Rise of the Gryphon (35 page)

E
valle’s eyes met Storm’s. He hadn’t moved from watching the battle dome activity, but he couldn’t hear what was going on either.

Her heart hadn’t beaten this hard when she was fighting Boomer. She lifted a finger and touched the emerald, mouthing the words
My choice
.

Then she stepped forward to complete the line of Alterants accepting Kizira’s Medb deal.

Storm’s mouth dropped open. He started shaking his head and yelled a string of words she didn’t need her hearing to know were curses. Then he took off to his left.

Toward the access hall for the holding area and this battle dome.

Would the guards let him come in?

Give her one chance to say good-bye?

Shouting echoed down the long walkway beyond Gate One, but the disturbance came no closer.

Moments later, a guard entered the battle dome carrying Dame Lynn’s head. The Domjon addressed Kizira. “Our commitment has been satisfied.”

Kizira sent an appraising look over her group of Alterants. “Agreed.”

“We’ve had an issue that requires locking down the premises until it’s handled.”

“In that case, we shall vacate the premises immediately.”

What had happened for Kol to lock down the event site?

The room lost shape in the next instant, swirling with a blur of colors, and the air whistled around her. Evalle’s stomach went into spin cycle.

That was the last she saw of the Achilles Beast Championship.

Maybe the last time she’d see Storm. And Lanna. She trusted him to take care of Lanna and get the girl home safely.

Someone clutched Evalle’s legs.

If it was Bernie, he’d be sorry as soon as they landed. She wouldn’t make it far without throwing up.

When the spinning ended, Evalle stumbled to her right and ran into a wall. Her stomach wasn’t happy, but no volcanic eruption so far. She blinked at the dark room, dizzy and straining to see where she’d landed.

Even in pitch black, she had sharp night vision.

Gradually, very low light filled the room.

Evalle removed her glasses. She’d been dumped in a bedroom with a tall king-size bed covered in a gold-, black- and ruby-colored comforter with piles of pillows to match. Cushy contemporary sofa and chair in gold against one wall, with a Tiffany-style lamp on a glass table where the furniture met at a right angle. Strange mix of old and new.

Kizira appeared.

Evalle shoved the sunglasses back in place and crossed
her arms. She leaned against the wall to appear at ease, but in truth it was to keep from losing her balance. “Where am I?”

“TÅμr Medb. Wasn’t that your goal in entering the beast games?”

No, her goal had been to free Tristan, not get captured, too. “I’m not going to work for the Medb.”

“Your stay here will be short, and it can be pleasant if you so choose. It can also be painfully unpleasant.”

“So you play good cop, bad cop all by yourself?” Evalle taunted.

“Careful. You’re not the only one who will suffer if you fail to comply.”

What was she talking about? Evalle had no one. She’d vanished in front of Storm without a word, and the Beladors would disown her immediately.

Evalle shrugged, as if she didn’t care about anyone. “What else can you do to Tristan? He’s already a zombie slave.” The best way she could help Tristan, and maybe herself, was by pretending she believed he’d drunk the Kool-Aid.

“I wasn’t talking about Tristan.” Kizira floated across the room and spoke very softly, as if they were conspiring on something. “You may think your friend shows bad judgment to associate with a Medb, but I would challenge that he shows far worse judgment by trusting you with his family. I suggest you rest and eat. You’ll need your strength for the next forty-eight hours once we start tomorrow.”

“Who’re you talking about?”

“If you’re as bright as you’ve been touted, you’ll figure it out. Just make sure no one leaves this room but you. I changed the sofa to a sleeper, which should accommodate your needs.”

With that, Kizira vanished.

Evalle studied on her words.
You may think your friend shows bad judgment to associate with a Medb, but I would challenge that he shows far worse judgment by trusting you with his family.
She eyed the sofa bed.

Had Kizira been talking about Quinn and referencing Evalle’s poor job of taking care of Lanna?

If that was the case, then when Kizira said Evalle wouldn’t be the only one to suffer, she meant . . .

“Show your face, Lanna.”

Quinn’s cousin took solid form beside the bed.

Evalle hadn’t thought this could get any worse, but Lanna had just proved her wrong. “What are you doing here?”

“I am sorry. Grendal saw me again! I got away before he could touch me, but . . .” Her eyes shifted down with guilt.

“All you had to do was stay put and leave with Storm.”

“I could not go to Storm,” Lanna said meekly, raising pitiful eyes to her.

Evalle felt a chill ride across her skin at the fear in Lanna’s voice. “What happened?”

“I wait near holding area for you, and Storm came running up. Then guards surround Storm.”

“Why?”

“Grendal said Storm snuck spy inside beast fights. That Storm was reason VIPER waited outside. Grendal described me. Said I was spy and I would tell VIPER about Noirre majik trades.”

Evalle grabbed her head, feeling it might explode at any minute. “Unfreakinbelievable.”

“That is why I follow guard with Dame Lynn head to where Alterants held. Only place Grendal could not enter. I thought if no one find me, then no one can prove Storm did anything wrong.”

For a teenager, she had good survival skills. Evalle had to give her credit in the logic department, too. Lanna was right. Kol might be a lunatic demigod, but punishing someone without proof would undermine his next event.

Please tell me Storm got away without harm
.

But if VIPER waited outside the event, what had happened then?

Evalle didn’t know. She could only hope that maybe Storm used the potion, even though she doubted he would, then shifted into his jaguar form so he could disappear into the night.

Cumberland had miles and miles of undisturbed forest.

And Storm had resources. He had the invisibility potion and would have had a plan in place to get her off the island. But now she had Lanna to contend with and keep safe. “You can’t leave this room, Lanna.”

