Kadj'el (The As'mirin Book 1)

by Ada Haynes

  “Who knows?”

  Shona first went back to Maire’s place. She had no key but the lodger knew her and didn’t hesitate to lend her his master key.

  She took a long shower and put on some clothes.

  Going to Bhutan was not something you could get ready for in a minute. She needed to arrange the flights, check whether she was still registered as a Bhutanese citizen or needed a visa. So she called Jeffrey Matheson.

  He had bad news for her. Told her that Ekbeth had appeared on Maire’s office doorstep this morning, and that someone was underway right now to bring the jade stone to Ekbeth’s bodyguard. “And I don’t want to hear whether you agree on this or not, Shona. This was a bad move and you know it. It’s going to complicate the mission enough already as it is.”

  Shona’s mind went blank for a moment. The mission. Damn. She had forgotten about it.

  “Shona?” Jeffrey’s voice was insistent on the other side of the phone.

  “Yes, of course, you’re right. Is Maire okay?”

  “Seemed so to me when she called me. She has some experience with dealing with your messes, after all.”

  Okay, so Jeffrey was still mad at her. She hung up.

  Rose was right. Avoiding problems was definitely not solving them. But the way her friends kept rubbing in her mistakes was damn annoying.

  She ignored the ringing of the phone.

  She did not need Jeffrey to solve all her problems, she decided. She at least now had her passport and her credit cards back. She just needed to go somewhere else until she could arrange her trip to Bhutan. She walked to her room, switched on the radio and started packing, while humming along with the song that was playing.

  She did not hear the front door opening, but she certainly heard the arguing.

  Maire and two men. One, she was pretty sure was one of Jeffrey’s staff. As for the other…

  “That was all my boss gave me!”

  “It can’t be. It’s a set! This is just the main piece! Where is the rest?”

  “Gentlemen! We are going to call Jeffrey and check this…”

  There was a silence, then Maire called out to her. “Shona? Are you here?”

  There was not much point pretending otherwise, was there? Shona dropped her duffel bag and left her room.

  She had been right about Jeffrey’s man. The other she recognized as well. Ekbeth’s bodyguard.

  Maire was staring at her, as if in shock. “What happened to your hair?”

  Oh yes, the hair. Shona had quite forgotten about it. “A little accident with a pair of scissors. It’ll grow back. What’s wrong?”

  Ekbeth’s bodyguard growled, “Where are the rest of the jewels?”

  “Excuse me?”

  He showed the jade stone that she had stolen. “I’ve been waiting for four hours for someone to bring this. But that’s only part of what was in the safe. Where is the rest?”

  Shona’s mind went blank. The rest? She had only taken that piece!

  She met Maire’s eyes. This was bad. Really bad. She just had no idea what the man was talking about. He was not going to accept that for an answer, of course.

  The best thing she could do was to make a run for it. She peeked to her right. The front door was closed, but that was no problem.

  The bodyguard was just two steps from her and his expression was not promising, so it was now or never. She kicked him between the legs and used his momentary pain to run, ignoring Maire’s scream to come back.

  The door was near. Almost there… She closed her eyes and immediately felt the familiar tingling. She had never used her gift while running before as far as she could remember, but, hell, this was an emergency, and what worked walking should work just as well at a faster level.

  It did work. She felt the subtle change around her. Like she was walking through a water curtain. Then she was free, safely on the other side.

  She had gathered too much speed. She miscalculated how far the stairs were and made one step too many. Her foot suddenly only met thin air, and there was nothing she could do to stop herself. She fell downwards and hit the floor below with a loud thump.

  There was no time to get on her feet again. The next moment, the bodyguard was on her, shaking her and shouting, “Nice try! Where are the jewels? Answer me!”

  She managed to give him a nasty kick under the chin, but it was not enough to free her. The first blow hit her on the side of her head. The second slammed her against the wall.

  She lost consciousness.

  10

  The meeting had been boring as hell, so Ekbeth was glad when it ended. A bit of fresh air was needed, then there would be a lengthy dinner.

