by Clara Martin
Time to work, I told myself sternly. I wrapped my hands, careful to bind up the knuckles. Dominic clapped his hands. “Let’s start,” he said loudly. “Everyone grab a jump rope. Every time you trip over the rope, ten pushups.” He set the timer, grinning evilly.
I did a lot of pushups. The new man, who hadn’t been introduced, didn’t do any. Several times I felt his eyes lingering on me and fought the urge to draw into myself. I had every right to be here, I told myself firmly, and he was probably just surprised to see a woman in the otherwise all-male class.
We split into partners for drills, and I found myself partnered with the new man. He smiled at me, a quick quirk of his lips. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“Eileen,” I said shortly, readjusting my hand wraps and putting the boxing gloves on over them.
“Eileen.” The name seemed to run off his tongue. “Pleasure. I’m Will.” He stuck out his hand to shake. I looked at him, then at the gloves I’d just put on, and bumped his hand with my fist instead. He laughed.
“All right, Eileen. Let’s go.” He threw a punch at my head. I wove, remembering how Faolain had sent a lancet of flame at my head. “You’re fast,” Will said with pleased surprise. He jabbed at my stomach. I blocked it. We settled into a comfortable rhythm, sending jabs back and forth.
“So tell me, Eileen, what brings you to Muay Thai?”
I shrugged, jabbing at his face. He blocked it. “I like the exercise.”
“And I bet it’s good self-defense,” Will added, lips quirking again.
I nodded. “Sure it is. Why are you here?” I challenged.
“Same reasons,” he said with a shrug. “And one other.” He leaned in, and his eyes suddenly turned black. I jumped back, landing in a fighting crouch.
“We are watching you,” he said, his voice suddenly a much deeper timber, “Be careful, Eileen O’Donnell. You don’t know what you’re playing with.” He suddenly kicked, catching me right above the knee. I winced but kept my guard up, looking for an opening. His hands were up next to his face and he bobbed from foot to foot, smirking wickedly.
“Your Charles isn’t here,” he continued, “and there’s no one to save you. What would you do if I—just—took—you—away?” He jabbed with each word, the jabs coming faster and faster. I was barely avoiding them at this point. Finally, I got a kick in, right at his stomach. He gasped, bending over slightly, but not low enough for me to grab his neck.
“I’m not that easy a target,” I muttered, looking for another opening. I jabbed at him and followed up with a kick. He avoided both and laughed.
“Eileen, you’re such an easy target. Even with Charles there, we could’ve taken you any time we wanted to. No,” he continued, smirking, “this is a polite warning. Stay away from Prince Faolain. And”—he leaned in to whisper—“it might be in your best interest to avoid Charles Talbot, as well.” My next punch got him right on the eye.
“What’s going on?” Dominic asked from behind me. “This is drilling, not sparring.”
“Sorry,” I said, voice cool. “Total mistake.”
“Sorry,” Will echoed. He stepped back, stripping off his boxing gloves. “I think I’m done for tonight.” He nodded to me. “Remember what I said.” He strode off, sweat glistening in the gym’s fluorescent lights.
“What just happened?” Dominic asked after a moment. He frowned at me.
I shrugged. “Just an asshole,” I said, willing my pulse to calm. “Who can I drill with now?”
“I’ll drill with you,” Dominic said slowly. “But are you sure you’re all right?”
“I’m totally fine,” I lied. “Let’s go. I’ve already wasted enough time on that jackass.”
The rest of the lesson passed quickly, and I grabbed my bag and sweatshirt from the bench, pulling my sweatshirt on with relief. I frowned, thinking, and pulled out my cell phone, fingers poised to make a phone call. I couldn’t call Charles—he was hopefully asleep and getting ready for the mission tomorrow. I called Anna instead. The phone went to voicemail. I sighed and called Garrett.
“What’s wrong, Eileen?” He sounded alert.
“I just had a really weird run-in.” I told him about Will and the threats he’d made.
“You said his name was Will?”
“Yes.”
