Lisa Shearin - Raine Benares 02 (30 page)

Phaelan
was right. The elven embassy’s wards were red and siz
zling. And the place was a virtual fortress. The
damned thing actually had battlements complete with armed and patrolling
guards. Some of those guards had partners—nearly waist high, dark, sleek, and
red eyed. Werehounds.

“Shit,”
Phaelan whispered. “Those weren’t there last time.”

“They
didn’t have Piaras inside last time. Taltek Balmorlan has his treasure; he
doesn’t want anyone taking it away from him.”

Phaelan
chuckled. “Stealing treasure is what we do best.”

No
one was getting in there who didn’t belong, and no prisoner was getting out
without some high-powered help.

I was
high-powered help. Thanks to the boost the Saghred had given what I already
had, all the brawn I needed was at my beck and call. But magical brawn was
noisy. Stealth was called for, so I’d give my brain the first shot at it. No
building was impenetrable, every ward had a weak spot, and werehounds could be
drugged. I had done all of the above before.

We
went around the side of the compound, keeping to the shadows until we found a
cozy little alley across the street from the back entrance. Staff and lesser
guards came in through the back; the people I didn’t want to see me went in
through the front.

“Can
you do your seeking thing through those?” Phaelan indicated the gate wards.

“I
thought I’d just go over them.”

“I
was going to suggest that.” His smile flashed in the dim light. “Great minds
think alike.”

I
didn’t have an object from Piaras to link with him, but I didn’t need anything
to find him. He wasn’t related to me by blood, but that didn’t stop me from
loving him like a brother. Family knew their own, no linking objects required.

I
used my memories to create a vivid image of Piaras in my mind. Not the
terrified and disbelieving Piaras from tonight. I relaxed and breathed deep,
and tried to relax some more until I had an almost tangible image of the Piaras
I knew and loved. Then I reached out, over the warded gates, through the stone
of the embassy walls into the interior. The interior was blurred and
indistinct, like looking through greasy glass. An upstairs room was thickly
warded and bespelled. I knew Piaras was in that room. I couldn’t actually see
him; the wards were too thick, but I knew he was there. Now all I had to do was
get in, get him, and get us both out.

And
Taltek Balmorlan better hope he wasn’t in my way when I did it.

I
pulled back slowly, carefully going out the same way I’d gone in. Wards on
buildings were generally for preventing physical entry or high-powered magic
from getting through. Seeking wasn’t high-powered. More like a gnat flying
through a fishnet. Nothing disturbed, no one would notice.

I
squeezed my eyes shut and blinked a few times to clear them. Seeking through
thick wards always made my eyes hurt.

“Well?”
Phaelan asked.

“He’s
in there. Balmorlan has him cocooned in wards and spells. And I’m sure one of
them is to keep Piaras’s voice from knocking out every guard in the place.” I
chuckled darkly. “Turn Balmorlan’s new weapon against him. I like it.”

“Sounds
like a damned fine way to get us out of there.”

“First
we need a damned fine way to get in.”

“Tanik’s
done some arms smuggling for the elven ambassador. He knows the basements of
that place. Let’s get ourselves down to the harbor and reap the benefits of
Tanik’s expertise.”

Tanik
Ozal’s yacht was the
Zephyr.
She
was sleek, beautiful, and
expensive—the same way I’d heard that Ozal liked
his women. She was also docked uncomfortably close to the yachts of the people
who most wanted to get their hands on me.

My
father had hidden the Saghred in the catacombs of the Mal’Salin family estate
in Mermeia. He claimed the safest place to hide something was under the very
noses of the people who most wanted to find it. If that was true, right now I
was about the safest woman on the island.

The
wind was down and the harbor was a dark mirror reflecting the yachts’ deck
lightglobes. One slip over from the
Zephyr
was a yacht flying the royal
elven standard. Had to be Taltek Balmorlan’s. She looked fast, and she was
definitely armed. Enough slender brass cannons gleamed on her well-lit decks to
discourage anyone from boarding—or giving chase once she was under way.

On
the
Zephyr
’s port side were two goblin yachts. One flew the royal
Mal’Salin standard with two intertwined serpents battling for dominance, both
surmounted by a crown. The flag of the other goblin yacht bore the single red
serpent of the Khrynsani. Phaelan had been right; the bow of the Khrynsani ship
was pointed toward open water. The deck and the interior were almost completely
dark. A few red lightglobes cast a dim glow. Spooky. The only way I could see
the Khrynsani flag was from the large harbor lightglobes mounted on posts along
the dock.

All
of the yachts looked like they had minimum crew on board. Hopefully their
captains had given them shore leave for the evening. Even the most disciplined
crew couldn’t resist having a few too many while out on the town. I’d take a
tipsy or drunk crew over sober and alert any day.

“Looks
like no one’s home,” I noted. “Tanik expecting us?”

“He’s
expecting me. You’ll be an added bonus.”

My
lips narrowed into a thin, angry line. “If he grabs my ass again, I
will
punch him.”

Phaelan
flashed a quick grin. “I think he remembers that from last time.”

Tanik
Ozal looked like someone’s jovial uncle. He was human. He
was also big, bearded, and barrel-chested, with a
booming voice and laugh. Tanik liked to enjoy himself, and most of the time he
could be enjoyable to be around.

I
still didn’t trust him. Maybe I just didn’t know him well enough. Maybe it was
because I didn’t want to. Tanik Ozal would smuggle pretty much anything if the
price was right. His fees were obscenely high, but I’d found over the years
that when wealthy people wanted something badly enough, they were willing to
pay for it.

Occasionally
Tanik’s cargo was a human, elf, or goblin.
That
was why I didn’t like
him. Most smugglers had lines they wouldn’t cross. I don’t think Tanik had
found his yet.

