Rogue Belador Read online

  Bullfrog croak-chirping erupted from the truck.

  Oskar probably wanted out, and she had to get going. Did you walk a familiar? She asked Rowan, "What are you going to do with Oskar?"

  Rowan took in the truck, then slid a weighted look at Evalle. "Oskar must stay hidden. No one can know that he's around. Whoever grabbed Mother Mattie missed her familiar, or more likely, Mattie might have shielded Oskar when she realized she was in danger. That makes sense, because he wouldn't have been out on his own without her. He was probably just hiding in the place you found him."

  "That would explain why he hadn't attacked the dog thief, but there was a whole group of dogs corralled there. Finding Oskar there too strikes me as a little too coincidental. In fact, Lucien even suggested the tikbalang might have been using the dogs to try to bait Oskar. "

  Rowan paced as she thought about that. "My hunch is you're right about the coincidence, but I don't have any answers. The bottom line is that Mattie's kidnapper might think Oskar could lead us to Mattie, and that means Oskar has to stay out of sight. We need him. I'm hoping that Mattie is still in the city and not somewhere like TAmr Medb. In the meantime, Oskar is our best barometer that Mattie is still alive."

  Evalle was still waiting for Rowan to suggest who could hide Oskar, but that last comment sidetracked her. "Why is Oskar a barometer?"

  "If Mother Mattie dies, Oskar will lie down wherever he is and follow her."

  "That's a serious bond."

  "You have no idea."

  Hmm. Evalle suggested, "If we could get Quinn's young cousin, Lanna, to touch Oskar, she might be able to locate Mattie."

  "She has that gift?"

  "Yes. Lanna has no idea what all is in her mixed bag of tricks, but I've seen her at least attempt to find someone that way."

  "Where is she?"

  "On Treoir Island, helping Tzader with Brina." Evalle thought on that and saw a snag. "Shoot. If I ask to be teleported there to talk to her, I'll have to explain to Quinn, then to Macha. Quinn won't be a problem--"

  "Yes, that would be a problem for him," Rowan argued. "You'd put Quinn in conflict with VIPER now that he's the Maistir here. I'm concerned as it is about Trey sticking his neck out, but there's no talking him out of being in the middle of anything that affects Sasha, the baby, or me."

  Trey was as honorable as they came, and would put family first no matter what.

  Evalle couldn't argue with his thinking. He was rock-solid loyal, too. She, Tzader, and Quinn had come to his aid when he fought a Kujoo warrior determined to take Sasha. Trey made it clear that he would be there for the three of them anytime, anywhere.

  She'd never had a family, not until Tzader and Quinn came into her life as surrogate big brothers.

  Now Evalle had Feenix and Storm as well. She'd put the safety of those important to her before anyone and anything else, just as Quinn and Tzader would.

  Rowan could be right about not involving Quinn. Evalle would make that decision if and when she decided it was necessary.

  Pulling her back to their conversation, Rowan asked, "When do you think Storm can visit Mother Mattie's house to determine if there is anything to follow?"

  "I'll know as soon as I go home and explain all this. In fact, let me get Oskar unloaded and I'm ready to go." Evalle turned to do just that.

  "Uh... Evalle, he likes you and you're not a witch, so--"

  Evalle spun around with her hands up. "Oh, no, no, no. I can't take him home."

  "Why not?"

  "I have Feenix. He barely tolerates Storm right now. I don't need anyone else new in his territory."

  "Feenix can handle himself," Rowan said.

  "True, but what if he decides to turn Oskar into a charred chew toy?"

  "Your gargoyle has never harmed any living thing before, right?"

  Rowan should have been an attorney with her quick arguments.

  "Yes, but--"

  "They'll be fine, Evalle. It'll be a play date for Feenix." The witch's eyes shimmered with humor.

  Evalle's jaw dropped. "Are you mental?"

  "No, and I really need to get dressed and get over to Mother Mattie's to see what I can pick up on before Storm goes in. I'll text you the address. Let me know if you need anything." Rowan had backed all the way up the steps.

  "Rowan."

  "What?"

  "You are not leaving me with that, uh, Oskar."

  "I don't have a choice, Evalle. Nobody touches Mother Mattie's familiar."

