Crest (Ondine Quartet Book 3) (32 page)

Frustration flooded my veins. No progress was being made and I was highly aware of the attention directed my way.

I was no closer to uncovering either the traitor or the Shadow. The Armicant refused to help, the entire Belicoux family was now pissed off at me, and I was once again the subject of gossip.

Whispers and stares had already started. According to Chloe, the rumor was I'd deliberately picked a fight with a gardinel and gotten my ass kicked.

By the time I arrived at the entrance hall, barely leashed temper simmered under my skin. Elites waited outside the palace doors.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked Cam. "I thought we were supposed to meet at the Áimoni."

"Didn't you get the message?" Alex said. "The note was left on our door."

I'd been too exhausted to notice anything last night.

"We're supposed to meet here." Blaise shook his head. "I think something's up."

Garreth and Julian approached.

"Today is mail day," Garreth said. "A bunch of packages are waiting at Jesse's place. You're going to sort the deliveries and load them onto the plane."

I suppressed a groan. Of all the useless, waste of time things to do...

Granite eyes shot to me. "Is there a problem, Irisavie?"

"No, sir."

"Head Chevalier LeVeq has an errand to run so he'll accompany you."

Mild relief flooded me. Julian wasn't a hardass so at least the experience wouldn't be miserable.

Matt waited for us on the pier. A fine grey mist colored the waters and sky, adding a mournful touch to the morning.

He grinned. "Kendra and Julian. What a surprise."

The others glanced at me but I was too tired to explain. "Hey, Matt."

An half-hour later, we arrived at the familiar lakeshore in front of Fredriksen Flyers.

Jesse and Lucas stood beside a large pile of boxes. At least three hundred packages were piled into neat stacks.

Julian made a disgusted sound. "Redavi can't go without their stuff for two weeks."

Cam nodded. "Heard Marquisa Rosamund complaining about what the air was doing to her skin. "

This was going to take several trips to bring over. Apparently, the Redavi version of camping was to build a luxury resort in the middle of the woods.

Julian faced us. "You guys help Jesse, Matt, and Lucas organize and load this stuff. Kendra, you're coming with me."

I startled.

Whatever he needed me for probably had something to do with our investigation. But no matter how eager I was to work, it didn't seem fair to pull me out of a training task.

Judging by the looks on the elites' faces, they felt the same way.

Cam crossed his arms. "How the hell does she get out of it?"

"Yeah." Blaise's speculative eyes flickered between me and Julian. "Garreth ordered all of us to do this."

"But I'm Head Chevalier, which makes me in charge of all training programs. Including elites."

That took everyone aback.

Julian was older, but he'd hung out with us on several occasions. His laid back personality made it easy to forget he was actually in a position of authority.

"Does Garreth know about this?"

The way he was suddenly pulling rank left me uneasy.
 

"Garreth reports to me for elite training, not the other way around. Come on. We need to get going."

He headed toward the row of SUVs parked next to the cabin.

I shot the others an apologetic look. Alex was preoccupied with the mail, but Cam raised his brow. Blaise and Ethan just looked pissed.

Suppressing a sigh of irritation, I followed Julian to the car.

"Don't do that." I climbed into the passenger seat.

The engine purred to life. "What?"

"Pull me out like that. It looks like favoritism." I glanced at him. "They'll think something's going on between us."

Silence descended. Maybe I could've phrased that better.

"I'm just saying it makes me seem unequal with everyone else," I said stiffly.

"Don't worry." A trace of bitterness underscored his words. "No one thinks you're with me."

Tension stretched and I concentrated on keeping my mouth shut.

All I wanted was to be honest with him. But my verbal ineptitude kept hurting him.

I forced myself to look out the window. "What's going on?"

It took a few moments for him to answer. "My father's doing some legwork."

Jeeves had the same Projection magic as Julian and I'd long suspected his work for my grandmother was more involved than that of Chief Counsel.

I hadn't seen him around the palace for two days.

"We're heading to the nearest town, about an hour away." Julian glanced at me. "Maybe the info he has is worth the time you're forced to spend with me."

