25. Tez

25

Tez

I circled the Darthlord and looked for an opening.

He didn't really look like the character from the movie, but I was sure his soul was black enough for the moniker. He spun his sword in lazy circles as he assessed me. But today, his thoughts seemed to be on other things.

His distraction was obvious in the way his eyes flared with color, a different one every few seconds. And remembering the Dragon being set aflame, I counseled myself not to take advantage of this, and to let the man win.

Not an easy thing for me.

The cause of his mood was the woman with the white hair. Aurora. She stood just inside the suite, arguing with Victor.

"You'll never get her out of there," she said for at least the third time.

"And I repeat—if we don't, it puts a crimp in my future plans," Victor insisted.

A pint-sized figure paced out onto the ledge. It looked to be a male child of about seven or eight, but when he spoke, it was with an adult's voice. " Our future plans, you mean."

Another, who looked very much like the first, only female, stepped forward. "The breeding program was Isobel's, but now it is a shared vision."

A third spoke from inside the suite. "And for it, we require the female."

Their high-pitched voices were almost identical, and they gave me the absolute creeps. I didn't know if they were possessed, or if that adult-in-a-child thing was normal for them. I also had no idea what species they were, but there was only one word that fit them— fucking creepy —well, two words with the needed emphasis.

Amityville had nothing on these kids. And I noticed that Nemi was perched as far away from them as possible.

"Then, we need a plan," said Aurora.

Slade spoke from where he leaned on the wall. "My source says the students do leave the academy grounds on a scheduled basis for a few of their classes. But the locations are kept under wraps. He doesn't have access to them."

Victor's response was to lunge at me, the sword vanishing in a blur of motion. He was a good swordsman, but I didn't need a sword to avoid the blow. I ducked and danced away, brandishing my knives.

He put distance between us, and then answered her. "Then we need to send someone into the academy to set her up for capture."

I did my best to ignore the distraction of the conversation. Because while I would pay dearly if I won this fight, he would not hesitate to end me if I dropped my guard, either. Finding the balance was tricky as hell.

"Our council connection owes Brock a serious favor. He'll be pissed to discover it didn't fuckin' die with him," Slade stated.

"We need someone who would pass muster with the Watchers." Aurora looked at Slade. "A shapeshifter would work. They seem to cater to them." She regarded Slade through half-closed eyes. "You're unique enough to get their interest."

Even when Victor entertained the notion instead of dismissing it outright, Slade did not react. But then he muttered, "Some at the academy might know me."

Victor exhaled. "Plus, I need someone I can trust to oversee this project, rather than participate in it."

He'd no sooner decided that than he came at me again. I let his blade get close before ducking away. I needed him to feel like he was winning, or I ran the risk of becoming a shish-kabob. Didn't mean I had to like it, though. Rage simmered just below the surface, and I was aware of the flap of wings overhead, near where Nemi waited.

"Tez attracts birds wherever he goes," Slade said almost lazily, and the first shimmer of unease passed through me.

Victor's eyes narrowed. I didn't like the way his stare intensified. "That's an unusual talent."

I shrugged. "It's kind of useless, actually." He didn't need to know it wasn't my ability to attract birds that had killed the Priest, or those men. It was what came with it.

"The academy has gathered all kinds of useless talents," Aurora stated.

"The hybrid talents that are surfacing are the reason we need to reacquire the female," Amityville One stated.

"We need her if we wish to dominate the future," his sibling agreed.

"Tez's talent likely ain't as useless as it seems," drawled Slade, and I shot him a look. The vivid-blue gleam beneath half-lowered eyes put me on full alert. Did Slade know more than he was telling?

If he did, why wasn't he passing it on to Victor?

To my dismay, Slade started counting off my virtues. "He's young. He's not yet well connected to us. He has a fuckin' talent. He's a damned good fighter." My entire body tensed when he paused, but then his gaze transferred to me. "The info we need about the off-site locations will be locked up. How are you at breakin' and enterin'?"

