Page 32

THIRTY-ONE

The young RPS agent needed to see the beginning of the terrorist group’s end.

Five months and ten days after I’d wiped out a bunch of terrorists and eliminated Madelyn’s ex from the picture that was our lives, I tracked down my parents to a swampy corner of Cambodia. Within a terrorist’s pocket had been the proof needed to confirm the assholes had sold me out. I could even respect their reasons for doing so.

In exchange, Rachel and her succession would be left alone.

To my parents and their terrorist cohorts, I was a convenient pawn to secure some twisted legacy. I had a price tag of twenty million dollars, and that was just for information on my lifestyle, talent usage, and anything else a pair of asshole parents could give someone about their son.

Rather than inform my sister of the situation, Terry had come to me with the intel, asking what I wanted to do about the situation. In a different pocket had been confirmation that the terrorists would kill Madelyn if they could confirm our bond was not the killing kind.

They did not view her talent as appropriate for their reign of terror, which would be founded around me—if they could break me.

In the wee hours of the morning, while Madelyn still slept along with our children, I headed for my office deep in the administrative wing to make one of the most important phone calls of my life. His Royal Majesty of Texas, who had recovered from his heart attack with minimal complications, had promised to be awake to handle my business, which involved Eddie.

The young RPS agent needed to see the beginning of the terrorist group’s end as much as I did.

I sat at my chair, grabbed my office phone, secured the connection, and dialed the Texan monarchs, aware I’d speak with both of them.

The terrorism incident had changed everything despite the young man still working in California not knowing everyone in his life wanted Deidre to act, for herself and for him rather than those around her.

She’d made it back to Texas to stay, but she continued to hesitate to follow in her parents’ footsteps and claim the one man everyone knew she wanted and needed.

I hoped to solve all our problems in one fell swoop.

A light tap at my door indicated my conspirator had likewise escaped his home to join in. Terry stepped into the room, but I realized there’d been no escape for him.

His rather pregnant wife had come along for the ride, and I smiled and waved at her.

“Good morning, Ian,” Pat greeted. “I’ve got the wife with me.”

I pressed the speaker button. “I have Terry and Olivia with me. I know I’m about to ask a lot of you both, but I’d like you to hear me out. If you say no, it’s okay. I’ll ask Will for a few extra conspirators.”

I’d already asked Will for permission to steal his cousin for one last strike at terrorists with the end game goal of eliminating my parents once and for all. Not only had he offered Daphne, I would get to take two of her brothers and several of the family’s Eds.

Even Daphne’s Ed would be joining us. He would be our radio coordinator, and Daphne had spent the past few months training him.

In truth, with how my talent had developed and grown since the trip to California, I could go in and handle the whole affair alone with little risk to myself or the hostages. But safety in numbers applied, and Royals existed for a reason—and that reason was to safeguard those in our care.

The terrorists meant to destroy everything Pat and Jessica had built, and I refused to stand idle and watch that happen.

“All right. It has to be important if you’re luring us out of bed at this hour, likely to keep your woman from catching you. How is she doing?”

“She rather shyly pitched a wedding date last week, as I’ve been rather ruthless regarding any kneeling and begging I have to do,” I informed him, grinning at the memory. “She does not like the kneeling and the begging, for the record. In fact, if I never do the kneeling or begging thing ever again, she’d be happy with that. Apparently, she accepted the ring I offered strictly so she wouldn’t have to be subjected to such horrors ever again. I immediately agreed to the date she wanted, and I handed her the bank card and credit cards I had drawn in her name the instant we’d gotten back to New York. I told her to put any wedding expenses on it and suggested she use watercolor painting sets of her favorite brand as gifts for attendees along with the coloring books I like because I have no artistic talent but enjoy painting. So, I’m assuming I haven’t screwed everything up quite yet, as she ran from our suite with the cards, but I might not make it when she finds out what I’m up to.”

Jessica laughed. “What are you up to?”

