Any Price (27 page)

Celina’s eyes shot to Boris who casually went to the left wall of the room. It was an interior wall that divided the space from the next room. As Boris laid a hand on the wall, Celina continued. “I feel we must continue to examine the construction contracts for the new school north of the city. Some of the language in them is not standard and I suspect it might compromise the project. As I understand it, you wish our schools to be showplaces of education and undesirable contractors will not be tolerated.”

Lore nodded. Boris laying a hand on the wall as Celina switched to talking about mundane things said the two of them had felt a shift that the others hadn’t. The hand on the wall was a reference to the secret passages.

In Celina’s choice of subject was a swiftly constructed code. Putting the words in a different order than she’d said them was a simple matter for Lore. “North of the city I feel the construction was examined. I suspect the language might be compromised. Undesirables will not be tolerated.”

Thomas glared at Boris. “I need to go to the bathroom. Since it’s your fault I’m weak, help me up, Boris.”

They dare not use the mental communication and Thomas needed to feel the wall Boris felt. He was aware of the passages and how the others had found them while he was in New York. His aptitude for feeling structures was much more acute than anyone else’s, and Thomas felt he should be the one touching the wall.

Struggling up as quickly as he could, Thomas ignored Julianna’s jerking movement to stop him. Boris immediately leapt to his side, gripping Thomas’ arm. Thomas stiffened in reaction to what he felt through Boris. “The wall!” he rasped, reaching for it on lurching, unstable feet. Boris wasn’t quick enough to catch Thomas as he fell against his goal. Leaning heavily on the structure, Thomas’ reaction to what it told him was swift.

“Someone in the passages.” He frowned in concentration. “My lady! Is she alone?! Go!”

Before Thomas finished the first sentence, Lore realized his mistake. Again he’d assumed safety where none was to be found. Lore was out the door running toward the room he’d left unprotected. A guard outside her door was useless if the passages let the aggressor in. Yuri and Boris were behind him, unable to catch up.

Lore could feel Kenna. Her signature was still there. But she didn’t wake to his call. He was screaming at her in his mind and she didn’t respond.

Bursting into the apartments, Lore was instantly aware of the god. A very large, dark figure bent over Kenna. His hand wrapped around her neck, he turned his head to glare at Lore. The figure bared his teeth in a low hiss between long incisors.

“Drink from her. Quickly! Take the poison into your body and save her!” the creature commanded.

Lore paused, unsure of his next move. Was this being hurting Kenna or saving her? Were his commands the product of knowledge or threat?

“She is my sister! I cannot hurt her. If I were going to, she’d be dead and you’d never have seen me. Do it! We don’t have time to discuss it, little brother! I cannot heal her as I did before. If the poison travels to all her organs, there is no hope.”

Lore’s own instincts were screaming at him to do exactly what the being suggested. The impossibility of a family relationship between Kenna and this creature was inconsequential as he felt her suddenly gripped in pain as a toxin rushed through her system.

Behind Lore, Yuri and Boris burst into the room. Lore flashed to Kenna using speed that made him appear to be in one place and an instant later, another. Lifting her, he did the natural thing. His head whipped back, his grimace exposed elongated incisors the moment before he buried them in her neck.

Drawing her blood into his body, he could feel an acid burn instead of the sweet brew it had been this morning.

The large being on the other side of the bed held up a hand without glancing at the two men in the doorway. The slight gesture immobilized them into frozen witnesses.

“Draw out as much as you can,” the creature directed urgently. “Your body will reject the poison, purifying the blood. You must replace it. She is not like we are. Your blood must be injected into her with a needle and drip. If I release these, will they secure it for us?”

Lore reached for the creature mentally. “
They will. They are mine. They must be allowed to protect the other women.”

The tall male stiffened. “Another like her is unprotected?”

“One, and another who is just as important to us. They are alone. If you didn’t do this, the attacker is still here. Release them now!”

The large male looked at the two men in the door. They were instantly mobile. Boris turned to sprint out as the creature bellowed. “Where are they? Do you fools not know what the prize is?” His anger was a rippling force as he abruptly disappeared.

“Get an IV!” Lore commanded Yuri. “Boris is going for Julie and Celina.”

“We need to talk, sir,”
Yuri responded as he raced out of the room to retrieve the needed supplies from the medical wing.

“Yeah. I’ve changed,”
Lore shot at him impatiently, knowing Yuri’s shocked concern.
“But unless we save Kenna, you’ll never get the chance to ask all those questions.”

In Thomas’ room, Julianna lay unconscious on the floor. Thomas was crumpled against the wall he’d been leaning on. The large male who’d flashed into the room went immediately to Julianna. Boris entered in time to see him put Julianna’s wrist to his mouth and pierce her skin as he inhaled her blood.

Disturbing as that was, Boris was less concerned with the bloodsucker than with the fact that Celina was not present.

“Celina!”
he bellowed into the common channel. No response. He could feel her life force but nothing else.

The large man crouching by Julianna released her wrist and smiled softly down at her closed eyes. “Hello, little sister.”

Standing abruptly the stranger turned to Boris. “Who is Celina?”

“My sister! She’s gone. I can feel her but she is gone.”

The large male lifted his head slightly and inhaled, as if testing the air around Boris. He frowned as he concentrated. “You are not a blood relation to these?” he asked, slightly puzzled.

“No. Who the hell are you and what are you doing?” Boris asked in agitation, still searching for Celina with most of his mind.

“Is there anything belonging to this Celina in the room? Something she touched?”

Boris ignored the stranger and went to Julianna, crouching to feel her pulse.

