Traitor (13 page)

Quinn exhaled with relief. “That was close,” she said and then gasped. “What the…? Oh, my God!”

“What the hell is this place?” I whispered.

“Robbie!” She moved toward the body with her hands outstretched.

“Don’t.” I grabbed her, wondering how she had recognised the figure when the only things left unharmed were his almond-shaped eyes, frozen open in horror.

Her hands covered her mouth, and she shook her head. “Why Robbie?”

“
This
is the hacker?” I asked.

She nodded. “He was
nice
. Why would anyone do this? And
here
of all places?”

“He was trying to find out where Illeana’s stuff went,” I said grimly. “Maybe he learned something he shouldn’t have.”

“This is sick,” she murmured, looking ill. “This is a torture room. Are
these
the assignments we’ve been overlooked for?”

“We need to get out of here.” I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway.

She insisted on checking all of the rooms we passed. They had all been used to harm and maim. Few were empty of bodies, and the stench of death never left me.

Twenty minutes later, we had finally made it to Koda’s door.

“There should be Guardians outside his door,” Quinn said, looking puzzled. “This makes no sense.”

“Lucky for us then,” I said, ignoring the scent of her fear. “Let’s get this over with.”

She pushed open the door, and we stepped inside.

Koda stared at both of us when we stumbled into the room. I had prepared myself to find his body, so seeing him on his feet was a little unsettling.

“Come to end me, have you?” he asked croakily. “I’ll admit I didn’t expect you to be the one they would send.”

I shook my head, staring around the room. It resembled an ordinary office except one wall was completely made up of earth. Roots hung through, and Koda’s hands and arms were immersed in the dirt.

“Sustenance,” he said, seeing my confusion. “Keeps me going. What are you here for then if not to kill me, little tainted one?”

“I thought you were dead,” Quinn blurted. “You’ve been impossible to find.”

He nodded, looking at the dirt wall. “I slipped up somewhere. The wrong people found out what I knew. How, I’m not sure.”

“We passed by torture chambers,” I said. “There were bodies.”

He looked sad, but not surprised. “Perhaps I underestimated my enemies.”

“I wanted to talk to you about Illeana,” I said, wondering if he still had that flash drive on him or if it was buried in the dirt, slowly being destroyed by his feeding session. “Turns out we were on the same mission, but we both had a different boss. I need to know if she got any further than I have, if she learned something that might change everything.”

He pulled his arms from the earth with a sigh. “You are annoyingly impatient, aren’t you?” He took a seat at his desk and studied me. “So you’re on the same path. Who put you on it? Gabe, I suppose. Perhaps I should have confided in him sooner.”

“Sooner? You mean you have already?” I blurted, astonished.

“Only recently. He knows now how dangerous it would be to confront the truth.”

“And what’s the truth?” I asked, moving closer to him. “What’s really going on?”

“The truth is that we’re all in danger. Terrible danger. And there is no way we can stop it. Not even you. The danger comes from within. The power has been growing in secret all of these years. We have been blind to the truth, and now it is too late. The corruption has poisoned us all. We are rotten from the inside, and there is no way to treat it.”

“We can start afresh. Begin a new leading body. Make changes,” I said urgently, seeing the light leaving his eyes. Would he die before he told me everything?

“I feel…” He glanced at his wall of dirt and abruptly reached up and touched a withered root. It crumbled at his touch. “Ah… poison.”

“Poison?” Quinn’s face paled. “I’ll go for help.” She was gone before I could stop her.

“This won’t kill me,” he said. “But someone will come to finish the job while I’m weakened. And as you got in here so easily, I’m betting the time is swiftly approaching. You should leave before they come for you, too.”

“Who? Who’s killing you? What’s been going on? How can I help you?”

He slumped into his chair. “Listen to Gabe. Listen to your head. The darkest days approach, and we haven’t begun to see what comes.”

“What are you talking about?” I cried in frustration.