  "What about me?" Evalle thumbed her chest. "I'm a nobody."

  That did not come out right.

  "No witches. You're not a witch."

  Evalle narrowed her eyes. "I want the truth. No one wants to deal with Oskar, do they? Why?"

  Rowan frowned and glanced away. Busted. "He's not that bad. I've really gotta go, Evalle. Let me know if Storm is coming over to Mattie's, okay?" She slipped inside and closed the door softly.

  Crap. Evalle ground out a few choice words and headed back to the truck.

  Three guys hunched against the cold as they walked past on the opposite side of the street.

  Evalle waited a moment before opening the passenger door so Oskar could jump out. He walked around in the dark as if he could see just fine, marked a tree and a bush, then jumped back into the truck.

  The little guy curled up on the seat again and stared at her as if he'd understood every word she and Rowan had exchanged.

  Maybe he had.

  Now she felt guilty for trying to unload him. She explained, "It's nothing personal, Oskar."

  He didn't blink as his gaze piled on more guilt.

  As if she had a choice at this point? "I really doubt this is going to suit you, but I'm out of ideas right now so I'll take you home."

  A long forked tongue came out, swiped across his mouth, and went back in. He did that scary smiling thing again.

  "Just kill me now," Evalle muttered.

  "Okay, but you ain't gonna like it," a gravelly voice replied close behind her.

  Chapter 10

  Evalle slammed the passenger door on Storm's truck and whipped around, all in one motion, ending with her dagger in hand.

  The wavering, semi-translucent form of Grady jumped back. Evergreen bushes in Rowan's front yard ruffled with the movement. Grady grumbled, "Whoa. Watch where you slingin' that thing."

  Evalle glanced at the empty front porch. Rowan's white robe glowed in the window just left of the front door. She could probably see Grady.

  Waving to let Rowan know she was fine, Evalle put her dagger away. She turned back to the old guy who was her best intelligence link for anything going on in Atlanta's underworld of nonhumans.

  To VIPER agents, ghouls like Grady--known as Nightstalkers--were useful resources, but Evalle called this one friend in spite of his being cantankerous at times.

  And in spite of his being dead. Details, details.

  "What are you doing here, Grady?" The old coot usually hung close to Grady Hospital, his namesake.

  "What I always do. Wander 'round 'til I find a VIPER agent wantin' to shake hands." He waggled his eyebrows. "You interested?"

  Evalle glanced around, checking for humans. She doubted any of them could see an ethereal Grady, but his body was fading in and out of solid form at the moment. The three guys she'd seen a moment ago still walked away in the opposite direction.

  Nothing to see here. Just a woman and a ghoul.

  Even Rowan no longer stood at the window.

  Evalle said, "I'm not looking for intel ..." She reconsidered. "Not unless you know anything about a creature stealing dogs."

  "Naw. I ain't no dog catcher."

  "I asked about an odd creature. Ten-feet tall. Has a horse head, but a human-shaped body. Wears a shadow glamour."

  "Oh, nope. That's not what I have." He grinned.

  Oh, great. He had something to share, but she'd have to shake or play twenty questions. She went in a new direction. "You know anything about missing witches?"

&
nbsp; "Naw. You shakin'?" Grady prodded.

  "Not if you haven't got something I need." As a VIPER agent, she had to adhere to the rule of only shaking hands with a Nightstalker who had information significant to a VIPER investigation. Once a ghoul shook with a powerful nonhuman for only a few seconds, the ghoul could take corporeal form for ten minutes. Since Nightstalkers were the homeless and forgotten who had died during natural disasters, some of them spent their ten minutes guzzling rotgut liquor.

  Grady was no different in that, but in many other ways he was not like the rest of them.

  For one, he sometimes allowed his keen intelligence to show through in spite of his street talk. Sometimes the street dialect disappeared entirely, and Grady sounded like an educated man.

  She'd also broken the shaking rule one time and given him corporeal form for much longer than allowed, but it had been for a good reason. So sue her.

  "I might have somethin' you need to know," Grady taunted her.

  What was the easiest way to get him moving without hurting his feelings? Ghoul Psychology 101. "Nothing is going on that VIPER would approve for a handshake."