"You know that's not what —"

"Forget it."

The rest of the trip was spent in uncomfortable silence.

The narrow ribbon of rough gravel road slowly wound its way inland. Gradually, it widened, surface turning smooth and paved. A few trucks passed and scattered pockets of human life appeared.

A ramshackle wooden building came into view. The roadhouse squatted on a dirt plot along a long stretch of highway. Julian parked beside an enormous truck, its size concealing our car from the main road.

Empath swept the surroundings. No Aquidae. "All clear."

I reached for the door.

"Wait." Fingers curled around my wrist.

Magic rippled in a shimmer of pale white. A middle-aged man with a beer belly and receding hairline now sat behind the wheel.

I glanced down at myself. Fifty pounds heavier, a few inches taller, and wearing a flannel shirt so horrible, it deserved to be in Alex's collection.

"Can't go in without our costumes, sweet iris," he murmured.

The sensation of his Projection wrapped around me, familiar and comforting.

Miles of wilderness surrounded us, but for a moment, it almost felt like we were back in New York.

His eyes met mine, mouth curving slightly in acknowledgment.

Outside, icy air bit my skin and I shoved my hands deep into my pockets. Julian led the way into the roadhouse.

Eyes quickly adjusted to the murky darkness. Virtue compiled a quick assessment.

One man, gun tucked under his waistband, in a booth in the corner. Strange eyes, straggly hair. Lewd thoughts, easily triggered anger streak. Definitely a loose cannon.

Another guy, probably the bartender, sweeping up dirt in the corner. Tired and burnt out. He didn't bother looking up.

The third man at the bar surprised me. A demillir, probably Rogue, radiating calm wariness. He hunched over a glass of liquor, a cap pulled low over his face.

Bartender moved behind the counter. "What do you want?"

"Two beers." Julian settled next to the demillir and I took the empty stool beside him.

He was probably the contact to take us to Jeeves. Bartender slapped two bottles in front of us and Julian paid.

I took a sip and gagged. Lukewarm beer was nasty.

"You headin' South?" Julian quietly asked the stranger.

The guy didn't turn from his drink. "To
havre de l'eau
."

I almost spit my beer out again at his casual use of the phrase engraved on Haverleau's gate.

Weird guy in the corner started looking intently at me. Paranoia crept under my skin.

"Hey," he slurred.

Great.

"You always attract too much attention," Julian said under his breath. "Time to go."

"Hey. Where you goin'?"

Ignoring his ramblings, we slipped back out.

As soon as we returned to the car, Julian removed our glamour. Tall stranger exited the roadhouse and approached. He winked at me through the window and opened the back door.

I turned in my chair to look at him. "Jeeves?"

He slid in and removed the cap. A wide smile graced an average, slightly ruddy face. "Could you tell?"

I shook my head. But now that I knew, I caught flecks of periwinkle in his dark eyes and a shade of him in the way he leaned against the seat.

Nothing else gave him away.

"Not bad." Julian eased the car onto the highway. "I would've gone with a more unhealthy look. You look too nourished."

A flash of magic lightly reverberated in the car and Jeeves returned to his usual self, immaculately dressed in a pinstriped navy blue suit.

"I used this look when I met with our contact. Didn't bother to change it for the rendezvous point."

"What were you checking out?" I asked.

"Some of the locals reported seeing monsters in the woods." Jeeves slid so he sat between the front seats. He used the rearview mirror to adjust his red tie. "Bartender is a friend of ours, a human in the elemental network. He reported the rumors and I came to check out what people were saying."

"Monsters?"

He smiled. "Humans don't understand magic. Sometimes they see things their mind can't logically explain and describe them as monsters."

Julian glanced at his father in the rearview mirror. "Did anything come up?"

"I spoke directly to five people who claimed to have seen something in the woods at night." Jeeves shook his head. "All report seeing something that looked human moving at inhuman speed."

That sounded like Aquidae.

