Tenants and Tyrants (Book 5 of The Warden series) (27 page)

“I never asked you to do this!” Efrat’s voice pitched with frustration more than anger. She thought that he would be grateful to her, but he wasn’t. He was scolding her. It was familiar territory to say the least, but she didn’t expect it from him.

“Then why did you give me that key? What did you expect me to do?”

“I expected that you would have a good long talk to Danato and he would see the error of his ways. I thought maybe you could convince him to give us asylum.”

“Asylum?” Cori blanched.

“Yes, Cori, I knew Danato would never agree to release us. I was hoping to get a less oppressive cage.”

“Once again my life is made ever more complicated by inscrutable men,” Cori mumbled. “You don’t want to leave.”

Garr scoffed. “We can leave anytime we want you stupid bitch!”

“What?” Cori screeched not sure which to address first, her confusion or her indignation.

Efrat pulled her off to the side by her arm. “Listen—“

“I’m trying to help!” She yelled back to Garr. Efrat drew her face back to him with his hand. She brushed him away. “Personal space, people! I am not your designated hand warmer.”

“Corinthia,” he whispered. Had he yelled it, she might have slapped him, but the quiet urgency in his voice reminded her that they were in very dangerous waters, and the life preserver was already floating away. “I know you’re trying to help, but you have to understand something. By definition we are supernatural beings. Danato can send the collectors after us the minute he hears we’ve escaped, and he will. Even if we steal a truck, we can’t outrun them. They have our scents. Cori escape has never been an option. Been there, done that.”

Cori winced at that realization. She had focused so much on the threat that Clark posed, that she hadn’t considered that Danato was just as much a threat.

If the collectors were capable of bringing in werewolves, they would have no trouble with the elementals. Despite their powers, Efrat and the others were still vulnerable to the same things humans were. The collectors were pack animals, and would have no trouble distracting them while another knocked them out from behind.

“Why do you keep trying to break out then?” He didn’t answer and she didn’t have time to probe for one, but she got the sense that he didn’t really have a good reason. “Maybe I can convince Danato not to send them out right away. If I can get you a few hours…”

Efrat shook his head. “You know better than that.” He put his hand to her mouth before she could object further. “I’m sorry, kitten. I didn’t mean for you to… I had no idea you were this—“

“Stupid,” she suggested.

He smiled. “Pig-headed, disillusioned…noble…brave.”

“So…stupid,” she suggested again. He chuckled, but didn’t agree. “Shit.” Cori sunk her head into her hands. Without escape as an option, she had brought her quagmire full circle and parked it in a cul-de-sac. “I’ve just signed your death warrants. Run, hide, or stay. Now it doesn’t matter. He’ll kill all of you, won’t he?” She looked to Efrat for the answer. He didn’t offer any contention. “Why do I always screw things up?” she mumbled.

She sunk back against the wall and tapped her head against in. “Maybe I can convince Danato in an hour not to turn you over to Clark.” Even as she said it she heard how insane it sounded. Besides the difficulty of convincing Danato to change his mind about the banes of his prison, the fact that she had already freed them would drive a wall up on any negotiations.

“What do you suppose has changed since his signature condemned us here six years ago?” Efrat sounded defeated. She wasn’t sure that the empty expression he held matched the upbeat incorrigible flirt from Jill’s memories, but it did remind her of when she first encountered him.

“A lot, I hope,” Cori said losing a tinge of her own defiant optimism.

“I’m open to suggestion, but I’m reluctant to believe you showing up after snowballing Clark’s men is going to win us any sympathy with him.”

Cori nodded in agreement. She had already pictured Danato hitting the roof, when he found out she let loose a spiritual entity on the upper level to help the elementals. “Clark’s going to kill you, and Danato’s going to kill me. I just keep disappointing him.” Cori pinched her brow contemplating the clarity of Danato’s reaction again. She knew him well enough to know that his anger would blind him to any rationale beyond the parameters of his job. “They will both be so pissed.”

“Yes, I think that goes without saying.”

“No, you don’t understand. I’m a screw up. I’m irrational and emotional. I came up here with piss and vinegar and not an ounce of forethought.”

“I’m sorry that
my
dying is going to be such burden on
your
conscience.”

Cori grinned. The more she thought about it, the more obvious it was. “Efrat, even if I don’t let you go, it doesn’t mean that I wasn’t stupid enough to try it. Hell I
was
stupid enough to try. Luckily, one of isn’t so pig-headed. The point is they’ll have no trouble believing that I let you go.” Cori stood back up reveling in her new anti-plan. Remi and Garr were starting to close in to hear her, but they still held the same glare of mistrust that had taken up residency on Efrat’s face in place of his resignation to die.

“We can’t just hide out until you have a chance to sway Danato’s opinion,” Efrat said.

“Yes, you can, because no one will ever look for you. They’ll be so irate about my betrayal that they’ll be fighting over who gets to bitch me out first. Even if Danato sends out the collectors, they’ll release them outside the prison walls. They won’t think to look inside, and if by some strange luck they do think of that, there is one place you can hide that they won’t smell you.”

Garr and Remi weren’t as excited about her rant as she was, but Efrat was starting to sense her enthusiasm was justified. “You do realize if they think you’ve let us go, you may lose your title as Ethan’s second?”

Cori felt her breath catch in her throat. She hadn’t anticipated that. She cleared her throat trying not to think of the worst case scenarios. She looked Efrat over. “You’ve earned the right to call in some favors. What are up to now, one for Belus, and a whole gun clip for me?” She smiled, even though she could feel her eyes well up. “I hope you’re worth it. You’re not the same man you were six years ago either.”

Efrat raised his chin taking in her statement. “I may not be, but I can only get worse if something doesn’t change. No matter how this goes down, I want you to know, I appreciate the effort.”