He sagged further and looked as though he were having some kind of stroke. Green liquid bubbled from his mouth. “There has always been something greater,” he murmured. “Always been tests. This is just the last.”

I knelt at his feet, desperate to fix him and to understand what he meant. “Are you talking about the Council? Are you talking about the slave markets? The children?”

“There are worse things,” he whispered, “and sometimes our enemies disguise themselves as friends.” He held out his hand. “Take this. You’ll learn everything I know.”

The door was flung open. I turned, my arm outstretched. I expected Quinn, but three hooded figures stood in the entryway, and my stomach turned as a wave of nausea hit me. Coyle! Only Coyle could cause that feeling inside me. Glancing from the assassins to Koda’s wrist, I tried to break the flash drive free, but the three of them attacked as one. One wrapped an arm around my throat, another whipped the flash drive out of my hand and crushed it under his foot, while the third, the one who made me want to throw up, stabbed Koda in the chest with a blackened piece of wood.

Koda moaned, dying slowly, so slowly, and I head-butted the first one, startling him long enough for me to break free and boot the second one in the balls. It was too late to save the flash drive, so I threw myself at Coyle, desperate to destroy him. He punched my face, and I stumbled back into the reach of the others. As they grabbed my arms, I threw my legs in the air and wrapped them around Coyle’s neck, desperately trying to squeeze the life out of him.

Footsteps approached, and the two holding me up dropped me to the floor like a stone, leaving Coyle and me scrambling together on the floor. Quinn’s shouts of alarm alerted me to the fact she wasn’t alone, but I didn’t care. I had to kill Coyle. No. Not kill. I had to hurt him enough to make him talk.

I was ripped away from him, and he from me, but I had his hood in my hands, and everyone saw Coyle’s face. Then, I realised Aiden was in the room, holding Coyle down.

“What the fuck is going on?” the shifter alpha spat, glancing from me to Coyle.

“She killed Koda,” Coyle blurted, and Aiden’s face contorted.

“Not her,” Koda muttered. “
Him
.”

“He wouldn’t,” Aiden said. “He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t betray us like that.”

“He’s obeying your mistress,” Koda said, and I sensed his life drifting away. “He killed me like he tried to kill your sister.”

Koda’s skin grew opaque, darkening until he turned to wood and fell to the floor, the chair collapsing beneath him. Aiden growled, his eyes on me. I moved away as slowly as possible.

“She didn’t have a weapon,” Quinn said urgently. “I searched her before we came. Koda claimed to have been poisoned. Look at the roots, Aiden. She couldn’t have done that. She couldn’t have known to do that.”

“What’s going on?” Aiden snarled, his eyes turning yellow. “What did he mean about my sister?”

“It wasn’t like that,” Coyle said, holding up his hands. “She saved me, took me home. She
owns
me, and she warned me to deal with your sister. Esther is… I know you love her, but she was getting in the way, keeping you from better things.” He reached out his hand, gazing at Aiden. “She’s holding you back from the greatness you deserve. We can be more than just—”

“Your friends are making you pick a side,” I said coldly. “Power or your sister. Which is it, Aiden? It’s not me these tattooed arseholes have been attacking, is it? At least, not only me. It’s Esther they’ve been trying to get rid of, just to get your head back in the game.”

Aiden looked from one of us to another, his teeth lengthening. His anger bounced off the walls, echoing until goose bumps rose on my skin. The shifter ripped his shirt away as he contorted into a panther. He faced me in his animal form, his snarling mouth a terrifying sight. Quinn yanked me back, and I was sure Aiden would attack us, but he sniffed the air and turned his head. When he caught sight of Coyle, the noise coming from his throat grew in ferocity. He paced in front of Coyle, who shrank against the wall.

“No,” Coyle whispered. “Not me. You couldn’t do that to me. Turn back. Don’t let the panther choose. No, Aiden!”

Aiden tore out Coyle’s throat before the man could say another word. Blood splattered, and the panther trembled all over.

“Shit,” I whispered. “He might have talked.”

