Dark Spy’s Resolution, page 18
part #37 of The Children Of The Gods Series
“You see? Your sister noticed the same thing.” Kri let go of her braid and leaned back in the seat. “Feeling better?”
“Much. Thank you.”
“Any time. Now try to get some sleep.” The Guardian closed her eyes.
Following Kri’s example, Jin lowered the back of her seat and closed her eyes, but instead of dozing off, she followed the tether to Jacki once more.
“I’m scared.” Arwel looked into Jacki’s eyes. “We haven’t seen Kalugal even once since he brought us here, and I can’t access his emotional grid without him being close. I don’t know what his intentions are.”
“It’s obvious. He wants to get rid of the tether.”
“The question is how far is he willing to go to accomplish that. He might decide that killing Jin is the most expedient way to do so, and there is nothing I can do to stop him.”
“You can’t, but your friends can. You heard what Rufsur said.”
Arwel rubbed his temples between two fingers. “As we’ve seen, the best plans can go to shit. There are no guarantees.”
“That’s life. As an immortal, you are not as vulnerable, so you don’t experience it as acutely as I do as a human, but I know that my life can get snuffed out in an instant. Except, I don’t dwell on it because that would be paralyzing. I just do what I can to survive and hope for the best.”
“If I lose Jin, I don’t want to survive. I can’t go on without her.”
The sheen of tears in his eyes cut into Jin’s heart, and if she could, she would have used Jacki’s arms to embrace him and comfort him.
But Jacki didn’t need her to animate her arms. Reaching for Arwel, she wrapped them around him. “Have faith. Everything will turn out okay. I promise.”
“How can you promise that?” He leaned his forehead against hers. “Did you have a vision?”
“No, but I have a good gut feeling, and I don’t get those often. I’m a glass-half-empty kind of girl, and I usually brace for the worst.”
52
Kian
Unease churning in his stomach, Kian paced the length of the war room. Ever since he’d laid out the exchange plan for Kalugal, he had a niggling feeling that they were forgetting something important.
With Turner there, Kian should have felt more confident, but no one was infallible, and they were dealing with an unknown.
Given the circumstances, Kalugal had been a reasonable and agreeable negotiation partner, but that didn’t mean that he was a good guy, or that he had nothing sinister and underhanded planned.
After all, Kalugal was Navuh’s son, which meant that he was smart, ruthless, and had questionable morals at best, none at worst.
Lokan was Navuh’s son as well, and he wasn’t all bad, but he wasn’t good either. He’d had no qualms about sacrificing Ella and Vivian to achieve his objective, and Kian was certain that Kalugal wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice Jin as well as his lieutenant to achieve his.
They had put in place every safeguard imaginable, but the trade was not as fail-proof as Kian would have liked it to be.
“Do you have any plans to use Lokan?” Syssi asked.
“I’m keeping him as backup. I’d rather not expose his involvement with the clan yet.”
Syssi shook her head. “Lokan is playing a dangerous game. He is living with an immortal female. How long does he think he can keep it a secret? We need to bring him and Carol in.”
“Not yet.” Kian pulled out a chair next to his wife. “When it gets hot for him, and there is no other choice, I’ll do that. But in the meantime, he is our ears and eyes on the island. The sense of security it gives me is too precious to give up. If Navuh ever plans something big against the clan, I want to know about it ahead of time. This could make the difference between surviving an attack and not.”
“We could pretend to have captured Lokan,” Turner said. “Which isn’t a lie because we did. You can tell Kalugal that you are holding his brother prisoner. That should be a better deterrent than holding his second-in-command hostage.”
“I’m not sure about that.” Kian crossed his arms over his chest. “Kalugal’s lieutenant has been by his side since the very beginning, and Jin says that he seems fond of him. Lokan might as well be a stranger, and they have never interacted before as brothers or even as members of the Brotherhood. Back then, Kalugal was a young and unimportant commander, while Lokan was already at the top of the Brotherhood’s hierarchy.”
