by Mikayla Lane
“Would have spent at least two or three years creating it and that’s knocking off twenty or thirty to allow for his abilities. He’s been here a long time and been gone for just as long, from that house, or we would have felt something of his residual energy.”
Lara nodded her head. “It makes sense that he’s been here much longer than I have. Which means, he’s already amassed wealth and power and that may help us narrow down the list of possible identities he might be using.”
Dread looked at Lara with a quirked brow. “What makes you assume he has wealth and power?”
Lara sneered. “He would believe it is his right to have it and would do what it took to achieve it. If he’s had enough time to collect the relic, then he’s had time to kill and steal to get what he wants.”
Lara turned to Drago with pitying eyes. “Devon’s potential innocence aside, there is no doubt that she is involved with Satalis to some degree. I’m not asking you to believe either way about her. I’m asking you to remember the seriousness of the situation with him,” she said, knowing he would understand why she was reminding him of it.
Drago nodded his head. He knew that Lara wasn’t trying to be cruel, only asking him to look at all sides of the information before looking only for the things that would prove Devon not to be the evil bitch in the reports.
Viper turned to the Brazar siblings. “What would be the purpose of creating that mass in the basement?” He asked, curious over the need for something that expansive.
Trick shook his head thinking about the illusion in basement. “It’s hard to tell. It could be used as a generator to feed and energize the other illusions in the area that are dampening Lara’s energy. Or it could be nothing more than the first place that he started his illusions in the area and continued to build it and change it as his needs changed,” Trick said honestly.
“How are you supposed to get through it to the original illusion?” Dread asked. Dree laughed while Mir and Trick snorted and shook their heads.
“What?” Lara asked, looking between the siblings.
Dree propped her feet on Mir’s lap casually and laid her hands on her stomach before answering Lara. “Because we can’t even get near that thing without it setting off some kind of alarm. The problem is the mass is so large we would have to step through it in order to find the original illusion. Stepping into an illusion for conjurer's, like us,” Dree said pointing to herself and her brothers. “Would immediately alarm the creator that another conjurer has entered his realm of illusion.”
Mir saw that everyone looked confused and tried to explain it better. “The energy required for conjuring is unique because it allows us a form of access to realm’s unknown to anyone else. Those realm’s leave a signature in our energy. It is inherent in our abilities to immediately recognize when another illusionist enters our conjuring space.”
“So you did warn him when you were outside!” Dread said without anger as he shook his head.
Trick, however, looked offended. “No, we did not. We can easily deconstruct one without stepping into it!”
Dread turned to Trick. “Then how can you deconstruct it without letting him know you are there?”
Dree sighed and stood between the two men who were becoming needlessly heated over something that was only a misunderstanding. She looked up at Dread until he looked down at her.
“We do not need to touch it to deconstruct it. Even the true magician’s on this planet, the unique ones who were born with the ability to conjure using the planet’s energy, can recognize the basic building blocks of an illusion and unravel it without touching it. It is a novice ability.”
“It’s like learning to walk by putting one foot in front of the other. No matter who you are or where you learned to create your illusions, the mechanics of creating them are the same and do not change from planet to planet,” Dree said, trying to help them understand.
Trick added, “What Satalis created in that basement is more like a spider web of illusions. A trap or security system. Once you step into the energy of the illusion, it sends a vibration rocketing through the others back to the conjurer. There are too many layers and due to the confines of the basement there is no way to walk around it to find the building blocks to begin deconstructing them.”
Dread nodded his head. “Outside you can walk around it, inside you are trapped by the walls. I get it.”
Dread understood and although felt bad about sounding like such a jerk and would apologize later. Right now, they needed a plan. For Drago’s sake, they needed answers about this Devon Sinclair. He would not watch Drago go through a day of the pain that he had watched Viper endure over Kinara.
He looked to Lara and asked, “So what do we do now that we can’t get to the original illusion?”
Lara looked at everyone in the room. With the first plan no longer viable, they would have to go with plan B and she knew Drago wasn’t going to like it one bit. With a heavy heart Lara started to lay out their new plan.
“We need to broaden the property search on that house and find out when it was built, by who and why. He had to have bought that house at some point in its history. And for a reason. If we can figure out what name he used then we may be able to trace it back to who he is now.”
“Trick, can you guys find these other illusion points that he’s using to grid the city and dampen the energy?” Lara asked, hoping that they could. Trick nodded and looked at his siblings who nodded as well.
Lara grinned. “Good. The other thing we need to do is set up surveillance on that house. Inside and out. We need to know more about Devon and we need to know any communications that she has with her boss,” she said as she looked to Drago for suggestions.
Drago ran a hand over his face in irritation. They should have thought about that before he pissed Devon off and she banned him from coming back. Hell, he thought, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been there a couple of times already and could have done it sooner! He sighed, knowing none of them had been prepared for any of what had happened since they arrived.
