Alterant (Belador #2)(33)

“Doing what?”

“You know what, Brina. You want a rundown of everything we’ve been up to for the past three months?”

“I want to know the identity of the traitor.”

“We all do.” Tzader clamped his jaw tight enough to crack the bones. He and Quinn had gotten close several times in the past couple years, but they had come up empty. They’d spent any free minute searching for the individual who had more than once put Beladors in danger through information that only a Belador should have known. Brina had been kept abreast of all this. “I obviously don’t have a name yet, but—”

“But you have time to devote to one Alterant? What about the rest of our tribe, Tzader? We cannot afford to overlook the safety of the entire tribe for one Alterant.”

“Now wait a minute.” He had never put Evalle’s interest ahead of other Beladors.

“What about O’Meary?”

“Last I checked, Larsen is still dead,” Tzader said more clipped than he’d like, but what was going on with her? Why was she asking about that traitor?

“He’s not the only O’Meary.”

It took Tzader a minute to follow her abrupt switch to talking about the current O’Meary generation. “What about Conlan O’Meary? He’s shown us no reason to suspect him. What are you saying?”

“That when there are two Beladors in a family like that there’s a strong connection between father and son.”

“Larsen O’Meary abandoned Conlan when the kid was seventeen, or did you forget why we brought Conlan in early to train?” What the devil? Larsen had been the Belador traitor who’d lured Brina’s father, her brothers and Tzader’s father to their deaths at the hands of the Medb Coven. O’Meary’s son Conlan had been born with Belador powers and a few unusual gifts.

Larsen had supposedly died in battle, but Tzader doubted a traitor would actually step into danger, so he speculated that the Medb had killed him once they’d been done with him.

Tzader put his personal issue with Brina’s attitude aside and got down to business, since that seemed to be all she wanted from him today. “Conlan has proven himself to be trustworthy and an asset.”

“Then he should be willing to have his mind probed for buried memories or a connection to his da. Macha wants results, and so do I.”

“What do you expect to find from having a druid probe his mind when Conlan hardly even knew his father?”

Brina’s gaze belonged to everything but him. She said, “I’m not talking of using a druid. Have Quinn do the probe. We know Quinn can tap anything Conlan’s father might have sent telepathically to him . . . or might still be sending him.”

“Still? You think Larsen is alive?”

“I would have expected you to consider that possibility, since we’ve never seen a body.”

“But we did have a druid search for Larsen’s spirit. The druid said the spirit was no longer functioning in a body in the human world.”

“All the more reason to have Quinn probe Conlan for any repressed memories that may aid us in our search or information deep in his subconscious that might be shielded from the young man’s consciousness. I don’t like to do this either, Tzader, but we need to find out if Larsen is truly dead and, if so, Quinn can reach out from Conlan to tap Larsen’s spirit.”

“To go that deep would risk harming Conlan and Quinn if Quinn runs into something unexpected in Conlan’s subconscious mind . . . like a trap.”

Brina lifted her hands to her waist, heat searing her gaze. “First you defend Conlan as a loyal follower, then you suggest he could be a threat. Which will it be?”

He had no reason to suspect the young man. “I just disagree with putting Quinn or Conlan through this without being convinced it’s necessary.”

Brina crossed her arms and really looked at him this time, but not with love in her eyes. “You come here asking for information on the Alterant who has me spending more time at Tribunal meetings than taking care of Belador business, but you hesitate to pursue a danger to the Beladors . . . and me?”

How had she mangled his words to make him sound as though he was letting her down? “My first concern is always to protect you and our tribe.”

“Then consider this. The Alterants are an unknown entity. Almost a hundred have shifted into beasts in just two days. Does this sudden change, or what is causing the change, not concern you?”

“Of course it does, and I expect a report by the time I return to VIPER headquarters, but it’s unfair to point suspicion at Evalle when none of the beasts seen so far have green eyes. And we’ve even heard of one Alterant intervening to save a teenager’s life. If Evalle was here she could help us.”

Brina’s gaze narrowed in doubt. “You’re sure? How do you know whatever is causing this outbreak wouldn’t affect her ability to control herself?”

“Because I know Evalle. She can control her beast.”

“Are you allowing your relationship with her to blind you to a potential threat from Alterants as well?”

“Of course not.” Was he? No. He didn’t think so. He asked, “What does all this have to do with the traitor?”

She lifted a hand, counting off fingers with each point. “You believed Larsen O’Meary was involved with the first Alterant incident. You met Evalle when the traitor tricked you into a Medb trap. You got a tip on the traitor because of the Alterant who shifted in North Carolina nine weeks ago.”