Rise of the Gryphon (Belador #4)(87)

Cathbad smiled. “She adapts faster than we could have hoped for. Took two days ta get Tristan ready ta fight, an’ he’s strong. Evalle will kill Brina an’ take Treoir for us.”

“She’s not going to be as easy to break as Tristan. We hold his sister’s life in our hands.”

“We do no need ta break Evalle, only compel her.”





THIRTY-TWO





Tzader stood on the walkway leading up to the castle entrance on Treoir Island, ready to break the doors down.

He was tempted to dive through that warding and test it, anything to get to Brina. She couldn’t be serious about marrying that guard. Was Macha pressuring Brina to do this?

How could Macha do this while knowing Brina had been his since they were teens? Maybe Brina had agreed to be engaged to buy her and Tzader more time to figure a way to be together. He wanted the truth from Brina herself. Sen had teleported Tzader so he wouldn’t have to ask Macha or Brina to bring him. He couldn’t cross the castle threshold, thanks to his and Brina’s fathers, but they could speak face-to-face at the castle entrance.

Guilt plagued him every time he got angry with his dead father, but what the hell?

A f*cking ward on the castle separated him from the only woman he’d ever want.

Macha appeared next to him. “What can I do for you, Tzader?”

Since when did the Celtic goddess over all the Beladors act as a receptionist? “Where’s Brina?”

“Busy.”

“Doing what?” He shouldn’t take that tone with the goddess, but he fought day in and day out to protect humans and his Beladors. He’d never asked for anything in return.

That was changing. “I want to talk to her.”

“I told you she’s engaged. She has plans to make.” A granite bench with a white velvet cushion appeared and Macha sat down gracefully, her sea-green gown moving until satisfied with each fold and ripple. “What else do you want to discuss?”

Push the issue and get slingshotted back to Atlanta, or suck it up and once more deal with his duty?

He snorted at himself, a mean sound.

Like he would ever shirk a duty? “I think Evalle got captured by the Medb.”

The goddess turned statue still at that. “Why would you say that?”

“Because we have a report that she entered the Achilles Beast Championship and fought as an Alterant.” He wasn’t sharing anything that Macha wouldn’t find out and might even already know, especially when Sen had been the one to inform Tzader.

“She fought?” Macha said with a bite. “What happened to the other Alterants?”

“The Medb took them . . . and Evalle.”

“Evalle was supposed to bring them back, not join the enemy.”

“I’m sure she didn’t—”

“Oh? The way I understood the Medb deal was that they would take Alterants who accepted their offer of immortality.” Macha rose to her feet now, power glowing all around her.

Tzader stuck to his main concern. “Regardless of what the Medb offered, Evalle got caught and we have to get her back. I can’t do that if you don’t help me.”

Macha’s voice turned as cold as an Arctic night. “Evalle swore to me she did not want immortality. If she left with the Medb, she has broken her vow as a Belador and is now the enemy. You will capture her and bring her to me.”

This hadn’t turned out the way Tzader had expected. He stood, too. “Are you telling me she went there without talking to you about it, because that just doesn’t fit. Not Evalle, who is constantly trying to win your favor and find her place in our tribe.”

Yes, he was angry, but he’d had enough of Macha’s cryptic games with Evalle. And, if he was really honest, he was pissed that Macha hadn’t tried to help him and Brina get together.

Macha’s narrowed gaze warned him. “Evalle had a clear understanding of our conversation.”

Just one time, he’d like to get a straight answer out of the goddess. “But I don’t have a clear understanding of your conversation, which would help.”

Once again, Macha sidestepped Tzader’s request. “Bring me proof that she did not accept the offer of immortality and I’ll consider that.”

Tzader would not condemn Evalle without hearing her side. He believed in her commitment to the Beladors.

The castle door opened and Brina appeared just inside. “Tzader?”

His chest squeezed with pain at not being able to touch her. He searched for the right words, something he could say with Macha present, but another figure came into view behind Brina.

Allyn, Brina’s personal security . . . and fiancé.

The same man Tzader had witnessed standing too close to Brina and acting possessive the last time Tzader had entered the castle in holographic form.

Macha beamed a maternal smile Tzader quietly scoffed at. “Hello, Allyn.”

The guard bowed. “Greetings, Goddess.”

Turning to Tzader, Macha said, “Was there anything else?”

He sure as hell couldn’t say what he wanted with an audience present. Glancing at Brina, he could swear he saw longing in her eyes . . . and sadness.

“I’m sorry,” Brina said, backing away. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.”