WarriorsandLovers

by Alysha Ellis

Elijah tried to speak but only a strangled gasp emerged.

  “You’ll have to let him breathe for a bit longer, Tybor,” the woman said.

  “He’s not worthy of the air it takes to keep him alive,” Tybor replied, but he eased the pressure on Elijah’s neck even more. “If you make one move to escape,” he warned Elijah, “Huon will catch you before you’ve taken two steps. No one in this world or the one above can beat him. Don’t try. If you do, I won’t be answerable for the consequences.”

  “My name is Judie Scanlon,” the woman said. “I’m the human you’ve probably heard about. This device has components I designed. I want to know where you got it.” She looked at him with total disgust plain on her face. “I already know what you intended to do with it.”

  “It wasn’t something too bad, was it?” Eora asked, her shaky voice sounding shattered.

  Judie Scanlon looked over at her. “As bad as it can get. It would have released enough poison gas to wipe out everyone in the Underworld.”

  Eora whimpered, a cry of pain. “I trusted you,” she whispered. “I trusted you and you were planning this.”

  “Not anymore,” Elijah protested. “I was coming back here to dismantle the device. I swear it.”

  “Bullshit,” Nieko yelled. “Every word that ever comes out of his mouth is a lie. The instant we let him out, he ran like hell for here to complete his mission.”

  “Why would I do that?” Elijah shouted back, his voice rusty but vehement. “I had a fucking remote. I didn’t need to be anywhere near this city to set it off.”

  “Is it true?” Eora asked.

  “It might be,” Judie conceded. “He certainly had a remote control. He didn’t need to be here to detonate it.”

  “It is true,” Elijah insisted. “I was supposed to go to the portal point, set off the explosion as I teleported out.”

  “You can teleport!” Nieko took a step toward him. Eora grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

  “Yeah, I can teleport.” He huffed out a heavy breath. “And no, I don’t know any other human who can. Hopewood targeted me in particular.”

  “Hopewood!” Judie, Tybor and Huon spoke at once.

  “Brian Hopewood is dead,” Judie went on. “I killed him.”

  “Well you didn’t do a very good job of it,” Elijah said. “You hurt him pretty badly—his face is a mess—but he’s definitely not dead.”

  “Why should we believe you?” Nieko demanded. “You knew we existed and you intended…” He broke off, too sickened to say the words.

  “No,” Elijah replied. “I thought I knew but I was wrong. Almost everything Hopewood told me about the Dvalinn was a lie.” He lifted his head and looked Nieko in the eye. “But you are telepathic, right?”

  “If by telepathic you mean can we read your thoughts, not exactly—” Nieko said, but Elijah cut him off.

  “Can you tell it’s the fucking truth when I say I came back here to disable this device?” Elijah yelled. “Yes. Or no?”

  “If we concentrated, we could tell,” Tybor said silkily. “Are you sure you want us to?”

  “If it will stop you ripping my head from my shoulders, yes,” Elijah said.

  “Don’t trust him,” Nieko said. “He’s still lying.” He turned to Tybor. “He’s telepathic too.”

  Elijah stared at him. “How did you know?”

  “You knew exactly where I was going to try to grab you while we ran.” He felt his face heat again. “And there was one other time.”

  Color stroked across Elijah’s cheeks as well. They both remembered what they’d been doing when it happened. “I wasn’t doing it consciously,” Elijah said. He hung his head. “I never do it consciously. Sometimes it breaks through.” He looked around at the Dvalinn. “I’ve tried my whole life to stop it.”

  A small spurt of sympathy stirred in Nieko. He knew better than most Dvalinn what it was like to have to hide your most basic feelings from others. Blocking telepathic communication in or out took constant vigilance. It drained you, body and mind. Sooner or later you slipped. And had to live with the consequences.

  “If you can tell whether I’m lying or not, go ahead,” Elijah said.

  After a moment Huon looked at Tybor and nodded. “I think he’s telling the truth. At least about his intentions here and now.”

  “Then let me go,” Elijah demanded.

  “Not a chance,” Huon said. “Just because you intended to disable the gas vials doesn’t mean you weren’t planning something else. You’ve got a lot more explaining to do.” He turned to look at Nieko and Eora. “As do you two.”

