Healing Eden (32 page)

Reese stepped in to catch his attention. “At what price? Even if you manage to out-think whatever Maxis has planned and you take him out, what if the spiritu was right and it’s not enough to counter balance the bigger picture? Are you willing to risk all our races for such a simple idea with zero impact on you and your men?”

“Reese.” Galena edged forward.

Reese stayed her with a terse shake of his head. “No. There’s no need to risk anyone but me. If it works, we all win. If it doesn’t, no harm, no foul. Eryx can move ahead with this attack.”

Eryx rubbed the back of his neck, the weight of decisions and consequence pressing on his shoulders.

“What makes you think you can even find him?” Ramsay asked. “We’ve had men out scouting for days and no one’s seen him. Evanora’s estate has been empty of all but a few guards, nothing substantial enough to warrant a raid.”

Reese motioned for the emerald leather-bound book gripped between Galena’s hands.

Galena glared at her mate. “You never said anything about going solo.”

“Galena.” His voice dropped and he brushed his hand along hers, comforting. An intimate stroke Eryx appreciated from the perspective of a caring mate, but could’ve done without witnessing with his baby sister. “Trust me. This is the right thing.”

A blush spread up her throat and across her cheeks, and her lips pressed so tightly together they lost all their color. The visual lock between the two of them seemed charged enough to power half an Evad suburb.

She ducked her head and handed over the book.

Reese took it and kissed the top of her hand. “Galena’s the one who found a clue on where we might find him.” He released her with obvious reluctance and thumbed to a dog-eared page. A faint hiss sounded as he ran his finger down the parchment. “This is her first journal, penned right after she’d left Evanora’s estate. She makes references here to slave farms. A big stretch of land north of the castle where the region’s weather gets nasty.”

“They had actual farms?” Ludan pushed off the wall and twisted for a better look at the journal.

“Nothing too large, but sophisticated.” Reese pointed at a section on the stone tableau, a mountain range beyond Evanora’s land. “If I’m reading her notes right, they’d be right about here.”

“And you think that’s where he’s hiding?” The derision that had been prevalent in Ramsay’s voice for days was gone, replaced with genuine curiosity.

Reese leaned in, a bit of the camaraderie Eryx had once seen between the two men sputtering. “If you were about to make a slave run, what would you be doing?”

“Getting the cells ready,” Ramsay answered.

“Exactly.” Reese focused on Eryx. “I found him at Evanora’s place just before Maxis met up with Serena. The place was spotless, like he was about to move in. The two fit.”

“No leads with the trackers though,” Ludan said taking his place back at the wall.

“Unless you didn’t go far enough north.” Reese met each man’s stare in turn. “All I want is a chance to scout and get one or two of the journals in where he can find them. In and out.”

Galena lifted her chin and tapped her thumbnail on the tableau’s edge. The idea of her mate on this crazy errand obviously didn’t sit any better with her than it did with Eryx.

“That’s an awful lot of risk based on a huge amount of old knowledge and assumption,” Eryx said.

“Not if I mask.”

Eryx chuckled and paced toward the plush, yet well-used gold leather couch along the rear wall. “I haven’t met anyone that masks better than a Shantos and even I’d be hesitant to try that stunt.”

“He’s better,” Ramsay said.

A startled silence filled the room.

Eryx sat the foot he’d been half way to putting on the table back on the floor. “Come again?”

“Reese is better than either one of us.” Ramsay grinned at the floor and scratched the back of his head before he finally looked up. “Used to drive me nuts when we’d practice against each other. He’s a pretty respectable tracker too.”

Son of a bitch.
Eryx stretched his arms out on the sofa back. Ramsay might not yet be ready to let bygones be bygones with Reese, but he’d manned up enough to admit Reese’s strengths, which meant they had to be damned impressive. “You think this plan has merit?”

Ramsay shrugged and studied the map. “If the spiritu story is true and you can nab Maxis without a fight and risk no men, it’s worth it.”

“He shouldn’t go alone.” Galena leveled every man in the room with one of those feminine glares most men dreaded. “Any one of you would take at least one or two men with you.”

