by J. D. Monroe
“Help her with what?” Dyadra asked sharply. Disapproval practically dripped from her pursed lips and furrowed brow.
“They’d set up another facility in Texas,” he said. “We shut it down and grabbed some of their people. She didn’t care what happened to her afterward, as long as their prisoners were safe.”
“They arrived here a little before you did,” Piryne said quietly. Rosak glanced at her. “Sorry, sir, I didn’t get a chance to fully brief you before Mr. Rimewing arrived this morning. The Gatekeepers at Stormcrest were able to book a private flight out of Atlanta to escort them here. The patients weren’t nearly as bad as the ones we brought out of New York, so most of them are resting in the Emerald Wing while we make arrangements.”
“Thank you. And the Chosen prisoners?” Rosak asked.
“In the dungeon,” Piryne confirmed. “I doubled security on them.”
“It could still be a trap,” Dyadra said.
He shook his head. “We took in one of the highest ranked members of the Chosen,” he said. “That’s a big play for a trap. I know you don’t trust my judgment, but I think she’s really turned. I don’t think Marlena knew what they really intended for her until we went to Natar. Once she saw it, she was determined to make up for what they were doing.”
“She’s one of the white dragons, isn’t she?” Sohan said.
He shook his head. “Not yet.”
“Marlena’s markings are the same as the girl who came through the Gate,” Sohan said. “And the power sounds awfully similar.”
“The process is incomplete,” Velati said. “She’s still incredibly powerful, but she’s not a dragon yet.”
“If we could finish those marks, imagine having one of those creatures on our side,” Rosak mused.
Velati shook his head. “No.”
The other man scowled at him, but Dyadra spoke up before they could start arguing. “If you want her to prove herself, have her interrogate the prisoners who are immune to us,” Dyadra said. “Put that compulsion to good use.”
“Hell, have her question our people,” Sohan said. “I’ve suspected a leak for a while, and the guy at Stormcrest only makes it more likely. Where there’s one, there’s probably a dozen. Like fucking cockroaches.”
Rosak hesitated. His assistant, Piryne, leaned forward and shook her head vigorously. “Forgive my interjection, sir, but I think that would be a bad idea.”
“Why?” Sohan asked.
“I listen. People are already on edge about the Chosen,” she said. “It’s already going to be hard enough when word spreads that one of them is here with us. If you let her interrogate our own people…” She shook her head.
“If they’re not hiding anything, what do they have to fear?” Sohan asked.
“I understand what she’s saying,” Dyadra said. “It’s not a bad idea, but I think it could cause more problems than it solves. Especially if it turns out you don’t have a leak. No one wants to be under someone’s control.”
Velati snorted in derision. “We’ve done it for centuries,” he said. “You just don’t want to be on the receiving end of it.”
She glared at him. “Of course I don’t. I’d do it if you asked. But you have a bunch of people here who’ve never been through war. If you start violating their will for safety, they’re going to be bitter and resentful. Not the situation you want to be in with war on the horizon.”
“I agree,” Rosak said. “But I do want her to question the Chosen prisoners. Dornan still hasn’t given up anything, even with some…persuasion.”
Velati rolled his eyes. “If you’re man enough to torture him, then call it that.”
Rosak scowled at him. “Fine. If the girl—”
“Marlena,” he corrected.
“If Marlena can make him talk, then so be it,” Rosak said. He glanced at his tablet. “Piryne, make a note. Have a secure room arranged, and we’ll start in the morning.”
“Yes, sir,” she said.
“I also wanted to let you three know that the Conclave has been confirmed,” Rosak said. “For the sake of security, only a few people have been given a date and time, but I would ask that you don’t leave the premises for the next few days. You’ll be alerted right before it begins. I’d like to have information to present to the queens.”
“Then Marlena should get to work,” Velati said.
Rosak just nodded. “Thank you for coming. I’ll be in touch.”
