The Inquisitor's Mark (20 page)

JAX CIRCLED THE ROOM
in disbelief. Evangeline stopped in the center and stared at the walls. This wasn't a bare cell like Balin's. Someone had tried to make it comfortable for a girl, and Jax's bet was on Aunt Marian. There was a pink comforter on the bed, a fluffy rug on the concrete floor, puzzle books, and a hairbrush.

“Wow.” Billy held up a corner of the comforter. “Did she hate Hello Kitty or what?”

A black Sharpie had been used to X out the eyes on all the bow-topped kitties. Jax could hardly blame Addie. Only Aunt Marian would think a Hello Kitty comforter would make up for being locked in a dungeon and tapped for blood samples.

There was graffiti on the walls, too, scrawled with the same black Sharpie: symbols and letters Jax didn't recognize. Evangeline moved from wall to wall, reading them. “What does it say?” he asked.

“Curses mostly, directed at the Dulacs in general and your uncle in particular.”

Jax grunted. Addie probably had good reason to hate Uncle Finn, since he was the one so eager to experiment with her blood.

But Evangeline looked puzzled and disturbed. “This is more than Addie being obnoxious. The writing corresponds to the location of the wards on the other side of the walls. They're not just swear words. They're magical
curses
—spells—meant to weaken the wards on this room. It's a combination of what I do with my spells and what A.J. does with his artwork. I wonder where Addie learned how to do this.”

“Maybe at the Carroways'? It was a way station for refugees, right?”

“What kind of Kin did they have passing through there?” Evangeline's brow was furrowed. “Curses skirt the dark edge of magic, like Morder subverting his loyalty oath to the Dulacs. Jax, your uncle
did
get gravely injured and this cell
was
broken into. The curses worked.”

Jax looked up at the hole in the ceiling. A freckled face stared down at him, surrounded by a halo of orange hair. Jax gasped. Tegan
told
him she'd find a way into the building! “Did you do this?” He wouldn't put it past her to have explosives on hand.

“Me?” exclaimed Tegan. “It was Kin that did it! There were Kin all over the park after you left, and some creepy
guy with a ponytail. They walked in here with lightning and wind and . . . urp . . .” She disappeared from view. Jax heard scuffling.

“Tegan?” he yelled.

“Got her!” a man hollered. Then somebody else stood at the edge of the hole, looking down. It took Jax a moment to search his memory for the name. Albert Ganner.

“Jax!” Ganner's hand twitched upward with a weapon in it. “Don't move!”

“Talk to Sloane!” Jax called out. “She knows we're here.”

“The radios don't work,” Ganner said. “We can't reach Ursula.”

And you're not going to.
“Sloane went up on the elevator,” Jax said. “With my uncle, who's hurt pretty bad. Uh, can you point that gun somewhere else?”

“One of my men was injured chasing you in the zoo today, Jax. A Pendragon vassal bashed him in the head with the butt of a rifle. And now you turn up with
her
right after we've been attacked.” Ganner looked at Evangeline.

“You wanted me to bring her here,” Jax reminded him.

Footsteps clattered in the hallway outside, and suddenly the room was filled with heavily armed men who would've been useful ten minutes ago.
It figures.
Jax put his hands up and let himself be prodded out of the room.

The nearby stairs led to an exit on the first floor—a heavy nondescript door that normally opened into an
alley, but that was instead lying on the ground, blown off its hinges. There were scorch marks on the walls and bodies laid out on the floor. A smoking hole in one wall led to the place where the floor had been blasted open above Addie's cell. Tegan was in the custody of a man who had her arm twisted so far behind her back she had to stand on her toes.

“Ease up on her,” Jax said angrily. “Are you afraid of a girl?”

“She tried to steal my gun,” the guy replied.

“Let the girl go,” called Sloane, striding down the hall with Riley on her heels.

The men whirled, guns raised. “Freeze!” Ganner yelled.