Eryx shook his head. “You’re missing the point, Galena. We can’t risk anyone from our crew being there. If Serena wasn’t playing us and a bunch of us get caught, we screw our chance to catch Maxis. If Reese goes it alone…” He glanced at Reese. “Well, he’s just a pissed-off brother out to get even.”

“So you’re agreed?” Reese said.

Praise the Great One, if Eryx had any compassion at all, he’d give his sister her way and forbid the whole thing. The idea reeked of a suicide mission. On the other hand, if the spiritu thing was true, he’d be an idiot not to let Reese try.

He pulled in a deep breath and braced for impact. “Yeah. I agree.”

Snow sparkled beneath Reese’s airborne form, the rich purple, blue, and red of the mountain rock pulsing up through the blanket of white. Bitter wind whipped around him, the mask hiding him from the dilapidated structures below no protection from the fierce gusts.

No way was the mess below him Maxis’ hub. Rock walls were all that remained, wood beams broken and strewn in haphazard patterns.

He breathed into the high neck of his full-length coat. His warm breath ricocheted off the lambskin lining to heat his checks. He’d known the region was treacherous, but damned if he’d expected this. Not one footprint marred the snow’s surface, no scent or sign of smoke and no activity. No noise beyond the wind’s steady whir.

There had to be something. Evanora’s place had been in perfect condition when he’d been there less than a week ago, only a trace of stagnant air beneath some kind of citrusy cleanser.

He squinted against the glaring overcast skies. Every gust vibrated through his thick coat and to his bones.

Wait a minute.

He closed his eyes and focused on the steady thrum, a constant tremor beneath him that went against the wind’s surge and fall.

The tunnels from Maxis’ hideout came to mind, crude but efficient and nearly undetectable if one didn’t know where to look. Reese cast his energy out in a wide arc. One ping, one pattern out of context was all he needed.

Wind whistled around him, the quiet of the barren region almost suffocating.

A steady rumble sounded on his right.

Reese drifted toward it, feeling along the tall ridges with mental sweeps. His brow burned from the chill and his shoulders ached from the constant clench of his muscles, one hour too long in this forsaken ice cube. Probably closer to two by now.

A scrape of stone on stone sounded.

He spun and froze, gritting his teeth at the knee-jerk reaction. The weather and the need to prove himself were making him sloppy. His blood had all but turned to liquid steel when Eryx had agreed to his plan, but he’d never prove himself worthy if he ended up dead. If he didn’t get a grip and act smart, he wouldn’t make it another thirty minutes.

He flew toward the sound. His fingertips pulsed and prickled despite his deep pockets, and his nose grew numb.

A rock jutted out by an opening on the top of the ridge, almost identical to the ones at Maxis’ Asshur hideout.

Adrenaline rushed his sluggish bloodstream. No men were visible, and the place was void of detectable energy. Odd, he’d keep the place unguarded. Then again, Eryx had decimated a good chunk of rebellion men in their last battle.

He pushed the cover aside, and slipped inside.

Bingo. Just like Maxis’ cave, complete with slow burning torches at regular intervals.

Less than twenty feet in, a buzz registered against his senses, the same thrum he’d felt from above, only more so. It took at least a few hundred bodies to stir that kind of energy, or maybe double that. Pinpointing the origin was next to impossible, though, with so much rock between him and the source.

If you’d forged links with your men the way Ramsay does, you’d have found the new camp in a blink.
Then again, they could have tracked him as well. And didn’t that put a whole new light on how much trust Ramsay put in his men? The exposure his old friend faced everyday, knowing any one of his warriors could find and double-cross him, showed how much faith Ramsay put in those who served.

No wonder he hadn’t been able to ignore Reese’s secrets.

He wound down the shadowed tunnel and pumped his fists to urge more blood to his tingling fingertips. Every step clicked in his head. Fifty feet he’d traveled, north to northeast, assuming the thick mountain hadn’t muddled his connection to the sun. It had sure thrown his tracking skills.

Ten more feet he traveled, the rock’s bland surface blending with the darkness to create the sensation of blindness. At this point he couldn’t even see the warm puffs of air from his mouth.

