Alterant (Belador #2)(98)

Brina turned halfway around at that declaration, gave Evalle a questioning look, then resumed her quiet pose.

Evalle went on. “He believes he can show that we are not anomalies of nature but a race to be recognized.”

“We would hear this Tristan, but”—Loki made a show of looking around the room—“he is not here.” A sarcastic laugh feathered his taunt.

Ares spoke with the power of a gun blast. “We have heard enough. The task was not performed. Judgment is due.”

Brina spoke up. “Can Macha not—”

“Macha?” Loki chided. “What more would you ask of your goddess when she has been generous to offer sanctuary to this Alterant until now? There is no challenge to this judgment when the Alterants are not a recognized race and have not been accepted into a pantheon . . . unless you wish to inform this Tribunal of such a change in their status?” He angled his head in question. “No? I thought not.”

Evalle stared at the back of Brina’s quiet hologram with horror.

Pele nodded as though a silent discussion had just ended between her and the two gods. Her lyrical voice rang out with unquestioned authority. “Brina of Treoir, you are held accountable for this failure.”

Evalle shouted, “No! That’s not fair.”

Ares pointed at Evalle’s feet, and the lightning bolt she’d been worried about struck the ground an inch from her toes. Energy stung her skin. Ares said, “Speak another unsolicited word and the next one will go through your heart.”

Brina spoke in Evalle’s mind. Do not make this worse by arguing. I doubt they will do anything more than suspend me from standing at Tribunal meetings with sanctioned Beladors for a while. That would leave a warrior under judgment at the mercy of the Tribunal with no support, but there are worse things in our world.

Evalle calmed at that, but now it was her fault other warriors would not benefit by having Brina at their side to face a trio of heartless deities.

When Brina spoke, Evalle understood why warriors followed this woman into battle. “Evalle may have failed you, but she did not fail me or her Belador tribe. I do not believe she has anything to do with the Medb. I will always stand by my warriors in any battle, even those sent to battle upon uneven ground.”

Loki gifted Brina with a gorgeous smile. “Your reward for believing in a genetic mishap is to remain with us forever.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Brina countered, suspicion coloring the end of her words.

“Oh, but your hologram can.”

“What? You can’t—” Brina lifted her hands in defense against an invisible threat . . . and turned into a translucent statue locked in that position.

Oh, dear Goddess. What had Loki done? Evalle looked to the grinning god, opened her mouth to curse him a thousand ways when he said, “You wish to speak, Alterant?”

She caught the warning and clamped her lips shut. Brina had cautioned her not to antagonize the Tribunal. Evalle shoved her fisted hands behind her back, sure that Sen would notice the movement, but the bastard had to be enjoying this too much to interrupt.

Evalle nodded, then answered Loki in a respectful voice, when she’d rather rip his throat out. “I have nothing to say for myself, but I don’t see the point in freezing Brina’s image when I’m the one who failed.”

Pele covered her mouth and laughed. She cut her eyes to Ares, then Loki, who both erupted in laughter.

What could be so funny about that? What would have united those three on any front?

Evalle sent a quick glance at Sen, who seemed mildly confused.

When the laughter died, Pele said, “Loki did not freeze Brina’s image. He captured her hologram and locked it into a timeless prison. A part of Brina’s essence travels with her in the hologram to allow her use of power outside of Treoir Isle.”

Did that mean . . . they had actually locked away part of Brina’s power? What about the Beladors?

Full all-out panic shook Evalle. What had she done to her entire tribe?

“Evalle of the Beladors, you are hereby sentenced to VIPER imprisonment for as long as you shall draw a breath.”

VIPER? What about the jungle like Tristan had been sent to?

She turned to Sen, who whispered, “I promise that you will live a long life.”





THIRTY-FIVE




Could there be any lonelier cellmate than honor? Evalle sat on the edge of the cot in her suffocatingly small space, heart thumping in beat with the pain stabbing her chest. She’d thought the basement of a simple two-bedroom house had been a claustrophobic cage for the first eighteen years of her life.

She hadn’t known the true definition of cage until getting dumped in a ten-by-ten room with cold rock walls. Smooth gray stone covered the floor.

No door. Unnecessary with teleporting.

No window. Nothing to see this far beneath the mountain that held VIPER headquarters in north Georgia.

No way out. All she’d ever wanted was freedom.

She hugged the windbreaker around her, glad Sen had no idea how much she cherished the jacket Storm had given her. Now that she’d dripped dry, she could smell him on the cloth.

Her heart bled a little each time she inhaled his scent.

One of the four stone walls started changing. A wooden door with black hammered-metal attachments formed.