by Ally Shields
“What interference?” he demanded. “We haven’t bothered the humans. I admit we made a mistake with you, but neither you nor your people have been seriously harmed. On the other hand, we have one man dead, another severely wounded. How can you speak to me of unprovoked violence? However…” He leaned toward her, his eyes on her face. “I would enter such a treaty with you if I thought you would abide by it.”
“What makes you think we wouldn’t?” Seth asked.
Trystan straightened. “The darkkin have a well-earned reputation for deceit and trickery. By manipulating Brianya into betraying me and luring me here, you’ve proven you have not changed.”
“Just as you are no longer the moon elves, we are no longer the darkkin,” Seth said gravely. “We keep our word.”
“No one manipulated me,” Bria interrupted. “I offered.”
“You were led astray. I suspect Kameo brought you out of Cyrilia with just such a betrayal in mind.” He moved his gaze to Kam. “You are very skillful. I believed you represented an evolution of the dark elves, such as your partner claims.”
“I am who you see. It is you who fooled me. I would not have pegged you a murderer.”
“What is this murder you keep referring to?” he asked impatiently. “Another of your many lies?”
“Murders,” Seth corrected. “The first was the human night watchman. I told you he was killed by a Cyrilian arrow. Now a second man was shot by a similar arrow.”
“Not Cyrilian.” Trystan put his arms on the table and glared at Seth. “No Cyrilian has had any dealings with these gangs.”
Seth lifted a brow, pulled out his phone, and tapped the screen. “Crain, I need to borrow one of the arrows. Yes, I remember. I will but not now. You may have to give us a little more time, so we can get this settled. Yes. My office building. Someone will meet you at the front door.”
Kam had no trouble figuring out the CIA agent was reminding Seth of the deadline. When Seth disconnected, she offered to meet with Crain. “How soon?”
“He’ll be downstairs in twenty minutes.” He looked at Trystan. “While we’re waiting, let’s go over a few details. I think it’s time we laid our cards on the table.”
Trystan frowned but nodded. “I have nothing to hide. Ask anything you wish.”
“Then let’s start with the assault on our portal guard.”
He shrugged. “A miscalculation. We intended to take him back to Cyrilia to revive our working class. When we failed, we looked for other opportunities and captured Kameo. After meeting her, I decided the darkkin were no use to us. We broke off all contact. You have initiated the conflict since then.”
“How can you say that?” Kam asked. “Your people have harassed the Lormarc Guild, shot at our guards, and chased Seth and I through the swamp.”
“And the fight with the drug gangs have created a bigger problem,” Seth said. “You’ve started a gang war. Now they’re killing one another, and that’s aroused the interest of powerful human authorities.”
“Are you telling us you didn’t know any of that?” Kam demanded.
Trystan shook his head. “Only what you’ve told me.” He looked at Bria. “Have you seen any of this?”
“I saw Dreysel chase them, and I believe the rest.”
Trystan frowned at Bria for a long moment. Kam couldn’t figure out what he was thinking.
While Seth went over the specific gang-related incidents, Kam left the room to meet with Crain. The Cyrilian’s denials had renewed her doubts again. Why would he admit some incidents and not others? The obvious answer was he didn’t know about them. But how was that possible? Was Dreysel so good he’d managed to hide his activities? Or was Trystan clever enough to be lying to them to protect an ongoing activity? How did any of this help Cyrilia?
She stepped outside the front entrance of the building. Crain was already there, and he held a long narrow package. “Both arrows are in here. I wasn’t sure which one Seth wanted. Why do you need them?”
“What did Seth tell you?” Kam held out her hand and grinned. “You never quit pumping for information, do you? Let’s just say they’re evidence, and let it go at that.”
“I hope you solve this mess soon,” he grumbled but handed her the package. “I’ll need these back. Not that they’ll ever see the inside of a courtroom, but someone will notice if they’re missing for long.”
“Is tomorrow soon enough? Hopefully we’ll have news by then. I heard Seth tell you we might need extra time.”
