11. BETRAYER?

BETRAYER?

“C aden, when do you have to be at the--the thing tonight?” Wally asked as he, Caden and Rose headed out of the Emporium’s front doors.

Caden knew that the thing Wally was referring to was his meeting with the Red Dragon Queen Mei that evening at High Reach. Maybe after he dutifully met with her then he could somehow sneak around, shift and make his way to Valerius’ quarters so they could have some alone time. Valerius would likely think that was a bad idea. A very bad idea. He’d reminded Caden earlier that afternoon that it would only be a few days until the other Dragon Shifters were gone and that they would be alone again. But Caden still thought he might do it anyway.

“Caden? Earth to Caden?” Rose laughed. When his head jerked towards her, she tipped hers towards Wally. “He asked you a question.”

“Oh, right, seven. So I’ve got time.”

It was just a little after five. He had plenty of time. And he wasn’t sure what he was going to do or where he was going to spend it. He wasn’t going home that was for sure, unless Rose came with him. She would be the only reason his parents would actually speak with him.

“Would you like to come with me to see Landry?” Wally asked.

Caden blinked. “I thought she was in some kind of lockup where she couldn’t have visitors.”

Wally tipped his head up a little pridefully. “I may not still be in the underworld, kid, but I’ve got some connections.”

“Those must be some connections, Wally!” Rose looked impressed. “I don’t even think Marban could get into the Oubliette to see a prisoner like Landry. Not officially anyways, and certainly not to bring a guest!”

The Oubliette was the maximum security prison located in Low Reach. It was a thick, squat building that had high, sheer stone walls and narrow arrow-slit windows. The security was solely made up of the biggest Werewolves. Caden had only ever heard about it on the news and maybe passed by it once or twice in his life. He had never thought to know anyone inside. He certainly wouldn’t have expected Landry to ever be in there.

Unless it was to be visiting her brothers to be honest. But Landry herself? Never. I just can’t believe this is real.

Caden’s forehead furrowed at Rose’s words while Wally rocked back and forth, a huge grin on his face, loving the mystery. But then a thought came to Caden.

“Chione has something to do with this access, doesn’t she?” he asked.

Wally looked so crestfallen that Caden knew it was true.

“I don’t name sources, Caden! First thing about being your Councillor is that I got to keep our sources anonymous, even from you!” Wally sniffed.

“Even from me, huh?” Caden chuckled.

“Especially from you! Loose lips sink ships!” Wally wagged a finger in the air before he went to lock the Emporium behind them.

Truthfully, there was little reason to lock it as they had been cleaned out by the customers that day. Wally had called his suppliers and had jumped up and down like a piece of popcorn in a hot skillet as he demanded they work double, triple, quadruple overtime to get him all of his merch. All the Dragon Shifters coming into Reach was bigger than even the 30th Anniversary had been and he wouldn't miss out monetarily.

“I keep secrets, Wally! I can’t believe you think I’d blab!” Caden shook his head.

“It’s better not to know. So you won’t have to worry about blabbing accidentally,” Rose told him. “And Wally is now your Councillor?”

“Yeah, Valerius has Chione so I needed someone, too. Who better than Wally? And you, of course! I think I have two of the best Councillors, honestly!” Caden smiled.

“I have a feeling your father’s partners might be a little miffed about you taking advice from us and not them,” Rose said with a shake of her head.

“If I believed that they had my best interests at heart, I might listen to them, but they don’t. They want power so they assume everybody else does, too, and for no other reason than to lord it over others,” Caden admitted with a shrug. “Besides, they haven’t even asked to meet with me, yet I’m sure they are formulating plans and all that to talk to Justice St. John about my situation! Think about it! How can you represent somebody you've never spoken to?”

“You’ve got to pinch that in the bud, Caden. People speaking for you is bad business, especially if they don’t represent your interests.” Wally was frowning as he pulled the key out of the lock and tested to make sure the door was securely locked.

“Yeah, I sort of did that with Mom and Dad last night.” Caden rubbed the back of his neck.

“It didn’t go well,” Rose succinctly told Wally.

“They want to do what’s best. But since they are your parents they want to act instead of you, instead of for you,” Wally guessed. “You’re the White Dragon Shifter and no one can do that job but you.”

“Yeah, I know.” He rubbed the back of his neck some more. It seemed the more they talked about his parents the tighter his muscles became there. “Even if they are mistakes.”

Wally shoved the massive keyring in his pocket. “They are your mistakes. They should be yours. It’s the only way to really learn.”

“Yeah, but now I’m thinking my mistakes have a lot more impact.” Caden’s lips flattened. He knew he was not smart enough to do this all on his own, but he had to be somewhat in control of his own message.

