by Kelly Meding
"I'm uncertain if I should call you Evangeline or Chalice," Vale said. "Imagine my surprise when I saw your face on the news as a missing person, and imagine my further surprise when Mr. and Mrs. Frost willingly came here to meet me and speak with their daughter. They are far too trusting, and if you would like to see them alive again, call me back on this phone. You have until noon."
The video ended.
I didn't waste breath or energy expelling the dozen or so expletives roaring through my mind. I didn't even look at Kismet, who was hovering nearby. I hit redial, then put the call onto Speaker.
"You're prompt, Ms. Stone," Vale said. His voice sent cold fingers down my spine.
"You gave me a good incentive to call."
"Indeed. Are you alone?"
"Yes." I trusted Kismet to stay silent for this conversation. "Are you insane? There's a city full of Therians looking for you right now, and you're going to try and blackmail me with hostages?"
"Yes."
"What makes you think they mean anything to me? They aren't my parents."
"I've heard about your resurrection, and I'm not banking on a strong sense of daughterly duty. I'm banking on your training as a Triad Hunter. You protect innocents."
Dammit.
"If you don't want the Frosts hanging from chains like your Hunter friend, you'll pay close attention," Vale said, his voice darker. Angrier.
"I'm listening."
"Right now, Marcellus Dane is being challenged for the position of Pride Elder. Riley will, of course, answer the challenge in his place. I need you to ensure that the fight is lost."
I let loose a surprised snort before I could stop myself. "You can't be serious. I'm not Therian. The Pride won't let me anywhere near that fight."
Traditionally, challenges were fought in a similar manner as old-fashioned human duels. Both sides met in a neutral location, a thirty party—usually an Elder—was there to signal the start of the fight, and witnesses were there in the event that one fighter yielded before they were killed. Because the whole point was to kill the other person. I had no chance of successfully sabotaging Riley—no intention of trying, either.
Vale laughed. "Your perspective is too narrow, Ms. Stone, which proves how little you know about Pride politics."
If that was supposed to be an insult, it didn't deliver. Handling Pride politics was not my job. "So what is it you want from me exactly?"
"By Therian law, if the sitting Elder dies before the official challenge is answered, the position is open to Assembly control. The Assembly can hear nominations and vote on the replacement Elder."
"And let me guess? You have enough friends on the Assembly to get a good pal of yours nominated?"
"Nominated and voted into the position."
"So you want me to what? Assassinate Riley before the official challenge fight?"
"No."
I glanced at Kismet, a little confused. She shrugged. "What then?"
"Riley is simply a stand-in for Marcellus. Since Marcus refused to give up the security codes to the Dane compound, you're going in for me. You've been allowed onto the grounds as a guest because of your relationship with the Coni."
He was right on that count. Joseph, Aurora, and Ava lived with the Danes, and I'd visited them a few times since they had moved to the mansion. The security guards knew me, and they'd let me in without putting up a fuss. Vale was hot-headed and didn't plan well, but he did his research.
And then his plan for me today fell into place with alarming clarity moments before he said it: "Your job, once you're in the Dane compound, is to find Marcellus and kill him"
"No."
"No?"
"Hell no. Do I really need to list all the reasons why that will never happen?"
"You're clever, and you have a few handy powers in your pocket, or so I've heard."
"So you think I'll what? Teleport into Elder Dane's office, cut his throat, and then teleport back out? And no one will be suspicious?"
"I honestly don't care if you're suspected or not, as long as you aren't caught. If you are, you're rogue. One mention of me will result in more of this."
Wood creaked. I heard a sound that might have been fingers snapping, and then a woman screamed. Lori. I squeezed the phone as anger surged through me. Lori kept screaming.
"Stop!" My eyes stung with emotion I didn't understand. "Stop, please."
Her screams dissolved into deep sobs, and then the sound cut off.
"You were saying?" Vale asked.
