CHAPTER 28
Chapter twenty-eight
Saints, breathing hurt. It shouldn’t hurt this much. Even thinking hurt. She opened her mouth, to see if that would help with the pain. It didn’t. Her lungs filled and emptied and tears leaked out of her eyes in reaction to the pain of it. Emptied and filled, over and over, until she wanted to cry.
There was a jolt through her body and a sharp pinprick to her neck, the tiniest little scratch compared to the agony of breathing, and the agony began to fade.
The black and the purple were gone, lifted away by shades of grey and flickers of light as she tried to open her eyes.
Everything was heavy and she badly needed a drink.
Even one of those awful energy drinks. Her mouth was so dry.
“She’s back. Pulse is steady and recovering. I’ve given her a painkiller which might make her a bit woozy for while.”
Hallie knew that voice. The crisp tones, calm and professional. The words didn’t make a lot of sense, but she knew the voice. There was a name attached. Modron. That was it.
“There are no obvious injuries.” Another voice, also familiar. Duncan.
Modron. Duncan. Tactical team members. Medics.
She blinked, seeing nothing but blurry shapes the first few tries, and then her vision cleared enough to realise that Modron and Duncan were on either side of her.
“What happened?” Hallie asked, the words thick and difficult in her dry mouth. “Hoel?”
“Here, try this,” Duncan said. He put something down next to her shoulder and moved what looked like a long straw towards her mouth. “It’s not the nicest flavour, but it will give you some energy and take away that dry mouth you probably have.”
Hallie managed to get the straw into her mouth and took a drink. Cool liquid flowed across her tongue. It was bitter and tart, but a blessed relief after the awful dryness. She nodded her thanks to Duncan.
“I’m not sure how much you will remember.
You were at the end of your strength before you collapsed,” Girard said.
He was sitting on the floor beside her, carefully out of the way of Modron and Duncan.
His eyes warmed as he met her gaze, but she could hear the aftermath of fear in his voice as he went on. “I thought we’d lost you.”
“Not yet,” Hallie managed, voice rasping. And then, because she really wanted to know. “Hoel?”
“Commander Rojas and his team arrived just before you went out. Hoel and his people ran away rather than face them,” Girard said.
Hallie became aware that there were a lot more people around her than had been earlier.
She turned her head slightly and saw Emmet, still in his true form, sitting on one of the steps with Cotovatre tucked in beside him, her head on his shoulder.
The sinisir looked exhausted, as if a strong breeze might finish him off, but he seemed to sense Hallie’s attention as he turned his head and gave her a soft smile.
“I do believe you saved my life,” he told her.
“The zauber did. Gave its last,” Hallie said. She wanted to sit up. She didn’t like being on her back with so many people sitting and standing all around her. She just wasn’t sure she could move on her own just then.
A hint of sadness crossed Emmet’s face and he closed his eyes briefly. “Then I thank you both.”
“We were both glad to help,” Hallie managed, not wanting to think about the hollow void where the zauber had been.
She turned her attention back to the drink Duncan had provided.
She could feel some energy seeping back into her body.
In about half a day or so she might be able to actually stand up on her own.
Modron and Duncan got to their feet, moving away, and Hallie caught sight of Echoid Bondar’s body, lying where Hoel had killed him, blood darkening as it dried.
She made a low sound of frustration and struggled to sit up.
Girard helped, putting an arm around her shoulders, supporting her and helping her move sideways until her back was propped up against a bench.
He lingered a bit longer, giving her a one-armed hug before he let her go.
Hallie wished she had the strength to hug him back.
She knew what it had felt like for her to watch him unconscious and injured, and could imagine he had felt the same way.
From her better vantage point, Hallie could see that Echoid was not the only casualty. There was another Conclave member dead on the steps not far away, along with two people she assumed were his aides.
The remaining Conclave members were sitting on benches or the steps, their aides with them, while around the room were black-clad members of the tactical team.
There was an odd hush around the room. A quiet that rang in Hallie’s ears.
She imagined that the chamber was more used to shouted arguments than this sad, soft near-silence.
Commander Rojas and Peredur were standing together at the end of the Conclave meeting table, engaged in what looked like a serious discussion, voices kept too low for Hallie to hear.
She turned to Girard, who was still sitting next to her.
“Are we going after Hoel?” she asked.
“We?” He lifted a brow. “You are staying here, with the Conclave members. Commander Rojas and his team will clear the building. As far as I can tell, Hoel is still in the building.” He shook his head slightly.
“The explosions and the metal seem to be interfering with my senses, but I can tell that much.”
“He hasn’t finished yet. He wanted to destroy the Conclave completely,” Hallie said.
“Yes,” Girard agreed. He frowned down at her. “And he would have done that if you hadn’t stopped him. You and Emmet.”
“I guess Emmet’s secret is out,” Hallie said. It probably wasn’t the most important thing, but it made her almost unbearably sad. He’d been moving among the elite for a long time, hidden in plain sight, choosing to stay anonymous. That choice had been stripped from him. “How did everyone react?”