Turner looked skeptical. “Still, Lokan is his one real brother, son of Kalugal’s mother. That carries a lot of weight. I think Lokan would be as important to Kalugal as Rufsur, and having two hostages is better than one.”
If Turner thought it was a good idea, Kian wasn’t going to argue against it. “Let’s see what Lokan thinks about it.” He pulled out his phone and placed the call.
“Hello, Kian. I was wondering when you were going to call me with instructions. Carol and I are sitting in the hotel room and biting our nails.”
“No, we are not.” Carol laughed. “We’ve been busy doing other things.”
Lokan cleared his throat. “Magnus told us that the trade is happening tonight.”
“How can we help?” Carol asked.
“That’s what I’m calling about. We had an idea to use you as a fake hostage. We can claim that we captured you, and if your brother kills Jin, we will kill you. We won’t do that, of course, but Kalugal doesn’t know that.”
“He won’t care. I doubt that he even remembers what I look like.”
“You are still his one and only brother, and you are the son of his mother. Part of the deal was to let Kalugal talk with Areana after the trade was made, and even though he tried to hide it, he seemed eager for that. He cares about her, and he wouldn’t want to be responsible for the anguish your death would bring her.”
“Frankly, I can’t predict what Kalugal would do because I don’t know him. But I’m willing to put on an act in exchange for another foundation stone for my home in the village.”
At his core Lokan was an opportunist, who always looked for his angle in the game, but at least he was upfront about it, and so far he’d helped whenever Kian had asked him to.
“At this rate, you’ll have your house ready in no time. But you can’t move in until you move out from your island home, and neither of us is interested in that. Not yet.”
“I’m playing the long game. But that’s not my only motivation. If my mother knows what’s going on, which I’m sure she does because Annani keeps her updated, she is probably worried, and she’d appreciate it if I help in any way I can. If you want to offer me in exchange for Arwel, I will gladly do that.”
Carol gasped. “No way.”
“Relax, darling. Kalugal is not going to harm me. Why would he?”
“Because you are first in line for the throne, so to speak. You are the firstborn son.”
“Kalugal claims that he is not interested in the island,” Kian said. “He says that it’s Lokan’s for the taking.”
“And you believe him?” Carol asked.
“I do. I have a feeling that Kalugal has bigger plans than the island, and I would love to find out what they are.”
“If you trade me for Arwel and Jacki, I can get Kalugal talking.”
“I appreciate the offer, but Kalugal’s top priority is to get rid of the tether.”
“Or the spy who holds it,” Lokan said.
“He offered to mate her.”
“What?” Carol grabbed the phone from Lokan. “Jin is already mated.”
“Kalugal doesn’t know that, and I didn’t volunteer the information. As long as he believes that it’s a possibility, he won’t do anything rash. I don’t want him to feel cornered.”
“But you didn’t agree to that, right?”
Kian smiled as he imagined the ferocious expression on Carol’s cherubic face. “I told him that it wasn’t going to happen and that political marriages are a thing of the past. But he might still think of it as an option, and I prefer to leave it at that.”
“It’s actually not a bad idea,” Lokan said.
“How can you say such a thing?” Carol seethed. “What if Kian offered me as a political bride. Would you be okay with that too?”
“No, but that’s different.”
“How so?”
“Arwel isn’t me, and Jin isn’t you. Maybe they are not fated mates.”
Kian cleared his throat. “You can keep arguing after we end the call. Just be ready to get picked up.”
“Carol is not coming with me.” Lokan’s tone no longer sounded amused.
“Of course not. She can stay at the hotel.”
“Like hell!” Carol exploded. “I’m going with you.”
53
Jin
“Can you turn the heat on?” Jin huddled inside Alena’s coat.
Gregor glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “It’s boiling in here.”
Jin had expected the weather to be more forgiving in San Francisco, but as soon as the pilot had opened the jet’s door, she’d been blasted with a cold gust that had taken her breath away. Luckily, crossing the distance to Gregor’s car had taken only a couple of minutes, but unluckily, he hadn’t turned the heat on, or rather not enough to keep her warm.