Riley put his hands up. Sloane waved at Ganner impatiently. “Put your guns down. We have a truce.”

“You're under his compulsion, Sloane,” said Ganner.

“I'm not under his compulsion; I'm in his debt,” Sloane snapped. “Owing him has made me irritable, but if you shoot him, you'll put me in breach of my oath as head of this clan, and then I'll really be ticked.”

“I won't be thrilled either,” Riley muttered.

The guns started to come down. Jax watched realization dawn on their faces one by one. “Ursula . . . ?” Ganner said hoarsely.

“Grandmother is dead,” Sloane said. Jax noticed the grief on Sloane's face was gone. He supposed she needed
to assert her new authority, but it seemed cold even for a Dulac. “Where were you when we needed you?” she demanded of her security chief.

“We were under attack.” Ganner's hand shook as he holstered his weapon.

Sloane looked around at the devastation. “You lost, I see.”

“What happened to my sister?” Evangeline asked.

When Ganner hesitated, Sloane snapped her fingers. “Answer her.”

“It was the Llyrs,” he said. “They took us by surprise, coming in through the alley. They seemed to know exactly where they were going. They targeted this room, blasted open the floor, and abducted the girl.”

“Not abducted,” piped up Tegan. “She went willingly. I was watching from across the street. She knew them—greeted one of them by name.”

Evangeline and Jax exchanged glances. What kind of friends
had
Addie made at the Carroway house?

“You're
sure
it was Llyrs?” Sloane asked.

“Six men are dead by electrocution,” Ganner said grimly. “Our radios are fried. Lights burst as they passed by. The wall and floor here were blown away. Do you know of any other Kin who can throw bolts of lightning and raise small tornadoes?”

Sloane indicated the hole in the floor. “Not even a Llyr
should've been able to break in there with magic. That cell was warded.”

“One of the wards was cracked by the wyvern,” Jax said. He didn't mention that Addie had also weakened it with her curses.

“Did he say
wyvern
?” whispered one of the security men.

“Ganner?” somebody called up from below.

Ganner kicked debris aside and leaned over the gaping pit. “Report?”

“We lost Ursula,” said the man.

“I know.” Ganner swallowed hard, and Jax marveled that anyone could feel sorrow over that horrible old woman.

“We need Luis Morder down here right away. A creature came through these tunnels that hasn't existed since Niviane's day—and Sloane says the
brownies
brought it here. Did Morder know this was possible?”

“Morder's dead,” Ganner said grimly. “He was one of the first victims of the Llyrs.”

Jax sucked in his breath and leaned close to Evangeline. “Why? I thought he was on their side.”

“That type of Kin hate Transitioners,” Evangeline murmured. “It wouldn't matter that he was a half-breed. Once they didn't need him anymore, they killed him. I tried to warn him.”

Sloane zeroed in on their whispering and fixed
Evangeline with an accusing glare. “Your sister is colluding with Llyrs. Do you know what that means?”

“Forget her sister,” Tegan spoke up loudly. “Where's my brother?”

“He's upstairs. We have more important concerns right now,” Sloane said.

“Not to
me
, Dulac,” Riley said. “My friends are my priority.”

Sloane glared at Riley. “My grandmother is dead, and my clan is in crisis. But fine. You and your allies are invited into my home under our truce. I'll release your
friend
, and we'll discuss what to do now that the Llyrs have an Emrys heir.”

Jax marveled at how anybody could speak with such self-righteous indignation about releasing her prisoners. As they walked around to the front of the building, Riley grabbed Jax by the arm. “I don't trust her. When we get near the front door, take Evangeline, make like Balin did, and get the heck out of here.”

Evangeline wrapped her fingers around Riley's hand. “Stop commanding my vassal to act against my will. It's bad manners.” Jax felt the compulsion of Riley's command dissipate before it could really take hold.

Riley sputtered, smothering the beginnings of several bad-mannered words.

