A whisper of pained frustration flashed across Idris’s face. Probably already regretting this. “Well, what do I need to use?”
Pellini stroked his mustache in thought then held his hands up and waved them around in an odd pattern. A few seconds later he made a pushing motion toward Idris. “Put that in.”
Frowning, Idris took the invisible-to-me potency construction from Pellini. “But where do I . . .” Idris paused then did his own hand-wiggling.
“Yeah,” Pellini said, “but a hair lower.” Idris waved his fingers, and Pellini nodded. “Cool. Okay, now the other side.” He pushed more Stuff to Idris. Again, Idris placed it, and Pellini told him how to adjust it. The work was tedious, a far cry from my own experience symmetrizing a valve, though to my eyes they knelt over a very unremarkable spot on the floor and fiddled their hands around like idiots.
After the sixth round, the two developed an awkward but effective collaboration with Pellini as the eyes and Idris as the hands. Higher, left, keep going, right there. Crap, too far, try the other side, yeah, that works. All while Pellini fed raw material to Idris like an operating room nurse handing instruments to a surgeon.
Or like the support I used to give Mzatal, I thought with a wistful pang.
The kitchen clock ticked an aggravating reminder of our limited time. Twenty long minutes passed before Pellini straightened. “There,” he said with satisfaction. “Put that last bit closer to the edge, and we’re done.”
Idris made another little wibbly-wobbly hand move. Pellini glanced my way. “Still clear?”
“Still clear,” I said with undisguised relief. “Let’s roll.”
They rose and moved toward the door, but Idris stopped halfway there. “Wait,” he said and spun back toward the valve. “I need to do one more thing.”
Pellini frowned at him. “What do you mean? It’s balanced.”
Idris dropped to his knees and spoke without looking up. “No. They can bypass the symmetrization if they warp the savinths,” he said. “I need to make adjustments to prevent that.”
Pellini turned a questioning gaze to me, but my attention was on Idris. He knew the valves backward, forward, and sideways, and if he said there was a vulnerability, I had no legitimate reason to doubt him. After all, I knew approximately jack shit about the use of savinths. I’d been in the summoning equivalent of “Intro to Calculus” while Idris kicked ass in “Advanced Partial Differential Equations For Really Smart People.”
Yet I noted a tremor in his hands, and his shoulders hunched with tension that I’d never seen in him, even during the most rigorous arcane rituals. Suspicion bloomed, bringing with it a buried hope of my own. “Idris, how long do you think this will take?” I asked, pulse quickening.
“Not sure,” he said, wiggling his hands over the valve. “Five minutes, maybe ten. But it’ll be worth it.”
Suspicion gave way to certainty. Five minutes, ten, or however long he needed to stall until Tessa arrived. He wanted to see his birth mother at least once face-to-face.
Going along with his ruse was no doubt a colossal mistake and horrible tactics, but . . . it would be worth it. Idris deserved a shred of satisfaction after everything he’d been through. Who was I to take that away from him? Besides, if I had to be brutally honest with myself, I had plenty of crap I wanted to unload on Tessa. She’d raised me and betrayed me. The desire to know why tore at my essence. With the way things were going, Idris and I might never have another chance to confront her.
“It’s cool,” I told Pellini with a smile that I hoped looked reassuring. “Those savinths can be damn tricky if not positioned right. Wouldn’t want to leave a back door.” Behind him, Idris snapped his head up, gratitude and relief shining in his eyes.
“All right, then how about I keep watch from the parlor,” Pellini suggested with a fatalistic shrug.
“That’d be great,” I said and returned to my former spot in the kitchen doorway. Idris ducked his head again and resumed his pretend work. Five minutes passed. Ten. My stress levels climbed higher along with second thoughts and heaps of doubt. No, this is stupid. I need to tell Idris we can’t do this, get everyone out—
I heard a light thump on the stairs right before Eilahn bounded down them and into the hallway.
“Tessa Pazhel’s vehicle approaches,” she said.
“Idris,” I hissed. He stood, face alight with anxious longing that resonated with my own desperate need for answers. My mind whirled. We still had enough time to cut and run. Idris would comply if I insisted. Except, I completely understood the mute plea in his steady regard.
