"Are the rifle-bots hidden and set to fire?" I asked.
"They are—the moment anyone else appears inside the woman's cell or tampers with the lock outside it."
"Good. I know it's barbaric to display your dead enemy's carcass on the palace walls, but I've never been so tempted to do it in my life. V'ili is responsible for too many deaths to count, and I want to show Vardil Cayetes what's coming his way."
"You can always put images on the criminal sites. Offer a price for Vardil Cayetes after that; he'll no longer have V'ili to place obsessions for him. He'll be left with mute Sirenali who can't do anything for him except hide his sorry ass." Kooper wasn't mincing words.
"Agreed. The moment we have a confirmed kill, we let Vardil know he's vulnerable."
"I'm off, then, to supervise the killing of someone who's had it coming for a very long time," Kooper rose and stretched.
"Keep me informed," I said.
"Will do."
* * *
Star Cruiser Hellion
Zaria
"Nobody at the compound has the poison sickness," I said shortly after I'd folded back to the ship. There were Sirenali somewhere in the compound; probably dead, since I didn't see any of them as I swept invisibly throughout the place searching for anyone affected by the poison.
I could have appeared inside Juut of Kelburr's treasury and pulled everything he kept there away with me, but that wasn't following the plan.
I'd gone to the six-bed berth where Ilya and the others were staying to deliver my news—after adding my shields to Ilya's so nobody would hear.
"What sort of protection does he have?" Flyer asked.
"He has three warlocks and strong spells laid on just about everything," I said. "Crime pays very well if you're Juut of Kelburr."
"We need a vampire mister," Flyer muttered. "They can get past all of that easily.
"Too late for that now," Ilya said, his words dry.
"I know. I have no idea how Velker thinks he can get in and out unscathed."
"It's his funeral, not ours," Turtle pointed out. "I just can't come up with any reason to go back to Tamp with the news that he didn't survive and we did. We have to stick with this unless there's no other choice. Getting rid of those containment spheres is now considered top priority."
I didn't say what I was thinking, and honestly, I wouldn't consider Changing What Was for filth like Velker under normal circumstances. The thought of expending that power on him if it became necessary made me ill.
"We'll follow his lead," I said aloud. "To see where he takes us."
"We don't have a choice," Ilya agreed.
* * *
Le-Ath Veronis
ASD Criminal Detention Facility
Kooper Griff
Those replacing the humanoid crew were in position and carefully disguised. We were merely waiting for V'ili to either walk in or fold in, depending on how confident he felt regarding the location of the decoy's cell.
Our plan concerning V'ili was flawless.
Lissa has a saying about best laid plans.
* * *
Kelburr
Ilya
As much as I hate traveling by starship, I hated the small, onboard shuttles more. They were generally cramped with six people aboard. Velker crammed the five of us plus two of his treasure-hunting assistants into the one selected to take us to Kelburr's surface.
Zaria ended up on Bleek's lap, with no safety belt wrapped around her. She could fold space, but I silently cursed Velker anyway for ignoring her safety like that.
I didn't add what else I was thinking—that Zaria could have sat on my lap. My stubbornness and false morals were coming around to face me head on, and I didn't like what I was seeing.
Velker's assistants never complained on the ride to the surface, but spilled out of the shuttle first, once we landed in a secluded spot.
"Witch, you'll transport us to Juut's compound," Velker turned toward Zaria. I'm sure she already knew what he intended, but he'd said the word witch as if it were a curse. He'd been spurned and he didn't like it. I worried that he'd attempt to harm Zaria and Bleek as a result.
He could ask Tamp to release them.
I needed her.
That revelation shone a light on the starved parts of my heart and brain. If she went, the rest of us went, too.
Velker's only redeeming quality was his experience and treasure hunting ability. Fuck him; we could hunt the containment spheres on our own.
* * *
Le-Ath Veronis
ASD Criminal Detention Facility
Kooper
V'ili walked right past the guards as if he owned the place. They'd been instructed to go about their business as if he weren't there.
That's exactly what they did. Nothing looked out of the ordinary to V'ili, who was so comfortable walking in that he could have danced a jig and nobody would have paid attention. He walked straight to the trans-vator, pressed a button and stepped into it.
The doors jerked once before closing; I had no idea at the time what had caused that, other than the usual mechanical malfunction. I made a mental note to have the trans-vator checked later and sent mindspeech to Lissa, telling her that V'ili had just walked into our trap.
I folded space down to the holding cells after that, setting myself down at a location near the end of the hall where the decoy's cell was located.
I was out of range of the rifle-bots, but placed a shield about myself anyway. Getting hit by flying debris is never comfortable.
I heard the trans-vator come to a stop. A few moments later, V'ili strode down the hall, heading straight for the decoy's cell.
It's working, I sent to Lissa, and that's when everything blew up in my face.
* * *
Le-Ath Veronis
Queen's Hospital
Quin
"His life is hanging by a thread. Will you help?" Lissa pleaded. She wanted this outlaw kept alive, so she could ask questions, no doubt.
I could likely read most everything in his face, but a life was a life. Besides, Queen Lissa had done so much for me, I would do this for her.
