Romani Armada (40 page)

“Then the letter still lies somewhere between here and where they are,” Justin said, a small chill touching the back of his neck.

There was muffled noise coming from ahead, at the end of the big room. Nayara let go of Justin’s arm and put both hands on the handles of the big double doors that led onto the cavedium. “Come and join in the real party,” she said and threw the doors open.

Music, laughter and light hit Justin all at once. Nayara took his arm again, and led him through the doors, into the cavedium itself.

There was a trio of musicians set up on the verandah that led to Nayara’s office and the agency control room. Drums, pipe and fiddle. They were in the middle of a tune that was as Irish as anything Justin had ever heard. They were playing loudly and energetically, and the pounding beat made his toes twitch. It was a happy dancing tune and almost impossible to resist.

Around, in and alongside the trees that grew in the middle of the cavedium, were dozens of people. Lights strung up in the trees let him see details and faces. Justin knew nearly everyone by sight. They were all Agency people, or aligned with or working for the Agency.

Ryan, dressed in a shimmering evening suit and double tie, hurried over to where Justin stood taking it all in.

Justin tilted his head. “Where’s your walking stick, old man?” he asked.

Ryan grinned. “Packed away for now.”

“But that’s great. That’s, shit, that’s wonderful news.”

“I have a wonderful task master who bullied me into rehabilitating myself. It’s all thanks to her.” He picked up Nayara’s hand, his fingers stroking the back of it. Nayara just smiled.

“I’m glad you pulled her out of the grown-up stuff in the plaza,” Ryan added. “She needs the break.”

“You should head back,” Nayara warned him. “At least one of us should be there.”

“In a minute,” Ryan agreed. “First, let me introduce Justin to the new people.”

“New people?” Justin asked as Ryan pulled him onto the grass, moving toward the trees. “More employees?”

“They’re vampire, so they’re full members,” Ryan clarified.

“You’re recruiting travelers, even now?”

“They’re not travelers. And I didn’t recruit them. Kieren did.”

“
Kieren
? He works for us now…I mean, he left the Wardens?”

“We’ve been busy. It happens during war time,” Ryan told him.

“We are at war?” Justin asked sharply.

“In all but name, yes,” Ryan replied soberly. “You’ve been through wars before. Tell me how our position is any different than England’s in the early first half of the World War?”

They had called the first early part of that war a ghost war. There had been virtually no hostilities. Only assassinations, threats, and posturing. “I see,” Justin replied, keeping his voice down.

Ryan smiled and gripped his shoulder. “You should stay here if you want to keep up on the gossip.”

“No, thank you. I’m heading back as soon as I’m cleared.”

Ryan beckoned with his hand toward someone. Justin didn’t know who, for there were people everywhere and many of them were glancing their way.

From deep inside the trees, a man stepped out and walked toward them. He was tall – taller than Ryan. He had very fair skin and a shock of long black hair and black eyes. Celt or Briton, Justin guessed. Only, how far back did he go? Both races had been war-mongers, fighting among themselves ceaselessly until the Anglo-Saxon threat of invasion had pulled them together for one brief, shining moment in history. After that, both races had been subsumed by the Anglo-Saxon culture.

The man was followed by another, equally as tall. This one had the same pale flesh and dark features, but he was older in appearance. If he was vampire, he had been made later in life. He wore a long black coat despite the heat and his hair was just as wild and unkempt as the first. He had a full beard that had been trimmed closely.

Both of them stopped before Ryan. The older one inclined his head in a formal way that made Justin think of courts and pageantry. Chivalry.

Ryan indicated the younger one first. “This is Cadeyrn Rhydder, Justin. He is the leader of our new security force.”

“Is it not an army, my lord?” the older one asked, his tone polite and enquiring. His eyes were riveting, drawing the attention like a magnet pulled filings. Justin fine-tuned his focus and saw what the dim light had been hiding. His eyes were not the true Celtic black. They were blue or grey…almost colorless, like a washed-out sky after rain, except that each iris was bordered in black.

“We are not formally at war yet,” Ryan told him. “So for now we use pretty euphemisms.”

“You are at war, whether you wish it or no. Call it whatever you want, people have died, anyway,” Rhydder said, his tone sharp. “You might want to get used to the idea, or it’ll roll you into a paste because you hesitate to deal with it or acknowledge it for what it is.”

