Allie's War Season Three (85 page)

Revik made an affirmative gesture. "Absolutely. Two hundred on my wife...house rules. Assuming she's bored enough to fight you..." He smacked Wreg's hand when the seer reached for another piece of toast. "...Order your own, goddamn it!"

Undaunted, Wreg removed his hand, but seemed to be waiting for another opening. I nudged him with my arm, smiling in spite of myself.

"Careful, brother Wreg," I said. "I don't dare try to eat off his plate when he's like this. He's not joking, by the way. He really is liable to stab you..." I motioned towards the remains of the omelette. "That's his second breakfast already."

"Care to wager that he'll have a third?" Balidor asked drily, glancing around for a menu.

"No," Yumi said, laughing.

"Me, neither," I said, glancing at Revik, who rolled his eyes, giving me a wan smile. "In fact, from the look in his eyes just then, I'm pretty sure he will..."

"Your man's hungry," Wreg said, smiling at me. He glanced at Revik, then back at me, giving me a more deliberate once-over. "Now why is that, I wonder, princess?"

Revik rolled his eyes, clicking at him in irritation as he pulled his plate closer.

I found myself smiling back at Wreg though, in surprise as much as anything.

He'd always been a flirt, but he'd put more light into his voice when he did it just then. When he didn't avert his gaze immediately, I found myself looking between his obsidian eyes with a kind of wonder, realizing I'd never seen that exact expression on his face before, either.

But it was more than that...he looked relaxed, his light was open...and further, he'd shaved and even cut his hair. Not all the way, like Jon had done, but he'd lost the barbarian braid, and the ponytail in a clip looked more like something from the last century at least. He wore a dark jacket over an off-white, mandarin-collar shirt that suited him, too.

He'd always been a good-looking guy, but he looked positively handsome right then, better than I'd ever seen him look. Even as I thought it, I felt a pulse of irritation off Revik...and even more disconcerting, a stronger one off Jon.

Before I could think of anything to say, Jon looked at Revik, rolling his eyes.

"Your wife's a flirt, man," he said, his voice joking.

I heard the edge there, though, and peered around Wreg to stare at him, making my face openly incredulous.

"Don't I know it," Revik muttered.

When I glanced back at him in equal disbelief, I caught him looking at Wreg, too. When I kicked him under the table though, he smiled.

"...And violent," he added to Jon.

Jon nodded. "A little hypersensitive –– "

"So why are we here?" Balidor said, cutting them both off.

I looked at him, but instead of seeing the irritation I expected to find in his expression, he looked amused, too. And relaxed. In fact, I don't think I'd ever
seen
Balidor look that relaxed, not in the several years I'd known him. As I continued to stare at him, Wreg laughed, snagging a piece of bacon off Revik's plate before the Elaerian could stop him.

"Motherfucker...!" Revik said.

I knew he was angry when his German accent came out that thick. He really did look like he was about to stab Wreg with the fork he held, but Wreg only waved him off, stuffing most of the bacon in his mouth without the slightest look of remorse in his eyes or his voice.

"All right, all right," Wreg said. "So everyone got laid...can we move on? Whose meeting is this? The Bridge's? The Sword's?" He gave me another wink, once more looking down my body, his gaze lingering. "...Is there even a difference anymore?"

Yumi laughed at that, clicking softly.

I felt another pulse of irritation off Jon.

"It's his," I said, pointing at Revik.

Revik shook his head, swallowing a long drink of juice. "Nope. You've obviously been thinking about this longer than I have. Anyway, I'm eating..." He waved the fork in my direction, hovering protectively over his food. "...So talk. I'll jump in, where appropriate."

Glancing at me, Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Bunch of kindergarteners," Jon muttered.

Chuckling, Wreg wrapped his arm around Jon's shoulders.

I found myself watching in a kind of fascination as the Chinese-looking seer leaned down to kiss Jon's neck, tugging at his hair with his fingers before leaning closer. He said something in Jon's ear, too quiet for any of us to catch, but I saw Jon's face darken as he listened. Half anger and half a blush, the added color turned his ears a little red, too. He firmed his mouth when Wreg spoke to him again, just before he gave the seer an irritated look, moving his head out of range. Once again, the possessive vibe I felt around Wreg in relation to Jon was almost overpowering.

But what the hell had that been I'd felt off
Jon
about me and Wreg?

"Okay," I said, shaking that off and looking around at the rest of them. "I guess it's my meeting then..." Putting down my coffee, which was cold anyway, I took a deep breath, folding my hands over the top of the table. Giving Balidor a somewhat cautious look, I exhaled the same breath, then just bit the bullet.

"So here's the thing," I said, clearing my throat. "We're going to San Francisco."

After a longish pause where the rest of them stared at me blankly, Balidor cleared his throat.

"Who is we?" he said.

I made a smooth gesture. "That part still needs to be worked out. That's why you're all here."

Wreg looked at me. This time, his eyes were openly wary. He glanced at Revik...then, much more briefly, at Jon.

"Why is Jon here?" he said, blunt.

I felt a smile pinch my lips, but there was no humor in it. Ironic that Wreg and I would be in total agreement on this one.

"He's overseeing recruitment of the human names on the list, Wreg," I said. "He also happens to know the people behind those names, in San Francisco, at least. Are you suggesting he shouldn't be involved?"

I felt a pulse of heat come off the seer, intense enough that I flinched, glancing at Revik with a raised eyebrow.