As the meeting dissolved, Velati, Sohan, and Dyadra lingered in the conference room. Piryne paused. “Do you all need something else?”
“Some privacy,” Dyadra said brusquely. As the other woman’s face fell, Dyadra winced, softening her tone. “Please.”
Still looking stung, Piryne hurried out and closed the door behind her. In the silence, two pairs of glinting eyes pinned him. He’d been on the receiving end of this glare too many times. “What?” He knew what.
“I want you to appreciate that I didn’t ask you this in front of Rosak,” Sohan said. “Are you sure you’re thinking straight?”
“I’m not thinking with my dick,” Velati said. “For fuck’s sake.”
“That’s not what I asked you, and it’s not what I asked you before,” Sohan said.
Dyadra gave him a skeptical look, then shrugged. “Maybe he’s not, but that’s exactly what I’m asking you. Are you defending her because you’ve got feelings for her?”
“No,” Velati said.
“So you have no feelings for her whatsoever?” Dyadra asked. “None at all?”
“That’s…come on, serani,” he complained.
Her face fell. “Velati, you can’t be serious. Don’t get attached.”
“I know,” he said. “But I do care about her. I can’t help it. You asked. I’m telling you the truth.”
“There are plenty of women out there,” Dyadra said. “I mean, she’s pretty, but I can find you a dozen beautiful women that would happily hang off your arm if that’s what you need.”
“It’s not that,” Velati said. He shook his head. “She’s not a bad person. She’s desperate to belong somewhere and to help people. The Chosen convinced her they were the way, but when she realized what they were doing, it devastated her.”
“So she had a change of heart and realized it was wrong to drain people’s blood until they died. Congratulations on her stunning personal growth,” Sohan said. “You can’t let that cloud your judgment.”
He understood they were speaking the truth, that they weren’t wrong. But they weren’t right either. “She’s got no one she can trust now,” Velati said. “Those people isolated her for the last decade, and now every bit of that is gone. No friends, no family, no home. She gave all of it up because she believed me. She jumped off a cliff because I said I’d catch her. And I’m not going to let her fall.”
“So you care for her like a general cares for his soldiers,” Dyadra said. “Or a brother and sister, even.” He didn’t bother speaking. He knew she wouldn’t miss the look in his eyes. “Velati, I’m warning you. Be careful.”
“I will,” he said.
“I trust you to make the right decision, brother,” Sohan said. “But I’ll warn you, there’s already talk floating about your allegiance. Tread carefully and remember there are eyes on you again.”
He glared at Sohan. “People here have been gossiping about me for fifty years. What the hell else is new?”
Sohan laughed, a bitter sound. “No shit,” he said. “Just keep it in mind. We can flex a bit around here, but if you also start shacking up with one of them, it’s going to make things more difficult for you.”
“Get the information out of her,” Dyadra said. “But don’t let her dig her claws into your heart. That’s all I’m saying.”
“Your advice is noted,” he said. “Are we all done? Do you want to interrogate me any further?”
“Don’t be shitty,” Sohan said. “We’ve been through too much to be anything but honest with each other.”
“I know,” he said.
He let her pull him down to kiss his cheeks before wrapping her arms around him. Her chest vibrated against his. “If she hurts you, I will kill her. Slowly.”
“Dyadra…” he said.
She pulled away and shrugged. “What?”
He shook his head. “You can’t kill everyone who mistreats us.”
She flashed him a toothy grin. “Says who?”
Two hundred years, and she could still make his blood run cold. “Hey, can I ask you a favor without igniting another interrogation?”
“What?”
“Unless I go home, I’m out of clothes, and Marlena has nothing here,” Velati said. “Do you think your kid is up for some shopping?”
The interrogation room was slightly larger than her cell, with a folding table and a chair on either side. The man sitting across from her might have been handsome a few weeks ago. His green eyes were remarkable, and his strong jaw wasn’t quite concealed by his unkempt beard. But his skin was pale, his cheeks gaunt after his extended stay in a cell.
