Chapter 18 #2
“We believe it happened at the temple when Cyra was using the lightning she’d taken from Sandrian. You hadn’t been able to fully shield Aidan from it. His foot was exposed, and we think the lightning connected Morland’s mortal body and Aidan’s.”
Samhail frowned. “But how did that transfer his mind?”
“Cyra was wearing the two rings we found on The Stalwart at the time. Sandrian had wanted her to use the rings to transfer Morland’s mind into me. As it turned out, the plan was a sound one, but Cyra ended up moving Morland into Aidan by accident instead.”
Samhail let out a string of curses under his breath.
“So what do we do?” he asked. “Sandrian must know by now our meeting tomorrow is a trap. Do you expect him to cancel?”
“No, I expect him to set his own trap. We need to be prepared for Aidan to turn on us. I’ve assigned Serise to stay close to him.”
“Does Maziren know?”
“Yes. She’ll stay close to him as well, but she’s too loyal to Aidan. I can’t trust her to do what needs to be done in a worst-case scenario.”
Samhail was quiet a moment. “You’d kill Aidan?” he asked.
I gave him a serious look. “I’ll do absolutely everything in my power to keep Aidan alive so we can find a way to get Morland out of him, but we also have to prepare for the likelihood that it’s not possible to remove him.
I can still send him to Revenmyer if necessary, but we need to be ready to kill him if things go irrevocably sideways. ”
“Why haven’t you put him in Revenmyer already?” he asked. “If you know Morland is in there, just do it. Why keep him free to make trouble?”
“Two reasons. First, we were hoping for just such an opportunity as tomorrow. We wanted a way to lure Sandrian and Magdalene out, and I have to imagine Morland has contacted them to let them know he’s still in play.
They’re thus more likely to come if they think they can use him to get the upper hand. ”
Samhail considered this and nodded. “And the second reason?”
“Thasia has only my word that Aidan isn’t really Aidan. I can’t just lock up a Triumvirate lord without any clear indication of a crime or punishable offense. Derridan would revolt at what they saw as a power grab on my part, and the High Counsel of Polaris would support them.”
He canted his head to acknowledge the point. “So then we show up for this meeting tomorrow, pretend we don’t know Aidan is really Morland, and hope to the gods we can take down Morland, Sandrian, and Magdalene before they double cross and kill us all?”
I gave a resigned nod. “That sounds about right.”
He let out a deep breath. “What do you need me to do?”
“You get to be the bait, so we have to find a way to make you look weak and helpless by tomorrow.”
He gave me a knowing look. “Should I plan to meet you in the training yard so you can get some hits in?”
I shrugged and gave him a half grin. “A few bruises wouldn’t hurt.”
He stood. “I’ll meet you there in twenty minutes.”
“Make it forty-five. There’s something else I have to do first.”
He nodded and stood but then stopped before turning to leave. “Did you hear what the captain said about being immune to the symbionts?”
I nodded slowly. “I forgot about it in all the excitement, but yes. I wish we’d been able to keep him alive if only to learn more about that.”
“I don’t think he knew why he was immune,” Samhail said.
“Maybe not, but if we’d been able to question him further, we might’ve figured it out. I’ll have to sift through what little I was able to read in his mind before Morland killed him.”
“You’d searched his mind already,” Samhail observed. “Trying to get him to talk was just for show.”
I gave him a look that said I was disappointed in him for not knowing that sooner, and one corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile.
“Right,” he said. “I always forget how easy it is for you. So what are we going to do about this potential immunity thing?”
“I’ll put Phaedrus and Axenus on it,” I said. “Now that we know it’s possible, we can look for a solution. We’ll start by going back to all the villages that were attacked and talking to the people. Maybe we’ll get lucky and find someone the symbionts tried to turn but couldn’t.”
He nodded and started to leave.
“Don’t tell the assassin about Morland,” I called after him.
He stopped and frowned at me. “Why not?”
“Just a precaution. I don’t want her to be able to warn Sandrian.”
His frown deepened. “She won’t. I trust her.”
“And while I’m almost convinced she can be trusted, I’m not taking any chances,” I said. “If everything goes as planned tomorrow and she’s still on our side by the end of the day, we can tell her everything.”
He nodded and strode to the door.
“What are the chances you’ll stay away from her tonight?” I asked.
He paused with his hand on the knob and grinned at me. “None at all. If there’s a possibility I might die tomorrow, then I plan to spend tonight with my cock buried balls-deep in a fiery little red-haired assassin.”
I rolled my eyes. “I suspected as much. Do I need to warn you to keep any sharp objects away from her?”
“That’s a given,” he said as he opened the door. “I’ll be counting the knives at dinner.”
I chuckled as he closed the door behind him.
I knew Samhail well enough to guess what appealed to him about the assassin.
I’d admit she was beautiful – I’d understated her at pretty – but she could’ve been half as attractive, and Samhail still would’ve wanted her.
She was a challenge, and he could never resist a challenge.
Gargoyles were drawn to strength and power, and the assassin had that in spades.
I suspected that tendency was part of the reason he’d initially been drawn to Cyra. Some part of him had sensed her power. He’d also seen my connection with her right away, which had made her forbidden, and it was a law of nature that men inevitably wanted what they couldn’t have.
I sent a mental message to Ferris, my steward, and asked him to find the assassin and bring her here. Talking to Samhail had eased my mind about her a bit, but I needed to speak with her myself.
I wasn’t sure I’d ever fully forgive her for the danger she’d posed to Cyra, but Samhail was right about one thing.
The woman had a damned useful set of skills, and I was loath to simply dismiss that over my personal issues with her.
If I could find a way to trust her and get her to trust me – I didn’t think she’d forgiven me yet for clawing into her mind and nearly killing her – we might be beneficial to each other.
I didn’t have to wait long before there was a knock on my door, and the assassin entered when I called for her to come in.
“I’m told you wanted to speak with me, Lord Bressen?” she said. She took only a step or two into the room, and she looked ready to bolt for the balcony again if she felt me in her mind. She wore a dagger at each thigh, and her hands rested on the hilts.
That should’ve been concerning, but it was telling that Samhail had let her carry weapons while they were together, and she hadn’t killed him.
“I do,” I said, motioning for her to take a seat. “And I promise not to kill you, if you promise not to kill me.”
She looked as though she was seriously considering the pros and cons of this agreement. Finally, she strode the rest of the way across the room and took a seat in front of my desk.
“So then tell me, Lord Bressen,” she said as she crossed one leg over the other. “Who do you want me to kill for you?”
Tandem Read: Go to Clash of Stone and Steel (Bk 3), Chapters 32-33