Rogue (Book 2) (The Omega Group) (9 page)

The story Bidzil told was difficult for Carter to believe.
Although his daily life was filled with the unbelievable, he still had a hard
time accepting things that he couldn’t see or touch for himself. He’d grown up
to tales of Chief Ahiga’s tribe shifting for the first time. His bedtime
stories revolved around their god, Tochapa, and the vision he sent their
healer. He knew those stories were true—he was living proof—and could easily
accept that those things happened a thousand years ago. But that was the last
time, as far as anyone knew, that Tochapa had sent someone a message.

Until today, according to Bidzil.

That morning, the Havasupai council had met to discuss their
plan of retaliation for the Yavapai attack. Bidzil said he was unable to calm
their bloodlust and went home to pray for guidance. That prayer turned into a
vision.

********

A man stood at the edge of a cliff draped in a long black
robe, the hood of which obscured his face. His hands moved like those of a
maestro directing his orchestra, but instead of music, the sounds of battle
filled the air.

Far below, unaware of the hooded man’s presence, two groups
were in the midst of a bloody assault. Bodies—human, wolf, and bear—littered the
battlefield. Hungry buzzards circled overhead, eagerly awaiting their chance to
feast upon the remains of the fallen.

A lone canary swooped in and out of the scene, watching the
action from far above.

Each time the fighting slowed, the maestro’s movements
increased their fervor, and the conflict below would reach yet another
crescendo. One by one, the warriors fell until there was no one left to fight.

********

Everyone present looked enraptured by Bidzil’s story, even
the Yavapai chief. Bidzil himself was the only one not under the spell.

“There are things from my vision that I, as yet, do not
understand.”

Although visions were symbolic by nature, Carter thought the
message of this one was pretty clear. “What things?”

Bidzil furrowed his brow, as though struggling to find the
right words. “It is more of a feeling I received. Tochapa seemed upset that his
vision was being ignored. I don’t know why, but I felt like I should have been
acting upon what the canary told me, but the canary in my vision told me nothing.”

Before Carter had a chance to ruminate on that bit of
craziness, rumblings from the Yavapai villagers drew his attention. Almost
every head had turned toward an old man kneeling by the fire. He seemed to wilt
under their gazes.

The chief spoke first. “What do you know about this, Dyami?”

The old man stood, eyes darting left and right before
finally settling on the ground at his feet. “I did have a vision, as you know,
but I didn’t see the same meaning as Bidzil did. These things leave much room for
interpretation and I don’t think I can be faulted if a mistake was made.”

Gina stepped forward, pushing past Carter. “But its meaning
was clear enough for you to make us pick up and move back to the canyon. You
knew exactly how and when the gift of shifting would be bestowed upon us. You
even knew what animal we would be linked with. Do you really expect us to
believe that you had difficulty interpreting Tochapa’s meaning?”

The old man didn’t answer. He reminded Carter of a child
caught in a lie, not sure whether to come clean or continue the deception in
hopes of getting away with it. But how did they all know who to blame? “Who is
he, Gina? What does he have to do with all of this?”

Keeping her gaze on Dyami she said, “He is the canary. He’s
our healer and has had a tattoo of the yellow bird on his shoulder for as long
as I can remember. Tochapa must have showed him the truth months ago, but he
kept it secret. His hatred and desire for revenge meant more to him than the
safety of his people… again.” A tear slid down her cheek and she angrily swiped
it away.

Carter took a step, instinctively wanting to comfort her,
but stopped himself before he could. No matter what this man was guilty of, it
didn’t change what Gina had done all those years ago.

Myrine stepped forward and spoke for the first time since
Bidzil began his story. “It seems we’ve all been duped. Regardless of how we
got here,” she glanced at Dyami, “we need to move on and figure out exactly who
the maestro is, and why he’s pitting your tribes against each other.”

“Oh, shit.” Han’s eyes widened as he watched Asteria emerge
from the tree line with yet another straggler in tow.

Ranger Kell Christner looked terrified.

The scene in the conference room at the El Tovar hotel
reminded Carter of a Congressional meeting. Both sides, in this case the
Havasupai and the Yavapai, were represented by their council members and a few
select others, and the arguing was incessant.

After the revelations of the evening before, Myrine decided
it was time to put both parties together. She rented the small room so as to
hold the early morning meeting on neutral ground. She thought they could
discuss their situation and work together to find the maestro.

