Inside Straight

by Mark Henwick

  “Wonderful.” Bian closed her eyes and sighed. “Not persuaded yet.”

  I’d known that already. I could see Gabrielle’s jaw tightening. She’d stand and argue the rest of the day, if she was allowed to.

  “We need to think about the rest of it for a moment,” I said. “The Empire of Heaven and Matlal. All they’ll have seen is Tullah’s kidnapping. No dragon present. But either they’ll be intrigued enough to try and take Tullah from Weaver, or they’ll be watching us and waiting to spring traps of their own.”

  Bian nodded. “We have to talk this through with Skylur,” she said, eyes flicking to me. “He’s been asking to talk to you.”

  I could imagine the tone of that asking.

  I reached for my cell before remembering it wasn’t there. Yelena had taken it.

  “Oh, shit. He didn’t call my cell, did he?”

  “He did,” Bian said.

  I winced. “What did Yelena say?”

  “Oh, she was very polite. Told him to take a number.”

  “There are more calls?”

  “David, for one. And your mother. Probably the same topic.” Bian shook her head. “Then Alex and Jen. And Zane. And your shoemaker, I hear. You need to talk to the boss first. I’ll go set up the conference system rather than use your cell phone.”

  She turned on her heel.

  “What about me?” Gabrielle asked.

  Bian turned back. “I can see you’re telling the truth, as you know it. But for the moment, consider yourself my prisoner.”

  The sparky Gabrielle rallied and tried to show she wasn’t scared.

  “Going to tie me up in your dungeon, then?”

  Wrong person to say that to.

  Bian’s eyes went all smoky. “I hadn’t thought of that,” she said, slowly. “What a good idea.”

  Chapter 59

  The conference system in Haven was a windowless room with a huge screen on one side, and a conference table in front of it.

  The two of us pulled up chairs and sat, and Bian dialed a number on a pad in front of her.

  The screen cleared to show a luxury penthouse apartment with the lights of New York skyscrapers in the background.

  The tone announcing the connection was still dying away when Skylur appeared and sat down.

  He was wearing a suit. I’d seen him in different clothes before, and always I’d thought how unexceptional he looked. Until you saw the eyes. Today, in the suit, he looked like a very powerful man who was very angry.

  “I’ve had the bare bones of it from Bian,” he said without any greeting. “Update me, Amber.”

  “We failed to get Tullah back. We acted because of the concerns—”

  “Yes, I know. It might become difficult to move Kaothos if we wait any longer, and you had some justifiable concerns that Weaver could track where Tullah was, given time.”

  “And we didn’t entirely trust the Northern Adept League.”

  He caught my slight hesitation. “Which was justified?”

  I spread my hands. “The coven itself... don’t know. We have one of the coven here, and Bian and I think she’s telling the truth when she says they didn’t intend to betray us.”

  “She’s telling the truth as she knows it,” Bian added.

  “What does the New York Hecate say?” I asked. “She’s equivalent in rank, as I understand it.”

  “Indeed,” Skylur said. “I haven’t spoken to her face to face. In a telephone conversation, she said that she knew nothing of any intended betrayal. However, she also said that the dragon is of such significance that Hecate Gwendolyn Enkeliekki would commit any act to ensure the dragon is protected.”

  Bian snorted. “Protected from people she decides the dragon needs to be protected from.”

  “Yes, that is the problem, isn’t it.” Skylur sighed. “Wouldn’t it be easier if the dragon just stayed with Diana?”

  It would be easier for some people and not for others. I kept that to myself.

  “Any reaction from the Empire?” Bian asked.

  “No. They wouldn’t show their hand this early, whatever they deduced from what happened.” Skylur looked thoughtful. “They might even think we were running some kind of trap to draw Matlal out. And Matlal himself... we can’t be any more vigilant, but I’ll have to accelerate the project of sending Ops 4-10 troops to every House to ensure we’re strong enough to defend ourselves.”

