"Looked like he was pawning most of it and stashing the cash in a wall air conditioner in his hideout. He had a newspaper folded to a section on custom vans, as if he was trying to get enough money to buy one."
Evalle understood immediately why someone who couldn't take rain the way she couldn't handle sunlight would want a low-profile vehicle he could live in when need be. She'd have loved to own a van like that instead of traveling in late-night buses on the trip she'd taken across the country. "What happened with the troll?"
Tzader accepted his beer from Quinn, then eyed the smooth foam. "No clover?"
Quinn released a put-upon sigh and opened a supersized Mr. Goodbar she'd splurged for, because that was his favorite confectionary indulgence. He told Tzader, "No little paper umbrellas either. You were telling her about the troll."
Swallowing a drink of beer first, Tzader continued. "We caught the troll and threatened to alert VIPER that he had not declared his residence in Charlotte. He swore he was leaving that day."
Evalle snorted at that. "To go home and take care of the elderly sick mother he didn't have, right?"
"Close enough to the lies he spewed," Tzader agreed. "We told him he wasn't going anywhere unless he could bring us information on the thief he was stealing from within twenty-four hours. If he did and the intel was confirmed as usable, he could leave. He came back nine hours later with two pieces of intel. The troll said someone was looking for the Alterant."
Feenix padded over and climbed onto Evalle's lap, gurgling noises on each breath. He was a heavy little guy. Once she had him settled, she clarified, "So the troll knew the thief was an Alterant?"
Quinn cut in. "Not until after he'd spoken to others in his underground community and put it together. The troll was pretty shaken up to realize he'd been stealing from an Alterant, especially after word circulated about the thief killing nine Beladors."
Trolls fearing Alterants. Now that cheered her up, except for the downside of Sen figuring a way to use that against her. "You said two pieces of intel. Who'd the troll say was looking for the Alterant?"
"A Rak had feelers out for the Alterant."
Just add that to the list of today's demons, Sen and the Tribunal. She felt like the baby in a Mardi Gras king cake.
Eventually something with teeth would get her.
"What's a Rak?" Now that she had a computer, any waking minute when she wasn't working at the morgue or running down VIPER leads Evalle spent studying websites Z and Quinn had given her. Still, her working knowledge of preternatural beings, supernatural abilities, entities and anything related was pretty limited compared to Quinn and Tzader's expertise.
"Rak is a slang term for a Rakshasas, a malevolent being or demon who can shift into any form, not just human," Quinn explained.
"Another demon?" Was it a slow news week? She could hear the six o'clock anchor now. Alterant becomes dinner at demon convention. Film at eleven. Three demons in ten days and two of them had been hunting for an Alterant. "What happened to the Rak?"
"He fled to Atlanta," Quinn told her. "The second thing the troll told us was that the Rak had left a cryptic message for a Belador. The Rak is the informant Tzader came back to Atlanta to meet with."
Yet another demon in Atlanta. Three in one day had to be a record. And this one had been looking for an Alterant, too.
Coincidences were for people with a normal life, not her.
The walls of her world started closing in, and for the first time in two years she had serious doubts over how much Tzader and Quinn could do to help her if someone was targeting Alterants ... and knew where to find them. Them? Her.
But this many demons popping up in the southeast was not coincidental.
With the Tribunal breathing down her neck, Evalle needed anything this Rak demon could provide, like who knew how to find the Alterants. And maybe the origin of Alterants. Brina didn't know how to find or identify them in human form or she'd have captured the one in Charlotte before it had a chance to shift and kill Beladors.
Evalle's skin pebbled with excitement. This could be the key to providing the Tribunal with answers.
If anyone could pull information from a snitch, it was Tzader. Her gaze slid over to Tzader, who still hadn't said what had happened to the Rak.
She squeezed a hand full of beanbag, using it like a stress-relief chair. "Tell me you found this Rak guy, Z, and got the information you were after."
"Yes and no."
Not the answer she was hoping for.
NINETEEN
"What do you mean yes and no? Where is this Rak-demon-thing?" Evalle kept a lid on her frustration since it wasn't aimed at Tzader or Quinn, but what the hell!