“We need to get out of here,” Quinn hissed. “He’s gotten a taste for blood. He might not—”

But he shifted back and crawled over to kneel next to Coyle. He held Coyle’s body in his arms and wept.

I was so stunned that I forgot to run after Quinn, and when Aiden realised I was still there, he left Coyle’s body and leapt to his feet, standing naked before me.

“Get away from me,” he said in a growling voice, and when his face contorted again, I ran. I could deal with the rest of it later.

Koda was dead. Coyle was dead. And there was an empty seat on the Council.

When Quinn realised I wasn’t behind her, she came back for me. That was fan-bloody-tastic given I couldn’t find my way out of a white tunnel to save my life.

“Hurry!” She handed me my dagger. “If they find you, and Koda’s dead…
you’ll
get the blame.”

“But Aiden—”

“It doesn’t matter. We have to get out of here. This is trouble. One of the Council is grabbing for power. Who else would murder Koda? And with a Guardian.” She glanced at me as we ran. “Maybe you weren’t so wrong after all.”

Sounds of a commotion came from behind us. The journey out seemed much quicker than the journey in.

“What happens next?” I asked when we made it into sunlight and began running to her car.

“Someone will be blamed. And then the seat will be filled. And depending on who wants it, things could get nasty.”

“Do you need to be somewhere or can you drop me back?”

“I’m taking you home. Trust me, you don’t want to get caught hanging around here when the shit hits the fan. Did Koda tell you anything important while I was gone?”

I shook my head. “He told me I’d learn everything from the flash drive, but they destroyed it when they attacked. Where did Aiden come from anyway?”

She shrugged. “I bumped into his guards in the hall. He came with me while they ran for help. At least, I hope they went for help. Who am I supposed to trust now? I can’t believe they’ve been poisoning Koda. This was planned in advance, Ava.”

“Years in advance,” I said, thinking of Eddie and Daimhín and all the other creatures just like them. “But what’s the next part of the plan?”

I sent a group message on my phone, letting as many people as possible know that Koda had been murdered by Coyle, who in turn had been murdered by Aiden. But I had no doubt that the deaths would somehow manage to get pinned on us. More specifically, me.

“They saw me trying to take the flash drive from Koda,” I said. “They probably didn’t even know what it was. All of that was for nothing in the end.”

“Not for nothing,” she said. “Is Esther safe with you? Can you protect her?”

“She can protect herself. But yeah, she’s safe with us. The thing is, you never know who the traitor is, right? Not until it’s too late.”

“And you think there is one?”

I hesitated. “Not necessarily. But I think there might have been. Whoever is orchestrating everything seems to be constantly a step ahead of us, and yet they don’t appear to be so concerned that they send everything they’ve got after us.”

“Maybe you’re all a part of their plans. Maybe they want to lay some blame at your feet. They could want you afraid, but they could also be spreading themselves a little thin.”

“Or maybe they just want to keep us occupied while they pull off the big plan.”

“Who do you think is planning everything?”

“It has to be someone in charge. Council or consultant. Obviously not Koda.”

She shook her head. “But why would a Council member do any of this? They already have the power.”

“Yeah, but they have to make agreements based on the opinions of the other members. They even have to take on board the opinions of the consultants. The one thing better than that would be a dictatorship. And while Reuben obviously betrayed our country, I just don’t think he’s this organised. Fionnuala has the power, and Erossi has the ego, but I can’t see Gabe bothering with any of this. Elathan and Marina are the wildcards for me. Aiden seemed surprised by Koda’s death, and Eddie Brogan is… different.” I glanced at her. “Koda said something about Coyle working for Aiden’s mistress, yet Aiden didn’t have a clue what was going on. Bottom line is that it’s impossible to know for sure. There could be two or three people working together. More, even. And it’s been building for a while.”

We made it back to the cul-de-sac to see the end of a battle. Quinn and I raced toward the fight, but three covered figures already lay on the ground, and I watched as Lorcan gutted the final one with a yell.

