Apostate

by Frankie Robertson

  Of course not. He knew it would be hard to hide what he was from extensive contact with a Fey. Was she going to have to follow him like a stalker until Kellan caught up to them?

  Suddenly she was aware that Kellan had joined her.

  “Are you all right?” he murmured.

  Jasper must have heard Kellan’s voice. He glanced behind him, then began to run. Kellan took three steps, then stopped. “We can’t race through the campus at inhuman speeds.”

  Tasha knelt, placing both hands on the sidewalk. There was no spirit to call to in the man-made concrete, but she could call on a spirit of the Earth beneath the walk. It heard, recognizing her affinity, and answered. Its relentless strength felt strangely familiar, though different from how she’d interacted with the Element in the past. Instead of drawing upon her own strength, the Earth was lending Tasha hers. Tasha accepted a trickle of the inexorable power and it suffused throughout her with a heady rush. Her hair felt like it was standing on end.

  It was more than her Fey body could hold. She let it flow out, pushing it into the man-made stone. She didn’t want to destroy the pavement, but she needed to stop Jasper. The ground between her hands rippled like a shaken towel, racing down the path under the feet of the running man. He fell, sprawling to one side onto the grass. A couple of people beyond him shouted as the ground shuddered under their feet. Tasha urged the sidewalk to settle back into place. A few of the concrete slabs were cracked, but otherwise, the path looked as it had before. A moment later Jasper scrambled to his feet.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Kellan grappled Jasper before his partner—former partner—could dash away again. As soon as they touched, he knew that two people shared the body. He also knew that Jasper hadn’t taken Troy’s body by force. What he didn’t know was why Jasper had chosen to abandon everyone he knew so he could co-habit. Why he’d faked his death was obvious.

  **I’m not your enemy.** Jasper meant what he spoke into Kellan’s mind.

  “Troy!” Zeke shouted. “Are you all right?”

  **Let me up. I won’t run.**

  Kellan glanced over at Tasha. The man Jasper had been talking to before Tasha had joined them had his arm around her, and she was leaning heavily against his chest. He hoped she hadn’t hurt herself with her effort to stop Jasper. He wanted to go to her, to reassure himself that she was okay, but she was upright and he had a job to do. Troy’s friend looked conflicted, as if he wanted to both help the pretty young woman in his arms and his friend who was being strong-armed.

  **You’d better not. We’ve already drawn enough attention to ourselves.** Kellan shifted his grip on Jasper’s wrist to help him up. Jasper waved to his friend. “I’m good!”

  Kellan kept a solid grip on Jasper’s wrist and pulled him into a man-hug to cover his continued hold on the other man. He didn’t try to hide his hurt and betrayal. **I hardly know where to start. What the fuck, Jasper?**

  **The Council is after me.**

  **No shit, Sherlock!** Kellan stepped back though he still held Jasper’s wrist tightly.

  **Or rather, Three is. He set me up to be recruited by the Golden Path—just like he did Seketh.**

  Kellan rocked back on his heels. **What! Why?**

  **He probably thought I was ripe for the picking… I’ve thought some of our assignments have been questionable for some time.**

  **Like Melchior and Athena?**

  Jasper looked stricken as his anxiety sharpened. **They sent you after them. Of course they would. Did you execute them?**

  **I should have, but I didn’t.**

  Jasper’s tight expression relaxed with relief, but then he grimaced. **So now you’ll be on the Council’s shit list, too.**

  **Yeah. But we’re talking about you. Why would the Golden Path want to recruit you?**

  **Not me in particular.** Jasper’s expression grew sad, as if he didn’t want to be the bearer of any more bad news. **You set their timeline back when you killed Seketh. They want another person with his kind of power. I can’t do what he did―siphon power from the Fey and Progeny they’ve recruited or kidnapped—but I have other strengths they hoped to tap.**

  **They know what we are?** Horror squeezed Kellan’s throat.

  **I don’t know if Seketh or Three told them. I didn’t get that deep with them. Maybe they just thought he and I were gifted Progeny. But if they do know, they’ll want to get their hands on our rituals. They won’t believe that it’s not possible.**

