Quinn smiled around sore jaw muscles that ached from clenching his teeth against the pain that had racked him for so many hours. His head had eased some, but he couldn’t put his finger on what kept nagging him about Evalle. “I can only assume Evalle would not be in Atlanta if she was trying to evade the Tribunal, so she must be doing their bidding. Any idea what it might be?”
“Not yet.”
“What about Brina? Where does she stand on this?”
“I’m waiting until I have solid information to go to Brina. All I can tell her right now is that Conlan’s in lock-down but we don’t have proof of his being a traitor. We can’t accuse him of something he hasn’t done yet.”
“I agree. Any luck in trying to reach Evalle telepathically?”
“Nope. Not a sound from her. Trey can’t reach her either.”
“Since the Tribunal won’t allow Evalle to contact us, she’s probably blocking any telepathic communication we initiate,” Quinn said.
Tzader nodded, reaching in for a beer from Quinn’s refrigerator. “That’s what I figured.”
“Even our people might not be able to find her if she doesn’t want to be found, especially if she’s with Storm.”
“True. Storm’s another issue I’ll deal with when we find her.”
“He’s probably helping her.”
Tzader didn’t look convinced. “Maybe, but Sen brought him in, which makes Storm not entirely trustworthy in my book. He’s got a short-term lease on his apartment. Doesn’t look as though he’s planning to stay very long, so what’s on his agenda?”
Quinn had to concede Tzader that point. “Any sighting of Tristan?”
“No. That’s the only reason I’m a little relieved to hear that Evalle was spotted with Storm. Better him than Tristan.”
A female voice whispered in Quinn’s mind,Where is Evalle?Another memory of him answering questions in the dark fought to the surface. His lungs squeezed, making the next breath painful. Had he been talking to someone about Evalle? “We have to find Evalle.”
“That’s why I called Isak,” Tzader said, not noticing the urgency behind Quinn’s statement.
“Really think Isak will tell you where she is?”
“No, but he can lead us to her. I just got word on the way here that some of his men have been sighted.”
Quinn didn’t share Tzader’s certainty over Isak Nyght. The chap was former Special Forces. He’d created a unique squad of former military special-ops soldiers he called the Nyght Raiders. A few years back he and his men had all opted out of the military, disappeared for a bit, then surfaced Stateside, searching for nonhumans.
Isak could be more threat than help to Evalle if he figured out she wasn’t human. Quinn pointed out, “Don’t you think it’s odd that Isak hasn’t realized Evalle’s not human?”
“Yes, and that worries me, because he will eventually.” Tzader put down his empty beer bottle and scratched his head. “I’m starting to think we may have to move Evalle somewhere away from here once she’s clear of this Tribunal mess. Isak is obsessed with killing Alterants after losing his best friend to one. He terminates them on sight. If he doesn’t know she’s an Alterant it’s because she’s managed to keep her bright green eyes hidden from him behind her sunglasses.”
A face smoked through Quinn’s mind.
Kizira? He hadn’t seen her in years except for a few brief times and always rife with conflict. He’d had a glimpse of her this past week when the Beladors had faced off with the Kujoo . . . and he’d seen her in O’Meary’s mind today.
But that had been a vision from the future, not a real interaction. It might not even come to pass.
Quinn swallowed, hoping his wrung-out mind was just dredging up random thoughts. “What do you want me to do?”
Tzader gave him an assessing look. “I need you healed up before you face a threat. It’s too dangerous to put you out on the street until you have full use of your kinetics.” He held up his hand when Quinn started to argue. “I saw the light flicker when you tried to turn it on. You’re nowhere close to a hundred percent, which makes you vulnerable to an attack.”
Quinn’s voice dropped to an evil level. “Oh, I’d make something pay dearly if it attacked me in my present mood.”
“But if you had to link with another Belador . . . you’d put him or her at risk.”
The truth cut through Quinn’s bravado, forcing him to think beyond his own need to strike at something. Where had that blatant aggression come from? Couldn’t have been Conlan, because, in spite of what he’d seen, Quinn still believed in the kid. Everything he’d encountered in Conlan’s mind had come from an upstanding young man and a loyal Belador.
No one should be convicted of a crime he hadn’t committed yet and certainly not based solely on a vision. Quinn said, “Agreed. I’ll call you as soon as I’m feeling top shape. Let me know the minute you locate Evalle.”