The Frosts weren't my parents, but the knowledge didn't stop a surge of hate and grief from making my insides shake. I didn't look at Kismet. I had to make this decision on my own. "I do this and you let the Frosts go alive and without further harm?"
"Yes."
"I also want the items you stole from me yesterday."
"What items would that be?"
"The scroll and the leather bag."
"Sorry, Ms. Stone, you'll need to do another favor for those."
"Unless the Felia kill me first."
"That's your issue."
Fantastic.
"You have until noon tomorrow," Vale said. "If you tell anyone about this conversation, I'll be sure to take it out on your parents before handing them back."
"What about Kismet? The woman whose phone you send that photo to?"
"I've already reached an understanding with Ms. Kismet. Noon."
He hung up, and I very nearly threw the phone across the room. Instead, I forced my fingers to unclench and hand it back to Kismet. She watched me with a curious, cautious expression that I mirrored.
"What does he have over you?" I asked.
"That's my problem, Stone."
"Not if it affects the outcome of this whole clusterfuck."
"It won't. Vale thinks he has something to hold over my head and keep me quiet, so I don't connect him to whatever it is he wants you to do. But the bigger picture is more important, Evy. The Assembly, the Watchtower, the vampire cure, it's all more important right now. What happens next is your call."
My mind raced with a dozen different things I could do, different ways to go about solving this particular crisis. I wasn't the planner though. That was always Wyatt's job—to come up with a solution to problems, plan out our defense or offense. And I couldn't risk telling Wyatt what was going on. Not this time. He'd try to stop me or want to help, and I could not allow Vale to torture and murder the Frosts. They'd already lost their daughter; they deserved better than that. But how could I walk onto the Dane compound and murder Marcellus without putting a giant target on my own ass?
"What now?" Kismet asked.
"For now, I need your word that you won't say anything about this. Not to anyone, even yourself. Life as normal. Please?"
"I promise." She frowned. "Evy, what are you going to do?"
"I need to figure out how to assassinate a were-cat without getting my throat ripped out."
Kismet impressed me by shutting up completely about the call and my new task. Two months ago, she would have questioned the hell out of my decisions, maybe even ratted me out to the others. Hell, two months ago I would have refused to let her stay in the room while I spoke to Vale. Showed how far our relationship had progressed from the days of her trying to murder me.
We walked into Operations to a lot of loud chatter. Wyatt looked up from his conversation circle with Astrid and Rufus. I met his eyes and managed to not react to the question in his—I'd taken more time getting to Ops than he expected. I winked, then smiled, and his curiosity settled.
"What's going on?" Kismet asked as we joined the trio.
"Elder Dane has been challenged," Astrid replied. "It's an official challenge through the Assembly, so Riley will fight in his place."
"Who challenged him?" I asked.
"A man named Silva. His true form is a lion."
"So not a Bengal?"
"At this point, none of the Bengals are stupid enough to step forward, but that doesn't mean Silva is
unconnected to Vale."
She had no idea how connected he was to Vale.
"When's the fight?" Kismet asked.
"Noon tomorrow."
Of course it was noon tomorrow. Twenty-four hours before the fate of the Watchtower was decided. "So what are we doing?" I asked.
"The same thing we've been doing," Astrid said. "Searching for Vale."
"We don't just need him for the crimes he's committed," Rufus added. "He also has the items you received from the gnome. We need those things back."
Yet another reason I needed a good plan for this assassination job. I had to be alive in order to do this unknown second favor and get the scroll and medicine pouch from Vale. No pressure.
"I'd also like to send a team down into the sewers near Parker's Palace," Astrid said. "We know the goblins came and went from there last night, so it's possible there's a nest nearby. It may lead us to Nessa's location."
I avoided eye contact, which wasn't like me, but I didn't want her assigning that job to me today. I had other things to do.
"I'd like to take point," Kismet said.
Bless you, Gina.
"All right," Astrid said. "Take six people, good noses and good with blades. Let me know when you're ready to leave."
