Tzader circled Brina’s hologram, trying to will her back. Why couldn’t he have that ability instead of immortality? No physical torture could ever equal living forever without Brina in his world.
He’d lost track of how many times he’d walked around what was left of her image, searching for any glimmer of life.
Any reason to hope.
Energy sifted into the room from over by the door.
He turned, prepared to send Allyn on his way again, and found Macha. He’d never seen her when she hadn’t carried a cockiness that came with being at the top of the power food chain.
But the Celtic goddess over all Beladors stared back from eyes wracked with despair. Her lively hair that normally moved of its own accord and changed colors from blond to auburn to coal black with her shifting moods, now fell over her shoulders in limp strands of dull brunette.
Macha studied the hologram. “Has it shown any improvement?”
“No.”
Her throat moved with a thick swallow. “We need to warn the entire tribe.”
“But they know about Brina,” Tzader said, surprised that he had to remind the goddess.
Shaking herself out of whatever had held her attention prisoner, she walked deeper into the room when she would normally float around or zip in and out of view by teleporting. Her eyes locked on the hologram with so much intensity that Tzader expected the filmy image to respond in some way.
Macha once again tore her gaze from the pieces left of Brina’s face and neck. She told Tzader, “We need to warn the tribe about the Medb.”
“Every Maistir has been put on alert. Quinn is keeping check on our forces in Atlanta and–”
She raised her hand in a silent order to stop speaking. “I’ve been in meetings nonstop at the Tribunal. I stretched them out as long as I could, but in the end I lost my argument against the Medb joining VIPER.”
“They what? How could VIPER allow them to join the coalition when the Medb have not been allowed in our territories for centuries? The original Tribunal passed that decree. Now the Medb are not only allowed to enter the mortal world unchecked, but we have to stand beside them as part of the coalition?” He stopped himself when he realized something was missing in all this. “Wait? Who’s in charge if Flaevynn died? Did Cathbad live?”
Macha’s lips twisted with bitterness. “Oh, they both vanished. In their place, the goddess Maeve and the original Cathbad the Druid were reincarnated. Maeve and her druid faced the Tribunal and argued that she should not be held responsible for anything the coven did in her absence. That she had not been controlling the Medb warlocks and witches over all this time.”
Tzader couldn’t wrap his head around this. “The Tribunal agreed?”
“Not at first, especially when I argued that the Medb coven had attacked us as part of the prophecy Maeve and Cathbad could not deny instigating in the first place. But Maeve had Cathbad read the prophecy word by word. It never specifically said to attack Treoir or Brina. Those two claimed that Flaevynn strayed from the vision they’d left of a peaceful coexistence between our groups.”
“Oh, sure. Maeve and Cathbad never planned to extinguish the entire Belador tribe,” Tzader muttered, clenching his fists. “I’m sorely disappointed in the Tribunal allowing that flimsy argument to sway them.”
Macha floated around this time, following the same path that Tzader had been walking. “That wasn’t the deciding point. By coalition rules, voting to accept a new member into the VIPER alliance requires the entire group of deities.”
There had not been a gathering of every deity in one place that Tzader knew of in his time. “How’d they manage that many shoved together in one spot without a confrontation?”Macha gave him a wry glance. “It was testy at times, but I think they behaved only because they were all more curious to see what would transpire between my pantheon and Maeve’s. It was the perfect setting for her. Maeve challenged each deity to admit that if he or she had died as Maeve and Cathbad had, would any of them agree, upon being reincarnated, to be held responsible for actions of their pantheons.” Macha stopped moving and faced Tzader. “There is no precedent for this, so even I would not agree to that.”
He reached up and ran a hand over his smooth head, trying to figure out what to do next. “Does this mean the Medb coven is going to be allowed to infiltrate the mortal world at will?”
“No.”
He blew out a breath, feeling some relief until Macha finished her statement.
“It’s far worse than that. Maeve’s warlocks and witches have been behaving like model citizens, killing demons before our Beladors have a chance to step in. The Tribunal knows my entire pantheon is in critical condition with Brina gone. From their point of view, this alliance couldn’t have happened at a better time.”
