Green shadow, p.24
Green Shadow, page 24
“Find your rogue Master yet, flea?” Toban snarked at Dagmar.
Master Dagmar looked at the Enforcer like he was the annoying biting insect. “Considering you are here to overthrow your Head, I highly doubt you are in a position to throw stones.” Words delivered in a cool, detached air, had Toban frowning.
Everyone questioned my judgment in allowing the Enforcer to join, but I owed him this much considering the original idea was his. I also couldn’t discount having a man on the inside. So far, the asshole had pulled his weight.
Toban snorted. “At least I’m making progress. I’ve slipped charms to five more nobles. What have you done?” A smug smile on his lips.
Nickoli’s focus intensified. “Why are you handing out trinkets to nobles?” There was a touch of scorn in the vampire’s tone, though none in his eyes. It was a calculated move to get Toban to brag, and it worked.
Opening my mouth, I went to speak. To get the explanation out before Toban could. But the enforcer beat me to it.
“Pish,” Toban snorted. “They’re not trinkets. I asked Ethyl to stick the mind shield charm into fancy jewelry, then made a show of giving it to my marks in public. You know how nobles are. They couldn’t wait to put the baubles on and flaunt it for their friends.” Toban rolled his eyes. “Jasper’s getting super frustrated. He’s been working on this noble for weeks, and the man was close to caving. Now, with the charm, it’s like Jasper took ten steps back.”
Crimson eyes met mine, and Dagmar’s face hardened. “I believe you owe me more of an explanation.” His tone was soft but uncompromising.
Sighing, I resisted the urge to strangle Toban. I had planned to tell Dagmar tonight about Jasper. But, now that Toban had beat me to the punch, I couldn’t help but think I’d lost some ground with the Master Vampire.
Toban looked between us. “Uh, what?”
Shaking my head at the Enforcer, I started doing damage control. “Jasper is somehow manipulating shifters with a mental plague. It targets the weak-willed, those predisposed to the Purity idea, or individuals he spends enough time with to wear down their natural resistance. We believe it spreads through touch. The charms Toban mentioned are a means to block Jasper’s tendrils.” I crossed my arms.
“I would like one of those charms.” It wasn’t a request but a statement of fact.
“Nothing indicates that he can alter the thoughts of anyone other than shifters,” I said.
“Regardless, I do not want to take the chance.” A cool rebuttal.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out one of my few spare charms. With a flick of my wrist, I tossed it to the vampire. He looked at the piece of common quartz, snorted, and looped the leather cord over his head, tucking the charm beneath his shirt.
That done, I turned to Toban. “How did your conversation with Crystal go? Did she pass on any information about the Purity Movement?”
Crystal was the Protector of the Stone Tribe. During the summit last summer, she and Mackenzie got along. The gargoyle was one of the few people who’d come to see me after Jasper fired me. She’d almost torn a strip off my hide when she learned Mackenzie was gone. Now that the foundations for the rebellion were up and running, she was the next logical person to bring into the inner circle. With her support, I would have eyes, ears, and influence in the Stone tribe.
“She came to see me last week. Said that Ruban had met with Jasper the week before and now decided the Purity Movement was the future.” Toban scratched at his cheek. “I brushed her off, then sent you that message.”
So, he had. I’d given him the okay to invite Crystal here tonight. Maybe she’d learned something new. “Did you relay the invite?”
“Sure did. Crystal should be here soon.” Toban replied as he twirled his charm.
Fate would have it. There was a knock on the steel door right then. Toban looked as if he’d just gotten a present. “Ha! Shit like that never works.”
Shaking my head in exasperation, I nodded to Quinn. The gryphon walked over to the door. For a long moment, he stared at the metal. Others may have questioned his actions, but I knew how powerful the giant man was. And if his power could see through the door, letting him know the truth of the people on the other side, well, that was his story to share.
“For god’s sake, open it already, you big oaf.” Toban snarked.