Sloane glanced over her shoulder. “Do you
really
want to send her and Jax into the street when Llyrs are out there?
Better you stay together. Of course, the street urchin and the Normal are welcome to wait in the lobby.”

The street urchin and the Normal. Tegan and Billy. Not invited to the penthouse.

Riley snapped back at her, “If it's better to stay together, then we'll
all
stay together. Thanks anyway.”

They crowded onto the elevator with Sloane and Ganner. Jax was shoved up against Tegan, and he wondered how she could still smell like tangerines when he smelled like sweat and wyvern blood and possibly leopard droppings.

But more than that, he couldn't shake the feeling that accompanying Sloane to the penthouse was a mistake.

“The boy's over here,” Sloane said, turning left when the elevator stopped at the penthouse. But Tegan marched the other way and threw open the door to Ursula's office.

Inside, Thomas had his ear pressed against a safe in the wall while his fingers played with the dial. “Oh, hey, everybody,” he said, glancing over his shoulder without any surprise. He turned back to the safe. “I could really use a drill.”

“Amateur,” said Tegan. But Jax saw the relief on her face.

“Get away from there!” Sloane exclaimed.

Thomas threw up both hands and sidled away, but when he saw Jax, he looked alarmed. “Uh, forces of nature . . .”

“Shut up, Tommy,” Tegan said. “Jax is fixed.”

Sloane looked at Jax, probably wondering how her magic had been reversed. “I'm sorry, Jax. It wasn't my idea.”

“You helped, though,” Jax replied, unmoved by the apology.

“I obeyed my clan leader,” Sloane said. “But the current situation supersedes any rivalry between Transitioner clans.” That comment was addressed to Riley.

“Rivalry?” His voice was deadly quiet. “Your grandmother had my entire family killed.”

“She may have,” Sloane conceded. “I wouldn't know. But we should be more worried about the future than the past. The Llyrs have an Emrys heir.”

“I'll get her back,” Riley said.

“What? You and these kids against the Llyrs?”

“We saved
you
, didn't we?”

“Why did you?” Sloane asked. “Chivalry? Hero complex?”

Jax thought she'd nailed it pretty accurately, but Riley stared her down. “Strategy. I knew we needed you alive to get out of there.”

Sloane smiled. “Strategy is why you have to cooperate with me now.”

Albert Ganner interrupted then, clearing his throat in the doorway. “Sloane, Sheila Morgan is here, demanding to see you regarding Pendragon.”

“Now, Ganner? Really?”

“His vassals have reported he's being held here against his will. I can deny it, but Sheila will draw her own conclusion.”

A rescue party,
Jax figured.
A little late.
Or maybe not. They weren't out of Dulac custody yet. Outside the huge picture windows, New York City was a blur of leftover light in a deep purple Grunsday sky.
What time is it?
Jax wondered, looking around for a working clock.

“Send her up, then,” Sloane said with a wave of her hand.

“And I couldn't stop this bunch from coming, even though
he
ought to be in an infirmary bed.” Ganner moved aside to make room for Uncle Finn—not exactly on his feet, but not dying either. He had an arm over the shoulder of a security man, and Aunt Marian had her arm around his waist, but he walked in partly under his own power. Dorian scurried in behind them, but Lesley was nowhere to be seen. Jax wondered if her parents had forgotten to unlock her door, or if she was still staying in her room, out of all the action, by choice.

“Finn!” exclaimed Sloane.

“I owe you my oath of allegiance,” he gasped in a raspy voice.

“It can wait,” Sloane said when he tried to pull out his honor blade and go down on his knees right there.

“But I need a boon from you, about Jax . . .” Finn looked at his nephew.

Jax swallowed past the sudden lump in his throat. He couldn't stand Uncle Finn. But he was
really
glad to see him alive.

“I haven't forgotten Jax,” Sloane promised, helping Aunt Marian ease Finn into a chair.

“What about Jax?” Riley demanded.

