Still, she knew someone was there.
When they got to the next intersection, she broke away from Dean down a dark alleyway. She pulled her magic in tight, holding it like a flame ready to ignite. Then she pressed herself into the murky shadows, completely disappearing from view. Dean appeared a moment later, blending into the black against the opposite building. There they waited.
A figure appeared at the mouth of the alley.
Took a step closer.
And then another.
The person’s eyes were glowing gold.
He shouldn’t be able to see them.
And yet, he walked straight toward her as if he could see quite clearly.
Cyrene didn’t wait. She sprang forward, throwing a blast of magic at him. His body collided with the cobbled road, but he wasn’t down and out. He sprang back to his feet, but Dean was there. He wrapped an arm around the man’s throat and constricted his airway.
“Cyrene, stop,” the man gasped, scrambling to get purchase on Dean’s arm. “You’re…killing…me.”
Cyrene’s eyes rounded, and she hastily lit a Doma Fire.
She inhaled sharply. “Ahlvie?”
37
The Defector
“What? How?” Cyrene gasped.
It was impossible. Ahlvie couldn’t be here. The last she had seen him, he had been attacking the army. He’d killed some of their people. He’d been full Indres. All beast. How could he possibly be standing before her as a man?
“Let me go,” Ahlvie said. “I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to save you.”
“I’m not letting him go,” Dean said. “We can’t trust him.”
She blinked. Of course, Dean was right. Of course he was. She had just seen Ahlvie. Her friend. The boy who had always believed in her. And followed her when no one else had. She hadn’t seen what he was now. A killer. A beast. Malysa’s general. The Indres alpha.
There was no possibility where this ended good for her.
“Please, Cyrene,” Ahlvie said. “Just hear me out.”
Cyrene nodded at Dean. “Knock him out.”
Ahlvie’s eyes widened. “I came to warn you! There are Indres everywhere. Wara is in the city. She’s looking for you.”
“I already knew that,” she said as she watched Dean knock out her oldest friend.
Ahlvie collapsed forward into Dean’s arms. Cyrene had to look away.
“What are we going to do with him?” he asked.
Cyrene shook her head. She couldn’t process what the hell to do with him right now. He was still Ahlvie. Her Ahlvie. Even if it was clear he was playing a part. Trying to get to her again for Malysa.
“We have to tie him up and take him back to headquarters.”
“What if they track him?”
“Then we’re already dead,” she said solemnly. “There isn’t another choice. I won’t kill him.”
Dean must have seen the resolution on her face. He nodded, slung Ahlvie over his shoulder, and followed her through the back alleys to the Commander’s headquarters.
They deposited his body in a chair and tied his arms and legs to it.
“You know, if he shifts, that’s not going to be enough to hold him,” Dean said pointedly.
She sighed and got to work, inverting her shield. She had just finished placing it around Ahlvie when the Commander appeared.
“What’s going on? Isn’t he with you?”
Cyrene shook his head. “He’s one of Malysa’s generals.”
“So, we kill him,” the Commander said with no emotion.
“No. We can’t kill him.”
“And why not?”
“He can give us information.”
“So, after we interrogate him then.”
Dean put himself between the Commander and Cyrene. “He’s a friend.”
“I don’t care who he is to you. Could he have compromised our position? Could he be leading the rest of the Guild and Wara here? Malysa?”
Cyrene bit her lip. She didn’t have answers to those questions. “I didn’t feel anyone else around him.”
“Great.” The Commander let loose a string of expletives and then began barking orders to scout for anyone who might have followed them. “You’re risking everything for one man.”
Cyrene stared down at Ahlvie’s limp body. “I know.”
“He’s a liability.”
“I know. If it’s a trap, then we’ll deal with it.”
“If it comes to it, you’ll have to do it yourself, spitfire. Can you?”
She ground her teeth together and nodded. She didn’t want to. But she could.
“Fine. I’m going to prep everyone to head for safe houses just in case. We’ll reassemble here if it’s not compromised in twenty-four hours.” Then the Commander stalked away.
Cyrene sighed. That was too long. She didn’t want to waste the time. But she knew it was a safety precaution. He’d put it in place for a reason.
“You should get some sleep,” Dean told her. “I’ll wait here with him.”
“No. You go first. I’ll just…lie right here.”
Dean ignored her, taking a seat and waiting with her. She sank to the ground next to him, resting her head on his leg. Her eyes were glued to Ahlvie. She sure hoped that she hadn’t been stupid in bringing him back here. But she couldn’t have just let him go back to Malysa. She also couldn’t have left him behind. Only time would tell if she’d lived to regret that decision.
Cyrene awoke to the sound of banging. She opened one eye and yawned dramatically. How long had she been asleep?
By the state of her cramped body on the floor of the warehouse, long enough to have all new aches and pains. But also long enough for her magic to have replenished.
And the banging…was coming from Ahlvie.
She straightened in surprise, having momentarily forgotten why she was even sleeping on the ground. Ahlvie. She’d captured Ahlvie.
“Thank Creator you’re awake,” he said, shaking out his hands. “What do you have me in?”
She scrambled to her feet, jostling Dean awake. He must have been in need of sleep as much as she had been. At least she had some relief that her inverted shield bubble had worked. Ahlvie was secured inside. Even all that banging on the wall hadn’t gotten him out.
“Let’s start with more important questions. Did Malysa send you?” she asked, crossing her arms.
“She sent me to Kell with Wara and a pack of Indres to bring in some Guild members. She wanted to silence some dissenters and have us there as backup,” he spewed information.
“And find me?”
“I don’t think she had any clue that you would be here.”
“How did you locate me?”
“Your scent,” he said at once. “When we arrived, the Guild were in chaos. Their leader mentioned your name, and Wara went crazy. Sent the pack after you. But I sent them all on a wild goose chase as I went in search of you.”
“To bring me back?”
“Cyrene, it’s me. It’s Ahlvie, the cheat and gambler and mendicant. The person who crossed the literal ocean with you. I was trying to protect you.”