  Tybor changed his grip on Elijah, grasping his shoulder with one large hand. He pushed downward. “Sit.” Elijah obeyed. Nieko got the impression that the person who could defy Tybor didn’t exist.

  “You attempt to move and I’ll kill you. Now, tell me about Hopewood. Everything you know.”

  Nieko listened open-mouthed as Elijah related the story of how he’d met Hopewood. When he tried to explain how Hopewood had overcome his doubts and his scruples, he became vague, backing up, repeating himself, finally admitting, “It seems unbelievable to me now. How could I not see that even if the Dvalinn were a threat, the gas attack was cowardly and dishonorable? When I try to remember what I was thinking it all seems murky and unfocused.”

  “I feel the same when I try to remember why I did the things I did when I worked for Hopewood.” Judie stepped forward. “I used to be his weapons developer. To my shame, I designed devices Hopewood used to cause Huon and Tybor unimaginable pain. He was planning more ways of killing Dvalinn even then.” She sighed heavily. “It’s like hypnosis. You know what he says is crazy, yet you go along with it anyway.”

  “That’s how it was,” Elijah agreed.

  “Except it wasn’t entirely crazy, was it?” Huon asked. “Hopewood’s knowledge of us made what he told you believable.”

  “He offers you what he knows you most want,” Judie added. “Maybe he’s a little telepathic. He offered me incredible amounts of money because it was what I thought I wanted.” She looked at her two companions. “I was wrong, of course. Wrong in so many ways.” She looked back at Elijah. “What did he offer you?”

  “The chance to save the human race,” Elijah muttered. He kept his head down and his shoulders hunched.

  “I might be the only person here who is not to some degree telepathic,” Judie said, squatting down to eye level with him, “but I think there was more to it, wasn’t there?”

  Elijah’s chest expanded as he drew in a deep breath. For a moment Nieko thought he was going to ignore her question. But then, on a rush, the words spilled out, tumbling over one another. “I’m a freak, okay? Hopewood promised me the chance to be normal. I hate being telepathic, I hate telekinesis. I want to be normal. Not a monster like you people.”

  Eora’s cry sounded as if she had been stabbed. “You think we’re monsters? Even now? Even after we…”

  “Shit. I don’t know,” Elijah said, looking into the distance. “By the time we fucked I didn’t care what the hell you were. You were there, you were hot for it and I was half out of my mind, horny, not sure if I was going to live to see tomorrow.”

  With a roar, Nieko launched himself at Elijah, fists clenched. Eora had offered sex with joyful generosity. Elijah sullied it and her.

  Before he reached Elijah, Huon, so slender he looked as if a strong breath could blow him away, stepped between them. It was like slamming up against a rock wall. Only Huon’s hands clasped around Nieko’s forearms stopped him from crashing backward onto the hard rock floor. “If you so much as bump Judie, I promise you won’t like the consequences.” He let Nieko go and turned to help Judie to her feet.

  “I’m fine,” she said, then spoke to Nieko. “Anger won’t help.”

  “I wasn’t trying to help,” Nieko muttered. “I was trying to beat the shit out of him. He insulted Eora.”

  “He did. Eventually he’s going to be sorry,” Huon said. “But right now
he can’t help it.”

  “Because he’s human, and humans are shit, right?” Nieko growled.

  “No—some humans are good, some bad,” Huon replied. “But this human is different. I know how hard it can be to be different.”

  “So he’s telepathic and can teleport?” Nieko asked. “How does that excuse the things he’s done?”

  “It’s not an excuse. It’s just…I don’t know, an attempt to explain. You were going to beat the crap out of me because I called Eora a freak,” Elijah said. “Well I’ve had that all my life. I never knew my father, but my mother hated me. She was terrified someone else would find out what an abomination she’d borne.” He folded his arms across his knees and dropped his head onto them. “No one ever discovered the truth about me,” he said, his voice muffled, “because I learned early to keep it hidden. From the time I was old enough to know I was different, she made me ashamed and frightened of who I was.”

  “Do you know who you are?” Tybor asked.

