"No." I stepped forward. "This is Alex."
Dumadi started to reach his hands out, but I stepped back. "You can see him. I'm not comfortable with you touching."
He recoiled as if I'd burned him. "I understand."
"Dumadi, we need to know if you've been in contact with the Leyak," Zander said. “Any of them.”
Dumadi shook his head. "No, I haven't seen or heard from them since I was captured."
"Do you know why they would want Alex?" Roan asked. "Besides the obvious."
"I'm sorry, no." He leaned a bit closer and looked at the baby. "He's a handsome one, isn't he?"
I uncovered his blue skin a bit to give Dumadi a better look. "Does he look like a normal Leyak baby to you?"
Dumadi squinted at Alex, then nodded. "Yes, actually. He does. I wonder when the differences will come."
"Nobody knows," Doryu said. "Not until he and Linna are older."
"There was a prophet," Dumadi said. "She worked for me. No doubt she's still around somewhere."
"What good would she be?" Roan asked.
Dumadi shrugged. "She might know what's going to happen. She might discern something about the child. I can tell you this. She will be completely against any exploitation of children."
I studied his face as he spoke. "I believe you," I said.
On a whim, I stood and sat beside Dumadi on the loveseat he'd perched on. All three of the men in the room sat up straight, no doubt screaming at me in their heads. I let Dumadi get a good look at Alex. He cooed and spoke to him, waving, but never getting close enough to touch.
“Thank you,” I whispered. “Thank you for being honest.” I believed he was, though I couldn't have explained why.
He smiled down at me. “Thank you for giving an old man a break. Any time you’d like to bring little Alex back, well…I’d love it.”
I considered his words. “I’ll think about it. If you behave, you’ll likely be rewarded. We haven’t forgotten what you did, but…” I looked over at Zander, who nodded once. “We don’t want you to suffer, either.”
Dumadi’s eyes filled with tears for a second, or was I imagining it? A moment later, the tears were gone, and he stood. “Well. If you’re going to meet Amanda, you need to get going.”
“Amanda?” I asked.
“The prophet. Amanda Peters.”
12
Dumadi gave us a phone number."She won't talk to you unless I vouch for you," he said.
Roan dialed the number and handed the phone to Dumadi.
"Don't do anything stupid," Zander growled.
Dumadi nodded once. "I told you I'll help you and I mean it."
He pulled back and his voice changed to be a little more professional. "Amanda."
I couldn't hear what she was saying, but Zander and Roan focused intently. Maybe they could. Or were trying to.
"Yes, I was wondering if you could sneak away?" Dumadi paused for a moment. "I am imprisoned, but I am not fighting it. At the moment, our interests align." He glanced at us and nodded. "No, I'm not being forced to say that." He chuckled. "I suppose you're right, they could be forcing me to say that, too. Ahh..." He paused for a moment. "They couldn't make me say this. I found you when you were an infant, abandoned behind a trash can. I took you into my home and raised you as my own. I love you as my daughter, and I will never stop."
A few seconds later, with tears in his eyes, he hung up. "Be careful," Dumadi said. "The Leyak are watching her. The bad ones. She'll be able to sneak out, but just... be careful. She's good." He grabbed a pencil and scribbled down an address. "Have a portal to the headquarters created there. She'll be there."
