The Inquisitor's Mark (21 page)

DORIAN KNEW THERE WAS
still a brownie hole in the Dulac penthouse, one overlooked by Aunt Ursula in her remodeling because only Maria, the maid, ever used the pantry.

Brownies liked pantries almost as much as garbage bins.

As he dragged the Kin girl through the Dulac penthouse to reach the hole in time, Dorian wondered how much he was going to regret this. It was one thing to sneak around behind everyone's back. It was another thing to betray the leader of his clan in front of her very eyes.

In front of his father's eyes too.

Dad saved me. He almost died doing it
.

But when his father had needed him, Dorian had frozen. He'd stood there like a rock in the garbage room while Dad writhed on the ground in agony. It was Billy who acted in time to save him—whipping off Dad's belt and tying it on the right pressure points, cutting open the wound and
draining the poison. He'd almost passed out afterward, but he'd
done
it.

Dorian had done nothing.

But he was acting now.

He wasn't even sure the Emrys girl could enter the brownie hole. He only knew she and Jax had appeared from the lab between the stampede of brownies and the wyvern. Jax
must
have brought her in through the tunnel. Dorian also recalled his father complaining about the empty vials of Emrys blood—the ones he'd hoped would cure Lesley. Dr. Morder had claimed Addie's blood had disappeared during the seven-day timeline, but if Morder was a traitor like Jax said, maybe he'd lied to Dad. How else would he smuggle Addie out of the building except by sending her blood through the tunnels?

In spite of what he'd reasoned out, it was only after Dorian plunged through the brownie hole in the pantry wall, and Evangeline slipped in behind him, that he was sure.

Phew!

Then he looked up at her. She was a little taller than Dorian and probably pretty—to someone who liked Kin, which Dorian didn't. Mom and Dad had taught him that the Kin were practically a different species, and although he now questioned everything they'd ever told him, Dorian still thought Evangeline was way too pale for a normal girl.

“You're safe,” he said, letting go of her hand. “We're outside of time.”

She stared at the shelves and cabinets of the penthouse pantry. “What do we do now? Can you move us backward half an hour and get me to the elevator?”

“We'll have to leave the penthouse too. If there's any chance we might run into ourselves, the brownie magic won't allow us to shift into the past. I do have a way to get you out, but you'll have to trust me.”

“I do.” She said it as if it should be obvious.

Dorian frowned. She
shouldn't
trust him. “Even though I'm a falcon?”

She pushed her long silvery hair behind one ear. “You don't have to be a falcon. You have a choice, no matter what's on your mark. I trust you because I'm
here
right now, instead of facing Sloane Dulac a week from now, not knowing what happened to my friends.”

Dorian squatted down and showed her the puckered hole in the floor. “This is the way out. It either takes us to a tunnel on another floor—or all the way down. We won't know for sure until we try, but as long as we're moving away from this spot, I can shift us in time and get you to a safe place before you disappear.”

“What if we fall twenty stories?”

“It'll be more of a slide.” Dorian had never dropped from this height, but he didn't see any other way to get her off this floor.

Unexpectedly, she gave him a shy smile. “Will it be like a roller coaster?”

“No.” He stared at her. “Not really.”

She sat down beside him. “That's okay. I won't know the difference.”

He took her hand again, and they slid into the hole. He expected her to scream when they dropped.

Instead she laughed. All the way down.

Dorian had no idea what time it was when they finally pushed out of the tunnel and into Central Park. It had taken three total drops and a couple of sideways tunnels to find a way to street level. He didn't dare attempt a “hyperspeed” jump with her in tow, because when he'd tried it earlier, he'd ended up stuck in Pendragon's cell. Taking a longer route didn't matter as long as Dorian willed the tunnel to give Evangeline Emrys the time she needed.

Cars were frozen in the street when they followed the park path back to the sidewalk, the street lamps blurred and dim. “Still Grunsday,” Evangeline said sadly, as if she'd been hoping he could take her to Thursday.

“Hey! Who's that?” One of their security men started running toward them.

“It's Dorian Ambrose!” he shouted back. “On orders from Sloane. This girl has safe passage on her oath!”

The guy stopped and reached for his radio to consult his superiors. Dorian knew Sloane had given that order earlier and he hoped she hadn't countermanded it. If it was still late
on the night of the eighth day—and it must be—then Dorian hadn't betrayed Sloane yet.

