Blood Trinity (Belador #1)(67)

“Yes and no.”

Not the answer she was hoping for.





NINETEEN




“What do you mean yes and no? Where is this Rak-demon-thing?” Evalle kept a lid on her frustration since it wasn’t aimed at Tzader or Quinn, but what the hell!

When had she turned into the pinup girl for demons?

Tzader let out a sigh pumped full of frustration. “Here’s the whole rundown. None of the trolls or Nightstalkers over in Charlotte had heard of an Alterant until the Rak mentioned it, because Brina has kept the handful of attacks in the past out of mainstream intelligence. The trolls also had no idea who had sent the Rak to Charlotte. The Rak offered a lot of flash that brought trolls out of every hole, but nothing surfaced on the Alterant until word got out about the Beladors killed.”

Evalle ground her teeth. “The trolls knew he was looking for an Alterant? They could have told VIPER before we lost nine Beladors.”

Quinn made a sound of disdainful humor. “That would require a conscience.”

Tzader made a sound of disgust, then continued explaining. “Soon as the Rak heard about the Alterant killing Beladors then disappearing he knew he’d lost his prey and that his master would kill him for the failed mission. So the Rak left a coded message in Gaelic with the trolls, assuring them a Belador would pay well for it, then fled to Atlanta.”

“You can understand Gaelic?” Evalle knew very little about Z and Quinn’s history. When Tzader nodded, she tucked that new piece of knowledge away. She currently studied languages in her online classes, Gaelic being one.

She’d send her next email in Gaelic and surprise him. “What did the message say, Z?”

“The Rak wanted a deal to trade information on a Belador traitor for safe passage to a destination of his choosing. And the note explained how to find him in Atlanta. Quinn stayed in Charlotte to guard the troll until I found the Rak and made sure we hadn’t been tricked.”

Her nerves tightened at Tzader’s heavy pause. “And?”

“I found the Rak, but he wouldn’t tell me everything until I got an agreement from Sen to put him into VIPER’s protective custody first.”

“He had to be scared spitless to want to go into a VIPER holding cell,” she muttered.

“He was.” Tzader rubbed the back of his neck. His dark eyes showed long days of wear and tear. “All I had to do was tell Sen this guy had intel on Noirre majik, which the Rak said he could prove was being used in this area. Sen agreed to pull him in and protect him until we determined if he was lying or not. That’s why I couldn’t stay for the meeting yesterday.”

She understood but would have liked to have had Tzader in the meeting to get his feedback on Storm, Adrianna … oh, and Isak, who Evalle had to find sooner than soon for any hope of figuring out who had sent the Birrn.

At this rate, if another demon showed up, she’d need a whiteboard to keep track of the players.

And what about the missing body in the morgue? Argh.

Tzader’s voice flattened more with each sentence. “When I got back to the meet point for the Rak he wasn’t there. I chased leads all yesterday, but he was running like a rat from one hole in Atlanta to another because someone else was after him. I figured his master had come for him, which would have worked for me if we’d caught him—or her—too. Quinn got in around eight last night. We teamed up and finally found the Rak just after nine.”

“Where was he?” She looked from Tzader to Quinn, who took over explaining.

“In five pieces, stacked neatly inside a suitcase placed in the middle of an empty hotel room with a note that read ‘Our company has a zero tolerance policy on traitors.’”

“So not funny.” Evalle thought on it a minute. “What did he share with you when you first talked to him, Z?”

“This is where it gets screwy. The Rak said he had information on a Belador working with the Medb and knew why his employer was searching for the Alterant, but he wouldn’t say until he was safe.”

“Crud!” Evalle slapped the beanbag.

Feenix jumped up, wings flaring and pointed ears laid back in attack mode. Smoke whistled from his lips, which could shoot fire next.

Oo-kay. Note to self to up the Zen factor when living with gargoyles. She cooed to him. “Sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Quinn laughed. “You think you frightened something that could blow a hole in the wall behind me?” He pitched a chunk of his Mr. Goodbar at Feenix. “Catch, boy.”

Feenix snapped the chocolate bite out of the air.

“Don’t feed him that!” She was going to strangle Quinn.

“You feed him lug nuts and you’re worried about a little chocolate in his diet?” A laugh sputtered from Quinn’s lips.

“Chocolate makes him fart, then I have to spend two hours in the shop working on my bike while the air clears, dammit.”

“Yeth, dammit.” Feenix nodded.

Tzader and Quinn both looked up. “He talks?”

“I’m teaching him a few things.” She kissed his scaly head.

Feenix tucked his wings, then climbed out of her lap to waddle around the room saying, “Hello, one, two, three, fork, five, thix, dammit.” After that he continued mumbling things that made no sense.