When had she turned into the pinup girl for demons?
Tzader let out a sigh pumped full of frustration. "Here's the whole rundown. None of the trolls or Nightstalkers over in Charlotte had heard of an Alterant until the Rak mentioned it, because Brina has kept the handful of attacks in the past out of mainstream intelligence. The trolls also had no idea who had sent the Rak to Charlotte. The Rak offered a lot of flash that brought trolls out of every hole, but nothing surfaced on the Alterant until word got out about the Beladors killed."
Evalle ground her teeth. "The trolls knew he was looking for an Alterant? They could have told VIPER before we lost nine Beladors."
Quinn made a sound of disdainful humor. "That would require a conscience."
Tzader made a sound of disgust, then continued explaining. "Soon as the Rak heard about the Alterant killing Beladors then disappearing he knew he'd lost his prey and that his master would kill him for the failed mission. So the Rak left a coded message in Gaelic with the trolls, assuring them a Belador would pay well for it, then fled to Atlanta."
"You can understand Gaelic?" Evalle knew very little about Z and Quinn's history. When Tzader nodded, she tucked that new piece of knowledge away. She currently studied languages in her online classes, Gaelic being one.
She'd send her next email in Gaelic and surprise him. "What did the message say, Z?"
"The Rak wanted a deal to trade information on a Belador traitor for safe passage to a destination of his choosing. And the note explained how to find him in Atlanta. Quinn stayed in Charlotte to guard the troll until I found the Rak and made sure we hadn't been tricked."
Her nerves tightened at Tzader's heavy pause. "And?"
"I found the Rak, but he wouldn't tell me everything until I got an agreement from Sen to put him into VIPER's protective custody first."
"He had to be scared spitless to want to go into a VIPER holding cell," she muttered.
"He was." Tzader rubbed the back of his neck. His dark eyes showed long days of wear and tear. "All I had to do was tell Sen this guy had intel on Noirre majik, which the Rak said he could prove was being used in this area. Sen agreed to pull him in and protect him until we determined if he was lying or not. That's why I couldn't stay for the meeting yesterday."
She understood but would have liked to have had Tzader in the meeting to get his feedback on Storm, Adrianna ... oh, and Isak, who Evalle had to find sooner than soon for any hope of figuring out who had sent the Birrn.
At this rate, if another demon showed up, she'd need a whiteboard to keep track of the players.
And what about the missing body in the morgue? Argh.
Tzader's voice flattened more with each sentence. "When I got back to the meet point for the Rak he wasn't there. I chased leads all yesterday, but he was running like a rat from one hole in Atlanta to another because someone else was after him. I figured his master had come for him, which would have worked for me if we'd caught him--or her--too. Quinn got in around eight last night. We teamed up and finally found the Rak just after nine."
"Where was he?" She looked from Tzader to Quinn, who took over explaining.
"In five pieces, stacked neatly inside a suitcase placed in the middle of an empty hotel room with a note that read 'Our company has a zero tolerance policy on traitors.'"
"So no
t funny." Evalle thought on it a minute. "What did he share with you when you first talked to him, Z?"
"This is where it gets screwy. The Rak said he had information on a Belador working with the Medb and knew why his employer was searching for the Alterant, but he wouldn't say until he was safe."
"Crud!" Evalle slapped the beanbag.
Feenix jumped up, wings flaring and pointed ears laid back in attack mode. Smoke whistled from his lips, which could shoot fire next.
Oo-kay. Note to self to up the Zen factor when living with gargoyles. She cooed to him. "Sorry, baby. I didn't mean to startle you."
Quinn laughed. "You think you frightened something that could blow a hole in the wall behind me?" He pitched a chunk of his Mr. Goodbar at Feenix. "Catch, boy."
Feenix snapped the chocolate bite out of the air.
"Don't feed him that!" She was going to strangle Quinn.
"You feed him lug nuts and you're worried about a little chocolate in his diet?" A laugh sputtered from Quinn's lips.
"Chocolate makes him fart, then I have to spend two hours in the shop working on my bike while the air clears, dammit."