Sloane straightened up. “You're free to go, Pendragon. And although I'd rather Emrys remain here, in our safekeeping, I swore an oath that she has safe passage to leave. But Jax stays. He's an Ambrose and a member of my clan. You can't have him.”

“YOU SWORE I COULD
go!” Jax exclaimed.

“I said your friends could go,” Sloane corrected him. “Not you.”

“I'm not leaving Jax behind,” Riley protested. “I came here to get him.”

“We're his family.” Uncle Finn's voice was weak. “Jax belongs with us.”

“If you were a decent family, maybe.” Riley glared at the bunch of them. “But you're kidnappers and murderers. I wouldn't leave a dog with you.”

“Watch your mouth, young man,” Aunt Marian snapped.

“His father left him in my care,” Riley said.

“He's my vassal,” Evangeline said to Sloane. “My claim to him is greater than yours.”

“Jax is thirteen and too young to be a vassal. By rights,
you should release him. Or,” Sloane added sweetly, “you could stay with us too.”

“What a dirty trick!” Jax scowled at his cousin.

“You're safer with us,” Uncle Finn said, “now that the Llyrs are free and in this country.”

“Really? Are you sure? You guys didn't even know Dr. Morder was a traitor. He brought the Llyrs here, and he was going to smuggle Addie out to them.” Jax's accusation met with stunned silence. Sloane and Uncle Finn looked at each other in surprise. “Let's get out of here,” Jax said to Riley and Evangeline. “They can't stop me.”

“Pendragon,” Sloane called out, “if you leave this apartment with my clansman, a minor child and my cousin, I'll consider it a hostile act. And then I'm not bound by my oath.”

Riley's eyes darted around the room, marking everyone's positions: Billy and the twins, Evangeline . . . Albert Ganner, who'd moved to stand in front of the only door . . . the men stationed in the hallway near the elevator . . .

It'd been a trap all along, Jax realized. Riley's fingers twitched toward his honor blade. He could use the voice of command, but they were in the penthouse, with twenty floors of enemies between them and the street. Jax looked at Evangeline, who'd taken his hand and was staring at his mark with her brow furrowed. He squeezed her hand, then gave it to Riley. “Get everybody out of here. I'll stay. Nobody else is getting hurt tonight because of me.”

Uncle Finn spoke up. “Jax, nobody wants to hurt your friends. We only want you.”

Jax glared at his uncle. “Really? Because when you had me, all you did was try to get me to hand over Riley and Evangeline.”

“I won't leave without Jax,” Billy protested. But Riley jerked his head toward the door, and the twins grabbed Billy, pulling him in that direction.

Riley faced Jax, looking stricken. “It's my choice,” Jax whispered to him. “I came here knowing this was a possibility. Keep Evangeline safe. And find Addie before they do.”

Riley squeezed his shoulder. “This isn't over,” he promised, tugging Evangeline toward the door. But Jax knew it probably
was
over. Smitty's fix was a one-shot deal. By morning, Jax could be completely brainwashed. He shuddered at the memory of what they'd made of him last night—a creepy
Bad Jax
who hadn't even known he'd been manipulated.

If my friends are safe,
he reminded himself,
it doesn't matter what happens to me
.

Evangeline, however, refused to move. “Wait a minute. Jax, let me see—”

“Sloane.” Ganner glanced over his shoulder. “Sheila Morgan has arrived.”

Sloane looked as if she was enjoying herself. “Let her in.”

Like her daughter, Sheila Morgan was petite with black hair. She wore a red leather jacket over leggings and boots, and although there were no weapons visible, Jax bet she carried a few concealed. But while Deidre always seemed to be on the verge of laughter, this woman's face looked like it might crack if she smiled. Jax doubted she'd be calling him “cutie.”

“Good evening, Sheila,” said Sloane. “What can I do for you?”

“I'm told condolences are in order,” replied the Morgan clan leader. “It's unfortunate when someone as young as you is catapulted into a role of such responsibility.”

