Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set (18 page)

Daniel pushed his way between two small groups of brawling humans and kept them apart with a combination of strength and sheer will.

“Why are you fighting?” he demanded as the leaders of the two groups panted and glared at each other.

“Who in hell are you?” one of the men said, curling his fists.

“They're traitors!” said a woman on the other side. “They're working for the Nightsiders against their own kind!”

“Lies!” the first man said.

“Stop,” Daniel ordered. “What do you mean, working for the Nightsiders?”

“Stealing people for the bloodsuckers!” the woman yelled.

Nausea built in Daniel's throat. He had denied that humans were involved in the disappearances, and Isis had agreed with him.

“What proof do you have?” Daniel asked. “How do you know the Opiri are taking humans?”

“Rumors,” the leader of the accused group said. “That's all they have.”

“Is that what's behind this violence?” Daniel asked. “Rumors? You turn on each other and give the Lawkeepers good reason for cracking down on the human wards?”

Just as he finished speaking, a boy threw a rock into a window across the street. Everyone turned to stare.

“This isn't about the disappearances,” Daniel said. “Something else is going on.”

“How do
you
know?” the first leader said.

“He's Isis's favorite,” the woman shouted. “
He's
with them, too!”

“Isis is with
you
,” Daniel said, holding out his hands as several of the humans lunged toward him. “If you have a grudge against the Opiri, you'd be wise not to reject your allies.”

“They still rule,” a man said. “We've never been full equals to them.”

“If the Opiri are the problem, giving them reason to judge you as savages doesn't help your cause.”

“Don't listen to him,” the first leader said. “He's been corrupted by—”

He broke off as three Lawkeepers armed with shock sticks appeared and began moving in their direction. The humans scattered, each group ignoring the other.

Turning on his heel, Daniel set out for Hugh's tavern.

CHAPTER 19

A
t first it seemed as if the tavern was securely locked up for the night, windows latched, still as a fortress anticipating a deadly attack. The neighborhood was just as quiet, human citizens hiding in their homes or out roaming with the angry mobs in the thin predawn light. Daniel moved cautiously to the door and pressed his ears against the heavy wood.

The place was far from deserted. He could hear murmuring voices...one, two, four. Six in all, urgently discussing the problems outside in tense whispers.

Daniel knew they were closer to the back kitchen door than the front, so he circled the building and paused until he heard the voices drift into silence.

“It's Daniel,” he said, his mouth close to the door. “Let me in, Hugh.”

He knew they heard him; a chair scuffed against the floor, and two voices argued in soft tones. After a long moment, Daniel heard footsteps moving up to the door. The latch clicked, and Hugh stood framed in the doorway, his shoulders squared and his expression far from welcoming.

“What do you want?” he said.

“I didn't think we should wait for another meeting,” Daniel said.

“You walked out on us before.”

“Isis promised to work with you,” Daniel said. “Was there something I missed?”

Hugh threw a glance over his shoulder. “Come in,” he said, “before the Lawkeepers see you.”

Slipping through the door, Daniel faced the nervous stares of Hugh's companions, three he had met before and two he didn't recognize.

“Do you expect the Lawkeepers to come hunting you?” he asked, standing by the door. “Are you suspected of inciting the protests out there?”

“We had nothing to do with it,” Hugh said, leaning against the counter with his arms folded across his chest.

“Apparently,” Daniel said, “the news of human disappearances is all over the city. Humans are accusing other humans of being behind them.”

“We have no control over that,” Hugh said, glancing at his companions.

“You might try to stop it.”

“How can we, if the Opiri are provoking all this?” Hugh set his jaw. “Where is Isis?”

“She's in her apartment,” Daniel said. “Someone tried to kill her.”

A muffled gasp emerged from the four men and women sitting at the table by the counter. “Who?” Hugh asked.

“Humans.”

“What did they do to her?” Greta asked.

“They ambushed her in an alley when she was alone. She fought back, and they ran.”

“She didn't scare them into attacking her?” Kevin asked.

Daniel took one long step, standing toe-to-toe with the younger man. “I don't care what you think of the rest of the Opiri,” he said, “but you'll show respect to Isis.”

“If someone attacked her, it had to be part of the plot against humans,” one of the strangers said. “Did she report them?”

“Anu was there right after it happened. If she wanted those humans caught, she could have seen to it easily. But she was more concerned about the consequences if she insisted on finding her assailants...what it could mean for every human in the city.” He laughed humorlessly. “Right now, humans are doing themselves enough damage. If a real rebellion breaks out—”

“It will never get that far,” Hugh said, his words more certain than his tone.