“I want to borrow Eddie to go with us to take out a terrorist cell, one being headed by my parents. I have Terry and Daphne on board, and judging from the fact Olivia is in here and she hasn’t mimed me losing my head to her wrath, I think she’s on board.”

“I’m on board, and I’m going to be the coordinator on this side of the pond. I’ll be handling the RPS elements while they’re overseas.” Olivia came over to my desk, and she decided to occupy my lap. “I can’t see my feet anymore, and the first and last time I slipped off Terry’s desk, he banned me from sitting on desks.”

That explained why she’d opted to use my lap. The guest chairs had arms, her belly was already hitting the unmanageable stage of pregnancy, and while mine could have arms if I wanted them, I usually kept them in the upright position or removed them, which meant she had plenty of space. If she wanted to use me as a chair, I would accept my role without complaint.

One day, I hoped I’d be in the same shoes but with my wife instead of Terry’s.

Terry mouthed a thank you before he sat on my desk. “We have a plan, and it’s a stealth one. We know where they’re at, we have active tracking in place, and we have an opening. We know when they’re going to be leaving, and we can get there, strike, and get out. Eddie should be safe enough, but he’d be quite useful.”

“You want to cultivate him to hate terrorism,” Pat observed.

Terry sighed. “Yes, we do. I’m sorry. I know you want him to have limited exterior experience, but we already had the choice taken from us. He did not appreciate the airstrip incident, and he yearns to do more. It’s eating him alive. The terrorists have hostages, and we need to get them out. Eddie will shine under these circumstances. Ian and Daphne are all the offense we need, we’ll have a full crew from Montana with us, and I’ll be leading the operation. Ian will be the one responsible for dealing with the former New York monarchs. With his developing talent and ability to unleash his talent as he can, he’s the only one who can realistically take them out at the same time.”

“I’m so sorry, Ian,” Jessica said in a subdued tone.

“It’s not your fault, Jessica, but I won’t say no if you want to come to New York with Pat to feed the ridiculous number of pregnant women in this palace,” I replied, careful to keep my tone gentle. “Having a welcome home party, where we get to eat yams and chicken, would be much better than coming back to my sister having found out what we’re up to and ready to murder me. I need a strong Texan woman to save me from my sister, my fiancée, and my children.”

“Ah. Madelyn doesn’t know?”

“Madelyn doesn’t know. I’m hoping that while we’re going to our target, you will, perhaps, fib a little and suggest that I am running an errand with Eddie as a favor for you. In exchange, I am going to work with California to stress Eddie enough Deidre is finally forced to act. It seems our current stress plans are not stressful enough, and he needs a plethora of stressful things to crack his shell enough Deidre goes running straight his way.”

Jessica squealed and clapped her hands. “Now we’re talking business. If you can keep Eddie as safe as possible, you can take him.”

“Pat?”

“I promised I would not hold Eddie back because of my personal fears, and I mean to keep that promise. If you feel that he needs this, Terry, then you have my approval as well. I’ve been briefed on how dangerous this group is. Cutting the head off the serpent might not be enough.”

For the rest of my life, I would admire the man who had gone from nothing to a king, first changing Texas before going on to change the entire world. “It might not be enough, but without my parents being involved, the group will be easier to fragment and destroy. We’ve vetted the information they sent, and most of it is accurate—or was at the time of delivery. What I don’t know is how His Royal Majesty of Denmark coerced them into bringing Thunder over with the intel. But that intel is how we uncovered our target, the schedule, and who to track to bust their primary cell, which my parents are involved with. Daphne’s gone over it so many times she has zero doubt. She’s ready to roll.”

So was I, and I would not have any regrets. When I met my parents again, I would not hesitate.

If I didn’t strike first, they would—and their terrorist friends wanted to see the love of my life dead if my empathy talent failed to bond us until death did we part. Even the thought of losing Madelyn riled my talent, and as he always did, he stirred, waiting for his chance to protect the family we worked to build.