"But details across the sightings don't match up," he continued. "Not surprising, since memory can get muddied when people are frightened. I don't know if there's something for us to be concerned about. But I'll ask Prince Belicoux to dispatch a few gardinels outside the wards for security."

The car turned west, highway stretching cold and desolate before us.

We hadn't seen a single truck on our way back. No random vehicles or animals.

Even the branches and bushes stopped swaying.

The wind had stopped.

Instincts flared.

Empath reached out, sweeping the woods as we drove past.

Silence pulsed in my ear.

"What is it?" Julian murmured.

"I don't know."

It was too quiet.

The back of my neck itched. Julian's fingers tightened around the wheel. He sensed it, too.

Car turned off the main road onto the dirt trail leading to the lake.

Apprehension built. Something was wrong.

I pushed my Virtue toward Jesse's office.

Pure terror rocked through me.

No, no, no.

"Aquidae." Breath came out in a rush at the empty voids. "Six of them."

Julian slammed down the gas. The car jerked.

"How are they situated,
sondaleur
?"

Jeeves' voice was coolly polite, as if inquiring about the weather. He removed a
kouperet
from a holster hidden beneath his pant leg.

"Three up front, three in the back." I concentrated, willing Empath to see for us.

"Another group of three elementals and two humans. I think they're in the safe room."

Heart pounded against my ribs.

Oh, God.

Fingers dug into my thighs and I swallowed hard to hold back a scream. "One elemental, one human out front."

And they were in excruciating pain.

Car bounced and jostled, racing its way toward the water. Branches scratched the window, rough brush tugged the sides.

A human thread suddenly vanished and my stomach clenched.

Hand gripped my dagger tight. Adrenaline burned my tongue, fingers turned cold, and an icy fury settled in my lungs.

Hold on.

We shot through the last copse of trees. Front door hung off its hinges.

Julian slammed the brakes, Jeeves and I already out of the car.

Magic surged. Fresh air curled in on itself, tainted by an unnatural disturbance.

We stormed in.

Ripped files and scattered pieces of overturned, smashed furniture littered the room. Blood painted the floor and walls.

Fear and power crackled against my skin. Heightened senses processed everything with crystal clarity.

Nothing existed but these beasts who'd invaded our space. I sank into the rhythm pumping through my veins, the dance born from years of practice.

An Aquidae charged.

I dodged. Dagger cleaved its back, carving through muscle and tissue. Thick blood splashed skin.

Blade spun and I shoved deep into its Origin.

It dropped. I didn't stop to see if it was dead.

One
.

A second demon launched at Jeeves. His leg whipped out in an elegant arc, movement smooth and precise, catching it squarely on the jaw.

Its head snapped back and he drove his shoulder into its stomach. With a quick flick of his wrist, a golden flash pierced its Origin.

Two
.

A bellow cut through the air, a supernatural roar of pure aggression. Julian took it down with four strikes.

Three
.

Another lunged. Savage, inhuman eyes bored into me.

Knees bent, arm snapped forward.

Dagger sliced through femoral artery like it was butter. I leaped to my feet and pivoted. A fluid thrust into its neck.

Four
.

Bodies smashed through the side window and the remaining two Aquidae headed east into the forest. One carried a long, narrow package under its arm.

I tore out of the cabin and followed. Empath locked tight, tracking the darting vacuums through the woods.

After one hundred yards, they split, vanishing into the wilderness.

Breathing hard, I halted. The others were still back at the cabin. Separation would leave them vulnerable.

But we needed to know where they were headed.

Magic continued to trail their movements.

Farther.

Sweat dripped down my face and Virtue strained at the distance.

Air writhed and shrubs cringed as the Aquidae spiraled through them. Both voids suddenly veered toward each other, like a V coming to a point.

They stopped.

Fear scorched down my spine and nausea swelled.

A horde of black voids waited along the edge of the woods. At least a hundred and fifty of them, maybe more.

And they knew we were here.

Legs and arms pumped. I willed my feet to go faster.

Mind tracked the time since I sensed the Aquidae nest.