Alterant (Belador #2)(57)

When Quinn squinted his eyes open, Tzader’s blurry face was slack with shock, then his jaw flexed with anger. Tzader said, They aren’t touching Brina or Evalle.

Quinn stopped short of saying Evalle would willingly help the Medb. He didn’t give a rat’s ass about a f*cking vision. No bloody way she’d do that.

He took a couple of hard-won breaths, struggling to figure out how much to tell Tzader before he passed out.

Tzader was Maistir and had to act upon anything he was told.

Quinn wouldn’t put him in a tighter spot with unconfirmed information.

When? Tzader asked.

Don’t know. Quinn swallowed down the nasty taste in his throat. Could be now or months from now . . . just don’t know.

What about Conlan being the traitor? Tzader asked.

Quinn questioned what to tell Tzader for a nanosecond, but much as he hated to use the vision against Conlan, there was no way he could shield this information. Evalle had only been mentioned in the vision, not present at the Medb meeting.

Quinn said between panting breaths, Saw Conlan with the Medb . . . discussing how to breach Brina’s castle.

Sure it was Conlan?

Yes. Had the scar on his right cheek . . . like the one Conlan got in training . . . last month. Quinn heard disappointment in the silence. His stomach felt as though a rabid badger had climbed inside.

Tzader pulled out his cell phone. Got to lock up Conlan.

Quinn nodded and regretted the move when he almost puked. He clenched his teeth and said, But a vision isn’t hard evidence. VIPER can’t hold him long, maybe not a whole day.

I know. We’ll do what we can to nail down answers fast. Based on what you saw we can also justify hunting for Evalle as part of our traitor investigation.

Quinn was actually glad that they couldn’t find her right now until he had time to think on that vision some more. Time to convince himself that Evalle was not going to be the key to the Medb capturing . . . and killing Brina.

But Kizira had shared with him that she was revered as one of the greatest Medb precognitives.

Was there any way Larsen had altered that vision?

Quinn shuddered at recalling her inside his mind.

She’d been in a future vision, which meant she couldn’t get inside his mind now, right?

But what about that spirit that had killed the troll?

Quinn gave up thinking. If he could take his head off and shove it in a deep freezer right now, he would.

Conlan slumped in the chair with a whimpered groan.

Tzader had finished one call and was dialing another one. He glanced over and caught Quinn watching him. “Don’t know which you need worse, a doctor or a healer.”

“No, just rest.” Quinn had no idea how long it would take this to pass though.

“Like hell. You’re bleeding everywhere, Quinn!”

“Get Conlan a healer . . . I can’t be unconscious . . . you gone . . . deal with Alterants . . .” Quinn groaned at the effort every thought took, but he needed Tzader to understand.

“Take it easy. I know what you’re saying. I’ll call in a healer to meet Conlan at headquarters. You don’t want to be around anyone you can’t trust while you’re vulnerable and I’m out dealing with the Alterant problem. As soon as someone takes Conlan to VIPER holding, I’ll get you to your hotel.”

All Quinn could say was, “Yes.”

Calmer now, Quinn clutched his head in his hands. He never allowed anyone to know where he stayed except Tzader and Evalle. He didn’t want to waste a minute of Tzader’s time, but he doubted he’d make it to the hotel room on his own.

A thud hit the floor. Probably an unconscious Conlan.

Quinn whispered, “What about finding Evalle?”

“Soon as I get you two settled, I’m calling the one person who might find her faster than us.”

“Who?”

“Isak Nyght and his black-ops boys. Much as I despise bringing him into the loop, I think he’ll locate her before we can.”

Tzader never panicked, but he was clearly hitting a defcon level of worry to unleash Isak Nyght to hunt Evalle.

Quinn and Tzader had figured out that Isak had an interest in Evalle, which meant he didn’t know she was an Alterant.

Because Isak’s first priority was killing Alterants.





EIGHTEEN




Evalle hurried across the uneven concrete, where weeds sprouted through the cracks, glad her leg had healed so she didn’t limp anymore. She kept an eye out for any movement in the wasteland of dark shadows that stretched between her and the door to the elevator she had in sight.

Sirens whined in the distance. Everything was normal at home. She could use some normal. In a few minutes, she’d be inside her underground apartment with Feenix, food and her bed.

Storm had offered her food and a bed, but not in that order based on what she’d read in his eyes. Or maybe she’d just misread him. They’d only known each other a few days and she had no plans to do anything with him, or any man, that involved taking off clothes. She should explain to him that he was wasting his time if that was any part of his motivation for sticking close to her.

She expelled a long breath and headed to the elevator that would take her down to her apartment. When she reached the door to her living quarters, she opened it slowly, listening for Feenix. He normally heard her coming and raced into the living room to meet her.