Billow (33 page)

I nursed my syrupy soda and brought my mind back to the task.

Focus.

Gilroy was the key to everything. Whatever happened tonight, I was determined to get him to talk.

He was going to answer for what happened to Marcella.

Hard anger settled over me, helping me to concentrate.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Compared to most people in this place, the guy's smile was unusually sincere.

"No thanks. I'm waiting for someone."

He was cute, someone I would've enjoyed hanging out with a lifetime ago.

He nodded in understanding. "Lucky guy."

I doubted Gilroy would be thinking that when my dagger was shoved in his throat.

He walked away and I caught the barest of movements as Tristan shifted his attention back to Blondie.

It was oddly satisfying.

I scowled again.

Gilroy walked in a few minutes later. You couldn't miss the shine of his slicked back helmet hair.

Wary eyes checked out every person in the bar. His gaze slid over Ewan and Tristan, but he didn't react.

He ordered his usual crappy beer from Todd and made his way to the booth.

Dagger stayed in my lap. Cold eyes followed him.

Barely controlled rage simmered.

"You don't seem very friendly today,
sondaleur
." He slid in. "Problems in Haverleau?"

I placed my dagger on the table. "Don't waste my time."

Nervousness flitted across his face. "Got the information you were looking for."

"Start talking."

"Callan heads a team of twelve Aquidae. Came in from San Diego a few weeks ago and they've been running around, kidnapping elementals and humans. They report directly to the Shadow and do this thing in cities across the country."

All things we already knew. "And?"

"And that's it," he said casually. "I tried getting a handle on his location, but whatever's going on is big. No one's talking and everyone's in lockdown mode. And Callan's right in the middle of it."

Fury rose with each word. Unbelievable.

He leaned back with a greedy expression. "So, where's the rest of my money?"

"I'm more interested in the information you're not telling me."

"What are you—"

Patience snapped.

"The auction," I growled. "Tell me everything you know about the auction."

"But that info wasn't part of our deal. You asked me to find out about Callan." His eyes turned calculating. "Now I'm not saying I know anything about an auction, but if I did, it'd cost you something separate."

"You want payment." It came out harsh.

For a second, Gilroy looked uncertain. But then he decided to play his hand.

"I'm sure it's valuable to you." He tsked in mock empathy. "Heard what happened to those children in Haverleau."

I gave him a lethal smile. Time to show my cards.

"Funny how that happened. Someone got the information off the Academy servers. Sent us on a goose-chase all over the country."

That idiot couldn't hold back a smug look.

"But we have someone better," I continued. "In fact, I'd say we have someone who's the best. And it wasn't hard at all for him to figure out what happened."

His mouth twitched.

I leaned forward. "Been to Nevada recently, Gilroy?"

Irritation flashed through his eyes. "You guys shut down my accounts."

I stared.

He shrugged. "Yeah, I gave them the info. They were real interested after they heard I'd spoken to you. Can't blame me for not passing up an opportunity like that."

It was exactly what Ian said. Gilroy had no allegiance. He only saw a means of making money. He honestly didn't think he did anything wrong.

"You sell info about the field trip, about my aunt," I emphasized, "to the Aquidae and now you want to sell us information on where the children are."

Face hardened with each word.

His eyes darted around the bar. "Hey, I'm a businessman."

"That's not all you sold them, was it?"

My expression was probably bordering on homicidal.

He looked like he was about to bolt.

"Don't know what you're talking about," he muttered.

"I almost get the selling information thing, Gilroy. Good money, minimal effort. You dirty your hands less." Voice dripped with icy disgust. "But selling your own blood? Now that's just gross."

He froze. "You don't understand."

"Make me understand."

"They were going to kill me if I didn't do it! They came to the store and told me I had to give it. I didn't ask why. Hell, I didn't want to know why."

We were right. Gilroy didn't know what the blood did.

