Gabriel led the way toward the boardwalk, but instead of reentering the house, he stopped at the wharf attached to the porch. There, he jumped into one of several glass-bottomed flat boats. Both Dragon and Valentine followed him without question. The vampire turned on the vessel’s clockwork engine, and two lateral wings unfurled alongside the red sail. A gentle breeze engulfed the sail, and they glided away from the wharf at a steady pace.
“Here, nobody can hear our conversation,” Gabriel said, then looked to the side at his studio and gave them a rueful smile. “And I need to be surrounded by water to think.”
“How many times do I have to thank you for letting us use your inner sanctum?” Valentine slapped the vampire’s arm with enough strength to roll the boat perilously to the side.
“No need to thank me, really.” Gabriel stood to stabilize the small ship.
“Can we talk about the problem at hand?” Dragon asked, acting as a counterweight by bracing both sides of the boat. “I have no time for games.”
“What do you want to do about Lauren?” Valentine asked.
“Nothing.” Dragon massaged the spot between his eyes. “We’ll let the Front think we agree to meet with them. I’ll go to the Citadel instead, while you and Gabriel stay here. Three lookalikes will go in our stead. So far, we have blindly walked into their traps. It’s time they dance to our tune. And Valerian and Gage are looking for Lyra. If she’s alive, she’ll turn up somewhere before the week is over.”
“The more I think about it, the more this whole mess smells fishy.” Gabriel shook his head. “Isn’t it too convenient that the pocket watch turned up now?”
“Something’s not right,” Valentine chimed in, nodding. “It’s all too simple.”
“Okay, what if someone planted it there for me to find it?” Dragon didn’t want to complicate an already murky concept, but deep inside, he too had to admit that finding an important piece of evidence by chance was one big coincidence. “What for?”
“To let the blame fall on Lauren’s head.” Gabriel stared into the distance.
“Why?” Dragon didn’t like where the conversation was going.
“So that the real mind behind the attacks can keep plotting, while we go after the wrong person.” Valentine’s eyes were glued on Gabriel’s studio, never letting his family out of sight.
Dragon groaned. “We are back to square one. Lauren might still be in danger.” As much as he preferred to entertain the hypothesis that she was innocent, it left out one huge mystery that needed to be solved as soon as possible. “I’m still going to talk to the Academy—”
The rest of his thought was silenced by the sight of Valerian bursting outside and running along the porch, waving at him.
Gabriel immediately steered the boat toward the house, maneuvering the sail with great nautical skill toward the wharf.
“What happened?” Dragon asked his lieutenant when they moored.
“We found the lady’s maids,” Valerian answered. His dark stubble had become a full beard that framed his face, making him look even more formidable as he shifted his intense, black eyes from Dragon to his friends and back again.
“Lyra and who else?” Gabriel asked.
“Lorina and Mirna. They never left the house but were hiding in the basement,” Valerian answered. “It was Gage’s idea to look beneath the mansion.”
Gabriel slapped his forehead. “The basement, of course.” He shook his head. “Underneath Martelli Manor there is a large room, as big as the gardens, if I remember correctly, and two stories high.” He hopped onto the wharf and secured the boat to a pole.
“Every vampire building on Celestia has a similar sun-proofed chamber; it’s a remnant from our Terran houses. Our species had been nocturnal for so long that when we started colonizing this planet, the first houses we built followed the same structure of the ones we had left behind,” Gabriel explained as they walked the length of the porch that led toward the princesses’ quarters. “I played down there when I was a kid. There were pools and all sorts of entertainment, but I had completely forgotten about it.”
As they walked past the multitude of beds and people covering that side of the porch, Gage stepped out, seemingly appearing from thin air.
“A hidden entrance,” Dragon said, studying the wall behind Gabriel’s lieutenant.
