Dragon_Bridge & Sword_The Final War

by JC Andrijeski

  Truthfully, the only thing that really bothered me about Talei was that she looked so much like Cass. The resemblance had been remarked on before, of course, and not only by me, but it still unnerved me whenever I caught her face at certain angles.

  Mara, on the other hand, I hadn’t really wanted with us, not after the bonding thing.

  I’d put her on the list as a possible prior to that night, mainly because both Balidor and Yumi recommended her. Revik and I talked about the possibility of leading up our own teams to look for Network seers, even before Dubai, so I’d been kicking around names for a while.

  I considered dropping her after I’d seen her reactions to Revik that night––then decided I was being stupid and kept her on the list.

  Now I was kind of wishing I hadn’t, even though Dalejem vouched for her military ability, as well.

  I didn’t want to know for sure if she’d ever slept with Revik, so I hadn’t asked him the question that night when I saw her looking at him. I hadn’t asked anyone else, either––but I strongly suspected she had.

  I didn’t need it confirmed, especially now. Having her here meant the question lurked in the back of my mind, though, fucking with me when I let it.

  Even as I thought it, Talei whistled, aiming the sharp sound inside the cargo plane.

  “Kat!” she snapped. “Move your ass! We’re going!”

  I felt my jaw grind harder.

  I was still looking that way when the one person I wanted here even less than I wanted Mara walked out of the darkness of the ship’s hold. Blowing blond bangs out of her eyes, the Russian seer swayed her hips even in armored combat pants. Her light brown eyes focused on me, I noticed, even as a smirk played at the edges of her mouth.

  Before I got to Mumbai, I’d forgotten Revik assigned Kat to Chandre’s team.

  Ironically, he’d done it to get her away from me.

  Shoving that out of my mind, I looked away from Kat deliberately, fighting not to react to her stare intensifying on my back. Glancing over the group of seers who would be staying with me in Fort Collins, I fought to smile, to normalize my expression at least.

  I saw Dalejem watching me, his green and violet eyes narrow.

  Ignoring the scrutiny there, I made a polite motion with one hand.

  “Brothers and sisters?” I said. “Shall we procure accommodation?”

  Jorag snorted a laugh.

  Neela, Jax and Illeg grinned at me, too.

  Dalejem smiled, but that tauter scrutiny never left his eyes.

  20

  VOICE

  “I AM AWAKE,” he muttered. “Awake now…”

  I looked over sharply. “What?”

  Feigran looked at me, amber eyes shining in the dull sheen of candlelight.

  We’d been at this for hours. Days, really.

  Not all the time. But most of the time.

  I’d actually dozed off in here once. I woke up on the queen-sized bed, Feigran wrapped around my side, his arm coiled around my waist. It had been unnerving, yes. It had also been weirdly touching, if only because he opened his light the way Lily did when she slept, which made it pretty hard to see him as much of a threat.

  I knew the other infiltrators wouldn’t have agreed.

  I’d sent them to Denver and the surrounding areas for each of those days, so none of them knew how much time I’d spent with our third brother of the Four. I tasked them with looking for Listers, for any allies they might find in the area while we waited for Talei and the others to get back.

  No one asked why I didn’t go with them.

  No one asked what I’d be doing during that time, either.

  I suspected they’d wondered.

  Well, I suspected one of them did. I’d seen Dalejem glaring at me more than once as he left with the rest of them, an M16 rifle slung over his arm.

  I am awake now… the voice whispered.

  Awake…

  Rubbing my face to pull my mind back to the room, I refocused on Feigran, frowning. “Who is awake? Whose voice is that, Feigran?”

  “In through the out door…” he muttered.

  “That’s who’s awake?” I said, sharper. “Dragon? Is that the intermediary you told me about?”

  “No, no…” Feigran looked at me, his words trailing off, his expression hesitant. For a few seconds, he appeared confused. “Well, yes,” he amended, almost like Revik would have done, making me wince.”…Yes and no. Dragon is awake,” he explained. “In through the out door. That is what woke him. That is what tap-tap-tapped on his mind.”