He looked up at the building, trying to pinpoint the penthouse windows.
I'm probably still up there, watching Jax open the safe
. In all the times Dorian had used the tunnels to shift himself in time, he knew that—theoretically—there were two of him living through the same moment.
Wouldn't it be cool to see myself
? But as he'd told both Jax and Evangeline, the brownie magic didn't seem to allow that.

A block down the street, a dark SUV jumped the curb and drove toward them on the sidewalk. The security guy reached for his gun, and Dorian surprised himself by jumping in front of Evangeline. But she said, “No, it's all right. This is my ride.”

The vehicle stopped, and the woman who'd been at Rockefeller Center with the twins threw open one of the back doors. “Get in, quick!” The girl climbed into the car.

The security guy grabbed Dorian's arm. “You're sure Sloane okayed this? I can't reach anyone. Half our radios are out of commission.”

“Yup,” said Dorian. “Sloane said she could go.”

“Dorian, come here!” Evangeline beckoned him over to the car. “I owe you,” she said.

“You don't.” He hadn't done it to put her in his debt.

“Then let's say I
want
to do you a favor.” She smiled at him, and Dorian decided that maybe she was pretty after all. “Everyone needs a favor sometime, right?”

Dorian considered Lesley. The lab was destroyed, Dr. Morder was dead, and there was no more Emrys blood to experiment with. That would hold up any further efforts to “fix” his sister, but if Dad persisted . . . “I might,” he admitted.

“You have only to ask. This is my promise.” Then she kissed him on the cheek and vanished into thin air, leaving him blushing with his head stuck inside the car.

Surrounded by three large and angry-looking Pendragon vassals.

“Where are Riley and Jax?” growled the man who'd yelled at Dad on the video call.

“Coming,” Dorian said, and hoped it was true.

It was an uncomfortable wait, with the three people in the car and the one security guy on the sidewalk glaring suspiciously at each other. Dorian assured everybody that everything was just fine, even though he had no idea. The late-night traffic of Normals drove around them, ignoring the SUV parked on the sidewalk.

Finally, a group of people spilled out the front door of the apartment building. Dorian figured they must have headed for the elevator right after he disappeared into the brownie hole with Evangeline. Pendragon was in the lead exiting the building, breaking into a run with Jax right behind him. The youngest of the vassals got out of the car to meet them.

“A.J., do you have her?” Pendragon shouted.

“Yes! We got her!”

Pendragon slowed and called back over his shoulder.
“Thanks for the hospitality, Dulac!” Dorian saw Sloane making long-legged strides down the sidewalk, trying to catch up to Pendragon without the indignity of running. “From the tranquilizer darts to the dungeon guest room and the wyvern—it's been a real pleasure.”

“This is not over,” Sloane snapped. “My people will go after the Llyrs, and anyone who gets in the way trying to rescue a little Kin girl is liable to end up dead.”

“Noted,” Pendragon said.

Sloane spotted Dorian. If she could have pulverized him with laser vision, she would have. “Dorian, get over here.”

For a second, Dorian thought about climbing into the car with the Pendragon clan and begging for sanctuary. Instead he slunk forward to face his doom.

Jax stopped him. “Dorian—thank you. I don't know what we would've done if you hadn't jumped in like that. I messed up.”

Dorian didn't see how Jax had messed up. “I just wanted to do something right.”

“You were awesome.” Jax glanced at Sloane. “But what's going to happen to you now?”

Pendragon swung around and stuck his finger in Sloane's face. “Don't you dare take this out on Dorian.”

Sloane slapped his hand away. “Are you telling me how to discipline members of my own clan?”

The guard surged forward to defend his liege lady, but Pendragon shouted, “Back off!” and the guy stepped
backward, obeying the voice of command. Sloane looked outraged, but she didn't flinch when Pendragon leaned over her threateningly. “If his parents want to ground him and take away his Xbox, I don't care. But if you get into his head, I'll take that as a personal affront. And then you'll see how much damage one lone Pendragon can do.”

“You won't be alone, Riley,” Jax promised.

The big blond vassal, A.J., put in his two cents. “Evangeline says she owes this kid. That's good enough for me.”

