Rogue Belador

by Sherrilyn Kenyon

  Evalle had no idea how you got over losing someone you loved that much, and didn't want to find out.

  Tzader, on the other hand, shouldn't be back in Atlanta unless all was right with Brina.

  Cutting a sharp look at Oskar, Tzader asked, "Now will you tell us what the hell is going on?"

  Evalle arched an eyebrow right back at her friend. "I was about to ask the same thing. You first. Is Brina better?"

  "No." Tzader seemed to force the words out. "I've been booted from Treoir, but I have a lead on how to help Brina."

  "Booted? As in can't go back?"

  "Exactly."

  That was the last thing Evalle had expected to hear. "How bad is Brina?"

  "Her memories continue to deteriorate every day, and I've discovered that the Noirre majik is still influencing her."

  Storm sat forward. "But we--"

  Tzader cut in, "--brought her back from wherever the spell sent Brina and Lanna. I know." He rubbed his eyes, and squared his shoulders, not giving an inch in any battle.

  His emotions were clearly under siege from her illness.

  Tzader explained, "We've been doing a lot of dream walking, because that's where Brina remembers more easily. But even there, she's been retaining less. I met someone in the last dream walk who said--" He shook his head. "This may be hard to believe."

  Evalle's empathic ability wasn't as sharp as Storm's, but she picked up something she'd never felt from Tzader before. Fear. He was terrified for Brina.

  Storm chuckled at Tzader's comment.

  When Tzader tensed, Evalle suffered a moment of embarrassment. It was unlike Storm to make light of Tzader's situation. But then she realized the energy coming from Storm was compassion.

  Storm must have caught her distress just as quickly, and placed his hand over hers. He told Tzader, "I'm a Skinwalker who shifts into a black jaguar and I have demon blood. Evalle turns into a gryphon and has a pet gargoyle. Quinn can mindlock with anyone, and you're immortal. All three of you have kinetics. What can be so hard to accept about our world at this point?"

  Quinn cut loose a sound. Evalle couldn't believe what she heard. He was laughing. A real laugh. Not a big one, but more than she'd heard from him in a long time. Quinn said, "Good point, Storm. Just tell them, Tzader."

  Evalle asked, "You already know, Quinn?"

  "Some of it, which is why we didn't contact you telepathically."

  Storm interjected, "Evalle trusts anything and everything you two say, so you have my trust, and I will hold your confidence."

  That seemed to draw the tension from Tzader, who had fisted his hands together on the table in front of him. "A dream walker showed up today when I was in the dream space with Brina. I convinced her to leave the dream so I could deal with him without distraction. Once she was gone, we fought with swords."

  "He attacked you?" Evalle recalled Lanna's warning about the potential of being injured or dying while dream walking.

  "Yes, and no. He's powerful. So powerful that he could have killed me at any time. He swings one hell of sword, like he was born to it in the dark ages. In fact, I think he's pretty damn old."

  "What did he want?" Storm asked.

  "He wants me to help someone escape TAmr Medb."

  At that moment, Evalle realized this was not going to be a short meeting. "Why you?"

  Tzader's grim face tried to smile. "Motivation. He knows what's going on with Brina. I was hiding Brina's deterioration from everyone except Lanna, who helped me conceal it even from Macha, but this guy knew about that. I could go on about all he knew, but it would be simpler to say that after a lot of debating, I believe him."

  "How does he know so much?" Storm asked.

  "That was one of my questions." Tzader took a moment, as if gathering his thoughts. "He said he gets his information from the person he's trying to free, and he claims that Noirre majik is still in Brina's system. Still affecting her. After hearing him out and questioning Lanna, everything he said makes sense. He also seems to know things about Macha and Queen Maeve, and the traitor who attacked Brina, things someone privy to the prior Medb queen's conversation and actions would know. Basically, the person trying to get out of TAmr Medb is the only one who was present when the original spell was cast. That person can reverse the spell."

  Evalle had spent a significant amount of time in TAmr Medb when she and the other Alterants had been captured and were forced to finish their evolution into gryphons. She'd managed to pull out every person who mattered to the Beladors when the gryphons were sent to attack Treoir Island.

  Had she missed someone? "Just who needs rescuing?"