“Come on. Let’s go punch out the doc manager.” Cori proposed with a little more enthusiasm than she probably should have.

47

There was something dreamlike about standing in an elevator with three people that a year prior were trying to kill her. Like Batman joining the Joker, the Sandman, and Cat Woman for a leisurely stroll. The fact that she was still alive was comforting, but the awkward silence that ensued once they were in the elevator was agonizing. Despite her fervent push of the button the elevator was in no more a hurry than usual.

Cori stood next to the button panel with her back to the side wall of the elevator. Efrat was beside her to the rear. Remi and Garr took the other corners, with Garr right in front of her. His expression though muted was clearly one of careful examination. He still didn’t trust her, but she couldn’t really say she trusted him. This agreement wasn’t about trust; it was about lack of available options.

When Garr lunged at her, she jumped out of his way landing against Efrat. He wrapped his arm around her, which at first seemed comforting, but she soon realized he was holding her still. As Garr turned to her new location. She struggled against her captivity, irrational fear taking the driver’s seat.

Efrat gripped her tighter, and leaned to her ear. “Easy kitten, he just wants to pet you.” Cori kicked her foot back at him, but he took advantage of the movement, and locked her ankle between his legs, further incapacitating her.

“Efrat!” She tried to sound angry, but it came off exactly like she felt.
Petrified
.

“I know, I know, you don’t like boys. He isn’t going to hurt you.” He let his lips dip even closer to her ear. “Quid pro quo.”

“I think there’s a lot more quid than quo going on here tonight.”

Garr raised his hands to touch her face. She flinched, but even as she did, she noticed his hand was shaking. She held still as his fingers dallied on her cheek. She could feel the heat from his hands, and the burning of her rings, but there was no pain.

His eyes softened as he continued to explore her features: her hair, her ears, her lips, and her neck. Her fear that he might continue further down her body, was availed when he reached for her hands, which were still latched onto Efrat’s arm imbedding stubby nail prints in his flesh.

She released her grip and Garr explored her fingers. The fascination he had with them was indescribable. At last he linked his hand with hers, like they might take a leisurely turn around the elevator. The sadness that darkened his face, made her squeeze his hand back.

The soft porcelain face that stared down at their hands transformed. Cori pulled her hand away when his tension on her released. The once fascinated eyes were now angry.

His face, not fully able to articulate the emotion, made him look like a man in a ski mask. The growl he exuded was nothing compared to the punches he planted into the metal elevator. Three and four punches later his fist was bleeding, but he didn’t stop.

Cori gripped back onto Efrat’s arm for new reasons. He reflexively pulled her back with him as he got a little distance from Garr’s tantrum.

It wasn’t until Remi came to console him, that Garr finally stopped hitting the wall. Cori watched the couple awkwardly embrace, first her torso pressed to his back, and then their torsos together with necks locked, and hands carefully positioned in prayer behind each other’s backs.

Cori looked up at Efrat to see what he thought of this scene. His face was passive, like he had seen it all before. He glanced down at her trying to glean her thoughts as well. Her eyes welled with tears as the burden of Jill’s actions were too hard to ignore in her mind.

“I’m so sorry, Efrat. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to you.” His face donned confusion. “I should have stood up to Clark. I should have given you placebos. That fat fuck wouldn’t have known the difference. I’m a doctor for Christ’s sake, I should have known better!”

Efrat’s eyes widened and he loosened his grip to turn her toward him. “You didn’t do this.”

“Of course I did! All because I wanted to break through the boundaries of medicine. I ruined your lives!” Efrat shushed her gently, pet her hair back. He glanced back at the others who no doubt were observing this out of mind experience. “Poor Paul. My poor sweet Paul. How could I…I’m such a coward.”

Efrat’s brow furrowed and he bent his knees to look at her. “Cori, you didn’t do this? Jill is gone.”

“I killed…”

“No, you didn’t kill anyone, Cori. Clark killed Jill, Clark killed Hirem. No one died on your watch, remember.” He brushed a tear from under her eye despite it being replaced immediately. “Are you with me, kitten?”

Cori could feel the pain of the memories release her mind like the tentacles of an octopus. She took in a deep breath and looked around as if the elevator would somehow give her the answer she needed to explain what had happened. The concern on the faces around her, made her chuckle.

“Shit, if you guys are worried about me, I must really be off my rocker. I guess reading minds isn’t for amateurs.” The elevator mercifully ponked.

Garr and Remi shuffled out. Cori attempted to follow, but Efrat pulled her back. He looked her over like he was looking for evidence of Jill in her face. “What was that?”

“I don’t know. Leftovers from reading Jill’s mind I guess.”

“Time jumps, genies, magic jewelry, you really are accident prone, aren’t you?”

“All in a day’s work.”

48

Cori checked the area before she came back to the stairwell to retrieve her pseudo escapees. They snaked their way outside into the harsh evening cold. Garr and Remi stayed behind to watch the rear while Efrat stayed with her, watching for any hint of a witness. He was just as surprised as she was that they could simply walk out of the building without sirens, flashing lights, and barking dogs.

When it was clear that no one was around, he settled down and started walking in time with her. She wondered if that was coincidental or an innate talent for a military men. When she glanced over to him, she caught him staring down at her hands. “What is it?”

“The rings…” He looked away, suddenly interested if Garr and Remi were keeping up. “They allow you to touch us. I wonder if they would work in reverse. Allow us to touch others.” He was trying to make the statement casual, like he had just thought of it, but it was too important a question be chit chat.

“I’d be curious myself,” she said. His eyes pinned her with visions of Christmas morning exuding from behind them. “If I can ever figure out how to get them off, and assuming this plan works, we’ll have to try it out.”