“Jin is sick.” Kri reached for the control and turned up the heat. “Take your coat off if you’re too hot.” She shrugged her leather jacket off and tossed it on the back seat.
Jin pulled it over her knees. “Can we stop at a CVS? I need to load up on meds.”
Gregor shook his head. “I’d rather not. Turner gave me instructions to drive through the mall, but that’s only to make sure we don’t have a tail. I don’t want to stop.”
Kri turned around to face Jin. “Call Vivian and tell her what you need. She can get it for you.”
“That’s a great idea. I’ll text her the list.”
Thanks to Kri, Jin hadn’t left her purse behind in the club and could pay Vivian back. She hadn’t spent any of the pocket money Kian had given her before the mission.
“How are you going to use Turner’s maneuver?” Kri asked. “Did you leave another car in the mall?”
“Turner arranged everything. He had a rental car delivered to the mall’s parking lot. It has a coded lock, and I have the numbers.”
“Cool.” Kri leaned back. “Don’t you love modern technology? Next thing we know, there will be services delivering driverless cars to us that we can activate from our phones. Like Uber or Lyft, but without the driver.”
“I think they already have those in Europe,” Jin said. “Personally, though, I don’t trust machines that much. Computers malfunction, and I don’t want to be stuck inside a driverless car when that happens.”
Kri turned around and smiled. “Then you’re not going to like living in the village. Our cars take over a few miles before we get home, and the windows automatically turn opaque. It’s a safety precaution so if a clan member gets captured he or she can’t reveal the village’s location.”
“So how come Arwel knows it?”
“He is a head Guardian,” Gregor said. “And so is Kri. They and the council members are the only ones who know the exact location of the village and the codes to open the underground tunnel. They should have never been allowed anywhere near Kalugal. That was one hell of a costly mistake.”
Kri nodded. “He is right.”
It was comforting to realize that the mess wasn’t entirely her fault, and that Kian and Turner shared in the blame. Then again, nothing could have kept Arwel away from her while she’d tethered Kalugal, so it was back on her. Or was it on Arwel?
Heck, it was everyone’s and no one’s fault.
“Yamanu is a head Guardian too,” Kri said, “but in his case Kian didn’t have a choice. We don’t have anyone else who can shroud such a large area and thrall so many humans at once.”
“Yamanu is careful,” Gregor said. “He is staying as far as he can from Kalugal’s place while maintaining the shroud, and he has earplugs in.”
After changing cars in the mall’s parking lot, they continued out of the city for another half an hour or so, and when Gregor parked in front of the motel, it was after seven in the evening.
The place looked like it wasn’t ready to receive guests yet, but all Jin cared about was crawling under the blanket and putting her head on a pillow. She was sleep-deprived, sick, and she had a long night in front of her.
Talk about bad timing.
Maybe Kalugal could wait until morning?
Except, even if he did, Kian wanted to make the trade at night. Besides, despite how exhausted she was, Jin doubted that she could sleep.
When Kri opened the back door and offered her a hand up, she reluctantly accepted it. “I feel like an old woman.” She didn’t object when the Guardian wrapped her arm around her middle and propped her up.
“I don’t know how an old woman feels, but the doctor said that you’ll be fine in a day or two.“
Poor Kri. She was trying to be supportive, and she was incredibly helpful, but she had no idea what it felt like to be so weak and helpless. Immortals never got sick, and Kri was in top physical shape.
“After this is all over, I want to join your self-defense class. I need to get stronger.”
Kri grinned. “Awesome.”
The door to one of the ground floor rooms opened, and Vivian stepped out. “Welcome to our home away from home.” She waved them over.
As soon as they reached her, Vivian lifted her hand and put it on Jin’s forehead. “I got you the NyQuil and DayQuil that you asked for, and I also got you chicken soup.”