  Tzader took in all three of them when he said, "A dragon."

  She thought on it. "They keep all kinds of creatures locked up near a fighting pit in their tower. How are we supposed to know which one?"

  Storm swung around to stare at her, but didn't jump in. Yet.

  Tzader drew in a long breath, and on the exhale said, "This one should be easy for me to locate. It's the queen's dragon throne."

  "The throne? You've got to be kidding." Evalle shook her head. "Queen Maeve would go postal. That would be nothing compared to what Macha would do."

  "I know. That's why I'm going in alone, but I need help finding resources."

  Reeling from what he'd just disclosed, Evalle said, "No, you're not."

  Quinn objected, "Absolutely not." He added, "I told you Evalle wouldn't go for it any more than I would."

  Storm slapped a hand over his eyes. "This is suicide."

  "Storm's right," Tzader said. "I won't put anyone else at risk. This is my battle."

  Evalle agreed with Storm, but she also knew that look in Tzader's eyes. She'd seen it when he went into battle. He would not back down, and he would not accept defeat. "Tzader, are you saying that dragon-shaped throne is a ... person?"

  "Evidently. Queen Maeve supposedly cursed a dragon shifter into the form of a throne two thousand years ago. He hates her and Macha. Doesn't trust either goddess, and to be honest, I can now see why when I couldn't before."

  Storm lowered his hand. "What's the whole deal?"

  Tzader laid out the entire conversation with this man called Ceartas, then said, "He gave me a red dragon scale that I gave Brina. It worked, just as Ceartas said it would. After my last argument with Macha, I'm convinced that she's as much a threat to Brina as any Medb at this point."

  "In what way?" Evalle asked, still trying to wrap her head around what they were discussing. Tzader would never make it alone, but to do this ... that was no simple decision.

  "I'll give you the details later, but Macha compelled Lanna not to tell me something about Brina, and Macha has shielded Brina from realizing what is happening to her own body."

  "You mean her mind," Storm corrected.

  "No. Brina knows she's losing ground mentally, but she doesn't know ... that she's pregnant. It happened during a dream walk, before I understood that actions taken there were real."

  Stunned silence swept across the room until Quinn cleared his throat. "Did you really think I would let you go on your own with that at stake, too?"

  Tzader sighed. "Sorry, Quinn. I know we haven't found your daughter yet, so I hated to even mention this."

  "I will find Phoedra, and you'll be there to help me, but only if you don't try to steal a bloody dragon by yourself."

  Evalle swallowed. "You know there's no love lost between me and Macha, but I'm at the bottom of the rung in her world. To treat you and Brina this way is ... well, I started to say unbelievable, but when I think of Macha it isn't that much of a stretch." Still, what kind of person would keep Tzader and Brina apart when Brina was pregnant?

  The same goddess who failed to support me even when I was doing her bidding. The same one who lifted not a finger to help me find Storm, then teleported him back to Atlanta, knowing VIPER was hunting him, even after he saved Brina's life.

  Evalle could spend hours listing all the things Macha had done to her, but she'd al
ways assumed she was not worthy of Macha's respect.

  Now that she saw how Macha treated Tzader, Evalle had to accept a simple truth. None of them mattered to Macha beyond the service they provided. That left her with an empty feeling she hadn't experienced since before she met Tzader and Quinn.

  Looking physically drained and sounding emotionally bankrupt, Tzader said, "I just need a layout of TAmr Medb and a way to teleport in."

  Evalle shook off her mangled thoughts to jump back in. "No, you need a tactical team that includes someone who knows the tower layout, plus someone who can teleport and someone who can break the curse on that throne."

  Storm leaned in on his elbows. "And since I know that means Evalle intends to be on that team, you'll need me to cover everyone's six."

  "Even better?" Evalle announced. "I have someone who can teleport us, plus Adrianna is the best chance we have at breaking a two-thousand-year-old curse."

  A new tension radiated from Storm. "Who can teleport a team between two realms?"

  Quinn lifted his chin. "Yes, who is this person?"

  Oh, crap. She'd stuck her foot ankle-deep in her mouth. "This is clearly a top-secret project, right?"