At least it wasn't V'ili.
That coward had folded space the moment the rifle-bots opened fire, killing eleven of the twelve men who'd walked in with V'ili. The twelve had been so heavily shielded by some sort of new technology that even the vampires on duty had failed to hear or scent them as they passed.
Kooper, who walked with Lissa and me toward the hospital room containing the prisoner, looked as if he'd attempted to tug his hair out by the roots.
The twelve men were clearly not connected to V'ili. They'd merely arrived at the same moment and were caught in the trap that Kooper and Lissa laid for the Sirenali.
My wings rustled at my back at the thought of how close we'd been to killing V'ili. With him, there was no thought of capture; he could fold space in a blink and had done so to get away from the detention facility.
Somewhere, I imagined Vardil Cayetes was furious and plotting his revenge against the ASD and Le-Ath Veronis.
"Here we are," Lissa led me into the room where the man lay, barely clinging to life. In a short while, without powerful intervention, he'd die. I went straight to him, laid my hands on his chest where the greatest damage was and went to work, filling the room with light as I did so.
* * *
Lissa
"He's sleeping," I held up a hand to answer Kooper's question before he asked it. "Quin says we should treat him well, and no, she didn't elaborate further."
"Name?" Kooper barked.
"She wouldn't give me that, either. Says it's important that she be there when he's well enough to be questioned."
"Fuck," Kooper settled his tall frame onto the sofa inside my study, his bulk making the leather creak as he shifted into a comfortable position and crossed his legs. I could see his exhaustion from where I sat.
"Tell me about the technology they used—Tony didn't hear or scent them when they
walked past his station."
"It's something I've never seen before," Kooper raked fingers through his hair, which already looked wild and unkempt.
"Did you recover any of it?"
"Hell, no. It got blasted to bits, like the eleven other bodies the rifle-bots fired on. Bloody mess left behind, too. We've gone through the security images a hundred times. Nothing was recorded, other than the trans-vator doors bumping back open, probably because the last of them were angling for positions around V'ili without crowding him."
"We need that technology," I said, before realizing that Kooper was already ahead of me on that quarter. He was on a mission, now; I could see the determined look in his eyes.
"How long before the prisoner wakes?" Kooper asked.
"No idea—Quin said to let him sleep until he woke on his own. She's staying at the hospital with Berel, Lafe and Terrett. She wants to be there when he wakes."
"I'll give her a few minutes, but afterward, either she or he has to answer my questions," Kooper gruffed.
"I'll come, too," I said.
"I can control myself," Kooper insisted.
"And I'll make sure that remains true," I said.
* * *
Queen's Hospital
Quin
I'd fallen asleep with my head on Lafe's shoulder. Sleeping while sitting is always uncomfortable when you wake.
"He's waking," Terrett walked up and handed me a cup of tea.
"How do I look?" I asked, shoving back hair before taking the cup Terrett offered.
"You look fine. Beautiful. Shake out your wings, love, and let's see what the prisoner has to say," Berel grinned.
I did shake out my wings—the feathers tended to flatten whenever I slept on them. Some mornings, I felt like a hen who'd just gotten off the nest when I rolled out of bed and ruffled my feathers.
The four of us walked past the vampire guards at the prisoner's door and into the room, where the prisoner was just discovering that he'd been shackled to the bedrails.
"Don't worry about that," I waved a hand at the concern on his face.
"Who are you?" he demanded.
"Captain Lenk, I'm the one you were actually hunting," I replied. "The black-winged woman is just a disguise I wear at times. Vardil Cayetes has only seen that version of me."
Lenk's face drained of color when I said his name. The identity chip he'd worn had another name attached to it, but it was a disguise, too.
"Why are you telling me this?" I could see easily enough that he expected to die on Le-Ath Veronis. "What about my men?" he whispered.
"There wasn't enough left to save," I admitted. "I'm sorry. The ASD were hoping to kill the man you got on the trans-vator with. They had no idea you were there at all."
"Who was he?"
"Vardil Cayetes' right hand," I snorted. "If we'd taken him down, Cayetes would be vulnerable. Now, I imagine that Cayetes is plotting to kill all of us because we laid a trap for V'ili."
Kooper and Lissa walked into the room at that moment. "Are you ready to talk?" Kooper directed his words to me, first. He knew I could read Captain Lenk as easily as a book.
"Yes. Captain Lenk may have done us a favor, Director Griff," I said. "If we handle things correctly, we may be able to get to Cayetes from another direction."
* * *
Kelburr
Ilya
Zaria had her shields up and tight about the five of us as Velker employed the gadget he had. He claimed it would get us past everything in Juut's compound, including his warlocks.
I had no faith whatsoever in that gadget.
As for Zaria, I could see she was skeptical, too.
That's why all our jaws dropped when Velker strode confidently through the front gates of the compound, past guards armed with ranos rifles and right through the invisible shields placed by Fourth and Fifth-level warlocks.
Velker veered around the front of the fortress, heading for a side door, no doubt. I learned quickly that he was walking toward the side kitchen entrance, where food deliveries were taken.
We strolled right past kitchen helpers accepting a load of fresh produce and into the kitchen itself.