  This was not his favorite part of the job, but networking the other Swiss bankers was somehow a compulsory activity. A perfect opportunity to grab useful information and exert influence on the lesser members of the group.

  He checked his mobile phone. Seventy missed calls? From the same unknown number.

  That made him frown. Anyone so desperate to reach him knew he had better chance to do that faster through his assistant.

  The phone rang as he was trying to see whether any messages had been left. That number again. He answered. “Ekbeth.”

  “Thank God! Finally! Ekbeth, you have to stop your bodyguard!”

  He did not recognize the man’s voice. “Who are you?”

  “Jeffrey Matheson. I was attending your party with Shona last week. Your bodyguard has no idea, Ekbeth. You have to stop him before it’s too late.”

  “I don’t get it.”

  The man on the other side of the line was irritated. “Your bodyguard has disappeared with Shona, Ekbeth. I know where they are—in your house in Zurich. I’m on my way there. But I still have an hour before I reach your place. I understood something is amiss…”

  “Damn right, something is amiss! The woman stole some jewels from my safe!”

  “I gave back the stone, as promised, Ekbeth. Maire told me there should have been more than the one stone I had, but I swear that’s all Shona gave me.”

  Ekbeth started to understand the situation and he groaned. “Where is the rest, then?”

  “Only one person knows that, and that’s Shona. But your bodyguard won’t get any answers out of her by torturing her. She’s tough. She won’t talk. Knowing her, she is probably going to provoke him to hit her harder.”

  Ekbeth could not help but ask. “Why would she do that?”

  Matheson hesitated before answering. “She has a death wish. She made a promise not to take her life, and so far, she’s kept it, but if someone is willing to help her…”

  Ekbeth was suddenly in a hurry to go back home. “I’ll meet you there, then.”

  “Don’t inject her with any drugs! She’s violently allergic.”

  Ekbeth closed the phone. What kind of people did this Matheson think they were?

  Kalem was not the nicest man in the world, but one thing was certain, he was no trained torturer. But his blows… they could be enough.

  Damn, damn, damn.

  Ekbeth hurried back inside the meeting room. He apologized for not attending the dinner, then found a quiet place from which to be transferred to his house. Driving back home was going to take too much time.

  *

  All was quiet when he appeared in his living room. No one was in sight. But he knew where to find Kalem.

  He hurried to the basement.

  When Ekbeth had bought the place, Kalem had insisted that a specific room be soundproofed—mainly because he was a fan of loud motors and wanted to be able to practice his hobby without getting complaints from Ekbeth, or the neighbors.

  But it was also the perfect place to conduct interrogations if needed. Not that they had ever used it for that purpose till now.

  Ekbeth opened the door. He needed only a glance to evaluate the situation. The room was not well lit, but he could see there were only two people present. Kalem and his victim, who was bound and on her knees, with her head p
ressed under water.

  Matheson had been right on one thing: she had managed to provoke Kalem to lose his usual professional calm. He was almost frothing at the mouth with rage, staring at Ekbeth, defying him silently.

  “We need her alive, Kalem. I’m not sure she can hold her breath that long!”

  The words were enough to break the spell. Kalem took Shona’s head out of the water. It was none too late, from the way she was coughing water.

  Ekbeth approached them. Even in the darkness of the room, he could see nasty bruises on her face.

  “You have to keep out of this, Ekbeth.”

  Ekbeth remained impassive. The frustration in Kalem’s voice gave a clear indication of the degree of success he was having. Still Ekbeth asked, “Has she told you anything yet?”

  Kalem gritted his teeth.

  No, then. Well, at least, she was still alive. Shona was now looking straight at him—jaws clenched, eyes burning with hate. No enticing smile on her lips, today.

  “Hello, Shona. You may be interested to know help is on its way. Your friend Matheson called me.”

  That did not seem to please her, but she kept silent.

