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Kai pondered the information she had been given as Phoenix was brought back to the table. So, the deaths are to do with the Fae Queen’s plans, but Tabatha is not at the heart of them. Good to know, although what I am supposed to do about it is another matter.
“What just happened?” Wood Horse blurted out.
“We had a visitation.” Clarke said from the corner of the room, “Two ghosts appeared and spoke to the Jade Cat.”
The Black Dragon looked at Kai, “What did they say?”
“One was a personal matter for the White Tiger’s ears only.” She said, “The other was a warning for the Wood Horse.”
He almost jumped out of his chair and Kai could see him visibly trembling, “A warning for me? What did they say?”
“Be careful in your dealings with the Fae or you will join them.” She said, gently.
He laid his hands carefully on the table and nodded.
“What have the Fae done to anyone that the Underworld sends such messengers?” Phoenix said.
Horse stared at her and pushed himself away from her so far that his chair pushed up against the Silver Wolf, “Are you really that naïve or have you not read the History of the Dark Cities yet?”
“It may be one of the books I have been given to study, but surely they have been your political allies here in the East.” Phoenix replied, “I am new to this remember.”
Now I know it’s Tabatha. Well that simplifies things a little where her parents are concerned, but it complicates others. Kai looked down at the surface of the table.
“Steady, Horse. The difficulties with the Fae began long before this Phoenix arrived, so this Phoenix has no complicity in them.” The White Tiger cautioned him, “Also we have no proof that that the Fae are the perpetrators of the murders; innocent before proved guilty remember.”
“It is our role. What our people are responsible for, we are responsible for.” Horse snapped back, “It is the way we have always worked.” He stood up, “If this youngster cannot do the job correctly, it will reflect badly on the whole Triang.”
“Behave yourself, Wood Horse.” The Black Dragon said.
“I will not be involved with this, except to say that the Hostages must be returned to their home country soon. I have been fielding urgent requests for information on their status from Downing Street...” Horse sat down again.
“Strangely enough, I received an email from Downing Street today myself.” Kai gestured to Edward who brought the tablet over to her, bowed and fled back to the corner.
“Oh?” The Black Dragon said.
“Yes, in fact the British Government is ordering me to cease my investigations into this case.” She passed the tablet to the Tiger, who read it and passed it on. When it was handed back to her by the Crystal Dragon, Kai put it down on the table.
“The Fae have their fingers in many pies, political and otherwise,” The Silver Wolf said, “Clearly the requests for information come from the Humans in Government there and the email sent to the Jade Cat has come from the British Fae.”
“I have no knowledge of this.” The Phoenix sounded puzzled as she gestured at the tablet, “But I have been told to leave the matter of the MP & his wife alone; personally, I cannot do my job properly with their fate hanging over my neck, which is why I want to send them home.”
“Then we have a problem. I suggest that you liaise with the Jade Cat to remedy it.” The Black Dragon said, “If there is no further business that we need to deal with, I will close this session of the Triang Council.”
No one said anything else, so the Black Dragon stood and bowed to the table, “May your Races be blessed with good fortune. Depart in Peace.”
Everyone stood and bowed to the table as a whole, before moving off to find their staff members.
Kai watched the Wood Horse stalk over to the Gold Phoenix and carefully slid herself close enough to them to be able to hear what he was saying:
“Call them off. I know what your people are doing, and I will not have it happen in my country.” Derwin-Hepler snapped.
“I have no idea what you are talking about.” Phoenix said.
“My company deals in information, young woman. I know enough about your people to bury their ambitions alive in the East.”
He knows exactly who she is then. Why didn’t he tell me the other day? Kai clenched her teeth in frustration, thankful that her mask hid her expression.
“I can relay your message to the Banríona, but I cannot guarantee that she will listen.” Phoenix began to turn away.
Horse grabbed her arm, “The threats stop this week, or I will release what I know to the Global Press.”
She looked down at his grip.
Kai closed her eyes for a moment in sheer irritation, before opening them again and taking a step toward them. However, the Crystal Dragon was faster and with a gentle twist, removed Derwin-Hepler’s hand from phoenix’s arm.
Derwin-Hepler gasped in pain.
“A spirit took it upon itself to warn you against such nastiness, Wood Horse. Do not make this mistake bigger than it is.” Crystal Dragon’s voice sounded sharp enough to cut diamond and carried out across the room.
Conversations came to a stop and all eyes turned toward them.
Wrenching his arm away from the Crystal Dragon, he looked toward the Black Dragon, “By your leave?”
The Black Dragon nodded and Derwin-Hepler left, his staff members trailing behind him in a confused fashion.
The White Tiger tapped Kai on the shoulder, “You said the ghost had a message for me?”
“Can I tell you in your office later? I think I need to speak to Phoenix before she leaves.” Kai said.
“Fair enough. I’ll talk to you then.” He walked over to the Black Dragon.
“You wanted to speak to me?” the voice in Kai’s mind made her physically jump.
She turned to look at Phoenix. “Don’t do that to me!”
The Gold Phoenix shrugged and joined her, “We can talk aloud if you prefer, but I remember talking to your mind before; you gave me hope.”
“That was the idea.” Kai said. I don’t need to ask for confirmation of who she is, and she’s identified me properly now. Clever Girl. “Have you been given leave to be here for this meeting then?”
“I have an Ally on the Ard-Chomhairle na hOllscoile. He persuaded the Banríona to give me a certain amount of freedom.”