“Cadeyrn forgets your own history, of course,” the older man said, his tone conciliatory. Yet his attention-getting eyes did not appear to be at all apologetic. He seemed to stare right through them.

Rhydder almost, but not quite, rolled his eyes.

“And this is Llewellyn, an associate of Rhydder’s,” Ryan said to Justin. “I still haven’t figured out where everyone fits in Rhydder’s organization.”

“Llewellyn is my advisor,” Rhydder said shortly.

“You’ve known each other a long time?” Justin asked curiously.

“Yes,” Rhydder replied flatly.

“Justin!”

The call pulled Justin’s attention back to the trees in the center of the cavedium, where he spotted Demyan and Pritti stepping around a larger group of people that included Tally and Christian. Demyan had hold of Pritti’s hand. It appeared that he was no longer bothering to hide their relationship, even though nearly everyone in the Agency had become aware of it over the last year or so despite their coyness.

As they drew closer, Justin saw why he was holding onto Pritti so tightly. He was helping her walk.

“Perhaps you should unpack your cane once more,” Justin murmured to Ryan. “She is…” He hesitated to say it aloud.

“I know,” Ryan said just as softly in return.

Llewellyn looked at them both sharply, then turned to face Demyan and Pritti, openly examining them.

Pritti smiled at Justin, making him blink. Pritti rarely offered friendship in any way. She was too used to being the hated psi-filer. She looked at him shyly. “Your blackness has gone,” she told him. “There is warm red goodness in you now.”

It was an odd way to describe it, but Justin understood what she was saying, anyway. “Yes, the blackness has gone,” he agreed.

Llewellyn was studying her with deep attention. “You are a psi-filer,” he said, his deep voice making it sound like a regal pronouncement, full of rich cadences.

“This is Pritti,” Ryan said quickly, intervening. “She has worked for the Agency for over ten years and is one of us.”

Llewellyn continued to study her and Pritti shifted nervously. Her smile had gone. She tried to move behind Demyan, to hide, but Llewellyn did something unexpected. He reached out and lifted her chin, very gently, with two of his fingers beneath it.

Pritti drew in a breath and gazed at him. “Oh!” she breathed. She tilted her head, a small puzzled frown between her brows. “Oh…” she repeated, this time with something like awe in her voice.

Llewellyn got down on his knees, there on the grass, and looked at her. “You are a most precious one,” he said, his tone very gentle and soft. Even on his knees, he was almost taller than the diminutive Pritti.

Pritti smiled at him and threw her arms around his neck, holding on tight. Llewellyn hugged her back.

Demyan crossed his arms, looking from Pritti and Llewellyn to Ryan. Ryan shrugged. Rhydder’s attention was on the pair and he did not look up.

Pritti stepped back, still smiling, with some of the old
joie de vivre
and energy Justin remembered. When had she stopped dancing and spinning? He had failed to notice. She patted Llewellyn’s cheek and he smiled, too. His smile changed his appearance radically. He abruptly looked younger, while the flash of even white teeth make him look far less grim and intense. He got to his feet while Pritti tucked her hand under Demyan’s arm once more.

“It is a very great pleasure to meet you, my lord,” she said.

“The greater pleasure is mine,” he replied.

Pritti tugged on Demyan’s arm. “Tally needs cheering up,” she said softly.

Demyan nodded and glanced at Ryan, then glared at Llewellyn. He completely ignored Rhydder, who was standing with his arms crossed, looking bored.

The pair walked back toward the trees, at a slightly faster rate than they had arrived.

Llewellyn watched them go. “She is an old soul in a damaged body,” he said to no one in particular. “Her times grows very short.”

“Can you do anything?” Rhydder asked.

Llewellyn glanced at him. “Perhaps. But it will only delay things. I may be able to make the end peaceful for her, unlike most of her kind.”

“You’re a doctor?” Justin asked.

“He is a healer,” Rhydder replied.

“I don’t recall ever earning a doctorate,” Llewellyn added, with a smile that held mischief.

Justin almost smiled back.

“If you can help Pritti, I am sure all of us would be most grateful,” Ryan said. “She has worked tirelessly for the Agency and many of us will mourn her passing.”

