Dragon: Allie's War Book Nine (64 page)

Balidor answered for me. “It is possible he did this, yes. It is certainly possible evidence that the data key was left by someone less sympathetic to the network as a whole, versus one of the pillars we believe to be more loyal to Menlim.”

“It’s also quite possibly a ruse to yank us around by the crotch…” a voice muttered, drawing my eyes.

Seeing the source, I gave Dalejem a disbelieving look.

He stared back unapologetically, shrugging with the flat of one hand. “…Someone needs to fucking say it. No one else was.”

Balidor quirked an eyebrow in his direction, then looked back at me.

“We are examining that, too, brother,” he conceded, making a much more polite wave of his hand than what Dalejem had done. “And we will continue to do so. But for now, this intelligence is too valuable for us to ignore it entirely. Moreover, the evidence in the Barrier so far indicates that whoever left this information behind, they do not appear to be operating under Menlim’s orders––”

“Like we’d fucking know if they were,” Dalejem muttered.

Again, I gave him an annoyed look. “Would you like to actually contribute to the discussion, brother Dalejem?” I asked him coldly.

He smiled at me, eyes flat. “I apologize, beloved sister. I thought I was.”

Muttering under my breath, I only stopped when I caught Balidor looking between us again, more of that puzzlement in his light.

“But why?” Jax said, repeating Jon’s question as he looked around the table. “Why would he do that? Isn’t Dragon one of the pillars himself?”

Balidor flipped his hand again, his voice calm. “The network key does not tell us that for certain, brother…but yes, it could certainly be surmised. On the other hand, perhaps he was made an unwilling pillar.” Balidor cleared his throat. “Such as the Sword.”

“…Or maybe he just didn’t like being locked underground for however-many years and experimented on like a fucking rhesus monkey,” Dalejem muttered under his breath. “…As I recall, the ‘Sword’ wasn’t too happy about
that,
either.”

Another silence settled over the room.

I saw a few people giving Dalejem puzzled looks that time.

“Is the Sword himself on this diagram?” Neela said, staring up at the image.

“No,” Balidor said, exhaling as he again looked at me. “But again, this information is organic…and the data chip appears to be tied in some way into the living network organism itself, for want of a better term…” He shrugged, still holding my gaze. “From what we can tell, as the network changes, the diagram in the data chip changes, too. We have no idea what the Sword’s current status is within Menlim’s network…”

I watched understanding reach their eyes as they all went back to staring up at the seething lines of red and silver light that morphed and twisted over the table.

“So who’s next?” Chandre asked, blunt.

I looked at her. She leaned deeper into her chair, her muscular arms on the table in front of her, her red eyes shining in the overhead light of the moving network. When no one spoke, she made a sharper gesture with one hand.

“You say this Dragon…or someone…is leading you through who to eliminate on this network,” she added, her accented voice clear. “So who is next? According to this map of his? Can you share that with us?”

I glanced at Balidor. Meeting my gaze, he made a sweeping gesture with one hand, basically telling me it was up to me whether to tell them or not.

Clearing my throat, I met Chandre’s gaze.

“Eddard,” I said. “He wants us to go after Eddard next.”

I felt a reaction in Jon’s light. Glancing at him, I remembered that Jon knew Eddard better than I did. Staying with Revik all those weeks in London, he would have interacted with him daily. I saw a grim look form on Jon’s face in the seconds after I spoke, right before he glanced at Wreg, communicating something to his mate via hand gestures. I didn’t follow his fingers to see what he’d said; I figured if he wanted me to know, he would have said it out loud.

Silence again fell over the table.

That time it was Wreg who broke it.

“So according to this,” the ex-rebel said, his black eyes still on the diagram. “…That fucker, Menlim…he is not a pillar, either.”

Balidor exhaled, affirming his words with a slash and cut upwards of his hand.

“Yes, brother,” he said. “That is correct. Again, we are only in the preliminary stages of examining this network. We require many more eyes on it than simply mine and sister Tarsi’s.”

He gave Wreg a meaningful look, as well as Jon, Yumi and Dalejem, I noticed, before giving me the most pointed look of all.

“…Many more, my brothers and sisters,” he added. “But right now, from our preliminary examination of this model, it appears that only beings who are actually
alive
can take that role. Menlim is not technically in that category…although there is some chance that the being whose body he hijacked is still alive in some form and might have a role. We strongly suspect that pillars are rotated in and out of the network entirely via links that are made inactive or invisible when not in use, thus effectively disguising their numbers.”

“So the diagram’s not complete?” Wreg said.

Balidor met his gaze. “Technically, no. We believe it is not.”

Dalejem let out an angry noise.

Again, I looked over at him. Biting my lip, I fought to remain silent and failed.

Are you drunk?
I sent.
What is the matter with you?

Cold fucking sober, love.

Then shut the fuck up,
I told him, incredulous.

This is horse shit,
he sent back, almost as if he’d been waiting for me to speak.
Allie, this is a trap. It’s a fucking trap. Please tell me you can see the neon signs all over this thing, saying ‘it’s a fucking trap’…

How about you shut up or I boot your ass out of here?
I sent angrily.
Can you at least pretend you’re capable of contributing to the discussion like a goddamned adult…?

Dalejem looked up; briefly, his green eyes locked on mine.

If Balidor noticed any of that, he appeared to ignore it. Sighing a bit, the Adhipan leader inclined his head as I returned my attention to him, directing his words at Wreg.

