Orlind (13 page)

Ana grinned. ‘Why
should I care about the risk? There’s no other way to free myself.
I’ll either succeed or die.’ She shrugged. ‘Either way works for
me.’

Eva hadn’t
realised how tense she was until the relief hit. Ana was looking
for a way out. They could use that.

Maybe her plan
would work after all.

‘
Seems
we have a common cause,’ she said. She would have to be cautious.
Last time they had encountered Ana, she’d given the impression that
she was teetering on the edge of insanity. She’d probably fallen
over that precipice by now. Making deals with a madwoman would be
risky.

‘
Maybe,’ Ana said, still suspicious. ‘But he can’t be
destroyed.’

‘
Anyone can be destroyed.’

Ana shook her
head, impatient. ‘Not him. You don’t understand. He’s obscenely
powerful, and completely merciless. He’ll tear you to
pieces.’

‘
All
right,’ Eva said calmly. ‘What were you planning to do?’

‘
I
want to
get rid of him
,’ Ana replied, her face twisting. ‘He
won’t release the likes of me until he leaves this world
altogether. I can’t even be sure he’ll leave me alone
then
,
but it’s my best hope.’ She whirled away from Eva and strode across
to Indren’s desk. ‘I came here to talk to
her.
’ She bent
over the desk and stared into Indren’s face. ‘I hear you’re the
person to speak to about that.’

That shook Indren
as nothing else had done. Her face paled and she half stood up, as
if to run away. ‘What? Who told you that?’

‘
Doesn’t matter,’ Ana spat back. ‘Is it
true?
’

‘
Does
Krays know?’

‘
How
in the Lowers should I know?’ Ana yelled. ‘Answer my question, damn
you!’

Indren sat down
again very slowly. Eva could see her shaking even from the other
side of the room. ‘I... have some connections, yes.’

‘
Fine.
Sign me up.’

‘
Ah...
to what?’

‘
Your
secret insubordination group, or whatever it is you have going
on.’

Eva stepped in.
‘I’ve a better idea.’

The room fell
silent as everyone looked at her.

‘
You’re coming with us,’ Eva said, looking squarely at Ana. It
wasn’t a question. ‘Did you know there’s a rival Library? Some of
the other Lokants hate Krays just as much as we do. We’re helping
them, and you’re going to help us.’

‘
Um,
Eva? I don’t think this is a great idea...’ Tren was staring at her
as if she, too, was off her head.

She shot him a
look. ‘Don’t undermine me when I’m busy subverting the enemy, okay?
Thank you.’ She looked back at Ana. ‘Oh, and your husband’s alive.
Krays lied to you about that. Help us out, and I’ll tell you where
to find him.’

Ana’s suspicion
melted into instant fury and she flew at Eva. ‘
Liar!
’ she
shrieked. ‘I’d know it if he was alive! He would have found
me!’

Eva stood her
ground. ‘Not if Krays lied to him as well.’

Ana stopped
suddenly, barely a foot away. She stared at Eva, her face a mask of
anger. Eva stared back, radiating calm.

‘
Tell
me,’ Ana said softly. ‘Now.’

Eva smiled. ‘You
can still access the Map?’

Ana
nodded.

‘
He’s
in Ullarn.’ She quoted the address for the quiet suburban house
they’d found Griel hiding out in.

Ana closed her
eyes. Her form faded to translucency, just for a split second. Then
she was gone.

Silence reigned
for a few moments. Then Indren spoke.

‘
That
went well.’ Her tone was deeply sarcastic.

‘
Yes,’
Eva said simply. ‘It did.’

‘
What?
You gave all of us away and you got nothing out of her!’

‘
I got
plenty.’

Indren snorted
and sat back. Her Nimdren accent grew thicker when she was angry.
‘What kind of “help” were you planning to get from her
anyway?’

‘
Information, mostly.’

Another snort.
‘Nice idea, but she’s gone. How are you going to get your
information now? We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t go straight to Krays
and tell him everything, try to win back his favour.’

