Veil of Justice, Shadows of Justice Book 3 (23 page)

But Petra, like Jaden before her, knew it was
never that easy.

* * *

Nathan watched Cali try to come to terms with
Daniel's latest revelation. She was sitting there with her mouth
hanging open, looking way too cute for the seriousness of the
topic. He had to get his mind snapped into full battle mode, rather
than this dopey, lovesick place he'd lounged in since she first
kissed him.

"Outside?" Cali managed at last. "Oh, tell me
you hacked, snooped, or something."

"Well, yeah. And –"

"Wait," Nathan held up a hand. "What's
'outside the system' mean?"

"We're supposed to find our spouses within
the Guardian network," she explained. "It's easier to keep secrets
that way. But Darius couldn't have – he wouldn't have jeopardized
the caves."

He slid into her head as easily as his palm
slid over her shoulders, to soothe and steady her. She was a wreck
inside, her mind spinning with information and theories. He helped
her concentrate on what Daniel was saying.

"No, not on purpose. I think she was a spy
for someone – something – else. I saw a hologram of them once. She
didn't look quite right."

Nathan followed the kid's logic, right up to
the 'something' else part. "How does not quite right look?"

"She was pretty enough, but there was
something cold about her face. And the way her hand was holding his
looked awkward." Daniel moved back toward the kitchen. "I can
probably find the hologram again."

"Go for it," Nathan said.

"We have to find out who ordered Kristoff to
make that strike," Cali muttered to herself. "The Monument Valley
slaughter cannot be repeated."

"You kept these secrets in Monument
Valley?"

Cali looked up at him, blinked a couple times
and then came back to the moment. "Yes. It was quiet. Not much
threat of civilization creeping in."

"But what about everything else?"

She waved off the litany of concerns running
through his mind. "Does either of us seem uneducated?" He shook his
head and she pressed a kiss to his cheek. "I promise to tell you
everything later."

Daniel cleared his throat, but they ignored
him.

"Wait," Cali said, reaching out to him.
"That's how they found us." She moved to stand cheek to cheek with
Daniel. "We're rather distinct. And Daniel's a carbon copy of my
brother."

He couldn't disagree about the family
resemblance. Deep olive skin, dark eyes, and thick jet hair, all
supported by that outstanding bone structure.

"That means whoever has been searching is
very resourceful."

"And powerful," Daniel added, leaning back
and staring up at the ceiling.

"If Kristoff had protection with his
soldiers, then sex is likely the only other draw," Nathan offered.
"Kristoff messed with my DNA and Petra's too, and we've always had
an affinity for the City of Petra."

"You're even related to the man credited with
it's revelation to the rest of the world."

"Yes." He nodded slowly, thinking.

"Which makes Nin-Hur-Sag the likely culprit,"
Daniel said in the general direction of the cabin's beamed
ceiling.

"Who?"

"Sorry. We covered this in my religion class
last semester. Adam's first wife, Lilith."

Cali bristled, but Daniel ignored her,
barreling on. "You're missing the point and before you go yanking
me out of a school I love, listen." He boosted himself onto the
counter. "She's an evil goddess now, sort of like a vampire, and
she's really nasty, with some super disgusting habits like drinking
blood and snacking on brains. That doesn't make you smarter by the
way. It just makes you crazy."

He'd never heard of the legend, but he hated
the idea that a horrible power-tripping beast had torn apart their
family.

"Worse than all of that, she tempts men young
and old when she puts on some sort of glamour spell."

Cali just sat there, looking stunned and more
than a little lost.

"So," Nathan said, breaking the silence. "You
think this Nin-shur-hag –"

"Nin-Hur-Sag." Daniel corrected. "Nin, for
short."

"You think Nin tempted Kristoff into making a
deal for the map box."

Daniel was bobbing his head, clearly warming
to his theory. "It makes sense. She was revered centuries ago, but
now she's not much more than a footnote in obscure texts. And she
had a pretty steady source of food and power when Petra was
populated."

