at her in question.
The Prime Minister relaxed back in his seat, adept at feigning being relaxed. ‘Of which you have no idea of the location.’
Eris met his eyes directly, with no hint of her usual humour. ‘Not yet.’
A small man hurried in and whispered something to the Prime Minister. He nodded in response. ‘I will be there in three minutes.’
The small man shot Eris and me a confused look before he hurried back into the building. I stared at the Prime Minister in unveiled surprise; he was somewhat presumptuous that Eris would allow him to leave.
The Prime Minister placed his cup on the saucer. ‘My time is short.’
‘We had better conclude this, then,’ Eris said.
The Prime Minister sighed as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. ‘I cannot, in good faith, approach my cabinet, asking them to divulge this information without something to offer in return.’ He leant forward with his pointed fingers pressed against his lips. ‘We are aware of Vakros, but what assurances do I have that, once you have this information, it will be used to benefit us?’
Eris shook her head. ‘Vakros is the least of your concerns. Your time would be better spent worrying about Cleas.’
The Prime Minister’s eyes widened in surprise for a moment. He glanced at the Defence Minister before his face became passive once more. So, they didn’t know everything. Good to know. ‘Who is Cleas?’
Eris laughed. ‘I want the location of the daku vein first, and my people back.’
The Prime Minister’s mouth dropped open, his serenity gone as he stared at Eris. ‘You wish us to give up our only source of information and defence?’
Eris nodded with a smile. ‘Call it an act of good faith.’
The Prime Minister chuckled, his composure back; the man was giving Eris a run for her money. If the situation wasn’t so dire, I would have grinned. ‘An act of good faith works both ways,’ he said.
Eris stood. ‘Then we have no deal.’ She pressed her hands to the table and leant forward. ‘But I promise you this, Prime Minister. There is going to come a time, and likely soon, that you will need us.’
‘Maybe so,’ he said, not intimidated by her. ‘If that becomes the case, then we will have something to discuss.’
Eris shook her head. ‘Come on, Ana. We have better things to do than waste our time here.’
I didn’t move. I couldn’t. Not yet. ‘I will make a deal with you.’
I felt Eris’s crushing stare but kept my eyes on the Prime Minister. ‘I want the Damiq back, and in return, I will give you information on Cleas and his plans that I know about.’ I knew very little in the big scheme of things, but maybe it would be enough.
‘You want all the children?’ he asked.
I shook my head. ‘You can keep the Fae.’
He rubbed his fingers across his lips thoughtfully, and I allowed a little bit of hope in.
‘You know the Damiq aren’t dangerous to you,’ I said. ‘What you might not know is that they have been helping you for years.’
He nodded. ‘Intelligence suggests this the case.’
I wanted to stamp my feet and scream in rage. They knew the Damiq weren’t a threat yet had still kidn
apped them. I forced the anger down, making sure to keep it from my voice. ‘Then I offer you a trade. My information for their release.’ I glanced at Eris. To my surprise, she grinned at me. ‘I also want the charges dropped against me. You know I didn’t commit them.’
The Prime Minister glanced at the U.K. Defence Secretary, who shifted back in his seat as he watched Eris, detecting the coldness in her smile.
The Prime Minister turned to me. ‘We have an agreement, Ms. Martin. Regarding your murder charges, you left me little choice when you entered through the front door. Now, if you will excuse us, we are required elsewhere.’ He glanced at the unconscious diplomat who snored lightly. ‘As is the U.S. Secretary of Defence.’
I looked at Eris, my expression openly begging her to play nice for once. She rolled her eyes. ‘Fine!’ She looked to the U.S. Secretary and gave a small wave of her fingers.
The Secretary’s chair went from under him, and he hit the ground with a crash. ‘What? Where?’ He sat up, blinking in confusion.
I gave Eris a sharp look which she ignored.