“You were chosen for a reason, Caden,” Wally assured him. “Things will work out. You’ll see.”

“Right. I’ve got to believe that.” Caden then realized Rose was about to take off. “Can Rose come with us to see Landry, too?

But Rose was already shaking her head and putting up a hand as if to block the invitation physically. “No, I can’t go. Even if Landry would have wanted to see me for some unknown reason--”

“Because you’re cool, smart, kind--”

“Kind?” Rose laughed. “Okay, okay, but seriously, I have to spend time with some of my brothers and sisters in the Below.”

“When you say brothers and sisters, you don’t mean blood obviously?” Caden guessed. She’d mentioned that he’d saved one of her sisters from the original bomb attack.

She nodded. “No, just more of Marban’s followers. Anyway, they’ve started saying that I think I’m too good for them with all the time I’m spending in the Mid with you guys. So I need to patch up some of my friendships there.”

Caden felt a little stab of jealousy. He had worked hard to get Rose to trust him. He imagined her being free and easy with other people, freer than with him and Wally and it made him ridiculously envious of those unknown brothers and sisters.

Rose must have seen something on his face, because she put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry, Caden, I’m going to be talking to them about our plan for Iolaire to visit the Below.”

“I wasn’t worried! I mean you should spend time with your other friends. Not just me, Wally and Tilly. You have a life--”

“Yeah, I do, but that doesn’t mean that you guys aren’t my number ones,” she interrupted him and blushed as if revealing this much was embarrassing to her.

“You’re my number one too,” he quickly confessed.

“After Valerius,” she said with a laugh, but still looked pleased all the same. She patted his arm. “Go see Landry. If you think it will cheer her up at all, let her know that I’m thinking about her.”

“Will do,” Caden promised.

“My car is this way, Caden,” Wally said with a wave and started leading them around to the side of the Emporium.

“We’re going in the Bug?” Caden grimaced.

“I do not see you with any vehicle, so yes , we are going in the Bug,” Wally informed him tartly.

The Bug was an ancient Volkswagen Beetle painted a dung brown with only two seats that semi-held their occupants in place while they were bouncing up and down like jumping beans due to the Bug’s lack of shock absorbers.

“Actually, Valerius has cars--”

“You should only be using those in an emergency and certainly not to go see Landry in the Oubliette! Make that the next bit of Councillor advice I give you!” Wally informed him as the Bug came into view.

Wally was right, of course. But Caden often couldn’t feel his butt after riding in the Bug, not to mention he’d bashed the top of his head more than once. Iolaire who had been napping--likely dreaming of Raziel--stirred a little bit in reaction to his anxiety, but he soothed his Spirit. The Bug was not an enemy. Just an annoyance.

While Wally climbed into the driver’s seat--which had a thick cushion so that he could see over the dash--Caden slipped into the passenger seat. He tried to click the seat belt but it wouldn’t hook. He looked over at Wally with disbelieving eyes.

“Oh, yeah, that broke. Just tie it around that handle there,” Wally suggested.

“Wally, I can only hope that all these plushie sales will lead to a new ride for you,” Caden said as he looped the seatbelt around the handle and prayed it would hold.

“What? And get rid of Bug? NEVER!”

With that Wally turned the key and the Beetle burst into life with a puff of black smoke coming from the exhaust pipe. The motor rattled and clanged as he pushed on the gas. They took off at about 5 miles per hour. The Bug took a while to gain any speed. It’s top speed was something like 40 miles per hour. Caden rolled down the window and held onto the frame of the car as Wally drove them into the curving road that would lead to Low Reach.

By the time they got to the Oubliette, Caden’s brain felt like it had broken loose of its moorings and had sloshed from one side of his skull to the other dozens of times. He leaned forward, breathing hard and trying to center himself, once Wally pulled the Bug into a parking space for prison visitors.

Wally patted him on the back. “You okay there?”

“Ah…”

“Caden, it wasn’t that bad!”

“You have a cushion! I want the cushion next time,” Caden protested as he straightened. “I can’t feel my spine!”

“You big baby. C’mon, Landry is waiting for us,” Wally said as he got out of the car.

Caden got out far slower as he had to unscrunch his spine and somehow get feeling back into his ass and legs. He hobbled after Wally as the little man impatiently waved to him to get a move on.

Wally didn’t take them to the main entrance of the prison, but rather an employee entrance, which further had Caden thinking that Chione was behind this somehow. They still had to go through a metal detector and a pat down, but it was brief, almost perfunctory, though Caden was still a bit in awe of the Werewolves whose hands were bigger than his head.

