What was that guy’s name? Allyn?
The top three buttons on the guard’s jacket were unbuttoned.
What the devil?
Brina snapped her fingers. “Tzader? Hello. Are you payin’ me no mind?”
“I heard you,” he muttered, watching as the beefy guard carried something concealed in his closed hand and offered it to Brina.
Allyn said, “I believe this is what you were searching for.”
She held her hand out to receive what looked like a tiny coil of gold chain. Her eyes lit up. “My mother’s necklace! You found it. Where?”
“On the floor next to … your bed.”
Tzader cleared his throat, hoping the sound came across as deadly as the intent behind it. Why had Brina sent a guard to search for her necklace in her bedroom? She normally cleaned her own room, preferring to keep her room private and allowing only Tzader in there.
Or had at one time.
Brina angled her head at Tzader. “Have you not met Allyn? He’s my new personal guard.”
“No, I haven’t.” Tzader had known all of her guards up until four years ago when he’d stopped entering the castle in his physical form. Since then, Macha had approved the inside guards, and Tzader rarely saw any of them inside the castle since their job was to prevent anyone from getting through the front door.
Allyn smiled briefly at her, then shifted his expression to professional when he faced Tzader. He had the thick neck of a young man who pumped iron. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Burke.”
Mr.? Tzader’s father was Mr. Burke. This guy might be five or six years younger, maybe midtwenties?
Thirty sure as hell wasn’t old. Tzader corrected him, “It’s Maistir.”
That set-down registered in the guard’s face for only a second, then his demeanor shut down to stoic again. “Maistir.”
That was the extent of Tzader’s acknowledgment of the other man. If he said any more, he’d give away the surge of fury at seeing the guy stand too close to Brina. Saying the wrong thing right now would get Tzader in deep trouble with Macha and knock the wheels off this conversation with Brina.
Allyn turned to Brina. “I’ll wait outside, Bri—uh, Your Highness.”
“Absolutely not, Allyn. I want you … here.” She gave him an extra look as he stepped past the giant stone fireplace and circled the sofa to stand behind her. Once he took that position, Brina faced Tzader again. “As I was sayin’, I’m only the messenger on this Dakkar issue an’ merely wantin’ to keep you informed. Now, about these Svart trolls, I wish to know who they’re workin’ for as soon as you find out.”
Giving a quick nod of acknowledgment, Tzader had to swallow the lump in his throat to get any words out with reality crashing in on him with double fists. Macha had not been twisting the truth after all when she’d said Brina was ready for someone else. That she had accepted the futility of her and Tzader’s impossible situation.
He hadn’t believed Brina a month back when she’d told him they had no future.
Tzader would respect her wishes and—
The guard leaned forward and put a hand on Brina’s shoulder, clearly to comfort her.
Tzader roared, “Take your hand off of her!”
Guess his control wasn’t as good as he’d thought.
She reached up and placed her hand over Allyn’s, preventing him from moving his.
The guard’s face showed no emotion, but his eyes held a warning when he stared at Tzader and said in a low, threatening voice, “It’s inappropriate to raise your voice around the queen. I won’t have her upset.”
You won’t have …
Who did this guard think he was talking to?
But Tzader’s power, because he was present only as a hologram, did not extend to inside the castle.
Tzader took in the way Brina’s head tilted back as she looked up at Allyn with adoring eyes she’d once had only for Tzader. At that moment, Tzader finally accepted what he’d been denying since seeing the guard walk into the room.
Brina wasn’t just ready to move on.
She had moved on.
All this time, Tzader hadn’t wanted to believe Macha when she’d claimed Brina wanted him to walk away and forget about her.
Asking him to cut off both of his arms would have been easier.
But the truth stared him in the face.
He had to leave before he did or said something really stupid, or dangerous.
Brina lowered her chin, her cool gaze unwavering.
Tzader squeezed the words from his clenched throat. “My apologies, Your Highness. Unless you send for me, I will forward any future reports via e-mail until I’ve located the traitor, to prevent imposing on your time. Excuse me as I take my leave.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he’d already started the hologram transfer back to his body in North America.
Within a few minutes, he’d be whole again.
Except for the spot where his heart used to be.
—
“This was a mistake of astronomical proportions.” Allyn spoke softly, but his face was hard.
When Brina drew a breath and released his hand, Allyn’s fingers slipped from her shoulder. She needed a moment. Couldn’t be lettin’ her bottled-up tears fall. Not now. Tzader had left as if he couldn’t wait to get out of the room.
But that had been the point, had it not?
She had no time to coddle her misery. “It will be all right, Allyn.”
“You actually believe that, Your Highness?” Her guard expelled a long stream of breath born of disbelief and paced across the room. He stopped, turning to face her. “Tzader is not one to be easily fooled and neither is Macha. Do you really think he’ll walk away from you this easily?”
“I would have said no until just now. I have never seen him so put out with me.”
“That was far more than put out.” Allyn looked up at the tall ceiling for a long moment, as if someone would help him, then back down at her. “You have no idea what a man like Tzader will do for the woman he loves, do you? This is a dangerous game you play, Your Highness.”