Day by day, Danielle and May bloomed, their fears easing every time we encouraged them to be children. Day by day, Madelyn relaxed into her role as the woman I loved and wanted to have and hold for the rest of our days.

The holding part of things would take time. The level of abuse she had suffered from didn’t heal overnight, and the fact she slept in my bed would suffice for me until she was ready for anything more.

“All right,” Pat replied. “Tell me how you plan on pulling Eddie’s chain.”

I grinned. “I’ve been forced into piloting school, and Eddie is going to have to deal with me flying the plane on the way home, where he will be tortured as he has been nominated to work as my instructor.”

Jessica’s laughter rang out. “He’s going to hate that. It’s going to stress him so much we won’t have to do anything actually dangerous. You’re going to have how many pilots in that plane?”

Terry joined the queen in laughing. “I’m brushed up on my flying certifications, two of the Eds on board are pilots, Daphne will be on board, and we’ll have Montana’s RPS piloting instructor with us—and Eddie doesn’t know he’s the piloting instructor for Montana. Once we return to New York, Ian will be undergoing a minor procedure to fix a spinal problem, which will inevitably cause a fever during recovery. Eddie will be in charge of keeping Ian from inappropriately wandering. We will be asking Madelyn to take the girls out on a museum tour when he is expected to be fevered.”

That part of the plan had cracked me up. In California, I’d wandered right to Madelyn and whined something fierce whenever anyone tried to separate us for the duration of my fever. She’d ended up joining me in my bed, as I would sleep without bothering anyone as long as she was close.

I’d captured her in my sleep a few times, and all I’d done involved snuggling and going back to sleep.

“I am of the opinion that cuddling with my future wife in bed is much better than wandering. But if Eddie has to deal with me wandering, he’s going to be so stressed out by the time he leaves New York that he’s going to be screaming into his pillow and driving Deidre absolutely wild.” I snickered over the whole situation. “How is the situation with Switzerland and Sweden?”

“Good. Their succession issues are dealt with, His Royal Highness, while he has some political fence mending to do, is being a doting and attentive father, so I swatted him with a newspaper when I had to deal with his family last month. Nobody complained. Yes, Deidre was present, and I even got a giggle out of her over it. Leo offered her an apology gift, which went over quite well.”

“Oh?” I hadn’t heard about any gifts.

“He gave her a pair of Icelandic horses, and they’re both masters of the tolt. The new princess? Her parents are horse breeders, and she picked the horses out herself. Deidre is incapable of being mad at the woman, so while she’s still upset with Leo, fences have been mended. She’s going to lose her old horses soon; they’re already beyond ancient, and we’ll be cutting their tails soon. A few more weeks, and that’ll be that. They’re comfortable now, but it won’t last. We’ve run out of tricks to keep them sound.”

I winced, and I foresaw myself shedding more than a few tears when Spartacus and Barbara Anne passed. “I’m honestly amazed they’re as old as they are. Spartacus has to be pushing forty now.”

“They’re both old. I am not saying their age, because when I say their age, I feel old,” Pat confessed. “I know you love both of those horses, so once you’re done with that nasty business, we’ll take you to Texas so you can say your goodbyes to them. That’ll be all the reason we need to come pay New York a visit. Olivia, do keep us in the loop on timing so we can keep everyone dancing to our tune. I’m sure we can make some business for little Rachel.”

“I question how she is not falling asleep every other minute while pregnant with twins,” Jessica complained. “When I was pregnant with twins? When I wasn’t throwing up, I was sleeping, usually on Pat.”

“Ethan is very disappointed that Rachel isn’t sleeping on his lap all the time,” I admitted. “He wants her to, but she just doesn’t. She’s a fountain of energy. She’s pissed she can’t see her ankles, though.” As Olivia needed as much attention as Terry did, I gave the woman a hug. “I think Olivia is sleeping enough for both of them.”

