“This must be done stealthily.” She quickly donned the dress, smoothing the soft material over her hips. “If the Rodytes realize we’re on to them, they might go on the offensive.”
“I agree.” Once he was fully clothed, he cupped her shoulders and looked into her eyes. “If I leave you here, protected by the palace shields, do you think you can contact Charlotte? I’ll remain linked with you. If there is any danger, I’ll be at your side in an instant.”
“Would it be less dangerous if I go with you?”
“No. As soon as you step beyond the dampening field it will be easier for any Mystic to sense your exact location.”
She raised her chin and squared her shoulders. “You’ve trained me well. Sooner or later I’m going to have to face the real world and put my skills to the test.”
“Your training has barely begun. I’d rather that testing not be today.” He quickly prioritized everything that needed to be done. “Contact your sister then wait for me here.”
“Will Charlotte respond? Does she know about me?”
“There are no secrets between life mates. I’m sure Tal shared what he knows by now.”
“Then get going, and don’t worry about me. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“It’s my job to worry about you.” He kissed her briefly, wishing he could be in two places at once. “The Shadow Assassins have been more or less inactive since the end of the Great Conflict. Charlotte must have the opportunity to act before the House of Joon sends out a call to arms.”
“I understand.”
“If you don’t reach her immediately, wait for my return. We don’t want someone else responding to your call.”
With a soft chuckle, she pushed him toward the door. “Are you this protective of all your students?”
“You’re my mate, not my student. I couldn’t bear to fail you now.”
“I’ll be fine.” She blew him a kiss. “The sooner you leave, the sooner we can return to my training.”
Chapter Eight
Aria stood at center stage, trying to calm her pounding heart. The visualization was crisp and detailed. She scanned for danger then scanned again. Manage each element. Minimize the risks. Her assurance to Drakkin hadn’t been an idle boast. She’d learned her lessons well.
Dimming the house lights, she redirected her energy and meticulously sealed the doors. She was safe, ensconced in her private pocket on the metaphysical plane. She walked to the utility exit at stage left and pressed her hands against the metal door. Vee had taught her how to invite guests into her private theater. She smiled at the bittersweet memory. Regret would not distract her now. This was too important.
Picturing the regal beauty Drakkin had showed her in the crystal, she let Charlotte’s image fill her mind.
Aria, is that really you?
Yes. How much should she try to explain? You’re in danger. Is it safe to talk like this?
Keep the link open and I’ll come to you.
Warmth tingled down her spine. She’d done it, she’d really done it.
The door vibrated beneath her hands and laughter filled her head.
You’ll have to open the door. That’s a fabulous seal.
Aria reached for the door handle then paused. What if this wasn’t Charlotte? How could she be sure? There had to be something only Charlotte would know. She should have asked Drakkin. “On what day did you first arrive on Earth?”
“New Year’s Day. That’s also the day I left for Ontariese. But I don’t know if Drakkin is aware of that.”
With a quick sigh of relief, Aria opened the door. Charlotte moved through the threshold, her stride so graceful she seemed to float. Aria noted her immaculate turquoise pantsuit before focusing on her face. Her hair was lighter than it had appeared in the crystal, a shade somewhere between gold and brown.
“You were only on Earth for one day?”
Charlotte smiled. “I spent exactly thirty years on Earth before my life mate brought me home. I can’t wait to spend time with you, but your anxiety bombarded me. What’s going on?”
Aria closed and locked the door before she began her explanation. “I don’t know how much of this is important to you, so I’ll just tell you everything. Vee’s brother Vade is head of the Shadow Assassins, some Rodytes are able to manipulate magic and they have been in league with the House of Joon since the onset of the Great Conflict.”
“How sure are you of this information?”
“How did you learn all this?”
Both questions came from Charlotte, but Aria heard two distinct voices. This couldn’t be good. The first voice had sounded cautious while the second snapped with accusation.
Charlotte paled and shook her head violently. “Get out! Aria, run!”
Her sister was the High Queen of Ontariese. There was no way Aria was going to run. She broadcast her distress to Drakkin then focused on Charlotte. “Tell me how to help. I’m not leaving you.”
Charlotte wrapped her arms around herself and sank into a deep crouch. She shook. Low moans and rhythmic chanting filled the air, though Charlotte’s mouth didn’t move.
Not sure what else to do, Aria gathered energy. Heat built. Her skin tingled and the mauve streaks in her hair began to glow.
A dense shadow separated from Charlotte as she sprang to her feet. Aria’s eyes widened as a second Charlotte took shape next to the first. Panting harshly, the new Charlotte met Aria’s gaze. “She’s a parasite and a damn strong one. Is help on the way?”
“Don’t tell her anything!” the first Charlotte shouted. “She heard everything you said to me.”
The imposter had adjusted her voice. They were now identical in every way. Think. There had to be some way of telling which one was real. Had the imposter sprung from Charlotte, or was it the other way around? Aria cursed her helplessness and searched her mind for options.
The Charlottes circled each other, their movements mirrored.
“If what you said is true,” the first Charlotte said in a clear, calm voice, “you must kill us both. She cannot be allowed to escape.”