"Understood." She headed out without another word or look, and I made a mental note to thank her later—if I was alive to manage it.
Wyatt, on the other hand, cornered me as soon as I left Ops. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing except the obvious, why?" I said. I hated lying to him, but I didn't have time for an interrogation.
"I expected you to jump at the chance to do some goblin hunting."
"I think I got my fill last night." Which was partially true. The release of gutting a dozen goblins had felt wonderful, and it was very therapeutic. I'd probably benefit greatly from gutting a few dozen more. "Plus, I want to be available in case Vale is found."
Wyatt nodded. "All right, I can accept that."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I know you better than you know yourself, Evy. Something else is bothering you. Is it the Frosts?"
Oh, baby, you have no idea. "A little, yes. I still don't know how to deal with them."
"Maybe once this challenge business is over with tomorrow, you'll be able to sit down and talk with them."
"Maybe."
"Don't you think you should? Chalice was their daughter. They deserve some sort of closure." Grief flickered in Wyatt's eyes. He took family issues to heart, because his had been taken away so violently when he was still a teenager. His parents and sister were murdered by Halfies, and his twin brother died a few years later in a tragic accident.
On the other hand, I was an only child with no father in the picture. My mother died when I was ten. I probably loved her as much as a kid could love someone who ignored them most days and yelled at them whenever they were actually noticed. She had been more concerned with getting drunk, getting high, and having sex with anything with a penis. I had no frame of reference for loving parents who actually gave a shit about their kids, or a family unit that protected each other. All I ever had was Wyatt and my Triad.
"You're right," I said. "I'll make the effort to talk to the Frosts, I promise."
"Thank you."
"No problem. Listen, I'll catch up with you later tonight, okay?"
"Sure." His eyebrows furrowed. "Where are you headed?"
I swallowed and worked up a smile—if whatever plan I made up on the way went to hell, I might never see him again. I love you, Wyatt, so much. As much as I wanted to say it, the words would sound too much like good-bye. Instead, I simply said, "I'm going to go visit my goddaughter."
I made one stop in Mercy's Lot before heading south. The Dane compound was on the outskirts of the city, in an area south of uptown, full of fancy homes and gated communities. Not quite a mansion, but too huge to be just a house, three stories spread out over a good quarter acre of the five acre, fenced lot. The grounds were free of trees to preserve line of sight, decorated instead with fancily-shaped shrubs and bushes. A large barn in the back was where, according to Marcus, the family could shift and run around without chance of a neighbor spying them in their true form.
A man with black hair and sunglasses hiding what were probably copper eyes was guarding the gate. I identified myself, and he let me inside without question.
So far so good.
A stone driveway led up to the front doors, and I parked off to the side behind two other vehicles. As I climbed out of the car, my nerves hummed. So much was riding on me getting this right. I wasn't wired and wore no weapons, which left me feeling totally naked despite my clothes. Naked, exposed, and ready to jump out of my skin.
The front door opened before I could ring the bell. Aurora's delighted smile curbed some of my guilt over this errand. She threw thin arms around my shoulders in an unexpected hug. Her thick, corkscrew-curled hair was pulled back in a big messy bun, and her clothes looked thrown on without thought to matching. But she was happy, and more than anything, it made me smile.
"I didn't expect you today," Aurora said as she pulled back. "With so much going on in the city, I thought you'd be terribly busy."
"We're doing everything we can," I replied. I followed her into the house's giant foyer, careful to disguise my slight limp. "I was injured last night, so I'm taking it easy today. Don't faint."
She laughed. "You never take it easy."
"Exactly. I figured distracting myself with a visit would be therapeutic."
"And you can check up on the Danes?"
I shrugged. "Maybe. This all revolves around them."
"Too true." She linked her arm through mine and led me into the west side of the house. The hardwood floors gleamed with a fresh coat of polish, and the scent of roasting meat teased my nose. The Dane house always had a homey, lived-in feeling to it, and I'd never regretted my decision to move the Coni survivors here.