Fuck me, Bleek breathed into my mind.
I hope that's not an invitation, I replied. Although I was about to say something similar.
Not an invitation, I assure you. Juut's got some spoils of war, wouldn't you say? Bleek nodded toward a sword collection covering an entire wall of the room we walked through.
Two of those may be Falchani made, I said. I'd have to get close to know for sure.
Velker now led us toward a staircase that would take us down to the lower level. The treasury is on the next floor down, Zaria informed us. It has major spells and security equipment around it. This will put Velker's gadget to the test.
It was obvious when we walked through the kitchen that Velker's contraption muted sound as well as hiding us from sight. The stairs creaked as we went down them—they weren't used often, because a freight-vator stood next to the door to the stairwell.
The freight-vator was locked and likely keyed to only a few in Juut's employ. I'm sure Velker could have gotten past those measures with another of his gadgets, but the elevator opening would have given us away immediately. The stairs were a much better option.
Yes, we were passing guards, servants and concubines on the way to the treasure vault. None of them realized we walked right past them. Whoever designed Velker's device was a genius, and the first person I intended to tell about it was Director Griff.
After all, if this was available to criminals, he needed to know about it. Something like this could put all his agents in danger. Hell, it could put anyone in danger.
I hoped the ASD could devise something to circumvent the technology, or we'd all end up losing, I think. The thought of this technology in Cayetes' hands concerned me greatly.
Here's the door, Zaria said, breaking me away from my morbid thoughts. Velker had stopped outside the door. I waited to see how well his unlocking mechanism worked.
Calling this a door was like calling a Fifth-level warlock a magician. It was huge, made of a titanium alloy if my guess were correct and had to be as thick as Bleek's shoulders were wide.
There were six separate locking devices on it, too.
Smart of Juut to install this one; if Velker opened one lock, the others would send a warning to the guards. I imagined that only Juut held the proper combination for this door, and in a separate location, to ensure that thieves who'd gotten this far would get no farther.
That's when Velker turned to Zaria and motioned her forward. He intended for her to get him inside the vault.
I didn't like it that he only intended for the two of them to go inside. Keep your shields up, baby, I warned as Zaria moved forward. I watched her hesitate and her shoulders stiffen when I spoke the endearment, before she moved forward again and grasped Velker's arm.
They disappeared.
* * *
Zaria
Leave it to Ilya to unsettle me just as I was transporting asshole Velker into Juut's treasure vault. I wanted to shake off the memory of grasping Velker's arm to get him inside; I wanted no part of him on my skin, including the cloth and leather he wore.
He was no rugged, rogue archaeologist like I'd seen in motion pictures from old Earth. He was a murderous jerk who'd collect his own mother's bones if she had any worth as an artifact.
I watched Velker carefully as he walked from shelf to shelf, drooling over what Juut had stashed away. I'm sure Tamp had instructed him carefully to only take what he'd asked for. Velker's pockets would be bulging if that weren't the case.
He was searching for the containment sphere and so far hadn't found it. I hadn't found it either, and that meant Sirenali involvement in some way. That's why I went looking for bones. With the time Velker was taking, carefully examining each bit of treasure and cataloging it in his mind, we could be there for a week.
* * *
Queen's Palace
, Le-Ath Veronis
Lissa
"You asked for me, my Queen?" Halimel, one of the Rith Naeri, stood before my desk. Yes, Kooper and I were allowing our prisoner some rest, and Quin time to gather her thoughts and present her case for him in a meeting later tonight.
In the meantime, I had a request for a mister to fulfill. Kell would have been the ideal candidate, but he was on a separate mission. Halimel was my second choice. He'd already received my blood; he only needed misting ability before I sent him to Ilya and Zaria.
"Halimel, I have a sensitive assignment for you. I've gotten a request for a misting vampire who can walk in daylight, so his vampirism won't be evident. I believe the ability to place compulsion won't go amiss, either."
"I don't mist, lady Queen," he bowed respectfully.
"Yet," I pointed a finger at him. He blinked at me in surprise.
* * *
Kelburr
Zaria
Why would Juut keep bones? I sent mindspeech to Velker. He knew even the weakest witch or warlock had mindspeech, it's just that he'd never gotten anything from Tamp's warlocks, who held him in contempt.
He couldn't send back, but his head jerked in my direction when the words settled into his brain.
He immediately came to see what I'd meant.
Juut had carefully placed the containment sphere, upon which his warlocks had placed layer after layer of shielding spells, inside a nest of Sirenali bones he'd set inside a sewn-leather bowl. It was a macabre nest where they rested, and it made me wonder what Juut intended to do with all of it.
The bones were worth a ransom, if you wanted to hide something from the powerful; the containment sphere and the poison inside it could be used to blackmail or kill—people or planets, it didn't matter which.
Velker drew in a breath before pulling a gadget from a pocket and tapping a button on the small device.
He was deactivating the security mechanism the nest rested upon. Otherwise, an alarm would be triggered when those things were removed. Velker's gadget worked efficiently, deactivating the electronic security employed.
Once the security was shut off, Velker moved in to reverently touch the bones before reaching in to lift the treasure away.
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