  "Like you care what VIPER thinks these days?"

  He did know her.

  She'd consider shaking with him if she could find out enough to justify the decision. "Do you have information on anything pertinent to my duties?"

  He lifted his shoulders. "Depends."

  Talking to her knee-high gargoyle Feenix was easier some days, and Feenix's vocabulary was only about twenty words. Half of those were numbers.

  She didn't have to play this game with Grady.

  She could finally go home, where Storm would be waiting to have dinner with her after she'd convinced him her assignment was nothing more than boring investigative work.

  The bloodstains would be hard to explain, but she'd find a way.

  Rubbing her hands together to warm them, she said, "I'll find you tomorrow, Grady, and we'll talk, okay?"

  She'd surprise Storm by showing up early tonight. He'd been slowly getting better about his overprotectiveness and not stressing over her hunting nonhumans without him.

  Evalle took a step back to leave.

  Grady warned, "Not sure my information is going to be much help tomorrow."

  Stopping, she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, convince me I want this information, and I'll shake."

  Grady grinned like a Cheshire cat. "You want it, but you may not be happy to get it. Just remember, I'm only the messenger."

  She didn't like the confident slant of his grin. "What's it about?"

  "Did Macha and Queen Maeve sort out their fuss over the gryphons?"

  "Not yet." Hair danced along her neck at this specific topic being raised by Grady.

  "So the gryphons are safe from Queen Maeve as long as they stay on Treoir, right? I mean, all but you since they let you stay here."

  Thanks for reminding me, because I don't feel guilty enough as it is. "Basically, yes, and Queen Maeve isn't going to mess with me while she's trying to gain the other gryphons." Which Evalle would fight tooth and nail.

  "But if those gryphons come here, they're fair game?"

  "Yes," she said, turning further into an ice cube the longer she stood in one spot. "They all know that. I even had to deliver the message back in November that they could choose to come to the human world, but neither Macha nor VIPER would offer them protection. They chose to stay on Treoir, and she will not send them here, so what is your point?"

  "What you think Macha or Queen Maeve would do if those gryphons just showed up in Atlanta?"

  Macha would have apoplexy and that would probably result in an apocalypse. Queen Maeve would swoop in and scoop up as many as she could at one time.

  "Why are we discussing this, Grady?"

  He stuck out his stubborn chin. "You have to answer my question first."

  She scrubbed a hand over her face and said, "If the gryphons somehow left Treoir on their own, and Macha found out before Maeve captured them, Macha would make an example of any gryphon teleported here without her knowledge. I don't think either of us can imagine just how hideous that backlash would be." Not to mention what Macha would do to Evalle, since everyone had made the gryphons Evalle's responsibility. "As for Queen Maeve, my guess is that she wants to imprison the gryphons and compel us to do her bidding, since that's what her predecessor, Flaevynn, tried to do. I'm done playing what-ifs. What. Have. You. Got?"

  "In that case..." Grady stuck his hand out. "You might want to know where I saw Tristan in the city right before I got here."

  Oh, shit! What the hell was Tristan doing here?

  Forget Macha punishing that gryphon. Evalle would kill Tristan herself.

  Chapter 11

  "I gave Quinn our route. He'll be here any minute," Tzader told Lanna as they walked up a paved trail that paralleled Freedom Parkway just east of downtown. Knowing Quinn, he'd pull up as soon as Tzader and Lanna reached the intersection ahead--about fifty steps from now. Things were quiet here this time of night.

  When Lanna said nothing, Tzader worried about the girl. She'd been through a lot in recent months and had just been kicked out of Treoir, where she'd said the old druid had been training her. "I can't make any promises, Lanna, but I'll tell Quinn that Garwyli was helping you and maybe Quinn can get you two back together."

  "I am fine, Tzader." Lanna hadn't complained, but she'd said little, which was odd for the normally talkative young woman. She had to be cold without a coat. The chill didn't eat at him so much with his muscle bulk, but it had to be cutting through her. Would have been far kinder to teleport her to Quinn. Not that Macha gave two hoots about tossing them into an area within view of a major highway.

  The plus side to the nippy midnight arrival? Fewer people around to see a grown man and teenage girl appearing out of thin air.

