George frowned. “That can’t be right.”
“Why not?”
“Because I asked your brother, and he said your parents never hosted them.”
My heart made a valiant effort to leap out of my chest. Klaus was alive.
I kept my expression calm. “Klaus didn’t encounter them. It was right after he and Michael turned twenty-one. They went on a month-long trip to Japan. Michael was a Toyotomi Hideyoshi fan, and he really wanted to see Osaka Castle.”
George stared at me.
“George! Shower. Stone stele. Lots of walking. Call me when you’re done. I need your help with Karron.”
I would tell him to sleep first but it would be pointless.
George scrambled to his feet and stumbled away, pulling his shirt off his back. I aborted the connection.
Sean tilted his head at me. “Your brother is alive.”
“And he is an Arbitrator.”
That explained everything. Whatever George was working on had to be vital and secret. Arbitrators were extremely close-mouthed. They wouldn’t go to just anyone for information, but George and I had a prior professional relationship. I was trustworthy.
There was no reason George would seek Klaus out when he knew where to find me. There was only one reason he would prefer Klaus over me: Klaus was in. He was an Arbitrator and therefore cleared for all classified information. And it also meant that Klaus was either on equal footing with George or his senior.
That’s why Klaus went off the grid. I was afraid he’d died.
I leaned back in my chair. When I got a hold of my brother, I would pitch a fit. He had no idea what was coming to him.
No idea.
“Do you think George will get back to us?” Sean asked.
“He will. As soon as he can.”
George had many flaws, but he always paid his debts.
6
Things are never simple when George gets involved. When we last left the inn, Dina had a surprising reveal about her brother Klaus and a plan to save Wilmos was beginning to take shape.
Let’s see what our favorite Arbitrator has down his elegant shirtsleeves.
Twenty-six hours later, Sean and I sat in front of the communication screen again. The elven prince was back. He was still a bit too pale, and there were lingering traces of fatigue in the lines of his face, but he was alert, clean, and well dressed. George’s fashion sense fell somewhere between a musketeer and a gentleman privateer. He was fond of shirts with wide sleeves, beautifully tailored vests, and tall leather boots. The embroidery on his dark blue vest was swoon worthy.
Sean would look great in that vest. Well, not that vest exactly, Sean would need a larger size. Maybe for Halloween…
I stopped myself. I had spent the entire day checking on Gorvar, worrying about Wilmos, and trying to research some way to Karron. I was so worn out, my brain had resorted to nonsense in self-defense.
“Thank you for your assistance,” George said. “It was most helpful.”
“I take it, your issue with the Valkkinians is resolved?” I asked.
“Yes.”
If one of us didn’t step into the breach, we would be dancing around the Klaus issue all night.
I raised my head. “How is my brother?”
“He is well,” George replied. “A rather unfortunate slip up on my part. I would appreciate it if you would attribute it to fatigue rather than indiscretion. Apparently, one-hundred and fifty hours without sleep significantly impaired my cognitive functions.”
Sean whistled quietly. “Six days is pushing it.”
George grimaced. “So it would seem. Lesson learned. Klaus has his reasons for his current course of action. You and your sister are very dear to him.”
“You don’t have to cover for him,” I told him. “He can explain himself when we meet.”
“You mentioned Karron,” George said. “I understand there was an incident at Baha-char?”
And he knew every detail of it. There was a whole flock of koo-ko present at the scene. By now the furthest reaches of known space were aware that Wilmos had been taken from his shop and only the shocking heroism and tremendous wisdom of the First Scholar had uncovered the kidnapper’s destination. I didn’t envy the juvenile sphinx. He was likely gone from Baha-char and back with his own people, where he would have to explain how exactly he managed to spectacularly embarrass his entire species in front of the known galaxy.
“A being resembling a corrupted ad-hal took Wilmos to Karron,” Sean said. “I need to get to that planet.”
“Quite impossible, I’m afraid,” George said. “Even our office doesn’t possess a craft able to survive a landing on and take off from that world.”
All of the hope went out of me at once.
“Not impossible,” Sean said. “Wilmos was taken there. Someone has the means to take him there and keep him alive, otherwise why not just kill him?”
“Clearly, they would like you to die in the attempt to rescue him.” George tilted his head to the side. “There is, however, a galactic power that maintains a portal gate to Karron.”
I sat up straighter.
“Why would they have a gate on Karron?” Sean asked.
“They have an outpost there.”
“What a coincidence,” Sean said.
George arched his brows. “Not at all. It’s not a coincidence, it is by design. Civilizations bring me their problems, and I find solutions. He has a problem, you are the solution to it, if you choose to be, and vice versa. That’s how the galaxy works.”
“And then both parties owe you a favor,” I said.
“Naturally.”
“Who is it and what does he want?” I asked.
He told us.
Wow.
“If you do this and it goes well, you could ask him for almost anything. He will be publicly indebted to you. I have raised the possibility of access to Karron with his chancellor. If you honor their request, they are happy to let you use their portal as many times as necessary. Their facility has been mothballed for a decade, but all the life support systems within it are still operational.”
Wilmos’ kidnapper had to be keeping him alive, otherwise why take him in the first place. That facility was the only habitable place on Karron. Wilmos had to be inside it.
George gave us a grave look.
“The universe is full of possibilities, so mathematically another way to travel to Karron exists, but I don’t know what it is. In my expert opinion, this is your best chance to rescue your friend. This entire affair is wrought with risk. The scale of the event they want you to host is unprecedented for an Earth inn. Even if everything goes well, which we all know it won’t, you still must physically travel to Karron and enact the rescue on your own. Please give this matter serious consideration. I have grown fond of both of you, and I would hate for you to throw away your lives. I will need an answer in twenty-four hours.”
He terminated the connection.
“I can’t ask you to do this,” Sean said. His face was completely neutral.
“Wilmos would do it for either of us,” I said.
Sean’s stone face didn’t fool me for a second. My parents were missing. Their entire inn had vanished in an instant with them inside it. The house, the guests, the garden, everything was gone, and only an empty lot had been left behind. Nobody had any answers. Nobody could even hazard a guess as to what happened. The uncertainty of not knowing was awful.
I’d been looking for them for years, and I would never give up. They were out there, somewhere, waiting to be rescued. I knew exactly how Sean felt, and I would do almost anything to spare Sean what I had gone through.
We had a location. We had to try.
“Will Caldenia be a problem?” Sean asked.
“Absolutely.” And I had no idea how I would even broach the subject with her.