Kai nodded, “That’s good. Would you be able to come to my office or meet up with me this week?”
Phoenix sighed, “No, I don’t have that much freedom yet, but if you don’t mind me contacting you telepathically, we can have our discussions on this matter in private.”
“That’s probably a good idea. However, I need something of yours to hold before I can connect with your mind.”
Phoenix slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out a Handkerchief, “It’s clean, I haven’t used it, but I have been carrying it around with me all day.”
Kai took the scrap of cloth, “Perfect. Thank you.”
The Maître D appeared at the door to the dining room and gestured to Phoenix, “My Lady Phoenix, your car has arrived.”
Kai watched Phoenix take her leave of the Black Dragon as Clarke and Edward came over. Edward still seemed rather disturbed at being included in the meeting, but Clarke was completely at ease.
“So, you’re my official bodyguard now?” Kai asked the vampire.
She nodded, “You’ll have a werewolf or other shape shifter during the day, but I’ll be with you between sunrise and sunset.”
“Welcome aboard.”
––––––––
DERWIN-HEPLER STRODE into his office the next morning, staff members scattering like raindrops from an umbrella around him, “Mrs Reading-Smith, have you heard from your husband recently?”
Melanie looked up from her screen, “I haven’t heard a thing since I escaped the Fae, Peter. I have no idea what he is doing and nor do I wish to.”
“Good. Call Riordan back in, please. It’s time I brought her completely up to speed with our whole problem.”
“I didn’t think that you wanted her involved.” Melanie’s hand hovered over the keypad on her phone.
“Things have changed.”
Kai wasn’t surprised to hear from Melanie, “I was wondering when I’d get this phone call.”
“Peter is very agitated.” Melanie said quietly.
“I’m not surprised to be honest. Have you heard from Andrew recently?” Kai asked as she gathered up her stuff from her desk.
“Peter asked that as well. No, I haven’t and if I do, I’ll be calling the police on him; I’m almost certain that he has something to do with my brother’s disappearance.”
“You wouldn’t be far off the mark, to be honest. Having said that, don’t call the police if he turns up, call me.” She strode out into the main office and beckoned to the SD Officer taking up space in the waiting room, “I’ll be at your office shortly.”
“Thanks.” Melanie rang off.
“Do you need me, Miss Riordan?” Edward said.
“Not this time. You hold the fort here; tell any normal type clients that I’m booked up for the foreseeable future; give them Qin Lo’s number.”
The SD Officer opened the office door and looked around outside before beckoning Kai out.
Kai rolled her eyes in exasperation and followed, “You don’t have to be quite so obvious about the protection detail, Officer Amin.”
He grinned at her, a flash of black scales around his eyes telling her that he was a Naga, “Sorry Ma’am, I’m not used to this kind of duty.”
“Just walk along with me and keep your eyes and ears open. I’ll probably be able to tell you if I need your help before you spot it.” She patted his shoulder as they got into the lift.
The walk to Derwin-Hepler & Reading-Smith was uneventful. Kai was yawning as they approached the corner of the street the building stood on.
“Oh my... help!” echoed through her mind seconds before the building exploded in flames. Glass rained down on the street as it came to a standstill, people screaming and throwing themselves into what they felt was safety. Cars screeched to a halt, some crashed into each other.
Kai and Amin looked at each other and ran toward the building. Other police were doing the same thing and going by the sound of sirens in the distance, someone had already contacted the other emergency services.
Kai stopped as the heat from the flames became too strong and pushed her mind out, searching for survivors, “Is there anyone alive in there?”
“Miss Riordan? Is there any help coming?” Melanie’s mind voice sounded scared and weary, “Peter and I were preparing for your visit when everything exploded.”
A Fire Officer ran past Kai pulling a hose with him. Another tried to pull her back from the flames, but Amin dealt with him quietly.
“Where are you? Is there anyone else with you?” Kai saw the Chief Fire Officer heading toward her, “The emergency services are here now, so we may be able to get you out.”
“We’re... in the basement conference room. It’s next to the servers and is fireproof. The IT Chief is in here with me and a couple of other staff, about six of us altogether. Peter was called back up to our office just before the fire started.”
Kai relayed the information to Amin who spoke to one of the officers. Kai ignored her surroundings to concentrate on holding the link with Melanie, “We’ll get you out of there, just stay put. How many people were in the building?” Kai looked up at the flames roaring from the upper floors.
“I don’t remember...” Panic seeped into her mind.
“Don’t worry about it. Stay calm and safe.” Kai dropped most of the link with Melanie, so that she could talk to Amin, who had tapped her on the shoulder.
“The Chief Fire Officer wants a word with you, Ma’am.” He said.
“Okay,” she looked around and stared straight into the eyes of the CFO who’d already moved up to stand beside her.
“Ma’am, could you step back a bit?” He said, “We need to get another engine in and you’re in the way.”
“Oh of course, I’m sorry.” She said, moving backward and to one side.
He followed, “I’ve been told that you may have a way to communicate with those trapped inside? We’ve located several groups other than the one your SDO told us about.”
Kai thought about it, “I don’t know about the other groups. The person I’m in contact with I know personally, so...”
“RIORDAN!” the mind shout was loud enough to make anyone sensitive in the area wince. Kai automatically put her hands over her ears before she remembered that it was her mind receiving the word.
“What in all the hells was that?” The CFO looked around.