Blood Trinity (34 page)

He crossed his arms, pondering on something. “Finding you has made this an entirely new game. Tell you what I’ll do. If you really want to help Alterants and want me to tell you what I know of the others—”

“You know about the other three?”
Now we’re talking
.

“Of course. For example, I know where they were caged.”

How was it that Tristan had information Brina wouldn’t share with her?

He continued, “If you want to help your own kind, then bring me the Ngak Stone before four o’clock Wednesday morning.”

Let’s think about this. Hand this fool more power? Not
. “What are you going to do with the Ngak Stone if you get it?”

“There is no
if
about it. I’ll explain when you show up with the stone unless I find it first, at which point I’ll move ahead with my plans. But if you bring the
stone to me and join me, I’ll guarantee your safety for as long as you live and you’ll be revered for your powers, not treated as a dog who begs for scraps.”

On the surface, that sounded pretty tempting, but she had an oath to uphold. Just not her week for a decent deal. “I don’t think you’ll be around long enough to be offering protection once Brina finds out you’re on the loose. I’m going to be busy finding that young woman with the stone and protecting her.”

“You mean to
take
the stone, and put it in the VIPER vault, don’t you?”

She was amazed at how much he knew for someone who had been locked away for five years. “I can’t discuss VIPER’s business.”

“If you intend to lock up the stone, then don’t pretend you care what happens to me or the other three Alterants.” He lifted his shoulders in dismissal. “And you’ll never find out the truth about our species, because I’m the only one with the answers to your questions.”

“I can find my own answers without putting all the Beladors at risk.” Maybe in a couple lifetimes.

Tristan’s grin spread at seeing through her bluff. “I doubt you’ll figure out what bred with a Belador to make an Alterant. Not without my help. I know my family history and what you, me and the other three Alterants have in common. Are those some of your questions?”

Dead on the mark. Blood thrummed through her at the possibility of actually finding answers. She didn’t have a thing to offer Tristan, since he’d been burned once already by Brina—
if
he was telling the truth—and believed the Ngak Stone was his ticket to freedom. But he wasn’t the only one after the rock. “What’s going on between you and Vyan?”

“I’m going to kill him if he gets in my way again, and I
will
find that woman.”

“How did you find Vyan?”

“How do you know he didn’t find me?” Tristan quipped and walked past her. “Make plans to come with me, Evalle. I will hold the key to freedom without persecution.”

She took a side step to keep him in view, and her leg throbbed at the movement. “If you touch the Ngak Stone it could kill you, or her, and if that doesn’t happen the Kujoo might get their hands on the rock and start a war with the Beladors that could turn into a modern-day apocalypse.”

He paused from pacing. “Don’t confuse me with someone who gives a shit about any of that.”

That was the most truthful comment he’d made so far. He really didn’t care who lived or died, which only made him more dangerous. Vyan had been much like that when she’d first met him in this very park two years back. He’d lost everything to the
Beladors eight hundred years ago, including his will to survive.

Why would Vyan risk drawing the attention of the Beladors?

Grady had told her an ancient synergy had entered the city.

She pieced it together in her mind and made a guess. “You really think the Kujoo warriors are your friends?”

He offered her a smile. “We have Common Enemy Syndrome.”

“We.”
She had to get to Tzader soon and let him know what she’d just figured out. Vyan was no longer the sole Kujoo in the city. “How many Kujoo are here now?”

“Enough.”

“You aren’t going to have a world to live in once they start a war.”

Tristan crossed his arms. “They won’t be a problem. The Kujoo aren’t hanging around once I get the rock. They want to be sent back eight hundred years immediately. So you don’t have to worry about fighting them in Atlanta.” His gaze swung from side to side, watching all around him. “Love to stay and chat, but I’ve got a rock to find and you’ve got to go suck up to the Beladors.”

Just great. An Alterant on the loose hunting a human who had gotten her hands on the Ngak
Stone. “If you harm that woman, you’ll bring down a lot more trouble on your head than the Beladors. Macha might even get involved.”

“Macha won’t get involved unless there’s a battle between the Kujoo and the Beladors. I’m telling you there’s not going to be a conflict in our world.”