He nodded his head. “I can get something in there.” Drago was hoping like hell he was right and Devon would let him inside again. He was going to have to put some thought into it this time though or he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance.
Lara clapped her hands together, her excitement bleeding through her energy a little before she blocked it again. “Ok, now we need to get the devices to put in there. Who’s been talking with Grai?” She asked as she looked around the room at the surprised faces.
“I have,” Drago said immediately, ignoring Dread’s startled look.
Lara didn’t seem the least bit angry. “Can you ask the local people he has here if we can get the equipment?”
Drago nodded his head and sent the call to Grai, who immediately responded. Drago shrugged off the feeling that Grai had been expecting him to contact him and made his request for the equipment they needed. Drago never had any doubt what the response would be.
“He’s going to have someone deliver something in the next few hours.”
*****
Chris had just gotten off the comm with his father and he cursed a blue streak, coming just shy of throwing the comm against the wall. Instead, he punched in Angel’s tone and waited impatiently for her to answer.
“Chris?” Angel asked, her worry evident in her tone of voice.
“Dad called. Again.”
Angel could hear the irritation in Chris’ voice and asked tentatively, “Does he know?”
Chris sighed, unable to allow his sister to worry. “No, Angel, he doesn’t. But we’re damn lucky he doesn’t! Come on Angel, you’ve done enough. Let it go now. We need to back off. This is way too close to why the Tezarian’s are here. Let them finish off Devon Sinclair.” Chris hated pleading with his sister like this, but he had a terrible feeling about this situation and he wanted it over with. Now.
Angel became a little concerned. “Why did he call, Chris?”
Chris felt
like wringing her neck. She never could just listen to him. No, she had to be as stubborn as their dad, Chris thought in frustration. “We need to take some equipment over to them so they can bug Devon’s house! Damn it Angel, they need information that we have!”
Angel snorted. “Bull shit! We had no idea the evil bitch was mixed up with an even more evil fuck than she is, so we never investigated her further to find out! You may hate this Chris, but we’re in a better position to help them than anyone else if we see this through!”
Chris wasn’t going to be swayed that easily, even if she did have a point. “No Angel, if we end this now and give them the information we do have, they can finish the rest!”
“Chris, you know that isn’t true. And I’m not giving up. You know damn well that I am the only one in a position to help them and I will. Send them the equipment. I know for a fact that Devon won’t let anyone back in that house,” Angel said with more confidence than she felt. Her overprotective brother didn’t need to know that though.
Chris smacked his palm to his forehead and growled at his sister. “Angel, you’re going to get us killed. By dad, the Tezarian’s or this damn Dark Prime! Why can’t you let this go? It’s done, honey. You’ve done enough now,” Chris said, his eyes softening for a moment as he watched his sister’s face fall. Seconds later her eyes blazed with conviction.
Angel shook her head. “No, we need to see this through more than ever. For the sake of the Tezarian’s and our teams who are supposed to be their backup. Whether we like it or not Chris, our goals are the same and the information I am getting is too important to leave behind. No one will ever be this close again and we can’t blow it now because it’s a little bigger than we thought it was.”
Chris hated it. Every damn part of it. More so the part where Angel was right. The information she’d been able to gather had been invaluable to their true mission here. The additional information Angel was gathering and what they knew of the Tezarian mission was much more than he ever expected. But they were in too deep. Far too deep.
He looked up into Angel’s pleading brown eyes. “Chris, it’s not perfect. No mission we’ve ever been on was. Stop treating me like a child instead of the awesome girl you, dad and our brothers raised me to be and let me do my job.”
It was Chris’s turn to snort. “Yeah, right. What we’re doing now was never part of our job.”
Angel could tell by the sound of his voice and the look on his face that Chris was caving and she pushed her advantage. “You know exactly where I will be for the next few days and can watch me non-stop if it makes you feel better. But this information is too important, to all of us, to walk away from.”
Chris sighed. “Angel, I’m warning you now. If you move, if you do anything to put yourself in danger I will hunt you down and beat the hell out of you myself.”
Angel stifled her laughter. “Chris, I will be fine. Especially since you called in our brothers,” she said with a wink and a big smile.
Chris wasn’t the least bit surprised that she knew. “How did you find out?”
Angel laughed. “You just told me silly.”
The screen winked out and this time Chris did throw the comm against the wall. The sound of the unbreakable device punching through the drywall did nothing to quell his fear and concern for his sister.
He sent yet another call through the Shengari’ hoping to protect his stubborn sister and head off the impending disaster he knew in his soul was coming. For them all.
Chapter Ten
Drago rubbed his tired eyes and put down the comm he’d been using to try and find the original builder and owner of Devon’s house. He’d learned that DC was divided into eight neighborhood wards and they were currently in the seventh ward. From there it had been relatively easy to track down everyone associated with the home. The problem was trying to determine which one of them might be Satalis.
“Have you been up all night?”
