by K V Deal
Well, that knocked my idea of smuggling her... I frowned and then looked over at the others. My eyes settled on Carah, and a smile began to play across my lips.
“So, could you imitate her?” I pointed at Carah.
“She just said it wouldn't help,” Sebastian said and crossed his arms and raised an annoyed eyebrow at me.
“Please, trust me on this. If she can, this might work.”
Sebastian was about to say something, but Rachel spoke first. “Alright. I'll try.”
Another thought jumped into my head, and I gestured Sebastian over to form a wall between Rachel and the others.
As we watched, Rachel closed her eyes, focused for a moment, then began to shift. Her face pulled as her mouth shrank, and her features seemed to become molten. Red pigment raced across her skin tinting her whole body. A bump formed on her head, growing into a single horn above her eye. Her hair turned black and lengthened. In seconds, an exact copy of Carah stood in front of me--an inverted copy, with the horn over her other eye.
“Alright. Now, I'll prove this will work. Here's how you need to act.”
After a quick conversation, she let out a huff. “Fine, but that’s not how she is. I can see that, and I havent even known her that long.”
“Trust me. Just go out there and call them on it.”
Sebastian looked on with a grumpy expression. He and I watched Rachel put on an angry expression and begin to pick her way over the rubble towards the others, who were still locked in a three-way argument.
She stopped in front of them, planted her hands on her hips, and shouted, “That's enough!” Carah’s voice echoed out of her mouth.
Wow... She even copies that.
The others turned to look at her in surprise as she continued. “Really! Do we have time for this? And what did you do to this place?” She looked around surveying the damage.
She’s really good at ad-libbing.
Carah took a step back, surprise evident on her face. “B?! What are you doing here?”
“Brittany, I swear, this isn't our fault!” Axle held up his hands, trying to placate her.
“A likely story. What did you fucking do?” Rachel glared at him.
“Wait...” Carah's eyebrows snapped together. “You’re not B!”
I stepped forward smiling. “So, what do you think? Will she pass muster?”
Recognition dawned on the three faces--Charlie first, then the other two.
Charlie grinned for the first time in days. “Dragon, sometimes you’re damn brilliant. Just sometimes, though, so don't let it go to your head.”
Carah shook her head. “You look just like B... This should work as long as you don't swear.”
“What?” Rachel looked back at me, surprised.
“Told you,” I grinned.
“Carah has a twin sister. They’re mirror images of each other,” Axle explained.
A look of understanding spread across Rachel's face. Then she grinned.
“So, think it will work?” I asked.
“This might just do it!” Rachel said.
“Alright, then let's get our butts back to Gloria,” Charlie said. “She can find a safe place for ya, and ya can tell us what this Edward told ya. It might help.”
“Gladly!” Rachel made a fist. “I'd do anything to make that bastard pay.” The words almost hissed through her clenched teeth.
“I'm coming too!” Sebastian said, his face grim.
“You can’t,” I said, frowning, as I shook my head. “That might give the game away.”
Rachel looked at her father and then nodded, a sad expression on her face. “He's right, dad...”
He growled, looking back and forth between us and his daughter.
“We'll keep her safe, sir.”
“It's not like you can't come,” Carah said. “Just not with us. Get together a group of people you can trust and follow us in the morning.”
His face lit up, and he nodded. “Alright.” He turned to Rachel. “I'll see you tomorrow. I promise.”
Rachel stepped forward to hug him. “Be safe, dad. And careful! I don't know what Edward might try!”
He nodded, then gently pushed her away. “Alright, off you go! Get somewhere safe, and I'll see you soon.”
With a nod, she turned to us, and we began the walk back to Gloria and, hopefully, some answers.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Chapter 15
Before we got to the campus, Carah had walked Rachel through enough of Brittany's habits to convince anyone who didn't really know her. Even I would have had trouble, if I wasn't already in the know. I mean, I’d only known her for a few days before she left the team. But even so, I could tell Rachel was a very good actress.
Also she had told us just a little about what had happened to her, and it wasn’t good. If it had happened to me, I would’ve been downright terrified.
This Edward guy had approached her, saying he had heard about her. Then he’d revealed he was the same type of Changed as her. He’d used that as a springboard to get to know her and then take that to the level of a relationship in just three days. And once he had her alone, when she least expected it, he’d drugged her.
She’d woken up in that pattern, unable to move but still able to see and hear everything around her--no smells, though, for some reason. She’d been trapped, unable to do anything but think, stuck in a room with a dead inquisitor.
It was hours later when Edward had suddenly appeared in the room…and she did mean appeared. One second, she felt like something was pulling on her; the next he was standing in the other ring, grinning at her.
Basically, he’d said she was needed. There’d been no apology. No mention of breaking her heart. She was simply a needed resource. He’d added that she shouldn't worry; he would take care of her as long as she was needed.
Yeah, that wouldn't have made me feel better either.
Even talking about it was difficult for her. You could see it in the way her hands shook as she spoke.