I glared at the Enforcer. He was the last person to be throwing out derogatory titles.
Quinn ignored him but reached for the handle, nonetheless. The heavy steel door opened silently, and two figures darted in. Everyone went quiet.
The taller of the two reached up and removed her hood. Crystal stared straight at me. Her storm-gray eyes darkened with her annoyance as she moved to tower over me. She didn’t have to work at it. The woman was six foot six and had two inches on me. On top of that, she outweighed me by thirty pounds. I wasn’t afraid to admit I found the Stone Protector intimidating.
“Crystal, who’s your friend?” Trust was a luxury I couldn’t afford right now.
The shorter figure removed his hood. I recognized him from the summit but failed to put a face to the name.
“You remember Holden, Lucan.” Crystal said as if I didn’t need introductions.
I frowned. The name still didn’t mean anything to me. Crystal narrowed her eyes, and Quinn let out a gruff laugh.
“He’s my mate, you twat.” Acid dripped from her words.
“Sure,” I shrugged. It took time for people to register on my radar. Until that happened, they tended to slip from my mind.
Crystal threw her hands up, and her mate gave her a fond look. Then he held out his hand to me. “Protector, it’s good to meet you again. I’m sorry to hear about Mackenzie. If we can help you get her back, ask. Crystal likes her, and she doesn’t like many people.”
I shook his hand as Crystal spoke.
“That’s because most people are assholes.” Crystal folded her arms over her chest.
Holden smiled and shrugged his agreement.
“And you,” she pointed a finger at Toban. “Did you have to be such a dick the other day? You could have said, ‘Hey Crystal, I can’t tell you anything here, but I promise to get in touch.’”
Toban grinned and met her gaze with humor in his own. He obviously regretted nothing. “Have to, no. Enjoy it, yes.”
I had to nip this in the bud, or they’d be at it all night. “Crystal, thank you for coming. Holden, welcome. We can use all the powerful allies we can get.”
Their faces became serious, and a soft gray light shone behind their eyes.
“Toban didn’t tell us much,” Holden started as he pulled out a chair for Crystal.
“—or anything,” Crystal interrupted, taking the offered seat with a smile for her mate.
Holden glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “He asked Crystal to come. Said things would be explained when we got here.”
“First, I have to ask you a few questions. Quinn.” I motioned to the gryphon, and he came to stand by my side. “Do you agree with the tenants of the Purity Movement?”
“No,” they both responded with force.
Quinn nodded. The answer was true.
The next few minutes passed with me firing questions that allowed me to extend them a sliver of trust. Some of the questions included, have you had close contact with the Dragon Head? Have you been making decisions lately that are out of character? Have you had the urge to isolate yourself from other tribes and people? The rest were a variant of those. Quinn was strong enough to pinpoint a lie, even if the person was lying to themselves. It was an interesting quirk he’d discovered by accident when talking to a sympathizer of the movement.
Jasper’s mental changes may have convinced people to think the way they did, but it wasn’t what they honestly felt, and Quinn could tell the difference.
Crystal and Holden passed with flying colors.
“So, what the hell was that about?” Crystal stared at each person present for a moment before moving on to the next.
I gave them the same information I’d shared with Master Dagmar.
Holden stared at the ceiling, absorbing the information. Crystal’s face scrunched, and her whole face went red. “What are you doing, and how do we protect ourselves?”
I pushed two charms across the table. “These are charms that will block the influence.” I gestured to the hedgewitch a couple of seats down. “Ethyl makes them. We’re limited right now on how many we can craft. Quinn and I have been giving as much energy as possible, but it’s slow going. We can only afford to make two or three a week without draining ourselves to a point where we would be defenseless.”
Crystal nodded and looped the charm over her head. Holden did the same.
“As to what we are doing, we are slowly identifying nobles who we believe are being forced and freeing them. The Connelly family is the first we discovered, and they have been invaluable in pointing out who amongst their peers we should target.” I looked at all the faces around the table.