“Aye, you’re right, but this is no game.” She forced iron into her backbone, prepared to do whatever it took to see this through. “This is war an’ I swear to you that I intend to win it, an’ soon.”
Macha had given Brina a deadline to produce an heir in twelve months, of which two were almost gone.
My fault for bringin’ up the topic of an heir, foolishly thinkin’ Macha would find a way for me an’ Tzader to be together. Instead, Macha had turned the tables on Brina by demanding she perform her duty as the Belador warrior queen and get busy producin’ an heir, which meant releasing Tzader of his vow of love and Brina choosing another man.
Did Macha believe men were as interchangeable as her hair color that shifted with her moods?
The goddess had painted Brina as the one with no honor for refusin’ to let Tzader go. As if Brina didn’t feel guilty enough? She could not expect a man like Tzader to wait forever. He’d never be able to cross the protective ward on the castle and Macha couldn’t break the warding. Or so she claimed.
The goddess had manipulated a deal where Brina now had to convince Tzader that she no longer cared for him, which Brina would do. Her word was her bond.
But Macha had made a tactical error.
The goddess had allowed a loophole by agreein’ to reconsider their situation if, once Brina convinced Tzader they were done, he still came back for her. Dealin’ with gods and goddesses was much like handlin’ a greased eel. Just when you thought you had a grip on the situation, it slipped away. That’s why Brina had pressed Macha for a specific time frame in which Tzader had to walk away and come back. If … no, when Tzader came back in time, Brina had another chance with him.
She got her deadline.
Brina had until she married another man.
Macha clearly believed she’d settled the situation, but Brina had been reared a warrior’s daughter who did not give u
p easily.
For that reason, she had taken matters into her own hands. She’d start the clock tickin’ now by sendin’ Macha to see Tzader so that the goddess could determine immediately whether he believed his relationship with Brina was over.
Then Brina would move to the next step in her plan to get him back.
Unless she’d misjudged the depth of Tzader’s love for her.
Allyn took a step toward her, arms crossed as he moved. For the three years that he’d been part of her guard, he always had a positive word for her when he checked in on her first thing in the mornin’ and again at the end of each day. The grim shape of his mouth indicated that he’d resigned himself to his role of royal boyfriend.
Good thing, since she could make no change in her game plan now that she’d introduced Allyn as the new man in her life.
He said, “I will gladly do my part, Your Highness, to convince one and all that you are mine. But what if this does not work? Have you considered the consequences?”
Brina flapped a hand at him. “Do not worry. I’ll make good on my part as well, an’ you’ll have your year to travel away from Treoir even if I have to ship your cold body ’round the world in a casket,” she teased, wantin’ to lighten his somber mood.
“That’s not what I meant.”
She frowned at Allyn’s suddenly serious tone. What was she missin’ in this conversation? “Speak your mind.”
“What will happen if, once everyone is convinced of our relationship, Tzader walks away rather than interferes?”
The look on Allyn’s face said he had considered the possibility of failure and Brina losin’ her bid for Tzader. If that happened, Macha would demand a wedding. Allyn and Brina would be honor bound to marry.
That could not happen.
“It won’t be comin’ to that, Allyn.”
He shrugged. “You may not be able to stop what you’ve set into motion today. Only time will tell, but there’s no going back at this point. Not without breaking your word to Macha.” His dark blue eyes met hers with an intensity that surprised her. He added, “As I said, I will stand by you until the end. No matter what.”
Brina listened to his tone more than his words, tryin’ to decide what else he was not sayin’.
But he was right about one thing.
She could not go back now that she’d started this campaign without risk of losin’ time and ground she could ill afford to give up. Allyn appeared unconcerned about that, but a warrior such as he would not allow fear or any similar emotion to show on his face. Still, he had to believe she would never put him in a corner where he’d be forced to marry her.
But as she thought about Tzader’s exchange with Allyn … what had Tzader seen in Allyn’s eyes that caused his rigid control to snap?
Allyn’s face eased back into his blank, polite-guard look. “If you have no further need of me at the moment, I’d like to check our perimeter patrols.”
“Of course.” Brina shook herself mentally, dismissin’ her ridiculous thoughts as Allyn strode away. He had no true interest in her. She’d chosen him based upon appearance and loyalty. No, he was merely a young man ready for female company, which was why Brina had refused to allow his participation in her plan without his receivin’ compensation. Allyn had claimed he deserved no extra consideration for doin’ his duty, but Brina would not ask so much of him without a well-deserved reward. She’d agreed to give him a year of travel. Somethin’ she knew he’d secretly longed for since childhood.
Aye, that would provide him the chance to find a woman for himself. She laughed at her unexpected vanity in imaginin’ the guard’s desire. Just went to prove what a grand performance they had given today.
Allyn might need to take care in the future and not be too convincing, but she couldn’t fault him. Not when she’d made it clear that she would do whatever it took to win Tzader.
But doubt poked at her in spite of her resolve.
Would Tzader fight to keep her or, after what he’d seen today, would he walk away?
