Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(35)
Evalle still needed Macha’s help with VIPER. “If I could show up with this armband as a buy-in, VIPER might go along with sending in a covert team of just two of us who could scout for Noirre. If a trade went down, I could call out for more teams that would be close by, and I’d still have a chance to bring back the Alterants.”
“You want me to implicate myself in the theft of a rare artifact with unknown powers?”
Why did it sound so wrong when she put it that way? So much for goddess mojo. “That wasn’t what I meant.”
“That’s exactly how it sounds. Once again, you bring me problems with no plan. I’m beginning to wonder what I saw in you.”
Evalle wanted to strike out with kinetics and knock the smug goddess on her ass.
And she could. Just like when she’d told Storm she’d kick his ass.
Heat wrapped her arm, forcing her to look down.
The bone. She had to get a grip and calm down. Taking a deep breath, she said, “I still think my best chance is with VIPER support. If not, I’ll go in on my own.”
There had to be a way out of this mess. Tzader would understand her predicament, especially if Macha supported her and . . .
Macha snapped her fingers. “For someone with your training, I’d expect better survival skills than to daydream while in a meeting with me.” Before Evalle could comment, the goddess asked, “What is your plan for explaining to VIPER if you’re discovered in this event?”
She keeps asking that as if I have a notebook full of plans. “I figured you’d explain that I went in for you.”
Macha laughed cynically. “For me? You’re the one who believes Alterants deserve to be recognized as a viable race.”
“True.” Evalle would not stop believing that, no matter the cost.
“I’m the only one offering Alterants the chance to belong to a pantheon. Our agreement did not involve the entire Belador tribe or VIPER, only the two of us. You’re the one who claimed you could deliver Tristan, who supposedly knows the origins of Alterants. I have yet to see him or any other Alterant, even though I’ve already offered amnesty if they prove control of their beasts and swear fealty to me.”
“I know, and I’m working on—”
“I am still holding up my end of the bargain, and in a show of appreciation for what you did in the battle with the trolls at Treoir, I’ve extended your deadline, which will not happen again in this millennium. I suggest you come up with an adequate plan that does not involve everyone else, and do it soon.”
Evalle had only thought she understood. She couldn’t walk away without losing her freedom along with Tristan’s and that of all other Alterants. But neither would she insert into the ABC with her hands tied. Shoving a determined look back at Macha, Evalle nodded. “Fine. I’ll get inside those games on one agreement.”
A puzzled look came over Macha’s face. “What?”
“I understand that you will disavow any knowledge of my actions with VIPER or the Tribunal. I’ll bring back Tristan and any other Alterants I can convince to return with me, but I want autonomy over all my decisions without threat of penalty.” She had no idea what she might have to do, but she was done with playing these games on Macha’s rules alone.
Macha took her time answering. “You are free to act as you see fit without threat of repercussion from me as long as you do not place my pantheon in conflict with VIPER and you put the best interest of the Beladors first above all.”
Which would be based on Macha’s subjective opinion.
In other words, fail and face the brunt of Macha’s anger. The chances of improving on this agreement were nil, and the harder Evalle pushed this, the more she risked getting tangled even deeper in one of Macha’s sly, one-sided deals. “Understood.”
Surprisingly, Macha appeared content. “I’ll make this simple for you.”
Evalle deserved credit for not rolling her eyes as she held quiet to hear Macha out.
“Stop the Medb from creating an army of immortal Alterant warriors, return with Tristan and three others, and I’ll clear you of any complications with VIPER, plus I’ll decree every Alterant protected under my pantheon. Do that and you may have all the time you need to determine the origins.”
Now that was an offer. “You’re on.”
Raising her arms, Macha turned into a swirl of glittering lights again and disappeared.
Rain!
Evalle dove for the stairwell, wet, but not as bad as it could have been. She made the trek back downstairs, dialing Storm on the way. His voice mail picked up, so she left him a message to call her. She’d just reached the elevator to her apartment when she got a group text from Tzader, which seemed odd, when he could just call out telepathically to his warriors.
She punched up the message that read, All Belador agents receiving this come to headquarters immediately. Do not use telepathy for ANY reason in the meantime.
What in the world had happened?
ELEVEN
On his way through T?μr Medb, Cathbad whistled a sad Irish tune older than the original Cathbad the Druid, his namesake. T?μr Medb held all the pleasures one person could want in a hidden realm, but after six hundred years here, a prison was a prison no matter how grand the architecture and the trimmings.