“Ladee is Dawn’s robot, the one the Seekers took.” Jazmine appeared, a baby in each hand. Their tears were lessening, but it was clear they were once again wide awake.
“You came down here waking up the twins for a robot? You must be drunk.” Marek grouched.
“He’s not,” Ally said. “I can vouch for him. The robot had a message from the Crown Prince of Hell. He wants to negotiate a prisoner exchange. Your brother,” she motioned to Jazmine, “and my sister in exchange for his mate.”
“His mate?” Jazmine’s face screwed up before realization dawned. “Oh.”
“What is it?” Marek asked.
“You better summon everyone to the War Room, dear,” Jazmine said, patting her husband on the arm. “It’s going to be a late night.”
CHAPTER 31
LYK
“Not a chance in Hell,” Penn said, jumping to his feet. “The Crown Prince can go fuck himself with his own demon dick.”
“You kiss your wife with that mouth?” Calabez asked with a grin.
“I’m not in the mood for jokes,” Penn replied. “There is no way you’re exchanging Tess for anyone. I just got her back from Dazimin!”
“Two for one is quite a deal,” Calabez said, leaning back and crossing his feet while resting them on the table.
Penn’s hands balled into fists, but Tess stood and started to soothe him. “Your brother is only teasing,” she said, shaking her head at Calabez.
Cal winked back at her. “You’ve got a smart woman there.”
“I know! That’s one of the reasons I don’t want to trade her back to the damn Devil.”
There was a smattering of laughs around the table. Lyk looked on, content to let his brothers argue it out. He’d already made up his mind. He would do what Ally wanted, whether his brothers agreed or not.
She is my family, the one that stands up for me, the one that accepts me as I am.He did not relish turning his back on his real family again, but if Ally told him they were going to Dazimin to negotiate the release of her sister firsthand, he’d do it.
Although he’d warned her against that very tactic, he realized now what she’d been warning him of all along.There are too many of us. Too many heads filled with stubborn knowledge and tactics. We will never agree on a plan that suits us all, and so Evie will languish on Dazimin until she’s too weak to go on.
“So what does the Crown Prince expect us to do?” Juston asked, his arm around a female of breathtaking beauty. “How are we supposed to carry through this hypothetical prisoner exchange?” He raised a hand at Penn when he started to get angry again. “Just for the sake of discussion, brother.”
Dawn reached down to put Ladee on the table. The little creature scanned the room, blinking but saying nothing. “When I had my own run-in with the Seekers, they took Ladee with them, presumably back to Dazimin. The Crown Prince has sent him to be our mediator because we both ‘trust’ Ladee.”
“You don’t trust him?” Gemma asked, her hand resting on her palm and her head turned sideways as she studied the robot.
“The Ladee I knew I trusted implicitly. But something is different about him.”
“What?” Gemma said.
“I’m not exactly sure. It’s in his eyes, for one. Something’s not right. But I’d have to start poking around inside him if I’m going to figure out what that something is, and we thought it best to bring him here first before Idissected him.” She looked at Lyk as she said those final words.
“It would be foolish to take this offer at face value,” Nojan said. “The likelihood that he’s trying to set some trap for us is high.”
Gemma nodded. “I’m inclined to agree. Either he’s sabotaged this robot, or he’s intending to sabotage the exchange.”
“What if he never intended an exchange at all?” This was from Zelup. He leaned back, scratching his chin. “This whole thing stinks of a double-cross.”
Jazmine stood, and all eyes were drawn to the daughter of the Goddess of Light. “When I came here over a year ago, you promised to aid me in my quest to recover my brother from the jaws of Hell. This is the closest we’ve ever gotten to that goal. It can’t hurt to hear what the robot has to say. Even if there is some trick, maybe we’ll be able to work it out from what he tells us.”
Penn shook his head. “Listen all you want, but I will leave this planet and not return before I allow any of you to take Tess back to Dazimin.”
“I agree with Jazmine,” Mayra said. “We should let the fox talk. It won’t hurt to listen, will it?”
