The Curse (Belador #3)(57)

And she’d used sex to do it.

Tzader had a feeling some of Quinn’s guilt came from not regretting that part of her visit.

Maybe if Quinn could gain information on the Svarts, it would ease some of his remorse over what happened with Kizira, and hopefully help the Beladors stop whatever the Svarts were planning.

If Kizira did not overpower his mind again.

Tzader had to trust that Quinn knew his limits.

Quinn checked his watch, then took stock of the VIPER agents. “Can you afford to be without me for a while?”

“I think we’re good. VIPER has teams running all night, and we have more Beladors arriving from the West Coast, since this seems to be isolated to the Southeast, Atlanta in particular. I’ll be back as soon as I can, too.”

“Where are you going?”

“Brina wants another meeting.” Tzader lifted his hand in a don’t-ask motion. He’d heard her telepathic call just as the battle started. She had something to discuss with him as soon as he could return to Treoir.

“Should I remain until you make it back here?” Quinn offered.

“No. Trey should be here soon. So far we haven’t had more than one Svart troll at each battle. If ten Beladors can’t stop a troll, we’re in big trouble. Trey can find either of us if he needs us.” Tzader was a powerful telepath, but Trey McCree had legendary telepathic ability. “Right now we both need to grab some rest or we’re going to put our Beladors and other VIPER agents at risk.”

“Understood.” Quinn nodded and walked away.

Trey arrived, looking as if he’d just climbed out of bed, his normal state of grooming. He gave Tzader a nod, accepting control of the teams for the night.

Striding quickly to his 1970 Hemi ’Cuda, Tzader climbed in and locked the doors. A warding had been worked into the vehicle’s frame back when he and his dad had stripped the engine down to the camshaft, then rebuilt the entire car from the ground up. His body would be safe inside here.

Slowing his breathing, he called upon his ability to change into holographic form.

He locked his jaw against the chill that covered his skin when he left his body so he could travel to the hidden island few Beladors knew how to find. A select few that he trusted to protect Treoir should anything happen to him unexpectedly.

Until then, he’d be on the front line keeping Brina safe.

When he drew close enough to feel the pull of Treoir Island, Tzader called telepathically to Brina, letting her know he was ready to enter.

A minute passed.

What was the problem?

In no mood to be kept waiting, he called out again. Brina, are you there or not?

I’ll be only a minute, Tzader.

It wasn’t like she had to open a door. Brina? Are you all right?

Yes … just hang on.

So now his visits were being downgraded to the level of a phone call? Now wasn’t the time to get cranky, but sleep hadn’t been peaceful or lengthy for him over the past few weeks. He rubbed his face and eyes to push off the irritation riding his shoulders.

You are welcome to enter, Tzader Burke.

The room came into focus just as Brina walked in from the hallway that led to her private quarters.

Had she been lying down? Was she not well?

Asking those questions could be misconstrued as encouraging a relationship with her, which would break his vow to Macha. In fact, he’d agreed to convince Brina he was no longer interested in … them.

Treoir needed an heir. Now.

He couldn’t think about that, about her having a child with another man, and behave with any civility. So he blanked his mind of everything except dealing with the Svart problem.

“My thanks to you for returnin’ so soon, Tzader.”

That sounded damned formal, but he had no reason to criticize her. He had to let it go and be just as businesslike about this. “Not a problem. To update you, we’re in the process of getting a Nyght weapon. Something that will kill the trolls without putting so many of our people at risk.”

“Excellent.”

She sounded pleased. Maybe this meeting would go better than the last. He added, “We think the Medb may be behind this Svart problem. Quinn’s searching for intel to determine if they are and, if so, why.”

No point in sharing how Quinn intended to gain that intel.

“That is most encouragin’ news.” Brina’s light voice held a pleasure Tzader hadn’t heard in a while.

The unexpected sound eased the stiff muscles in his neck.

She settled on her sofa. “I’ll be makin’ this quick, but I need to tell you about the situation with Evalle.”

“What do you mean?”

“Macha is at a Tribunal meetin’ to pacify Dakkar.”

“The bounty hunter? What’s his problem with Evalle?”

“An Alterant shifted an’ killed one of his hunters. He’s expectin’ to be compensated.”

Tzader’s muscles wound back up with that news. How far would Macha negotiate in Evalle’s favor when Evalle hadn’t been able to deliver a single Alterant over the past three weeks since making a deal with the goddess? “What kind of compensation?”

“I have no word yet, but I expect that we’ll be hearin’ word by tomorrow.”

“Why are you telling me this?”