I’m questioning this scenario. But I know Vayl wants me to believe everything he’s showing me.
In fact, I think it’s vital that I do, or else Brude will suspect and then we’re probably all deeply screwed. So when I have a stray thought that might raise Brude’s suspicions, you four have to distract him. I’m counting on you especially. I nodded to Teen Me. In fact, I’ve been thinking…
there’s a place in my head where we might be able to lock him away . I swallowed dryly as I remembered it. You know the one I mean.
Tears sprang to her eyes as I reminded her. What do I have to do? she asked.
Get in his face when I start to have doubts about what’s real and what’s for his benefit. Then, when the time is right, I’ll give you the signal. You’re going to have to open the door. You’ll have to shove him in.
But… I’m trying so hard to avoid it. For me it’s only a few years in my future.
As soon as you close the door you can lock it. He’ll be stuck in there with the memories. And hopefully we’ll never have to open it again.
The parts of my mind that had survived Brude’s onslaught nodded grimly. When he noticed them talking and demanded to know what they were doing, Teen Me stomped down the porch steps, strode right up to him, shoved her chin practically into his sternum, and screamed, “You are such a prick!” Then she burst into tears and ran into Granny May’s house.
Brude held out his hands, baffled by her outburst. What did I do? he asked.
I shrugged. I guess your charm doesn’t work on the virginal ladies.
My Inner Bimbo spoke up, leaving the huddle to collapse into a wicker chair as she said, Hell, it doesn’t even work on the horny ones.
Brude stalked off, Granny May’s uproarious cackle poking him in the back as he went.
Now that Ruvin had returned, we couldn’t put off the next phase of our mission any longer. Luckily it didn’t require a full crew, just Vayl, Cole, Jack, and I. Which left Bergman, Ruvin, and the talking cat to guard Kyphas. Not a comforting combination. So we’d convinced Raoul to stick around until we returned. At which point we promised him he could get on with the rest of his evening.
Armed with every weapon I’d packed, including a blood-test kit designed for involuntary donors, I drove Ruvin’s Patriot through the cold, trash-littered streets of Wirdilling. The fact that he’d allowed me behind the wheel of his dream machine showed how much this latest development had crushed Ruvin.
Determined to make it right for him, Vayl sat silent at my side, his cane lying across his lap like a second seat belt. Cole took up the entire backseat, looking a lot more relaxed than the jumping muscle in his cheek let on. As he checked the sites of his Parker-Hale he said, “You know, I studied the pictures Bergman took of the primary school pretty thoroughly, but I didn’t see much in the way of sniper cover.”
“Some big eucalyptus trees are growing by the back corner along with a few pines,” I replied. “You should be able to find a comfortable spot there.”
“So the whole Odeam team is inside the building?”
“That is where Ruvin dropped them off,” said Vayl. “They have no reason to leave until the appointed time. In fact, I suspect the Ufranites are stationed beneath them to make sure they do not wander off.” Cole nodded to the kit in my hand. “How confident are we in that tester?”
“The results are ninety-nine percent accurate,” Vayl said. “Within thirty minutes after we take the team’s samples, we will know which members—besides the vice president—are carriers.” I nodded. “Then phase two of the plan kicks in.”
“If necessary,” Vayl added. “Perhaps he will be the only traitor after all. In which case our mission will be finished before we leave NASA’s guesthouse tonight.”
“You’re sounding awfully optimistic. What’s the deal?”
Vayl was studying me with those gemlike eyes of his. “You are scratching less,” he murmured. “It is only a matter of time, my Jasmine.” A slow smile lifted his lips, which hadn’t touched mine in so long I suddenly felt like a downhill racer. I needed Chap Stick for the dryness and cracking. And a long night by a cozy fire to warm all the spots that had begun to chill in his absence.
I said, “Oh. Yeah. Well.” Why did my mind always spin and stutter when what I wanted most was to whisper all my deepest feelings into that perfectly curved ear of his right before the nibbling began? I sighed.
“You guys make me want to gouge out my eardrums. Seriously,” Cole said. We’d almost reached the primary school by now. Approaching it from the back this time, I found a small neglected corner dominated by delicate-leaved sugar gums, thorny acacia, and a mass of vines twisting around the fence. I parked there, knowing it provided perfect cover for three people who intended to kill a man before the night had ended.
CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Though it might’ve been well lit while functioning as a school yard, the outer edge of our target’s quarters now hid in deep shadows. The only working fixtures perched above the doors, both the one with the intricate lock we’d decided to avoid, and the basement illusion.
“Are you ready?” asked Vayl as Cole and I stood at the top of the steps. Cole finished screwing on his silencer, exchanged a look with me, and we both nodded.
Inside my head Brude shouted, I will not allow this!
“My brain-buster is threatening us,” I murmured.
Vayl unsheathed his sword. “Then it is time. Cole and Jasmine, trade positions. Now !” Like a switch flipping behind my eyeballs, the clarity of the moment sharpened to almost painful brightness. The speed of each movement, while outwardly phenomenal, still registered in my mind like I was playing it in slow-motion so it could be cataloged for future reference.
Cole slipped the harness of his weapon over his head and shoved the Parker-Hale into my hands along with his ammo belt.
At the same time I passed the blood-test kit into his.
Vayl spun and plunged through the fake doorway. Cole sped after him while I sprinted to the fence, hauling the rifle’s strap over my head as I moved. Once again my track training kicked in, allowing me to get a foot onto the fence, which gave me a boost into the lower branches of the nearest pine before Brude could roar, What is happening?
None of your damn business, I thought as I scaled the tree, needles and sap both leaving their mark before I was high enough to switch to a sugar gum that had grown in tandem with the pine.
Sweet silence greeted my final push to a sturdy crook where I could brace my hips while standing on the lowest branch. I unslung the rifle and checked my scope. Yeah, I had unobstructed views of all the windows and doors on this side of the school.
I disengaged the safety and chambered a round. I didn’t have time to doubt Vayl’s strategy. He had to figure one of the reasons the gnomes wanted easy access to their carrier(s) was to protect him/them. So he also had to bet their magic plant door would be alarmed once the carrier(s) took residence. But Vayl also knew Brude was a threat. So he’d decided to go in fast and dirty.
Maybe I won’t have anything to do, I thought. Maybe the riot we caused in the warren has already turned the guards against their shaman and the whole scheme has washed away like an eroded riverbank . I only had thirty seconds to believe that angle, because after that the first head appeared, sticking out of the fake concrete passageway like a target at a county fair duck shoot. My shot hit it in the ear and it dropped instantly, half in and half out of the door. The same was true for my next three targets.