27. Tez

27

Tez

As I sat in the cafeteria, I could swear I heard my grandmother laughing at me.

She hadn't laughed often. But she had done so every time I'd set out to prove that I had control over situations when I didn't.

To give her credit, when I failed as a result, she'd never say I told you so. She would just laugh, then fix me with that look —and ask me if I'd learned anything.

I would always say yes, even when I didn't mean it. And we would carry on.

But now I could really use her advice. Because the woman I'd been sent to bring back to Victor was the same one who haunted my dreams.

I'd been given a detailed description of her. There were quite a few females at the academy, but from the moment I set eyes on this woman, I had no doubt it was her I'd been sent to fetch. Or rather, set up to be fetched.

Because it fit so perfectly with the fucked-up mess my life seemed determined to become. Every time I thought I had control, something happened to rip it away from me.

Nemi chirped from her perch on my shoulder as I rubbed absently at the earcuff. Sometimes, it itched, or seemed to heat against my skin.

The hummingbird chirped again and poked my jaw with her sharp little beak. I craned my neck to meet her beady little eyes. For just a second, I thought I saw them sparkle with humor.

I was losing my fucking mind.

Seeing the woman here had to be a fluke. She'd been in Drosfi—and now I realized I'd been an inadvertent witness to her fleeing the city. Why was I so fascinated? She was stunningly beautiful, so of course, I would fantasize about her. The fact I'd come full circle, and she was now my target, meant nothing.

Right?

It didn't explain my almost visceral response when she'd walked into that cafeteria. The way I'd been unable to take my eyes off of her, to the extent that she'd given me the definite "keep staring and I'll gouge your eyes out" glare.

According to Slade, her name was Bree. And she had fire. It was there in the gleam of her dark eyes, in the way she carried that luscious body.

Luscious? I had it bad, but I needed to get my head in the game here. So I did my best to shove thoughts of her aside and focus on the task at hand.

Nemi uttered the weirdest little chortling sound. And then she slapped me up the back of my head.

I froze. She'd taken her wing and clobbered me. Hard enough to sting. Just like my grandmother had done when I'd been particularly thick about something.

Rubbing my head, I tried not to go there. I had enough weirdness in my life, and my teammates already cast her uneasy glances. They didn't know how to take a bird sitting on a guy's shoulder, let alone a bird that might not be a bird.

My grandmother had called her my familiar. Like I was some kind of fucking witch.

I caught the Dires on my team giving nervous looks. I hadn't exactly come in all warm and fuzzy, and anyone who read body language would know what I was. Animals were very good at reading trouble. I assumed the Dires, who spent part of their lives on four legs, read me well.

They certainly were giving me space as I sat there and ate breakfast. But I needed information, so I ripped my eyes away from my female obsession and fastened them on the brown-haired Dire across from me.

His eyes widened, and then narrowed warily.

"Constance told me you guys did Night Games yesterday," I said.

Whatever he'd expected me to say, it hadn't been that. "Yeah," he offered cautiously.

"Is it really like going on a mission?" I asked.

He didn't answer right away, but his companion, far less wary, or likely just more willing to please me, jumped right in.

After that, I couldn't get him to shut up. I was able to guide the conversation pretty much anywhere I wanted to. Which was very useful.

By the time I cut him off, picked up my tray, and left, I had a wealth of information at my fingertips and was ready for the next phase.

Which was breaking into the headmaster's office.

Since the assistant, Constance, had so obligingly given me a class schedule, I knew that the best chance of nabbing the target—I insisted on calling her that—was during the next Night Games session. Which was two days from now.

The Dires had told me how the academy set up the missions using communities and individuals who supported the council by volunteering their facilities and personnel.

My teammates hadn't known all the administrative details, but I doubted that the assignments were set up at the last minute. They took careful planning, which meant a paper trail. And the logical place for that was the headmaster's files.

It was the day of rest for the students, and I assumed it would also be for the headmaster and his assistant. So I descended to the main level and went to the office.

It wasn't locked. Cursing silently, I opened it to Constance's inquiring glance.

"Working on your only day off?" I offered her a full-on smile. Anyone who knew me would realize it was a deliberate attempt to flatter the assistant. But it worked—her face flushed slightly, and then while she smiled back, my glance took in the space, and the open doors to the headmaster's, which was empty. "Looks like the boss is enjoying his day."

"He's away." She gestured to the papers on her desk. "I'm just finishing up some loose ends, then I'm off, too. What can I help you with?"

I had my excuse ready. "If I wanted to mail something to my sister back home, can I do it through you?"

"Sure can," she said. "Mail service is complicated, as I'm sure you know. But we have a regular delivery to selected realms. From there, you can arrange another carrier."