Soon, he and Wally were being escorted down a hallway that looked to be carved out of living rock, much like the Steps were, but there was nothing beautiful about this space. There was almost a brutalism to the way the stone was cut. Caden felt the prison’s very being pressing down on him, almost choking him with the lack of sky and space. It wasn’t airy either. Their Werewolf companion’s head was just a few inches shy of the ceiling. And when they reached an actual visitor’s room, that was barely large enough to hold the table and four chairs. Caden and Wally took the chairs on one side of the table and waited.

In a few moments, Landry was brought in. She wore a bright orange jumpsuit. Her dark hair was lank and hid her face entirely. The few flashes of her face he did get showed that her skin was oily and broken out. It held a pasty cast as well. Her wrists and ankles were shackled and she had to shuffle to move.

“Landry!” Caden jumped up to embrace her, but Wally caught his arm.

“No touching, kid. Those are the rules. Sit down,” Wally instructed.

Caden reluctantly seated himself again. The large female Werewolf brought Landry around to the other side of the table. The top of the table was metal and there was a section that was raised up with a loop cut out through the center. The Werewolf slid the third handcuff on Landry's chained wrists around the loop and clicked it shut.

“What do you think she’s going to do? Lunge at us?” Caden asked the Werewolf, anger tinting his words.

The Werewolf merely stared back at him impassively. In a low voice she said, “These are the rules.”

Wally patted Caden’s hands. “It’s all right, Caden. She has to follow the rules. All of us are going to follow the rules.”

Wally said the last especially to the guard as if to assure her that they were not rule breakers and could be trusted. The Werewolf narrowed her dark blue eyes at Wally as if his words had the exact opposite effect.

“You have 30 minutes. No more. If you wish to leave the room before then, knock on the door and I’ll open it,” she said finally.

And then she moved off in that rangy stride that Werewolves had and left the room. There was a heavy clunk, thump as the lock was engaged. Caden suddenly felt like he had even less air to breathe than before. He glanced up for vents. The room smelled of rock and mildew. But then realizing that this was foolish to concentrate on when he only had to be there 30 minutes while Landry couldn’t leave, and maybe would never leave, Caden focused.

“Landry, are you okay? I mean, I know you’re not okay. But is there anything--anything we can do?” Caden asked.

Landry had been sitting there silently, head down, hands pressed close to her chest. She wasn’t even trying to touch them even though the guard was outside and wouldn’t be able to see. There was a camera, but would the guards spring into action for just a brush of fingers? Maybe they would. So Caden kept his hands in his lap even though he saw no red light on that would indicate the camera was recording.

His right leg started bouncing. Iolaire was waking up and did not like this space where it could not see the sky or feel the breeze.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Landry finally said softly.

Caden blinked. That was not what he had expected to hear. He had thought Landry would be glad to see familiar, friendly faces. But instead, it seemed as if she wished they hadn’t come at all.

Wally, however, did not seem surprised. “Worried about what people on the block will say if they know you’ve seen us?”

There was a sharp intake of breath that caused some of Landry’s lank hair to pull against her lips. She fumbled it away.

“No one will know, Landry,” Wally assured her.

“The guards talk,” she mumbled.

“This one won’t,” Wally said.

She bit her lower lip. The skin blanched. “Humans First know who you are, Wally. They know who--who Caden is--is, too. Because of me .”

“Don’t worry about that, Landry!” Caden assured her. “They already knew. I’m sure the surveillance videos already made the rounds far before Jasper talked to you.”

If Caden was truly honest with himself, the revelation of who he was might already be known to the Dragon Shifters, and all this subterfuge with Valerius might not be necessary. But still, the general public didn’t know and they were the ones whose knowledge could really change his life.

“He confused me. He made me think… I had no choice. Or… I did have a choice, but I made the one where I gave you up, Caden,” she whispered. “That’s why you shouldn’t be here.”

“You’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. You had to make a decision to save your brothers. I get that,” Caden assured her. “That’s not important right now. What’s important is figuring out how to get you out of here.”

She seemed to fold in on herself even more. “There’s no getting out of here, Caden. I’m a terrorist.”

“You were an unwitting accessory,” Wally contradicted, tapping a stubby finger on the table. “While the law doesn’t differentiate at times, prosecutors do. Offer up what you know. Everything you know.”

She was shaking her head. “But my brothers--”

“Landry, your brothers have made their beds,” Wally said flatly. “You are the only one that could potentially get out of this. They won’t.”

She cringed again and Caden felt a welling of anger towards her brothers. How could they get their little sister involved in something like this? He tried to imagine him coercing Tilly into a plot to plant a bomb and just couldn’t! No matter how good the cause, he wouldn’t drag her into this. But Landry’s brothers had.