We changed the subject at that point. She’d been trapped for a while and was surprised to hear about the things that had been going on. A few of them she knew about because Edward had told her about them, but for the most part, she’d been out of the loop on everything. We’d managed to get her mind off of Edward by the time that we finally arrived at…
Well, actually, it looked like an ants nest. The school was covered by a massive construction crew, all of them out surveying the school campus from top to bottom. They kinda looked like a flash mob, all of them dressed in bright, red-leather vests and what looked like metal pith helmets. We managed to squeeze past them into the building after a little effort. It was a relief to get out of the crowd.
I'm pretty sure I almost stepped on people a few times out there.
Inside, the halls were almost empty in comparison. Oh, sure, there were still people everywhere going about business, but it was nothing like that throng outside. I hadn't even realized that many construction workers lived in the city!
We were directed up three flights of stairs and into a large waiting room. This time it was empty. Not really a surprise, considering it was dusk outside by this point. What was a surprise was the fact that it was Cyrus waiting for us. It was as if the man never slept.
“Axle, it’s good to see you. We received your message and were quite worried,” the half-golem intoned as he eyed Charlie.
She blushed and glared at him.
He shifted his gaze along the group before stopping on ‘B”.
“Five members?” I hadn't known the man could look puzzled. “I was informed your Adventurer unit only had four members.”
“Adventurer?” Carah asked.
“Search and Rescue and Exploration teams are no longer being used for those functions. Gloria deemed it ‘silly’ to continue using those terms, so she combined both organizations into a single group that she is calling the Adventurers. Now back to your fifth member?”
Man, the guy ha
d a one-track mind.
Before Rachel was forced to answer, I stepped forward. “We need her to talk to Gloria. You should be there too. It’s important.”
Cyrus turned his eyes on me.
“It has to do with our mission,” Axle added.
I frowned. I hadn't even planned to give that much until we were in Gloria’s office. Hopefully, that wouldn't give any eavesdroppers enough information to work out what was really going on.
Cyrus looked at Rachel again. “I see.”
“It can’t really wait, Cyrus…sorry.” Axle rubbed the back of his head as he looked at the other man sheepishly.
“It is no issue. We were still working.”
“Still?” It was past 8 pm! “This late?” The words slipped out.
“We lost much when the Gray House was destroyed. There is still quite a lot of work to be done to recover.” He sighed and led us towards Gloria’s office.
When we entered, it looked like she hadn't made an inch of progress on the monster pile of paperwork since we had last seen her. She leapt out of her chair and started around the desk. It was pretty obvious she was looking for any excuse to escape the paperwork at this point. “Hey, there! Charlie, good to see you’re alright! We got the message but, well, there’s an issue--several issues actually.”
It took a moment to catch up with what she was saying. She was speaking with a speed that rivaled my stereotypical idea of an auctioneer. Words were flowing so fast they felt like a single thought.
“What’s the problem?” Axle asked. He looked nervous as he watched Gloria.
“Well... When Lisa when through and identified all the items, there was one she said could remove curses. Good news there. The problem is that it was something that belonged to one Rick Gill.” She took a deep breath before continuing. “He was on the fire-dungeon team, and his body was positively identified.”
Charlie swore. “Looted?”
“Probably. And we still don't have any leads on where the Inquisitors could be hiding.”
“Actually, we may have one,” I said, glancing back to make sure Cyrus had shut the door. I nodded at Rachel.
“Brittany? I thought…” Gloria cut herself off as Rachel began to shift back to her normal form.
“Well... I take it you were successful,” Gloria muttered when it was all done.
“Sorry for the deception, Ms. Mayor,” Rachel said.
We gave Gloria a quick recap of what had happened. Rachel went through her story of how she had been, in essence, kidnapped in her own home.
“Now, that’s a story!” Gloria leaned back against her desk, looking up at the ceiling. “And he said he needed you, specifically, for whatever he was doing?”
“Not me. Another doppelganger, like him. I was just the only one he found.” Rachel's fists were balled up in her lap as she looked at the floor. We were all sitting now, except for Gloria.
“Did he tell you anything else?” Cyrus asked as he made notes on a slip of paper.
“Lots of things. I don't think he expected me to survive whatever he was up to, much less escape.” The venom was back in her voice.
Gloria nodded. “Overconfident. We may be able to use that.”
“Now that we know about him. How the hell did we miss him for so long?” Charlie asked.
“Because he is good at what he does.” Cyrus tapped the paper. “He must have been doing similar things before the change, but I don't remember a record of any criminal with such skills before then.”
“You wouldn’t have any,” Rachel said, shaking her head. “He said he’s not from around here. He came here after the 'rebirth' as he called it.”
“What?” Gloria said sharply, looking down at her.
“I don't know any more than that! He didn't talk about it!” Rachel raised her hands defensively.
“Hey, calm down, Rachel.” Carah stood up, moving to place a hand on Rachel’s shoulder. “Nobody’s angry at you, just surprised.”
Cyrus nodded, as he added to his notes. “Did he name a place?”
“No. He never said its name. He was more interested in talking about what he was up to now than about the past--his plans, and how they worked and such. It was almost like he needed to get it out in the air in order to think things through.” Rachel's hands started to shake as she relived her captivity.