" Gracias , Constance." I offered another fake grin. She seemed to buy it, and I closed the door.

I ascended to the second story, which overlooked the foyer, and leaned on the rail. From here, I could just see the office door.

Constance was in there for another hour, and then she left, locking the door behind her. She walked to the elevators. The car rose to the third floor and then stopped there.

I sauntered down the sweeping marble staircase, my gaze rising to the huge chandelier overhead. Whatever this place had started out as, it sure as fuck hadn't been a school. The scale of the foyer was designed like a palace out of a movie.

I headed down the hall, paused as if trying the knob to enter, and slipped my picks into the lock. There was only the slightest hesitation to it opening—as if my hand fumbled with the knob. Then I was in.

I'd paid close attention when she'd gathered my pack of supplies together, so I knew which drawers and cabinets carried those. I, therefore, turned to the filing cabinet along the far wall and exchanged one pick for another.

Minutes later, I was checking out folders for each of the classes, but Night Games wasn't there.

I opened the lower drawer, and there it was. It took up the entire drawer. Folders filled with locations and contacts.

I paused, thinking. There had to be a current folder, one that listed the upcoming classes. So I searched for the one that the Dires had talked about… and finally found it.

We were halfway through a session, so some of these would be the ones that had already been completed. I opened the folders—and bingo—assessments of the teams, and pros and cons of their performance during missions. That gave me the ones that were completed—which meant the other folders were those coming up.

Sure enough, they didn't have the assessments. These were missions yet to come. But how would I know which one would be assigned to Team Dragon?

The folders all had colored tags, and I kicked myself. The Dires had told me that Ryan, a Sabre, had taken them on their mission. I'd had them run down the list of instructors, and the teams each had taken under their wing.

Team Dragon had gone with an instructor named Cody.

I backtracked to earlier in the term, and found the Dragon team mentioned in the assessments—and the name signed to it was scrawled, but I thought the first part was Cody.

He'd been assigned an orange tag.

The folders weren't filed based on the teams, but rather the instructors. So when I went to the upcoming missions, I pulled the one with the orange tag.

I ripped off a piece of paper from Constance's desk and wrote down the details. Then I pocketed it and closed up the cabinet.

The trickiest part of breaking and entering wasn't either. It was leaving without being seen. I cracked open the door and peered out—the foyer was busy, but the hall was empty.

So I swung open the door as if I belonged there, and shut it, hearing the lock click behind me.

Then I sauntered off across the foyer and up the stairs.

I had accomplished what I came here to do, although I still had to take the info I'd gleaned to Slade. My hand dropped to the crystal on the cord around my neck—my ticket to the Richin market. But from what I'd seen on my trip here, the portals were guarded by Bellatis—the rather arrogant gray-haired warriors that I'd seen hanging around Victor's strongholds.

To get where I needed to go, I had to get past them. I contemplated that as I wandered up the stairs to the second floor. Which was how I discovered the library.

A library . At an academy that catered to students from all over the realms. My pulse raced. To survive in this new role, I needed more knowledge than what I could obtain at knifepoint. Could this place save my skin?

Don't know about my skin, but some parts of me vibrated when the first thing I saw upon entering was Bree, sitting at a table with tall-dark-and-Frankenbrawny from her team.

I darted between the shelves and pretended to read while observing the two at the table. Hunched over books and deep in discussion, I didn't think they'd seen me. And I'd only lurked for a few minutes when they both rose, picked up some of the books, and headed off into the shelves.

What had they been researching? I slipped over to the table, glanced at the two still open, used my fingers to mark the spot as I lifted them, and disappeared back into the stacks.

They came back to pick up the rest and return them to their spots on the shelves. Bree moved like sin itself, with a tempting sway to her hips that seemed totally unconscious. But tall-dark-and-Frankenbrawny had glared at me in the cafeteria, and by the way he hovered around her, she'd made friends in the short time she'd been here. Maybe more than friends…

They finished putting the books away and then left. I migrated to a cushioned chair in a corner and sat down to look at the books I'd snatched.

They'd been open to a section on swords. Not just any swords. Fascinante . I read the sections and then closed the books.

I left them beside the chair, dug through the shelves, and found out that it was the answer to my most essential need—to discover more about the realms.

I hadn't intended to stay. In and out. Get the information Slade needed. Stay today, claim it wasn't for me, and leave.

But if I wished to survive in the realms, I needed what this library offered. Knowledge really was power.

I had two days until Slade was going to nab Bree. Why did my mind sheer away from that reality? She had a destiny with Victor, and the sooner I accepted that, the better. I was here to do a job, and if I did it well, it would do nothing but improve my position in the underlord's hierarchy.