“I’ll show you.” Gabriel pressed his hand on the spot over Gage’s right shoulder, and a portion of the wall slid to the side, revealing stairs leading further down. “My Terran ancestors lived difficult lives, hunted and always on the brink of extinction. A secretive bunch by necessity, they held tight to their customs, even when there was no need for hidden doors any longer.”
Dragon descended after Gabriel. “This place looks well kept,” he noticed, smelling the clean scent coming from the staircase well. He wiped his finger against the wall that was well-lit by sconces. “Minimal dust and working electricity.” The wooden steps creaked under his boots, but the structure was solid enough to bear his weight and his friends’ as well. “You said that you didn’t remember about this place, but someone has been taking care of your property better than you thought.”
“Gage, contact Cranes,” Gabriel shouted as he climbed down.
“Right away,” Gage called back from the end of the line. In the eerie stillness of the staircase, his steps resonated loudly as he walked back up to the surface.
“Crane is my house manager,” Gabriel said as he reached the bottom of the stairs. “If anyone knows anything about it, it’s him.”
The rectangular space led into a cavernous room with a high ceiling braced by thick columns. The place was divided into separate quarters by furniture and screens. Under the watchful guard of four of Gabriel’s men, the three lady’s maids sat in one of the chaise lounges facing a shallow pool.
Dragon walked further inside the chamber, stopping at the edge of the pool on the other side from the three cowering girls. Valerian reached him, while Gabriel and Valentine remained a few steps behind.
The first to speak was Lyra, who fell to her knees, crying. “I swear I didn’t do anything wrong,” she said in between sobs.
“Why did you run away?” Dragon asked.
“If I talk to you, she’ll kill me.” Shivering, the girl hugged herself.
“Who’s she?”
Lyra didn’t answer Dragon’s question but melted into loud sobs.
He turned his attention on the other two girls, who seemed to shrink under his gaze. “Where is Lauren?”
“We don’t know.” The two lady’s maids talked at once, crying as loudly as Lyra.
“They were having breakfast when Gage and I found them. Same food we eat,” Valerian said.
“Who’s helping you?” Gabriel asked the girls.
“Nobody’s helping us,” the redhead, Lorina, said.
“We swear,” Mirna added, shaking her auburn head up and down.
“Take them upstairs.” Dragon nodded at Valerian.
As the lieutenant moved, Lorina jumped on her feet. “Please, don’t.”
“Why?” Dragon walked along the edge of the pool until he stood before the girls.
“We are dead if she sees us—” Lorina closed her mouth, her eyes wide and filled with even more fear than before.
“What are you talking about?” Dragon advanced as Lorina stepped back, hitting the edge of the chaise lounge behind her and falling on it. “Who’s she?”
“Please, don’t make us say her name,” Mirna begged, hugging her friend tightly.
On the floor, Lyra rocked on her haunches, murmuring pleas.
“Let’s finish this conversation upstairs.” Dragon closed the gap between them. “Come.” He offered his hand for Lyra to grab.
“Gilda will kill us,” Lyra murmured as the other two gasped.
27
Unseeing, Jade stared at Vivaldi.
She thought that as far as shock went, she’d already reached her quota for the century, but the man’s statem
ent proved her wrong. A shifter was the father of her child. Did past-Jade have an affair with her target? She couldn’t have been so stupid. But what else could explain her erratic behavior and the mad dash away from Solaria?
“What are you going to do about it?” The medicus’ eyes cut to her stomach.
How many times had she heard that same question lately? She had lost count.
Vivaldi said something about an anti-nausea prescription, but Jade wasn’t listening any longer and nodded absentmindedly, swallowing the tablet he handed her. She then turned on her heels and ran across the hallway, her hands on the hatch’s handles before she knew what she was doing. Once outside, she gasped, taking in a gulp of air that didn’t reach her lungs. Her chest couldn’t expand. Suffocating, she brought her hands to her throat.
Plans change. Assassins adapt, she forced the mantra to the front of her thoughts.
Plans change. Assassins adapt.
Plans change. Assassins adapt.
