Dragon: Allie's War Book Nine (5 page)

Are they any closer to locking that box of crazy down?
Wreg asked me.

Rather than interrupting Revik to ask, I read him in order to answer Wreg’s question.

Revik thinks they’re most of the way there. It can only be temporary, of course…
I added, more or less translating Revik’s thoughts.
He wants to take both of them out of the city as soon as possible, now that we’ve got them secured in the truck and the tank construct’s holding. He’s thinking maybe we use Chan as a diversion if she gets stuck here much longer…

I felt Wreg acknowledge that, too.

A twinge of impatience left his light that time, though.

It occurred to me I was thinking things at him that Wreg already knew, maybe out of nerves, or maybe just to fill space. Unlike humans, seers didn’t tend to repeat known information to one another as a general rule, so Wreg took my doing so now as nagging.

Or an unnecessary reminder, at the very least.

He took his security duties pretty damned seriously. Especially now.

What about the illusion on the street?
Wreg grunted.
How does it look? Can we lock it down as is, or does he want us to modify it first?

I sighed a little, but passed that question on to Revik directly.

“I’m thinking we should go more towards the dead body smell for the humans,” Revik said matter-of-factly, using the headset that time. “…We’re good on the seer side. As good as we can make it, anyway. We’re pretty far from most of the seer enclaves anyway. The humans are no where near cleaning up this side of the city, so a large number of their dead should create a pretty wide area of avoidance…”

I nodded, then sent that on to Wreg, too.

Most of my attention remained on the wall and the column of smoke and to a lesser degree on Balidor’s team, even through the back and forth with Revik and Wreg.

I could hear the increase in automatic gunfire.

I got a twinge when it hit me that Balidor and Wreg had already sent Chan with a small team to see if they could help the Thai humans. From the Barrier things were still pretty confused––a lot of shouting and tension, especially on the defending side of the wall. The Myther side felt strangely blank to me until I realized they must have seers with them, shielding them, which made me nervous, too.

Don’t get too close, princess…
Wreg cautioned me.
Adhipan is monitoring those fucks.

What do you think, Wreg?
I sent.
Do they know we’re here?

I felt Wreg focus on my question, even as his consciousness remained split.

I felt him continue to work on the construct around the truck and monitor what Chan and the others were doing even as he answered me.

I think your husband is right,
Wreg said finally.
I think our being on the defensive and simply trying to avoid them won’t work for much longer, Esteemed Bridge. I think we’ll end up being dragged down by the wolves if we continue like this. They’ve got us on the run, and they know it. It will only make them more aggressive…

I frowned, but didn’t comment.

I agreed with him, just like I’d agreed with Revik when he’d said more or less the same thing to me, only using stronger words. I knew with Revik it was more than that, but it didn’t take away from the essential rightness of what he believed.

I also knew it had to happen soon.

The thought brought a sudden, hard knot to my chest.

The pain came fast enough and intensely enough that it nearly blanked me out. I found myself panting a few seconds later as my vision blurred, a fist pressed to the middle of my chest. I forced my mind to work, to pull back, even as I fought for air. It hit me suddenly that I might black out…I might black out for real.

Sister?
Wreg sounded alarmed.
Sister…are you all right?

His voice receded as I fought to hold it back.

Sister? Allie!

That time, Wreg’s thoughts sounded clearer. Still panting, I shook my head, still fighting to hold onto consciousness, to force it back.

I’m all right,
I managed.

Sister…I did not mean to upset you,
he sent. He exuded worry now, even a flicker of panic. I felt guilt with that, too, but his worry overpowered the rest.
Esteemed sister, I apologize. Truly. I spoke too bluntly. I thought I was merely confirming what you and Nenz––

It’s fine,
I told him again.
Really, Wreg…it’s fine. It’s nothing you said. And I agree. Just get Chan out of there in one piece…we need her. Especially now.

Wreg hesitated, long enough that I knew he didn’t believe me.

He didn’t try to get me to tell him anything, though.

And yeah, I wasn’t lying. My reaction wasn’t about him at all.

It wasn’t even really about what he’d said.

I agreed with Wreg’s assessment about the current attack on the wall of the enclave, too. I didn’t think we were at immediate risk. I thought Chan should go down there to make sure, but I didn’t think they would be coming for us today.

Even so, the timing of the breach attempt unnerved me.

It also felt a lot like a message. Like whatever their plans for us, they knew where we were. I was beginning to think they knew exactly where we were…that maybe they’d known that pretty much from day one. In some more distant area of my light and mind, I felt Revik agree.

Pushing that awareness out of the forward areas of my light, I forced myself to sigh.

Right now, there was only the immediate.

Revik had been teaching me a lot about that lately, too.

In the immediate, we had to deal with Feigran and Cass.

