Legend, p.1
Legend, page 1
Legend
Terk’s Guardians
Book 2
Dale Mayer
Books in This Series:
Radar, Book 1
Legend, Book 2
Bojan, Book 3
Table of Contents
Cover
Title Page
About This Book
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
About Bojan
Author’s Note
About the Author
Copyright Page
About This Book
When Legend sees his political war-mongering father heading in a direction Legend can’t agree with, he walks, but walking away from his little brother, Larry, can’t happen. He is special in so many ways—even Clary, who has helped him many times, agrees. When intel of a government uprising is confirmed, Legend swoops in to remove Larry from the danger zone. It’s not like Legend can leave behind his brother’s tutor either …
Blair has been looking after Larry for years and had expected her position to continue for much longer, but, when Legend races in, barking orders to leave, her calm future is in sudden jeopardy. Nothing is easy or calm about Legend when he’s around her.
As the coup fails, Legend’s simple escape plan deteriorates quickly, and Larry’s existence is suddenly a prize for cohorts, who haven’t been paid and who are looking for a quick escape route too. Not that Blair would let anyone hurt her charge—even if it means dealing with and cooperating with the very irritating Legend.
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Prologue
Terk sat at the massive table, but the team was already trying to figure out how much bigger to make this seating arrangement. Terk stared at the table. “Can you imagine that we would need something even bigger than this?? There’s already, what? Sixteen of us?”
“That’s not something I thought would happen,” Gage replied. “At least not so soon.”
“Right.” Terk smiled. “The thing is, we’ve done very well.”
“What about Radar?”
“Well, … Radar will be coming on when he’s ready. He needs a bit of training,” Terk noted, “but that will be true for anybody who isn’t in our team already.”
“Right. So we’ll need to potentially have somebody else coming on board to help out. What about Riff?”
“Riff is a world unto himself,” Terk noted. “He did a great job helping out and being in the right spot at the right time.”
“What about the woman who called you? Did she call back?”
“The sister to Riff’s dead fiancée? She only phoned once,” he said. “And I suspect she’ll be here soon enough, whether we like it or not.”
“Her energy is strong, isn’t it?”
“Absolutely, but when she does get here, she’ll be a force we’ll have to deal with.”
“And dealing with her won’t be easy, especially if she’s set on helping Riff with his problem.”
“Riff will be in and out, at least for the next little while anyway,” Terk shared. “He’s got a lead on something, but he’ll be back. So, if we need him on the next job, we just have to tag him, and he’ll show up.”
“He seems to do that a lot, doesn’t he? Come and go, I mean.”
“It’s part of who he is, but, at the same time, he’s somebody we desperately need to call on when we have problems.”
“What about the billing aspect of this first MI6 job?” Celia asked, as she joined Terk at the table. “What did Jonas do with that?”
“Not only did we get a bonus for saving the government agents but, because of the double bombings and the other aspects that went into it that were outside the scope of the original assignment, our expenses are completely covered. Plus we got an extra 17 percent on top of all that, according to the calculations I worked out. They didn’t even quibble,” Terk added.
“Does that make you wonder if you’ve charged enough?” she asked in a teasing voice.
“Of course it does.” He gave his wife a smirk. “I tossed it back and forth with Ice, and she confirmed that it was a really nicely paid job and to ensure we do everything we can to keep MI6 in our pocket because that level of job doesn’t come by all the time.”
“No, and that’ll be something we want to encourage then,” Celia noted, “because we’re running through the cash pretty quickly, especially if we’re saving for our own satellite.”
“That is an understatement,” Terk replied. “As we start trying to get some of these higher-level things in place, we’ll need to set up some ongoing budgeting.”
“Exactly, and there’ll be an awful lot of people here, depending on the time frame that’s needed just to get that satellite.”
“Also”—Terk eyed the twin sisters with their special healing abilities heading toward the big dining table—“when Sammy gets here, she’s been injured.”
At that, both sisters nodded. “Yes, we’ve already been working on those injuries,” Cara shared. “That deepest cut is pretty well healed and should be good to go. With this many people going back and forth all the time, our energies could get split up pretty easily.”
“You can’t wear yourselves down either,” Terk warned, looking at them quite sternly.
They just smiled. Clary replied, “You also know that healing others helps us heal ourselves, so that’s not really anything to worry about.”
“Maybe not,” he conceded, “but apparently I’m worrying enough for all of you.” He pointed at their obviously pregnant states.
The twins burst out laughing at that. “Maybe,” Cara admitted, “but who knew you would be such a worrisome dad.”
“I didn’t even think I could be,” Terk admitted, with a headshake. “Yet this whole scenario has absolutely blown me away.”
“All of us, actually,” Celia noted, with a gentle smile for her husband. “But, as long as we don’t have any other jobs at the moment, we should be good.”