  Tzader lifted both hands. "Everyone just hold it. You and Quinn haven't realized something, Evalle. One of the conditions Ceartas laid out for me to gain the dragon's help is that I can't tell Macha about any of this. Entering TAmr Medb and stealing the queen's throne will come with repercussions. Going after that dragon without Macha's consent will translate into me breaking my Belador vows in Macha's eyes, because there's every reason to believe the Medb will declare war. There is no way she'll see my actions as anything except betraying the Beladors, and her." He paused then added, "But she wouldn't authorize my plan anyhow."

  He swept a tense gaze around the room before continuing. "I'm thinking that as long as I go alone, to avoid war, Macha will claim I was rogue, then point out that the Medb recently had a rogue warlock who wrongly accused Evalle of murder. She'll call the incident a wash even if she can't return the dragon. She might get away with diffusing a conflict if I'm the only one involved ... and penalized."

  At one time, Evalle would have rushed into battle with no thought, because she'd support either Tzader or Quinn. No question.

  Was she ready to break her vows?

  Tzader was acting honorably, in Evalle's opinion, but every Belador swore fealty to Macha and gave a vow of honor. The goddess had final say on guilt or innocence.

  If Macha decided anyone had behaved dishonorably, she had the right to sanction that person with lethal force on the spot.

  Judge, jury, and executioner.

  Chapter 14

  Evalle's heart pumped so fast and loud it pounded in her ears. She couldn't look at Tzader, Quinn, or Storm, who all sat quietly around the conference table, each probably lost in his own thoughts.

  If she broke her vow to Macha, what would happen to Storm and Feenix? Macha could sanction family members as well, but Evalle and Storm were not married, and Feenix was not a blood relation.

  Would Macha still go after them in a fit of vengeance? Would she blame Storm for Evalle's rebellious attitude?

  To be honest, that would be a fair accusation.

  Until meeting Storm, Evalle had gone along with whatever was asked of her in order to keep peace and not rock the boat. But he'd shown Evalle her own worth, and that her needs were important. Now she wasn't nearly as compliant as she had been.

  And she was damned tired of being jerked around by one goddess or another. She felt Tristan's words from earlier even more acutely now.

  She'd told him she hated being treated like a second-class citizen, too. He'd scoffed at her, and thrown it back in her face that they weren't even a recognized race.

  Macha hadn't lifted a finger to do a thing after a Tribunal, once again, manipulated Evalle into falling on the sword and accepting the position as gryphon liaison. If a Tribunal sent Evalle into TAmr Medb to negotiate on behalf of the gryphons, Evalle would end up captured, and Macha would not lift a finger to save her. She knew this from experience.

  Storm wrapped his fingers around her hand and leaned close, whispering, "Follow your heart, and I'll follow you."

  Was he giving her his blessing for breaking her vows? Was she really going to do this?

  Did she have a choice?

  Not if she wanted to face herself in the mirror.

  Hadn't she said time and again that any or all of these three men would put their lives on the line for her? She would do no less for them. Storm knew she could never live with herself if she didn't help Tzader now.

  She told Storm, "I'm trying to figure out how to help Tzader and keep you and Feenix out of the backlash."

  "I can take care of myself, and I won't allow anything to happen to you or Feenix. I know you have to do this. We'll do it together."

  That was the man she loved.

  Quinn stepped in. "I have information that may also influence your decision, Evalle."

  She shot Quinn an incredulous look. "That's not necessary. I'm not allowing Tzader to go alone any more than I would allow you to do something like this alone. The three of us have always watched each other's backs. We've held each other's secrets since we met that night we were captured by the Medb. Of the three of us, I'm the only one who's been inside TAmr Medb. My hesitation has been from concern about Macha lashing out at everyone close to all of us. But I have full trust in Storm."

  Storm gave her hand another squeeze, letting her feel his pride over her belief in him.

  Tzader wiped a hand over his face. "I don't want any of you in this mess."

  "I understand," Quinn replied. "But you and Evalle still don't know--"

  "It doesn't matter, Quinn," she said, getting ready to start planning. "I've made my decision. After hearing what Macha is doing to Tzader, I can only wonder where the rest of us stand with her. I'm certainly at the bottom of that list."