At least we had that going for us. If he knew about the latent magic, he'd be selling his blood to every Aquidae on the planet.

"How much did they take?"

"Two tubes full. With one of those syringes they use at the hospital when they draw blood."

Considering what one drop of nix blood could do, that was a lot.

I played with my dagger.

He swallowed, eyes nervously following my movements.

"Tell me about the auction."

Gilroy shook his head. "No way. Only if you pay me enough to get far away from here. If you go after that auction, they'll know it's me."

It took every ounce of control not to leap over the table. "And what makes you think I won't kill you right now?"

Gilroy, the Aquidae, and the Shadow all treated lives with such callousness. As if what happened to Marcella, the selkies, my cousin were meaningless. Just pieces to be moved and tossed aside in this war.

Fingers closed tight around the cool handle of my dagger.

How easy would it be to reach over and slice his throat? One swipe and he'd be gone. Another threat eliminated.

"A lot of people would be happy to see you dead, Gilroy," a low voice said.

Tristan settled in beside me, his thigh brushing mine under the table.

The touch snapped me out of my thoughts.

He pulled his
pedaillon
out so it was visible. Gilroy's eyes widened and he frantically searched for an escape.

Ewan also took his
pedaillon
out and glared from across the bar.

Don't even think about running, asshole.

"Hey." Gilroy shrank back. His voice trembled slightly. "I'm just trying to do business."

I gave a twisted smile. "Now you can do business with the Warrior Prince."

It was nice to see how white his face got.

Tristan's mouth turned into a straight line. "This is our one and only offer. Either you tell us what you know about the auction, or we'll let slip a rumor you tried to sell us that information."

Understanding dawned in his eyes. "No. You can't —"

"How will the hundreds of Aquidae gathered in Lyondale feel about that? I don't think they'll be pleased to hear you're working with us, too."

"You can't do that. They'll kill me!"

"If you tell us what you know, I guarantee your safety from the Aquidae. They'll never find out how we got the information."

My mouth dropped. The bastard didn't deserve that.

If Tristan noticed my reaction, he ignored it. "That's our final offer. Take it or leave it."

Gilroy fidgeted for a few seconds. Shoulders finally slumped in defeat.

"All I got is a place and time. You sure you're gonna protect me from them?"

"Yes," Tristan said, impatient. "Tell us what you know."

"Auction's taking place a week from now. 11 PM Saturday. Over at that old factory in the northeast part of the city."

The place was definitely spacious and isolated enough. Since the smokestacks sent so much pollution into the air, most people either pretended it wasn't there or went out of their way to avoid the area.

Tristan's voice turned freezing. "You can't even come up with a decent lie?"

Gilroy was a double-crossing ass, but there was no way he was lying to Tristan. Not after the threat he put out there.

"I'm telling you what I know." His tone grew panicked. "It's at the old factory. The one with all that smoke."

Puzzled, I turned to Tristan. "It makes sense. That place is big enough to —"

"There's nothing in that part of the city except abandoned fields."

"It's the factory that sends all that smoke into the air," I said, exasperated.

You couldn't miss the damned thing. It was the biggest eyesore in the entire city.

Tristan stared. Uncertainty coiled into a hard ball in the pit of my stomach.

"Kendra, I don't know what you're talking about."

 ***

Ewan took Gilroy in an SUV and Tristan drove me over in his BMW. I had the distinct impression he was trying to keep me away from that sleazy rat.

The start of the Trident provided a clear view of the northeastern horizon. Even at night, the silhouettes of the factory smokestacks were visible in the distance.

One of them pumped steady grey plumes into the air.

"You really don't see it?" I asked, incredulous.

We stood beside the parked cars, gazing at the sky.

Frustration crossed Tristan's face. "Nothing's there."

I turned to Ewan. "You don't see it, either?"

"There are only fields,
sondaleur
."

"I've been at Haverleau for eighteen years," Tristan said. "The land in that section of the city has always been empty."