“Oh, sure, you want me to believe the Kujoo are going to return to their time eight hundred years ago without first coming after the Beladors for revenge?”

“They have a better plan.”

She took in his relaxed air and matter-of-fact tone. His body language spoke of confidence. He was telling her the truth. “And you don’t want revenge for what Brina did to you?”

“Oh, I’ll have my day of reckoning the minute I get that stone. But payback won’t come from my hand, and Macha won’t act until she has reason. By the time that happens, the Beladors will no longer be a problem for me. A witch is already making plans for moving into Brina’s castle the minute she’s gone.”

“Why would you believe a Medb witch?” Now things started to make sense, but in a way that had her skin crawling. The Medb coven was behind the Noirre majik and must have been the power that had opened a portal to bring the Kujoo forward. Thus, the Medb were orchestrating the Common Enemy
Syndrome of joining the Kujoo and Tristan against the Beladors.

“Why shouldn’t I believe the Medb witch? She got the Kujoo here and helped them figure out how to free me when Brina locked me away for no reason.”

Evalle really hated to stand up for Brina on this, but right was right. “You can’t blame Brina for sending you away after your shifting into a beast and killing people.”

His eyes thinned with fury. “I never changed into a beast or killed anyone until
after
I was sent away. Even then, I killed only as a matter of survival.”

“That can’t be right. I heard—”

“Only what Brina wanted you to hear. So before you get all high and mighty on Brina’s behalf, get your facts straight, babe. Makes you wonder what else you’ve been told that were lies, doesn’t it?”

If
he was speaking the truth, then it did make Evalle wonder.

Tristan’s eyes took in her face. He dropped the snarl and said in a calmer voice, “I might be just like you if I’d been the only one free all this time, but I would know the truth when I heard it. Ask Brina if you don’t believe me. Her honor will force her to tell you the truth.”

“I plan to ask her, but you’re not helping the Alterants’ cause by trying to take the Ngak Stone.”

“I’m doing more for Alterants right now by going after that stone than you’ve done the whole time you’ve been free. When you get tired of being a lied-to misfit tagging along with the Beladors, come over to my side. I could use someone with your abilities, and you’ll be safe from everyone with me.” His voice softened when he added, “I’d treat you like the jewel that you are.”

She’d be lying to herself if she didn’t admit the idea of being safe forever had a certain appeal, but not with this lunatic. She’d given a vow to the Beladors and hadn’t taken that lightly. But Tristan was obviously leaving her alive because he believed she might help him gain the stone, and his offer opened the door for her to find out how to reach him. “If I do consider coming to you, how would I find you?”

“Put word out with the Nightstalkers you’re looking for me. I’ll find you. Otherwise, stay out of my way and don’t stand too close to a Belador once I have the stone. I’ll find you when they’re gone.”

“Thought you said you weren’t going after vengeance. The Kujoo would take care of that.” She didn’t hold many kind feelings about Brina, but Evalle would protect her warrior queen just like any other Belador would, and she’d lay down her life for Tzader or Quinn without hesitation. Tristan’s confidence in the Kujoo doing his dirty work troubled her.

“I’m not spending any energy on vengeance. The Kujoo will do worse than I could on my own,” Tristan said.

“Going to be a little hard to accomplish that if they go home the minute you get the rock, isn’t it?”

His smile was full of secrets. “The Kujoo have a plan to destroy the Beladors, and it has nothing to do with them touching the rock or with me battling Beladors, which keeps Shiva and Macha out of the picture. They’ve created a brilliant strategy with the Medb that will wipe every Belador from the earth, including their ancestors.”

Was he jerking her around, trying to convince her he was all-powerful, or was he really telling the truth? She saw a flaw in his proclamation of victory. “You can’t let them kill all the Beladors. You carry Belador blood. You’d die, too.”

“That’s finally the positive side of being half-breeds. The worst that will happen to us is to feel a weakening of our powers for a brief time, but Alterants
will
survive. Once I have the Ngak Stone, I’ll share my strength with our new clan of Alterants.
We
will survive and prosper.”

Why was he telling her this? He had to know she’d tell the Beladors as soon as she got free. Did he
want
her to tell the Beladors so her tribe would attack the Kujoo?