“I really am. Terry has this really comfy couch in his office, and he tricks me into sitting down for just five minutes. Three minutes later, I’m sound asleep. I even know it’s going to happen, but I can’t resist the couch. Then he went and bought the same couch for our house!”

“Your job is to rest and feed our baby girls,” the RPS agent replied in a solemn tone. “My job is to rub your feet, provide you with every snack your heart desires, and otherwise be your servant. I quite enjoy my job. Your brother may have agreed to visit New York so he can be your servant while I’m off on my trip.”

Olivia bounced to her feet and bailed from my office with admirable pep in her step.

I wanted even half of her energy. As it was, I’d crawled out of bed for the phone call, regretting leaving Madelyn alone. “For someone that far along, she really can move like she means it.”

Terry chuckled. “She’s going to go to my office to call her brother, but she’s going to spot the couch and sit down, as running that far in her current state is exhausting. At that point, she’ll pass out, not actually managing to call her brother. And if she does manage to call him, he’s awake, ready to start implementing the plan. I’ll leave her a note, tuck her in, and we’ll hit the road once we’re confirmed to go.”

“Deal with the terrorists,” Pat ordered. “And Ian? Hit first, hit hard, and regret nothing. Those assholes are not worth the air they breathe, and if you let them continue to work as they are, they will hurt you and everyone you love. If I could go along for the ride, I would. I’m already giving my RPS detail gray hairs, especially the young ones. Don’t you know I’m an old man, Ian?”

I could think of one thing that would drive his RPS agents wild. “Let me guess. You want to try the mud run.”

“I really do, and I’m feeling up for it. The operation has done me a world of good.”

I bet it had. “If you can talk Dr. Stanton into it, and you wait for us to get back, I don’t see why you can’t try the mud run. Just give them plenty of warning. They have different configurations based on health and physical fitness. I’m no longer allowed on the easy course anymore. I make the RPS agents cry because I beat most of them at it now.” I huffed over that, although the reason for the restriction amused me: Madelyn liked when I struggled on the course, and my mastery over the easy configuration barred her from her visual buffet. “I’m sure our ferrets would love to play with you. And our cats. And the horses.”

Sika and Tumen would be accompanying us on the venture into Cambodia. While smaller than Amisha and Endah, both leopards excelled at hunting, had comparable intellect to the tigers, and were excellent bodyguards, ready and willing to inflict massive bodily harm to guard those they held responsibility for.

If anyone was foolish enough to come near me while in Cambodia, leopard fangs and claws would likely be the last thing they ever saw.

Thus far, the pair had revealed and dismantled three incursions into the palace, all somehow associated with the new terrorism group, without any assistance from the RPS. Isla would also be in attendance, although she would stay with the plane.

Isla would rip out her feathers if separated from me for more than a single day. She could handle a day. Any longer, and she became stressed beyond what was healthy. As such, the bird would accompany us.

In a twist that surprised me more than everyone else, I only shared an empathic bond with Thunder despite needing to accommodate an absurd number of animals reliant on me to keep them happy.

According to Madelyn, the animals had better sense than most people. In her opinion, where I went, peace and tranquility followed, and it made sense for everyone in the palace to flock around me, pets included.

I did my best to keep from disappointing her.

Jessica made a thoughtful sound. “I’ll talk to Dr. Stanton. Just bring Eddie back to us safe and sound, all right?”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised. “What we’re doing is dangerous, but it’s important—for all of us, but especially him. He needs this as much as I do.”

“One day, that boy will learn,” Pat muttered. “He never had anything to prove, not to us.”

That I believed. “It’s not you, Pat. The real person he needs to prove his worth to is himself. And this is the one mission he’s going on just for him and no one else. He knows Deidre is on the list, and if he doesn’t stop them and something happens to her, he’ll never forgive himself. He’s also convinced you’ll never forgive him.”

That much I’d figured out by the time I’d headed back to New York from California.