"I need air," Nathan said, practically
jumping up. "I need more air."

Daniel watched Aunt Cali take off after
Nathan.

He waited a few moments, in case they came
right back. When they didn't he hopped off the counter and bolted
to the computer set up and started searching. A new message from
Nathan's sister Petra arrived, and his blood ran cold.

Kristoff wanted Aunt Cali to go back home.
They had two days or he'd set his troops loose on Chicago.

Thinking quickly, Daniel did a fast search
and then sent a reply. Aunt Cali's system was pretty rudimentary so
he didn't have to worry about voice recognition or anything. He
added a series of links on the goddess and legends and made some
suggestions about how to protect Aunt Cali.

He was determined to do anything necessary to
prove he should be included on this trip. Not just as a protected
observer, but as an active participant.

They'd killed every man he'd ever admired or
aspired to emulate. He wasn't going to sit back and watch while
someone else dealt out the revenge that burned through his
veins.

* * *

Nathan heard Cali chasing him, mentally and
physically. He could sense her distress and concern – an echo of
his own – and she wasn't making any effort to move silently through
the woods.

"
Just give me a minute
." The woods
went quiet behind him. Grateful for her respect, he walked on
toward the creek. The happy gurgle of water eased the vise around
his chest. He didn't want to think his whole life had been a lie
for the amusement and use of others. He understood parents wanting
children and on a logical level, he'd accepted Kristoff's terrible
breach of that trust.

But the rest of it…Had Kristoff been
manipulating him from the cradle? Nudging him one way or the other
to bring Nathan to this point – this place where he could use
Nathan's skills for his personal profit and security.

"Fresh air and sunshine."

He turned to Cali, surprised that she got so
close, so fast. Gazing down into her face he felt more questions
bubbling to the surface. Questions that might never have answers.
He turned back to the creek, hoping for some relief in the steady
flow of the water.

She'd grown up in a world apart from his and
he hadn't figured out who had the advantage. He wasn't sure it
really mattered. They were both locked into a battle neither could
have foreseen. He struggled against a pressure in his mind as
suffocating as the solitary confinement. Had their own choices
brought them here or was life one big puppet show run by bastards
like Kristoff and his hag goddess.

"How have you coped all this time?" he asked,
still scared to look at her.

She laughed, but it didn't sound happy to his
ears. "You've kept my mind off all of it."

Probably too true
. He felt a horrible
guilt. "You should've left me." Thankfully, she didn't touch him,
didn't try to interrupt. "You had a more important job. Someone
else would've found me and hauled me out of there."

"Bull. We're friends. You called me. I
answered. That's all there is to it."

He turned his back on the creek and stared
into her face, taking a full inventory, branding it on his mind.
He'd never get over her dark, almond eyes and high cheekbones. In
this light, surrounded by nature, her ears should've been pointed
like an elf or dark fairy. Her mouth was a delectable summons. If
it were only the two of them, what could they be?

"Don't look at me like that."

He grabbed her close and pressed his mouth to
hers. It was warm, right and it took all he had to stop. "You
should've left me," he insisted, setting her away from him once
more.

"Are you saying you want out of our original
deal?"

"No!" She sounded so damn tough, not even a
trickle of fear. "God, no." He risked another glance at her eyes
and the soldier in him recognized a warrior fully in tune with a
cause. At that moment, he would've sworn he saw the knowledge of
the ages swimming her eyes.

He rubbed at the back of his neck, but it
didn't help. "Kristoff worked me over in that prison. He came for
me when he thought I was weak enough." He set a finger over her
lips when she would've interrupted. "He knew we were on to him even
then."

"Maybe he just knew about you."

He didn't like where the facts were leading
him. Isn't that why he was standing outside in the woods? He was
running from reality. "Our mission was breached," he insisted.

"Or that."

"What are you getting at?" he asked, wanting
to stay in denial. "You think Kristoff planned all this when he
tweaked my DNA?"