NINETEEN
“… preventing my bounty hunter from performing his duty, which in turn has cost me not just the bounty but a client—”
Tired of Dakkar’s nonstop drivel on how he’d been wronged and was due justice, Macha shifted her simmering anger toward the Slavic god Varpulis, the entity called in as arbitrator over this Tribunal meeting. Varpulis wore only bright yellow shorts and ran in place. Skinny, pale and no muscle.
A god of wind or some such.
She’d had enough. “Dakkar is not a member of the Coalition and, therefore, is owed no compensation for any loss not committed as an act of intentional aggression by a member of my pantheon.”
“I may not be a member, but the Coalition calls upon me when they have a need that requires my resources.” Dakkar paused, his face reflecting undisturbed emotions. He had the chiseled lines, blunt nose and smooth, nut-brown skin of a man born under the rule of Genghis Khan. He’d been addressing Varpulis as if Dakkar actually cared about the Tribunal arbitrator’s opinion in this discussion.
And this certainly ranked no higher than a discussion.
Macha appeared here only out of respect to the other gods and goddesses who supported the Coalition, but she would not tolerate another minute listening to Dakkar’s ridiculous grievances.
As if he really cared about losing a bounty hunter? To Dakkar, that was merely a cost of doing business in his field.
His kohl-black eyes shifted from Varpulis to her. “As I understand it, Goddess, you have filed a charter for Alterants to be accepted as a recognized race … though it appears an unwise move on your part.”
She’d grind the little peon into the dirt. “You are not much of a judge of what is unwise if you dare to criticize any choice I make. If you have nothing new to add, I suggest we dismiss this meeting and stop wasting the time of deities.” She’d come up against this mage more than once over the decades and had no intention of repeating a mistake she’d made the last time they’d met.
Undeterred, Dakkar pressed on. “I don’t repeat what’s known to merely hear myself speak. I bring up the charter you’ve filed for a specific reason. You have offered sanctuary to Alterants. They are not hunted as the dangerous beasts they are known to be, now that you’ve opened the charter, which would indicate a certain level of responsibility.”
Macha answered carefully. “Only for those who come forth and swear their loyalty to me. Make your point while we’re still in this millennium, Dakkar.”
“My point is simple. An eye for an eye.”
He wants Evalle? “I am not handing over my Alterant.”
Dakkar held his arms out, palms up in a gesture of we’re-at-an-impasse. “You refuse to compensate me. I’m penalized every time one of my people has to enter the southeastern region of North America. I am offered nothing in return. Not even a beast.”
She ignored the poke about Evalle being only a beast, something that could be handed off as easily as cattle. “If Evalle had committed this crime, she would be forfeited, but she did not.”
His body radiated confidence and passivity, but his fingertips straightened, then curved, flexing with contained anger. “Then I want an agreement based upon precedent.”
“Of what nature?” Varpulis asked, not even winded by his running.
“That if one of my bounty hunters accidentally kills an Alterant, any Alterant, there will be no retaliation and no recompense expected.”
The miserable cur wants blanket amnesty for all of the future, for one killing?
He had to be crazy to think she’d agree to that. “I will not tolerate anyone attacking or killing a being who has been accepted into my pantheon and is under my protection.”
Dakkar’s eyes thinned with impending battle. “I feel the same way about my bounty hunters. I think it only fair that you either finalize the charter and accept responsibility for all the Alterants or withdraw your charter until you are ready to make that commitment.”
&n
bsp; “If I withdraw the charter, it will not be due to a bounty hunter’s losing one of his mutts.” Now she understood what this was all about. Dakkar was merely establishing his position in the eyes of the Tribunal, setting the stage for what he really wanted. An Alterant.
Offering him anything else at this point would be a wasted effort, but she would flush him out. “What will compensate you, Dakkar?”
“A decision on this before the next full moon.”
“Done.” Varpulis sped up until he turned into a blur.
Dakkar’s sly smile widened into a predator’s grin.
Macha understood why. He knew she’d have to go against a Tribunal to change that decision. With the Medb threat hanging over her warriors and Brina, this was not the time to start a war on all fronts.
He gambled that he would walk away with an Alterant. And damn his miserable hide, he just might.
Evalle had better come through on her promise to bring in Alterants. And on time.
TWENTY
How could someone so small be so scary? Evalle followed Kit, the diminutive package of energy who, it appeared, ran Nyght Industries as she’d claimed.
Isak’s mother.
Kit directed Evalle to follow as she headed for a group of men who’d been assembling weapons before the Rías attack. She made short work of dictating who would take what shift to guard the cell containing Jasper.
Evalle recognized some of these men. She’d seen them carrying special weapons on black-ops maneuvers with Isak Nyght when he hunted nonhumans.
Men born with sharp eyes who lived on a diet of adrenaline and grit.
Not a one of them said a word to Kit other than a respectful “Yes, ma’am.”
Oddly, Kit’s high-handedness didn’t put Evalle off the way other people’s had when they’d tried to force her to jump through hoops. Kit gave orders to keep chaos from turning into insanity, not as a power play. Evalle could respect that and go along to get along, for now.
Turning toward the area in the gargantuan warehouse that had been sectioned off into offices, Kit said over her shoulder, “How does my son know you, Evalle?”
The Curse (Beladors) Page 18