Pellini stepped out of the parlor. “They’re in the driveway, and she’s pissed,” he said. “The lack of wards, I’m betting. We’d better scramble out the back, and quick.”
“We’re staying,” I said, dismayed to hear my voice crack. Idris moved to stand beside me and face Pellini.
I expected Pellini to tell us we were a couple of fucking idiots, but he merely blew out his breath. Maybe he’d been expecting it. “Got a plan?”
“Don’t I always?” I asked and pretended not to hear his snort. I jabbed fingers at Pellini and Carl. “You two take the parlor. Pellini, as soon as McDunn passes, you draw down. Eilahn, stairs. Idris, library. I’ll take the kitchen and will cover as soon as I hear Pellini. Watch the crossfire. Go!”
Everyone scrambled into position like a well-trained SWAT team. Silence fell in the house as the first footfall hit the porch steps. I waited beyond the kitchen doorway and listened to Tessa speak, angry and harsh. Though I couldn’t make out her words, I figured it was safe to assume they had to do with the stripped protections. Idris stood a few feet within the library, and when I glanced his way he offered me an uncertain smile and mouthed, Thank you. I gave him a wry smile and shrug in reply. We’d find out soon enough how stupid this was.
Tessa’s voice grew louder, more strident. A deeper voice answered her. I drew back, kept my breathing slow and quiet as I sent Idris a warning glare on the order of You stay right where you are until the situation is secure! I doubted he picked up all the nuances, but it was enough to keep him in place, at least for the moment.
The front door opened. A knot pulled tight in my stomach.
“I have to see—” Tessa let out a gasp. “Oh goodness, it’s all gone. Every one of my protections! I never felt a thing from the alarms!” True pain lanced through her voice.
“I’m sorry, ma’am.” McDunn, uneasy and cautious.
“Heaven knows what they’ve done to my valve,” she said, tone crisp again. Her shoes clicked over the wood floors toward me, and McDunn’s heavier footsteps joined them.
“Lemme see your hands, McDunn!” Pellini shouted. My cue.
Gun raised, I swung around the door. Tessa let out a shocked cry. I ignored her, focused on McDunn. “Weapon down!” I yelled.
He held a gun in one hand, weight balanced as he assessed the threats. Pellini remained in partial cover behind the parlor door, gun steady on the burly security man. “Weapon down now!” I ordered.
McDunn flicked a calculating gaze to each of us, then to where Eilahn crouched on the stairs. A low growl throbbed in her throat.
“NOW!” Pellini snapped. “Slow movements!”
“All right,” McDunn said, voice calm as he eased into a crouch. “I’m putting my gun down.”
“Make one move toward your other gun and I’ll drop you,” I said. Right ankle. No bulge to give it away, but I noticed the forward shift of that leg as he crouched.
McDunn slowly placed his gun on the floor and stood, keeping his hands out to his sides. Eilahn scooped up the weapon and conducted a brisk and thorough patdown of him. “Backup is already on the way,” he said as Eilahn removed assorted knives from his person as well as the pistol in his ankle holster. “I called it in as soon as Miss Pazhel informed me the warding was gone.”
He wasn’t bluffing. He was too much of a pro not to have made a call to cover their asses. I suspected he’d have preferr
ed to wait until backup arrived before entering the house, but Tessa had no doubt insisted. The backup would almost certainly be Tsuneo and Jerry, but they’d be coming from the Leelan Park valve. Five minutes at least.
“That’s fine,” I said, pulse racing as I kept my gun trained on him. Even unarmed, he was dangerous. “We don’t intend to hurt you or turn you over to the cops. All we need is a few minutes.” In my periphery I saw Idris step into the hallway, but he was wise enough to stay well back.
“Kara.” Tessa’s eyes were wide with shock. Probably not faked, though the reasons for it were debatable. “What in the ninety hells is going on?”
“As corny as it sounds, I’ve woken up,” I said. “You’re one of Katashi’s lieutenants.”
“Lieutenants?” She assumed an annoyed expression, one I knew all too well. “We’ve been through this before. Isumo is my mentor.” She gestured around her. “Are you responsible for destroying my protections?”