“We have to get people to calm down until we find out what's really going on.” Daniel moved for the door. “I didn't take you for a coward, Hugh. You wanted acknowledgment of what you believe is going on in Tanis. You're getting it now, but it's out of hand. Take responsibility.”

“Who are you to give orders?” Kevin demanded.

Daniel gave him a hard look. “Someone has to,” he said, and stepped through the door, closing it firmly behind him.

* * *

Isis changed quickly, ignoring the slight ache in her shoulder and the quickly healing scratches on her arms, and quietly left her apartment. She knew that Daniel hadn't gone home as Anu had advised, but she had no idea where he'd head next. Even if he tried to stop the fighting Anu had described, he was only one man, and he'd be looking for explanations.

Just as
she
would.

She stepped into the apartment elevator before she realized it was already occupied. The doors closed, and she was left alone with a tall Opir whose face and eyes were invisible under his cowl. Instinctively, she felt he was dangerous, and also had the strong feeling that she'd met him before.

She was trying to analyze his scent when he spoke.

“Anu and his chosen companions mean ill for the humans of Tanis,” he said in a low, hoarse voice. “The missing humans are part of it. There are records. Find them.”

“Who are you? Why did you come to me?”

The elevator reached the first floor, and the Opir strode through the open doors without answering. Isis tried to follow, but he had vanished like an illusion.

He could have been anyone, she thought: one of the Nine in disguise, an Opir living in any one of the towers. The fact that he knew she was looking for something—even
what
she was looking for—unnerved her greatly. She had no reason to trust a ghost who appeared and disappeared within seconds.

It could even be a trap, if someone was attempting to prove that she was acting against the Nine. The strange Opir's words ran through her head again and again: Anu, the missing humans, records. Records of what? And where would she find them?

She hesitated just outside the building, considering her next move carefully. There was, of course, the public Hall of Records. The records included the names and ranks of every Opir who had lived in the old Tartaros: those who had chosen to remain as equals to humans and those who had left. They also held the names of every human serf and current citizen: those who had stayed and those who had chosen to take their chances at a life outside the protection of a Citadel. The name of every immigrant was carefully noted, along with the date of immigration. The same was true for those who left Tanis for any reason.

But the Hall was not the only place where information of that kind was stored. Isis knew that Anu kept his own records in the tower, a duplicate set meant to be a backup should anything happen to the public records.

It seemed highly unlikely that Anu would keep anything incriminating in either set of records. But the only way to be sure was to return to the tower and look.

The tower was quiet, as it usually was, but Isis could also sense an emptiness that reassured her. She paused at each floor and listened carefully at the doors. She heard servants moving about inside, but no indication that the suites' owners were in residence.

All dealing with the problems below
, she thought. At least some, like Athena and Bes, would be working
with
the humans to find a solution. She didn't want to think about what Ereshkigal and Hera—and Anu himself—might be up to.

She had to take a chance. She rode the elevator to Anu's suite. He had left no guards—he would hardly have a reason to, unless he believed humans would dare to invade the tower—and Isis listened again, her heart pounding in her chest. She could hear one of Anu's several servants moving within. She concocted a strange but somewhat plausible story and knocked on the door.

As much as she had come to despise her abilities, she made use of her influence to “suggest” to the servant that he had no reason to question her claim that Anu had sent her to fetch a book on Tanisian law. He let her in, and she made her way quickly to Anu's private office.

The room was as big as any other in his suite, the shelves filled with antique books and bound writings from before and after the War. There were also polished wooden file cabinets along one long wall, all locked, though not beyond her ability to break into.

Just to be thorough, she searched his desk first. He and the Nine left most of the administrative paperwork to the Council, but Anu often used pen and paper to communicate with them.

She found nothing of interest, and continued to the file cabinets. Most of the cabinets were labeled by contents, some alphabetically, but she had absolutely no idea where to start.

She returned to Anu's desk, looking for a key. She found it without much difficulty, and unlocked the cabinets one by one.

The duplicate records were there, as she had assumed, but nothing seemed suspicious or out of place, let alone incriminating.

Until she found a folder labeled “Hannibal,” completely empty. Isis's neck prickled. There must be a reason there was nothing in the folder.