“We'll know if you mess with him,” Thomas Donovan added. He slung an arm around Dorian's neck and pulled him close, sniffing his head.

His sister did the same, taking her turn sniffing Dorian—which was weird but not unpleasant—then whispered into his ear. “I'll get you the name of the guy who fixed Jax. Tell him Tegan sent you.”

Dorian looked up at Sloane through eyes filled with tears. He could tell she was furious, and he was pretty sure the blurry shape coming down the sidewalk was Mom. Dorian was in deep, deep,
deep
trouble, but his cousin Jax was proud of him, and his family's enemies were poised to defend him.

He felt brave.

Mom got hold of his ear, but she couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

JAX SLUMPED IN EXHAUSTION
against the rear bumper of the Land Rover, watching Aunt Marian drag Dorian home in disgrace and Sloane stalk back to her devoted vassals. Evangeline was safe; they had Billy back, and they could leave.

Riley made no move to get into the car, though. He waited for Sheila Morgan, who was striding toward them from the Dulac building, her bootheels clicking briskly on the sidewalk. She had her phone out and was flicking through screens. Her expression was grim.

“Thank you for coming, Sheila,” Riley said. “If you hadn't been there as a witness, Sloane Dulac would've ordered us all shot at 12:01—with tranquilizers, if she was feeling generous. And they would never have let Jax go, especially with the talent he has.”

“I bet Sloane's sorry she invoked me as a witness now. It won't be quite as easy to snatch him back from you
after I declared him a branch-off.” Sheila put her hands on her hips and looked up at Riley. “But I didn't come here entirely for your sake. I thought Ursula having an Emrys heir in her clutches was a bad idea.”

“You were right,” Jax piped up. “Wait until you hear what she was planning to do with them.”

Sheila scrutinized Jax with narrowed eyes. “Young man, between your talent for pulling a rabbit out of a hat and your unfortunate family ties, I suspect you're a font of information. I look forward to hearing everything you can tell me about the Dulacs, but it'll have to wait for a less critical moment.” She looked at her phone again.

“What do you know about the Llyrs?” Riley asked.

“They've disappeared, gone into hiding.” Sheila frowned, swiping her finger across the screen. She seemed to be scanning incoming texts. “We have multiple teams searching the area, dispatched as soon as we heard what was happening at the Dulac building. We still missed them.” She looked up. “But they have to be close. They can't have gotten far before the eighth day ended. We'll track them down by their vehicles if nothing else.”

“They've got Evangeline's sister with them,” Riley told her. “They took her from the Dulacs.”

“That's an unfortunate development.” Sheila Morgan seemed to have a gift for understatement.
Unfortunate
hardly covered the danger Addie could be in. Not only was she in the hands of Kin who could raise lightning and
tornadoes, they probably wanted to use her to counter the Eighth-Day Spell. Jax remembered how Myrddin Wylit had threatened and tortured Evangeline, trying to force her to destroy the seven-day timeline. “Did the Llyrs kill Ursula?” Sheila asked. “Her vassals wouldn't say.”

Riley ran a hand through his hair. “No, Ursula was killed by a wyvern delivered to her building by a horde of brownies.” Sheila narrowed her eyes and looked at Jax, who nodded vigorously. “And as bizarre as that sounds,” Riley went on, “what's even stranger is this happened at the same time the Llyrs attacked. I can't believe Llyrs are using brownies as a weapon—that seems
beneath
them—but it's too big a coincidence.”

“Maybe it's not a coincidence.” Jax remembered what Dr. Morder had said about accidentally meeting Evangeline in the brownie tunnel.
Events are being manipulated by a force greater than any of us.
“It's the Morrigan,” he blurted out. “She's arranging things to happen the way she wants them, for maximum destruction. I
saw
her, right when the wyvern arrived, which must have been when the Llyrs showed up too.”

Everyone stared at him. Riley turned to Tegan. “Are you
sure
his head is fixed?”

“Maybe not,” Tegan admitted.

Jax looked at Sheila Morgan. “
You
believe me, don't you? Deidre said her men saw the Morrigan in Mexico.”

Sheila hesitated. “It doesn't matter what I believe,” she
said after a moment. “The Llyrs are the people I need to find. Which is what I should be working on right now.” She turned to leave, and Riley held out a hand to stop her.

