Mirror: Book One of the Valkanas Clan (34 page)

Tom handed me his, and I began studying it as he went to collect the others. I laid it on the floor in front of me, running my finger slowly across the first name as I silently pronounced it. It was a slow process, and it took a few minutes to get through Tom’s list; none of the names did anything.

I moved on to the next list, trying to ignore my mounting frustration and impatience as once again nothing happened. Then, about midway down the third list, my index finger brushed against the first few letters of the name Julius—and it felt like my skin had touched a live ember. I began laughing once I realized how terribly obvious the alias was—especially when I noticed the name of the passenger travelling with him: Cleo. If I hadn’t known already that Cesar had grand ambitions, the fact that he chose Julius Caesar and Cleopatra as the inspiration for his and Ava’s aliases would have confirmed it. I just hoped it didn’t also mean he had actual romantic designs on Ava.

Marcus snatched the list out of my hand. I didn’t have to say anything—he spotted the obvious alias almost immediately.

“I suppose we should thank the gods he is such a fool,” he muttered, and then straightened. “Valerie, please inform Jade and Orchid of the plane on which Cesar will be arriving.” He handed her the manifest, and she stood and departed silently. Tom got up and shut the door behind her.

“When do they arrive?” Damian asked.

“In two hours and fifteen minutes. I propose we use that time to refuel and then send Samuel up with the plane half an hour before Cesar’s flight is due in, so that he will not notice the presence of another jet. We can station ourselves inside the airport by the gate his plane will use. I will ask my friend to have two of his staff detain he and Ava as they disembark so that they might be separated just enough to make it easier for us to apprehend him without putting Alyson’s friend at risk.”

“We should kill him as soon as possible to prevent the elf from interfering again,” Tom said, and I felt faintly sick at how casually he proposed Cesar’s murder. A week ago I never would have considered dating someone who discussed murder at all, much less considered it so easily, as a simple practical solution.

You really feel that way,
Tom countered,
even with everything he’s done?
To Joseph?
To Ava?

What’s wrong with incarceration?
I replied.

And how long, exactly, do you incarcerate an immortal?
Especially one with a pass to Faerie?

That was an ethical dilemma I felt ill-equipped to handle right now, and then I realized that everyone else was nodding—except for Damian. He had a look of distaste on his face, as if he’d just been forced to swallow something revolting but couldn’t spit it up for fear of offense. Was it possible he also disapproved of killing Cesar in cold blood? Was he the reason almost all of Cesar’s family had been immobilized rather than killed during the fights that had occurred this past week?

“Once we are out of sight of any human eyes, kill him,” Marcus agreed. The look on Damian’s face intensified for just a split second and then disappeared, his features once again neutral and seemingly calm.

“Samuel, you will land the plane as soon as you can after Cesar’s lands, so that we might depart as quickly as possible,” Marcus continued. Sam nodded. “If anyone sees or senses,” Marcus flicked his eyes at me “any sign of the elf then do not wait for the perfect time to kill Cesar—do it immediately, regardless of the number of humans watching. His death will break their bond, and willing a few humans into forgetfulness will be far easier than resisting her magic. Do not try to attack her directly. Understood?”

Everyone nodded again, complacently, but I was confused.

“I’m sorry to be the only ignorant one here, but why does she pose such a threat?” I asked. “She didn’t seem interested in harming me when I saw her before, and she seemed exhausted to boot. Plus, if she draws on tranquility, wouldn’t she be harming herself to induce terror and pain in us?”

Marcus rolled his eyes, but Damian leaned forward as if I had asked a very interesting question.

“Normally she would not pose a threat to us; you have that right Alyson. But we must assume that the nature of her bond with Cesar involves a commitment to protect him—that, presumably, is why she transported his unconscious body into Faerie when we attacked before, despite the massive energy cost. The Light Elves do not enjoy violence, but their magic is very strong and they are perfectly capable of committing immense violence when threatened—and the bond would turn this into a threat she would be forced to defend Cesar against.”

“Why wouldn’t she just teleport him again instead of fighting us?”

“If one of us is in physical contact with him, she cannot—at least not without taking that person too, and that would tax her too greatly.”

I wanted to ask Damian what would happen to their bond if we simply told her we now had the horn, but since Marcus was there I couldn’t. It pissed me off too, because it seemed like it could be a way around the danger Marielle apparently presented and the need to murder Cesar. If she made an appearance, and I had the opportunity to do so out of Marcus, Jade, and Orchid’s hearing range, I resolved to tell her. I wouldn’t be the one holding Cesar, so hopefully I wouldn’t be a threat she’d feel the need to attack.

That’s too risky
Aly
,
Tom told me, sounding angry.
We’ll all be safe once Cesar is dead, and the bastard deserves it. Why risk Marielle hurting you to protect him?

