“If Reech is going after Aidric, then he has bigger balls than any lyrriken I’ve ever seen.”
“But not bigger than Aidric’s.”
I groaned at his joke. “Ronan said things are volatile, that Drimera has changed. But I never would have expected any of this.”
“Ronan? You said that like it means something.”
“He does. He did.” I sighed. “He does, but not as much as he once did.” Before Evans could push for more, I glanced at the time. “I should get dressed.”
He put a light hand on my leg. “Why did you leave your world? Reech said…”
His hesitation was long. I didn’t like it. “What did Reech say?”
“That you weren’t to be trusted. He said you’ll betray your new friends as easily as your old. Reech called you the defector, the traitor.” Wary curiosity narrowed Evans’s stare. “It wasn’t an accusation, Nite. It was a label.”
I was glad he didn’t come out and ask if it were true. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I didn’t want you to think I believed him. Which I don’t,” he added quickly.
I marshalled a grateful smile. “Anything else?”
“He kept calling you special, but not in a good way. In a eerie way.”
“Casey,” I said with persuasion. “What exactly did he say?”
“It wasn’t his words so much. It was the look in his eyes. Reech might hurt you, but he doesn’t want to punish you. Not like Brynne. You fascinate him. It’s like you’re some kind of big mystery. A puzzle he’s bent on solving, no matter what. And I don’t think he’ll rest until he does.”
Twenty-Nine
Oren was waiting for me at the bar. His brown leather briefcase sat on the countertop to his left beside an open bottle of beer. His smile as I approached was pleasant, but his body was stiff as he rose slightly from his stool, in a polite gesture that felt more obligatory than genuine.
I took the seat beside him. Nadine stood behind the counter. I caught her eyes with an apologetic smile. “Sorry about all this.”
Bangle bracelets jingling, she shoved the fringe of hair back from her face. “Oh, sweetie, it’s no trouble. But if you need anything, you let me know.” Her gaze darted to Oren. “Either of you. Slinging drinks isn’t the only thing I’m good at.” With a wink, Nadine scooped up a sleeping Dizzy off the bar and sauntered into the kitchen.
Oren slid the beer in front of me.
“Thanks,” I said. “You’re not joining me?”
“Not tonight. I have some work waiting for me at home.” He glanced unhappily around at the police presence in the bar. The two plainclothes officers near the stairs were here for Oren. Mine were sitting at a table near the stage. As I snatched up my beer, I watched them in the mirror. Now and then, her dark eyes scanned the room discreetly, as her companion’s causal gaze wandered in the direction of the bar.
Evans and his partner blended well into the shadows of Nadine’s. Their cover wouldn’t fool Brynne, even if she hadn’t seen us together, and Reech already knew Evans. But it wasn’t a stretch to believe they were on a date and not guard duty. It made me question if there was more to Geronimo’s initial wariness of me.
“Never mind them.” Oren turned in his seat to face me. “I can get you out tonight. You need to get far away from this, Dahl. Disappear. Let it die down.”
“If I leave there’s no guarantee the killings will stop. I’ve been here almost two months. Anyone I’ve had contact with is a potential target.”
“I’m sure Brynne will grow bored before she runs out of victims.”
“That’s comforting.”
“What she’s doing is sad and regrettable, but humans kill each other every day. A small culling won’t damage their numbers like it would ours.”
I subdued my annoyance with a drink, wishing our conversation was taking place over the phone. Oren’s ridiculously logical mind was easier to tolerate when I could hang up on him. “I’m on shaky ground with Captain Barnes. I’ve managed to convince him I can’t remember anyone named Brynne, and that I have no idea why she’s after me. Thankfully, it’s pretty much a given that she’s crazy. So it’s not a stretch that she fixated on me for some ill-conceived transgression.”
“And your police friend?” He tossed an irritated surreptitious glance at Evans. “Does he know your connection to Brynne?”
The lie was out before I could stop it. “No.”
“Good. There will be less damage control for me when you’re gone.”