A draft rushed his right side and lightness registered on his left. He paused and strained to see through the darkness. An intersecting tunnel, this one wider than the one behind him. The scent of fire and roasting game wafted from the light.

He glanced from right to left, and gauged the long-winding path behind him to the outside. Closing his eyes, he visualized the energy around him, his tracker sense more heightened with the flush of adrenaline. A path of energy sparked from the light on his left to the exit tube behind him. Only recent and frequent use would leave such a bright, vibrant residue.

He crept toward the darker corridor on his right. It was stagnant in comparison to the others, though not void of energy. Another step in and his senses tripped, feminine energy, light and colorful catching his attention.

Serena.

Checking his position against the sun, he mentally mapped his location. Evanora’s estate lay just over two miles away. Maxis loved his escape plans. To mine an elaborate labyrinth between his troops and Evanora’s castle made sense.

Three paths to choose from, two toward danger, and one toward safety. He’d taken the safe road before with Ramsay and look where it got him.

A new intersection.

Funny how the spiritu’s words had proven to be so literal, or maybe she’d known all along. He stepped toward the light and halted. Maxis hadn’t once marched or trained with his men in the time Reese led them. Why would he start now?

He turned toward the darkness instead and crept forward. His heartbeat thickened and with every step, its tempo built. Sweat lined his chest and back, his fur coat stifling.

Time eked by and his doubts raged. Fatigue and the constant mask he held along the two-mile stretch drained his energy until he could barely stand. Every second, the sun slipped closer to the Earth’s horizon. Half a mile more to Evanora’s estate if his internal map calculated right. And then what?

He shook his head and tried to release the thought. He’d get the answers when he needed them. And if he didn’t, well, at least he’d die with a free heart, a clear conscience, and Galena.

His heart stuttered. Galena would be safe, her and the rest of their race if his plans actually worked.

Up and on the left, a darker pocket of color covered the tunnel wall. No, not color, but a door, inset and well scarred.

Reese scanned for energy behind the gray planks and came back with nothing. Relying on touch over telekinesis, he eased the door’s iron latch free and prayed for well-oiled hinges. A high-pitched, grated squeak sounded for a second, then silence.

He pulled the door wide. Smoke and the scent of sweet cloves assailed him as he stepped into an aristocratic studio apartment, a king size bed to one side with ornate carved posters on each corner, and an elaborate desk on the other. A cozy hearth nestled in the middle with barely glowing coals in the grate and wingbacks on either side. Every inch was decorated like something from the 1800s complete with dark colors and gold embellishments.

Just like Evanora’s castle.

He hustled to the desk and touched the map spread across the top. Energy echoes rushed up his forearm. Fresh, four hours ago at most, but probably closer to two. He pulled the journal from the inside of his coat and thumbed to the page he’d bookmarked, the one his mother had penned the first night she’d spent without Maxis. Wedged in the crease was the note he’d written for Maxis before he’d left.

Trust me enough to read it. It’s never too late to do the right thing. Never.

Not the most prolific guidance, but all he’d been able to come up with. His hand shook as he situated the note, fatigue making his movements short and clumsy. He had thirty minutes, forty-five at best, to get outside and drop his mask before he blacked out.

He set the book in place and re-checked his location. Definitely at Evanora’s castle. If he could find another way out he had a much better shot at making it, but he could just as easily burn what little time he had looking. He’d give himself five minutes to find an out, and then he’d have to take his chances in the tunnel.

He felt along the open wall near the bed, fingers pressed to the gold filigree accents.

Serena’s harpy voice chirped from the rock corridor.

Reese froze.

The door opened and Serena swooshed inside, all drama and tittering laughter. She grinned over one shoulder as Maxis entered behind her, and tossed her coat over the back of one wingback. “We should celebrate. Have a little pre-event, one on one. You’re back to full strength after all.”

Reese edged toward the still open door and prayed his steps fell soundless. He didn’t dare levitate with his energy stores this low. Better to risk his shaking legs than clipping Maxis’ interest with a shift of air or energy.

Maxis shrugged out of his own coat. “Getting ahead of yourself aren’t you, my devious mate?” Staring at the desk, Maxis tossed his coat over Serena’s.