Phaelan
hit the high points of what had happened at Sirens. I wasn’t in the mood to
explain anything to anybody.

I
parted the curtain and peered out the window of Tanik’s main salon. It was
still too quiet. I trusted quiet even less than Tanik Ozal. “So where are your
neighbors?”

Tanik
passed a drink to Phaelan. “Let’s see. The Mal’Salins were at that recital. One
of their nieces was singing or something.”

I
snorted. “Or something.” Like letting in enough Nightshades to kidnap two spellsingers
and their maestro.

“Balmorlan’s
probably still at the embassy. And who the hell knows where those Khrynsani
bastards are. You see them come and go at all hours, but you never hear them.
It’s not natural.”

“Nothing
about them is,” I muttered.

“You
sure I can’t get you something, love?”

“No,
thank you.” So far Tanik’s hospitality had been faultless. He’d even given me
some clothes better suited for breaking into an embassy, and a much-welcome
assortment of bladed weapons. I’d asked for picklocks, and Tanik had provided a
professional-quality set. I knew Piaras was being held behind wards, not iron
locks, but I liked being prepared for any possibility.

And
Tanik didn’t try to grab my ass, even when he’d seen me in my gown. I think he
saw my mood when I walked through the door and knew better than to even think
about touching me.

“Understood,”
Tanik told me. “You’ve got a job to do, and you want to keep a clear head.”

“And
I’m in a hurry.”

“Getting
into that embassy isn’t quick work.”

“There’s
a first time for everything.”

“If
you’re worried about Balmorlan getting young Piaras on his yacht and out of
this harbor, you can rest assured that will not happen.” Tanik smiled, showing
all of his teeth.

“Thank
you. But what I’m worried about is what might be happening to Piaras in that
embassy right now. I want him out of there. Phaelan tells me you know it inside
and out.”

“Do
you know where he’s being held?”

“Upstairs.”

Tanik
leaned back in his chair and the wood creaked in protest. “You’re a seeker.”

I was
instantly wary. “I am.”

“I
understand you’re more than a seeker now.”

I
answered by not answering.

“You
haven’t exactly kept a low profile since you got here,” Tanik noted. “I heard
about what you did with the stage. I could tell you all about the embassy
basements, and I will. I’ve delivered many a shipment for Giles Keril over the
years. The ambassador has expensive tastes. But trying to get from those
basements to the upper floors using mundane means is going to get you killed.
If you’ve got something up those sleeves of yours other than my throwing
knives—”

“Just
say it, Tanik.”

His
dark eyes shone. “Rumor has it you can do anything you want to, magically
speaking. Why don’t you just walk in through the front doors?”

Phaelan
chuckled. “She promised not to blast holes in the walls.”

“Magic
makes noise,” I told Tanik.

“Not
the little kind. I’m talking glamours. My son’s gotten quite good at them.
Though it irritates the hell out of me never knowing what he looks like. He
thinks it’s funny.”

I just
stared at him.

“You
know, a glamour,” Tanik said.

“I
know what a glamour is, and I know how one is done.” I resisted the urge to
snap at him. “I just can’t do one.”

Phaelan
cleared his throat. “Have you tried since”—he made a fist-sized circle with his
fingers—“you met you-know-what?”

The
Saghred. “No.”

“Well,
then you don’t know until you try.”

Tanik
spoke. “Guards walk in and out the front gates of the embassy all the time—they
don’t stop you if they know you. But to get in as a guard, you’re going to have
to go in as a man.”

“Excuse
me?”

Tanik
raised his hands defensively. “Just looking like one. Your glamour will include
a uniform; it’s not like you have to make yourself anatomically correct or
anything. Embassy guards have been coming and going at all hours to Balmorlan’s
yacht. I’ll just have my boys borrow one for a while so you can get a good look
at him.” He paused and grinned. “And of course keep him occupied until you get
back with Piaras.” He chuckled. “It’d suck to almost get out of the embassy and
run into your double.”

I
gave him a flat look. “Yes, it would.” I didn’t like the idea of a glamour, but
I had to admit it was inspired.

“Though
you have to ask yourself something, girl,” Tanik said. “And you have to be
honest about it. Do you have the brass to walk through those front gates and
into that embassy? The ambassador has some nasty mages on his staff. I think
those bastards can smell fear.”

“I’ve
got the brass to get in and the brains to get out,” I said quietly. “I’m a
Benares, remember?”

Tanik
laughed. “Just wanted to be sure. I didn’t want to have your death on my
conscience.”

It
was my turn to laugh. “You don’t have one.”

He
leaned forward eagerly. “Well then, before I have my boys deplete the embassy
guard population by one, why don’t you do a test run on Phaelan here?”

My
cousin tensed in his chair. “Wait a minute. I don’t like magic. I especially
don’t like magic done on me.”

I
sighed in exasperation. “I won’t do anything to you. You’re just a model. I’m
the one who’ll be doing the work. Stand up.”

He
hesitated, then stood slowly.

I
knew the mechanics of doing a glamour, but I’d never tried one before. I’d seen
someone get stuck halfway through their transformation. It wasn’t pretty. That
had put a damper on any curiosity I had. I walked around Phaelan, committing to
memory how he looked, internalizing the smallest detail and then releasing the
slightest touch of power into the image in my mind, projecting it outward.

I
hesitantly looked down at myself. Tanik whistled and applauded. Phaelan turned
and took one look, and his mouth fell open.

It
looked like I owed the Saghred another thank-you.

Phaelan
shook his head in wonder. “I never realized what a devastatingly handsome devil
I am.”

“Nice
work,” Tanik said. “How long can you hold it?”

“As
long as necessary,” I told him. I gasped. I had Phaelan’s voice.

My
cousin’s eyes went wide. So did mine.