“Perhaps we should ask Axel's team to leave before we continue?” Cyrus asked, his face blank as he watched Rachel.
Charlie shot him a glare and was about to say something, but Gloria spoke up first. “No, they stay. I trust them. And if there's a shape changer around, then groups are best. I mean, he can only impersonate one person at a time, right?”
Rachel nodded in agreement.
“Good. So, what's he planning?”
The story Rachel spilled out was crazy.
Edward had infiltrated the Inquisitors by disguising himself as the dead man in her house. He’d been using his skills and knowledge of magic to make a name for himself in their group in an effort to steer their plans to some extent. Why? That, he’d never said.
Then Rachel dropped three bombs. The first? That inquisitor who had ambushed me in my room twice now? Edward. For some reason, part of his mission was to kill any dragon he found. Never said why, just that he needed to find a way. He’d been really surprised that fire hadn't done the job.
The second was that Edward didn't depend on magic items to use magic. Seems he was a master of several different types of magic. He’d explained different things as he’d worked on them right in front of her. That might be useful information down the road.
And finally, …
“He came back one time, and, just like always, he just seemed to pop into being in the second circle. This time, he was both happy and concerned about something. He began to pace as soon as he arrived. I remember being surprised, since it was the first time I’d seen him seem upset.”
She was speaking very softly, and her hands were shaking like a leaf. I was pretty sure it was only her experience as an actress that kept her talking.
“After a moment, he began to speak, though this time it felt like he was talking more to the walls than to me. A team had come from Haven to bolster the Inquisitors. They had called in all of their top agents to come and meet them, including Edward. He was torn. He was worried that with the Haven team here, he wouldn't be able to manipulate the Inquisitors into doing what he needed to be done. At the same time, he was overjoyed, since the representatives from Haven moved his mission forward to a new stage, and because he had finally learned where the main Inquisitor stronghold was.”
She stopped and looked down at her hands. “He’s going to be angry that you destroyed that body.” It came out almost as a whisper.
Gloria blinked. “Body? I think I missed something there.”
“There was a dead man in the room with me. Edward needed to come back every day or so to study it, so he could keep up his disguise.”
“Well, nice to know we put a little dent in his plan.” You could hear the grin in Gloria's voice. “But I gotta admit, I'm more interested in the other bit you were talking about.”
Rachel looked at Gloria in confusion.
“The stronghold?” Gloria prompted.
“Oh... Sorry. Do you know the west river district?”
Gloria nodded eagerly.
“Its…”
Cyrus stepped in, a blur of motion, as he hit Rachel hard in the throat. She fell backward, gagging, as we all sat frozen in shock.
“Sorry, my dear. Can’t have you spilling that little gem just yet.” The voice that came out of the golem’s mouth sounded like Cyrus, but the words flowed out fast and as smooth as silk.
Oh, shit.
I surged to my feet, fumbling for my dagger, but Cyrus, actually Edward, was already in motion. He shut his eyes and threw something against the ground. Hard. A blinding flash of light and noise filled the office. I instinctively raised a hand to shield my eyes, but the damage had alr
eady been done. I could neither see nor hear what was going on.
He was going to escape! My instincts kicked in, almost screaming in my head. I couldn't let him get away! Before my eyes had even cleared, I let out a growl and threw myself at the place he had been, coming up empty. The wooden floor vibrated like something had fallen. Something heavy. My tail lashed around behind me and I felt it score a hit on...something.
Oh jeez, I hope that wasn't a friend.
My eyes were clearing, though large spots still obscured a good portion of my vision. As far as I could tell, I was facing an empty portion of the room. I spun around. The door to the hallway was open! It was still swinging from the force with which it had been opened.
Crap! I probably hadn't heard it over the ringing in my ears.
Rachel was gone too! The bastard had kidnapped her again! Like hell he was going to get away with this! I snarled and was about to give chase when Carah suddenly appeared in my field of vision waving her arms.
She tried to speak, but I couldn't hear a word she was saying. She must have noticed, because she switched from speaking to jabbing a finger at the ground behind me.
I didn't have time for…
Gloria lay on the ground clutching her throat as blood ran over her fingers. The lights coming through her visor were already beginning to dim.
Crap!
Edward forgotten for the moment, I threw myself to my knees next to her.
“You’re going to be okay.” That’s what I tried to say, but I still couldn't hear a damn thing, so, who knows?
I had no idea how to administer a potion to her, or even if that was the right thing to do. A voice in my head pointed out that the heavy scarring from a potion might do more damage, long-term.
Carah got in my field of view again. She pointed at my ring finger and then at Gloria. When I didn't catch on, she jabbed my finger and then drew a ring in the air.
The ring of second chances! I yanked the ring free, pulled one of Gloria's hands away from her neck and shoved the ring on her finger. A lot more blood spilled from the ugly wound across her throat without her hand being there to apply pressure.
Come on, come on!
Her eyes were dimming. Now they were only fireflies behind her helm. Then a blue glow spread from the ring. The glow pooled at her neck. She relaxed and slumped backward, unconscious.