Once we had the two of them secured, we would take them out of the city, using the same armored truck now parked below the apartment complex. But first we needed to create a construct that had a prayer of getting us past Shadow’s seers. The problem with that, of course, was that the main person we had to help us with that––meaning Revik––was also the one person in our group most likely to be overheard by those same Shadow seers.

Which meant, yeah, we had to get Cass and Feigran the fuck out of Thailand.

More to the point, we had to get them away from me and Revik.

Same with our daughter. Same with Revik’s son, Maygar.

Same with any asset we couldn’t afford to lose, apart from one another.

Given everything, neither Revik nor I could know much of anything about the route they took out of the city, much less their final destinations. I could make some guesses, sure, given what I knew about the neighboring countries and bodies of water…but I went out of my way to minimize my exposure to information or intelligence that could aid me in those guesses. The news feeds didn’t penetrate much of the countryside outside of the enclaves anyway, and I’d deliberately kept far away from all of those planning meetings, especially those involving Lily.

Revik and I had been letting Balidor handle the bulk of the logistics for those.

But yeah, most of our people would be driving into the dark soon.

As the thought repeated in my light, I made a decision.

I’m going down there,
I told Wreg.
To the tank. You don’t need me up here anymore, do you? You got what you needed from Revik?

I felt a flicker of surprise on Wreg, and an awareness that something had just happened. I could feel him trying to tie that in some way to the reaction he’d felt on me a few moments earlier when he’d spoken about the likelihood of a Shadow attack.

I felt something else in his light, too…something more subtle, something to do with Revik. I felt that last part tangibly enough that I could tell Wreg had noticed things were a bit off between the two of us. Maybe even a lot off.

I felt curiosity on him related to that, but mainly I felt his worry.

I felt Jon in some of that, too.

Of course, princess,
he assured me, blowing warmth at me, as if he’d felt my increased attention on his light.
We are perfectly fine up here. You are free to go, if you wish.
He hesitated, then his thoughts turned more carefully teasing.
Are you going down there to give shit to that
dugra-te di aros
husband of yours? If so, I heartily approve. Moreover, I would be happy to assist if you require back up in any way…

Liar,
I sent, snorting.
You’d probably help him to gang up on me.
Smiling, I shook my head, even though I knew he couldn’t see me where he was.
And no, brother troublemaker…I’m not going down there to hassle Revik. Not this time.

Then what? You have some purpose, yes, ilya? You feel…purposeful.

I rolled my eyes.
Subtlety is not your strong suit, Wreg.

I felt him smile, but that sharper interest remained in his light.

I felt him waiting, too.

Yes,
I sent, clicking in exasperation but smiling in spite of myself.
Yes, I have a purpose. I’m going to talk to Feigran…while we still have him,
I added darkly.

I felt a flicker of real reaction in Wreg’s light that time.

He didn’t say anything, but I felt him understanding more than just the words I’d spoken. That worry in his light intensified as I thought it, enough that I felt a twinge of guilt.

Things were definitely going to get harder soon.

Even apart from what was going on with me and Revik…I could feel it.

3

EXCUSES

Loki walked past the make-shift security station that stood watch over the Barrier construct tank, now housed inside a military ground-transport vehicle. Pushing through the organic flaps that denoted the edge of the main construct, he left through the doorway cut in the organic separating wall that acted as a buffer from the apartment complex lobby.

He nearly ran into the Bridge as he did it.

She seemed to look through him in those first few seconds they faced one another.

Then her light green irises clicked into focus. She frowned, and Loki couldn’t help noticing how much the expression reminded him of similar looks he’d gotten from the Sword.

“Loki,” she said, her voice crisp. “You’re still here.”

Loki hesitated, looking past her briefly. Then he nodded, reluctant.

“Yes, Esteemed Sister.”

He fought with what else to say, even as he saw her eyes narrow. He could almost feel her scanning his light, although he imagined it might be in his head.

In any case, her messaging was clear.

She knew. She knew, and she wasn’t having it.

When she didn’t break the silence for another few seconds, Loki nodded again, more decisively that time.

“Yes, Esteemed Sister,” he said, his voice more formal. He executed a short bow, his hand in the respectful sign of the Bridge. “I will remedy that tonight.”

The harder look in her eyes relaxed.

“Good,” she said. She seemed about to walk past him, then hesitated. She startled him, reaching out with one hand and laying it on his bare arm. Loki had been about to continue walking forward, but he froze, meeting her gaze.

“Tell Gina I’m sorry,” she said, quieter. She gave a sideways head tilt, a seer’s apology. “I don’t like sending you, Loks…I really don’t. But we don’t have any choice. We’re all going to have to do things we don’t like right now. All of us. Do you understand?”