She nodded, shoving her hands into her
pockets. "Maybe not to the minute detail, but he's had hopes for
your whole life. Hopes became plans when your telekinesis
manifested."

"You're so sure he has resources beyond our
scope." He looked away, not caring about her agreement, not wanting
to see her disapproval of him in her eyes. "Petra and I used to
play, mentally, in the Rose Red City. Was that real, or him? Even
Petra's name…was that his idea or Mom's?"

"Your parents have a family ties to the
ancient city. They have reason to admire both the city and the
explorers. They could hardly have named her Johann or Ludwig.
Though JoAnne might've been nice."

He sank to his knees by the creek. Reaching
into the water he let it cool his hands, then he splashed his face
and pushed his heavy hair back. His headache eased a bit.

"If Petra's right and Kristoff's in my head,
why hasn't he launched an attack on us here? We're practically
indefensible."

She was silent a long time. "Kristoff has put
you through too much already." Her fingers played in his hair, then
down over his shoulders. "Stay here and get well. This is a fight
for Daniel and me."

"I'm well enough," he argued. "And you can't
do it alone."

"Apparently you're actually free of him and
safe here. Let this be my fight."

She stormed away and he thought it would be
redundant to trip her again. "Come back," he called, feeling
blessed when she actually hesitated. "Please?"

He laid back and waited, then found himself
smiling as she came into his field of vision, the sun a soft halo
around her head. "My dad always told me if things didn't make sense
to change the angle."

"You're the only one not making sense."

He tapped his temple. "Petra's making battle
plans."

"I stand corrected." She glowered down at
him. "You're both out of your minds."

"You saw that army." He rolled to his side,
propping his head on his hand, studying her boots. "You and Daniel
need help."

"We lure him to Monument Valley and make a
stand. We know the area better than any warped goddess or
god-complexed doctor."

"The two of you against how many? Gideon can
raise numbers to match those we'll…" He cleared his throat and
forced the words out. "Those we'll be fighting."

His view of her boots changed as she slumped
down beside him. He stared into her dark eyes and beautiful face.
He wished he could smile again.

She reached out and he closed his eyes,
savoring the soft caress of her fingers across his brow. "You fear
meeting your friends in that battle."

He hadn't meant to telegraph it.

"You didn't have to think anything, it's all
over your face. And it's common sense. You went undercover to save
them."

He shook his head, shook off her touch. "I
went undercover to prevent more from disappearing. Those you saw
under his control are lost forever."

She murmured her assent. "Even then you knew
the others were beyond saving."

He wanted to argue, but she was right. He
rolled, staring into the sky again. "I'll have to detach." He was
prepared to explain, but she kicked his boot. "What?"

"I don't think I like the sound of that."

"It's not forever." Unless one of them died.
But if one of them died while they were so intricately connected
the results would be disastrous for the survivor. He might have to
let her fight, but he wouldn't risk her life or her sanity that
way. "It might even be easy, considering how you can shut me out at
will."

He brought the fallen leaves to life, dancing
them about her feet, then swirling them up into the air. It was
confetti in reverse, the perfect accompaniment and distraction.
Already her eyes were softer and her lips were tilting into a
smile.

"
How do you shut me out, Cali
?"

"
Never easily. Not happily
."

"
Good to know
." When he didn't get any
reaction, her soft smile didn't waver and her eyes stayed trained
on the spinning leaves, he realized she'd done it again. "Never
easily, my ass," he said aloud. "How do you do it?"

She turned her face to his, and her body
followed. "There are techniques I've learned from my elders."

"Show me."

"No."

"We're closer than any two people can be,
Cali. I know you feel it." He traced her bittersweet smile with his
fingertips.

"Thank you, Nathan, for everything."

It was no simple gratitude and he knew it by
the way she wouldn't meet his gaze. "Last night was –"

"Not that. Although." Suddenly shy, she
looked up at the swirling leaves. "That was amazing. But I mean
thanks for…saving me from myself."