Cloud Rebel (R-D #3)(68)

"Good question. I didn't understand it—not really. It doesn't make much sense."

"It makes me wonder if there were communications placed with Deonus Wyyld or with their agency regarding their decision," Val agreed. "I can contact Father about those things."

"Yeah. I think we should," I said. "This is awful." I pulled my eyes away from the dead man on the floor. I couldn't help comparing his death to that of hundreds of thousands across Europe—all caused by the same people.

"I must go, dearest, Father is calling," Val said. He disappeared almost immediately.

"Huh?" I stared at the space he'd occupied. "Damn," I muttered before transporting myself to Italy.

*

Sunlight on the snow surrounding their lodge almost blinded Finch. He took a moment to fumble in a pocket for his goggles. Two of his team had spent the night before and most of the current day out in the weather—they'd gone farther than they should have, looking for signs of others in the area.

He'd just gotten a garbled message on his radio, so he'd gone outside to get a better signal. "Finch here," he said. "Come in, rover."

"Rover here," came the answer. "We smelled smoke from a fire earlier. We're currently looking at a hidden cabin buried in the snow. Sundown in twenty, sir."

"Give me your coordinates," Finch snapped. "We'll be there soon. Remain undetected, do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

*

Ilya

After mindspeech with Corinne, the day crept by. Sundown was upon us, leaving roughly six hours before our planned attack. The usual knock sounded on my door, announcing the arrival of food.

At least we were being fed properly, if somewhat blandly.

"We're still on for tonight," the corporal informed me as the tray he carried was set down on a small table.

"I understand," I nodded. "Thank you." I tipped my head toward the tray.

"You're welcome, sir."

"Will you be coming with us, tonight?"

"That's the plan." He sounded excited. I made a mental note to attempt to protect his life, too. I doubted he had any idea what we would encounter when we arrived at Phillips' compound.

"I will see you then," I said.

"Yes, sir."

*

"There's no movement sir. Inside or outside that cabin," Finch's Lieutenant reported.

"Let me see." Finch took the binoculars to check for himself. "You're right—I don't see a thing, and the smoke isn't very thick. The fire may be dying. Do you suppose they've abandoned the site? Are you sure they didn't detect you?"

"No, sir. Nobody's left—before or after we arrived."

"Then let's go in and check it out. If this is where our bombers have been hiding, we'll know soon enough."

"Yes, sir. Who's guarding the perimeter, sir?"

"You come with me. You two," he pointed at two others, "stay back and watch for their return."

"Yes, sir."

"Come on, we have a cabin to search." Finch moved forward, his boots crunching softly in deep snow.

*

"We don't have to change the original paint or wording, we merely have to remove what was added later." Fisk tapped the outer shell of a purloined missile. "We want to blame the original owners, not the more recent ones, after all."

Wymarr Belancour studied the missiles he'd whisked away from their hiding places—the newer paint was ridiculously easy to separate from the aging lettering of the original.

Two different languages—neither of which he could read. He cared not—his job paid quite well and allowed him comforts he'd never received in his brother's home—the same brother who'd kicked him out when the first notice was released by the ASD, telling everyone there was a bounty on his head for a few minor misdeeds.

Marid could f*ck himself—Wymarr had done quite well on his own. Lifting his hands, he prepared a spell to remove the designated paint.

Nearby, and almost undetected, Morrett dropped to his knees and shuddered.

*

The moment Finch crossed the invisible perimeter, he knew it—for approximately two-thirds of a second, until the cabin exploded in a huge fireball, taking everything inside the perimeter with it.

From the hill above, two men were on the radio quickly, asking for help as debris rained about them.

*

Corinne

"Norian's dead. Schaff, too," Val said. He didn't conceal the weariness in his voice as he spoke after his arrival.

"I know. If I'd known to look for a window where the Sirenali wouldn't have been present to hide their location," I shivered.

"Dearest, you can't take blame for this," Val said. "Father worried that something like this would occur. I was meeting with him and Kalenegar when this tragedy happened."

"The worst part?" I looked up at Val, whose eyes were deeper and sadder than when I'd seen them last. "The worst part is that Finch set off the perimeter spell, causing everything to blow up. Courtesy of their wizard, no doubt."

"No doubt," Val agreed before sitting heavily beside me. "I understand only two of his team are still alive."