Gilroy shifted. Ewan had a steely grip on his arm. "I'm telling you. It's right there."

Why could we see it and the others couldn't? It didn't make sense.

I took out my cell and dialed Aubrey's number. She picked up after a few rings.

"Kendra." Her voice was thick with sleep. "It's the middle of the night…"

"Quick question. When we went to the Trident, did you see the smokestacks from the old factory?"

"Yeah. Can't miss that crap spewing into the air."

"Has it always been like that?"

Aubrey knew much more about Lyondale than I did.

"The factory?" I heard her shifting in bed. "It's been there since before I was born. I remember the story. A lot of humans in Lyondale lost their jobs when it went out of business. Figured someone must've bought the facilities when the smoke started up again."

"Okay. Sorry to wake you."

Tristan frowned. "So ondines and nixes can see it?"

"Looks like it." Another thought came to me and I dialed again.

"Sweet iris," Julian drawled. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a late-night call?"

"What do you know about the old factory on the northeast side of Lyondale?"

A few seconds of silence. "You're calling to ask about a factory?"

"Yeah."

He chuckled. "You never fail to surprise me. Just when I thought you were finally seeking some late-night talk—"

"LeVeq, do you know about the factory or not?"

"No, I don't," he said lazily. "There are only empty fields in that part of Lyondale. Has been empty for as long as I can remember. Why —"

I hung up. "Guess demillirs can't see it, either."

I glanced at Gilroy. He was loudly protesting his treatment to Ewan. "I don't think he's lying about the auction, though."

Every interaction with the Aquidae was the same.

Two steps forward, one back.

We now knew the time and place of the auction. But how were we going to shut it down if chevaliers and gardinels couldn't see it?

Tristan pulled me away from the others. "Do you think it's nix magic?"

I shook my head. "Ian said it only worked on people."

Whatever made the factory invisible to selkies and demillirs was something that affected sight and memory. Aubrey knew how long that factory had been around. But Tristan, Ewan, and Julian's memories were altered to not remember that history.

"It's definitely some kind of magic."

His expression turned thoughtful. "The question is what kind."

I didn't know and we only had a week to figure it out.

"You were about to kill him," Tristan murmured. "In the bar."

Now wasn't the time to get into this discussion.

"He sold information on Marcella and the kids," I said curtly.

He raised his brow. "And that justifies killing him out in the open? In front of humans?"

Irritation flared. "I wasn't going to kill him. Just scare him enough to give up the information."

"Are you sure about that?"

The quietly spoken question frightened me.

No, I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure about a lot of things anymore.

But that wasn't important. Only one thing was.

I crossed my arms. "You promised to protect him. A guy responsible for the loss of four selkies. Garreth's brother."

"Did you really listen to what I said?"

What the hell did that mean?

"Hey, Prince." Gilroy called out. "So you believe me right? You'll let me go? Make sure the Aquidae won't get to me?"

Tristan gave me a long, contemplative look then turned to face them. "Ewan. Take him back to Haverleau and lock him up."

"With pleasure, Your Highness." Ewan's smile was ferocious.

"What?" Gilroy struggled. "But our deal…you promised!"

Ewan forcibly restrained him in the backseat of the SUV and shut the door. I could still hear Gilroy complaining.

Tristan stepped beside me. "I said we'd keep him safe from Aquidae. I didn't say we'd keep him safe from us."

Huh.

"Not bad, Your Highness," I grudgingly admitted.

A pause.

"I try."

TWENTY-SIX

Every day felt like a ticking time bomb.

The clock counted down to the end of another year and to the last opportunity of fulfilling my promise to Marcella and Gabe.

Ian, Aubrey, Chloe, and I spent hours discussing every possibility. We met daily with Jeeves, Tristan, and Rhian.

But we kept going in circles. No one could come up with any reasonable explanation for how Aquidae were using magic.

It was the last day of the year and only two days left to the auction.