  I should be glad Macha didn't drop me in the middle of the decorative pond instead of on the sidewalk next to it.

  He had a hard time finding any appreciation for the way the goddess had thrown him out of Treoir and barred him from ever returning.

  As if he'd just walk away from Brina.

  Not in this lifetime.

  Lanna gave him a curious look. "Brina said nothing when she returned to the castle, but I could tell she was upset. What happened when you dream walked?"

  He wasn't about to tell the world's greatest busybody a thing about the dragon. "She's upset because her memory isn't coming back, and nothing we've tried is helping."

  "That was all? Did you try the spell I gave you?" Lanna asked.

  Ceartas interrupted that. Tzader wiped his hand over his face to prevent taking his frustration out on Lanna. She meant well, but pushing him about Brina right now was not helping. "We tried, Lanna. It didn't work out. I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm not up for talking about Brina right now."

  "I understand," she said, her tone contradicting her words. She either didn't understand or didn't believe that was the whole story, but she changed the subject. "Cousin will help you, no matter what."

  "I know," Tzader replied, hoping he wouldn't have to ask Quinn to get involved. His friend was still dealing with losing the woman he loved and managing the North American Beladors in Tzader's absence.

  Why don't I ask him to work on my car while I'm at it? Until lately, Tzader had never asked anyone for much of anything, and didn't like having to put Quinn under additional strain.

  One thing for sure, Tzader would deal with extracting the dragon from TAmr Medb on his own, but he needed a few resources. For Brina's sake, he would tap his friends for any help they could offer with locating those resources. There were so many things to figure out, not the least of which was how to teleport into TAmr Medb.

  At the moment, he knew of only two teleportation options. He glanced at Lanna. Two capable options anyway--Macha or Sen.

  Macha was not a possibility, and Sen couldn't be trusted even if he would help, which he wouldn't.

  "We are alm
ost there," Lanna said, stretching her neck to search the intersection. "Cousin is close to us."

  Before Tzader could reply, Quinn's voice came into his mind. I'm in the Lexus GX pulling up to the corner.

  "You're right. He's here." Tzader turned around as a pearl-white, luxury SUV angled out of the light traffic and parked along the curb.

  Lanna jumped into the back and Tzader took the front passenger seat of the toasty car.

  "Hello, Cousin."

  Quinn twisted around. "It's good to see you, Lanna. Are you well?"

  "Yes. All is fine for me, but Tzader needs our help."

  As Quinn turned back forward, Tzader caught his questioning gaze and gave a little shake of his head. Quinn asked, "Where to?"

  "I'm not sure yet. Let's grab something to eat," Tzader said out loud, then telepathically added for Quinn only, I need to tell you what's going on, but not until we figure out what to do with Lanna.

  Pulling back into traffic, Quinn replied in the same silent way. I've heard nothing about Grendal since the Beast Championship three months ago, but I'm still concerned about leaving her alone.

  I agree. Tzader thought on it a moment. Want to leave her with Evalle?

  Now might not be a good time. I spoke to Storm earlier. She and Storm are moving into their new residence any day now.

  "What?" Tzader said, regretting his outburst.

  Lanna muttered, "Is rude to talk in your minds in front of me."

  Quinn frowned up at his rearview mirror. "I've never heard of social protocol for telepathy."

  Tzader caught Lanna's scolding look in his peripheral vision. "You should ask, Cousin. I would explain for you."

  "I'm sure you would," Quinn muttered. He drew a long breath and asked, "Would you like to go to my hotel and have a spa day?"

  "No, thank you."

  "What? You really don't want that?"

  Lanna huffed out a sigh loaded with exasperation. "I know something is going on and Tzader has problems. You will need my help even though you both have no idea of all that I can do."

  "You have no idea of all that you can do," Quinn countered with a bit of sarcasm.

  Tzader agreed. Lanna's powers had been off the charts and out of control, often at the same time.

  Lanna conceded, "This is true, but I have not shown you what abilities I do possess."

  "Let's make this simple, Lanna. Whatever Tzader and I do will not involve you. Understood?"

  "Yes, Cousin." She stared out the window, clearly not happy with her cousin one bit.