Eva sighed,
pulled out a chair and sat down. ‘She won’t do that.’

Tren spoke with a
kind of strained calm. ‘Perhaps you’d explain what exactly you
expect to happen next? What was all that about?’

‘
I
made her angry,’ she said. ‘Oh, she was angry before, but what do
you think will happen when she finds out I was telling the truth?
That Krays kept the two of them apart out of pure cruelty? And when
she discovers what Krays
did
to Griel during that time,
she’ll be incensed.’

‘
Excellent,’ Tren murmured. ‘Making the crazy woman furious
will definitely help our cause.’

‘
Tren,’ Eva said seriously. ‘Put yourself in her place. What
would you do?’

He thought about
it. ‘I’d want to castrate the bastard.’

She smiled.
‘Precisely. All she wants right now is to run. After this, she’ll
be right with us on attacking the man directly. She’ll give us
anything she can if she thinks it might hurt
him.
’

Tren nodded
slowly. ‘All right, I see your point. But the crazy part? She’s not
thinking like a rational person.’

‘
All
the better. They’ll go all out for revenge, and that’s in our
interest.’

Tren stiffened.
‘
They?
’

‘
Of
course. We can’t recruit one without the other. And we might well
need them both.’

‘
You’re almost as crazy as she is,’ Tren said in disbelief.
‘Are you forgetting the part where he tried to kill you? That
wasn’t long ago! He almost killed
me!’

‘
And
we’re going to turn all that murderous rage on Krays.’

Tren, seemingly,
had run out of words. He settled for staring at her, incredulity
all over his face.

‘
It is
a heavy gamble, Lady Eva.’ Devary had said nothing so far, merely
listened, but now he addressed her seriously. ‘How can you be sure
they will react as you intend?’

‘
Because I think human nature is essentially predictable, at
bottom. Crazy she might be - in fact I think they both are - but
the revenge instinct is a powerful one. We haven’t hurt them; Krays
has. Who are they going to side with?’

‘
I
hope you’re right.’ He held her gaze for a long moment, serious but
not accusing.

‘
She’s
still gone,’ Indren pointed out.

Eva stood up.
‘And she will be back. I will return in two days, and I have no
doubt she’ll be waiting for me.’

‘
Let’s
hope she doesn’t cut me to pieces in the meantime,’ Indren
muttered. ‘You know, just for the fun of it.’

‘
Dev
will protect you,’ Eva said, not bothering to hide her scorn.
Really, the woman’s attitude was pathetic. ‘Look, we’re at a
disadvantage here. We’re only guessing at what Krays is doing and
why. Maybe our guesses are right, maybe they aren’t. If Limbane
knows anything else, he isn’t sharing. We need someone who is, or
has been, close to Krays. They’ll have information we can only
guess at. And we may be able to use them to get at him.’

‘
How?’
Tren again, not incredulous now but suspicious.

She hesitated.
‘We can talk about that later.’

Tren sighed. ‘I’m
going to hate it, aren’t I?’

‘
Probably.’

The conversation
ran in circles after that. The same doubts were repeated, and Eva
gave the same answers. Eventually she grew tired of it.

‘
Ready
to go?’ she asked Tren.

‘
Guess
so.’

‘
Great.’ Taking his hand, she whisked them both away, back to
the Library.

‘
You
made an enemy out of Indren, I think,’ Tren said.

She shrugged. ‘I
do not care if Indren Druaster hates me. I just need her to do her
job, and she has reason enough to do that anyway.’

She had taken
them both to her room, more out of habit than deliberate design.
Tren hovered near the doorway, refusing the chair she offered
him.

‘
Next
time, do you think you could discuss this with me first? Maybe I
can avoid heart failure.’

She crossed to
him and stood quite close.

