43. Tez

43

Tez

I struggled to surface through a fog that seemed to weigh me down.

Alarm triggered my adrenaline, and I rolled to my feet with a knife in my hand, ready to do battle.

Caliel didn't even turn from looking out the window. "You can give yourself a heart attack by waking up like that."

"Having your back turned to someone waking up like this can get you fucking dead."

He glanced to me and raised a brow. "You'd knife me?"

I sank down to sit on the cot. "I was just making a point."

He shrugged. "So was I."

I rubbed my hand over my face. That dream had seemed so real… As I closed my eyes, I caught a glimpse of people crowded in a room with stone walls.

Good morning, mi naranja.

She was there in an instant. Is it morning where you are?

No, but I just woke up.

What does naranja mean?

Dammit. I hadn't intended to have to explain what dropped from my lips. I'd never been much for expressing my feelings. But then, I'd never had anyone that hooked into my soul, until now.

Now, I had a million endearments popping into my head. And apparently escaping my mental lips, too.

So I took a deep breath. Naranja, if you translate it literally, means half an orange.

A titter of a laugh, like a tickle in my mind. That isn't very romantic.

Ah, but you have to follow the logic. It implies that you are my other half. I hesitated, before adding, My soulmate.

A deeper mindvoice interceded. Am I supposed to be listening in on this? Because now I'm uncomfortable.

The last thing I needed was the fucking arrogant Dragon listening in. You're just pissed off because you don't have my command of romantic lingo. I tried to stifle my annoyance.

I hadn't realized that snorted laughs had a mental equivalent. I'm not jealous of someone who compares a beautiful woman to a round orange fruit.

He can call me an orange anytime, Bree interrupted. Are you okay, Tez?

I'm fine. Had a terrible dream. There was a battle…

That wasn't a dream, she told me. That was a vision I had.

My breath caught. You have visions?

Yes. Occasionally. Some are difficult to interpret, but that one was pretty clear.

Caliel sat down on the chair opposite me. "Are you talking to Bree?" he asked.

I told him about the dream. His eyes widened. "Is she sure about the location?"

"She says yes, which is why they are planning to come after Victor here."

Caliel's mouth opened, and closed again. "If they are coming, then we better get more intel." He pinned me with a glance. "Also, I am going to see if I can get to Mykal and heal him."

"Hold on a minute, and I'll check if the coast is clear."

Caliel frowned. "Coast?"

"Human expression. I'll make sure it's safe for you to go." I closed my eyes and reached.

This time, it was easier to select tiny eyes in the right places—I skimmed over those in the halls, and down the stairwell to the dungeon. I'd already gone a fair distance before my instincts prickled at me.

There was a lot of activity in the lower halls, but the dungeon was quiet, with only two Bellati standing outside Aurora's chambers. Inside, Mykal lay on the cage floor as a human. He wasn't moving.

I withdrew and met Caliel's gaze. "You're good to go now—no one is there. But Karst must be planning something for tonight, because everyone is up and ready to go."

Caliel's brows dropped. "He didn't say anything to me."

Nemi hopped onto my finger and then flew to Caliel's shoulder. "Take her with you. I'm going to see if I can get eyes in Victor's suite, figure out what's going on."

"Just don't push too hard," he warned as he rose. "You can do permanent damage if you do."

I had no desire to fry my brain while doing this. But we needed the intel. "Remember that advice for yourself. Mykal needs you functional—if you give everything you have to him, he's screwed. Just get in to see Mykal, do your thing, and get out again."

He nodded, but as he left the suite, he stumbled. Then he struggled to right himself, and continued on out the door.

I lay back down on the bed. Truth was, I was dizzy as hell. But Caliel had enough to worry about. Mykal needed what little he had left to offer.

And I had to figure out a way through this mess. If the cavalry came, it was our job to protect Mykal until they could get to us.

I reached for the one who'd become more important to me than life itself. I'm about to go for a cruise through the reptilian spies in Victor's chambers. Thought you might like to come along.

We'll come along, answered Riggs.

Just don't piss me off at a key moment, I stated.

Yeah. Victor might notice a lizard having a hissy fit.

I rolled my eyes before I closed them. Riggs sent me a pulse of sword power, and I rode it up a level to Victor's suite.

There weren't many lizards brave enough to hang out there. I had to push one out of a crack in the wall, and the only reason I succeeded was because the suite was empty.

Fuck. Not an asshole in sight.

I ground my teeth in frustration and was about to withdraw my control over the lizard when I noticed something along the wall.

A section of it had been retracted—I looked at the brackets designed to hold weapons. The day Slade had brought me to Victor to spar, those brackets had all held swords of various sizes and lengths.

Now they stood empty. All the weapons were gone.

Ice traveled up my spine.

Those swords were Brock's, but Victor loved them, Bree said uneasily. He's always had an interest in weapons.

So where are they now? Riggs asked.

She didn't answer, and I pulled out of that lizard to move to those along the hall outside, looking into the suites on each side of Victor's.

They were also empty. Not only was there no one in there, but the only personal things left in them were unimportant bits and pieces. As if they'd pulled out in a rush.

The lizards were far too small to be opening drawers to check, even if I could have forced them to do so. But the general air of the suites was one of abandonment.

I moved to a set of eyes sunning itself in the continual drizzle outside—and saw several Dragons circling above. They seemed to be flying rather purposefully back and forth over the city. Watching? For what?

Not liking this, Riggs offered.

Neither was I. I returned to the interior spaces. While the upper level was deserted, the lower ones still bustled with activity. The fucking mercs and Dires carried packs with them—and there were not as many of them as there should be.

Dang it, Riggs growled. They're clearing out.

It certainly seemed like it. How had I missed this? The orders to pack up were hardly a secret that could be easily kept. They must have been issued while I slept.

Which meant they were doing it in a hurry.

It filled me with a sense of panic. Because Caliel and I hadn't been given this information. No way Slade would be kept out of it—unless the omission was deliberate.

It all pointed to one possibility.

Betrayal. Someone had ratted us out.

My instincts were screaming as I yanked myself out of the trance and onto my feet. Those filling the halls stared as I pelted past, but I didn't care. My feet barely touched the stairs as I descended.

We're moving in as soon as we can get everyone mobile, Riggs growled.

They were too far away to help, and I had no doubt that Caliel was in danger. As I shoved my way through a group of snarling Dires on the stairs, my mind raced through possible threats—because it wasn't just Victor that was unaccounted for.

I also had no idea as to the whereabouts of this place's far deadlier individuals…

And among those wolves, Caliel was nothing more than a particularly helpless sheep.