The next part was something everyone had assumed, but I’d never agreed to it out loud until now. “When we have enough support, I plan to challenge Jasper for his title and take over the Tribe. If I can do that, we may be able to force him to undo his creation. If not, I’ll kill him.” No one looked surprised at that. Magic rarely survived its caster’s death when not anchored in objects.
Crystal looked around the table. “Well then, introduce us. If we’re going to topple an evil megalomaniac, we should at least be on a first-name basis.”
The rest of the meeting went well. Crystal and Holden agreed to visit Ethyl twice a week and donate their power to make more charms. Their only request was to keep the first batch for themselves. Since Ruban, the Stone Head, was acting odd, they assumed he was under Jasper’s thrall. As for the Enforcer, Sioban, she wasn’t acting out of character, but Crystal didn’t want to take the chance of Ruban infecting her.
I agreed. It was only fair, and it didn’t hamper my plans in the long run. On the contrary, we could accelerate our schedule with four more charms a week.
The meeting ended, and everyone left except for the cat. Saber stayed at my side. Not in the mood to talk, I stared at the moon and let fatigue wash over me.
Rubbing my chest, I tried to soothe the constant deep ache before it became a stabbing pain. Alyssa, Tollas’s new apprentice, was a Stone shifter. She and Alec had created a potion that staved off the effects of the bond, but it was a short-term solution. Alec estimated it bought me an additional couple of weeks, and I was starting to panic. Would that be enough time?
Saber twined one of his tails around my ankle, reminding me of his presence while respecting my need for solitude.
“It’s almost Christmas,” I spoke to the feline at my side after a while. He’d let go of my ankle as I started to move towards my motorcycle. I’d left it at the guild to divert any suspicion from my actual location.
I am not sure I understand the concept of Christmas. Why do you condense being nice to one another to one day? Saber replied as he batted a pile of snow, sending the flakes scattering everywhere.
“It’s a pre-Resurgence tradition. Almost all religious holidays at that time of year had one underlying theme.” I rubbed my hands together. “Humanity needs excuses for everything, and we need dire consequences for our actions, and with Christmas, children believed that if they were bad, Santa would leave a lump of coal in place of a present.” I let my hand drift to the top of his head. Saber kept his emotions tightly coiled within, but the occasional wisp of sadness escaped. He allowed me to stroke his soft fur for a moment, taking the comfort I offered.
That makes even less sense, he griped. If you have a being omnipotent enough to know if you’ve been naughty or nice for an entire year, then wouldn’t it stand to reason that people would be better all the time? But it seems they only consider the repercussions during the coldest month.
He was right. There was an inherent flaw in the system.
I shrugged at him. “I don’t have an answer for you. I’m just grateful that people try to be decent towards one another for at least a little while.”
Saber shook his massive head. His purple and turquoise eyes glowed slightly in the fading light.
I do not like the falseness of this season. The cat finally said after we’d walked another block.
I disagreed. I wanted to believe that this is how people always wanted to be but felt they couldn’t. However, Saber was hurting, and sensing the tiny threads of it, I sunk my fingers into his fur and forced lightness into my tone. “Does that mean we need to reassign the person you got for secret Santa?”
The cat glared at me. The Green family’s tradition was a secret Santa. Each person got the name of a family member, and then they had to find the perfect gift for under thirty dollars. There was an overt insanity to the competition between siblings over who gave the best present.
Do, and I will tear open your belly and feast on your intestines. I’m told it is a slow and painful way to die. His tone was acid, but at least his sorrow was abating.
I was looking forward to the day we exchanged gifts. The lead-up had been amazing to watch. As siblings cajoled, teased, and fought over who would buy the best present. Keenan and Grace had joined in with a level of enthusiasm only found in children, and Saber was attacking the problem like a cat—with stealth, cunning, and a playful spirit that none of us had seen before.