  Ekbeth turned to Kalem. “This is not getting us anywhere. Let’s wait for Matheson and see what he has to say. We can always use her as leverage, if needed.”

  Kalem took a step back, releasing his hold on Shona. She slumped to the ground.

  “She’s definitely As’mir, Ekbeth. I saw her walk through a closed door.”

  Ekbeth eyed her. That was not at all good news.

  “Well, we can do something about that, before letting her alone in the room, can’t we? But no more hitting or anything else for now, Kalem. I’ll wait for you upstairs.”

  *

  Matheson did not come alone. He had three men with him, and they were not lawyers. “Where is she?”

  Ekbeth allowed them to enter his house. “She’s okay, Matheson. Maybe a few contusions, but I’m sure she’ll get over it if she’s as tough as you say. Let’s discuss…first, I’d really like to know what this is about. Maire Kincaid told me the stealing was never intended.”

  Matheson visibly wanted to see Shona, but he decided to humor Ekbeth first. “Indeed, it was not.”

  Ekbeth offered the men the sofa and sat in a chair. “Well, your friend had been particularly lucky in her impulsive choice. The jewels she’s taken have more value than you can imagine. If I don’t bring them back to their legitimate keeper in the next two days, this will cost me my life, and it probably won’t stop there. So I’d appreciate some help here. Kalem has given me the main piece. But you have no idea as to where the rest is?”

  Matheson shook his head. “Only she knows it.”

  “According to Kalem, she can’t remember.”

  Matheson groaned at that and shook his head. “I was afraid of that. God, this is such a mess!”

  “That’s the understatement of the year. But let’s do this step by step. Why don’t you explain to me why you two came here in the first place? According again to Maire Kincaid, Shona was supposed to seduce my cousin. I don’t think it was just because she’d fallen for his charms. Why?”

  Matheson hesitated again, but finally reached a decision. “Shona is very good in what she does. She has a reputation among some people—for getting the most impossible things to happen. Someone recently asked for her help. For two things: stealing a jade ring from your cousin, and getting a letter delivered to someone.”

  Ah, of course! Ekbeth should have thought of this. The Kadj’dur. That was about the only thing of value Lyrian still possessed. Not as valuable as the Annilis jewels, but the Kadj’dur, the jade ring Shona was apparently supposed to steal, was just as famous within the As’mir community. Especially among his direct family.

  He concentrated on the second part of the deal. “A letter?”

  “Yes. Shona has had it for some time now. I understood she was supposed to deliver it herself, but the girl is suspicious. She was hoping to convince you to deliver it. That’s why it was so important for us to meet both of you. That party was the perfect opportunity.”

  “So you manipulated my niece to get an invitation.”

  Matheson allowed himself a thin smile. “Actually, there was not a lot of manipulation needed.”

  Indeed. Ekbeth closed his eyes and thought. There were still gaps in the story—to which As’mirin family Shona belonged, for example. Though that letter might be a clue. If she was expecting him to help, this could mean the letter was for someone of the Valley, and if she was reluctant to go there, she could only belong to one family. A descendant of a banished As’mir would never have had access to the place.

  “Tell me, is Shona related to the McLeans—the Scottish family that lives on that tiny island near Skye?”

  Matheson looked at him blankly. “You should ask her.”

  So the answer was probably yes. This complicated the matter only further.

  “Good idea—I will. But let’s return to our main subject. So her mission was to find a ring and give someone a letter. Instead of that she stole something else, lost three quarters of it and can’t remember where it is. A mess indeed. So, what do you propose?”

  Matheson relaxed slightly. He had probably not expected so much cooperation from Ekbeth, but he was quickly adapting to the situation.

  “Let me talk to her. First, I’ll check whether she really does not remember what she’s done with the rest of the jewels. If that’s the case, I’d suggest bringing her back to the floor where the safe is and ask her to reenact the theft. That may help. She’ll remember eventually, especially now we are in this house. Hopefully, not too late for you.”

  Ekbeth admitted this was the best course of action.