“Yeah, it’s not a problem as long as we aren’t having gunfights on the streets. But don’t drag things out. These situations have a habit of going sour.”
“Thanks, Crain.” She hesitated. “We understand how difficult this is for you. You’ve been more than fair.”
“Yeah, yeah. Well, you’ve done me a couple of favors too.” He waved a hand in dismissal. “Just don’t make me sorry. I’m counting on good news…and at some point, an explanation.”
He nodded once and turned away. She watched him stride down the street. He really wasn’t such a bad guy.
Five minutes later she walked into the Lormarc conference room, laid her package on the table, and pulled off the wrapping paper. “Let’s see what we have. Oh my.” The craftsmanship was impressive. She turned to Trystan and held out two highly polished arrows with phoenix feathers. “Do you recognize these?”
Trystan stared at them as if he could will them away. “Where did you get these?”
“I told you,” Seth said. “They were taken from two human corpses.”
“I thought you were making it up.” Trystan took one of the arrows, rolled it over, sighted down the shaft, and inspected the feathers. He handed it back and gave the second arrow the same scrutiny.
“Well?” Kam finally said.
Trystan sighed. “They’re genuine.”
“You didn’t know, did you?” Bria asked.
“No. I didn’t.” He seemed unable to take his eyes from the arrow in his hand.
“I’m so glad. It didn’t want to believe you ordered it.”
He looked at her then. “And yet you did.”
She met his gaze without flinching. “I’m sorry. But it looked very bad. I had to do something.”
He sighed and laid the arrow on the table. “I understand that is how you felt. In a way, you were right. I should have known.” He turned to include Seth and Kam. “I will put a stop to this.”
“How? Do you know who it is?” Seth asked.
“I have a strong suspicion,” Trystan admitted.
“Dreysel.” Bria’s voice held conviction. “Who else would defy you like this?”
“Not only me, the entire assembly.” Trystan’s brows lowered, and he slowly nodded. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. He is arrogant and unprincipled, but before today I did not believe he would dishonor the crown.”
He shifted his focus to include the others. “Dreysel views the humans as easy prey, but we’ve tried to convince him that robbing and killing them won’t fix Cyrilia. That is one reason his proposal failed. It’s flawed. I never imagined he’d pursue it on his own. After you told me about the gang problems, I asked Dreysel what he knew. He denied everything. It appears he lied to me.”
The final words cut the air as if Dreysel’s deceit was the ultimate crime…worse than murder. Maybe it was to him. Cyrilia was a unique culture with different taboos.
“So how are you going to prove it?” Kam asked. “If you accuse him, won’t he just deny it again?”
“But now I know the truth. He will be punished.”
“Is that enough to convict him in Cyrilia?”
“No, it isn’t,” Bria said. “Tryst, your father would never have condemned a man on suspicion alone.”
“Not suspicion. I believe what you’ve told me. That means Dreysel lied.” Trystan’s jaw clenched, the muscles working in his neck.
“All the more reason to prove his guilt,” Seth suggested.
The Cyrilian lifted a bro
w. “Do you have a plan for doing that?”
“I have an idea,” Kam said. “We bait a trap.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
It took a couple of hours of more or less honest discussion before Trystan and the group felt comfortable with one another. Eventually they agreed Kam’s idea was worth a try. Since Crain and local authorities had determined the gang raids were occurring right after a large delivery from the Mexican cartel, they hoped to capitalize on the pattern by arranging a fake shipment.
When they’d figured out everyone’s part in the deception, Trystan stood. “I’ll keep an eye on Dreysel until you can set this up. When you’re ready, have Brianya use the calling stone. I’ll bring a few trusted men and meet you.”
He and Seth shook hands. Then he smiled at Kam. “I am glad to know I was not mistaken in your character. My decision to release you has proven sound.”
“Release me? I don’t think that’s exactly what happened.” Or was it? She’d always thought it was rather convenient he’d left the amulet within her reach. She cocked her head. “Are you saying you allowed me to escape?”