  Those troops weren’t supposed to know that Diana and Kaothos were in the dungeon. I’d back Bian’s attention to detail on security, but if just one of them had some inkling and it somehow leaked that we’d duped the Empire, the fragile construction which was the Assembly would fall apart. Skylur was balancing risks here.

  “What about what you intend to do, Amber?” Skylur asked.

  I explained our conversation with Gabrielle, who was now in the dungeon. Not tied up yet.

  “I’m going to ask her to do the direction-finding working that the coven was planning on doing, that she says is quiet and safe. She’ll have to find a way to work with our Adepts. I’m sure it won’t be as good as the working the Hecate was intending to do, but I’ll take that as long as it does the job.”

  “It does suggest the Hecate wasn’t betraying you,” Skylur said. “I mean that she left you the means to find Tullah again with Gabrielle.”

  “Or her plan from the beginning—” Bian began, and Skylur stopped her.

  “Too many holes in that, Bian. Let’s imagine Amber has a couple of readings on the direction Tullah is being kept in to triangulate from. Let’s imagine that’s a place, because Adept workings are better at defenses and traps than attacks.” He clapped his hands together. “How wide is that area? What do you do then?”

  “I think it’ll be quite a large area,” I said. “I think precision requires more power than Gabrielle can manage. So I’m going to need people on the ground, searching. Lots of them.”

  I’d been hoping for Ops 4-10.

  Skylur knew that.

  He thought carefully before answering.

  “I won’t empty Haven immediately. Use those you can, while you can. What about the werewolves?”

  “I’ll be getting right on it after this. But remember, they’re also on alert.”

  “Because the Denver pack beat the Confederation last time, and the Confederation needs to show their strength to their own side,” Skylur said. “I understand.”

  “It’s now part of the Southern League, rather than the Denver pack alone,” I said.

  “Ah, yes, of course. I have someone from Felix and Cameron scheduled to visit me. An alpha from Los Angeles. Apparently he wants to transfer his territory to New York. Keen to get into the political scene.”

  Skylur allowed himself the smallest of smiles at the improbability of a Were eagerly getting into politics.

  I snorted. Felix and Cameron had taken my advice.

  Skylur glanced at the tablet on the seat next to him. An alert for his next meeting, no doubt.

  “I authorize Bian to give you everything you need for this, Amber. Apart from more Athanate. My rules about Athanate visiting Colorado will have to stand. And we’ve just spoken about finding Tullah. Not about rescue. Call me again when you have a plan.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “You might keep Diakon Flavia off our backs for a while as well. That would help.”

  “The infusion project.” Skylur stroked his chin. “My Diakon doesn’t know the real reason that Colorado is an exclusion zone, and I’m not about to tell her. No one else outside of your Houses knows about Diana and Kaothos. Not even Naryn or Tarez.”

  He sat forward and picked up his tablet. “If I remove the project overview from her and have you report directly to me, that’s going to make her suspicious. Hmmm. Maybe I will do that.”

  The connection cut.

  Chapter 60

  Having retrieved my cell from Yelena, I found David’s text as cryptic as it was specific: Don’t talk to yr family. My house asap.

  Fi
rst, I got Gabrielle up from the dungeon and put her in a room with Flint, Kane and Alice. I threatened I’d never let them out unless they came up with a way the four of them could perform a safe and covert direction sensing to find Tullah. I gave them a couple of hours.

  Then Yelena drove me to David’s house in Wash Park while I called people back.

  I got through to Alex’s voicemail. Zane didn’t pick up.

  Jen answered. She was between meetings, and she was tired and short-tempered. Not with me. No, with me she was tired and sweet. What set her off was when I mentioned my mom’s attempts to get me on the cell.

  “I’ve just about had it with her,” she snapped.

  “Huh?” My response was short if not terribly clever.

  “Look, honey, I’m sorry, but Alex and I have been playing an unending game of rock-paper-scissors to pick one of us to tell you, and I guess I’m it.”

  “Tell me what?”