  Looking off to the distance, Feigran nodded, matter-of-fact.

  “Yes,” he said. “Yes, that is correct.”

  Glancing back at me, he nodded, smiling, as if satisfied with his own answer.

  Then he looked back at the sketch he’d been working on, which lay directly in front of where he sat cross-legged on the floor. He studied it for a few seconds, then looked up at me, his amber eyes strangely clear.

  “He was asleep, sister,” he explained. “So many years. He slept and slept. But he is awake now. He is awake. In through the out door. It woke him.”

  “You mean what happened to Revik? In Dubai?”

  That only seemed to confuse the other seer.

  Clicking under his breath, Feigran switched to humming. Then he was drawing happily with the charcoal pencil, as if I hadn’t asked him anything at all.

  I knew that usually meant he didn’t understand my question.

  Looking at his downturned head, I frowned, replaying his words.

  In my mind, that voice whispered again.

  Come find me, sister.

  Come find me. Please.

  Let him show you the way.

  He knows where I am. He knows… even if he cannot tell you.

  I bit my lip, watching Feigran draw.

  I knew Feigran himself might be sending me those words, even though I’d been hearing them for weeks now, ever since Dubai. I knew if Balidor were here, he’d want Feigran locked up. He’d tell me Feigran was manipulating me, that the seer was dangerous, that he had structures in his light none of them could map, that none of the other infiltrators even understood.

  I knew he was right.

  I knew Feigran might be doing all of those things Balidor would tell me he was doing. Feigran wouldn’t even need a reason to do them––or a reason not to. He definitely wouldn’t need a reason that made sense to anyone apart from him.

  I didn’t really believe it, though.

  I pretended to myself I was entertaining that possibility, that I was remaining skeptical, objective, but I didn’t really believe it.

  All along, I’d been lying to myself about this trip. I told myself I’d come here for Novak. I told myself it was about Brooks, about Novak, about that damned book… about preventing a war. Those things all made sense. They were plausible. True, even.

  Even so, I knew, in reality, I’d come here for this.

  I’d come here because the voice wanted me here.

  Watching Feigran’s downturned head, his shoulders hunched over the drawing pad as he went back to work on the dark and light lines, I sighed, biting my lip as I tried to make up my mind.

  I would have to make it up soon.

  At the same time, I knew I was lying to myself there, as well.

  I’d made up my mind.

  I’d made it up before I left Bangkok.

  The voice knows. It grows more and more urgent, more and more desperate maybe, for me to take those final few steps in its direction.

  You must come to me now.

  Come to me sister, for I cannot do the rest alone.

  Please… please come to me now…

  Fingering long strands of dark hair out of my eyes, I sighed, sitting down on the dingy bedspread. I listened to the springs creak under me in the old mattress as I watched Feigran draw, and for a long time, neither of us spoke.

  WE’D BEEN THERE six days when we got word from Talei’s team that everything wa
s a go. The meet was on for the following day at three p.m., Talei said.

  That morning, I got up before dawn.

  I got ready in the same room where I’d slept.

  We’d taken over nearly every room of the two-story, cowboy-themed, Wild, Wild West Motel, a weathered building badly in need of a coat of paint we found on the outskirts of town. It was run down and everything had a thick layer of dust, but it had boarded-up windows, and enough insulation in the ceilings and walls that it was significantly less cold than outside.

  We hadn’t time to build much, construct-wise.

  Then again, apart from a few government and corporate workers, and the local SCARB branch, not a lot of seers lived in Colorado even before C2-77. Generally speaking, seers and their owners tended to cluster at the coasts.

  Despite this, Jorag and Neela had already arranged to have one seer and four humans whose names were on the Lists sent back to Asia. The humans had been surprisingly open to the idea, all but one and we debated for a few hours whether we should take her against her will, given that her life was in danger now that she’d been ID’d.

