Sweep of the Heart (Innkeeper Chronicles #5)(63)

Sean pulled the earpiece out and put it on the side table between us. I took mine out as well.

“I scanned the Holy Ecclesiarch when he went to his quarters.”

Sean glanced at me.

“He’s in perfect health,” I said. “I mean he is elderly, but there is nothing inherently wrong with him. He could live another decade or two. You don’t seem surprised.”

“He doesn’t smell like a sick man on his deathbed.”

“Do really sick people smell different?”

“Usually.”

“I think Kosandion knows. I think this whole thing with the deathly ill Ecclesiarch is a sham.”

“He’s using us to clean house,” Sean said. “The Ecclesiarch’s illness is a pretext to bring everyone here and isolate them from their allies back at the Dominion. Now he can deal with them one by one.”

“You think there will be more like Odikas?”

Sean nodded. He was contemplating something.

“A penny for your thoughts?”

“Kosandion is dangerous. For Odikas it wasn’t just politics. It was personal. Kosandion recognized it, so he backed Odikas into a corner and gave him just enough rope to hang himself.”

“He is Caldenia’s nephew.”

“And that’s what worries me. I’d like to know in advance if he’s planning to settle more scores.”

Olasard stretched in my lap and turned over. We’d been so busy, I had neglected our usual cuddles, and he was determined to get all the petting he was owed. I scratched his chin.

“I can ask Her Grace. If anyone knows, she would.”

“Would she tell you?”

“I don’t know, but the worst she can do is say no.”

Sean pondered the ocean. “Every time George gets involved, things get complicated.”

“If things weren’t complicated, there would be no need for George. That’s the whole point of him.” I sighed.

“Kosandion should just marry him and be done with it.”

“The galaxy wouldn’t survive. Also, George is already married, and Kosandion isn’t foolish enough to fight Sophie for him.”

The inn tagged me. The Higgra delegation wanted to talk. I pulled up a screen to their habitat. With the Dushegubs, I didn’t bother, I just projected the disembodied voice, but the Higgra would want a visual.

The habitat appeared on the screen, a dense space of real and synthetic trees interrupted by jutting rocks with smooth tops and conveniently placed soft perches. Cyanide sprawled on the nearest perch, her huge white paws dangling over the side. Her golden eyes focused below my face and widened.

“Why did you pick him up?”

I glanced down at Olasard.

“I didn’t. He jumped into my lap on his own.”

“Why?”

“He wanted attention.”

Olasard tilted his head to give me better access to his jaw and flashed his emerald-green eyes at Cyanide.

The two cats stared at each other.

A minute passed.

Another.

“Is there something you wanted?” I asked.

“Yes.” Cyanide frowned in a weird cat way, her muzzle going slack, her forehead wrinkling.

Olasard kneaded my knee with his claws gently and looked at me. I held out my hand. Gertrude Hunt dropped a brush into it, and I began gently brushing his soft gray fur.

Cyanide lifted herself up on her forelegs and leaned all the way into the screen.

Olasard purred.

“What was it you wanted?” I prompted.

“It’s not important.”

The call cut off.

Okay then.

Sean narrowed his eyes, looking up into the sky above Kolinda’s ocean.

“What’s the matter?”

“Something is coming.”

I looked in the direction of his stare. A white star detached from the heavens above the horizon and streaked toward the inn, slicing through the air at shocking speed.

Sean bared his teeth. “A Muterzen pirate cruiser.”

I let Olasard off my lap, stood up, and planted the broom into the floor. Its shaft split, exposing its glowing inner core. A shoot of the inn slid through the floor and wrapped itself around the staff, binding us into one.

The cruiser was clearly visible now, a big, strange shape, as if six giant barrels had been bound together into a space caltrop bristling with weapons.

Behind me Droplet let out an alarmed screech.

The two forward-facing barrels ignited with brilliant red.

I sank my consciousness into the inn, merging with Gertrude Hunt, and raised the void field.

The barrels flashed. Twin warheads shrieked through the air toward us. Time slowed, and I watched them spin as they hurtled straight for the inn.

A phantom breeze stirred the hem of my robe.

The warheads met my invisible void field and detonated. A wall of blinding white fire drenched the space in front of us. Water exploded straight up, like a tsunami, flowing over the invisible dome above us, all of it silent.

The inn didn’t shudder. The air current didn’t change. The lights didn’t flicker. No sound penetrated. The terrace and the hall behind us remained as tranquil as ever. I had spread the void field over the entire island.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Droplet standing on the table. Every hair on her body stood on end. She looked like a cartoon squirrel who’d been electrocuted. The two assistants cowered behind her.