  “We both think your mother’s a pain in the ass.”

  “Ahhh...”

  “Anytime anything goes wrong, you have to sort it out. She’s worse than Skylur, and that’s saying something. Nothing you do is ever good enough. Meanwhile Kathleen gets a free pass.”

  “Oh. It’s not really—”

  “Trust me, honey, it is from everybody else’s perspective. Alex and I will smile and be polite and never cause problems to her face for your sake, but we had to tell you at some stage. Kathleen needs help. Fine: give it. Do what you know is good for her, not what your mother says she needs.”

  “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Think on it. I’m being called to the next meeting, honey. I’m sorry, I have to go. I love you.”

  “I love you,” I answered and the connection was cut.

  Yelena had heard every word.

  “Is right,” she said, and waggled her hand. “Like so. Not the whole right.”

  “It’s a surprise,” I said. “I didn’t realize.”

  I could have used eukori to spy on my husband and wife, and then I would have known, but I wouldn’t go down that route.

  And yes, I guessed mom could be a handful. To a third party it wouldn’t look good.

  The wording of David’s text seemed to loom larger. Don’t talk to yr family.

  Luckily, we were already at Wash Park and a couple of streets later, Yelena pulled up in front of David’s old house.

  The yard was covered in snow, and he must have come down here and taken the potted plants inside, because the patio was bare. The lights were on inside, and he was at the door before I’d even had time to knock.

  “Come in,” he said.

  Taylor, Kath’s fiancé, was just inside. “I’m sorry about the mess,” he said nervously, holding his hands up. “I’ll clean it up as quickly as I can.”

  The ‘mess’ was suitcases and plastic bags of clothes. The sort of thing you’d get when someone had to move in a hurry.

  David and Taylor exchanged glances, then Taylor picked up one of the suitcases and disappeared into a bedroom.

  “Where’s Kath?” I asked anxiously. “What’s going on?”

  “Kath’s fine. Asleep inside.” David guided us into the kitchen. “Sit.”

  I sat on the stool next to his breakfast bar, and he put a mug of coffee in front of me.

  “Kath’s pregnant,” he said without preamble. “She and Taylor have been ‘released’ by their company, and it turns out their rental house had a clause in it about continuing employment.”

  “Oh, shit!”

  I nearly fell off the stool. Kath? Pregnant? A blizzard of fears swept over me. An alcoholic who was going to have a baby. An unemployed, homeless alcoholic, possibly in the process of breaking up with her fiancé.

  All happening at the exact time I needed to be concentrating on getting Tullah, Tara and Hana back.

  I got a grip before my mouth took off with a longer reaction. No one ever told me life had to be fair. It just was, and you found a way to deal with it.

  And I sensed there was more.

  I took several deep breaths.

  David was radiating calm, and I trusted him.

  I took a sip of the excellent coffee.

  “Okay,” I said. “I’m ready. Tell me the rest of what’s going on.”

  “First, let me say this: I think this could be a good thing for Kath. Taylor say it’s the shock that they needed.”

  “They needed? I understand the shock to Kath.”

  “Taylor’s words: he’s been acting like a kind of shock absorber, isolating Kath from the issues.” He shrugged. “He hasn’t been able to isolate her from this and that’s made them both realize what he’s been doing. His words again: they aren’t as stupid as they’ve been acting.”

  I frowned. I could hope that was what was going to happen.

  David went on: “Your mother is upset. She wants Kath to move into the house in Aurora, and she’s talking about Kath’s options given they’re not married and—”

  “No one is going to put any pressure on Kath about that!”

  I was amazed by the depth of my reaction. It wasn’t something I’d spent much time actually thinking about, so my response was unfiltered.

  David ducked his head in agreement.

  “Agreed. I’ve told the pair of them they’re taking up Jen’s offer of contract legal work. They’re staying here at a nominal rent.” He gestured. “The place needs someone to look after it, and I don’t have the time.”

  “Thank you.” I reached over and squeezed his hand. “Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. You’re absolutely sure?”