Marlena had heard his name among the Chosen but had never met him. This was Dornan, the man who ran Lab A in North Carolina, nicknamed the Farmhouse. He was highly regarded, and his failure to maintain the Farmhouse had sent a shockwave of fear through the Chosen. The fall of Lab A was how Marlena ended up at Lab B. To think, if he’d stopped the Kadirai incursion, she might still be blissfully ignorant. She’d never have met Velati.
With slumped shoulders and downcast eyes, Dornan looked like a lost child. His wrists were marked in shades of purple and greenish-yellow, like he’d been violently straining against bindings. Considering what the Chosen had done to their prisoners, she had a hard time sympathizing with his plight.
A small wireless earpiece was nestled into Marlena’s ear, connecting her to Rosak in the next room. “Get started,” the gruff male voice ordered. She was surprised he’d agreed to let her help them, especially since it meant removing the manacles from her wrists. She hadn’t been surprised a bit when he promised to put a bullet in her brain if she crossed him.
“Look at me,” Marlena said.
Even without a compulsion, Dornan looked up at her, dark-ringed eyes distant. “Haven’t we been through this?” His voice was painfully hoarse. “Can we skip to the part where you hurt me and get it done with faster? I’m fucking tired.”
She calmly pushed up her sleeves and let a fragment of power flow through her, igniting the marks with an ember-like glow. His eyes widened. “Not today.”
“How the…”
She grabbed his hands, clasping them between hers as she caught his gaze. He tried to look away, but her power seized him, wrapping around his will, braiding into it like a tangling vine. “Tell me the truth, Dornan,” she said. “What are the Chosen planning?”
“To end the corruption of the Kadirai,” Dornan said, his voice dreamy.
“Be specific,” Rosak said in her ear.
“Specifically,” she said. “What were you doing at the Farmhouse?”
“Blood collection,” Dornan said. “We processed it on site. We sent most of it to the workshop in Tulsa, but some was sent straight to Haven for the Aesdar rituals.”
The glowing purple liquid they’d made her drink before the marking rituals…her stomach heaved as the realization dawned on her. Stay focused, she told herself. “Were you planning to attack somewhere?”
“Everywhere.”
“When? Where?” Rosak asked.
“When? Where?” Marlena repeated.
Dornan shrugged. “That’s not my job.”
“Tell me,” she commanded. Her head pounded with the effort of intensifying the compulsion.
His pupils dilated, nearly concealing the green irises. “I’m telling you the truth.” There was no resistance left in him. “I had a limited scope. My job was to keep the elixir flowing for whatever Master Sidran wanted. He was determined to put at least another dozen Aesdar in play by the end of the year.”
“Who’s Sidran?” Rosak asked.
“The head of the Chosen,” Marlena answered.
A smile split his pallid face. “For one of his Aesdar to turn…I can’t imagine what he’ll do to you.”
She scowled at him, hoping it masked the fear trickling into her mind. “I don’t belong to Sidran.”
“Stupid girl. We all belong to him,” Dornan said. “You more than anyone. His mark is all over your skin.”
She shook her head. “Do the Chosen have people undercover in Skyward Rest?”
“You, apparently.”
She dug her fingers into his wrist and let the white flame peel away from her arm, tickling at his skin. He maintained his gaze, but his eyes betrayed the pain. “Tell me.”
“Probably,” he said. “I don’t know for sure.”
The rest of the interview was fruitless; though Rosak filled her ear with questions, Dornan couldn’t give them anything else. His service to the Chosen was focused on his facility. After a month of imprisonment, he knew little about their current operations.
“Enjoy your last few days,” Dornan said as they led him out of the room. “I wish I could be there to see how Sidran punishes your betrayal.”
“Ignore him,” Rosak said.
Easy for him to say. It was bad enough to picture Catrina’s disappointment and Mr. Lang’s cold anger. She knew it would be bad. But she hadn’t even thought of Master Sidran.