Did he really think that just because he was an
Alterant
she’d
join his side if he was part of the annihilation of everything that mattered to her? “Brina won’t sit quietly while you do this.”

“By all means, tell her. Tell all the Beladors. The more the merrier. The Medb will be waiting.”

That definitely sounded like a trap. “What do you mean?”

“That’s all I’m sharing. Be smart and come with me.”

“When did you start thinking I was Barbie and you were Ken? What are you offering me to come with you? I’ll take a convertible in any color but pink.”

“You could save the Beladors.”

She didn’t believe he would help her do that. “How?”

“Give me what I want and I’ll tell you how.”

“Oh, sure. Hand you the rock and trust you not to kill everyone with it.”

Tristan cocked his head to one side, studying her. “Here’s a freebie to use as you choose. If you tell Brina I’ve escaped and am working with the Medb, she’ll come straight to me and she’ll die first, which works for me.”

“She only travels as a hologram.” That was common knowledge among anyone who knew about Brina.

He shrugged. “The Medb shared a lot of information with me, including Brina and Tzader’s history. They
can
kill her if she comes to them this time in any form.”

What did he mean about Brina and Tzader’s history? He’d said that as if he meant the two of them together. And he knew about Brina in hologram form.

The Medb had been doing a good job of educating Tristan.

He wasn’t finished sharing. “If Brina comes to me, so will Tzader and his sidekick, Quinn, who will call in an army of Beladors. They’ll play into the Medb and Kujoo’s plans, then they’ll all die before the Kujoo get to the point of wiping out the Belador race. You decide if you want to tell Brina, because she can find me the minute she learns I’ve escaped. Up to you to tell them or not.”

“If you hurt Tzader or Quinn, you’ll wish you were back in that cage,” she promised.

“If I was only an Alterant, you might win, but not with the power of the Medb behind me, and I’ll be even more powerful once I get the Ngak Stone.” Tristan’s confidence froze her blood. “You want to keep
your
tribe safe?
Find
that rock and bring it to me
yourself
on Wednesday morning, and I’ll tell you how to protect the Beladors.”

The pain in her leg interfered with thinking straight. “Let’s say I believe you, which I don’t. What if I don’t find the rock first?”

“If
I
find the rock first I’ll give you one other chance to save the Beladors.”

Did he think they were playing Let’s Make A Deal? “What would you possibly be willing to take in trade for letting the Beladors live?”

“You.”

Both offers were unfair, unrealistic and undesirable. Stay with
him
? He was insane on top of being a monster.

Tristan stood quietly for a moment. “I need a female Alterant to populate our species.”

Ah, consolation female for the group. He was out of his ever-lovin’ mind. “And if I choose to accept either of these incredibly attractive offers, how would I find you if the Nightstalkers don’t know?”

He smiled at her sarcasm as if he’d find her entertaining company. “I plan to get my hands on that rock first. When I do, I’ll call you to me.”

None of this made sense, and he was crazier than bat shit if he thought she’d go for that bunch of hooey. But she’d play along since he was going to let her live. “I’ll have to think about it. I don’t understand any of this.”

Tristan touched his fingers to her chin and she held still only to show him she didn’t fear him. She could lie with her body as well as her mouth. “You will eventually, but I’ve told you enough for now. Make the right choice when the time comes. I take care of what’s mine.”

She scoffed. “I am
not
yours.”

“Yet.” He lifted his fingers and combed them through his thick blond hair. “Don’t waste your time trying to follow me. You can’t.”

Evalle shook with rage over his arrogance to think she’d consider walking away from the Beladors for
him
. Sure, a part of her wanted to be safe and out from under the threat of the Tribunal. But not with this guy, who had been trying to kill her until he’d realized who she was.

What about everything
else
he’d told her?

Could Brina be killed if she appeared only as a hologram? Did the Medb have a way to reach her through that form with the Ngak Stone? What if she didn’t believe there was a Medb trap and told the Beladors, then her tribe was lured to their deaths? Doing so could doom Tzader and Quinn. That wasn’t a risk she wanted to take. And would they even believe her, given she’d been warned by a rogue Alterant?