“That boy,” Pat complained. “As always, thank you, Ian. I’ll distract your sister and concoct excuses for you to need Terry. If there’s anything I can do to help, please let me know.”

“Actually, yes. There is something you can do to help.”

“Oh?”

“I still need at least two Jutland mares. I have no Jutland mares, and I need them. Thunder is an immaculately behaved stallion, but he’s still a stallion, and we have an entire barn full of mares, and I can’t breed him with any of our mares.”

“Well, at least it’s a job I actually like. You’re just cranky you have to wait for Saoirse’s foals to make it into the world. Really, Ian, you did not need to keep every single embryo, and I really do not know how you got so damned lucky with the process. Why didn’t you stop at a sensible one or two?”

“I was told of the twelve, it was probable we might only get six. It’s not my fault that all twelve took on the first try. Twelve was the number I was told to aim for if I wanted six foals, and I wanted six foals. And you can’t pull a fast one on me, Pat. You’d take all twelve, too.”

“I’m not sure you’re ready to handle having twelve foals at the same time, boy. You’re going to be worse than any peacock, strutting around because you have twelve of your horse’s precious babies. And no, you cannot keep the mothers. I’m putting my foot down on that. If you keep the mothers, you’ll be filling your sister’s pastures with every horse you can get your hands on. As it is, you’re going to have to pick some to live at the farm outside of the city. I recommend that you send your studs off to the farm and keep the mares. Thunder is behaved enough to stay at the palace, but it’s a lot of work cultivating a great stallion.”

Saoirse’s line had dwindled enough that the three expected colts would be kept intact unless they had a behavioral problem that couldn’t be overcome with good training, patience, and care. “I still am not sure how his line got to be so valuable.”

“Misfortune,” Pat replied. “A barn fire killed most of his line. That you got twelve breedings done from a limited line grouping means there’s a solid chance for diversity later. And that you got mostly fillies is excellent. Anyway, I’ll worry about sourcing you some Jutlands. You eliminate those monsters and come back home so you can get on with the rest of your life.”

* * *

Cambodia sucked. Had I known we would need to hack our way through some of the densest jungles the kingdom had to offer, I would have paid off some mercenaries to give my parents a rather ignoble death. As it was, they would not be getting any glory or honor or fanfare from me. They’d be charred husks, and I would retrieve their ashes and quietly inter them in the palace mausoleum—assuming I could retrieve their ashes.

The murky water surrounding the terrorist group’s chosen campsite would make that rather difficult.

To add to the complexity, we’d stumbled upon a nest of rare crocodiles, and one of the babies insisted on following me around. Every time I stopped for even a minute, the little shit snuggled up with my boots.

Our escort, a Cambodian RPS agent, informed me that it was a sign I had been chosen to begin their path of enlightenment. Resistance would be futile: the demonic entity would be coming home with me, and the Cambodians would help me make the blasted critter a palace within the palace.

Fortunately for my sanity, Siamese crocodiles only grew to be roughly ten feet, did not typically view humans as snacks, and would be easy enough to feed. Depending on the gender of my little one, I would receive several more of the species in an attempt to help restore their numbers.

At six whole inches long, my little crocodile was rather stunted and unlikely to survive in the wild.

Rather than bitch and moan about the little shit, I leaned over and picked it up to spare it from exhausting itself further.

If it was desperate enough to chase me for half a mile through infested jungle, I was man enough to carry it despite understanding I welcomed yet another predator into my home.

At least Sika and Tumen didn’t seem to mind the journey, displaying a strong interest in swimming and doing an excellent job of deterring the larger crocodiles from bothering us.

I held the tiny monster up, looked it in the eyes, and said, “Your name is You Scaly Little Bastard, but we’re going to call you Smalls, because you’re ridiculously tiny right now.”

