Looked like her miraculous recovery had also left her a little weak from the close brush with death. And lucky her, she was about to go have another one.
No matter, though. She was sure she’d be fine as soon as she got going again.
“Perhaps that’s because you are,” Peter argued. “There is at least a half mile of tunnel and two-level changes between here and there. You’ll never make it without tripping one of the internal warning devices and alerting them that you’re here.”
“That doesn’t change what I need to do,” Tate said calmly. “Nathan plans to raise the ship and resurrect the Creators. He needs to be stopped.”
Peter stared at her for several seconds before letting out a guffaw.
Night’s shoulders bunched. “What’s so funny?”
“You are,” Peter said finally getting a hold of himself after his laughter died down. “What makes you think something as asinine as that is his goal?”
Night and Tate shared a look.
“You’re saying it’s not,” Tate guessed.
Peter’s expression said damn right he was. “One thing you can count on with the Ijiri is that there is no loyalty among them. A member of their number wouldn’t go to all this trouble to raise the remaining ones unless there was something in it for them. Right now, Nathan has no equal—
except maybe you. If he played his cards right, he could rule by himself with no issue. Tell me why you would think he’d want to share power.”
Peter made a very good point.
“What other reasons could he have for targeting the ship?” Tate asked.
“I can think of one major one. The half Ijiri that Jax melded with the artificial intelligence he created, then bound to this place.”
“It’s funny you say that.Ididn’t even know Ai was connected to the Ijiri until a little bit ago.”
When Jax told her as much in her dream. So how did this man know?
“Who are you really? And how did you know about the dead zone?”
Night dropped into a slinking prowl as he stalked Peter. The Silva man backed away, sliding along the wall while keeping one eye on the Veles. Rath leaned against Tate’s side, his tiredness seeping into her consciousness.
She set one hand on him with a frown. Dragons weren’t meant to be this far from their bonded. He’d likely suffer worse and worse consequences as time went on.
My potential mate will be fine,Ilith whispered.
A connection opened between the three of them, energy flooding down their bonds.
Tate’s lips parted as she felt along the string tying her to each. After a long moment getting lost in the new sensation, she pushed it to the side to concentrate on Peter.
“I suggest you answer her,” Night said in his gravelly voice. “Or I’ll find a new way to amuse myself.”
There was a look on Peter’s face that said he knew he’d screwed up and revealed something he shouldn’t have.
Still, he held silent. Not flinching even when Night grabbed him by the throat and slammed him into another wall. He remained resolute as Night thrust his face close to the other man’s and roared, giving Peter an up-close look at the shockingly large fangs of his humanoid form.
Instead, Peter pressed his lips together and glared at Night, making it clear he wouldn’t bow to pressure.
Tate tapped her fingers on her arm as she considered the other man. “For you to know that, you would have had to be present during that era.”
What’s more, he would have had to have Jax’s trust on some level. Somehow, she didn’t think her security conscious friend would easily let others know about Ai and the others.
He hadn’t even written that secret down, instead relying on his avatar and the shards the other Saviors left behind to pass the message.
“You should know you’re not getting out of here alive unless you convince me you’re not a threat,” Tate said, smiling.