  In the end, we opted to leave her alone.

  Jorag erased her memory in the hopes that might protect her somewhat––at least from herself. The ones who decided to go to Asia opted to bring their families with them, which made the total group around nine.

  Balidor already had a head’s up they were on their way.

  Bending down, I grabbed the holster I’d brought out of the open bag.

  I was in the process of straightening when a voice broke the quiet.

  I must have jumped about two feet.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” it demanded.

  The voice was harsh. It was also male, contained a borderline threat, and came from only about a yard behind where I bent over the bag, half-dressed in a bra and armored combat pants.

  So yeah, I jumped.

  I also turned, unable to hide my startle––which I seemed to do a lot with this particular seer. I was beginning to think he was the male equivalent of Tarsi, some kind of light ninja who liked throwing people off balance by scaring the shit out of them.

  I didn’t bother to answer him, though.

  Well, not right away.

  Instead I went back to strapping the holster around my waist. Once I had the belt clasp locked, I bent to tie the lower strap to my upper leg. Only then did I snatch up the armored shirt I’d left on the bed coverlet, pulling it over my head and shoving an arm into each sleeve before arranging it around my body.

  I reached for a shoulder harness next.

  “I’m going on a scouting run,” I said neutrally as I straightened. “I won’t need back-up, brother. I don’t intend to be gone that long.”

  Dalejem let out a humorless snort. “The fuck you are.”

  Glancing over my shoulder a second time, I quirked an eyebrow at him.

  “You’re not going anywhere alone,” he said angrily, eyebrows furrowing as he gestured sharply with one hand. “Absolutely not.” His jaw hardened. “Gods above. Your husband warned me how fucking reckless you are. Adamantly. At the time, I thought he was being an overprotective ass. Now I’m beginning to think he understated it.”

  I shook my head, fighting irritation and losing.

  “I’m your fucking bodyguard, under the gods!” he snapped. “You really planned to sneak out of here without me? Really? Are we children?”

  Straightening from where I’d been looking for my headset in the duffel open at my feet, I leveled the aforementioned irritation at him as I fitted the device to my ear.

  “You really don’t get the whole ‘orders,’ concept, do you?” I said.

  His mouth hardened. “You’re not going anywhere by yourself, sister. No.”

  “I’m not going alone,” I told him, blunt. “I just don’t need you.”

  He flinched, which, okay, maybe he was meant to. In my periphery I saw him frown when I went back to arming and dressing myself.

  Only then did he seem to notice the other occupant of my room.

  I saw Dalejem look at the bed. I saw him blink, do a double-take. Shock bled across his high-cheekboned face, altering his dark complexion. Smiling from the bed, the auburn-haired seer sitting on the coverlet waved to Dalejem in a friendly way.

  Dalejem’s frown twisted into a full-blown scowl.

  He glared at me.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” His scowl deepened when I didn’t answer. “You are kidding me, yes, Esteemed Bridge? Please tell me that you are.”

  “No, actually,” I said, shoving a few more 9mm magazines into the armored vest I now wore over the harness. “But thank you for clarifying that my orders might be taken that way. I had no idea. I’ll be sure and specify ‘not kidding’ next time.”

  He ignored my sarcasm.

  “You’re taking Feigran out of here? Alone?” He shook his head, gesturing with his hands. “No. Allie. No, no, no. You’re not bringing this rek’ k-sidre with you. No.”

  I exhaled, facing him directly.

  Placing my hands on my hips, I looked him right in the eye.

  “Dalejem… brother. I appreciate your concern. I do. But I don’t need you for this. I’m going on a short scouting mission. I need brother Feigran with me, for reasons I don’t really want to get into right now. I would also like him with me more generally, since Shadow has a habit of kidnapping brother Feigran whenever I let him out of my sight for too long––”

  Dalejem shook his head. “No––”

  I didn’t let him finish, holding up a hand as I smacked him lightly with my aleimi.

  “Brother,” I said. “The conversation is over.”

