Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(48)

Lanna couldn’t believe her cousin had gained her time. She spoke from her heart. “Thank you, Cousin.”

“That’s the best I can do for now, but I have to leave again—tonight—for Treoir.”

Relief poured through Lanna in spite of the dull throb in her head. “Do not worry. I will stay inside.”

Evalle said, “Load up on movies. Quinn might be gone for days or weeks at a time.”

“It is not problem.”

Quinn spoke up. “Yes, it is. You can’t stay here alone.”

Now what? “I have been good. No running around.”

“You have,” he admitted. “But now that I know a dangerous wizard is hunting you—”

“Stop there,” Evalle interrupted. “A wizard is after her?”

“Yes.” Quinn explained to Evalle, then swung his unbending tone back at Lanna. “As I was saying, I will not leave you here with that lunatic in the area.”

Evalle gave Lanna a sympathetic look. “He’s right. Way too dangerous to be without backup. Even if you could call Quinn, which you won’t be able to do with him in Treoir, he can’t even contact a Belador telepathically to get someone to you quickly.”

Living in this country was much difficult. Lanna waited for her cousin to ruin the last of her good mood. Did not take him long.

“The safest place is in VIPER headquarters.”

Evalle ground out a sound of disgust. “That place sucks, Quinn. She won’t know any of the agents coming and going.”

“But that mountain is safer than a vault.”

Lanna would be trapped inside a mountain. What if the wizard had spies there?

Quinn asked Lanna to pack her suitcase. She nodded and trudged to her bedroom, fighting off a new panic. For all her relief over telling her cousin about Grendal, she was now terrified of being somewhere she could not escape if she needed to run.

She glanced out the door, checking to see where Quinn and Evalle were. They stood across the room, having a low, but terse, conversation.

Stepping out of sight, Lanna paused and concentrated on using very little majik. This would be easier if she felt better. She whispered a spell and watched her hands for several seconds until they finally became translucent. Her body disappeared in half a minute.

Practice on one new skill was paying off.

She could now cloak herself fully. But for how long? Uncloaking, she gathered clothes and stuffed them halfheartedly into her worn-out suitcase that did not belong in this fancy hotel.

Quinn appeared in the doorway. “Are you packed?”

“Yes.” She would have to find a way to escape her cousin before they got to the mountain, where she would have no transportation back. She had tried teleporting twice but had not moved more than ten feet. She had been sick afterward.

Evalle stepped into view. “You’re going with me.”

The elation must have danced in Lanna’s face, because Evalle added, “Let’s be clear. I’ll be gone a lot and Feenix will enjoy the company, but his vocabulary still consists of about twenty words, ten of which are numbers. Sure you wouldn’t rather go to VIPER headquarters?”

Definitely not there. “I am sure. Thank you.”

Quinn offered, “I’ll have my car brought around.”

“Don’t need it,” Evalle told him. “I’m not on my bike. I’ve got an Expedition from headquarters warded against anyone either trying to bypass the security or drive it.”

“Why did you take a truck?”

Evalle hesitated to answer and did not look at Quinn when she shrugged. “Figured I could at least scout around town during the day to keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious. Might not help Tzader with this infection, but you never know.”

Quinn gave Lanna one last order. “Do not use your cloaking ability to slip away from Evalle or I will take you to VIPER headquarters.” He leaned down, adding, “I want your word.”

Lanna’s heart dropped. She could not give her word, then break it. She nodded. “I give my word.”

Snapping her fingers and sounding more on edge than usual, Evalle said, “Let’s go, and don’t blame me when you get bored.”

“I will be fine.” Lanna would not stay with Evalle long enough to become bored.

With Grendal in the city, she could not afford to be locked inside anywhere, not even with Evalle. But now that she had given her word that she would not cloak herself to escape Evalle, Lanna would have to use teleporting . . . and hope she landed safely.

Not inside a solid concrete wall.





SIXTEEN





What kind of idiot got cornered into babysitting a teenage girl with the power to call up a thunderstorm?

Inside a building.

Me, obviously.

Evalle cut across the luxurious lobby of Quinn’s five-star hotel with Lanna close on her heels. At least, Lanna had better be.

A quick over-the-shoulder glance confirmed Lanna kept pace, dragging her beat-up suitcase. Head bent down, Lanna’s black-tipped blond curls drooped as much as her slumped shoulders.

Now Evalle felt bad about being perturbed that she’d gotten stuck with Lanna. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the girl. She did, but timing couldn’t be worse with the Achilles Beast Championship coming up in twenty-four hours.