Terry snickered. “We should be in range of the camp now if you want to trot your talent out. Also, we’re going to do more empathy tests on you to try to figure out how your talent has mutated. I’m thinking you’re using generalized empathy with any species at this rate. You’re not bonding, but you’re definitely influencing just about anyone or anything to cross your path. Your talent seems to influence animals and birds more than people, but it might explain why you’re so strong at negotiations. People just like you, and they want to give you a good deal.”

Rather than bite me, Smalls rubbed its nose against mine. “Is Smalls a girl or a boy?” I asked our guide.

“I am guessing female, but we will have to wait a while to do a proper examination or inquire with a physician with the appropriate mending talent,” he replied. “However, I think you may have a female due to her slender build and small size. Females are smaller, and this one is… rather diminutive… for a Siamese.”

“That’s a polite way of saying she’s the runt of the litter.” I laughed, and because she could fit in my breast pocket, I put her in to see what she would do.

Much like Pink Lady, she made herself comfortable and poked her head out for a better view of the world around her.

“Please stop charming endangered species,” Terry requested. “The paperwork to bring her back to New York is going to be painful. We’re all going to be crying by the time we’re done with the paperwork.”

“We can assist with such matters. It is not as though he is attempting to poach her. He has been chosen, and we respect her choice.”

Eddie shook his head, sighed, and reached down, snatching a snake by the back of its head and lifting it up. “Please tell me this one isn’t venomous.”

“That is a mangrove snake, a rather nice specimen, quite young. It is mildly venomous unless you take numerous bites, and much like Smalls, it is a recent hatch. You may keep it if you wish. You will require a reptile expert to care for it, but they are rewarding. Of course, your expert will not like me for suggesting you take it home with you. They have… opinions.”

I snickered at the thought of Eddie taking home a snake with opinions. “Reminder: your dad still has Mr. Wiggles, who absolutely refuses to expire from old age. Adding a more challenging snake to the menagerie won’t be an issue. Your dad loves visiting Mr. Wiggles when he doesn’t think anyone is looking.”

“Mr. Wiggles is now ten feet long, he’s the longest known bullsnake in the world, and has learned humans are his servants. We do not need another Mr. Wiggles.” Eddie eyed the snake in his hand. “But this one is pretty, and it would make a good reminder of why I can’t be left unattended.”

I laughed. “Terry, can you make a house for the snake?”

“I can,” the RPS agent confirmed, and a moment later, he had fashioned a metal bowl with a solid bottom and a fine mesh around the sides and a clasping lid. After dipping the bowl into the water, he opened the catch so Eddie could release his new pet inside. “I’m going to insist we transport this snake to the Royal States on a separate trip. A crocodile I can handle, but there will be no snakes on our plane.”

“I approve of this restriction. Sorry, Miss Meany,” I told the snake.

Our Cambodian guide claimed Miss Meany from Terry and Eddie. “I will make the arrangements. Please note that someone’s overactive empathy talent is making this possible. Gold-ringed cat snakes, like this beauty, are notoriously shy, aggressive, and yes, quite mean. That this one is out in daylight hours indicates something woke it and scared it from its tree. No matter. As you were not bitten or attacked, you were chosen, Eddie.”

“Your turn,” I taunted. “How far are we from the camp?”

“We are no more than half a mile, and their patrol distance is a quarter mile. There is a waterfall near their camp, which will bar them from detecting us by sound. They only emerge from their sanctuary for supplies and missions, and they have just returned from gathering hostages. At last count, they have a mix of elite and royalty, all from Asia, numbering fifteen in total. The youngest appears to be seven, and the eldest is a teenager. They are not yet going for adults, but that will begin soon enough. The camp has a total of seventy-two bodies, your parents included. In case it matters, the terrorists are all adults, all over the age of thirty. If your talent can distinguish by age, that will make your job simplistic.”

I had no idea how my talent worked, but thus far, he had better sense than I did most days of the week. “I reviewed the dossiers of the terrorism group, so we should be all right there.” I eyed Daphne, who regarded the jungle with open disgust on her face. “Are you going to cry when I steal all the kills again?”