  “Of course.”

  I could see he wasn’t quite finished.

  “What else?” I prompted.

  “Well, we have a problem with Tamanny staying at Manassah. Sooner or later she’s going to walk in on something she shouldn’t see.”

  He was right. What with necks being bitten and Scott possibly trotting around on four legs, let alone the frequent high octane sex, something regrettable was going to happen.

  “Yeah...”

  “I think she should move down here.”

  The surprises were coming fast today. I blinked.

  Actually...

  “What do they think about it?” I could imagine Kath’s reaction to being told she had to be a babysitter, even if Tamanny was a fairly mature teen. Taylor wasn’t that sort of man either, as far as I’d seen.

  David smiled. “They like the idea.”

  “You mean they...” I stopped and lowered my voice to a whisper. “You mean they accepted because the package is a good deal?”

  “No,” David said simply. “I introduced them all, and they like each other. Tamanny thinks Kath having a baby will be the, quote, ‘coolest thing ever’. Also, big news, Tamanny’s new best friend is moving to Wash Park, just a couple of streets away.”

  “Best friend as in Emily Schumacher?”

  I’d been worried about the Schumachers for a long time. Not that I was often at their house, but they were all connected with me, and Emily had already been kidnapped once by Peterson’s troops. We’d had to erase that from her memory. Luckily, it didn’t seem to have caused any lasting effects that time.

  Maybe it was an illusion, but having them only a few minutes away from Manassah felt better than downtown.

  “Yes, Emily,” David confirmed. “You’ve been a little distracted, or you’d have understood how much this means to Tamanny. A little house, a family, a baby on the way, a friend close by and high school. It sounds like heaven to her. After all that shit in LA, she craves this normalcy. She needs it.”

  I could see that, now he’d laid it out. The last thing Tamanny needed was to live in Manassah. On the other hand, she was associated with me and that meant we needed her close by for her own safety.

  David went on: “If they’re here in Wash Park, we can easily keep an eye on all of them. In fact, I’d suggest buying another house nearby and leaving one of the couples from Ops 4-10 down he
re.”

  “If we get allocated any of them,” I said, trying to keep it real. “Skylur’s call. Whether we do or not, thank you, David.”

  “Just doing my bit,” he said, with another little smile and a shrug. “You know. Tell me if I’m poking my nose where it doesn’t belong... but I think the key to getting through to Kath is Taylor. However rocky things have gotten between them, she genuinely seems to trust his judgement.”

  I snorted. “How is that a good thing? I know Kath is irrational, but at least it’s the sort of irrationality I have a chance of predicting. I don’t know anything about Taylor, other than he loves ritzy nightlife like watching the ballet.”

  “You see, there’s a hook already. He’s very pro Jen because of her patronage of the Denver ballet, and if nothing else, Kath’s not seeing Jen in such a negative light anymore.”

  It seemed that my House had managed to find a start to the solution for Kath.

  And Taylor. I’d need to start thinking of them as a genuine item.

  “Anything else you’ve managed to find out about him?”

  David shrugged. “He’s a hotshot in corporate law. The kind that can unravel company agreements and financial deals and tell you the exact closet where all the skeletons are hidden.”

  “Hmm.”

  I got caught up in trying to reimagine Taylor as an asset rather than a liability.

  Yelena was way ahead of me. “Set Taylor to work on Weaver and Denver Adept community,” she said. “Companies, partnerships. We want to know any property he owns.”

  It was an excellent idea.

  I left Yelena to update David on why, and took the opportunity to sneak into the room where Kath was.

  She woke and covered her face with her hands.

  Taylor sat at the end of the bed and tried to comfort her by putting one clumsy hand on her leg.

  I had to do or say something.

  What?

  I had too little experience at this kind of thing. I knelt by the bed and leaned over to kiss the top of her head.

  “Congratulations, sis.”

  I could barely hear her mumbled response. “I’m not going to fuck this up.”