“About Deidre—” Sheila shot Riley an angry look, but he finished anyway. “
She
broke off the engagement. I would have kept my word.”

“I think my daughter wanted more from you than just
your word
,” Sheila replied tersely.

“Our families have been allies a long time,” Riley pressed.

“But you're the only member of your family left.” Sheila looked him up and down. “Deidre says you're claiming your seat at the Table. Let's see if you can fill your father's shoes.
Then
I'll consider whether our alliance is worth continuing.” She walked away briskly, and everyone got out of her way—A.J. and Billy and the Donovan twins. Mrs. Crandall, leaning out of the Land Rover, watched her leave with a worried expression.

Jax, however, was watching Riley's face and could see that the idea of filling his father's shoes intimidated him more than the wyvern had. “Just be yourself,” Jax said impulsively. “You can do it.”

“You didn't know him,” Riley replied.

“At least
your
dad was someone to look up to.” Jax's dad had made a living at selling secrets and spent half his life hiding from his relatives. And even though Jax knew
why
now, he had a hundred more questions he wanted to ask his dad—and couldn't.

“Don't sell your father short. He must've done something right.” Riley slung an arm around Jax's shoulders and steered him toward the Land Rover. “Look how
you
turned out.”

The Donovans insisted on being left in the park where Mr. Crandall stopped to pick up Riley's motorcycle. Mrs. Crandall didn't approve. “We can take you all the way home. We have to drive Billy anyway. I have no idea where your father's gone, and I don't want to leave you here.”

Tegan shrugged. “We can take care of ourselves.”

“We'll hire a limo to take us home when we're ready,” said Thomas, handing a wad of cash to his sister. “Do you think there's any pawn shops open all night?” He pulled jewelry out of his pants pockets—pearls and diamonds and gold bracelets. Obviously Ursula's safe had been the
last
thing Thomas tackled, after he was finished ransacking the rest of the Dulac penthouse.

Mrs. Crandall sucked in her breath, then clamped her lips shut and got back in the car. There was no doubt in Jax's mind that the twins would've been in a world of trouble if Mrs. Crandall had her way with them.

Jax faced Tegan awkwardly. Her help had been
invaluable. But she was also a big pain in the rear end. Not knowing what else to do, he stuck his hand out, offering to shake.

Tegan looked at his hand. “Well, I suppose you deserve a cut.” She peeled a couple fifties off the wad of bills and stuffed them into his palm.

“Gee, thanks.” He felt a little insulted. Tegan gave him a fleeting grin, then dashed off into Central Park. Jax had no idea why Thomas winked at him before disappearing after her.

Riley let Billy ride on the back of his motorcycle, following the Land Rover to a motel outside the city. Billy looked like he was having the time of his life, which made Jax feel a little sick because he was pretty sure what was going to happen next. His suspicions were confirmed when Billy walked into the motel room behind Riley, bouncing on his toes, and neither Riley nor A.J. would look at Billy or meet his eyes. Mr. and Mrs. Crandall, who had the adjoining room, came to the door with grim faces.

Riley addressed Jax quietly while A.J. opened up a bucket of fried chicken from KFC. “You know what I have to do, right?”

“Yeah, I know.”

“It's for his own good. Things are going to get dangerous from here on out.”

“I said I know, Riley. Just . . .” Jax glanced at his
friend, who was happily stuffing his mouth with chicken. “Explain it to him.”

“He won't remember afterward.”

“He deserves an explanation anyway.”

Riley nodded solemnly. “Hey, Billy—come here a minute.”

He sat Billy down and explained it all: the importance of Evangeline and her sister for keeping the Eighth-Day Spell in place, and the fact that a group of dangerous Kin now had a way to interfere with the spell. Then he bluntly described how his own family had died—and Jax's dad too—although he didn't know what Balin had said about Jax's father deliberately driving into the river, and Jax didn't correct him. That was something Jax couldn't deal with right now.

Billy's face grew pale. “But who would come after me? I don't know anything important.”

“You know us,” Riley said. “That was enough to get you kidnapped in the first place. You don't want your family in danger, do you?”

“No.” Billy swallowed. “But you just said the whole world's in danger from these Kin lords.”

“You're a security risk,” Mr. Crandall put in. “It's nothing personal, boy.”