“Are you responsible for the trap your mentor set so that turdface here could take my abilities?”
Tessa threw a glance toward Angus before gracing me with a wonderfully baffled frown. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need to put the gun down before someone gets hurt.”
“Before someone gets hurt?” A harsh laugh escaped me. “Oh, that’s fucking rich.” Hostility flowed into my words. A lot. “What did you think would happen to me after I got arrested, Auntie dear?”
Her hands flew to her mouth. “Arrested? What were you arrested for? Are you all right?” She raised her arms as if to embrace me and make it all better, but a twitch of my gun stopped that shit. Disconcerted, she dropped her hands back to her sides.
“Littering,” I told her with a delightful rush of satisfaction. “I threw your library into the lake.”
Her gaze shot to the library door. “What have you done?” An undercurrent of deep anger ran through her voice. No more concerned-and-annoyed Tessa. Good. That fake bitch was starting to piss me off.
Idris moved up beside me. “We’ve been busy,” he said, emotionless and controlled. He flicked a hand toward the door. “Care to see?”
Tessa hesitated, but it was obvious her need to see the damage outweighed caution. McDunn tried to follow as she moved to the library door, but Eilahn stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
I didn’t like that I took pleasure in Tessa’s moan of horror as she took in the empty library, but I reveled in it anyway. “We found the place that your buddy Rhyzkahl warded against me,” I said conversationally. “The contents made for nice, light bedtime reading.”
Dismay washed over her face as she spun toward me. “Kara, it’s not what you think—”
I cut her off. “I also found your notes in the attic, so you can stop lying about your association with Katashi.” My hands were starting to ache, and I adjusted my grip on my gun.
Tessa drew a deep breath, and calm settled over her. Pygah. She just mentally traced a fucking pygah. Hurt and anger clawed within my chest at the reminder of things she’d never taught me.
“If you know so much,” she said, “then you also know I won’t tell you anything.”
“That’s nothing new.” My throat clogged. “I loved you!” I said, agonized. “You were like a mother to me! How could you throw me to the wolves?”
“I didn’t!” Tessa’s hands tightened at her sides despite her damn pygah. “I never wanted you to get hurt.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this, but the situation had reached the point where having Angus diminish you was the best available option.”
“Are you going to insist you begged Katashi to show me kindness and mercy?” I said with a sneer.
The cold steel in her eyes took me aback. “You’re dangerous,” she said with uncompromising certainty. “Harsh measures were on the table. I advocated stripping your abilities, but in the end Isumo and Lord—” She caught herself. “Isumo made the decision without my input.”
What the hell? Ever since the nightmare at the Nature Center I’d clung to the fantasy that Tessa had stood between me and a death sentence. They could have killed me at any time, I reminded myself. They took out Steeev easily enough. I remained of use to the Mraztur, but for what purpose? Especially now that I was diminished. I didn’t want to consider the ugly possibilities until I was well armed with wine and chocolate.
“Did you have any input on getting Kara thrown in jail?” Idris demanded, taking up my slack while I recovered from her bombshell. “Do you know what happens to ex-cops in prison?” I wasn’t sure whether to be pleased by his support or worried. He’d met his mother, and she was the enemy.
“I wasn’t party to that decision,” she said with a lift of her chin, then she cast a righteous glare at me. “Your own actions set you up for that.”
“But you’re a key member of Katashi’s organization, and you stood by and let it happen,” I countered. “Guess what? If I get killed in prison, you might as well have murdered me with your own hands.”
She paled, but it only took her a second to rally. “You believe your allies are so admirable and without reproach?” she shot back. “Mzatal? Szerain?” Her voice dripped with venom on the second name.
“Your allies’ methods suck!” I yelled. “And you’re a horrible, lying, conniving bitch who never deserved my love!”
Tessa recoiled a step and stared at me, color high in her cheeks. “You’re my niece. I did the best I could for you given the circumstances. You can’t possibly think—”
Carl stepped out of the parlor. “Their backup is here. Two men,” he said, no more perturbed than if reporting that the morning paper had landed on the doorstep.