“Did he look human, or fae?”
“He looked human, but his eyes turned black when he talked to me.”
Garrett sounded even more alert. “His eyes turned black?”
“Yes.” I suppressed a shiver. “They did.”
“Okay. That narrows it down some. Sounds like a half-human, half-fae. But we don’t have a dossier on anyone named Will, working for either Western Wind or Northern Sun.” He paused again. “Come back to the office. I want you to sleep here tonight. Have you told Charles?”
“No!” I said, shocked. “He needs to be ready for his mission tomorrow.”
“Yes. Yes he does.” Garrett went silent. “Okay,” he said after a moment, “I won’t tell him either. But you need to get your ass in here. Understood?”
“Understood,” I said, unlocking my car door and sliding in.
“Eileen,” Garrett said with a sigh, “please tell me you were locked in your car when you made this call.”
“No,” I admitted, “I was walking across the parking lot.”
“We’ll discuss personal safety measures later,” he snapped. “But if someone is threatening to grab you, don’t walk across the parking lot on your cell phone. It’s distracting. Stay alert, stay alive.”
“Hooah, Sergeant.”
“And don’t get sassy with me either, Lieutenant. You get in here. Now.” Garrett hung up.
I drove to the NVRA in silence, not wanting to turn on my radio for fear of distraction. What if they rammed my car? I suppressed a shiver. But who, I wondered, was Will—and what did he want? It seemed like more players were entering the game every day.
I pulled into the NVRA parking lot. Garrett was waiting for me outside. “Let’s go,” he said tightly, escorting me through the door. I sighed, missing Charles. We walked in silence to the War Room. Anna was sitting there, looking worried.
“A man with eyes that turned black, hmm?” she asked me as I walked in. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I assured her. “But I don’t know what that was all about.”
“He could’ve been working for Western Wind,” Garrett said. “But they wouldn’t want you to stay away from Faolain or Charles. You make them vulnerable.”
“So they must’ve been working for Northern Sun,” I said slowly. “But why would they want me to stay away from Charles? That makes no sense.”
“None of it does,” Anna said grimly. She pushed a stack of folders over to me. “These are all the operatives we know of from Northern Sun and Western Wind. I want you to look through them and see if anyone looks familiar.”
I went through file after file. Fae face after fae face stared out at me. “None of these look familiar,” I said, thumping the last one closed. “I told you, he looked human.”
Anna and Garrett exchanged glances. “Well,” Anna said matter-of-factly, “I guess we have a mystery then.” She took back the stack of file folders. “You will be sleeping here until this is all cleared up. You should probably text your family and let them know.”
I got out my cell phone. “Do you think they’re safe?” I asked, busily texting.
“We have a strike team on them,” Anna said. “Charles insisted.” Her eyes danced for a moment. “Though I don’t know whether that was to provide you with a chaperone, protect your family, or both.”
I swallowed. “Thank you,” I said sincerely. “I know that’s terribly expensive.”
“We just won’t get our SINCGARS radio for a few more months,” Anna said with a wave of her hand. “Do you fee
l comfortable sleeping in the conference room?”
“Yes,” I said, “but do you have anything to sleep on?”
Anna smiled. “You’re not the first to be threatened,” she said. “We have a whole closet of sleeping bags in the conference room. If it gets worse, though, we’re going to have to come up with alternative arrangements. Probably one of our safe houses.”
“I’m sure this will be fine,” I said hurriedly.
“Do you have your medication?” Garrett interjected.
“I always carry it with me.” I held up my bottle of Clozaril for inspection.
“Good.” He led me to the conference room and opened a closet door, pulling out a sleeping bag and sleeping pad. “No pillows—sorry. We had to wash them after our last refugee had lice,” he explained.
“Lice,” I said faintly. “Yeah, I’ll skip that.” I dragged the sleeping bag over to the corner and put the pad down, spreading the sleeping bag out over it.
“Okay, Eileen. Sleep well. The next shift will be here soon, and Anna and I will be leaving.”