"Yeth, dammit." Feenix nodded.
Tzader and Quinn both looked up. "He talks?"
"I'm teaching him a few things." She kissed his scaly head.
Feenix tucked his wings, then climbed out of her lap to waddle around the room saying, "Hello, one, two, three, fork, five, thix, dammit." After that he continued mumbling things that made no sense.
Evalle stabbed Quinn with a look of accusation. "But I hadn't wanted to add that word to his vocabulary."
Quinn lifted his hands in surrender. "I didn't tell you to curse in front of him. If he farts from chocolate, I can only image the piles of rusty poop he leaves from lug nuts."
"He absorbs the steel into his system. We blew a hole in the back of a closet that gives him a cave to hole up in when he needs his space. He's very tidy."
"Yeth, dammit." Feenix flapped his wings, then settled in the corner and started counting his toes. He had eight, but he only knew how to count to six so far, so he had to start over when he reached the extra two.
Tzader shook his head at her. "You take him outside again and he'll pick up an even more colorful four-letter word than damn to say for the number 'fork.'"
"I'll get earmuffs for the next time I take him over to Nicole's. She loves to see him, and Feenix likes riding the bike." Evalle wouldn't take Feenix around just anyone, but Nicole was a witch in Rowan and Sasha's coven, where some feared her because she had unusual gifts and a strangely lethal air about her. But her coven did not permit any black majik practice, and Nicole would never practice dark arts.
She was one of the most honorable and kind people Evalle had ever met. Maybe she'd always felt a kinship with Nicole because she was different even from other witches.
That Nicole treated Feenix like a prince made her even more special in Evalle's book.
"I don't want to know anything about you taking Feenix out in public at all or riding him around on a motorcycle." Tzader shook his head. "Let's get back to real problems. The Rak did confirm that someone from the Medb coven was working Noirre majik in the southeast and it had something to do with the Alterants."
"Alterants walking around free as in plural?" Evalle tapped her fingers against the beanbag. Was there any positive news to be had?
"Possibly." Tzader allowed another long pause, then looked her square in the eyes. "We'll have to inform Brina and VIPER about this."
She knew that look and tone but glanced at Quinn to confirm her guess. The unguarded worry in his angular face was answer enough that they were telling her not to share something with them that they would be forced to pass along.
Quinn cleared his throat. "We told you two years ago we'd always have a plan if it became necessary to get you somewhere safe, and this may be the time."
She started shaking her head. "You said I could never come back or be around either of you again. I can't do that."
"Evalle, darling, we don't want you to go away either," Quinn told her. "But we'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe and uphold our vows to the tribe."
Give up what little life she'd finally gained after twenty-three years of struggling? She'd fight first. But that meant not putting these two in a position of having to choose between her and the tribe. She wouldn't do that to any Belador, and these two meant more than all the other Beladors put together.
She would find a way out of this mess without putting Quinn or Tzader at risk. Or she'd suffer the consequences on her own. "I understand what you're saying, and you know how much it means to me that you would do this to keep me safe, but I have to try to find the answers. And I have to help find the Ngak Stone. If I can show my value to VIPER, maybe the Tribunal will give me some more time."
"What's going on with them?" Tzader's body tightened when he leaned forward, propping his forearms on his knees.
"Yes, what's this about more time?" Quinn shoved the recliner footrest down and sat up.
Evalle took a deep breath and let it out. "That's the part you two don't know yet. The window for me to leave has passed. Let me tell you about what's happened since I ran into Tzader yesterday." Since Quinn didn't have all the details, she explained about the mangled body in the morgue that was now missing, the Cresyl demons and the Birrn. She'd just finished telling them how she'd escaped before the police found her with the smoked Birrn demon, but stopped before she said anything about missing the meetings with Isak, when she noticed Tzader. He'd covered his face with his hands. "What, Z?"
"You said the shooter's name was Isak? Big guy with a superweapon?"
"Yes. You know him?"
Tzader's jaw flexed. "Know of him. Isak Nyght. Runs a team of mercs called the Nyght Raiders. Former military from different branches, all special division Black Ops types. Isak has a source for the weapons, and some think he actually designs them. In the past, he and his men have been sent to investigate and deal with unusual situations, but on other continents."