Drago looked up when he heard Dree’s voice and almost laughed. This was the little Dream that he remembered. She leaned against the doorway into the kitchen in pink footie pajamas, her normally, straight platinum blonde hair was completely disheveled and sticking up in the back. He could see a small crusted line of drool still stuck to her cheek and he stifled a laugh, thinking she looked more like a fifteen year old human girl than a dangerous conjurer.
He motioned to the counter. “There’s fresh brewed coffee. And no, I had a few hours of sleep.” Thinking about it, Drago figured he could add together the minutes he didn’t spend tossing and turning, or staring at the ceiling, and come up with a few hours he may have slept. Or not.
He waited until Dree got a cup of coffee and sat down beside him, knowing she’d be full of questions. He was as well. “How did it go last night?”
Dree sighed heavily. “We found another mass illusion like the one in Devon’s basement. Problem was, it was in another damn basement. Satalis is definitely using them as beacons or energy generators or something,” Dree said with frustration.
Drago was only slightly surprised by the news. “How did you get in the basement?”
Dree grinned. “We used the injured child routine again. Works like a charm,” she said with more than a twinkle in her eye.
Drago looked at her suspiciously. “Mir allowed himself to be cut again?” He asked, knowing Dree hadn’t told him the whole story.
“I didn’t give him a choice this time,” Dree said with a chuckle.
Drago shook his head. “Another challenge?” Drago asked, positive that she must have won one of their personal challenges. Even as children, the Brazar siblings would constantly challenge each other at just about everything. Who could get outside first? Who could reach the tree first? Who could conjure a fish first? He was glad to see that his carefree friends hadn’t changed that drastically from what he remembered.
Dree giggled. “Something like that. So what have you found out?” She asked as she nodded at his comm and the papers stacked in neat piles all over the table.
The state of the table told Dree exactly how Drago had spent his night. She’d known him long enough to know that when he needed to think through emotional issues that Drago liked to stay busy. That usually meant putting things in order or cleaning things out. It was like he felt if he could put everything around him right and in order, then he could figure out how to fix the emotional things bothering him.
Remembering that Dread and Viper had warned her and her brothers that Drago usually chose to clear out the refrigerator and clean it, she sat a little straighter so she could see the trash can.
“Don’t say a word,” Drago said when he noticed her looking at the trash can which was filled to the brim with the food from the refrigerator. “I already went to the store and replaced it all. But thanks for reminding me to take that out before anyone else comes down,” Drago added with a grin and a wink.
Dree laughed. “You’ve got to leave the food alone. Mir and Trick will die if they come down and there is no food. You know they are bottomless pits that are rarely satisfied. They haven’t changed a bit.”
Drago smiled as he remembered the brothers in their youth. “Are you going to search for more of the illusions today?” He asked, changing the subject back to their situation.
Dree took another sip of coffee as she pulled her knee up to her chest, her foot on the chair seat and nodded her head. “Yeah. I think Lara wants us to verify that the other illusions are in homes. I think we can safely assume that we will find the same thing all over the city.”
Drago nodded. “I think so too. It’s a good plan since we can’t get to them in order to disable them. Are the occupants all humans? Any children?” He asked, concerned that innocents may be in potential danger.
Dree shook her head as she stood and went to refill their coffee cups. “No, this place was like Devon’s. There was only a single female occupant. Since we weren’t sure if this occupant would have a med kit handy, I didn’t cut Mir badly. So we don’
t know much about her, not even a name. And like Devon, we couldn’t tell if she was human, hybrid or what,” Dree said with a little irritation.
Drago could well understand why she was frustrated. “So she could be a pawn of Satalis or an innocent human caught in the crossfire. We’re still getting nowhere,” Drago said as he ran a hand through his hair.
Dree refilled their cups and sat back down, putting her foot in the seat and pulling her knee back to her chest as she stared at the papers neatly stacked on the table.
“Can’t you crosscheck the names?” She asked as she took another sip of the coffee. It had become her new favorite thing the moment she first arrived on the planet and tasted it, and Drago made it better than anyone else, she thought with a tired sigh.
Drago looked at Dree strangely. “What do you mean?”
“See if any of the names associated with Devon’s house are the same as the ones on the paperwork at the new address we found,” Dree said simply as she enjoyed the feel of the caffeine beginning to course through her veins and wake her up.
Drago smiled broadly and stood. Leaning down he planted a brotherly kiss on the top of Dree’s head. “You are brilliant! Don’t ever let your brother’s tell you otherwise. What was the address?” Drago asked with renewed energy.
Dree grabbed Drago’s comm and entered in the address before handing it back to him. “Don’t worry, I know better than to listen to those two idiots. They may be older and bigger, but they are not too clever,” Dree said with an affectionate smile at the thought of her two siblings.
Drago quirked a brow when Dree’s coffee cup changed into a flower as she raised it to take a sip. Dree brought the petals to her lips before she realized it and with a quick shake of her hand, it turned from the flower back into her coffee cup.
“I love you too, Mir,” Dree said without skipping a beat.