So far, things were not going as planned.

Both tribes’ representatives arrived wearing full ceremonial
gear and raring for a fight. Hostilities, both new and ancient, found their
voice as tensions grew.

At first, Myrine tried to silence the bickering, but for
every altercation she successfully halted, two more sprung up in its place.
Appearing to give up, for the moment at least, she joined Carter in the back of
the room. “Got any advice on how to get these guys on track?”

With a sympathetic smile, Carter simply shook his head.
“There’s over a thousand years of anger between these tribes. This is probably
the first time they’ve all been in a room together. You’re not going to be able
to settle them down until they get a few things off their chests. All we can do
is wait and hopefully stop them from killing each other.”

Myrine gave a tired smile. “How very Zen of you. Any word
from Han and Jackie?”

“Not yet.”

The two members of the Omega Group had opted to miss this
morning’s meeting in order to keep an eye on Ranger Christner. The poor woman
allowed curiosity to get the best of her the night before and ended up seeing
way more than she’d bargained for. Han was able to calm her down enough to
convince her that they weren’t dangerous, but they couldn’t risk leaving her
alone. She’d been a less-than-enthusiastic guest in Jackie’s hotel room ever
since.

“What are we going to do about her?” Carter asked.

Myrine raised her eyebrows. “Honestly? I’m not sure yet.
Han’s made his position pretty clear. He doesn’t want her memories erased.”

One of their new recruits, Jason, had the ability to enter
someone’s mind and selectively eliminate memories. Even though he had yet to
complete his training with Orano and Beck, his talents had already been
utilized by the team in Savannah. As far as Carter knew, it had been a complete
success.
So, why is Han against it?

A familiar angry voice rose above the din in the room,
drawing Carter’s attention. Bill, his one-time friend, was in the midst of a
shouting match with the Yavapai healer.

“You’re obviously the maestro, Dyami. Everyone here knows
what you did.” Bill turned his attention to Carter’s father, the Havasupai
chief. “The Yavapai want a war and I say we give it to them. We can rid
ourselves of these vermin once and for all.”

Bidzil stood, placing a hand on Bill’s shoulder. “Although
Dyami is guilty of many things, he is not the maestro. My vision clearly
depicted him as the canary. The hooded man is someone else.”

Bill swiped the hand from his shoulder and glared at Bidzil.
“That’s your interpretation, not mine.”

“I assume you’re drawing from your vast experience with
visions, William.” The anger in Bidzil’s eyes belied his calm exterior. Bill
turned away and, thankfully, kept his mouth shut.

Taking advantage of the momentary quiet caused by Bill’s
outburst, Bidzil addressed the crowd. He looked at his chief. “Chief Mockta,”
he said, then turned toward the Yavapai. “Chief Istaqa, today we have an
unprecedented opportunity to put the past behind us and move forward. The
grievances of our ancestors have no place in the here and now. My vision was
clear.” He threw a glance at Bill, who just scowled. “We have a common enemy,
and we must unite if we are to defeat him.”

At first, Bidzil received only silence in response. Then
someone in the back of the room began to clap. A few more people tentatively
joined in, then, within moments, the entire room was filled with the sound of
applause.

Nicely done, Yoda.
Carter cringed at his unintended
use of Han’s nickname for their healer.
Then again, if the shoe fits…

At Bidzil’s request, and the two chiefs’ endorsements,
Myrine took over. She laid out for both tribes all of the unexplained events of
the last few months. “We came here to put an end to whatever is causing these
things, but we’re no closer to achieving that end than we were when we
started.”

Dyami spoke up. “I can clear up one of those events for you.
The glowing aura above Kaibob Forest was Tochapa’s doing. It was part of the
ceremony to give our men the ability to shift. I followed the instructions from
my vision and made the potion under the new moon. When I was finished, Tochapa
infused it with his power. The light was quite bright and would have easily
been seen from a distance.”

“Well,” Myrine said, “that explains it, then. Can you tell
us more about your vision? There might be a clue in there somewhere that can
help us figure out who we’re looking for.”

Dyami squirmed in his seat, clearly uncomfortable talking
about the very thing that got him into trouble the evening before. “I’m afraid
I don’t remember as much as you might think. I was so focused on gaining the
ability to shift that I ignored most everything else Tochapa showed me. I am
truly sorry for causing such problems.”