I took a deep breath and found my center. I didn’t need a pygah. Getting that crap off my chest worked just as well, and she could keep her lame excuses about circumstances. “Let them in,” I said. “We’re done.”
I lowered my gun enough that it wasn’t a direct threat but didn’t holster it. Carl swung the door open and stepped back to reveal Jerry Steiner easing across the porch toward the door with his gun tucked close to his body, and Tsuneo on the walkway behind him.
Jerry leaped nimbly aside to get out of the potential line of fire from a shooter within, while Tsuneo did the same in the opposite direction. When no hail of bullets materialized, Jerry made a tactical peek around the door frame. Satisfied he wasn’t about to get his head blown off, he leaned out for a more thorough inspection.
“You cool?” he asked McDunn.
“Like the ice planet Hoth,” McDunn replied as chill as ever. Some of the tension left Jerry’s stance at the answer, which told me it was a code phrase.
Jerry entered the house, shut the door behind him and put his back to it. Fine by me. No sense letting the neighbors see if things went to shit in here. His eyes darted this way and that as he took note of threats and tried to figure out what was going on. At the sight of Idris he paled and went still as a rabbit beneath a circling hawk. Idris regarded him with seething malevolence that radiated danger and a promise of death. Didn’t matter that fifteen feet separated the two. Jerry was terrified of Idris, and for damn good reason considering what he’d done to Idris’s sister.
Though McDunn surely felt the tension, he remained placid as he turned to me. “Unless you have any objections, I’d like to take my people and go now.”
“None whatsoever,” I said cheerfully.
He looked over at Eilahn. “Could I have my weapons back?” he asked, polite and respectful.
She gave him a tight smile and thrust a plastic grocery bag containing heavy, angular items into his hands. Wary, McDunn peered into it, then let out a sigh and withdrew what I recognized as the spring and barrel for his handgun. While Tessa and I had shouted at each other, my boldly clever guardian had slipped away to unload and disassemble McDunn’s weapons. I wasn’t sure, but I thought I detected a trace of not-so-grudging respect in his expression as he dropped the items back into the bag and tied it shut.
Jerry shifted, uneasy. “C’mon, let’s roll out,” he urged.
McDunn shot him a quelling glance then touched Tessa’s shoulder. “Miss Pazhel, we need to leave.”
Eyes on me, Tessa began to speak then stopped. Maybe she realized it was too late for mere words to undo the damage. Or maybe she understood that nothing could undo or repair it. Whatever part of our relationship had been based in truth was as dead as ash. She dropped her gaze and turned away without another word.
Idris took a lurching step forward. “Did you know?” he blurted to Tessa’s back. Distress rose in his face when she failed to reply or react. “Did you know?” Before I could stop him he reached and caught her arm, swung her around to face him. “Tell me! Did you know about me and just not give a shit?”
Tessa hissed in a breath, eyes wide. She pulled away, and Jerry yanked his gun up to cover Idris. “Get the fuck away from her, asshole!” he yelled.
Idris turned a look of utter menace onto Jerry, intense enough to make his lord-daddy proud. With Jerry already on a hair-trigger, the air crackled with stress. Idris was Jerry’s greatest foe. Kill Idris, and he wouldn’t have to live in fear anymore.
McDunn yanked Tessa behind him, damn near squishing her against the wall to shield her from both Idris and Jerry’s overreaction. “Steiner! Stand down!” he roared, but Jerry gave no sign he heard McDunn. His attention stayed riveted onto Idris. I took careful aim at Jerry as Pellini did the same, tightened my finger on the trigger—
The heavy grocery bag flew across the room to smack into Jerry’s head with an ugly thwock. A gunshot slammed through the hallway as Jerry staggered back, and it took me several heart-pounding seconds to realize it hadn’t come from my gun.
I spun toward Idris, but he stood unscathed, eyes wide and breathing hard. I looked around to see McDunn glaring big scary daggers at Jerry, who leaned against the door with the bag of gun pieces at his feet and one hand pressed to his forehead. Blood trickled down his face, and his gun dangled from the fingers of his other hand.
Vengeance of the Demon: Demon Novels, Book Seven (Kara Gillian 7) Page 32