Alterant (Belador #2)(66)

Feral sexuality in an untamed package.

Women were drawn to the risk.

Men allowed all that unleashed danger a respectful distance.

Two strides from reaching Storm, Evalle noticed one of the women in the foursome giving her a thorough examination, clearly perplexed over Storm’s smile for her.

Evalle had more to worry about than being snubbed. They didn’t bother her. Not really. But sending them a little push of energy might rattle that bunch enough to wipe the snotty looks off their faces.

Storm tsked at her and warned, “No playing with the humans.”

Evalle swung her gaze up at him and lifted her shoulders. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He chuckled. “Ready?”

She nodded and led the way to the service entrance, where Storm kept watch as she used kinetics to open and relock the door. Once they navigated their way back to the dark corridors, they stepped over the tracks and up onto the foot-high structure running alongside the rails. That’s where the trains pulled power to operate. She’d worried the first time Storm had stepped up on the shield that covered the power access, but it turned out to be stronger than it appeared.

Evalle checked over her shoulder to see that they were swallowed in the semi-dark area, then asked Storm, “Have you heard about the sulfur-smelling fog and Alterants shifting?”

“I saw some of the fallout on the news. The top end of I-285 is covered in wrecks. People were going crazy in some areas, shooting each other.” He walked along for a moment. “Your Alterants might be dead.”

“I hope not. I think I know where Tristan and maybe the other Alterants are down here.”

“How’d you find out anything with only three hours to rest?”

Because I slept a half hour. “Saw a Nightstalker I know on the way here.”

“Your friend Grady?”

“Yep. He said there’s a warren of tunnels and rooms down here where spirits moved to live after the Civil War. Soldiers and civilian spirits. It’s called the Maze of Death.”

Storm didn’t laugh, but he might as well have by the comical look he gave her when she glanced up at his silence.

“Hey, I didn’t name the place,” she said in self-defense. “Anyhow, we might have lost Tristan’s trail because he teleported through the concrete wall into the maze. The only idea I have is to go back to the last spot you found his trail and see if we can find an access point nearby.”

“Why go back if he’s not there?”

“I’m considering dropping my mental shields to see if I can reach him through telepathy if Trey doesn’t interfere. But I also still have two of the three gifts I got from the Tribunal. I don’t want to use another one when I haven’t found the Alterants yet, but those other two won’t do me much good if I don’t find them.”

“What are you thinking about using for a gift?”

“Not sure. I might ask for a way to communicate with Alterants in the maze, but that could open the channel to a swarm of ghosts as well. I’m still working on it.”

Storm walked along quietly for ten steps, giving her the impression he debated some thought until he said, “I have some intel, too.”

Where had he been for the past three hours? “From a Nightstalker?”

“No. From Adrianna.”

She muttered, “We know how you spent your three hours.”

A smile teased his lips. “It didn’t take three hours.”

Evalle lifted her hand. “I don’t need details.”

He caught her hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her palm. “Adrianna and I have a purely business arrangement.”

Pulling her hand back, she ignored the tingle that climbed up her arm and spread across her chest at his touch. “You made a deal with a Sterling witch?”

“Ever know one to give up information for free?”

“Not them. What’d you have to give her?”

“Told her I’d return the favor when she asked for it.”

Evalle cringed at that idea. “I’ll pay her back, since you asked her for me.”

“Let’s not quibble now.” Storm turned his head, as if listening for a train, then turned back. “She’s still with VIPER.”

“Why? I thought they only brought her in to help with finding the Ngak Stone.”

“I don’t know why she’s still here and didn’t ask, but it probably has to do with the Alterants turning into beasts and the fog. Adrianna said VIPER has a hunt-to-kill order out on all Alterants.”

Had Grady been right? She asked, “You mean the Alterants who are shifting and killing, right?”

“No, I mean you and Tristan, too.”

“Why would they do that . . . wait. You said Tristan, too?”

Storm’s jaw hardened. “The Tribunal found out Tristan escaped. They think you helped him.”

“How did they find out Tristan was out?”

“Adrianna thinks someone spotted him in Atlanta on a MARTA security camera. She said he is nearby and she thinks Tristan is down underground in this area, so that fits with the Maze of Death intel you got. He has plans for the Alterants.”

While Evalle appreciated the information, she could have used better news. “I figured out Tristan had other plans than mine when he left me standing in the jungle.”