“Thank you.” Jin offered her a placid smile.
Inside, the room was much nicer than the exterior of the motel had suggested. There were two full beds, a table with three chairs, and a door that was opened to the adjacent room.
“Magnus and I are right over there.” Vivian pointed. “As soon as I heard that you were coming back, I moved the Guardians who were staying here into another room.” She took Jin’s hand and led her to the dining table. “Eat your soup before it gets cold.”
“Thank you for warming the room up.” Jin took her coat off and draped it over the back of the chair. “And for everything else.”
Vivian patted her arm. “I haven’t been immortal long enough to forget how it feels to have a damn cold.”
As Jin sat down, the door opened, and Carol came in. “Miss me?” She walked over and gave Jin a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I heard that you were sick.”
Jin nodded. “I’m so glad to see you, but what are you doing here?”
Carol pulled out a chair and sat down. “Kian, or rather Turner, wanted Lokan to be on standby in case his compulsion ability was needed. We flew overnight and stayed at a nice hotel.” She looked around the room. “Much nicer than this place. But anyway, Kian came up with the idea to use Lokan as an additional hostage. Not for real, of course, but just as more leverage on Kalugal.”
“Eat your soup.” Vivian pointed at the takeout container and then turned to Kri. “There is enough for you too.”
“Bleh.” Kri took her leather jacket off and dropped it on one of the beds. “I hate the stuff.”
Jin wasn’t crazy about chicken soup either. Her mother, who also believed in its supposed healing power, had fed it to Jin and Mey not only when they’d gotten sick, but also as a preemptive measure nearly every winter day.
Needless to say, they both grew to hate it.
“I’ll have some.” Carol reached for the second container. “Does it come with noodles or matzo balls?”
“Noodles,” Vivian said.
Jin removed the lid from the container and picked up the plastic spoon that came with the meal.
Fighting nausea, she put a spoonful in her mouth and tried not to gag. It wasn’t the soup’s fault. The broth was only a little too salty, and the noodles were quite good, but her stomach’s churning had little to do with the food.
She was worried, stressed and tired, but she didn’t want to repay Vivian’s kindness with rudeness. She could force down a few spoonfuls before excusing herself, getting into one of the beds, and crawling under the blanket.
54
Kalugal
Kalugal brought up the feed from the camera scanning the front yard. “What do you think about the gazebo for my meeting with the spy?”
Rufsur leaned over his shoulder. “Your cranky cousin might object because of the roof. His snipers wouldn’t have a clear shot at your head.”
Kalugal turned and smiled at his friend. “So, it occurred to you too that he is likely to use drones?”
“They are not going to sit on top of our fence where we can take them out easily, and other than that, there is no conveniently available spot. There are no utility poles or even street lamps to perch on top of. So, unless he brings in a crane or two, drones are his best option.”
Kalugal leaned back in his chair and gazed at his front yard, following the surveillance camera as it swiveled around. It was beautifully done, and the landscaping was perfect. There were no tall trees for anyone to hide in, only flowers and bushes that were artfully arranged.
Regrettably, he wasn’t set up for offense, and he didn’t have drones. His men were stationed on the roof of the house, exposed to Kian’s remote-controlled equipment.
He was at a disadvantage, and they both knew that.
His setup was defensive, with state-of-the-art security systems, a bunker that could withstand bombing, and a couple of short escape routes. His men had the best rifles money could buy and an assortment of cold weapons, but that was the extent of it.
Was Kian better equipped?
He could only speculate, but it made sense that the clan would be better armed than he was, even if it was only to defend themselves. Kalugal doubted that his father had eased up on his efforts to eliminate his archnemesis and her progeny.
They needed to be prepared.
Kalugal, on the other hand, had managed to fly under his father’s radar. Or so he hoped. Evidently, his mother didn’t believe that he had perished during WWII, and she'd probably shared her thoughts with her mate, which made Kalugal wonder why Navuh had never come after him or at least tried to find him.