Billy looked up at Riley. “What're you going to do?”

“I'm going to order you to forget everything that happened this week. Some commands I make wear off in
time, but if I order you to forget something, that memory is gone for good. And I can't make up new stuff for you to believe, like the Dulacs can. You're going to be dropped off at home with injuries and a big hole in your memory—and there's probably going to be a big stink about it and maybe the police, and I'm sorry about that.”

“But”—Billy looked at Jax—“what good does that do, if—”

“I'm going to order you to forget you were ever friends with Jax,” Riley went on. “You might remember him from school, but not anything personal about him. You'll forget what you know about the Donovans. And Jax is never going to contact you again.” He shot a look at Jax. “Which is what I told him in the first place, and if he'd listened, maybe you wouldn't have been involved at all.”

“But this is the best thing that ever happened to me!” Billy's eyes were getting glassy. “I've never done anything like this before—nothing important—nothing—”

“Heroic,” Riley finished for him. “I know. And you did tonight. You were a hero. You saved the life of a man who came close to shooting you. You're the kind of person I'd like to have at my back.”

“I'm not going to remember it, though.” Billy leaned over and stared at the floor.

Jax looked around. Mr. Crandall was stone faced, but Mrs. Crandall shifted her weight uncomfortably. A.J. tossed an uneaten chicken leg back in the bucket like he'd
lost his appetite. Jax appealed to Riley. “Is there no other way?” Hijacking Billy's memory would make them no better than Dulacs.

“He's a security risk,” Mr. Crandall repeated. “It's the correct thing to do.”

The correct thing to do. Those were the words Mrs. Crandall had used when talking about sending Jax back to Delaware.
How come the correct thing always sucks?
Jax turned to Riley and asked in an undertone, “Are you going to wipe my memory when you dump me back with Naomi? Is that the correct thing too?”

Riley looked startled. “What makes you think I'm gonna to do that?” Jax tilted his head toward Mrs. Crandall. Riley followed the gesture and put two and two together. “Jax, I have to do what I can to help track down the Llyrs—and Evangeline's sister. I don't know where I'll be going in the next few weeks or months. And you're going to need a safe place to stay and go to school in the fall. But
dumping
you is out of the question. You're stuck with me as your guardian till you're eighteen.” His eyes bounced back and forth between Jax and Billy a few times. Then he grinned, as if he'd just had an idea. “Okay, Billy,” he said, “you leave me no choice.”

“I understand,” Billy mumbled.

“I'm gonna have to make you my vassal.”

Billy's head came up. “What?”

“If you're my vassal, you and everyone in your
household are entitled to my protection. It doesn't guarantee my enemies won't bother you, but at least it ought to make them think twice before starting a war with the Pendragon clan.” Riley drew his blade. “C'mere. And kneel down.”

Billy gaped at Jax, who grinned and waved Billy to go ahead. Jax realized that Riley was killing two birds with one stone—protecting Billy and setting up a safe place where Jax could live while attending school. Mr. Crandall groaned loudly, but his wife smacked his arm, and A.J. said, “Chill out, Dad.”

“I'll lend you Excalibur.” Riley offered it hilt first across his forearm when Billy sank to his knees on the motel carpet.

“Is it really?” Billy handled the blade like it might break into pieces. “It belonged to King Arthur? The real King Arthur?”

“Yeah, it did.” Riley showed him how to balance the dagger on his palm. “Repeat after me: I, Billy Ramirez, swear on my bloodline—”

“I, Guillermo Ramirez Junior, swear on my bloodline and on the blade of King Arthur,” Billy blurted out, interrupting him, “my loyalty to Riley Pendragon and his entire clan as his vassal and servant.”

Riley looked a little startled. “Well, okay then.” He put a hand on Billy's forehead. “I accept you. I take you into my protection, and I order and require your loyalty.”

Mr. Crandall huffed in the corner. “Is a vassal bond with a Normal even valid?” he asked his wife. “The boy has no magic to bind him to that oath. It's meaningless.”

Jax didn't know what other Transitioners would say, but he thought Mr. Crandall was wrong. Riley had the power of command, and that oath wasn't meaningless to Billy.

Grinning from ear to ear, Billy turned Excalibur over and over in his hands before offering it, with proper form, back to his liege lord. “This is so cool.”