“You give me the three Alterants—”
“Here we go again.”
“Let me finish. Iwillhave Storm go to Tzader, since I can’t be seen, and Tzader will contact Brina about the Alterants. She’s already agreed to guarantee their safety and a chance to speak to the Tribunal. I can’t tell you all that transpired at the Tribunal meeting, but Brina will help if it means me showing up with three Alterants.” Evalle had worded that carefully, because Tristan had it in for Brina. He didn’t need to know the Tribunal would punish Brina if Evalle failed.
“What about me and my sister?”
If the Tribunal wanted to pin the responsibility for his escape on Evalle, she would argue that they failed to forbid her from helping him escape.
Use their own twisted logic on them.
And hope Brina could make it stick.
She told Tristan, “I won’t say a word about you or your sister, but in return I want your help with finding out more about Alterants.” Something pinched her arm. She jumped, spinning around to find nothing there.
A hollow laugh bounced around her.
Why couldn’t these things have been demons? She could kill those. “Think it through, Tristan. There’s already a neutralize order out on all of us. With the massive Alterant problem across the country right now, VIPER will probably bring in Dakkar. He’s a mage that runs bounty hunters. He’ll find out you have a sister. You’ll never be safe, and neither will she.”
“There’s not going to be anything to discuss if we lose those hostages.”
She didn’t say a word.
“Fine. If you can get those three hostages to the other side of the wall in the train tunnel safely—without VIPER killing them—I’ll go along with you.”
She was running tight on time, but she had to believe that Storm would be there to help her with this. He wouldn’t let anyone from VIPER draw down on them. “Agreed. Get moving.”
Tristan took off as fast as a gunshot, with her right behind. The lanterns the soldier had promised appeared along the way.
When a glow filtered out through a garage-door-sized opening in the wall on her left ten steps ahead, Tristan slowed and crept up to the opening.
Evalle tucked her back close to the wall of rock and sidestepped until she was next to his shoulder. She couldn’t call out to Tzader from here, but she should be able to speak telepathically with Tristan, since it had worked in the jungle.You know I won’t shift into my beast state, but you can, which will give us an edge.
He told her,No, I can’t either. If I shift it might trigger the other four to lose control and change.
Evalle angled her head to the left to see his face.Four?
Chagrin over having to share something significant bathed his face.My sister is an Alterant, too.
Two in one family? What—
Can we discuss genetics and heritage later, Evalle? Tell you what. If we get out of here alive and I can put my sister somewhere safe, I’ll explain how I think Alterants are connected. We aren’t anomalies. You’re right. We should be a recognized race, and I think I know enough to prove it. Satisfied for now?
I’m good.More than good. Her heart raced from adrenaline and hope. She’d face an army of Medb for the chance to get that information from Tristan.How do you want to work this?
Stay here until I need you, and follow my lead.Tristan stepped away from the wall and entered the room.
Tristan!she hissed at him.
Don’t distract me right now.
Evalle slid to the edge of the entrance, taking in the open space that soared thirty feet high. The hollowed-out chamber stretched as wide and long as a concert hall, but the only music playing here tonight would be death throes if their half-assed plan went bad. Torches blazed around the room and on each corner of a stone slab twenty feet across. Three knee-high, round bands of flames positioned on the ground in front of the platform provided half the light in the room.
Three men in ragged and dirty clothes had each been imprisoned in three fire circles.
Those had to be the escaped Alterants.
They all looked to be around mid- to late twenties. One had dark brown hair that mopped around his shoulders and could have been a center in basketball with his height. The next guy had frizzy, carrot-red hair, a medium build and skin so white it almost glowed. The shortest guy wore a dangly little earring in one ear. He had curly black hair and a Haitian face.