Plans—
Her chest relaxed, and air filled her lungs. Falling to her knees, Jade screamed. She hugged herself, repeating the chant as she rocked with her eyes closed.
Finally, calm descended on her, opening her senses to the outside world once again. She felt the curious stares coming from the shadows in between buildings. Standing, she let her gaze wander in a wide arc, lingering on the spots where people hid. Soft steps retreated further into the dark alleys, leaving her alone.
Without running, but deliberately slowing her steps, Jade reached her limo parked in front of the clinic and drove away. She slowed to a halt in the lot behind Oberin’s Fine Jewelry without a recollection of how she had crossed the entire length of Belarus City.
“Jewel?” Lady Lisandra called when Jade walked past her office on her way to her room.
“Need to take a shower before I start my shift,” she said without stopping.
“Don’t you need directions?” Lady Lisandra stepped outside.
Jade turned and walked back to take the clicking tablet Lady Lisandra waved at her.
“How do you feel?” the woman asked. “Do you want to take a break? We can talk if you’d like.”
“Thank you, but I’d rather work,” she answered, striding toward the end of the hallway.
The rest of the day, she carted rich customers back and forth, grateful for the anti-nausea medicine Vivaldi had given her, and also thankful for the silent types who kept to themselves in the back of the limo. A merchant from Taurus tried to engage her in a conversation that soon became a monologue about his business. She tuned him out and nodded occasionally.
Finally, she dropped off her last client for the day and drove back to the harem, where she walked straight to her room.
She was in the bathroom, splashing her face when someone knocked on her door. “Who is it?” she grunted.
“It’s Gerard,” the courtesan called. “Can I come in?”
Jade opened the door, intending to send the man away.
“I’m sorry,” Gerard whispered, tears in his eyes.
He wasn’t alone. Behind him stood Maarlo. The assassin held a knife to the courtesan’s throat.
Cold fury possessed Jade. “Leave him alone,” she said, pointing her chin at a nearby door. “Inside, there is an exit that leads directly to the parking spot. I’ll come with you if you let him go.”
She walked a few steps in that direction and was relieved to see that Maarlo followed her, still holding Gerard against his chest.
At the door marked with red letters that read Hydroponic Gardens, Jade repeated, “Let him go.” She slowly lowered the handle. The humid air from the tank curled her short hair.
In one fluid movement, Maarlo shoved Gerard to the floor and grabbed Jade’s arm. A moment later, the tank’s door slammed behind them, and Maarlo pushed Jade against its wet surface, her arm pinned behind her back.
With her free hand, Jade reached for the dagger she kept under the waistband of her pants, but the assassin blocked her before her fingers could brush the weapon.
“The Academy wants you back,” Maarlo said.
“Of course they do.” Jade stretched the hand pinned against the door, inching it toward her second knife hidden beneath her leather belt.
“I was told not to harm you.” Maarlo pressed his large body against hers, smashing her hand and effectively stopping her from retrieving the knife. “Not a scratch.”
Jade couldn’t drop down, so she raised her knee. This time, she struck her intended target, but the one howling in pain was her, not Maarlo, when she hit the metal armor between his legs.
The assassin’s mouth curved into a warped smile that was followed by a sinister laugh. “You are predictable.”
Pain reverberated from her knee to her leg, but she didn’t make a sound. Instead, she locked eyes with his. “Let’s go somewhere else and finish this.”
“You aren’t listening.” Maarlo grabbed her elbow and spun her around, pressing her face against the door and immobilizing both her hands in his. Pulling at her bent arms, he waited for her to still against the pain. “The Academy has no intention to torture or kill you.”
Jade breathed slowly, letting the oxygen clear her mind. “Why?”
“Because breeding super soldiers seems a better way to utilize you,” he said before a pungent smell hit Jade’s nostrils.
She felt her legs buckle a moment before she plunged into darkness.
28
“Gilda?” Dragon asked Lyra. “What are you talking about, girl?”