“I think they are too shocked to have properly realised the significance,” Girard said, voice hushed. Hallie remembered the expression on Girard’s face when he’d realised what Emmet was. One of the ancestors of the hochlen.
At the end of the meeting table, the commander and director seemed to have come to an agreement, turning towards the gathered crowd of Conclave members and aides.
“Listen up. This is what we are going to do. Commander Rojas and his team are going to sweep the building with two equally important objectives. First, to make sure there are no more traps set, and second, to track down the remaining insurgents,” the director pitched his voice so that it carried to everyone in the room.
“Some of the investigators will be assigned to go with the commander. Anyone who is not specifically assigned to the search or a member of the commander’s team will stay here until otherwise instructed. Is that clear?”
Hallie lifted a brow when the director stared straight at her. She nodded to show she’d understood. In truth, she wasn’t sure she could have moved just then, even if she had wanted to.
There was a murmur through the Conclave members. Hallie couldn’t tell what the primary emotion was. She thought some people were relieved at being told to stay put and others annoyed. Then Lamorat Lucas rose to his feet.
“Director, Commander, I appreciate the efforts that you have made and continue to make to keep us all safe. Thank you.” Hallie had rarely heard Lamorat sound so sincere. A murmur of agreement rose from most of those gathered.
“It’s our job, my lord, but you’re welcome,” the director replied, then raised an eyebrow. “Something else?”
“Is there a safe way out of the building?” Lamorat asked. “I am sure I’m not alone in feeling uneasy at staying here with so much destruction around.”
“We can’t guarantee safe passage at this time,” Commander Rojas said. “The insurgents have clearly been planning this for a while. The only exit we were able to reach had been wired with explosives. So I suggest you don’t try and find your own way out, but wait for us to do our jobs.”
“Very well.” Lamorat took his seat again. Hallie thought he looked impatient, which she could understand, but he also seemed to accept the commander’s request.
The director was moving through the crowd, picking out the investigators that were left.
The director was taking almost all of them, Hallie realised, as one by one they were sent to the other side of the room, where the attackers had come in and through which, Hallie assumed, Hoel had made his escape.
The only investigator the director didn’t send to the tac team was Accalon.
Peredur paused when he reached Girard and Hallie and, to Hallie’s surprise, crouched in front of them to bring him to eye level with them.
“Miss Talbot, you are not going anywhere for a while. Abbott, I’d like to leave you here as well.
Someone needs to keep an eye on things. Our best guess is that Hoel and his people are going to regroup somewhere in the building.
Normally we’d wait for them to come back to us, but Rojas and I don’t want to give them time to recover.
We need to get the building locked down.
” He paused, and Hallie noted that even though he was clearly exhausted, he had an intense energy.
He had an identified enemy to target now, after months of work.
“The radios still aren’t working, so I’m leaving Accalon with you as the fastest runner to send if you need to recall us.
Jasper is coming with us for the same reason, in case we need to send a message back.
” The director cast a look around. “You’ve only got two exits to worry about, and Rojas tells me that the way in through the collapsed doorway is difficult. ”
“Understood, sir,” Girard said.
“We haven’t seen Findo or Russet,” Hallie said, keeping her voice low but unable to stop the shiver that ran through her. She was in no shape to face Findo Trask. “But they are most likely still in the building, too.”
“I agree. We’re keeping that in mind,” the director said.
“Could you leave some tranquilliser for us here?” Hallie asked. “I hope we won’t need it.”
“But best to be safe. Yes. We can do that. I’ll get Modron to bring you some,” Peredur said.
He looked at Hallie. “I can’t remember if I’ve said this already, but thank you.
Your efforts, and those of Emmet Lowery, have been remarkable.
I know we’ve lost people, but we would have lost far more without you. ”
Before Hallie could say anything, he got to his feet and moved away. True to his word, he paused by Modron before heading over to the commander.
Modron in turn approached Hallie and Girard again, crouching down as the director had done. She held out an odd-looking weapon.
“This is a modified automatic pistol. It’s loaded with tranquilliser darts for Findo Trask, if you see him. We’ve all got some,” she added, tilting her head to encompass the rest of the tac team. “Just point and shoot.”
“Got it. Thank you,” Girard said, taking the weapon.
“Good hunting,” Hallie added.
Modron gave her a brief, fierce grin and then left, joining the rest of the armed men and women ready to head out and track down Hoel and the rest of his people.
Hallie watched the tac team and investigators leave with a mixture of frustration and apprehension.
She wished she was joining them. She was used to being the one doing the hunting.
It did not feel good to be sitting still, no matter how unwieldy and heavy her body felt.
And she was worried. For them, and for everyone in the room around her.
Hoel Buchanan had been planning this day for some time, and from what she knew of Findo Trask, he was likely to also have some backup plans in place.
Neither of them would be easy opponents, and she had a terrible feeling that there would be more blood shed before the day was done.
She just hoped it wouldn’t be from anyone she cared about.