“I will write to Faroro with orders to keep looking for a sign of him.”
“But...”
I stopped his protest with a raised hand. I completely understood the firestorm of fear that raged behind his golden eyes. I had gone through it when Selwyn went missing for a month, back when he was still on active duty. Prayerful waiting was the only action available while your soul screamed to be doing something. Unfortunately, Renato didn’t have the Almighty’s promises to carry him through.
“I know that you want to do more, but there is nothing else we can do. If we go running in there, we would only be repeating the actions of the last confrontation with Elitists and ruin all of Blan’s efforts. Inserting another operative this soon would be risky and foolish. Now that their suspicions are aroused, they are going to trust no one. I am not going to risk another man’s life. Blan gave us enough to formulate a plan. Now, we just need to use what he has given us.”
My assistant nodded without meeting my gaze.
“Renato.” I waited until he raised his head and looked into my eyes. “We will find him. I promise that I will not rest until we do.”
“I know,” he replied, “But I cannot help fearing the worst.”
I nodded. “Do you have correspondence to finish?”
“Yes.”
“Staying busy helps. If you need to talk, you know that I am always available.” I didn’t really expect him to accept the offer, but I felt compelled to give it. Sometimes things assumed on one side of a relationship are not as obvious from the other side. I needed to let Renato know that I cared.
“Did Selwyn ever go missing when he was on active duty as a defender?”
I grimaced. “More times than I can count, but it never grows easier.”
“If he survives this, I am hoping there is never a next time.”
“Don’t count on it. Selwyn didn’t quit until it was too dangerous to the Sept Son for him to continue.”
Renato nodded slowly in understanding. I didn’t know Blandone well enough to know if this was true of him also or not, but I guessed it was.
“I will go back to work.” Renato saluted and left. I vaguely caught his exchanged greetings with Lorne as he exited. My attention was already on the packet before me. I unfolded the waxed covering and removed the contents. “I will be right with you, Lorne,” I said without looking up. “I have news that I want to check.”
The only answer was a sharp sting in my forearm. Reflexively my fingers found the cold metal tail of a stracken dart buried in my left arm.
Help me. Lorne’s desperate sending flooded my thoughts; fear, grief, and helplessness crashed over me in a wave. Please help me. I looked up to find his stricken, black eyes regarding me over the barrel of a stracken gisto, a tool we used to subdue rebellious talents who no longer abided by the rule of the code. Rare stracken berry extract when ingested or injected into a talent’s system affected the mind’s ability to connect to the amoveo and hindered sending ability. I had moments to react before I was helpless with only my physical skills before him, a paltry defense against a trained talent no matter how weak.
Summoning every fiber of my thought strength, I sent out a mental shout like I hadn’t sent since childhood.
“I can’t control my hands.” He flung the gitso aside and with my weakening senses I felt him gathering his energy around him.
Yanking the dart from its resting place in my skin, I glanced to find the tell-tale traces of green among the red of my blood on its tip. Only half of the serum was in my system. It might not be enough, but then it might. Lorne lifted the heavy oak table that stood in the center of the room. He lifted it over his head and prepared to throw it at me. Gathering my own fading energy, I forced my mind to touch my amoveo through the cottony fog. The brown glow responded sluggishly. I flung the dart back at him with as much force as I could summon. It didn’t strike where I aimed, his neck, but much lower and to the left in his chest. I was simply content that it hit him.
Lorne hurled the table. I dove under the cover of my desk, cracking my shoulder on its edge on my way down and landing heavily on my left knee.
Blackness cloaked my energy-sight, rendering me blind to the world around me in a way that I hadn’t experienced in years. I was suddenly aware of how dependent I was on that extra clarity to interpret my surroundings beyond my limited vision capabilities. Without it, I had no idea what Lorne was doing as the massive table collided with the desk and drove it and me across the tile floor. The heavy wood sides of the desk connected with the plaster wall with a heavy thump. Dust clogged the small dark place where I had sought refuge. I struggled to breath. I thanked the Almighty that I had chosen such a sturdy piece of furniture for my office.
Help me. All-consuming pain came with Lorne’s sending.
I couldn’t see him and I could barely hear his sending through the darkness shrouding me. Then everything blanked completely and I was alone with the throbbing in my shoulder. A weak beam of light filtered in from a gap between the desk edge and the wall, but it did little to clarify what was happening beyond my cramped hiding place. Then the door to my office opened with a crash.
“Hadrian?” Renato’s terror-stricken voice cut through barrier of wood pressing down on my head. If he sent a mental query as well, I had no way of knowing.
“Here.”
“Where is he?” a new voice demanded. It took me a moment to recognize the voice of Plantonio, the defender that guarded my door.
“It sounds like