“Particularly the Rus, hmm?” Rhydder asked.

Rus
. Justin focused on the word. By context, he had to assume that Rhydder was talking about Demyan. Was ‘Rus’ an archaic form of Russian? When he had a few minutes of privacy and an unlimited terminal, he would find out. He was curious about these two and where they came from, and he couldn’t ask directly.

Llewellyn was staring at Ryan with the same odd intensity he’d used on Pritti. He stood quite still, his lips moving as if he were uttering silent words to himself.

Rhydder cleared his throat and tugged on Llewellyn’s sleeve. “There’s at least another fifty people we need to put names to,” he said. “We should keep moving.” The bonhomie in his voice was false and sounded weird.

Llewellyn shook off his grip. “Son of Aodhán. Bringer of life, hope and peace. King of the mighty until the end of time. You will be remembered.”

He was staring at Ryan, his gaze unblinking.

Justin shuddered as the icy fingers he’d felt earlier ran their tips up and down his spine. “What the fuck?” he breathed.

Rhydder yanked on Llewellyn’s arm. “He doesn’t get out much,” he said shortly. He pulled Llewellyn forward with a tug powerful enough to make the man stagger.

Llewellyn blinked and looked around. His gaze fell on Rhydder and the grip he had on his arm. Then he focused on Ryan once more. “I am honored to meet you, my lord.” Once more, he gave the regal, formal nod that made Justin feel like he was in the middle of a pageant.

“I’m no lord,” Ryan said shortly.

“By birth, no,” Llewellyn replied. “But deeds make the man, do they not?”

“Look, there’s the blonde I wanted to talk to,” Rhydder said shortly and yanked again.

The pair walked away, Llewellyn stumbling a little. Then his steps grew firmer.

“That was fucking weird,” Justin said flatly. He would never in a million years admit to the low grade fear circling around his gut.

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chronometric Conservation Agency Headquarters, Villa Fontani, Rome, 2264 A.D.:
Rob found Justin standing alone, barely a few minutes after Ryan had muttered about talking to Brenden about research and left the party.

Rob looked tired – no small feat for a vampire – but he greeted Justin with warmth and drew him into the large group under the apple tree. Tally hugged him. She looked as drawn as Rob and clung to either his or Christian’s hand at all times.

Under the tree, the music was a soft enticement that lifted the mood, rather than an overwhelming bribery to dance.

Justin looked around the group standing in a rough circle, talking. He knew each of them and had known all of them for a very long time. There was a comfort in being included in the circle with such total acceptance.

The conversation meandered across topics, interspersed with laughter and ribald, but observant comments. Justin listened, absorbing this new realization. He belonged here, even though he was not a traveler and had not made the station his home. It struck him with the force of a hammer. He actually gasped with the impact.

This was his family
.

The urge to rush back to Deonne and Danny was almost overwhelming. He wanted them here. He wanted them safe.

He wanted them.

He wanted it all.

“You okay, man?” Christian murmured, leaning toward him to keep his voice down. “You look like you’ve been punched in the solar plexus.”

“I think I have,” Justin murmured back. His heart was beating by itself, slamming up against his chest.

“Well, as long as you’re making sense, then,” Christian said, and gave him a small smile. He turned back to Tally, who stood at his side, unsmiling.

“Have you met the weird ones yes?” Justin asked him, deliberately turning the conversation.

“The two tall ones? No.” Christian shook his head a little. “Should I?”

“All three of you may want to get acquainted with them.”

Christian looked at him sharply, his clear eyes assessing. “Why?” he said simply. Tally was looking at him, too.

“They’re Ryan’s new tool in the war against Gabriel.” The word was easier to speak aloud than he thought it might be. He had seen his share of wars and cared nothing for them.

Tally’s lips parted as she drew in a quick breath. “They’re going up against Gabriel?” She looked at Christian. “Lee, perhaps...”

He shook his head. “The last thing we can afford is hope,” he said softly.

She nodded, as the light seemed to die in her eyes. She turned to spot Rhydder and Llewellyn under the trees. “Perhaps, just a word with them, then?” she suggested.

“Of course,” Christian agreed. He caught Rob’s eye and tilted his head toward the dark pair, in a ‘go there’ gesture.