“I’m not so careless as to leave magic items lying around.” He grinned at Bria. “Or portal codes. I would not have followed you through the portal except Tad spotted you. And you took Brianya.”
“You hadn’t instructed Breen to kill me?”
He looked taken aback. “Is that what you thought? No wonder you bolted from the assembly. He was supposed to give you ample opportunity to escape. And if you had waited a few hours, you would have found the portal activated and unattended. You got ahead of my plans.”
“I thought I was so clever getting the portal code.” Bria gave him a rueful look, and Trystan laughed.
“You wouldn’t make a very good thief,” he said. “Consider that a compliment.”
“Does that mean I’m forgiven?”
Trystan turned serious. “I can’t fault you for doing what you thought was the right thing. I still wish you’d come home. Cyrilia needs people like you if we are to survive. But for now, I have much to do. I will be waiting for your signal.”
Bria accompanied him down the elevator, and when she returned, she was beaming. Contact with one of her own people had been like a tonic for her spirits. But Kam watched Caleb withdraw to the far end of the room. In fact, he’d been quiet all afternoon. She suspected he’d misread Bria’s fondness for her childhood friend as something more romantic. She shrugged. Not her problem. Hopefully they’d work it out.
* * *
It took a call to Crain to make it all come together. They had to tell him more of the situation than they wanted in order to win his cooperation, but it was worth it. He used his underground contacts to quickly spread the word of a large shipment arriving that night. Two hours before the appointed time of eleven o’clock, the local PD, at Crain’s request, conducted a quiet raid, emptying the Gormley headquarters by taking its members into custody on suspicion of drug trafficking. They’d be held at least a few hours.
By ten, Kam and Seth took their positions on the roof across the street. Rhyden, Caleb, and four off-duty guards from the Ryndel Guild waited inside Gormley’s office with the lights on. Trystan, Tad, and eight Cyrilian men were cloaked and watching from the street corner; they had a clear view of both the side and front entrances.
Kam glanced at the screen on her phone for the third time. Ten more minutes. So much hinged on what happened next. If they could catch Dreysel—or whoever was behind the raids—she was hopeful Seliwyn and his advisors would realize the risks to Elvenrude were manageable. She wasn’t ready to say Cyrilia was no longer a danger, but Trystan appeared to be the honorable man Bria thought he was.
She checked the time again. Just after eleven. The rogue Cyrilians should be in custody soon. Two men walked up the street carrying large briefcases and ducked into the Gormley Building. Crain’s CIA operatives making the false delivery. Five minutes later they exited empty-handed. The drop had been made. Now all they needed was the rogue band.
Thirteen minutes ticked by. Seth shifted his feet in the dark.
Come on, Dreysel. Don’t keep us waiting.
Her phone buzzed, and she snatched it to still the small sound. She moved back from the roof edge and shielded her voice with her hand.
“Yes?”
“We’re under attack!”
Kam jerked the phone from her ear, startled by the loud response. “Who is this? Barrott?”
“A dozen, maybe more,” the Ryndel Guild Master went on. “They’re cloaked and armed with bows and knives. Some of us are barricaded in my office and the supply rooms, but it’s the portal they’re after. The guards just retreated through it. I’ve tried to get out to see what’s happening, but we’re pinned down. Somebody shoots every time we open the door.”
“Keep everyone inside. We’re coming.”
“I heard,” Seth said from beside her. He was already on his phone to Rhyden. “We’ve been outsmarted.”
“I’ll tell Trystan and meet you there.” Kam jumped off the building, found the Cyrilians, and summed up the situation without mincing words. “While we waited here, they breached our portal and invaded Elvenrude.”
She took off running. Trystan caught her easily, his long legs eating up the distance, and he settled into step beside her. His brother and the other men were right behind them.
“Someone told them,” Trystan said.
“Sure looks that way.”
They burst into the Ryndel Guild four minutes later. Seth had already spread citerin dust and was wrestling with a pale-haired opponent. Barrott scuffled with another. Three Cyrilians fled into the portal, as Rhyden, Caleb, and the off-duty guards dashed into the building. The last two intruders were quickly subdued and left with half of Trystan’s men. Everyone else ran for the portal.