I’d gotten Tyr and struggled to find a suitable gift within my means. I thought about breaking the rules and asking Alec for his advice, but my dragon balked at the idea.
Mackenzie popped into my mind. She would have loved the chaos surrounding the holiday this year, the kids, and the joy they brought to the family. My mood dampened, but my resolve only hardened. I would make sure this was the only holiday she missed.
My dragon uncurled from his spot in my mind, his movements sluggish. My eyes glowed with an inner light as he said through my lips, Hang on, Annwyl. We only need a little more time.
Chapter 29
Lucan
I sat in one of the leather chairs that faced Curtis’s desk, looking up at the ceiling. My legs extended, flexed, and held the tension when I bent them back under me. “Every lead we follow ends up a dead end. Months and months, and we’re still no closer to freeing Mackenzie,” I growled.
I rolled up the sleeves of the green knit sweater I’d gotten in yesterdays, Green family’s Secret Santa, and as I touched the soft wool, memories of the event chased away my dark thoughts. Hands down, it had been one of the best days of my life. Of course, there was an underlying hum of loss, and everyone acknowledged the empty chair at the table. But the family had put their sadness aside, letting the festive mood sweep them away for a few hours.
My sour mood surged back in full force. I was sitting across from Curtis, wondering if I should just cut the tie now. There didn’t seem to be any hope of saving Mackenzie before the tattered mate bond decided for me.
Curtis looked at me, sympathy shining in his eyes. “I believe that will change shortly.” His hands rose to rest on the top of his head—a very un-Curtis-like posture. “We’ve come to a point where we need to take action.” he continued, “We need to draw her out.”
I sat forward in my chair. The idea of going on the offensive for once sent a thrill of excitement rushing through me. “How? We don’t even know where to aim or attack.” I asked. No, demanded.
“I’ve been thinking. If we cannot find Mackenzie, we need to draw her to a place and time of our choosing. Enough time has passed, that if we offer the proper bait, Mackenzie’s captors will not refuse.”
“We’ve analyzed the sites your people have scouted. Nothing points to anything they would find tempting enough to force the humans to risk her other than power?” I frowned as I voiced my concern. The memory of Connor’s tone from months ago, when he told me of her actual value to them, haunted me.
“What do we know of the government agency that has her?” Curtis asked. And for a moment, I felt like a child again. Facing another test set by my trainers.
“They’re assholes,” I said, my anger refusing to let me think on a more profound level.
“While true, it is not an attribute we can use against them. Think harder, Lucan.” There was a mild rebuke in Curtis’s tone. I fought past my frustration and tried to analyze the situation more strategically.
Reaching deep within my memories, I searched through the conversations I’d had with the kids about their time with Mackenzie’s captors. “They have a massive inferiority complex and are obsessed with the need to prove their power and how the supernatural races should fear them. It’s why their alliance with the Purity Movement isn’t a surprise.”
Curtis smiled. “Exactly!” His hands came together with a snap. “We need to provide them with a stage that allows them to showcase their might. While offering them a way to increase their power.”
“Won’t they know it’s a trap once they learn who’s sponsoring it?” I asked, slumping in dismay at poking holes in the plan before it even formed.
Curtis became pensive. “Yes. We cannot be associated with organizing the event. They may also refuse to risk her if the reward is too low.”
Sitting in silence, we wracked our brains for a solution.
A plan began to percolate in my mind. “What if we had a multi-level event that builds before declaring a champion.” Excitement coursed through me. The idea still had a long way to go, but I began to hope now that we were working on a solution.
Curtis tapped a finger on the desk. “Yes. A champion, therefore, a tournament. The best of the best coming together to compete. We can start with regional events. Then the winners will move on to the main fight.” I could see the wheels whirling behind the seer’s eyes. He was already moving pieces into place.
“Individual or pairs?” I asked.
Curtis’s gaze drifted.
“Pairs.” He said after a moment, and I didn’t question the choice.