As the U.S. Secretary struggled to his feet, the Prime Minister beckoned to someone inside the house. A woman hurried out with a clipboard in her hands and a pen poised to write. ‘Get George,’ the Prime Minister said. The woman nodded and disappeared. ‘George will take you to the right people to be debriefed,’ the Prime Minister said to me.
My heart leapt into my throat and I stepped back from them. ‘I'm not going to any soldiers.’
His eyes flickered with surprise at my reaction, as if I had no reason to fear them. ‘Don’t be concerned, Ms. Martin.’
I took another step back and glanced at the house, looking for an escape route. ‘How the hell can I not be concerned after what you did to me?’ Was he insane?
The Prime Minister tapped his fingers on the table as if bored with my issues. ‘The situation that previously occurred is unfortunate. The people involved acted on the information they had. I assure you that you will be treated with the utmost courtesy this time.’
I looked to Eris for help. I couldn’t go into another military base; I wouldn’t come back.
She shrugged. ‘It’s your deal, not mine.’
The Prime Minister stood. ‘Now, I must leave you.’ He nodded to the U.S. Defence Secretary, who edged past us, never taking his eyes off Eris. The Defence Minister followed on his heels. I would love to be a fly on the wall for their conversation.
Eris straightened as she looked to the sky. ‘I'm leaving, too. I'm sure the Prime Minister can supply transport to return you home.’
He nodded with irritation. ‘That can be arranged.’ The man itched with the desire to see us gone. Or in a cell. He would probably prefer that. I sensed his relief at Eris departing. So did Eris as she grinned in response.
I wanted to grab her hand and never let go. I didn’t want to be left alone with the people who had tortured me.
‘Prime Minister?’ Eris said, halting him. ‘When you change your mind about the daku vein, release my people to Ana, then I will find you.’
He nodded once in reply, turned to leave, but stopped. ‘One question. Who did kill the Chancellor? In the interest of honesty, was it your people?’
Eris laughed. ‘Ana can tell you the answer to that one.’
I shot her a confused look. Memories of water flooding into my mouth crashed into my mind, the soldier screaming Who killed the Chancellor! as I gasped for breath. I almost shouted I don’t know! my internal panic overriding all logical sense. I didn’t know I’d spoken until Eris responded.
The smile never left Eris’s eyes. ‘Of course you do. You just need to think about it for a moment.’
I tried to calm the bubbling panic in me, but the soldiers words shattered through my mind and I choked, able to feel water gushing into my throat and nose. ‘Eris.’ I tried to say it with authority, warning her to end this line of questioning that felt like an interrogation, but her name slipped from my lips as a whimper.
Eris sighed and turned to the Prime Minister. ‘You already know the answer to that question. Just an educated guess, but I am willing to bet that the Chancellor knew the location of the daku vein.’
The Prime Minister’s eyes tightened, but he said nothing.
‘One more thing,’ Eris continued. ‘I have become quite partial to Ana. Make sure she comes back in one piece. Do you understand?’ Even an idiot would have heard the threat in her voice. It helped temper the storm raging inside of me. Not much, but enough to breathe.
The Prime Minister watched Eris for a moment, summing up the level of threat she posed, before he glanced at the daku bullets tips before him. He gave her a sharp nod. A good call considering what she had done to the compound she rescued me from. From what I heard, nothing remained.
Eris watched him leave. The suited men remained with us, their guns still trained on our heads.
‘Don’t go,’ I whispered.
She grinned. ‘You’re a diplomat now, Ana. I’ll see you when you get back.’
‘Aren’t you worried about what I will say?’ She needed to stay. I couldn’t do this alone. I couldn’t put myself in their sights once more.
She laughed as if I’d told the funniest joke she’d heard all year. ‘As if you know anything that would concern me.’ She turned to the armed guards. ‘Do you want to show me out? Or do I find my own way?’
CHAPTER THREE
The Major watched as the young girl placed my tea on the table. He waited for her to exit the grey, windowless room and turned back to the tablet on the table. He studied the notes on the screen for a moment and looked up. ‘So… Cleas has broken away from Vakros?’