I blinked sleepily. “Who’s on it?”
“Jenny and Rima,” he said. “Then Lia might be in as well. But for now, sleep.” Garrett left the room, closing the door after him.
I sighed and lay down in the sleeping bag. I’d forgotten a charging cord for my cell phone, so I turned it off. I curled up and fell asleep.
I awoke the next morning with a horrible migraine. I groaned, rolling over; there was no relief.
“That’s what happens when you skip your coffee.” Joe knelt next to my sleeping bag, staring at me.
I froze, staring at him. I’d forgotten to take my medication last night. Quickly, I pawed through my purse, grabbing the Clozaril and dry-swallowing.
“It’s too late for that.” Sheldon appeared next to Joe in a sparkle of gold. “You know what happens when you forget your medication.”
“Yeah,” Joe said with a smirk. “We’re here. All day.”
“We’re your curse,” Sheldon said in a sing-song voice. “We’ll never leave. Never, ever, ever.”
I gazed at them both. My diseased mind had produced Sheldon and Joe both as tall, fit men, six foot five and dark. Joe was dressed in an army uniform with a captain’s rank. Sheldon was wearing a rumpled suit.
“Go away,” I snapped, holding my hand to my head. “I don’t have time for this.”
“You can’t ignore us,” Joe pointed out. “We’re here to stay.”
I stood, fumbling my way to the War Room. “Griffin,” I hissed at it. The door opened.
Rima and Jenny were still there, both staring at the BFT. “Morning,” Rima said without looking up. “There’s a coffee pot over there.” She waved her hand in the direction of a small cabinet. I stumbled over and found a coffee pot, coffee, and filters shoved inside. “Bless you,” I said fervently, getting all the supplies out.
Rima nodded distractedly. “What do you make of this?” she asked Jenny, pointing at the BFT. Curious, I came closer. Three dots were pulsing on the screen. As I watched, a fourth dot appeared, then disappeared.
“Probably just a bogey,” Jenny said dismissively. She glanced at me. “This is your boyfriend’s mission,” she said with a slight sneer.
I ignored it. “How are they doing?” I asked eagerly.
“Well enough,” she said shortly. “They crossed the border into the boundary area this morning at seven o’clock. They haven’t made contact with the target yet.”
I nodded, swallowing. The coffee machine beeped. I picked up the pot and poured into a Styrofoam cup I found on the other side of the file cabinet. It looked a little dirty, I thought, eyeing it, but it was the only cup I could find. I looked at the BFT again. The fourth dot appeared, then disappeared. I frowned.
“Are we sure that’s just an anomaly?” I asked.
Rima opened her mouth to answer, but Jenny wheeled to me. “Look, Eileen,” she said, eyes flashing, “I’m the one in charge right now. I get that you’re some kind of wunderkind—at least that’s what Anna says—but you know what I think? I think you’re just a very sick woman who needs to be out of here. You’re a liability.”
I stared at her, my mouth open. “Okay then,” I said, when my voice felt strong enough to speak. I pointed at the BFT. “But you didn’t answer my question.”
Jenny flushed a brilliant red. “Yes,” she said, voice tight. “I’m certain that’s just an anomaly. Probably the equipment acting up.”
“Boss,” Rima said, voice taut. She pointed at the BFT. A fifth—a sixth—a seventh dot appeared out of nowhere.
Jenny stared. “Do a radio check,” she instructed. Rima nodded, reaching for the radio.
“Charlie Tango, this is base, over.”
The radio remained silent.
“Charlie Tango, this is base, over.”
Still no answer.
I felt my heart rate pick up speed.
“Oh, there it goes,” Sheldon said sympathetically from behind me. “Here’s the disaster. This is why you can’t have nice things, Eileen.”
I whirled around. “Shut up!”
“Excuse me?” Jenny looked up, eyes hard.
“Not you,” I snapped. I stepped closer to the BFT. The three dots that had just appeared were so close to Charles and his team they appeared to be touching. “A Sending,” I said suddenly. “You need to do a Sending.”