"Tell me Ava isn't napping," I said. Even though it wasn't my mission, I wanted to see my goddaughter. To hug her and experience the innocence of a child, if only for a few minutes.
"She's quite awake. Joseph is with her in the playroom."
We went upstairs on a grand, winding staircase. The playroom was the stuff of every small child's dreams: a jungle gym, dozens of toys, even a plastic ball pit, all crammed into a bedroom the size of two Cottage Place apartments. Joseph waved from his perch on one of the swings, his body swaying gently. He was one of the oldest living Therians I knew, and every moment of his life was etched into the wrinkles and lines on his face. His eyes remained sharp, though, and he'd die to protect the two ladies in his care.
A delighted squeal rose up from the ball pit, followed by an explosion of red, yellow, and blue orbs. Ava scrambled out of the pit and across the floor toward me, screeching my name. She hurtled herself at my legs, and I dropped to my knees so I could grab her in a proper hug. Ava had been born in May, putting her at three and a half months old. Due to her Therian physiology, she was the size of a sixteen-month old, steady on her feet and blurting out her first words. She was bigger every time I saw her, and I regretted not being a larger part of her life.
How often does a human get to be godmother to a Coni child?
"Evy, Evy," Ava said, over and over in her pipsqueak voice.
"Hey, cutie." I ruffled her thick curls, the same shiny auburn as her mother's. "I've missed you."
Ava smiled shyly, then raced back over to the ball pit. Had it only been a few months ago that I'd held her and she'd been a day old? It didn't seem possible.
"Hi, Joseph," I said.
"Greetings, Evangeline," he replied. His reedy voice was tighter, rougher than usual. "Have you word?"
It took me a moment to realize he meant word from Phineas. I wasn't the only one he'd left behind. "No, nothing, I'm sorry. This is purely a social call."
He nodded, then returned his attention to Ava and her antics in the pit.
"Phineas is
missed," Aurora whispered when I stood.
"By all of us," I replied. "I wish he would send word."
"As do I. He's missing so much."
Ava was Phin's goddaughter, and he wasn't around to see her growing up—or to protect her, like he'd promised. He'd left me to do it for both of us, and a small part of me resented him for that. They were his people, his family, and he'd left them to chase the smallest hope of finding more Coni alive somewhere in the world.
Aurora took my hand and led me to one side of the playroom, out of earshot of the others. "What's troubling you, Evangeline?"
"That's a pretty long list." I wasn't about to unload the drama of the last few days on her narrow, overburdened shoulders, so I settled on a vague version of the truth. "Some friends are in pain, and I don't know how to help them."
"Do you blame yourself for their pain?"
"Don't I always?"
"Is it your blame to carry?"
"Some of it's mine. Some if it belongs to others."
"Then carry what's yours and leave the rest behind."
Easier said than done.
We watched Ava play for a few minutes in silence before Aurora said, "I hope he returns soon."
"Phin?"
"Yes. Joseph's dying."
Something in my chest squeezed. "He is?"
She blinked hard. "He's lived a long life. He'll pass soon, I think. My hope is that Phineas returns so that they may say good-bye."
"Weeks?"
"Days." She turned wide, tear-filled eyes to me. "I don't know if I can be here without Joseph. The Danes have been kind to us, but they're Felia. We're not natural allies."
"They scare you?"
"Very much. It's a silly instinct, but it's difficult to fight."
"If Phin is able, he'll come home."
"I know." She let out a long, shuddering breath. "It's the thought that he might be unable that terrifies me."
"Me, too." I hugged her, unsure what else to do. "Me, too."
I visited a while longer, until leaving was inevitable. I had a primary reason for coming to the Dane house today, and putting it off wouldn't make it go away. I hugged Ava extra fiercely before I excused myself from the playroom, careful to tell Aurora I could walk myself to the front door.