Dread slammed into Aria. There had to be another way.
“It’s a trick. Don’t listen to her. Drakkin will be here any minute.”
Aria studied the first Charlotte. Her face was flushed, but her gaze burned with determination, not malice. Besides, she’d been willing to sacrifice herself to protect her people. Aria committed to her choice and raised her arms. She pelted the second Charlotte with bursts of energy.
“You bitch!” The imposter shrieked and twisted, furiously patting out the flames leaping from her hair to her clothes.
The first Charlotte braced her hands on her knees and panted.
Aria sent another barrage of sparks at the imposter. With an infuriated roar, the woman flung an energy pulse across the stage. It knocked Aria backward. She stumbled but didn’t fall. Frantically constructing a shield around her and Charlotte, she launched a fireball over the shield.
Finally recovering enough to move, Charlotte cast a Mystic net around her false self as Aria’s fireball hit. The intruder fell to the floor, so terrified by the flames she didn’t notice the net.
“Transform,” Charlotte commanded.
“Never!” The fraud writhed, kicking and clawing until the flames went out. She shuddered then tugged against the net as she sobbed pathetically. “You can’t kill me. I had no choice. They would have killed my little girl.”
Aria heard a loud banging on the utility door. I’m coming in. Stand back! Fear reverberated through Drakkin’s voice then he burst through the door. “Are you hurt?” He skidded to a halt as he saw the sobbing imposter.
“I’m fine,” Aria assured. “We’re both safe.”
The red rings in his eyes ignited and he aimed the intensity at the woman on the floor. “Show yourself.”
She whimpered and went still within the net as the Shift manifested against her will. Aria watched in morbid fascination, knowing who would be revealed.
Rolling to her hands and knees, Noll screamed and shuddered. Why did she continue to resist the compulsion?
Her form distorted then morphed and random features scrolled across her face. It was grotesque and appeared arbitrary until two separate heads appeared at the same time, each detailed and distinct.
“She’s melded with someone,” Charlotte’s disbelieve echoed Aria’s.
Drakkin moved closer, the brightness of his gaze incasing the intruder in a pulsing red beam. The creature twisted and screamed. Two torsos emerged, but their lower bodies were still fused.
The man had long brown hair and brutish features. He turned toward Noll and wrapped his hands around her throat.
“We need to interrogate her.” Charlotte lunged forward, stopping just short of Drakkin’s position.
“She can’t tell us anything we don’t already know.” His jaw clenched so tight he could barely speak, but he continued trying to wrest them apart.
Noll clawed at the man’s forearms, her face red, eyes bulging. The man’s focus never wavered. Suddenly Noll’s neck snapped and her head drooped to one side.
Drakkin narrowed the red beam so the man absorbed all of the destructive energy. The intruder groaned and his image started to fade.
“Don’t let him escape!” Charlotte raised both hands and closed her eyes.
Aria tensed. There had to be something she could do. She opened her mind to Drakkin and pushed energy across their link. The beam brightened, sparks of light bursting within the paler illumination. The man shrieked and writhed as the energy finally penetrated his shields.
Drakkin reached out with one hand and sharply turned his wrist. The man’s neck snapped like a twig and his head lulled to the side just like his victim’s. The distorted image fell over and then faded away.
“This is all visualization. Are they really dead?” Drakkin had said this was how some Shadow Assassin’s killed. She’d had no idea he possessed the ability too.
“They are dead.” Drakkin sounded neither pleased nor sorry.
“It would have been better to figure out where they were so we could have questioned them.”
“They didn’t give us that option.” His impatience was beginning to show. “They threatened my mate. You can’t expect me to be merciful.”
Aria hid a smile, pleased by his attitude. Noll had hunted her down like prey. This was a fitting end. “That wasn’t Faujer. I wonder when and why she switched partners.”
“I will find out what happened to that bastard. The important thing is the threat has been neutralized. Still, I can’ help wonder how they got in here?” His voice was gruff, his expression fierce.
“I took every precaution. I—”
He pulled her into his arms and kissed her mouth. “You did nothing wrong. I’m only angry that I wasn’t here to protect you.”
“That creature melded with me so skillfully, I didn’t detect them,” Charlotte said. “By the time I forced them out, I was so weak I could hardly move. If it hadn’t been for your firestorm, we might both be dead. You did incredibly well.”
Joy tingled through Aria at the praise. “We make a pretty good team.”
“I certainly won’t argue, but let’s back this entire thing up. You rattled off several staggering statements right before I detected my stowaways.”
“Vade, Vee’s half-brother founded the Shadow Assassins. He was Rodyte not Ontarian. But that part is more important to the people of Bilarri.” Aria tucked her hair behind her ears and tried to focus her thoughts. “The House of Joon is in liege with the Rodytes and has been since before the Great Conflict.”
“My original question remains. How can you be so sure?”
“Vee transferred the images into my mind and Drakkin helped me understand what it all meant.”
Drakkin rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s imperative that we deprive the Rodytes of the element of surprise. If Noll managed to warn them before she died, Vee’s efforts will have been in vain.”