Despite his grim circumstances, Jax had to smother a smile. On the surface, her words could've been an expression of sorrow for Ursula's death, but taken literally, they didn't have to be. Sloane's expression soured. “Thank you for your concern,” she said stiffly. “But this has all so newly happened. I'm afraid you've found me unprepared for condolence calls.”

Sheila Morgan pointedly eyed all the occupants of the room. “These people aren't here to comfort you? Then I assume they're here on business, and my visit is justified. I've come to inform you that Riley Pendragon is in breach of contract with my daughter, Deidre. If you were thinking about entering into your own contract with him, my clan would consider you a party to the breach, and all previous agreements between your clan
and ours would be null and void.”

Evangeline gasped as she finally figured out Riley's former relationship with Deidre.

Sloane crossed her arms. “I see. You didn't dare walk in here and accuse me of holding him captive, so you're accusing me of trying to arrange a marriage with him instead?”

“Well, are you?” Sheila demanded.

“Am I holding him captive or planning to marry him?”

“Either.”

Jax had never realized how much Riley's lineage made him the Transitioner equivalent of
The Bachelor
. For his part, Riley was looking back and forth between Sheila Morgan and Sloane Dulac as if one were a man-eating shark and the other a man-eating tiger.

“Neither one,” Sloane said finally. “Pendragon is turning over custody of my cousin, Jax. And then you're welcome to him.”

“But we're not leaving without Jax.” Evangeline glared at Riley. “Are we?”

“Sheila,” Sloane said. “I call on you as a neutral witness. They're abducting my clansman. Any action I take is justified.”

“He's not your clansman,” Evangeline replied. “He would be if he was an Ambrose, but he's not.” She took Jax's arm, making him hold up the wrist with the tattoo, then turned to Dorian. “Would you show me your mark?”

Dorian's mouth fell open. He held up his left hand.

Aunt Marian clucked in annoyance. “Yes, we know Jax's mark isn't right. It was an act of vandalism, if you ask me. But he's an Ambrose.”

“My father told me,” Evangeline said, taking Dorian's arm, “that ninety-nine times out of a hundred, if you alter a mark, you'll either ruin any chance of the person developing his talent—or it'll make no difference at all. But once in a hundred times, if the artisan is extremely talented and the change has significance, a branch-off line is created.” She held Dorian's wrist and Jax's next to each other and turned to Sheila Morgan. “Sloane called on you as a witness, and so do I. Jax is an Aubrey. The very
first
Aubrey.”

Deidre's mother frowned, examining the two tattoos. “Who marked you?” she asked Jax.

“A.J. Crandall,” Jax said. He saw Riley cringe.

Sheila's eyebrow twitched. “The Crandalls have never struck me as particularly gifted. And the only difference between these marks is the type of bird.”

“It's a significant change,” Evangeline insisted. “A falcon is a hunter's bird, trained and tethered to its master. An American bald eagle is a symbol of freedom.”

“I resent that implication,” Uncle Finn muttered, but Dorian gasped and looked at Jax—and then drooped. Because he had a falcon.

“He's always been stronger than he should've been,” Riley put in. “That's typical for a new bloodline, isn't it?”

Sheila mulled it over, and Jax wondered how much her decision was going to be influenced by how angry she was with Riley. “If the boy is the beginning of a new line, his talent will be different, too. Is it?”

“No,” Uncle Finn said. “He's an inquisitor, just like his father.”

“Yes, it is,” Dorian spoke up. “Jax told me he can pull information out of the air. He doesn't need to interrogate anyone.”

Jax
had
said that, but he remembered Dorian ridiculing him for it.

“Don't butt into things you don't understand, Dorian,” Aunt Marian said. “Jax's talent is the same as yours.”

“
Can
you get information without interrogating someone?” Sheila asked Jax. “That would be a significant change.”