“I don’t think that’s the right move. If I skip town, they’ll think I’m guilty or dead. If I run this time, Oren, I can’t come back.”
“Then don’t. This world is vast. You’ve seen but a portion of it. Perhaps it’s time for you to dissolve our working relationship and move on. You pass as human better than most. You care for them more. If you’re so concerned you’re bringing them pain, then go. This city will go on without you.”
“Oren—”
“Their problems are not yours,” he said sharply. Scooting closer, Oren lowered his voice. “You see the pain they bring each other. You feel it. In nearly a hundred years, have you made a dent in stopping it?”
I clenched the bottle in my grip. “No. But at some point our struggles have to mesh.”
“Do they?”
“We live here. We eat their food. Take their jobs. Drink their beer,” I said, setting mine down. “We infiltrate their positions of power, their financial and military institutions.”
“This again?” he mumbled.
“We spy on them. Use them. Fuck with them. Fuck them,” I added. “Our mothers are human. Doesn’t that mean anything to you?”
Oren shifted in his seat. He ran a hand back over his hair. “Look around you, Dahl. Their wealth, their technology and advancements…their species can hardly be considered persecuted or threatened by ours.”
“Not outwardly. But we’ve kept so much from them, convincing them that fact is fairytale, smearing those who see the truth. Hundreds of thousands are reported missing from this world each year. How many of those have found their way somewhere else? How many died birthing us, or were forced to live out their days in a world that’s not their own?”
He watched me finish my beer and order another. Nadine, aware I wasn’t in the mood for idle conversation, delivered the bottle and left without comment.
Oren waited until she was gone before he spoke again. “Working alongside humans has made you fond of them. I acknowledge that. But to suddenly doubt our ways, our right to reproduce, questions our very means of existence—one that’s been in place for thousands of years, governed by the elders.” Oren paused for an angry breath. “This new view of yours is far from safe.”
I’ve never been safe, I thought, feeling sorry for myself. Why start now?
“You’re right, Oren. This world is vast. I can’t protect it all. I can’t stop what we’re hurtling toward when the exits are discovered. I can’t stop the death and destruction that will unfold when Drimera and the other worlds are exposed. But, for now, I can protect this city, this place that sheltered me when I had nowhere else to go.”
“And that means…?”
“It means I’m done. No more living on the road. No more hiding. If they want me—Naalish, Aidric, the Guild, Brynne, Reech, the balaur—they can form a line right outside my front door.”
Oren’s mouth went slack. I felt the significance of the moment, too. It was the first time in over ninety years I hadn’t taken his advice. “If you do this,” he said, “if you stay here, continuing to flaunt your existence while all eyes are on this city, the leniency the Guild has shown you, the allowance they’ve given to permit me to employ you…it could all end.”
Maybe then I’ll finally learn how it started.
Declining to spark that argument again, I moved on. “I need some information on a lyrriken squad commander named Reech. He’s a son of the firedrake tribe. Maybe one of Aidric’s brood.”
“I know Reech. You�
��re correct in his tribe and his parentage. But Reech has always been more a creature of Naalish. He’s what the humans would call a purist.”
“That’s a thing now?”
“It’s a movement that’s grown steam in recent years. It fits nicely in line with the Queen’s push to keep the energies of Drimera pure from outside influences and infiltration.”
Memories of my odd dream resurfaced. Is that how dragons see the land?
Or have I completely lost it?
I pushed the worry aside. “What level is he?”
“Reech is a diverse operative. He’s served the Guild in multiple capacities.”
“If he had a problem with Aidric, say he didn’t approve of something the King was involved in, something human maybe, would Reech turn against him?”
“Aidric has always had his hands in the human pie, so to speak. That spying you don’t agree with, he’s spearheaded it from the beginning. If it’s a human affair with potential far-reaching effects, Aidric either knows about it or he’s orchestrated it.”
“And he runs the Guild? Busy dragon.”
Oren’s eyes narrowed. “Naalish took control of the Guild not long after you left, Dahl. Aidric handles human concerns only now. I thought you knew.”