“I suppose you all needed the practice,” I said as I began uncovering the bodies.

“Oh!” Quinn exclaimed. “These two are Guardians.”

Esther, still in her bear form, made a growling sound that might have been agreement, but it was hard to tell.

“Everyone okay?” I glanced up to see blood-splattered people on a high from winning. “Somebody went to the mattresses,” I murmured, thinking hard. Koda and the cul-de-sac had been attacked at almost the same time. Had anyone else?

“We’re fine,” Lorcan said, still panting.

I gestured at his blood-drenched clothing. “I really hope none of that blood is yours.”

“There were more,” he said. “They ran.”

“That’s a first.”

“I need to contact the others,” Quinn said. “Stay safe. Ava will catch you up on what’s happened. I’ll get in touch with you when it’s safe, Esther.” She frowned. “Safe is likely the wrong word now that Koda is dead. Stay alert.”

After she left, I faced everyone, the sheer gravity of the situation truly hitting me. “Koda’s been taken out, and we’ve been attacked. We can’t wait around anymore. We have to press on with our plans. It’s going to get very dangerous from here on out.” I remembered Koda’s comment about enemies dressed as friends. “We’ll probably be betrayed, and we won’t all make it until the end. If you can’t deal with that, there are safer places to be. Whoever wants us is going to come at us again, and I can’t guarantee that next time will go as well. You all have to make your own choices about this. I’ll let you think about what you want to do next.”

I invited Carl, the twins, and Val to come to my house while Esther shifted into her human form.

“Carl, can you call Peter, Shay, and Moses and let them know to watch their backs? I texted them, but I just want to be sure.”

Carl nodded and stepped away with his phone.

Esther joined us in the living room and pulled me to the side. “Is Aiden…?”

“He’s fine. But he’s upset.” I hesitated before adding, “There’s something else.”

Her dark brown eyes looked so worried that I wished I had some good news to give her.

“We found torture chambers in there, Esther. And a body. Quinn said it was Robbie.”

She covered her mouth with her hand and shook her head. “Because I asked him for help?”

“Or because of Koda,” I said. “We can’t know, and it doesn’t even matter. All that’s important is that people are being tortured in the abandoned sections of the Headquarters. We’ll figure this out. I promise, Esther. Your friend didn’t die for nothing.” I blew out a sigh. “There’s one more thing. Coyle was responsible for the attack on you in Gabe’s bar. The assassins have been after you because you’re too much of a distraction for Aiden. Maybe if you died, he would have lost enough of himself to join their little assassin brigade.”

She nodded, swallowing hard. “Well, they failed. I can’t believe Aiden killed Coyle.”

“Coyle said something about letting the panther choose. What’s that about?”

She wrinkled her nose. “It means Aiden doesn’t trust his human form.”

My phone rang. When I answered, Gabe sighed and said, “Thanks for the heads-up.” He sounded more like himself. “The bar was hit.”

“By many?”

“Not too many, but it would have been enough if I hadn’t been ready. If they’re hitting neutral places, then they’re sending a message.”

“Has any official word gone out about Koda yet?”

“Not yet. I haven’t heard a thing.”

“What’s going on?” I murmured, not expecting an answer.

“The next war has been pulled up a year or two,” he replied.

“Bad timing. So Koda was the one who had Illeana searching. Think that’s why he was murdered? He had her stuff. Probably had information we didn’t. He kept babbling about bad things coming our way.”

“Dying men say the strangest things,” he said tightly.

“Really? Is that why he said he already told you what he’s worried about?”

“Now isn’t the time. Not over the phone. Not today.”

“I’ll see you soon anyway. Can you get in touch with Elathan, and maybe Aiden? See what’s happening. Aiden had pretty much lost it last time I saw him, though.”

“I’ll try to find out what’s going on,” he said. “You should call Brogan and find out if he and the witch have been attacked, too.”

“Will do. Stay safe.” I hung up and called Eddie.

“I don’t suppose you’ve been attacked in the last hour or two,” I said.

