Alterant (Belador #2)(17)
It would take a magician to unveil the truth beneath words spoken by a god or goddess. Evalle banked the three gifts mentally and started to ask about how to get help when Loki added one more caveat.
“And you may ask one person now for help. Is that not generous?” Loki smiled, supremely pleased with himself.
Talk about a trick question.
Ares held his hand out, and an elegant gold-and-black hourglass appeared in the palm of his hand. “When I turn this over, you have until the sands run out, then we will send Sen for you. When your time is up, the hourglass will take Sen to wherever you are. If you fail to deliver the missing Alterants, we will turn every asset at VIPER loose to hunt down all Alterants and destroy them.”
That would include me, Evalle acknowledged silently.
She got it. Ares had no intention of spending another minute hearing further arguments on her behalf. Evalle couldn’t gain anything more right now. She had no choice but to get moving and figure out her next step—if she could actually find the escaped Alterants.
And there was only one person who might know where the other three Alterants were. Since she’d been told she could ask one person for help, maybe Tristan could be brought here.
That seemed fair. That way Brina wouldn’t have to divulge his location and she could send him back to his cage after he answered Evalle’s questions.
What were the chances of Tristan answering truthfully?
Pretty good if he lit up bright red every time he lied. No one could defy a Tribunal but a god or goddess and that would end in bloodshed.
And Tristan can’t attack me here.
This had potential.
“I understand,” Evalle said, then added, “but how long does it take the hourglass to empty?”
Loki said, “More than a day and less than a lifetime.”
Not helping. She gave up on that and moved on to something she might be able to get straight. “I wish to carry full responsibility for the success or failure of this on my shoulders, not Brina’s.”
Ares barked, “Denied.”
Brina’s words came to Evalle’s mind on a whisper. Do your best. I expect no more.
The power of that faith hit Evalle squarely in her chest. She couldn’t speak for a moment.
Brina whispered quickly in Evalle’s mind, The Tribunal is not as informed as they’d like to believe. There have been sixteen Alterants that have shifted and attacked in the past forty-eight hours. Those have killed seventy-six humans. But sharing that with a Tribunal convinced that you are at fault for this outbreak will not free you sooner.
Are all the Alterants dead?
No. Eight are still loose.
Ares turned the hourglass over and sand began to spill down in a thin stream.
Brina spoke even faster in Evalle’s head. You are right about the danger of Beladors linking to fight Alterants. I can’t share much about Alterants because of my oath, but I can tell you that you are unlike any other and the most powerful of the Alterants we’ve encountered so far. I need you here to figure out what is causing this and to help Tzader understand how best to defend against this outbreak.
You need me to hunt my own kind.
Yes.
Now Evalle understood why Brina would agree to guarantee the safety of those three and ensure that they got a fair hearing with the Tribunal.
Evalle cleared her throat. “The one person I’d like to ask for help is Tristan. He might know where the Alterants went after they escaped.” Now to see if Brina would work with her by teleporting him here. “If Brina could—”
In a cheerful voice, Loki said, “Granted. Brina, teleport her to Tristan.”
What? Evalle looked at Sen, who couldn’t have been happier if the Tribunal had struck her down with a bolt of lightning.
Brina swung to face Evalle, panic and worry laced in her eyes.
Loki ordered in a booming voice, “Do it now!”
Evalle shook her head, saying, “Tristan will kill meeee—”
Lights blurred and the world spun into a thousand colors that turned her stomach inside out. She was already winging her way to some unknown location.
Facing failure sickened her more than vertigo, especially if she landed right in front of Tristan. She’d fought him once and walked away, but that had been because he’d wanted her alive.
He’d want her in pieces this time.
Brina’s voice whispered to her. I have only seconds until the Tribunal calls me back. Do not use your powers in Tristan’s cage or they will backlash against you twofold. I believe in you. Then she was gone.
Death awaited her at the end of this trip . . . but what fate would befall Brina and the Beladors if Evalle failed to return with the escaped Alterants?
SIX
Bracing for the role of doomed messenger, Kizira swept through the arched hallway that led to Queen Flaevynn’s private chamber in the realm of T?μr Medb. As one of the most powerful witches in the Medb coven, Kizira should be walking in with the Alterant Evalle Kincaid, not empty-handed.
But using those mercs to kidnap the Alterant had not been Kizira’s lame idea . . . it had been Flaevynn’s.
Pointing that out would not spare her.
As for lame ideas or private thoughts that might betray her, it was time to mentally tuck away anything she didn’t want discovered by an unwelcome telepathic intrusion.