“It appears to us now that Menlim is anchored here via these other beings, brother,” he said. “…which is essentially the principle operating behind the network as a whole. Meaning he, and it, are dependent on those he has selected to play pillar roles here on Earth.” Shrugging with his hand, he glanced at me before adding, “Of course, it is a bit of a semantics issue. Even if the body being used by this ‘Menlim’ remains alive in some sense, it is not the Dreng themselves acting as pillars. They would still need humans or seers for this.”

“Humans?” Maygar said, his voice terse. “You said humans?”

Again, Balidor gave him a single nod. “Yes.”

“How many?” Yumi asked.

I glanced at her. She stared up at the diagram as well, her lean, tattooed arms folded over her chest. She wore only a black tank top, I noticed, and what looked like fatigues. The dark blue tattoo on her face moved slightly as her mouth and eyes made micro-expressions up at the diagram. I could almost feel her light hooking into the flow of the different strands, trying to make sense of it, to understand the motion there, or at least imprint the flavor of it.

Yumi was an infiltrator, through and through.

Balidor gave another flip of his hand.

“According to this diagram, that varies, too,” he said. He met Yumi’s gaze when she looked down from the diagram, right before he glanced at Wreg. “…It is why you could not pin down a structure for this thing, my brothers and sisters. It is more like a living thing than any construct we have ever seen, moving and changing as it interacts with the world. There are too many factors involved to model a pattern. So far, at least.”

“And the ‘brain’ for this thing?” Dalejem said.

His louder, clearer voice made me flinch, looking over.

He glanced at me, then back at Balidor, his voice and expression polite. “The nerve center,” he clarified. “How commands are sent. It is in the Barrier, brother? Or down here?”

Balidor gave him a grim look.

“An excellent question, my brother,” he said, exhaling. “We are trying to determine that, as well. We believe it to be a combination, but we are being heavily blocked when we try to determine the originating factor that triggers decisions or parameters for change.” Balidor gave me a look, acknowledging our conversation earlier before his eyes returned to Dalejem. “We believe it’s possible that the being Dragon plays a role in this, as well.”

Dalejem caught the look between us. Leaning back in his chair, he frowned, first at me, then back at Balidor.

“‘We’ believe that?” he said, his voice holding an edge. “Who is we, brother?”

Balidor opened his mouth to answer, but I cut him off.

“I
believe it,” I said, giving Dalejem a look.

Dalejem returned my gaze. I could tell from his expression he already knew I’d been the one to suggest the connection with Dragon.

He averted his gaze, his expression growing unreadable.

“Are we going to talk about the other thing?” he said next. From his voice, Dalejem addressed the group as a whole that time, or perhaps Balidor. Definitely not me.

Balidor glanced between us a second time. Again, I felt that puzzlement in his light as he looked from Dalejem’s face to mine, along with a denser feeling that bordered on incredulity.

“What other thing, brother?” Balidor said.

Despite what I’d seen in his light, Balidor’s voice remained patient. Dalejem’s, however, was not. Exuding frustration, he let out a grunt, motioning towards me with a muscular hand.

“The fact that this fucking ‘Dragon’ has some direct connection to our
beloved Bridge,”
he snapped.

I wondered if anyone else caught the sarcasm in his last two words.

I definitely did.

“…The fact that he is yanking her chain,” he added, gesturing sharply at me with a hand. “Playing some fucking game with her, in even leaving this information behind…much less what he did to her in that goddamned underground structure…”

“Jem.” My voice was cold as ice.

He scarcely gave me a look, still addressing the rest of the room. “…Whatever this is between them, my brothers and sisters, the connection is clear. Perhaps due to their intermediary status, or perhaps for some other reason…this is aimed at her.” He glanced at me, hesitating for the barest breath before he frowned again, his voice harder. “…or perhaps her husband, especially given where he is right now. And who might be trying to influence his decisions.”

Balidor glanced at me.

Quirking an eyebrow, he frowned when I shrugged with a hand, seer-fashion.

He made a motion for me to answer the question if I wanted.

Gesturing that I didn’t want to, that I’d rather if he handled it, I watched puzzlement return to Balidor’s gray eyes before he nodded, gesturing a polite assent.

“We have been transparent about that, brother,” Balidor said, shifting his gaze back to Dalejem. He let the puzzlement in his light leak into his words. “We have not discussed that connection because it is patently obvious. Are you suggesting there is something we are keeping from you, brother Jem?”

Dalejem clicked in irritation.

“No,” he said, making a downward slash with one hand. “I am suggesting that this is fucking
dangerous
for her. That letting her be involved in hunting this ‘Dragon’…a telekinetic seer who is likely insane, unstable at the very least…or following the bread crumbs he is obviously leaving for her and her alone, is fucking
dangerous
. Especially since we have absolutely no idea what her husband is doing at the moment…or even whose team he currently plays on.”

Dalejem’s eyes shifted to mine, holding more heat when he next spoke.

“…I’m also suggesting,” he added harshly. “That the fact that the Sword is clearly no longer adhering to their marriage vows indicates that we need to take him at his word that he has left her.” Still staring at me, he enunciated each word with deliberateness. “I don’t know if she’s
shared
that fact with the rest of you, so I apologize for my bluntness…but those of us here are well aware that the Sword is ‘moving on,’ in the physical sense, at least. I strongly suggest that we reevaluate intelligence safeguards around her as a result of this change…as well as the Bridge’s role in any hunting expeditions we might have planned in the future. Whatever we decide in regard to this ‘map’ our new friend Dragon has so generously left us.”