She quickly locked all the cabinets and hurried out of the library with the appropriate book. The servant wished her a good day without showing the slightest curiosity about why she'd been in Anu's office so long. She asked him casually where Hannibal lived, assuming he resided with the other Opiri in one of the other towers.

The servant surprised her by telling her that Hannibal had his own rooms on the lower level of the Household, once the realm of human serfs. Gritting her teeth, Isis worked her influence again, this time sending the servant out on an errand and making certain that he would forget she had ever been there.

Once he had gone, she rushed down the stairs into the former serfs' quarters. There were many narrow halls and small rooms set aside for the higher-ranked serfs, but Isis knew that Hannibal would never stay in one of those simple rooms. She continued into the common area, and found that Hannibal had transformed it into a combination of general living quarters and bedchamber, using a creative placement of drapes and furniture, all of the finest quality.

There was a desk with many drawers, and they were locked. Unable to find a key, she pried the top drawer open as gently as she could.

The drawer was virtually empty. She opened the second drawer and then the third. There was a thin stack of papers there, loosely bound. Isis pulled out the bundle and laid it on the desktop.

Names. Lists of human names, with ages and dates written next to them. The humans were of both sexes, primarily in their late teens to midtwenties, and the dates went back almost exactly six months.

Isis knew without question that these must be the missing humans. She was nearly as certain that these records were meant to be accessed by Anu as well as Hannibal.

There was no information at all about what had become of the humans. Isis searched the desk again but could find no further data.

Regardless of how careful she had been, she knew that Hannibal would see that the desk had been broken into and would surely report it to Anu. She had been careful in touching the papers, but her scent might give her away if Hannibal returned too soon.

That was the least of her concerns. Anu wouldn't dare hurt her in such a way that he or any of the Nine would be connected with it. Not when any conflict among them would eventually be noticed.

What she needed was proof as to why these humans had been taken, and why Anu, as the strange Opir had said, held such ill-will toward the humans of Tanis.

Leaving the drawers as they were, she ascended the stairs back to the main floor, making certain that the servant hadn't returned, and left the suite. She made it to the base of the tower without meeting anyone else, but as soon as she stepped into the ground floor lobby, she found herself facing four Opir guards, armed with stunners and shock sticks.

“Lady Isis,” one of them said, inclining his head. “We are to escort you to Anu.”

“Not if the Lady doesn't want to go,” Daniel said, appearing in one of the three arched doorways at the base of the tower. The guards swung around to face him, raising their stunners.

Daniel moved before Isis did. He kicked the stunner out of one Opir's hand and turned on the guard already coming for him. Isis darted in to grab the third Opir's shock stick and turned it on him. It only immobilized him for a moment, but she used that second to remove his other weapon and toss it through the nearest archway. He came at her, and she wrestled with him, calling upon her most ancient strength to push him into the wall. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that Daniel was still occupied with the first two Opiri, and the fourth was almost right behind her.

She banged the third Opir's head against the wall, dazing him, and whirled about to kick the fourth Opir's feet out from under him. After that, she gave herself wholly to the battle, and the individual moves no longer had any meaning except as part of the dance.

When it was over, all four Opiri lay on the ground, disarmed, two unconscious and two barely moving. Daniel strode toward her, caught her around the waist, and kissed her. She responded instantly, but the moment lasted only a few seconds before Daniel set her back.

“We can't stay here,” he said, collecting the weapons and tossing them out of the archway as far as he could throw them. “Anu didn't send four guards without a reason.”

“How did you know I was here?”

“You weren't in your apartment and this seemed the next place that you would be. I won't ask you what you've been doing until we're somewhere safe.”

“Anu would not dare hurt me.”

“He's underestimated you,” Daniel said. “He won't do that again.”

“And he has gravely underestimated
you
,” Isis said, staring at the fallen Opiri.

“What do we do with them?” Daniel asked, touching a fresh laceration over his cheekbone. “The minute they wake up...”

With a sigh of deep regret, Isis knelt beside the nearest semiconscious Opir. “I have used this ability too many times already,” she said. “This will be the last time, Daniel.”

He nodded, seeming as conflicted as she felt. “Do what you have to do,” he said.

Isis touched the Opir's face, stroking his cheek. His eyes opened. She smiled.

“Look at me, Opir,” she said gently. “You were never able to find me, as Anu commanded. You will not remember the fight that followed. You will conceal your injuries and keep them covered until they heal, and tell Anu that you saw no one but a few Opiri at the tower while you waited. Do you understand?”