I clamped down on my relief. If he suspected, he was staying quiet about it. "How sophisticated are we talking?"

Slade grew a short claw from one fingertip and examined it. "From what I hear, keyed systems. No electronics yet."

I shrugged. This venture sounded so fucking risky, but so was sparring with a guy who set people on fire. And if it earned me cred in this organization… "I can handle that."

Slade's gaze slid to Victor. "He's as good a fit as we're gunna fuckin' get."

Victor sheathed his sword. "Then I'd better not dent him." He turned to Slade. "Put a call in to our favorite councilman. I want him in there as soon as possible."

A few hours later, I stood in a hotel room and stared out the window at the town below.

Another realm, another town. Fortunately, Slade had tagged along, although he was currently keeping his distance. If he had just told me the location, I wouldn't have had a clue.

It was a situation that couldn't continue. Sooner or later, it would be obvious that I wasn't a realm traveler. I'd been lucky to get this far. But I had no idea what I could do about it.

This mission extracted me from the dilemma, for a while, at least. A flicker of movement on the opposite roof drew my attention—the guy was good, sticking to the shadows. And another in the alley below was scoping out the hotel.

My guests had arrived, and were looking for a trap. Good thing Slade wasn't lurking anywhere close.

Wouldn't be long now, and it wasn't. Fifteen minutes after I spotted the sentries, someone knocked on my door.

I opened it to a cloaked figure who towered over me and was at least twice my width. He pulled back his hood to reveal short-cropped hair so blonde it was almost white.

"You Tez?" he asked, and when I nodded, he said, "I'm Alistair."

I stepped back to let him in, and it wasn't until he moved that I realized he wasn't alone. A small-framed, cloaked form followed him.

Keeping myself calm required effort. Who or what was beneath that cloak? Then slim hands rose to push back the hood, and I stared at a woman with inquisitive, gray eyes.

Those eyes bored straight into me, and then they flashed. When Alistair's responded, I glanced from him to her.

Suddenly, he didn't look pleased. "Well, Tez," he said. "I am not comfortable with being told to recruit students for the academy, even if it is by a council member. I much prefer to find them on my own." His pale gaze bored into me. "And now Faith here tells me she can't read you at all. Considering she's rarely stonewalled, it begs the question—who, or what, are you?"

My pulse raced, and I avoided looking at the woman. They'd communicated without speaking to each other. Just what was this woman? And reading me wouldn't be a good thing at all. For more than one reason.

I settled for a shrug. "I can't help that she can't read me. I don't know why the fuck that is—my talent is pretty minimal." Okay, that was a lie, but I sprout metal feathers and scream at people until they die wasn't likely to win me any popularity contests.

Although maybe this academy place liked lethal weirdos like me.

Then the woman tilted her head. "He's not alone," she said.

My gut clenched. No way she could sense Slade among all the other residents…

Then Nemi chirped and flew down from where I'd put her out of harm's way. The hummingbird landed on my shoulder and pushed her head into my neck. I automatically raised a finger to scratch her.

Something softened in the woman's expression, and her eyes flashed again. Alistair sighed.

"Very well, Birdman. I'm taking you to a Watcher, and she can decide if you're worthy of the academy. Come with me."

Nemi might have swung the vote for him taking me along, but as we made our way down the hall to the stairs, I noticed Alistair kept himself between me and Faith. He didn't trust me.

I couldn't blame him. After all, his instincts were bang on.

They took me through one of the portals through hell to a garden.

A real garden that had flowers, trees, bushes, and comfortable seats. Our trip to the portal had picked up two more people—young men, identical to each other, with the lean muscles of runners, or dancers.

Or, maybe, something more like me. They moved in a way that was familiar—it spoke to their lethality, and I kept an eye on them.

I pushed aside a flowering vine that had invaded the path, and I batted at an insect that hovered in front of my face. It was fucking huge, a good two inches in length?—

Not length, but height… and it wasn't an insect.