‘
I am
sorry about that. Truly. I meant to tell you, but... I knew you
wouldn’t like it, so I put it off. I had no idea she would turn up
today, but I couldn’t let the opportunity pass. The biggest problem
with my plan was how in the world to
find
her.’

Tren nodded.
‘Okay. And this new plan?’

She winced. ‘Is
only half-formed, if that. I need a day or two to work on the
details.’

He sighed. ‘Then
you’ll share?’

‘
Definitely. Promise,’ she added when he didn’t look
convinced.

‘
Just... don’t do anything crazy without me, please? Your
schemes may be borderline suicidal but I’d rather be involved than
not.’

She chuckled.
‘You think I have a death wish, and you can still say
that?’

‘
Yes,
because if it comes to it I’d rather you didn’t die.’

‘
And
you’re my preserver.’

‘
Well.
Not exactly. If anyone needs rescuing it’s usually me. I’d rather I
didn’t die either.’

‘
I’ll
rescue you if you’ll rescue me.’

He grinned.
‘Deal.’

‘
Agreed.’ Eva began to pull away, but he gripped her fingers
tighter and his free hand went around her waist.

‘
Don’t
leave yet.’

Eva lifted a
brow. ‘I wasn’t going anywhere.’ Her current position gave her a
good view of Tren’s green eyes, looking seriously down at her
without a trace of his usual smile. His dark hair curled messily
over his collar, and she stifled an impulse to brush it back into
order.

Tren tightened
his grip on her, as if afraid that she might run away. ‘Do you like
me, just a little bit?’ he asked.

‘
Yes.’

‘
More
than a little?’

She nodded. ‘Much
more.’

That appalling
hope sprang up in his eyes again. ‘How much more?’ he
whispered.

‘
Too
much for my peace of mind.’ She tried a teasing smile, but Tren
declined to be put off by such tactics anymore. He pulled her
closer, one fine, long-fingered hand cupping her face.

He was going to
kiss her. A rush of excitement accompanied this realisation; Eva
had an instant to pull away, but she did not. She didn’t want
to.

Tren dipped his
head and his mouth met hers. At first he was gentle, but he wasn’t
satisfied with a polite kiss. He pulled her hard against him,
kissing her more deeply. His hands were shaking, a tremor which
soon spread to the rest of his body.

She
had
resolved on keeping her distance, until this mess of a problem was
over. She still didn’t know what to do about Tren, and she was far
too distracted to work it out at present.

It would be
easier to stick to that resolution if he wasn’t so cursed
attractive.
In spite of her efforts, her heart was pounding
so hard she felt dizzy. Hardly aware of her own actions, she slid
her arms around his neck and kissed him back with at least equal
fervour. His lips began to travel down her neck, and his hands slid
below her waist...

‘
Tren...’ she gasped. ‘We don’t have
time
for
this.’

Tren made a sound
of protest. He was trembling violently by now, his breathing ragged
and too fast. ‘We’re in the Library,’ he muttered against her neck.
‘The
only
thing we have out here is time.’

He had a point.
Eva fought one last battle with herself, a fierce internal
altercation that she swiftly lost.

Then she gave up,
throwing her worries aside with immense relief.

‘
This
does
not
mean we’re getting married,’ she said against his
hair. ‘Okay?’

Tren pushed her
back towards the bed. ‘Just stop talking.’

And she
did.

***

‘
Now
look what you’ve done,’ Eva muttered sometime later as she
collected her discarded blouse. ‘I’m feeling misty and starry-eyed
when I
should
be focusing on more important issues. Like
sinister Lokant-types with no discernible morals, armies of
attacking draykoni and a potential pair of psychopathic
allies.’

Tren’s only
response to that was a dreamy smile.

‘
And
so are you,’ she sighed. ‘Perfect!’

‘
I
don’t know,’ Tren said, rolling his shoulders. ‘I feel a lot
better.’

‘
Uh
huh.’ Fully clothed again, Eva went to her mirror and began fixing
her hair. Most of it had come out of its bindings, for some
reason.