  The U’dahmi magic that allowed them to wear human bodies without burning them out was closely guarded. The Apostates must never learn it. If they did, long term possession of unwilling mortals would become a reality. That’s why the First U’dahmi had built barriers into their minds to prevent that. None of them would share that knowledge. None of them could. They would die—literally—before the secret left their minds. Not even hosts like Dimitri and Deborah knew the full ritual. He’d checked. He’d been prepared to kill them instantly if the U’dahmi secrets had somehow been shared, but the spells remained locked within Melchior’s and Athena’s minds as the First had intended.

  **And Three thought that because you’re disenchanted with the Council’s orders you’d be amenable? What does the Golden Path want the power for?**

  **They want to rend the Veil.**

  Kellan nearly rolled his eyes. **That’s nothing new. Apostates have been looking for a way to do that since it was put in place. And as for the Golden Path, they may have a widespread organization, but when it comes to the occult they’re mostly a bunch of dabblers.**

  **Most, but not all. And while I don’t know the whole of it, I believe Lucifuge has been feeding them information. If that’s true, they may only need enough power to fuel their spells to rend the Veil.**

  Horror stole Kellan’s breath. Rending the Veil would mean another all-out war between the Apostates and the Celestials. Apostates would flood into the Terrestrial Plane with nothing to stop them. For a moment he couldn’t marshal a coherent thought. **And Three supports this?**

  **I think he wants to return to the Celestial Realm so badly that he doesn’t care about the consequences. As if they’d take him back after that. **

  Comprehension followed closely on the coattails of Kellan’s shock. **So you faked your torture and death to get free of both the Golden Path and Three and the Enforcers he’d send after you. That seems a little extreme. Why not just expose him to the rest of the Council?**

  **Do you know for sure that the other Council members aren’t in on it, too? At the very least, Three’s partner must be.**

  **You let me think you were dead! Did you suspect me, too?**

  **Of course not. But if I’d told you, my secret would have been exposed the very next time you were interviewed by an Examiner.**

  Kellan thought of Ezra’s interrogation and knew that Jasper was right.

  **And now you’re screwed anyway,** Jasper continued. **You could kill me as a rogue, but you also let Melchior and Athena live, and you know Three’s secret.**

  **I was already on thin ice because of Tasha and her Celestial relatives knowing about us.**

  **I wouldn’t be surprised if your new partner isn’t hand-picked by Three to keep closer tabs on you.**

  **That could cut both ways. I might learn more about Three’s agenda from my new partner than he’d like. But I doubt I’d get that far. They’ll label me Rogue as soon as they learn about me letting Melchior and Athena flee.** Kellan slung his arm over Jasper’s shoulders and they began to walk back toward Tasha and Troy’s friend. **Speaking of which, how did you and Troy meet?**

  **Dimitri introduced us,** Troy answered. **I was visiting family in Sierra Vista over Thanksgiving when Jasper came to Bisbee. My aunt is a host and I’ve always wanted to be one too, but there aren’t many U’dahmi that even know about the possibility, let alone condone cohabitation. Jasper needed me as much as I wanted to join with him. I have a cousin who’d like to be a host, if you’re looking for a way t
o avoid your Council’s retribution.**

  **Thanks, but no. I’m going after that quisling. I refuse to believe that the entire Council has been compromised. If they know what’s going on, they’ll clean house.**

  **We can’t bring it to them ourselves. We’re rogue. We need someone above reproach.**

  The corner of Kellan’s mouth curled up in a smile that mirrored Jasper’s just as his thought did. **Ezra.**

  Escorted by a uniformed officer, Dave returned to their hotel. The crime scene team had finished their investigation of the premises and the other guests had either returned to their rooms or checked out. He gathered up everything that belonged to his sister, Alex, Pete, and Jack and prepared to move to rooms in the nearby Sheraton. There was no way they could remain at the hotel, even if they were comped new rooms.