  "That's what I'm trying to tell you," Quinn said sharply, and with a hint of censure after being interrupted twice.

  Cranky much? Evalle's empathic senses picked up worry from Quinn, mixed in with his irritation. "Sorry. What did you have to say?"

  Quinn clarified, "There is something else you have to know about, but I had intended to discuss it after this meeting. I found out just before I picked up Tzader and Lanna."

  "What the hell?" Tzader groused.

  Quinn lifted a shoulder in his friend's direction. "When I drove up, you looked as if you'd been run over a few times by a Mack truck. Telling you then wasn't going to change anything. We needed the time while driving and eating for you and Lanna to catch me up to speed. I figured you could wait to hear yet another bit of disturbing news."

  Evalle drummed her fingers in a silent pattern on the table. "What news?"

  Not happy spread across Quinn's handsome face. "Trey contacted me. Macha sent word for him to have me arrange for Sen to teleport Evalle to Treoir immediately."

  Tzader and Evalle shouted, "What?"

  Anger joined tension barreling off of Storm. "Why?"

  Evalle leaned forward, hands curled into fists. "For how long?"

  Quinn's jaw quirked with an angry muscle twitch. "Macha has decided that since Evalle is a gryphon and their leader, she should reside permanently with the pack, not here in Atlanta dealing with human issues."

  Storm snapped, "Hell, no."

  Tzader looked stunned. "Was that all?"

  Quinn's throat bobbed with a hard swallow. "Actually, no. Trey is no happier about this than I am. I told him I would come by to see Evalle myself, since this was not news to receive over the phone or via telepathy. He said Macha made the comment that she'd never approved for one of her gryphons to mate with any being, especially not a Skinwalker. Trey did his best to convince the goddess you were needed here, Evalle, and Macha took his head off. She told him you have until Sunday to present yourself to her at Treoir or suffer her wrath."

  Evalle's world shifted. Macha th
ought she could snap her fingers and demand that Evalle walk away from Storm, Feenix, and everything that mattered to her?

  Maybe at one time, when Evalle had been all alone.

  Not anymore.

  Storm was on his feet. He seared the air with curses in two languages and snarled, "She can't have Evalle."

  Tzader stood and slammed his hand on the table. "This is my fault. Damn her goddess hide. It would be just like Macha to screw with Evalle and claim she'll allow her occasional visits home if I give up all claim to Brina."

  Anger swept off of Storm in massive waves. "I'm done with Evalle dancing on Macha's strings and for every other person's demands."

  "We can't allow Macha to do this to Evalle," Quinn scowled, rising gracefully to stand.

  This wasn't the first time Evalle had been expected to sacrifice what mattered to her just to appease Macha.

  She cared for every man in this room raving about the injustice to her, but she was no longer an abused teen trying to find her way in life.

  Pushing up, Evalle shoved the chair back. She crossed her arms. "Anyone interested in my opinion?"

  They quieted at once and turned to her, sitting again.

  Taking a breath, she said, "I've been persecuted the entire time I've upheld my vows to Macha. That wasn't good enough for her. When I was imprisoned beneath VIPER headquarters, she didn't come to me to offer her support, as Tzader did. No, Macha came with an offer for my release if I did her bidding, which I did and, as usual, put my head on a chopping block with VIPER by doing so."

  Not pausing for commentary, she continued, "The only reason Macha put in the original petition for Alterants to be recognized as a race earlier last year was because she wanted control of them. Of us. She made it clear her offer was good only for those who swore fealty to her. The gryphons currently patrol Treoir Island, and yet she's done nothing to push for the vote to recognize us as a race, because that means we could make our own decisions. She leaves all of our Beladors to fight her battles as the Medb infiltrate our world. We're expected to put our lives on the line, even with our hands constantly tied by VIPER."

  Her gaze swept to Tzader. "And now Macha is willing to compel Brina to marry another man and not even allow Brina to realize she's having your child. That's abominable." Evalle would never stand down if she were in Tzader's shoes, and she would not step back while he went into battle alone. That's what it meant to care deeply for another person. "I appreciate that you're all willing to stand up for me, but I'm taking my own stand. I gave a vow of honor. I expect the same in return from the goddess and, in my way of thinking, Tzader's proposal is based on honor."