I don’t think she will hurt me, and for all we know she’ll go nuts when he’s dead—she’s desperate for that horn, remember? If we kill her only link to it, she might not disappear as readily as everyone seems to think she will.
I paused.
And you can think I’m a wimp if you want, but I just don’t feel comfortable at the idea of whisking into an airport with the intention of killing someone.

So you’d want me to do what if he came charging towards you, hmm?
Tom’s tone was nasty, sharp, and beginning to fade as my anger rose.
Nicely ask him to please leave you alone?

Screw you, Tom.
I replied, and then instantly regretted swearing at him. I was still too angry to apologize though, and our mental connection had been snapped already, leaving me to stew alone in my thoughts. I couldn’t believe he’d willfully misunderstand me that way, and blur the line between self-defense and cold-blooded murder as if the distinction didn’t matter in the least. They were going to kill him out of a combination of vengeance and practicality, and still risk all of us getting killed by depriving Marielle of the thing she most wanted in the world.

And then I doubled over. Dorothy was back.

The elf—she’s here, and I think she senses that something is wrong,
Dorothy said, and it was the first time she’d sounded worried in any of our conversations.

An idea struck me.
Can you communicate with her?

I have no idea.
She sounded surprised.
Why would you want me to, though?

I quickly caught Dorothy up on the horn and how Damian and Valerie were keeping it secret from Marcus, Jade, and Orchid.

Who knows,
I finished,
she might even help us capture him if she knows we have the horn, if that allows her to break her bond with him. And Valerie already said she’d be willing to share with her if it came to that.

I could tell Dorothy wasn’t wild about the idea, but she agreed to try. As the cramps faded and I tuned back in to everything around me, I realized I’d need to offer some kind of explanation for my fugue. Given what a terrible liar I was, a half-truth was my only option.

“Marielle is here.”

Marcus swore softly, and Damian’s features froze—perhaps considering how his wife was in the airport with a very powerful elf
who
was desperate to bear children. He would know better than almost anyone the kind of effect that desperation could have on someone’s behavior. I suddenly wished that my telepathic link with Tom could extend to Damian just for a few moments, so that I could tell him why I planned to tell Marielle about the horn.

“Everyone off the plane—we need to get it in the air immediately. Try to keep your emotions as neutral as possible in the airport so the elf doesn’t sense you—and stay as far from her as you can,” Marcus said. Tom and Luis stood and left immediately, but Damian hesitated, pinning me with a look.

“Alyson should stay on the plane with Samuel,” Damian said. “She doesn’t know how to fight; she’ll just pose a liability to our operation.”

I stared at him, now even more desperate in my wish for that telepathic connection. If Dorothy couldn’t communicate with Marielle then it was essential I do it. My fear had turned into a full-blown conviction that if we didn’t let her know she could still get access to the horn, she would attack us all. Before I could muster up a believable lie as to why I had to be with them, however, Marcus stepped in.

“I know it grates against your oath, Damian, but you’ll have to accept the risk” he said. “We need her with us. She has already proven invaluable, and her gift could prove crucial to our success.”

I nodded, relieved that Marcus had spared me the trouble of lying. Damian’s face tightened, but before he could vocalize his protest I jumped up and left the plane, joining Tom at the bottom of the stairs.

Damian’s right—you should have stayed on the plane,
Tom told me the second I stepped foot on the concrete.

And what if Marcus is
right,
and I have another episode that makes the difference between all of us leaving here unharmed or not?
I asked.
Besides, I need to try to get close to Marielle. Dorothy doesn’t think she’ll be able to communicate with her.

Fine.
But don’t you dare complain about your privacy—I’ll be in your head every second until this is all done. You tune out when you’re sensing things; you need someone to watch out for you.

Agreed,
I said, shivering slightly.  I was not eager to tune out for a few seconds and never have the opportunity to tune back in again.
Will you help me lose Marcus and Damian, though, so I can try to approach Marielle?

Damian’s going to have my hide for this later,
he grumbled, but he escorted me inside faster than I could have managed on my own, before Damian or Marcus had even emerged from the plane. Then he made a beeline for the nearest women’s restroom and stopped outside the door.

I’ll tell them that I told you to hide in here until we were ready to leave, so that you could be close enough to warn us but out of the way of any action.

Won’t Damian be able to tell you’re lying to him?

No, because I
am
telling you to do that.
He stared at me, his face a mixture of amusement and tenderness.
That you’ll choose to ignore me is, unfortunately, something I can’t do anything about.

I stepped closer to kiss him, quickly but deeply, and then darted off before Damian and Marcus could enter. The part of my brain that had watched too many movies was melodramatically mooning over the possibility that it could be our last kiss, but I tried to ignore it, focusing on the hope that finding Marielle would make that thought completely absurd.

In stretches where there were no humans to notice I allowed myself to move with vampiric quickness, but the airport was quickly filling with a steady trickle of people and it forced me to confine myself to normal speeds. Thirty minutes later, I’d covered most of the airport without the slightest hint of Marielle, and my anxiety levels were building.