  But far from being offered a comp, the Hilton’s manager suggested that Dave might be held responsible for the damages when he turned in the key cards.

  Dave stared the man down. “Would that be before or after we discuss the hotel’s poor security—which endangered the life of a child?”

  The manager glanced at his police escort who also looked very interested in his reply. With a pained expression, the manager offered another suite of rooms. Dave could see the man was relieved when he declined and said he was moving to another hotel.

  In a new room at the Sheraton, Dave dropped everything on the floor. They could sort it out later. He looked longingly at one of the beds, but he didn’t dare lie down or he’d be out. Instead, he dug into his duffle and pulled out the instructions Ana had sent along with the pendulum she’d keyed to the bespelled money wrappers.

  If anyone had told him four years ago that he’d be relying on magic to locate a target he’d have laughed his ass off. Of course, that would have been before his boss had used sorcery to have him possessed by a demon. His perspective had changed a lot since then. Now the only surprise was that he was about to use dowsing to find The Lion instead of Ana.

  Dave spread a detailed map of the area on the table and anchored it at the cardinal points with four short white candles. When he’d lit them, he cleared his mind as he always did before a mission, focusing only on the task at hand. His thoughts stilled and his breathing slowed. His only thought was to find The Lion. He held the pendulum over the map and recited the incantation that Ana had written out. It was surprisingly straightforward and simple.

  “Lord and Lady, if it pleases you, guide my search for Kolos Szegedy, also called Az Oroszlán, so that I may protect the innocent.”

  The crystal at the end of the silk cord began to move, riveting his attention. The spell was working! He shouldn’t be surprised. Ana knew her stuff. The bob circled clockwise three times and then pulled in one direction. Dave shifted until it hung straight down again. This time he spoke a slightly different request. “Lord and Lady, if it pleases you, refine my search for Kolos Szegedy so that punishment falls only on the guilty.”

  The pendulum quivered and veered an eighth of an inch, straining toward a point devoid of cross-streets. Dave carefully marked the spot where the crystal’s tip kissed the map.

  Now he knew where to look. The next step was recon.

  Tasha had recovered her equilibrium and was standing on her own by the time Kellan and Jasper made it over to her and Zeke. She felt tired, but using the technique Cam had taught her meant she wasn’t down for the count.

  Kellan had his arm slung across Jasper’s shoulders like they were besties and all was forgiven. Well, they were old friends. But she wasn’t nearly as willing to forgive and forget as Kellan apparently was. Tasha stepped forward as they approached and slapped Jasper as hard as she could. He winced and jerked back with a satisfying grunt.

  “You bastard!” She grabbed his ear and made him look at her. **You hurt him. He thought you were dead!**

  Zeke jumped forward to pull Tasha away, but Kellan interposed himself between them.

  “Hey man, she doesn’t get a free pass on assault just because she’s a girl!”

  Tasha stepped back as Jasper lifted a hand to rub his cheek. “It’s all right. I had it coming.”

  “What did you do?” Zeke sounded like he didn’t believe his friend.

  Tasha knew it was Troy who spoke next. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Why don’t I meet you later at El Pollo’s?”

  Zeke looked from his friend to Tasha to Kellan, who put a hand on her shoulder.

  “Don’t worry. I won’t let her hurt him.”

  Tasha rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut.

  Zeke shrugged and picked up his backpack. “Whatever. I’ll see you tonight.” He walked away, then turned and took a picture of them. “Insurance,” he said and then walked away.

  Kellan watched until Zeke walked around the corner of the building. “Is he going to call campus police?”

  Troy answered. “For what? To report me getting bitch slapped by your girlfriend? No.”

  “Bitch slapped?” Tasha clenched her fists but Kellan kept her from stepping into Jasper’s space. “I can punch you next time, if you’d rather.”

  Jasper held up his hands in surrender and stepped back. “It’s the way Zeke would think of it.”

  “Should we have taken Zeke’s memory of us?” Kellan refocused the conversation.

  Jasper lifted an eyebrow. “You’ve changed. You used to hate tampering with human minds.”