“How would I? I keep company with exactly two lyrriken. You and I haven’t had a conversation that didn’t involve dead bodies in years. And Ronan…our catching up doesn’t usually involve Drimeran politics.”
“I’m sure it doesn’t,” he said dryly. “To answer your question, Reech is ruthless, but I can’t imagine him risking everything to rebuke the dragon who fathered him.”
“Could Naalish have set him to the task? How pissed is she at Aidric these days?”
“Naalish and Aidric have been estranged over one thing or another since their union was formed. But a dragon Queen backing a lyrriken over her chosen King, that’s…” he paused, long enough to cast doubt on the truth of his next words. “Well, that’s unheard of.”
“What if Ella was one of us? One of Aidric’s,” I clarified.
“You examined her body. Was she lyrriken? Did you sense it on her?”
“No. But Brynne said—”
“Stop,” he broke in. “You can’t believe anything she says. Brynne is playing with you, looking for ways to throw you off course.”
“Right now, that’s a damn easy thing to do.” Frustrated, I tossed my phone on the bar. “I need what you’re working on for me, Oren. If I can track Reech, I can find her.”
“Maybe,” he said, casting doubt on my plan. “Though, I’m afraid it will be a few more days before your special hunting tool is ready.”
“I don’t have days. And I don’t have time to scour the city without it.”
“Then you need bait. Something to dangle in her face. Someone she can’t resist killing.”
Irked, I took a fast drink. “And who would that be?”
“If she wants to hurt you, only one victim will do the job. Ronan Locke.”
Wishing I was more surprised, I laughed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you, if Ronan happened to die while I was dangling him out there.”
“I didn’t say let her kill him. But if you convince Brynne that doing so will hit you where it hurts, she won’t be able to resist. All you have to do is set the trap. She’ll up her game and come to you. Or you can keep playing police with that grumpy detective.”
“I guess you’ve met Creed,” I grinned.
“I know him by reputation only. And that’s more than enough.”
“He’s not so bad. He’s just driven.”
“He’s pushy and could easily become a thorn in need of plucking. And he’s not going to be able to help you with this. Trying to anticipate which of this city’s innocent citizens will fall into Brynne’s sights next, letting her work her way up slowly, adding to the body count… If you want to play it that way, I won’t stop you. The choice is yours.”
I leaned back, feeling all the questions I had for him die with the bitter taste in my mouth. Except one. “The Guild teaches that lyrriken minds are capable of manipulating and controlling matter in ways even beyond our awareness. That certain stimulation can spark an evolution of our abilities. Could that be how Brynne is wielding fire now?”
“Augmenting their lyrriken operatives is something the Guild has endeavored to accomplish for years. They’ve had a few successful outcomes, but the limitations of our human side usually step in to stifle the progress.”
“You’ve said it yourself. Human brains are teeming with potential.”
“Yes, but accessing that potential, freeing it, is difficult. It requires an exceptional mind. Even then, most can’t tolerate the process of unlocking those enhancements. It’s why few of us are chosen to undergo the required training. Now, on the phone, you said Brynne spoke of her re-education as if it were particularly intense. If what she alluded to is true, then it’s possible, experiencing such prolonged, extreme stress could have opened her mind and allowed it to connect with her body in ways it never had before.”
“Can such a thing happen naturally, without any outside coercion?”
“It’s not unheard of, but usually the subject must reach a certain state, a higher level of awareness that only occurs at the edge of breaking. It’s there that the mind is free of restrictions. It’s open and vulnerable, able to see new pathways and grasp what was once impossible.”
I shook away the images Oren’s descriptions had conjured. The last thing I wanted was to envision the torture Brynne endured in my name. “What about my empathy? Could it evolve like that, naturally, over time?”
“Consistent practice is a proven method with physical skills. There is ‘muscle memory’, as the humans call it. Instinct. Intuition. Reflexive movement. Mental disciplines can be trickier. As I said, accessing untapped reserves often require specific conditions. Adrenaline surges and outside triggers can explain anomalous improvements or an unexplained reaction. But before I offer any real meaningful comment, I need to know exactly what you’ve experienced.”