Quinn frowned. "Unusual ... like nonhuman?"
"Exactly."
Evalle kept her tone casual. "Is Isak human?"
"Yes, but he has an uncanny ability to find information and locate nonhumans." Tzader scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Based on the report from our people on the ground in Tehran, we're pretty sure the Nyght Raiders killed an Alterant that shifted into beast state."
The hairs along Evalle's neck danced with anxiety. Isak had killed an Alterant? "Does Brina know there's an Alterant Terminator running around?"
Bigger question ... would it matter if Isak terminated Evalle?
Tzader lifted his chin in confirmation. "Brina knows about the Alterant Isak eliminated, but she stayed out of it because she isn't responsible for anyone outside her tribe. Isak is dangerous in a lot of ways, Evalle, but mainly because he's not on board with VIPER. We discussed it a few years back with a Tribunal and the consensus was that Isak wouldn't play well with anything or anyone. Steer clear of him."
That'd be a lot easier if she didn't need answers from Isak, but she couldn't tell Tzader and Quinn that without putting them in conflict with Brina and the tribe. Isak and his team had been familiar with the Birrn, maybe knew where it had originated or who had sent it.
The question was how much Isak had figured out about her if he was familiar with Alterants.
Evalle moved ahead and covered the VIPER meeting, which included the new members of the team, concluding, "Adrianna worries me, but Lucien should be able to keep an eye on her. I'm more concerned about Storm."
Quinn studied the ice melting in his glass. "I'll check into Storm and Adrianna. Wish I knew how Sen ended up in his position. He needs to be replaced."
She should be so lucky. "Like that's going to happen when none of us voted him on the island to begin with?"
"Sen's not going anywhere." Tzader made that statement in a dismissive tone. "Now, what the hell happened with the Tribunal? When we
found Storm at the park tonight he said Sen had taken you to headquarters, but I figured it couldn't be anything serious, since he didn't contact me."
Storm hadn't told them about her going to the Tribunal?
She recalled the conversation right before Sen had teleported her. Sen hadn't said anything about the Tribunal in front of Storm, so Storm really hadn't known where she'd been going.
And Storm had let Tzader and Quinn know she'd been taken.
Why did that stir up a warm feeling in her middle?
Her conscience prattled at her to believe in Storm's good intentions, but Evalle had once paid a heavy price for believing in another man who had convinced her he was trustworthy. Sen had brought the shaman in for one reason--her. She had to keep that in mind.
Tzader glanced at Quinn, then at Evalle. "Well? Is the problem with the Tribunal worse than last time, Eve?"
She gave him a grim smile. "A Tribunal was called because another Alterant changed yesterday and killed a human."
"That's getting old," Tzader grumbled.
Tell her about it.
"Where?" Quinn put his drink down and crossed his arms.
"In Birmingham." Sen had told her that little bit just to let her know the attack had been only two hours west of Atlanta, in Alabama. "You know the standard procedure. They pull in the likely suspects. Oh, wait. That's right, there's only one. Me. Then they threatened to lock me away. Nothing new there."
"They can't do that without bringing in Brina. You did ask for her, right?" Tzader's smooth eyebrows dropped low over his intense gaze.
"Yes, I did. And, yes, she appeared. Eventually." Evalle took a breath, considering her words so as to prevent putting these men at odds with Brina. "Brina convinced the Tribunal to give me time to prove I'm not a threat to humanity."
Quinn shook his head. "You've been through this with them over and again. Why do they persist in dragging you in?"
"Because the Alterant that shifted this time was a female Alterant ... and pregnant." She let that sink in for a second. "Now the Tribunal feels there's a precedent for not just a female shifting and killing, but the fear that other Alterants might seek me out to breed or that I might do that with something else, because, you know, you can't trust an Alterant."
If anyone knew that a doctor had raped her at fifteen, they'd realize the chances of her getting pregnant were close to zero if it meant allowing a man to do that again. But that was no one's business except hers, and that of the doctor she'd sent running in terror when she'd shifted partway into a beast.