“Oh,” Jenny said sarcastically, “and a cloud of glittery blue appearing in the air won’t be indiscreet at all.” She nailed me with another hard glance.
Frantically, I reached for my cell phone. It was still off. I turned it on and got the beep of incoming messages. One was from my mother. One was from Nate. And one—my breath caught—was Charles. I opened it.
“Good morning, beautiful. See you soon.”
“Charles! Answer me! You’re about to be ambushed!” I texted back.
Rima gasped. I looked up. The BFT had gone completely black. Jenny swore. In another second, it turned back on, but all the dots were gone.
“What happened?” Jenny demanded.
“I don’t know!” Rima’s fingers were dancing across the keyboard. “They’re just—gone. I can’t reestablish contact.”
Jenny grabbed the radio. “Charlie Tango, this is base. Come in. Over.”
The radio hissed with static. I flinched. It sounded like laughter. Jenny dropped the radio.
“What’s going on?” Anna walked into the War Room. “Jenny, I just got your message.”
“The team’s gone off the BFT,” I said, jabbing my finger at it, “and we can’t raise them on radio.”
“Thank you, Eileen,” Jenny said acidly. “It’s pretty much what she just said, Anna,” she said. “We can’t raise them.”
Anna frowned. “How far away is the secondary team?”
“That’s Strike Force 1,” Rima reported. “I’m calling them up now.”
“Scouting mission only,” Anna ordered. “I’m not sending more people into a disaster. Tell them it’s radio contact every fifteen minutes.”
“Roger.” Rima didn’t look up from her keyboard.
“One more thing, Anna,” Jenny said, pointing at me. “She didn’t take her medication last night.”
Anna didn’t look up. “Is that really important right now, Jenny?”
Jenny flushed red. “She’s been shouting at the walls,” she said angrily. “It’s distracting.”
Anna sighed. “Eileen, get out,” she said. “Don’t leave the conference room. Come back when you’re stable.” She walked over to the radio.
“But—”
“Go.” She didn’t look up. “I’ll keep you updated on the team,” she said more gently.
Fighting back tears, I let myself out of the War Room and collapsed again on my sleeping bag in the conferenc
e room. I pulled out my cell phone. I was down to ten percent, I noticed. Suddenly I blinked. Charles was typing.
My phone buzzed. “Do you want your boyfriend alive?”
My phone chimed again. Trembling, I looked at the next message. It was a picture of Charles in a cell, unconscious, bloody.
I stood up, ready to go to Anna.
“Don’t tell anyone about this. We’ll know, and we’ll kill him.” I sat back down with a thump.
“That’s better. If you want him alive, turn off your phone, drive to the embassy, and tell Faolain that you’re ready. And leave your pistol in the car.”
“Ready for what?” I typed back.
My phone buzzed. “No more questions. Do it, or Charles Talbot dies.”
Shaking, I turned off my cell phone and stowed it in my purse.
“There she goes,” Joe murmured from behind me. “Off to meet the wizard.”
“The wonderful wizard of Oz,” Sheldon agreed with a snicker.
Ignoring them both, I made my way to the door, opening it gingerly. No one was there. Slipping out, I jogged through the parking lot and unlocked my car. Slamming the door, I skidded out of the parking lot, fishtailing into the road. Words flashed in front of my dashboard.
“We’re still watching. Don’t get in an accident, now.”
“Screw you,” I muttered through clenched teeth.
“Language! Is that any way for a lady to speak?”
I ignored it. Joe and Sheldon were in the back seat, singing. Their twin tenor voices rose together in a beautiful Latin chant. I swallowed. I recognized the lament for the dead.
It took me thirty minutes to drive to the embassy, and every minute weighed on me. I parked the car in the driveway, remembering Charles’s comment about losing my escape route. I stormed up the stairs, ignoring the valet as he came to take my keys. As I passed him, I could’ve sworn I saw a smile flicker across his lips.
I pounded on the door. The same fae as before opened it, raising his eyebrows in surprise.