“Sensing pain over larger distances. Being drawn to it more than usual. Taking someone’s trauma.”
Oren’s eyes held a mix of emotions. None of them put me at ease. “Tell me.”
“There was residual trauma on one of our victims. I think I absorbed it. Then this man touched me and… He had a heart attack, Oren. Could I have done that? Could I have transferred enough pain to the man to affect his heart? Could I have left my own imprint on a crime scene, so deep, the dying sensed me there? That they saw me?”
Oren put a steadying hand on my arm. “When you read what lingers on a corpse or in a room, that’s nothing but a footprint, a gathering of energy. Energy caused by the overload of emotions. Energy your mind taps into, allowing it to envelop you and show you what occurred.” His voice as firm as his grip, Oren said, unequivocally, “The dead don’t see, Dahl. And you aren’t there. You can’t be. To think otherwise is nothing but paranoid delusion. Something this mess with Brynne has certainly sparked.”
“Maybe you’re right.”
“Of course I’m right. Everything you’ve experienced can be explained by over-use and stress. When this business with Brynne is done, you’re taking a break, and I’m running a thorough exam. You’re clearly putting too much strain on your mind.”
“When things calm down you can poke and prod me as much as you like. Until then… Did your contacts tell you anything about Aidric?”
“Only that he’s on thin ice with Naalish. She’s become increasingly preoccupied with the balance. She believes it’s tipping. Aidric sees her fixation and her measures as unreasonable.”
“I hate to say I agree with him, but upholding some eon’s old pact with the land to maintain their ‘magical powers’…” I thought of my dream again, and dismissed it. “I have a hard time seeing that as any more than the fairytale of dragons are on this world.”
Oren’s disapproval of my lack of faith hung heavy in the air
, but he held his tongue and we sat in silence until I finished my second beer.
“Take my suggestion, Dahl,” he said, then. “Give Brynne a way to hurt you. Make her come to you and kill her. When the city is safe from her vengeance, if you still feel compelled to find Reech, I will have what you need. But promise me, whatever you decide, you’ll stay far away from Aidric and Naalish.”
I forced a grateful smile. Oren cared for me. He just didn’t care enough to tell me the whole truth, and it hurt. Neither was his silence helping the case. Between Ronan and my tight-lipped adversaries, it already felt like ‘keep Dahlia in the dark week’. I didn’t need Oren shutting me out, too.
“I have to go.” Oren squeezed my shoulder. “Watch yourself. Stay in touch.” Standing, he picked up his briefcase. “And put that little hellion in her place.” Oren joined the two men standing near the stairs, and the three of them headed up.
A moment later, Evans slid into Oren’s vacant seat. “That looked intense.”
“Oren and I don’t always agree.”
“Have you two been friends a long time?”
“A while.” I knew what he was fishing for. But there were things Evans needed to know. Things I had no right to tell him. And still others he was better off never knowing.
“If you’re done here,” he glanced around, “we should get you back.”
“Missing my couch already?”
“I’m just trying to do my job, which you seem to enjoy making incredibly difficult.”
“No, I’ve made my own difficult by agreeing to police protection. It’s premature, and you know it. It doesn’t matter if I’m here, at home, or walking down Main Street. Brynne’s not coming after me yet. She’s still circling like a vulture. Slowly working her way in, like the victims are goddamn rings on a bullseye.”
“And you’re the prize in the center.”
“That’s my point. She’s still on the outer ring. When she realizes the killing is too peripheral and not having enough impact, that it’s not hurting me enough, she’ll…” I paused as Oren’s words sunk in deep, “up her game.”
Nadine returned with Evans’s bill. Swirling a curl around her finger, she leaned her impressive, tube-top-wrapped cleavage across the bar. “You sure you can’t stick around? You make this place look good, even if you are a cop.”
Nite Fire: Flash Point Page 30