"I wanted him here," Revik said, blunt. "Do you have a problem with that, Wreg?"

"As a matter of fact –– "

"Then you and I can discuss it after," Revik cut in. "Not now."

When I glanced at Jon, he was staring off to the side, no expression on his face. His eyes focused seemingly on the small fountain in the middle of the room, meant to resemble one of the old statues that used to dot the lawns of the gardens below the Old House in Seertown. A white tree stood at the highest tier; I knew most of those had burned down in the fires after the bombing as well, but a few survived.

Supposedly a group of seers were rebuilding Seertown even now, under the protection of a few members of the Asian-based Adhipan and several in the Seven's guard who had remained behind.

My eyes drifted back to the others. Balidor was poker-faced now as well, but when I looked at Yumi, I saw her watching Wreg, a flicker of sympathy on her face.

"All right," I said, fingering the hair out of my eyes. "So here's the thing, Revik and I both want to go...we think we should do this together."

"But what about what you said yesterday?" Wreg said, obviously keeping his voice subdued with an effort. "...About going after Feigran? Needing to address the problem in the south? I thought we were all in agreement that Shadow is the immediate problem..."

Revik nodded, pushing his now-empty plate back as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. "He is."

"So why are you going to the other side of the continent instead?"

Revik gave him another warning look. "Brother Wreg..."

I waved Revik off though before he could finish, seeing something different in Wreg's light than simple orneriness. Or maybe I'd read it more on Yumi's face. Laying a hand on Wreg's arm, I got him to look at me when I softened my voice.

"Revik will go south," I said. "He'll leave from San Francisco. But we need the Lao Hu and Voi Pai and this Shadow person to see us going together to California. They're a lot less likely to come after us if we're together..."

"That is theory," Wreg said, leaning back to give me a hard look. "They could be
more
likely to go after the two of you, seeing it as an opportunity to capture you both..." He gave Revik a harder look. "What about Ditrini? What about what this seer, Surli, told us?"

I shook my head. "They wouldn't be trying so hard to split our forces if their goal was to pick up Revik and me together. As it is, they'll expect Revik to go south. As a result, they won't send everything they have to San Francisco...they'd want to keep the bulk of their military forces there. We plan to have a few diversions going, so they can't fully commit in any one place. Anyway," I added. "From what Surli said, they think they can get to me via the humans we want there..." I glanced at Revik. "They won't commit the bulk of their forces at me. They'll count on my telekinesis not being well-developed enough to pull off a hostage situation without getting a bunch of people killed. By the time they figure out Revik is heading west, too, it will be too late to readjust their strategy, as well as the number of people they have in that part of the world..."

I hesitated, and found myself glancing at Jon for some reason.

"...And you'll be deployed in the field anyway, Wreg," I added, my voice more cautious. "You're not going to want anyone..." I glanced at Jon in spite of myself, hesitating. "...Anyone who's not theoretically expendable out in the field with you. Meaning no one we believe might play a key role according to those lists. You can't afford to bring anyone like that along, Wreg, not if you're leading a military force of Adhipan and ex-rebel infiltrators..." I hesitated again, glancing at Revik. "It's bad enough that you're on the list, too. But you, me, Balidor and Revik don't have the luxury to sit this one out..."

"You're talking war," Wreg said. "Full-fledged war." He looked at Revik. "Isn't that what you said you wanted to avoid, brother Syrimne?"

"We may not have any choice," Revik returned mildly. He was looking at Wreg now too, a faint caution in his clear eyes. "I thought you were in favor of an assault before?"

Wreg hesitated. Once more, I felt the conflict on him, right before he looked at me.

"This is coming from her, isn't it?" he said finally.

"In part, yes," Revik said. "I agree with her, Wreg. They are forcing us into a fight. The least we can do is accept on our own terms..."

"What about that 'no separation' bullshit you've been saying about one another?"

Revik's jaw tightened slightly. "This is a military op, Wreg. We've talked it over, and both of us are willing to do what makes the most sense when the time comes..."

"But isn't this
exactly
where they were leading you and your wife in the first place?" Wreg said. "You in South America, the Bridge in the west? How is this not playing directly into their own machinations?"

"You haven't heard the plan yet," Revik said, his voice carrying a faint warning.

"What would you suggest, Wreg?" I asked.

The Chinese-looking seer glanced at me. Then, mouth firming, he didn't hesitate but gestured in a straight line over his section of table, his jaw hard.

"Full assault on the south," he said. "We've done the intel...we know the risks, most of them anyway. There won't be a few dozen civilians to complicate things...or make our people hesitate in a shooting war. A city like San Francisco, especially one with a containment grid and a locked construct under the purview of SCARB like they have for this quarantine...it could be a deathtrap for us, especially if they come at us in sufficient force. The stronghold of Shadow is all heavy mountain terrain...it's conducive to our smaller numbers, and the training of both Adhipan and rebels. With two telekinetic seers, we should be able to offset the disadvantages of meeting them on their home turf..." He glanced at Jon, his mouth firming a bit more. "We can hit San Francisco once we've wiped out the threat from Shadow..."

"But they'll be expecting that," I said, fighting impatience. "Especially now that they've got Feigran. They're obviously trying to drive us south...even the warning from Surli could be seen that way, and you said yourself that you don't trust him!"

"So what?" Wreg said, throwing up his hands. "It's better than dividing our forces!"