I nodded.
‘And Cleas wants to wipe humanity out?’
‘So I’ve been told.’
‘What about Vakros’s agenda?’
I shrugged. ‘I will let you know when I find out.’
‘You must try and relay all that you know, Ms. Martin.’
I sighed. ‘Look, I can’t tell you any more than I know. From what I can gather, he is too busy fighting a war with the Siis to care about us.’
‘And the war is because he wants humanity to know about the Siis?’
I nodded, too tired to speak.
The Major studied the screen once more. ‘What about Malachi’s faction of the Siis?’
I groaned. The questions had gone on long enough now, and they knew everything I did about the war between the Siis and the Others, Vakros, Cleas, and everything that had happened since the day I met Gabriel. The journey to this facility took less than an hour, but my muscles ached with weariness and nausea curled in my stomach. The couple of hours sleep I’d managed during the journey with Eris hadn’t alleviated my tiredness one bit. ‘What about them?’
‘Do you have any information that can help us?’
‘That isn’t part of our deal.’
The Major sighed and leant back in his seat, studying me. ‘Ana. You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?’
I shook my head, my shoulders tense with apprehension. Shannon, my not so friendly torturer, had taught me the nice guy routine well.
‘I can only begin to understand what it is like for you. How this shi, as you call it, got into you, and the horrors you have experienced because of it. To have survived this long is an incredible feat.’
‘Yeah. It would have been easier if you hadn’t captured me.’
He placed the tablet on the table and clasped his hands together. ‘I have read the report on the incident you speak off, and—’
‘Incident? Is that what you call it? An incident?’ I spat the word at him. ‘I look fine now, but your people put me through hell!’
‘You are still human.’
‘Yeah, well, sometimes I wish I wasn’t.’
‘And that makes them your people, too.’
I shook my head. ‘You don’t get off it that easy.’
‘What more do you want? You have negotiated the release of your—�
�� he glanced at the tablet ‘—Damiq friends.’
‘I want assurances that I will be left alone.’
He splayed his hands up in the air, a picture of pure innocence in his wide, blue eyes. As if I could be fooled. ‘That’s easy. If you are no threat, there will be no cause to threaten you.’ He sighed and leant forward, his elbows on the table. ‘The thing is, Ana, we are at war here. Nearly every day we lose people to these Siis. People like you and me, with families and friends. The Siis take our children to fight their war.’
‘It’s the Others who do that.’
A small smile tugged the corner of his lips. Did I detect a hint of smugness? ‘We have evidence that suggests otherwise.’ Definitely smug.
I stiffened in my seat, his triumphant smile causing me to run through everything I’d said, looking for the screw-up I had made. ‘What do you mean?’ I couldn’t think of what I had said wrong.
‘I mean, we have several testimonies from the Fae claiming that they follow Malachi’s orders. You are protecting these people. Beings that kidnap children like your nieces and use them, destroy their lives and turn them into monsters.’
‘You’re lying.’
He shook his head, his whole expression achingly sad. The man could win an Oscar. ‘It serves no purpose to lie to you.’
I sat back in my seat with my arms crossed. ‘I don’t believe a word coming out of your mouth.’ I couldn’t accept that. As much as the Siis council terrified me, they were meant to be the good guys.
‘I don’t expect you to.’ He jabbed his tablet a couple of times and turned it to me.
A Fae sat in the middle of a small room tied to a chair, the armrests torn to shreds by its daku covered nails. Someone had torn his bodysuit, revealing a thin, pale chest covered in sticky pads, all with wires leading to a machine out of the camera shot. Two more were stuck to his temples. The Fae shuddered, the tendons in his neck taught. They electrocuted it, tortured the small creature. His body writhed in restraints and a duh, duh, duh sound escaped his drool-soaked lips. I pressed my fist to my mouth as he stopped moving, not wanting to see but unable to turn away. With no sense of the destruction in him, only his nails gave a clue to the atrocities he had committed.
Noble Lies Page 4