“Pretty fucking opportune, I’d say,” Tzader bit out. “Can’t those deities see a setup? Clearly Maeve turned the demons loose and has her coven killing them just to make our warriors look inferior.”
“I raised that possibility, though they had to all realize Maeve’s game, but she denounced any criticism I raised as being expected from someone who had carried a grudge for two millennia. Maeve quickly assured the entire assembly that she and Cathbad had already begun making changes that would bring about peace between our pantheons ... as long as our people did not attack hers.”
Tzader chuckled and not with any humor. “What a brilliant strategic move and none of us saw it coming.”
“Why should we?” Macha raked her fingers through her hair, muttering with disgust. “So much for all our tribe has sacrificed as the iron fist of VIPER. I was hoping you had news on Brina. Bringing her back is the only hope for our people. By now, Maeve has returned to TÅμr Medb to begin releasing her coven in waves of a hundred at a time. That was the only concession I gained, to limit the influx weekly. The first group goes directly to Atlanta.”
Tzader didn’t want to acknowledge what this meant, but he had a duty to everyone. He would have to let go of Brina and return to Atlanta to stand with Quinn, Evalle and the other Beladors. “Can the gryphons go to Atlanta?”
“No. Maeve and Cathbad are opposing my claim to the gryphons.”
“How?”
“Because the gryphons carry Belador and Medb blood. Once my petition for being a recognized race is decided, the gryphons can choose which pantheon to join. Until then, if they leave the protection of Treoir they’ll be fair game to be captured as lost property.”
“What about Evalle?”
“That’s a difficult subject. I was asked if she’d fought for the Medb at any time, which she had so I had no choice but to tell the truth. However, I explained that Evalle claimed she’d been compelled, as well as the others, and as soon as Kizira died that she was free to choose. At that point, Evalle chose to remain a Belador.”
“Damn right she did.”
“Maeve is claiming that I’m compelling the gryphons and Evalle now, which is why the Tribunal will not recognize any of them swearing fealty to me in the meantime.”
Brina’s neck disappeared, then her mouth and cheeks, leaving only her eyes and forehead in a ghostly mask.
Tzader had never felt so damned helpless in his life. He squeezed his eyes closed to stem the misery wanting to flood out of them and looked away. “I’ll go back to Atlanta, but there’s only ten, maybe twelve minutes left, based on what I’ve noticed.” Yes, he’d been keeping count by the minute, analyzing by the square inch just how quickly Brina’s hologram was disappearing. “I want to stay until ... she’s gone.”
When he glanced back at Macha, she was reaching over to touch the dark green strings woven around where Brina’s body had been.
Tzader shouted, “Don’t touch her!”
Macha’s eyes narrowed with threat. “Who do you think you’re ordering?”
“You don’t understand. Quinn and I both touched the Noirre before he went back to Atlanta. He was searching with his mind for any connection. I just felt the need to be close to her and put my hands on the shape. Two minutes later we were at each other’s throats. If Evalle hadn’t interrupted, blood would have been shed.”
Horror reached Macha’s eyes as she realized what he was saying. She snatched her hand back.
He nodded. “Exactly. You might destroy everything in sight before you realized what was affecting you.”
“Where are Evalle and that Skinwalker?” The room trembled with Macha’s agitated voice.
“I don’t know–”
A guard appeared at the door to the hallway. “Excuse me, Goddess. The Maistir asked to be notified when your guests arrived.”
Tzader’s heart took off galloping. “Where are they?”
“They just appeared on the lawn.”
Macha lifted her hands in a move that Tzader knew would end with Evalle teleported. He rushed toward the door and called out, “Please don’t, Macha. It makes Evalle sick and Storm won’t focus on Brina if Evalle is harmed.”
“He will if I order him to do so.”
Tzader had reached the door and paused long enough to say, “I’m not sure even you can stand between him and Evalle. Testing him will only waste time we can’t afford.”
With that, Tzader raced to the front of the castle. He had to get to Evalle and Storm first so he could warn Storm about the Noirre majik. But surely a Navajo with his shaman background was far enough removed from any dark majik that Storm would be safe from the affect of the Noirre threads if he touched them.