“Yes.” She heaved a pained sigh, the kind I recognized as her faking it. “I’m still trying to figure out what sort of sorcery you performed to allow them to allow us to do this. We have the heirs of two kingdoms here, a Montana prince, the adopted son of a king, and a bunch of other people these terrorists would love to get their hands on. How did you pull this off?”

I stared at her. “Daphne, Edward is fine. He’s with the plane, and the plane is loaded with cranky RPS agents who lost the draw to wade through the jungle with us. I have a crocodile in my pocket, Eddie was stalked by a venomous snake better known for hating humanity, and I have two leopards who are going to learn the mud pit is actually fun because we won’t be taking them back to the jungle to play.”

Both cats regarded me with their equivalent of sad eyes.

I sighed. “We’ll take you to some streams and rivers at home so you can play with the girls, but we are not wading through snake and crocodile infested waters for fun. If we must, we will, but we will not be doing it for fun.”

The leopards went back to their guarding duties, and both turned their ears back at my edict.

Damned cats.

“Just start doing your magic, Ian. I want to get back to the plane before the wildlife decides it hates us.”

I chuckled at Daphne’s tone, which indicated she was at the end of her chain and regretted the excursion into the jungle. “You like deserts more, don’t you?”

“I really do.”

“All right. Let’s get this show on the road. Hopefully, there won’t be any cleanup left to do once I’m done, but be ready.” Trusting my talent after a lifetime of strict control had taken a great deal of getting used to, but I’d gotten better at releasing my hold on my magic while still giving sufficient direction to prevent any serious problems from surfacing. One issue, although I viewed it as minor, was that a few of my motes tended to seek out Madelyn and the girls, on guard until I finished making use of my magic. My talent typically manifested as a cat for Danielle, a songbird for May, and a horse for Madelyn when motes of fire and light were insufficient protection.

If the motes showed up in the Royal States, I’d have a lot of explaining to do, and I would likely be forced to sleep on a couch for at least a week.

Madelyn believed I was off doing Pat a favor, and that meant a low chance of talent usage. Once home, I’d confess my sins and accept any punishment she might issue with grace.

Maybe she’d show some mercy once she found out what we were about. Maybe.

The motes formed and zipped off, dim enough to resemble sunlight spilling through the canopy overhead if glimpsed out of the corner of the eye. Then, as I hadn’t yet mastered the art of perceiving what was around the tiny conjurations, I waited.

Should the motes have need to take on lethal forms, I would know it, and they wouldn’t, not unless they found a target to eliminate. A split second would separate the surge of magic from the death of my victim.

We waited.

Nothing happened.

I frowned, narrowing my eyes as I considered the options. Had the camp been emptied? Had our quarry fled? Had something blocked my talent from progressing?

It didn’t take long for my flames to travel a mere half a mile.

A single tug indicated my talent had found something productive to do, although insufficient to actually kill anyone. The sense reminded me of when my talent sought to comfort one of my children, summoning me to handle the matter further. As I doubted my own talent would lead me into a trap, I shrugged and said, “Looks like it’s time to go investigate.”

“Already?” Terry asked, and he frowned. “Your talent likes toying with some of its prey, Ian.”

“Yeah, there’s something up, and I’m not sure what. But if there were any threats, my talent saw no need to deal with them. There was one tug.”

Terry glanced at our guide. “How long ago did we get the latest intel from the camp?”

“We left the position an hour before our group left so we wouldn’t run risk of exposure.” Our guide frowned. “Everything was normal.”

“Ready for some fun, Daphne?”

“I was born ready. Let’s go see what’s going on, shall we?”

With a little luck, the terrorists had gone off to do something, leaving us to snatch the hostages, grab intel, and bail. In the worst-case scenario, we’d have a firefight, one I meant to win with ruthless efficiency. In either case, if I had my way, we’d be the undisputed victors and on our way home sooner than later.