  “I’m Elijah Denton,” Elijah replied.

  “Denton is your mother’s name. Who’s your father?” Huon’s inquiry sounded disinterested but everyone tensed.

  The question hung there until Elijah said, “I don’t know. The only time I remember asking about it, she beat me and refused to speak to me for days afterward. When she died I tried to look up the records, but my father’s name was blank. I was a home birth and wasn’t even registered until it was time for me to start school.”

  “I imagine we should be able to find out,” Tybor said. “I think it has some bearing on what’s happening here.”

  “How?” Elijah shook his head. “I don’t see…”

  “I spent a lot of time on the surface myself,” Tybor said. “And I spent much of it with scholars. There is a principle, often referred to as Occam’s razor. Have you heard of it?”

  “I’ve heard of it,” Elijah muttered. “I don’t remember what it is. I don’t see how it’s relevant to any discussion of my paternity.”

  “Occam’s razor says when presented with a range of hypotheses, you choose the one that makes the fewest assumptions.”

  “I still don’t get it,” Elijah protested.

  “Your ancestry is a problem to be solved. Your mother had an irrational fear of others finding out about your differences. She wanted you to hide a range of abilities not found among the common run of humanity.” At a sound from Judie, he grinned. “I am not saying you are common, my love. I am just saying Elijah’s abilities are outside those you humans possess.”

  He turned back to Elijah. “You became severely disoriented during the thermo-magnetic storm. Humans are not affected by magnetic disturbances. You were able to teleport into the underworld through the Stonehenge portal. You have telepathic ability. When we apply Occam’s razor, we’re left with the hypothesis with the fewest assumptions. Your father was Dvalinn. You, therefore, are also part Dvalinn.”

  “Me? Dvalinn? No!” Elijah tried to struggle to his feet, his agitation obvious in his wild-eyed stare and his frantic denials. “You’re mad. It’s not possible.”

  “Of course it’s possible. It shouldn’t be hard to discover which Dvalinn male went to the surface…what? Thirty-something human years ago,” Tybor said. “Entry to the upper world has always been regulated. If your mother was as strait-laced as she appears to have been, she must have had time to form some sort of relationship with your father. Maybe he went for a single, long stay, or he might have made multiple visits. It wouldn’t take much effort to trace it.”

  “So who are the monsters now?” Nieko asked. He hoped the bastard was squirming. He deserved it.

  “Leave him alone.” Eora went to stand at Elijah’s side. “It’s too much for me to take in. I can’t imagine what it must be like for him.”

  “Why are you defending him, Eora?” Nieko wanted to shake her, to make her understand. She should rage at him. Hate him. “Being half-Dvalinn makes what he planned to do worse,” Nieko said. “If it’s possible.”

  “Yelling at each other isn’t going to fix this,” Huon interrupted. “Elijah’s being half-Dvalinn is only important at the moment because it explains how he was able to get himself here.”

  Judie cleared her throat. “Hopewood’s alive. Focus on the relevant things. Elijah’s parentage may be important, attacking him isn’t.” Every one of them quieted, attention captured by her calm, authoritative voice.

  “Once Hopewood realizes this attack has failed, he’ll try something else,” Judie said. “We have to go to the governing council.”

  “We’re not going to the council,” Tybor replied. “In the time they’d take to make a decision, Hopewood could launch fifty attacks.” He glanced at Elijah. “We act on our own, without asking anyone’s permission.”

  “I agree,” Huon said grimly. “We made an error when we failed to make certain he was dead the first time. It’s a mistake I won’t make again. Tybor, how long will it take you to be ready?”

  “You can’t go to the surface,” Judie warned them. “After last time it’s too risky. Hopewood will have even more spies out looking for you. They’ll know exactly who they’re looking for. There’s also a strong chance the authorities are looking for you as well.”

  “You forget,” Huon said, taking her hand in his. “It may only have been weeks ago for us but fifteen years have passed on the surface world. No one will be looking for us.”

  “Let me go back.” Elijah said. “I know Hopewood. I know his setup. The Gatekeepers are gone. As far as I can tell, he only has one other man working with him.” He looked at the three people standing in front of him. “I have to convince him he’s wrong—horribly wrong. If I can’t do that, I’ll go to the authorities.”