Jax glanced around. Uncle Finn shook his head, and Sloane crossed her arms with a smirk. The Donovans slunk closer to him, sniffing, but they only looked puzzled. Billy gave him two thumbs up, but what did he know? Riley's face was totally blank.

Jax fixed his eyes on Evangeline, who nodded her faith in him.

“Yes,” he said. “I can.”

“Prove it,” Sloane replied promptly.

Well, he'd expected that. Jax sucked in his breath and drew out the honor blade his father had made for him,
balancing it in the palm of his left hand. But its hilt was engraved with the Ambrose mark, and insecurity overwhelmed him. Maybe he couldn't do this. Maybe he'd just imagined that his talent worked this way, and he really was an Ambrose. His memory still seemed muddled, and he didn't feel sure of anything.

Who am I?

Jax closed his eyes and imagined himself back at Melinda's duplex house, filled with children's toys, sweet-smelling candles, and old encyclopedias. The place where he'd first pulled answers out of thin air.
I need information—something I can't possibly know through other means—something Sloane doesn't want me to know—something impressive.

When he opened his eyes, he was standing in front of Ursula's safe. He sheathed his dagger and fingered the dial, feeling the ridges in the knob. There was no point pressing his ear to the safe door like Thomas; he'd never hear the tumblers clicking into place. He was going to have to depend on talent alone. Jax turned the dial until the buzzing in his brain told him to stop. Twelve. Now the other way. Seventeen. Reverse it again. Nine. Again. Four.

Jax yanked on the handle and heard Sloane gasp as the safe door swung open. Inside were papers and CDs and some floppy disks that probably held Ursula's old secrets. But Jax was only interested in the object lying on top of the pile. Triumphantly, he pulled it out.

Excalibur.

“You
were
going to give this back to Riley, right, Sloane?” Jax asked.

“Of course.” Sloane crossed the room and smacked the safe closed with her hand.

“Can
you
interrogate a safe, Ambrose?” Sheila asked. The stunned look on Uncle Finn's face was answer enough. She turned to Sloane. “A branch-off line has no obligation to you. He can choose his allegiance or have none at all.” Then she raised an eyebrow at Jax. “I don't know exactly how to classify you, boy, but you're definitely more than an inquisitor.”

Jax's mouth dropped open.
You're something new.
That was what the Kin woman at the Carroway house had said to him.

“Jax.” Uncle Finn wiped sweat from his face with his good arm. “I know we didn't get off on the right foot.”

Jax snapped out of his shock. “Ya think?”

“But you're my brother's son. I want to give you a home.” Uncle Finn indicated Riley and Evangeline. “These people aren't your family.”

“You used me. They came for me. There's no contest.” Jax offered Excalibur to Riley, hilt first. “Here you go, bro. It's just a rusted piece of junk, but I know you're attached to it.”

“Jax, you idiot.” Riley accepted the dagger, then wrapped his arm around Jax's neck in something that was kind of a noogie, but mostly a hug. Jax would have
appreciated it more if he hadn't glimpsed Sloane's face.

She didn't look upset. She looked smug.

“What time is it?” Jax yelled, thrashing his way free of Riley's embrace. Riley yanked the sleeve of his jacket up and cursed. It was one minute to midnight.

Sloane smiled at Evangeline. “Looks like you're going to be my guest this week.”

Even if they ran like heck for the elevator, there was no way they could get Evangeline down from the penthouse in one minute. All this time—talking and arguing, fighting for Jax—Sloane had been stalling. Her sworn oath guaranteed Jax's friends safe passage
today
. Not tomorrow. And not next week if Evangeline was trapped in this building between Grunsdays.

Had Sloane planned this when making her oath? Even with Balin's hand around her throat? Jax turned to Evangeline, aghast. If his and Dorian's suspicions about the brownie tunnels were right, Sloane had absolutely no reason to keep her alive.

“I can get her out.”

The voice startled everyone. Aunt Marian reacted first. “Dorian, stay out of this!”

But Dorian grabbed Evangeline's hand. “Come with me.”