Carter heard Gina’s angry snort from the back of the room,
and he wasn’t the only one. Dyami raised his head and gave her an apologetic
look, as though he was pleading for her forgiveness.
What is that all about?

Before anyone else in the room had a chance to show their
displeasure, Myrine continued. “Anything you can remember would be helpful,
Dyami.”

The Yavapai healer took a moment before releasing Gina from
his gaze, then answered. “In my vision I saw my tribe. We were surrounded by
men from other tribes, standing shoulder-to-shoulder, with their backs turned
to us. Each time we tried to break through their line, one of our men was cut
down by a wolf.

“A robed man, with his face shrouded, stood off in the
distance. The wolves sat at his feet until he gestured for them to attack us.
That is when Tochapa showed me how to attain our shifting power.”

“So, I guess it’s safe to say that the robed man from your
vision is the same as the one from Bidzil’s,” Myrine said. Most of the people
in the room nodded their agreement. “And it sounds like he was controlling at
least some of the wolves. Did anything stand out to you? Anything that might
help us identify him? Bidzil mentioned that he got a feeling from his vision.”

Dyami seemed, once again, to wilt. “I don’t remember
anything that could identify the man, but I did get a feeling.” He paused, as
though not wanting to continue. “It felt like we were to help those wolves.”

“Are you kidding?” Bill stood and roared at the man.
“Tochapa sent you to help us, and instead you attacked us?”

Bidzil again laid his hand on Bill’s shoulder. “You need to
sit down, William.”

“No! I will not sit down. This man is a fraud and my wife
was almost killed in their attack.”

“I think it is time for you to leave, William. Your attitude
will only hinder us,” Bidzil said in a calm voice.

Bill looked to Carter’s father for support. Instead, the
chief simply said, “He’s right, Bill. Until you can keep yourself under
control, I think it best if you leave.”

In a huff, Bill tore off the ceremonial garb he’d worn over
his clothing and stormed out of the room.

“Thank you, Chief Mockta,” Dyami said. “Although I have
earned his anger”—he looked again at Gina—“and that of others, also.”

Carter watched as Gina’s eyes welled up. He could see her
straining to keep the tears at bay, but when they began streaming down her
cheeks, she quietly slipped out the back door.

What the hell is going on?
On the one hand, Carter
wanted to follow her, maybe offer some comfort. On the other, he had no desire
to get involved with her in any way. She’d made her choice a long time ago and
cut him out of her life in the most brutal way she could.

Despite his inner conflict, Carter found himself walking out
the door behind her, before his better judgment had the chance to stop him.
I’m
nothing if not a glutton for punishment.

The lobby was full of bustling tourists getting ready to
brave the trails of the canyon, despite the summer heat. Gina was nowhere to be
seen. There were any number of different places she could have gone—the lady’s
room, the restaurant, the bar—and Carter had no way of knowing which. As he
spun around to return to the conference room, a bright white flower caught his
eye.

Gina was walking out the main doors, her signature white
flower catching the sunlight. Carter wasn’t really ready to have a
heart-to-heart with the woman that had broken his, but the sight of her crying
was too much for him to take.
Why am I such a wuss?

When he stepped outside, he saw her leaning against a
decorative boulder to the right of the entrance. Her shoulders were hunched and
her hands covered her face. Carter slowly approached, unsure of what to say.
When he came up beside her, she turned toward him. It was everything he could
do not to pull her into his arms.

“Please, Carter. Not now. Just leave me alone,” Gina pleaded
between sobs.

“Why was Dyami apologizing to you?”

“He was apologizing to everyone.”

“It looked to me like he was speaking directly to you, Gina.
What’s going on?”

“I …” She gave him a pained look. “Please, Carter. Just
leave me alone.”

Carter stood for a moment, unsure whether to keep pushing or
let it go. His common sense won out. With one last look at the woman who had
ruined him, he headed back to the doors.

“That hat,” Gina said from behind him.

“What? What hat?”

Gina pointed over his shoulder, eyes wide. “The baseball cap
he has on is the same one the guy that was dragging you through the woods
yesterday was wearing.”

Carter turned, just in time to see Bill pulling down his
baseball cap and getting into a taxi.

Stunned, Carter watched as the cab pulled away.