Kam grabbed Caleb’s arm. “Stay with Esty and Bria. Otherwise, they’ll get worried and follow us.” Before his grudging nod had registered, Kam leaped into the portal’s mist and landed in Elvenrude.
The smell of sweat and blood greeted her. A half dozen wounded lay on the floor. The rest of the scene looked like a grisly caricature of a martial arts class. Guards swinging and kicking, punching, even wrestling with no one…to the naked eye. Then she threw a handful of citerin dust and nearly three dozen Cyrilians materialized. The guards responded with enthusiasm as they engaged with visible opponents, and Kam’s companions waded into the fight. Trystan and his men had already grabbed two of the Cyrilian rebels.
Kam scrambled to help a wounded guard to the sidelines, knocking an opponent out of the way with a hard kick to the jaw.
The front door banged open. Captain Brunic and a dozen guards rushed in. Kam silently cheered. Someone had the good sense to call for reinforcements. But she drew in a sharp breath as a Cyrilian with a wicked-looking dagger jumped on the captain’s back. They went down in a tangle of flailing arms and legs. As they rolled apart, the pale-haired elf lunged at Brunic’s throat with the knife.
Kam ducked, blocked a blow, and flipped her opponent. She whirled, searching to learn her captain’s fate, and saw Trystan leap through the air and kick Brunic’s attacker in the face. Then she lost track of both men in the maze of fighting.
Despite the Cyrilians’ greater body weight, Kam held her own using the hand-to-hand combat and kicking skills learned at the Academy. The techniques resembled those taught in many of New Orleans’ special fight clubs.
The training of the King’s Guards eventually took a heavy toll, and the guild workers rallied. The rogue band found themselves trapped inside a circle of guildsmen armed with hammers and crowbars or anything else they could grab.
One by one, the intruders were struck down or captured and bound in iron cuffs. When the fighting ended, both sides were battered, bloody, and disheveled. It had been a brutal fight, and they eyed one another with raw hostility.
“Where’s Dreysel?” Trystan looked around, then stalked to the nearest Cyrilian and grabbed h
im by the front of his shirt. “Where is he?” he repeated.
“He’s not here, Tryst. I already looked.” Tad came up behind his brother. “I told you he wouldn’t get involved in something like this.”
Kam lifted a brow, noting the younger Cyrilian’s relatively neat attire. Tough talker, but apparently not much of a fighter.
“He’s here…somewhere.” Trystan tightened his hold on the man’s shirt. “Do I have to repeat myself again?”
“I don’t know where he is,” the man said sullenly.
“He came through the portal with you. Didn’t he?” Trystan nearly lifted the man off his feet. “A little cooperation might save you from banishment.”
A stir of unease ran through the Cyrilian prisoners. Separation from their kind was a severe punishment.
The man paled. “OK. OK. Yes, he was with us, but I don’t know where he is now.”
Trystan abruptly released his hold, and the man fell to his knees.
“So the coward ran. What a fine leader you chose.” Trystan raked the Cyrilians with a look of scorn that settled on the same man again. “How many are with him?”
“I don’t know. We were three dozen when we left Cyrilia.”
“That means six are missing,” Kam said. “I’ve been counting noses. We have twenty eight, plus two on the New Orleans side.”
“Who’s not here?” Trystan raised his voice. “I’m not going to ask twice.”
“Andolf. He was with Dreysel. I’m not sure who else,” one of the Cyrilians said. The threat of banishment appeared to have had the desired effect.
“Once we find those two, we’ll have the others.” Trystan strode toward the door followed by his personal bodyguard, Seth, and Rhyden.
“The rest of you stay here,” Kam ordered, motioning to the portal guards. “That includes Trystan’s men. Watch the prisoners. We’ll take care of this.” She charged out the door accompanied by Captain Brunic and a dozen King’s Guards.
Once outside, Brunic took command and waved his men toward the woods. “Spread out. We’ll find them.”