  Tasha was surprised to see color rising on Kellan’s face.

  “I still do, but another U’dahmi could lift the memory of our odd behavior from his mind.”

  Jasper shook his head. “Zeke is Troy’s friend. He doesn’t know Jasper. They won’t have any reason to associate us unless they’ve followed you. They think Jasper is dead though, don’t they?”

  Kellan remained silent, the muscles in his jaw bunching as he clenched his jaw.

  “That’s what he reported after he viewed your body.” Tasha didn’t try to soften her tone. She was still furious with Jasper for putting Kellan through that trauma.

  Jasper raised his hands as if he expected her to hit him again. “I’m sorry, but it was all I could think to do. Three would have sent someone after me to clean up loose ends after I turned down the offer from the Golden Path.”

  Tasha glanced at Kellan. “Three, who, or what?”

  Kellan touched her, communicating a feeling of grim determination along with his thoughts. **Three is a member of the U’dahmi Council. Jasper thinks he’s gone rogue—which means we have a very ugly problem to clean up.**

  A rogue Council member? That sounded like a dangerous mess, and Kellan’s demeanor conveyed how serious it was. She hated the idea of him putting himself at risk, especially when she didn’t know how to help him. Tasha put her hand over his where it rested on her arm. It was almost like pressing her body into his, which was what she really wanted to do, but now wasn’t the time or the place. **But are you the one who should do it?**

  Kellan turned his hand and lifted hers to his lips. **I know I’m not, and I’m not going to leave you unprotected. We’ll bring the matter to Ezra.**

  **Ezra?** He wanted to bring this to that rigid, close-minded martinet?

  Jasper cleared his throat and Kellan switched to speech to include him in the conversation. “I know Ezra didn’t endear himself to you, but he’s above reproach. The Council will listen to him. They might even pardon Jasper if he transitions immediately to an unoccupied body.”

  “Do I have any say in this?” Troy demanded. “I don’t want Jasper to go!”

  It was slightly disorienting to have one man conversing with two distinctly different tones, but she knew without a doubt who was speaking.

  “There’s no way for us to conceal the existence of the cohabiters from him if he dives into our minds,” Jasper objected, “and he won’t believe you if you don’t let him examine you. That’s why I didn’t go to him in the first place.”

  “I won’t talk to him face-to-face. I’ll message him on a
n encrypted line. I’ll tell him enough to motivate him to initiate his own investigation of Three.” Kellan paused and Tasha felt his reluctance to continue. “I’ll have to tell him you’re still alive.”

  “No!” Troy exclaimed. “After all he’s been through, you’d put him at risk?” Then his gaze shifted to the middle distance. Tasha guessed Jasper was having a private discussion with Troy. From his expression, Troy didn’t like what Jasper was saying.

  “We have to do it,” Jasper said aloud. “If we don’t, Three will destroy the U’dahmi and help facilitate another Celestial War. We can’t leave him in power.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  It was full dark when Dave parked his vehicle half a mile away from the location Ana’s pendulum pointed to on the map. He’d studied Google maps and satellite photos of the area. Szegedy’s compound was located in a ritzy suburb of gated mansions, every one of which undoubtedly had its own security. It covered a nearly twenty-acre area fenced with a combination of block wall and wrought iron. The Lion had left a thirty-foot buffer zone between his fence and the nearest neighbor’s property. Dave had noted several poles twenty yards inside the fence which supported what he believed to be full coverage surveillance cameras. That’s what he would have done if he’d been in charge of The Lion’s protection. It must have cost an obscene amount of money to buy that much land so close to the coast and that sophisticated a security set-up.

  Money earned through the sale of people and drugs.

  That would make The Lion very assertive in protecting his privacy. He and Pete had to be very careful not to draw attention to themselves since they couldn’t claim any legitimate reason to be out there.

  They got out and closed the doors with the softest touch possible. Both of them were armed, but their mission to collect information without anyone knowing they were there would be a failure if they had to discharge their weapons. Instead, their primary tools were high-powered night-vision binoculars and a low-light camera.