A pleasant smell drifted into the room. Marlena looked up to see Rosak’s lieutenant, Piryne, at the door with a cup of coffee. “We had pumpkin spice in the lounge,” she said. “I hope that’s okay. It’s a bit strong.”
“That’s fine,” Marlena said. She accepted the cup and took a sip. The pumpkin spice was cloying and overwhelming, but the caffeine was welcome. “Thank you.”
The other woman nodded and left the room. The door was open, a small gesture that gave Marlena hope that she might gain their trust eventually. A pleasant buzz of typing and quiet conversation drifted from the bullpen down the hall.
She hadn’t seen Velati since he delivered pillows and blankets the previous afternoon, and had been rather disappointed when it was Rosak and his lieutenants that brought her out of her cell that morning. But after the tense standoff earlier that day, she decided to keep her mouth shut and save him some potential trouble.
Scuffing of feet preceded the next arrival. Marlena’s stomach threatened to turn inside out as Arianna DeRode shuffled into the room. Bruises marked her face and throat. Her wrists were manacled with a pair of silver cuffs. Her dark eyes swept over Marlena.
“I fucking knew it,” she said. “I told Rainer to kill you, but he wouldn’t listen. Couldn’t lose one of the precious Aesdar.”
“Hello, Arianna,” Marlena said, hoping her fear didn’t leak into her voice.
“After all we did for you? This is what you do?” Arianna said. Her disheveled hair and blotchy face were a stark contrast to her usual polished appearance. Even so, her voice was strong and defiant.
“Shut her up,” Rosak said.
Marlena took a deep breath and touched the digital recorder to start a new recording. “I’m speaking to Arianna DeRode, researcher in charge of Lab B and more recently, the unnamed facility in Texas. Arianna is one of three Elders that report directly to Sidran. She oversees elixir operations.”
“I don’t know how you survived the process as long as you did,” Arianna said. “You’re not worthy of his blessing.”
Marlena traced one swirling line of red on her left hand. “Someone disagrees with you,” she said. Before she could spit more insults, Marlena grabbed Arianna’s hand and seized her will. “You’re going to tell me the truth
about everything I ask you.”
“Fuck you,” Arianna said. Her resistance lashed back on Marlena, sending a sensation like hot needles down her spine. Marlena gritted her teeth, visualizing her power as thin white tendrils. The sinuous tendrils caressed the surface of Arianna’s mind, finding every crevice and crack to pry apart, to invade. Arianna’s spine went ramrod straight as Marlena broke through.
“There you are,” Marlena said. She didn’t have to be touching Arianna, but a nasty part of her liked seeing the other woman squirm. “Are there any other facilities for draining the Kadirai?”
Arianna’s face twisted into a grimace, but her lips seemed to move of their own accord. “No more,” she said. “The one in Henderson was an emergency set up to finish what we had. We’ve got enough elixir stockpiled that we can move into Ascavar and then collect on a more short-term basis.”
“You mean just killing people outright and draining them,” Marlena said.
“Yes,” Arianna said flatly. “It’s less efficient but much easier. Less maintenance.” She hated the casual way Arianna spoke, like they were dealing with car engines instead of living beings.
“What about weapons?” Rosak asked.
“How about weapons? What have you been making?”
“The Elegy is the big one,” Arianna said. “Our engineers have developed a metal coating called theoline that’s poisonous to the Kadirai. Any standard weapon is being plated with it, and we’ve also made explosives that spray it.”
“Anything else?” Marlena asked.
“Sidran has talked about something big they’re working on in Ascavar, but I don’t know what it is,” Arianna said. “When he asks for more raw material, I provide it.”
“What are they planning now?” Marlena said.
Arianna tilted her head. “You know that. To restore justice and balance. To see the corruption of the dragons end, so the innocent of the world can thrive.”
“Not the bullshit answer,” Marlena said.