Eorla smiled. “The Guild wouldn’t let Rand have clearance. Believe me. I tried.”
I leaned forward. “Eorla, can you lock down this room? No one in, no one out?”
With an intrigued look, she muttered under her breath. Essence swirled across the doors and windows. “Well?” she asked.
I looked up at Rand. “Who are you working for?”
He didn’t take it as an accusation, although this time I made it sound like one. “Her Majesty,” he said.
“Were you in the subbasement level of the Guildhouse where the research labs are?” I asked.
Rand clenched his jaw. “Your Majesty, I take issue with what is apparently an interrogation.”
Eorla tilted her head. “What is wrong, Connor?”
“I think Rand is a Guild spy,” I said.
No one said a word. Eorla looked down at her desktop while Rand looked at her. “Why do you believe he was in that subbasement?” she asked.
“Because I was there and his essence is there. It was as recent as the day the Guildhouse collapsed,” I said.
“Did it occur to you that he might have been doing something on my orders?” Eorla asked.
Rand relaxed when she said that. That was enough for me to know I was right. “Of course, it did. And if he was, his lying to me right now would make perfect sense. What I can’t dismiss, though, is how he used a druid spell tonight to bind Kevin Murdock.”
“I am adept at many modes of essence ability, Mr. Grey,” Rand said.
“I buy that. I’m sure most people would. But part of the issue with what’s going on in my head is that I am highly sensitive to essence, more than anyone I know. You killed Gerry with elf-shot, but it was laced with druid essence. The binding spell had more of it.”
I tensed, ready to react to whatever happened next. If Rand was going to make a break for it, that would be the time. Instead, he remained relaxed but alert. “With all due respect, Mr. Grey, I believe it has been well established that your faculties are impaired. You are mistaken.”
“And you happened to be in the Tangle tonight for something a midlevel agent could have handled,” I said.
The tension in the room hummed. I focused my attention on Rand, but I wanted to know what Eorla was thinking. “Connor, I cannot have you undermining Rand, especially after what happened tonight. We need unity.”
I jerked my head toward her. “None of this bothers you?”
She licked her lips and glanced up at Rand. “I am aware of Rand’s, shall we say, conflict of interest.”
Rand reacted predictably. “Your Majesty, I have ever been….”
Eorla held her hand up and a sending fluttered through the air. “Let’s not dance any longer. There are larger issues involved. Connor has seen through your subterfuge. Now I am concerned that he might not be the only one who has noticed these things.”
A sending fluttered from Eorla, then a soft knock sounded from the door behind her desk. The door opened, and I jumped to my feet. Standing in the doorway was an elven warrior, the exact image of Rand. Eorla cocked her head toward him. “Gentlemen, allow me to introduce my first officer and confidante. Rand, this is Connor Grey and”—she smiled at the man in front of her desk—“your name, sir?”
I looked from one man to the other. The one in the red uniform whom I had known as Rand looked exactly like the man in a plain green house uniform standing behind Eorla.
“How long have you known, ma’am?” the imposter asked.
“Rand escaped from his cell when the Guildhouse was destroyed, but I have known your deception from the beginning,” Eorla said. “The Elven King himself could not create a glamour to deceive me.
The imposter glanced at Rand. “I will reveal myself in private.”
Eorla sat for a long moment. “Please excuse us, Rand.”
He bowed and closed the door. The imposter bowed his head in thought. Essence shimmered over him, twisting and smearing his image. The tight elven hair loosened into a head of curls as the ears shrank and rounded. His skin lightened, and a subtle shift in height—still tall, but a more slender build. The essence fell away from his face, and I started laughing.
“Surprised to see me, Con?” he asked.
“Danu’s blood, Dylan, I can’t believe I blew your cover,” I said.
32
Seeing my old partner Dylan macBain dressed as an elven officer was strange. Stranger still was realizing he had been undercover for months, and I had no idea. Dylan and I stood alone on the roof of the hotel. When we reached the open air, he dropped the Rand glamour. The muffled sound of protesters echoed through the financial district.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.
True regret showed on his face. “It’s complicated.”
I leaned on the parapet, staring out over the harbor. The entire inner harbor was now cordoned off by the mist, the essence barrier rising from the sea like a wall of fog. “Uncomplicate it.”
“I don’t know if I can. There was concern you would expose me,” he said.
“Whose concern? MacGoren’s?”
He pressed his lips together, glancing down. “I don’t work for macGoren.”
I faced him. “Maeve? You’re working for her?”
He inhaled deeply and rubbed his face. “We’re not going to play a guessing game. I’m not going to tell you.”
Anger burned in my chest. Dylan and I had been Guild partners. Beyond that, we had been more than friends. “Did you kill those undercover agents?”
“No,” he said. He wasn’t upset. He knew it was a fair question under the circumstances.
“If you don’t work for Maeve, who do you work for?” I said.
He nodded. “An explanation wouldn’t help. Suffice it to say this was the highest-placed agent we’ve ever accomplished, Connor. You have to appreciate the delicacy of my position.”
“I would if I understood the purpose,” I said.
It was his turn to be angry. “That’s just it, Con. You don’t have to understand.”
“You killed my friend’s brother, Dylan. I think that entitles me to something. You’re not the one who has to face Leo,” I said.
“What I said before stands true. Gerry made his decision. You would have done the same thing in my position,” he said.
I would have. If Dylan were being attacked, I would have done the same thing. I did do it. I killed fourteen people when I thought he had been killed. “You don’t seem remorseful,” I said.
“I’ll deal with it in my own time. I’m not like you,” he said.
“Damn right you’re not,” I muttered.
I didn’t know what to make of him. We had been so close, and now this wall was between us. Maybe it was inevitable. Dylan had remained the good Guildsman. I had gone my own way. Maybe two people can’t always be what they once were to each other. I grunted in amusement. Maybe that wasn’t always such a bad thing.
“What’s so funny?” Dylan asked.
“Meryl and I used to hate each other. It’s funny how things change,” I said.
“The Wheel of the World turns as It will. Sometimes that’s good,” he said.
Sometimes it wasn’t. Sometimes life put you in a corner and dared you to come out. Briallen taught me that I had to change to meet new challenges and accept it when I couldn’t. Nigel taught me that I didn’t have to accept anything I didn’t want to and that I could push life in the direction I wanted. Somehow, they were both right and both wrong.
From the top of the hotel, I could see destroyed buildings. I could imagine the destroyed lives. I had helped