He made a sound of disgust. “They tried. Feeble attempt. So is it true? Koda’s gone?”

“Yeah, Coyle took him out. Aiden killed Coyle, and the cul-de-sac and Gabe’s bar have both been attacked. Not many numbers, so I’m not sure what their aim was.”

“How about the humans? Have they been attacked?”

 
“Doesn’t sound like it. Day’s not over yet though.”

I stepped into the kitchen to find Carl. He gave me a thumbs up and a smile.

“Perhaps the attacker thinks the humans aren’t worth attacking,” Eddie said under his breath.

Over the phone, I heard a woman speak in the background. “The witch there?”

“Yes. Alive and well. It seems we’ve all been marked the same.”

“Trouble’s got company. Narrows down the suspects.”

“Yes, well, we’ll have to see what their next move is.”

“Their
next move?” I asked. “
We
need to move. This is the first act of war. And whatever it was meant to do, I’m pretty sure it succeeded. Now what’s
our
next move?”

He hesitated. “You said yourself we aren’t ready.”

“That decision was taken away from us today. Koda’s gone. There’s an empty seat on the Council. This is going to cause confusion, maybe even war. We need to nip it in the bud, or at least use it as a distraction for our own gain.”

“Spoken like a true warrior,” he said fondly.

“But I’m not a warrior.” I paused. “Just while there’s a war on.”

“There’s always some kind of war on.”

“There won’t be when I’m done with this stupid country,” I snapped. “We’re fighting back, so you better figure out what your place is in this.”

“Hold off until we find out how the Council will push the empty seat issue,” he said. “We need more information.”

“Koda was killed because he found the information that the rest of us have been looking for. That’s all we need to know.”

“We still need to know who exactly is involved, Ava. Don’t let your hotheadedness overrule your sense.”

“I’ll wait a few days, but we need to come up with something bigger. Something better. We need our answering shot to be the last shot.”

“That’s impossible.”

“And yet it should always be the plan. You wanted me in this, Eddie. Now I’m in it. Why are you complaining?”

“I’ll discuss it with
Marina
and the others,” he said. “I want to take them down as much as you do.”

“The mission is still the same. They’ve just sped up matters. I have to go. Do what you have to do. I’m going to do the same.” I hung up before he could protest again.

“Lorcan, can you round everyone up?” I asked. “I want everyone to hear this.”

My friends and most of the rebels gathered in my living room and kitchen, bodies pressing against each other uneasily as they all waited for the final word.

“So Quinn brought me to the Council,” I said, sitting on a window ledge so everyone could see me. “We spoke to Koda, and he admitted he was the one who sent Illeana on her secret missions. He had a flash drive with information, but he was poisoned and murdered while we were there. Quinn left me alone for a minute, and three assassins came, and one… Coyle got to him before I could stop him.” I bowed my head. “I should have fought harder. They destroyed the flash drive, and while two escaped, Coyle was killed by Aiden after Koda told him that Coyle had likely tried to kill Esther. They spoke about a shared mistress, but it was confusing, and it doesn’t confirm much, other than the probability that our enemies are keeping secrets from each other.”

Everyone looked at Esther, but she just raised her chin.

I nodded at her and continued. “Quinn and I left, but we know that Gabe, Eddie, and Marina were all attacked today. Whoever had Koda murdered is out for all of us. The most important part is that this means there’s a free seat on the Council. Whoever is put into that seat will make all of the difference. I don’t think we should let it get that far. I think we need to move as quickly as possible. Koda wasn’t prepared to fight back. He cowered, and he was murdered for it. We can’t let that happen to us. We need to control this situation as much as possible.”

“Shay and Moses both said they haven’t seen or heard of anything unusual going on,” Carl announced. “That means that so far, they’re sticking with people who have been involved for a while.”

“Or that humans don’t matter much,” Val said. “But perhaps the arrests mean something.”

“Are we safe here?” Ry asked. “I mean, really safe? What if they send more assassins next time?”