At his side, Valerian became still.
Lyra looked first at Dragon, then her eyes moved over Valerian, widening in terror. “Don’t let him near me!” she screamed. “He’s with her.”
In the meantime, Lorina and Mirna had stopped crying and sat frozen on the chaise lounge.
Dragon’s senses reeled. He turned to face his lieutenant and met his stony expression. “Valerian?”
Before his friend could say anything, Gage entered the chamber, dragging another man by the arm.
“Cranes,” Gabriel said, motioning for Gage to bring the man closer.
“My Lord—” Cranes shook from head to toe, refusing to make eye contact.
“What’s going on in here?” Gabriel asked, gesturing at the chamber. “I’ve never read any report about the basement’s maintenance.”
Lyra stopped whimpering and crying and joined the preternatural stillness that had immobilized Lorina and Mirna. The three of them turned their attention to the newcomer.
The entire room fell silent, everybody waiting on the house manager’s answer.
“I—” The man fell to his knees, raising his united hands over his head. With his eyes downcast, he said, “I didn’t know they were going to use it for—” He started again, shaking violently. “I was told—” He choked on his last word that was drowned by loud sobs.
“Who’s they?” Dragon asked.
“The prin—” A wet gurgle escaped his mouth as he stared once at Valerian before falling face down to the floor. An arrow jutted from between his shoulder blades.
Gabriel and Valerian dashed in pursuit of the archer. The four guards collapsed at once, their bodies riddled by a rain of arrows. The girls ran in the opposite direction toward the chamber’s less illuminated corner. Dragon and Valentine chased after them. The whoosh of flying arrows split the air. One after the other, the three lady’s maids fell.
Dragon and Valentine split, each rushing toward a column.
“Can you see him?” Valentine mouthed.
Dragon shook his head as another arrow flew past him. The shaft embedded itself into the wooden table by his side, and it oozed a dark substance.
Gabriel ran back into the chamber. A barb whistled loudly.
Dragon yelled at Gabriel, “Watch out!”
The vampire skirted the incoming arrow at the last moment, but a second and a third shaft whizzed by, coming from different corners of the chamber. One of the poisoned barbs hit Dragon. Pai
n exploded in his shoulder, and numbness overtook him a moment later. He was hit again. His knee felt like melting rubber.
Someone yelled his name. Hands grabbed him. The rest of the room slowly vanished. People entered his line of sight as he floated in and out of consciousness. Dragon fought to escape the darkness surrounding him, but it felt like swimming through a sea of gelatin. Finally, his dragon took the reins, and he gratefully sunk into oblivion.
Dragon woke up in stages.
For the longest time, he tried to come to, but his body didn’t want to cooperate, his eyelids too heavy and his limbs heavier still. Voices roused him before he sunk deeper into a dreamless slumber. Fog surrounded him as Dragon dug his way back to reality.
Finally, groggy and famished, he croaked, “Food,” smelling the tantalizing scent of roasted meat.
“Told you a good lamouris roast would do the trick.” Valentine’s voice came from nearby. “Imported from Lupine. You are welcome.”
Opening one eye, Dragon let out a sigh. He was lying on the cool floor of a large chamber that looked familiar. Usually, he didn’t suffer from disorientation this strong for more than a second or two, but now, he had a hard time getting rid of the healing’s side effects.
“How long?” he croaked.
Gabriel sat on a chair in front of him. “You were out for nine days.”
“Nine days,” Dragon repeated, trying to figure out what the date was, but his brain didn’t provide him the answer. Fear grabbed him. “Am I too late?” He hoisted his upper body on his bent elbows. “The Academy—”
“It’s tomorrow,” Valentine answered, perched on the armchair of a sofa. “I was willing to poke you with a skewer if you hadn’t woken by tonight.”
“Thank you.” Dizziness overcame Dragon, making him shut his eyes.
The Fifth Moon's Assassin (The Fifth Moon's Tales Book 5) Page 12