“All this information came from Vee?” Charlotte was obviously still processing.
Aria nodded. “He remained on the metaphysical plane until I was strong enough to join him there, err, here.” She smiled.
“You must begin an investigation into the House of Joon,” Drakkin stressed.
Charlotte took a step back and shook her head. “It would launch the Great Conflict all over again.”
“The Great Conflict never ended, they just found less violent ways of perpetuating the prejudice.” He wrapped his arm around Aria’s shoulders, pulling her snug against his side. “There is much you don’t understand. The female portion of that creature was Noll dar Joon, a respected member of the Mystic community. And I believe the man was a Shadow Assassin.”
Charlotte shuddered. “I’d never seen either of them before.” She rubbed her arms and met Drakkin’s gaze. “But even if he was a Shadow Assassin, he was Ontarian. How does this prove the House of Joon is allied with the Rodytes?”
Drakkin rolled his shoulders then sighed. “I’ll make a full report to the Joint High Council and explain everything, but you must not give them any indication what the report will contain.”
“Of course.” She looked at Aria, her gaze filled with regret. “I wish we could have met under better circumstances.”
“We have the rest of our lives to improve the circumstances.”
Charlotte smiled. “I promise when you arrive on Ontariese, you’ll be welcomed with open arms.” She glanced at Drakkin, one eyebrow arched. “You are going to bring her to Ontariese, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
Charlotte turned back to Aria and asked, “Did they alter your appearance or is this your natural coloring?”
Aria glanced at Drakkin as old insecurities surged.
“She possesses a rare Bilarrian gift known as the jumanna. Her existence is one of the things that proves, despite their claims, Rodytes can manipulate magic.”
“I think you’re stunning,” Charlotte assured her. “You’ll cause quite a stir.”
“No, she won’t,” Drakkin insisted. “Aria is my life mate.”
“I see,” was all she said, but her eyes gleamed with knowing amusement. “While I have you here, may I have an update on my other sister?”
“Cinarra is settling in quite well, if she will just allow herself to think of anything other than the boy.”
“She’s the most protective person I’ve ever known and Seth—”
“Betaul,” Drakkin reminded.
“Betaul will be vulnerable until he can control his abilities. But I’ll see what I can do to expand her horizons. Maybe a visit from Krysta would—”
“It’s still too dangerous. We cannot risk someone making the connection.”
Charlotte didn’t look pleased, but she didn’t argue. Instead, she asked, “When shall I expect you?”
“Give me a couple of days to make sure the situation on Bilarri is stable.”
“I’ll see both of you then.” With one last smile, Charlotte blinked out of sight.
Aria rested her head on Drakkin’s shoulder and released a weary sigh. “Will they send another assassin after me?”
“You’re a secret they were trying to suppress. That secret will soon be common knowledge. Killing you now would serve no purpose, except speeding them toward interplanetary war.”
“Even if we expose the Rodytes, how will we avert a war?”
“By shining light into the darkness.”
She smiled and turned to face him. “That’s rather poetic.”
“I mean it literally. The Shadow Assassins are only one of the legacies left behind by the Great Conflict, but they are perhaps the most intolerable. Their lair must be found and their brutality abolished.”
“Do you think Vee’s brother is still alive?”
“It’s unlikely. Still, little is known about the Shadow Assassins.”
“Except for the lives they shatter?”
He nodded and cupped her ch
eek with his palm. “Enough talk of the challenges before us. We’ve accomplished enough for one night. Even the High Queen of Ontariese commended your work.”
She rubbed her cheek against his hand and greedily absorbed the tenderness in his eyes. “My sister is impressive.”
“As are you.” Covering her mouth with his, he poured affection across their telepathic link. She combined it with her own and passed it back to him. She parted her lips, encouraging him to deepen the kiss. With a throaty chuckle, he pulled back and turned her toward the empty seats. “Take a bow, my love. This show is over. It’s time to go home.”
Epilogue
“This is outrageous!” Lilt dar Joon slammed his palms against the tabletop as his voice rang out in the council chambers. “I have accepted every compromise and bowed to each mandate until the youth of my House have risen up against me.”
“The evidence is incontrovertible.” Charlotte’s calm response made his outburst seem all the more inappropriate.
Aria looked at each member of the Joint High Council, trying to judge their reactions. Their expressions ranged from disappointment to disgust. None held compassion for Lilt dar Joon.
“We all know Bilarrians have abilities beyond those of our Mystics. What’s to say Lord Drakkin didn’t alter the memory stream or—”
“What motivation do I have for creating this drama? The Rodytes are the only ones who would have benefited from Aria’s death.” His tone was more cutting than Charlotte’s yet far more composed than Lilt’s.
“If the memory stream is accurate, you should be arrested for murdering Noll!” Lilt turned to the other council members. “Did you not hear her pleas for mercy, her attempts to cooperate?”
“We saw a desperate traitor spouting lies,” Legate cet Malaque said to a chorus of murmured agreement.
“They were not lies,” Lilt snarled. “Noll has a daughter.”
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