“Landry,” Caden said softly, “your brothers wanted to hurt people. In fact… They still want to hurt people. You never have.”

“I didn’t know,” she said weakly. “Not about the bomb, but I did about you, Caden.”

“Landry,” Wally continued. “I’ve always been straight with you. I think you know that I don’t give advice that I wouldn’t take.”

She nodded miserably.

Wally leaned forward. “The best thing you can do is to help stop Humans First and Jasper Hawes.”

Another sharp intake of breath. “They’ll hurt my family, Wally!”

“I’m not saying there aren’t risks, but I’m betting people can help you and your family disappear,” Wally said quietly.

Caden’s head jerked towards him. Had Chione asked Wally to offer this? Was this some kind of witness protection thing?

He felt Landry frowning. “But my brothers--”

“Again, there’s no saving them, sweetheart. But your mom and dad… yourself… These are the people you can save. And more. You can stop these bombings, Landry, and all the other bad things that Humans First are doing,” Wally told her. His mustache quivered with his intensity. “You did a wrong thing, Landry, by telling your brothers about the plans for the square and ratting out Caden, but you can more than make up for that by helping to stop Humans First.”

She was shaking her head, or maybe her whole body was just shaking. “I don’t know if I can do it, Wally. You don’t know what it’s like in here. You have to pick a side and I--I am not a Shifter so I--I need--”

“I know exactly what it’s like in here, Landry, and other, worse prisons too,” Wally interrupted softly. “I know that you need protection and that the only real choice you’ve got is Humans First in there.”

She nodded after a moment. “I don’t hate Shifters, but… but if you don’t choose a side in here… I had to do it.”

Caden’s heart fell. He could well imagine that Landry needed protection in this place. The Shifters would want to kill her. If she didn’t choose Humans First then she would be on her own. But by choosing Humans First it made her seem all the more guilty.

“It’s actually good that you are with Humans First in here. You should amp up their belief in you,” Wally told her. “You should make them think that you’re solidly a part of them so that they will tell you things.”

“Things? Like what… oh.” Landry sat there, stunned.

“And then you can tell us those things and you’ll tell a judge and jury those same things. Do you see, Landry? You’ll have a chance to keep yourself safe, but also to keep others safe,” Wally said.

“I--I don’t know… maybe… if I could help, I’d want to help, but I’m--I’m scared, Wally!” she wailed.

Caden’s heart clenched again and all he wanted to do was break Landry out of here. Hearing Wally’s words had given him hope. Landry spying on Humans First seemed a tall order, but maybe not. She was one of the people who had tried to blow up the Shifters at the square. She was the sister of some of the ring leaders. She knew Jasper Hawes.

“I know it’s scary, sweetheart. But, trust me, you need to find your way out,” Wally said. His pudgy hands were clenched together on top of the table.

“I’m not sure,” she mumbled as she lowered her head.

“But you’ll think about it?” Caden asked.

She nodded silently.

Wally let out a breath he’d evidently been holding in. “That’s all we can ask for.”

Caden’s gaze went up to the camera. He was pretty sure that Wally was wily enough not to have let this conversation be recorded. Chione certainly was wily enough.

“We’ll come and see you again,” Caden began.

But Landry was shaking her head. “You shouldn’t come, Caden. You shouldn’t be anywhere near here. Humans First are always watching. And they are always watching you .”

Caden’s jaw gritted. “I can take care of them.”

“That’s just what they want,” she said. “For you to lose your temper and--”

“They tried that,” Caden said, remembering clearly the park incident. “I can handle myself.”

“They’ll push and push and push…” Landry sighed. “They’ll find your weak moment.”

“They will try, but they won’t succeed.” Caden’s brows drew together in determination.

She lifted her head. “But also you shouldn’t come because, whether I do this thing for Wally or not, I can’t be seen talking to you.”

Caden’s eyes widened for a moment. But then it was clear. Humans First would hardly trust Landry, let alone confide secrets to her, if they thought she was meeting with the White Dragon Shifter. Even if only the upper levels of Humans First knew who he was, they would report that he was coming to see her.

“I get it,” Caden said stiffly. “I put you in danger.”

She nodded. “You shouldn’t want to be around me, Caden, because I figured out something about myself.” Her skin flushed. “When it comes down to it, I’m a coward and will sell you out to save myself.”

Before he had time to react, she was calling for the guard. The clunk-thump of the lock disengaging happened faster than it had before. The female Werewolf was back, releasing Landry from the table. And then they were leaving the room.

Landry didn’t even look back.