Just then Terk’s phone rang. He looked down at it and frowned. “Terk here.” The voice at the other end was one he knew but from a long time ago. “Jeremy, what the hell?” At the sound of an old friend, Terk smiled into the phone. “What’s up? … What do you mean?” he asked, listening to Jeremy ramble. “Hang on, hang on. Let me put this on Speakerphone, so the rest of the team can hear.”
“You have a team?” Jeremy asked, with audible relief. “I heard you were done with the CIA.”
“Yeah, but we’ve set up in the private sector.”
“Thank God for that,” he said. “As you well know, I’m still in the damn black ops business, but two of our teams have been taken, and we need you to do a reconnaissance mission. I’m presuming you can still stay where you are for that.”
“I don’t know whether we can or not. You’ll have to give us a whole lot more information than that. And, if we have to send somebody, we’ll send somebody. I do have some available people on our team who could go,” he added, yet frowning as he looked around at everybody.
“I have one man in particular I need to bring back,” Jeremy stated, “but he’s injured, and I can tell you that he’s damn good at what he does, but he took a blast, and I’m not sure what kind of … it’s somebody you know.”
“Yeah, who’s that?”
“Legend. The last we heard, he was attacked, and, after that, we lost contact. We don’t know if he’s alive or dead.”
“Holy shit.” Terk pinched the bridge of his nose. “He was unparalleled in his field.”
“Yeah, and he has some of that weird stuff that you do, but we’ve had no communication from him. So, if you have any way of tracking where he is, just give us a location, so we can retrieve him. I really want to get him back again.”
“Why is that?” Terk asked, hating the suspicion evident in his tone. “We will likely need to be involved.”
Jeremy frowned and then said, “You might as well know it all. We’re wondering if he was involved right from the beginning. As in for the wrong side. Others are grumbling about treason, but I don’t want to believe it …”
“Absolutely no way,” Terk declared.
“Good,” Jeremy replied, “then prove it. We’re hiring you and your team to get him and maybe, if needed, to prove that he’s innocent because otherwise, as far as we can tell, that best friend of yours is guilty as hell.”
Chapter 1
Terkel?
A forceful notice slammed into Terkel’s brain. He straightened, dropping the stack of papers in his hands and looking around. “Clary?” There was no sign of her. Of course not. She wasn’t in England.
Yes, it’s me.
“What’s the matter?” Terk asked out loud. Celia, sitting at his side, going over more stacks of papers, looked over at him, one eyebrow raised. He shook his head to let her know that it didn’t involve her—at least he didn’t think so.
No, it doesn’t, Clary confirmed, able to follow his thoughts, but we’ve got a problem.
“We?”
She hesitated. Well, I would say I have a problem. However, as I’m now part of a team, she explained, her tone hardening, I’ll assume—and rightfully so, I think—that we have a prob
Terk nodded. “Fair enough. What’s the problem?” He could almost feel some of her tension relaxing. “Does Brody know?”
No, … and I would just as soon he didn’t.
At that, Brody broke into the conversation. Well, that’s just too damn bad, he snapped in Terkel’s head.
Clary groaned. It would help a lot if you wouldn’t interfere in conversations that were not your own.
Then pick another damn frequency, Brody declared, his tone equally hard. You do remember this is the distress call signal?
There was a moment of silence between the newlyweds.
Terkel gently slid his fingers through Celia’s, as she telepathically joined in on the conversation too.
Clary groaned. Damn. Fine. My bad. Still, I want it known that this doesn’t involve you, Brody.
If you’ve got a problem, it involves me, Brody stated. You were supposed to go for a quick visit to check up on this patient of yours. What happened?
What do you mean, what happened? Clary asked, her tone aggrieved, realizing she would have to involve him after all.
Terkel tried to pour oil onto troubled waters. “We are a team, Clary, and that includes Brody.”
“Yes, and he’s not up to full strength, but he’ll still want to come racing over here to bail me out.”
At that, Terkel winced because he already heard Brody’s roar through his brain. “Brody, shut it down,” Terk said, turning and seeing the wince on Celia’s face. “Remember how this is the distress line. Everybody’s getting slammed with that outcry of yours.”
After several moments of harsh breathing, Brody finally relented. Fine. His tone backed down a few notches.
That’s not helpful, Brody, Clary noted, her tone soft. That’s one of the reasons I didn’t want to tell you.
“Are you hurt? Are you in danger?” Terkel asked, before Brody had a chance.
She hesitated, then said, Not hurt. Don’t think I’m in danger.
That’s not a no, Brody snapped.
No, it sure isn’t. Clary hesitated again. No, I’m pretty sure he won’t hurt me.
“And again,” Terkel added, his voice calm but curious, “that’s not a no. Things in our world can just as quickly turn very ugly, so you may be in danger. Why don’t you start at the beginning and let us know what is going on?”
She began with a warning, Brody has to stay calm.