  “And tell them what?” Tybor’s mouth curled scornfully.

  “About the Dvalinn, about what Hopewood planned to do…”

  “You’d be locked up. Hopewood would find some other way to achieve his goal.” Tybor replied. “Don’t underestimate this man. He’ll never give up. The only way to deal with him is to kill him. You don’t have the guts.”

  Elijah looked away, then brought his gaze back to meet Tybor’s. “I intended to wipe out your people. I bear the blame. I’ll do everything I can to make Hopewood see the Dvalinn are no threat. But if I can’t do it and the only way to make sure your people are safe is to kill him, then I will. I owe you that much.”

  “What reason do we have to believe you?” Huon asked. “How do we know you won’t get back to the surface, tell Hopewood exactly what happened and help him plan another attack?”

  “I won’t. You must be able to read the truth. I hate that Hopewood used me, lied to me, made me prepared to do the most dishonorable, evil thing I could ever imagine.”

  “You don’t have to trust him,” Eora said. “I’ll follow him to the surface. If he tries to betray us, I’ll kill him. I’ll kill Hopewood.”

  Nieko’s heart thudded. Eora had always taken risks but this was crazy. “You can’t do it, Eora.”

  “I can,” she answered. “I’m the logical person to do it. I know more about the surface and humans than most Dvalinn.”

  “You don’t know as much about them as I do,” Judie said. “If anyone goes it should be me.”

  “No!” Tybor roared. “Hopewood knows you. He would never trust you again. In any case, you can’t go. The only way to prevent you aging at a normal human rate is for you to stay here.”

  “I want to go,” Eora insisted. “It’ll probably be the only chance I ever get to see the surface.”

  Huon and Tybor were legendary for their strength but they wouldn’t be able to stop Eora once she was determined on a path of action. There was only one thing Nieko could do.

  “I’m coming with you.” He folded his arms across his chest. No backing down. Where she went, he went, whether she cared or not.

  “Do I get any say in this?” Elijah asked.

  “No.” All four Dvalinn spoke at once.

  “
We don’t trust you,” Huon said. “And it would be stupid to pretend we did.” He turned to Nieko. “Go. Kill Hopewood if you can and Denton if you have to. If things go pear-shaped, report back here at once. We’ll take it to the council. They can send a team in.”

  “So why aren’t we doing that now?” Nieko asked.

  “If what Denton says is true—there are no more Guardians and Hopewood is no longer a physical force—you or Eora should be able to deal with him quickly. I expect both of you will do a better job of keeping Denton under control now you know what he’s capable of.”

  “I don’t need to kept under control,” Elijah burst out.

  “Shut up.” This time Judie’s voice joined the chorus.

  “What part of we don’t trust you are you not getting?” Nieko snarled.

  “You’re not going alone,” Tybor said to Elijah, “so you can stop arguing.”

  “If we do need the council’s intervention, outcasts or not, they’ll listen to us.” Huon added. “I doubt if they’d do the same for two youngsters who were running around where they weren’t supposed to be.”

  He glared at Nieko and Eora. A snort of laughter escaped Tybor.

  “What?” Huon snapped.

  “I seem to recall someone who got pretty damn mad when anyone might have suggested he was too young or inexperienced.” Tybor chuckled.

  “And I think I proved my point, old man.” Huon’s stern expression relaxed. He draped his arm across Tybor’s shoulders.

  “Yeah, yeah. You’re never going to let me forget it.” Tybor grinned and the craggy face looked less intimidating. He still looked as if he could rip an enemy apart with one hand, but at least now it appeared he might take the time to knock them out first. “Might as well get it done. You ready to go?”

  “We can’t do it from here,” Eora said. “There’s a ban on teleporting. The authorities would be all over anyone who tried to teleport in or out of Ogof.”

  “They didn’t come when I teleported in,” Elijah said.

  “There was a thermo-magnetic storm brewing. No one would have teleported into the center of it,” Tybor replied.

  “Let’s not make it easy for the UDBC,” Huon said. “You can leave from the same place the human arrived.”