“Ever?”

“I have a good and bad feeling that this is a short visit based on what Kizira said, but she knows you’re with me and I don’t have any idea what the Medb have planned.”

“I heard what she said. Why does she let me stay?”

Evalle debated on how much to tell Lanna, but the truth might be her best choice considering where they were and what Lanna could hear before leaving. “Quinn has known Kizira a long time. I don’t think Kizira wants to harm anyone related to Quinn.”

Lanna frowned, thinking hard, then glared at Evalle. “You would accuse my cousin of befriending the enemy?”

“I’m not accusing Quinn of anything, but he does know her. You can ask him about it when you see him again, but please don’t repeat that to anyone here or back home.” Evalle hoped that she and Lanna would see Quinn sooner rather than later. “In the meantime, don’t make this any more difficult than it already is. If they come for me, cloak yourself until I’m gone and do
not
leave this room, no matter what.”

“I understand.”

“Yeah, well, that whole ‘I understand’ won’t work. Quinn believes you’re good for your word, so I want you to say you will not leave this room unless I tell you.”

Some teens might pout, but not Lanna. Her jaw was rigid with annoyance. She didn’t like being outmaneuvered. “I give my word. I will not leave this room unless you tell me.”

“Thank you.”

“But you will lose our best chance for information if
you do not use me. I can stay cloaked for half hour now and I am working on
other
abilities.”

For a fleeting moment, Evalle considered allowing Lanna to move around invisible for intel, but she just as quickly dismissed the idea as stupid. “Do your practicing in here and keep it quiet when you do.”

“You should help me.”

Do I look like a majik trainer?
“I doubt any of your tricks can help us here. We’re in Medb central, the hub of dark majik like nothing you’ve ever seen. Even Grendal couldn’t get us out of here.”

“That is because Grendal cannot do something that I can.”

Evalle walked over and dropped to the sofa, sinking deep in the soft cushions. Her body had healed, but she was beat. On a drawn-out sigh, she asked, “What are you practicing that a powerful wizard can’t do?”

“Teleporting.”

L
anna’s claim of teleporting had sounded much more promising last night.

When Evalle heard a
thunk,
then “Ouch” for the fiftieth time, she rolled over on her back on the king-size bed and pushed up on her elbows.

Lanna stood next to the door to a bathroom just as large as this bedroom suite. She rubbed her shoulder.

Evalle admired Lanna’s determination, but she doubted the girl’s body would survive this training. “You’re going to be black-and-blue when Quinn sees you again. He doesn’t need another reason to kill me besides letting you end up in TÅμr Medb.”

“I am not thinking something right, but this would be easier outside in open area.”

“I don’t think they have an outside like at home. This is another realm. I heard that Queen Flaevynn can’t leave the tower because of some curse. If the TÅμr Medb realm included land like Treoir does, we’d probably be able to see it through the windows. We’d
have
windows.”

Lanna got that not-ready-to-quit look on her face and vanished, reappearing in the middle of the room.

Evalle clapped. “There you go.”

“That is simple,” the girl muttered. “We need to
travel much farther to escape. I must go from one room to another before I can go distances.” She walked to the corner farthest from the bathroom and vanished again.

Then
thunked
the same door.

Evalle winced when Lanna appeared, rubbing her head this time. “Take a break, okay. And don’t try to go anywhere outside these two rooms.”

“I gave my word.”

“Didn’t mean to insult you. Just don’t want you teleporting into Flaevynn.”

“Evalle?” a brusque male voice called from outside the room.

Lanna dove into the bathroom, pulling the door almost closed and flipping off the lights.

Surprised to get any notice before someone popped into her new holding cell, Evalle answered in her surly I-haven’t-had-coffee-yet voice, “What?”

“The queen wants to see you. Get dressed.”

“Why? Nudity bother her?” Not that Evalle was leaving here without clothes on.

“No, because I’m opening this door in sixty seconds.”

The chuckle at the end of that belonged to Tristan, who would call her bluff.

Crap.
Evalle scrambled out of the bed in nothing but her panties. Kizira must have supplied the clothes that Evalle and Lanna had found in a wardrobe, in both their sizes. When Evalle couldn’t locate a bra, she yanked on a gray T-shirt and jeans and was zipping up her boots when Tristan opened the door.

Evalle shoved back a mass of hair that had yet to see a brush and stood.

Tristan, on the other hand, looked as if he’d just showered before putting on a long-sleeved powder-blue knit top and black jeans. Dressed for success at Medb Inc? He stepped inside, closing the door, then gave her a decidedly male once-over.

Where was her dagger when she needed it?

Kizira had relieved her of it during teleporting last night. “Look at me like that before I’ve had coffee and I’ll hand you your gonads in a jar.”

“Damn, you’re evil in the morning.”

“You have no idea.” Especially after a night of dreaming about Storm, who might have had to fight his way to freedom,
if
he hadn’t decided to make good on his promise to destroy the place. She hoped not. She wanted him safe and missed him so much she felt physically ill. “What does the queen bitch want, Tristan?”

“That’s not the right attitude if you want to survive being here.”

“I don’t
want
to be here to begin with.”

“Then you shouldn’t have shown up last night,” Tristan snapped back at her, but that wasn’t anger behind his words. She heard concern and guilt when he added, “I wish you hadn’t.”

Evalle walked over to him, keeping her voice down. “Work with me and we’ll get out of here.”

“I’m trying to find a way to get you and Petrina out, but you can’t depend on me. Flaevynn has Kizira compelling all of us. I can only talk about something
I haven’t been forbidden to discuss, and I can’t do anything to help you escape.”