Page 34 of Curse of Ancients

Julian did as she asked, and the television on the wall across from the desk came to life. Everyone crowded into the office to watch.

Carleigh explained who everyone on the screen was for Bayu’s benefit. Dominic dressed like a pirate, and Nekoma looked like someone dressed for a renaissance festival. He and Lilly approached the woman who was tied to a chair. Dominic removed the gag, and Lilly asked, “Who are you?” The woman glared without answering.

“Dammit, I wish we had thought to include a Hound with Dom’s crew, then they could voice the woman,” Carleigh said.

“I can go if you need me to,” Major offered.

“Let’s see what they get out of her first.”

Lilly shook her arm, and the bracelet became a wand. “What is your name?”

The woman squirmed in her seat. “Sondra.”

“Why are you here?”

When Sondra refused to answer, Nekoma produced two purple fireballs, bouncing them in his hands. Sondra’s eyes widened. “We are looking for the tiger.”

“Why? You’ve already killed his father. Wasn’t that enough?”

“He turned to dust before we could—” Sondra gagged.

“Before you could?” Lilly prompted. Sondra shook her head, and Lilly asked, “Are there more of the Black Lotus in this area?”

Sondra shook her head again, and Nekoma grabbed onto her neck from behind, staring into the middle distance. Sondra squirmed but remained quiet. Nekoma released her. “There is a barrier of some sort in her mind that prevents her from speaking about the cult or her task. You will get nothing useful out of her.”

“What do we do with her?” Dominic asked.

Lilly replaced the gag in Sondra’s mouth and pressed her wand to Sondra’s forehead, chanting a spell that bound Sondra’s powers. “We stand guard so no one can come for her. I’ll contact Tabitha so she can have Major have a Hound come and voice the female. If they can’t get information from her, they can at least ensure she leaves the cult.”

Carleigh lowered the volume on the monitor. “We need to get eyes on the compound.” Turning to Tabitha and Major, she asked, “Are any of the Steele Security guys available? If not, we need to round up some of our Goyles.”

Tabitha pulled her phone from the back pocket of her shorts. After tapping the screen a few times, she said, “Warren and Barrett will both be free tomorrow. We can send them to the compound with some drones.”

“I can drive over to the safehouse. We really need to get another Hound on the payroll,” Major added.

While Bayu was thrilled to have a Clan at his back, he also hated everything about the whole mess. It was his mess, yet there was nothing he could do to help. Some blessed beast he was. The little patter of quick feet met his ears, and he turned just as Juni ran through the office door.

“Carwee! Me go fwim?”

Carleigh dropped to her knees. “Do you know how to swim?”

“Uh huh.” Juni nodded fiercely. Bayu wondered if he was telling the truth.

Carleigh looked up at Bayu. “Do you want to take him?”

“I feel like I should stay in here and help Julian. This is my mess, after all.”

“Nonsense, Son. You are one of us, and we all play a part. For now, there’s nothing you can do until I find a way to contact the names on the list. Go play with Juni. I’m going to call Sebastian and loop him in on what we’ve learned so far.”

“Wet’s go, bruvver!” Juni jumped up and down.

Carleigh stood and ruffled Juni’s hair. “I think I saw a swimsuit among his clothes.”

Bayu placed a hand on Juni’s head. “Let’s go look in your bedroom.” Juni took off running, and Bayu followed sedately behind the cub, leaving everyone else to work out how to deal with the Black Lotus. When he got to Juni’s room, he was already looking in the dresser, pulling clothes out, and tossing them about. “Whoa. Hang on a second.” Bayu found a little pair of blue swim shorts that had all different colors of fish on them. “Here they are.” Juni pushed his shorts down his legs, leaving his underwear on. He pulled the swim shorts on while Bayu refolded the scattered clothes and put them back in the drawer.

Bayu didn’t have his own swimsuit, so he would have to go in regular shorts. “I need to find some shorts. Do you want to come with me or wait downstairs with Kat?”

“I go wiv Kat.”