  “Ah. And what about the ring and the letter?”

  Matheson shrugged. “I’d say, let’s forget about them. I’ll be glad to get her out of this relatively unscathed.”

  Ekbeth thought about this, for a long moment. “You are very loyal to her, Matheson.”

  The other man just shrugged. “Just doing my job. I was hired to keep an eye on her. But she never listens. She tends to follow her intuition a bit too often, and most of the time, the result is quite disastrous. For everyone.”

  “Why not just leave her to it then?”

  Matheson smiled. “Oh, it’s always interesting to watch her save the situation. Sometimes against amazing odds. You would not believe me, but most of the time, she does not even need my help. She really has a way of turning the odds in her favor. Vastly entertaining!”

  Ekbeth was not finding any fun in the current situation, that for sure. But he did not have better alternative than what Matheson was offering. Not with so little time left.

  “You go and talk to Shona. Convince her it’s in her best interest to remember. Fast! And I want to see the letter.”

  Matheson hesitated. “Why?”

  Ekbeth was hoping to find out who had given Shona her mission through the document, but he lied about his motives.

  “I will deliver it as a token of my good will. Or an incentive. I need those jewels back. The ring is not mine to give, but I can certainly help deliver a letter.”

  Matheson nodded. “Let me talk to her first.”

  11

  Shona was vaguely conscious of no longer being alone in the room. They had come back. But she did not care. Concentrating on her body, trying to ignore the radiating pain, especially the one in her left side, was all she could do right now. The bastard had cracked a few ribs when he had beaten her. Her right wrist was sprained as well, though that was a consequence of her spectacular escape attempt at Maire’s place.

  Every centimeter of her body was hurting. It could have been worse. Nothing major was broken. If needed, she could probably stand and walk, although she was happy to just lie on the floor right now.

  “My, my, look at yourself!”

  She recognized the voice and groaned. The last thing she needed right now was Jeffrey’s sarcasm.
She felt his hand on her and recoiled.

  He insisted. There was no sarcasm anymore in his next words. “Why do you put yourself through this all the time, Shona?”

  They both knew the answer to this question, of course.

  “Have you given her any drugs?”

  She recognized Ekbeth’s voice when he answered, “Just something to prevent her from leaving the house.”

  “I told you not to give her anything! Her body does not respond well to drugs. You could have killed her.”

  “Well, she’s still alive, isn’t she? Apart from blocking her special abilities, it was a test to confirm our suspicions. Though seeing her walking through a door, as Kalem did, is proof enough for me. I hate to admit it, but we have more in common than I like. This drug is inoffensive for us, but a non As’mir would get very sick if he was drinking some of it.”

  “As’mir?”

  “That’s how we call ourselves. So, what do we do with her?”

  “She needs some care.”

  Shona stopped listening. She had just tried to move a leg and the pain distracted her.

  *

  They had moved her somewhere else. A bright place. Jeffrey had taken care of her, cleaned her, bandaged her ribs and helped her get into new, clean clothes. She was now resting on a comfortable sofa.

  “Do you want something to drink, Shona?” It was Ekbeth’s voice.

  She forced her eyes open and saw him holding a glass of water. She was quite thirsty, no matter how much water Kalem’s little torture session had forced her to drink.

  She nodded and tried to sit. Her ribs reminded her immediately this was a very bad idea.

  Ekbeth tried to help, but this caused Shona to scream. “Don’t!”

  Her voice came out croaked. Screaming tended to do that to voices. She inhaled a few times, deeply, to regain some control. “Don’t touch me, Ekbeth.”

  “Would some extra pillows help?”

  This was a good idea. She clenched her teeth while two men were helping with the pillows, and finally she was comfortable enough to be able to hold and drink from the glass herself.

  Jeffrey re-entered the room just at that moment. He was holding Keremli’s letter. She recognized the document immediately. He had told her he was going to the plane to pick it up, she remembered. The letter was supposed to be in her room, at the Castle.