If I failed—well, failure meant my days would be over, period.

Her belonging to Victor didn't stop her from drifting through my dreams. Yet for some reason, I imagined I heard my grandmother's disappointed sigh, and Nemi offered a little avian growl near my ear. It was all just nonsense. Lucy had been the most practical person I'd known.

Follow your heart, my son.

That organ clenched tight as I pushed her last words aside. I had practical reasons for hanging around. If I stayed, I'd have time to absorb what I needed. Enough, anyway, to get by.

If I truly wanted to make it to the top of Victor's hierarchy, I needed more than ability—I needed information. And it was here—in spades. Staying would give me time to explore other mysteries, too.

Like, why Bree and her hombre grande were looking up information on a legendary sword that had paraded through some very famous Earth mythology…

In the end, I decided the direct approach was best.

I walked across the meadow and up to the Bellati who guarded the gate. He had the typical cold expression and perfect features of the others I'd seen at Victor's stronghold, and wore the silvery hair bodysuit as well. I noticed he had a series of crystals on cords wound around his wrist.

The only real noticeable difference was that his eyes were a blue so pale they were almost silver. Those that worked for Victor all had a crimson cast to theirs, as if they were tainted by something.

He raised a brow as I drew near. "Didn't you just get here?" he asked.

I tried to appear uncertain and bookish rather than the fraud I actually was. "I didn't realize we'd have today free from classes. And I need to get a birthday present for my sister." I gestured to the gate. "Thought I'd visit Richin and get her something. Constance said I could mail it from here."

The mention of Constance seemed to answer some unspoken concern. "Don't linger too long," he warned me. "The market is okay during the day, but it isn't someplace you want to hang around at night."

"I'll be quick. I know exactly what I want to get her."

He nodded, then pulled a crystal and cord off his wrist and handed it to me. "This will get you back," he said. "The Richin gatekeeper has an arrangement with the academy, so just tell her you're coming here, and she won't charge you.

He raised his hands, stepped up to the gate, and it swirled into life. The center cleared, and an alley appeared in it.

Seems I wouldn't need the Richin homing crystal after all. I nodded to him and stepped through. I ignored the gate guards on the other side as if I'd been hopping realms all my life.

The market wasn't far from the portal through hell, and my stride hitched when I saw it. Slade had told me that Richin was one of the largest and most successful markets across the realms, but I hadn't been prepared for the reality. As I wound my way through, I understood why the Bellati had thought I might be there all day.

I got caught up in a booth manned by an enormous Centaur. I checked out the knives, which were beautifully made, and tried, but failed, to avoid staring at the vendor. Seen this close, he was truly an impressive specimen.

I used some of the coins Slade had given me to buy another spring-loaded knife and sheath. Figured any fake sister of mine would appreciate a blade. Then I determinedly set course for the south border of the market.

The hotel was right where Slade had said it would be. As I mounted the external staircase, I slipped the room key out of my pocket.

"Thought you'd be fuckin' fast," a familiar voice drawled.

Slade leaned on the rail to the external landing. His vivid-blue gaze dropped to the bag I carried. "Doing some shopping?"

"Booth with weapons had some great knives," I said.

He grunted. "That's Emmanuel's stuff. He's damned talented. Refuses to serve the underworld, though. Something he may not have much fuckin' choice in for much longer." He straightened. "Did you get it?"

Why did my pulse suddenly start racing? I forced my hand into my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper. My fingers were shaking .

Doubt leads to death. My grandmother had drilled that into me. So as Nemi hugged my neck, I clamped down on my reactions and handed Slade the paper.

He unfolded and read it. "Good. I know that place. This should be doable." The big shifter tucked it into his pocket. "You coming back with me, or do you have more shopping to do?"

"I'm going to stay at the academy until the day of the grab," I said.

Slade's brows rose. "You don't need to."

"I think it's best that I do. It's only one more day."

"Okay. Having eyes inside leading up to this could be beneficial. But get out before the actual grab," the shifter warned. "Because we'll be prodding them with a sharp, pointy stick, so you might not get out afterward."

He turned and walked into the hotel. I retraced my steps to the market and wandered the aisles while I struggled with my conscience.

It wasn't something I was accustomed to dealing with. But this ate at me. It was true that, over the years, I had usually avoided deliberate betrayal. It hadn't always been possible to do so, but if I had the option, I took it.

I told myself that I'd had no choice this time, and it wasn't a lie. The memory of that Dragon bursting into flame was very fresh in my mind.

But it didn't help. Not one fucking bit.

Nemi was weirdly quiet, and I worried she needed to eat. I sighed and followed my nose to the food vendors. I'd feed her and grab something for myself.

After that, I was heading back to the academy, and to the library.