I stared in astonishment at a perfectly formed human body with wings. A male, but as I stood there, a female buzzed up beside him. They both gazed at Nemi on my shoulder, and then back at me.

"Off with you," a female voice said. "Honestly, no one can visit this garden anymore without being harassed by Faeries."

"We're not harassing," the male stated in a high, piping voice. "He has a hummingbird on his shoulder."

He spoke to the woman who stepped clear from more of the vines. She had Aurora's long white hair, but she appeared a bit older, and the eyes peering at me were a pure, unadulterated blue. "I can see that," the Watcher stated. "But surely you have other things to do?"

The female giggled, and grabbed the male's arm. The two of them flitted off into the foliage.

Faeries were real. Interesante.

It was a clear sign of just how far I'd come, that I filed that fact away with barely a hiccup. After the Dragons and Gryphons and whatever the hell Slade was, Faeries were just another weird creature.

The Watcher, however, was observant. "You've never met Faeries before?"

I sensed the pit opening beneath my feet. "They just surprised me, is all."

Her eyes darted to Nemi. "Where did you get your little friend?"

"A market," I lied. "I thought she would make a good pet."

Her gaze was shrewd, and it made me uneasy as hell. It moved to something else—it took me a moment to realize she was staring at my earcuff.

"Faith can't get a read on him at all," Alistair rumbled. "And I don't like that we were told by the council member where to find him."

The Watcher nodded. "That is odd, no doubt about it." Her gaze moved off the earcuff, to lock with mine. "What is your story, young man?"

I gave her the story Slade and I had concocted. "My extended family disowned me when I got angry and called the birds down on them. But my father had a friend on the council and called in a favor."

Her eyes remained calm, but I guessed she was assessing me more than just visually. "Have you always been able to control birds?"

I shook my head. "Only recently. I don't know how much I actually control them. They just come when I get pissed off."

Her eyes returned to the earcuff. "Where did you get that?"

Somehow, I felt another lie would push me past some kind of threshold. "My grandmother gave it to me."

The Watcher debated that for a moment. "Is she still among the living?"

How had she known? My stomach clenched. "No," I answered.

The Watcher exhaled and held up her hand. Nemi immediately flew to her. The hummingbird and she stared at each other, and then Nemi twittered and nibbled at her finger with her long beak.

"Her name is Nemi." I don't know why I offered that tidbit. It just came out.

The Watcher moved right up close to me. I fought the urge to back away.

"Can you read him?" Alistair asked.

The Watcher tilted her head. "I haven't felt anything like his energy in years," she said. "I'd say calling birds won't be his only talent, but the rest of it might remain dormant." Her mouth pulled straight, as though she might say more, but changed her mind.

My pulse now raced even faster. This had been a mistake. I hadn't counted on her digging up my ability.

Alistair sighed. "So he's staying, then?"

Caught up in assessing me, she didn't answer right away. Something moved behind her, and a critter that looked like a cross between a donkey and a yak pushed its way up to her and stood for a head scratch.

"You bringing him in, Cara?" called a voice from further down the path. "I can put on tea."

Tea? This was rapidly taking on a surreal status. A diminutive woman appeared on the path behind the Watcher. She looked vaguely familiar…

"It's okay, Nettie. I'm going to take him straight to the academy. I've got to get back, been away long enough." Cara smiled at me.

"Whatever your story is, young man, we will get to the bottom of it," she promised.

I sincerely hoped not.

Alistair crossed his arms and glowered at me. "I have a bad feeling about this," he rumbled.

Cara waved a hand at him. "Half the students at the academy set off your alarm bells, Alistair. You are a naturally suspicious person."

He quirked a brow. "I've had reason to be."

The Watcher raised her hand, and Nemi flew back to my shoulder. "Anyone who has been befriended by a hummingbird," she said, "can't be all bad."