Terkel’s lips twitched. “Yeah, well, Brody has a bit of a volcanic temper when it comes to you, so, Brody, you’ll do your best to stay calm, won’t you?”
Of course, he bit off.
At that, Terk caught Celia’s big grin. He rolled his eyes at her. “Look, Clary. We just need some details. Then maybe we can do some research and see what’s going on.”
I came to see little Larry, she replied. Remember? He was one of my previous patients. At four years old, I helped bring him back from the edge of death, and that was a good five to six years ago.
“And?” Terk prodded.
So I came for his checkup, gave him another dose of healing to hold him for a while, and he is holding. That’s the good news, she confirmed, yet in an anxious tone.
“But?” Terk asked.
But something is going on in his psyche, and I think it’s coming from somebody else. Maybe something to do with his father.
“Explain.”
His father is a Kazak national, living with Larry in Azerbaijan, she explained. Although I’m not there. Not yet. I was in France with another patient. However, I flew back to Larry. The car will drop me off in just a few minutes. I’m … I’m feeling hooks, some serious energy coming from his direction.
“Go on,” Terkel said, continuing in the same calm vein. “Why does this involve us?”
Because I believe that the father has enemies who are trying to keep his son ill, through energy negativity.
“When you say negativity, what does that mean to you?”
I think somebody, like us, is using it to harm and to cause chaos instead of good.
“Well, for whatever light is out there, we also know there is darkness,” Terkel noted, “so that’s possible, but again, if this has something to do with us, why?”
Because his father is suddenly aware that maybe something is going on with his son, and he’s asked me if there’s something I can do to stave off an attack.
“What kind of an attack?”
I think energy-related, but I’m not sure, Clary replied, her voice gaining confidence as she spoke and described it. I think there’ll be a kidnapping attempt, and I think that this energy will be used to help them. When I say them, I mean whoever is involved in this attack will stay under cover of darkness and will spirit the boy away.
“And will that kill him?” Terk asked.
No, he’s been functioning on his own just fine for quite a few years. However, I’m seeing something wrong in his energy. I just can’t really describe what I’m seeing because I haven’t had enough time yet to really investigate. But I am certain that it’s not good, she added for emphasis.
“Okay, but you’re thinking this is involved with whatever the attack is?”
I think so, but I can’t be sure, she murmured.
Terkel went silent for a moment. “What does the father say?”
He says the budget is unlimited, she repeated in a dry tone.
At that, Tasha spoke up. “Good, that one’s for us then,” she said bluntly. “We’re bleeding money at an incredible rate, trying to get everything set up. So the answer is absolutely yes. We can help.”
“But can we?” Terkel asked. “Stepping up and helping is one thing, and I have no problem doing that, but we have to know that we can actually enact some good here.”
At that, Brody, his voice now somewhat calmer, asked, How imminent do you think this attack is?
When Clary hesitated, Terkel knew another blowup was coming. Brody, he said in a warning tone of voice.
He sighed. I’m listening, and I won’t blow up.
Well, you probably will, Clary noted quietly, because I suspect it’ll be in the next forty-eight hours.
Come home, Brody demanded.
Well, coming home doesn’t save this little boy, and he’s … I don’t know how to explain it, but I think Terkel would understand.
“I do understand,” Terk replied. “If they kill Larry, you’re connected to him, aren’t you, Clary?”
Yes, she agreed, her voice faint. Can I disconnect? Well, that is possible, but I just don’t know how hard it’ll be or how dangerous, for Larry or for me.
“It’ll be very dangerous,” Terkel stated, “particularly if this boy—who is what, ten or so now?—if he is connected to you or if you are connected to him to the depths of the edge of death.”
Yes, he’s definitely connected to me, she said, her voice catching on a sob. We’ve been very close ever since.
“Of course you have,” Terk muttered, his voice softening. “And now somebody you love is in danger.”
What about somebody I love? Brody snapped. Because what you’re saying is, if that boy dies, I’ll lose her too, aren’t you?
Maybe not in the sense that you’re thinking of it, Clary added, but it’s possible that I could lose myself to the ethers, caught between here and there, and/or possibly dead.
In that case, Tasha joined in telepathically, her voice calm, that just underlines why we’re doing this. We are a team, and we protect our own.
Terkel nodded absentmindedly, but his mind was already considering the logistics.
When the father says unlimited, he means unlimited. This is his beloved son, Clary shared. There’s also another element.
At that, Terkel winced. “There’s always another element, it seems.”
He has a bastard son.
“Okay, and that’s an issue, why?”
Because I think he has a lot of energy skills as well.
“Now that’s also interesting, but he’s an issue, why?”
I’m not sure he is an issue. I just can’t get a read on him. It’s as if his energy is completely locked down, and I can’t tell one way or the other if he’s on our side or throwing in with the other side. It could be his energy at play causing the problem with Larry.
“Is anybody there you would consider an enemy?”