“She is fine,” the large one stated. “A blow to the head. She’ll wake with a headache. Is this your sister’s?” he pointed to a purse on the floor by the door.

Boris glanced at it. “Yes.” He moved to Thomas, found a pulse and felt his head. There was a large swelling rising on it as well. Turning to see what the stranger was doing, Boris watched the man-shaped creature pick up Celina’s purse and put it to his nose as he inhaled deeply.

Suddenly the large figure trembled. He yanked the bag open and reached inside. Pulling out Celina’s hair brush, he held it to his face and inhaled again, closing his eyes as if he was concentrating. Flashing green eyes opened and he carefully drew a hair off the brush and examined the tip for a follicle. Holding it to his mouth, his tongue curled around the end. His big body shuddered again and sank to his knees as if he staggered under a crushing weight.

“What the hell are you?” Boris demanded of the crouched figure. The large man was bent over Celina’s purse as if he were in pain.

Slowly the male straightened, coming to his feet in one smooth motion. Strength radiated from him as he gazed at Boris. At full height he appeared close to seven feet tall. The face turned to Boris was harshly cut, each feature perfect in balance and beauty but so grim as to appear expressionless. Only his eyes were filled with life. They were currently dark green, shot through with gold. “I am not the creature you think from what you saw. I’m probably something less comforting.”

“What?”

“Humans have called me Syntheodec,” the large man stepped around Thomas. Gently he picked up Julianna and carefully put her on Thomas’ bed. He turned to Boris and grimaced, displaying perfectly normal teeth. “You may call me Synth.”

“Sin with a lisp? What the hell kind of name is that and what’s with all the sniffing? What are you?” Boris edged around to make sure he was facing the creature.

“Spell the name with a Y. You’ll feel better. It means something like ‘unending sin of god’. You have questions about me. The answers to those questions will not reveal truth. Change the questions and the One here can answer most of them.

“Out of respect I have remained here too long. Your sister is my concern and she is not safe. I do not believe the kidnapper will harm her immediately. He needs her until he gets what he wants. Be assured, Celina’s safety is my first concern. Take care, Boris, brother of the lady. I am honored to know you.”

Boris blinked as the spot where Synth had been standing was suddenly empty. “Wait! What the hell are you and why should I trust you?” Boris bellowed into the void that was the space the large man had occupied.

The reply was telepathic and Boris was too busy to be concerned with the little detail that this creature was using the common communication channel.

“I’m the guy who can travel faster than your eye can follow and I’m going after your sister. Trust is your choice. What I am is an open question. Opinions vary,”
rumbled from the unknown being.
“What I am right now is a predator hunting a thief. I will bring your sister back to you. See to the others of our kind.”

“Our kind?”
Boris questioned cautiously as he moved to help a groggy Thomas to his feet.

“Yes, brother of the Keeper. I’m somewhat older than my brothers and sisters surrounding you, but of the same blood. You and your sister are not of my blood, but you are of my kind. Do you suppose you could suspend the questions while I concentrate?”

“No,”
Boris responded.
“I have no idea who you are or who has taken my sister. I’m not going to tamely nod and hope you’re a good guy. I want to know what the hell you’re doing every minute.”

“Fine. I understand your concern. I am currently in the bowels of your castle, picking up the scent of the thief in the passages.”

Boris turned to Thomas who was leaning against the wall but fully conscious, and pulled a handgun from his shoulder holster. “You might need this,” he handed the gun to Thomas and turned to exit the room at top speed, heading for the dungeon.

“Listen here, bloodhound person. I’m coming with you,”
Boris snarled as he raced down twisting stairs.

“Relax, my cat cousin. I have found what I need and am leaving. Your sister has been taken by a cunning hunter. He knows much about masking his trail. I feel knowledge in you and ask your permission to share it. Know that I will take it if I have to. Your dignity is not more important than your sister’s safety.”

“Nasty bastard, aren’t you? I see no one has house trained the cur.”
Boris paused as Lore cut in.

“Do as he asks, Boris. We have few choices but he has answers we need. He is one of us.”

“One of you, you mean,”
Boris stated with deep distrust.

“Yes,”
Lore acknowledged.
“Just like me now. Do not fear what you have no knowledge of. Remember, everything we thought we knew has been proven a lie. This act that disturbs you is not what it seems,”
he cautioned Boris’ unspoken revulsion at the act of taking blood.

Boris hissed as he hurriedly searched an empty dungeon. The creature was indeed gone. Trust was not in his nature, and after what he’d seen Lore and the being do to both Kenna and Julianna, Boris was having a difficult time extending trust to either bloodsucker, whatever the hell powerful, apparently demon creatures they were.

Suddenly there was a hard push at Boris’ mind. He felt it just as Lore mentally stepped in front of Boris, blocking the invasion as the creature tried to make good on its promise to take the information.

“No! You will not force him,”
Lore snarled.
“He is struggling with new information, just as we all are. Wait for his trust or you become the creature he suspects we are.”

“There is no time to babysit him, little brother. I need his knowledge now.”

“You need more than his knowledge. You need his cunning, his abilities and his loyalty. Forcing compliance will get you some information right now and an enemy within our people for eternity.”

Lore was concentrating on his desperate bid to save Kenna as he battled the one who had shown him how to do this.
“Don’t be an ass! If you make slaves of free individuals, you are the evil one and I will hunt you, brother.”
Lore put a sneer into the term “brother”.
“I don’t have time to babysit you.”

“Your eloquent training as a statesman has served you well, brother. There is no excuse for being an ass, save the pressing need to find our lost Keeper. I will introduce myself to your people. It takes precious time.”
Synth paused a moment then opened himself to the common channel. With his words he also managed to put a feel of his intentions.