  “No, sister,” he said. “…It’s not over. And you’re not going alone. I would have said no if it was just you. With him, it’s not even a fucking discussion, my beautiful sister. Not even a fucking discussion. Do you hear me?”

  I stared at him, fighting incredulity.

  Instead of getting angry that time, I found myself pausing, looking at the older seer’s light more closely. I studied the emotion coming off his aleimi, watching him look at Feigran.

  Once I had, a light bulb went off.

  “Jesus,” I said, clicking in annoyance. “You know him. Terian.” Watching Dalejem click back at me, his eyes narrowing in anger, I let out an irritated grunt. “Gaos. I should have known. What? Did he fuck your boyfriend or something?” Wincing at my own words as I realized he had, I gritted my teeth, shaking my head. “Get over it, my handsome brother. We don’t have time for psychological breakdowns out here. Or hissy fits about past lovers.”

  Dalejem frowned, even as his expression grew harder to read.

  “I do know him,” he said. “But it’s not the point––”

  “It’s part of it,” I said, still studying his light. “I’m guessing it’s a big fucking part of it, from what you’re trying to hide in your light right now.”

  For a moment Dalejem only stared at the far wall, his expression hard enough that I could tell he was controlling his temper with an effort.

  Then he turned, looking at me directly.

  “Just tell me what you’re doing, Allie,” he said. “Please.”

  A wall dropped in his voice and light, letting enough of him through, it disarmed me. Shifting my weight on my feet, I folded my arms, listening as he went on.

  “Just tell me what the fuck we’re even doing here, Allie,” he said, his voice frustrated, still holding that strange vulnerability. “Chandre doesn’t need us here. This isn’t about Brooks. Why are we here?”

  “It is about Brooks,” I said, gesturing in irritation.

  “Bullshit!”

  I raised my voice. “She’s on the fucking List, brother!”

  Dalejem stared at me, his eyes holding a faint surprise.

  I exhaled, shaking my head. “We’re keeping it quiet. But Brooks is on the List. We need to try and create an alliance with her. Even Balidor agreed it would be b
etter if I did that myself. Also,” I shrugged, looking down at my shirt as I tucked it in. “Balidor wanted me here to take Novak out. We both agreed I should be here to do that, in case it got… complicated.”

  “They didn’t catch that before?” Dalejem said, skeptical. When I glanced over, he clarified, “Brooks. Being on the List.”

  “We thought she was dead.”

  “You’ve known she was alive for months––”

  “The human List is long, brother.”

  Clicking angrily, Dalejem gave me an angry look.

  Sighing, I conceded his point. “They didn’t account for married names for the female humans in the first round.” At Dalejem’s puzzled look, I explained, “…Human custom. Not all human females take their husband’s family names after marriage, but some do. No one told our predominantly seer tech team. Dante caught it when she found her mom’s maiden name on there. So they re-ran the whole List, realizing they might have missed others.”

  Dalejem’s eyes cleared. “I see.”

  “So it is about Brooks.” I exhaled, smoothing my braided hair. “I’m going to try and negotiate a treaty with Brooks before Shadow figures out she’s an asset and kills her. I suspect she’s got a target painted on her already, which is why I’d appreciate it if you kept this information to yourself.”

  He nodded, gesturing dismissively.

  His green eyes didn’t lose their scrutiny.

  “In any case,” I said. “I’m out of time. The meet is this afternoon. So I’m going to very quickly and very quietly deal with another matter while the rest of you stay here.” I hardened my voice at the last. “I’ll be back before they are. I promise you.”

  Raising my voice when he started to shake his head, I hammered my words.

  “Dalejem! You need to let it go.”

  Dalejem’s expression didn’t soften, nor did he stop shaking his head.

  “And why must you go alone?” he said. “Without back up? Why are you bringing that piece of monkey excrement with you… without any of us there to watch your back? You said yourself that having him with you makes you more of a target, not less.”

  I felt my jaw harden.

  Then, shrugging, I told him the truth.