"I have this," he drew out a wide, loosely woven black cloth. "I'll tie it around your eyes when you kneel down after the change. You can see through this and it'll protect your eyes while we travel."
"You've thought of everything," I muttered sarcastically.
"That's how I stay alive," Teeg countered. "Take off your clothes, Reah. Let's get started."
Undressing in subfreezing temperatures was certainly topping my list of things I never wanted to do again. I think my skin was blue in the time it took to remove my top and pants and I was moving as quickly as I could. "Hurry, baby," Teeg urged. He didn't need to, I was already hurrying as fast as possible. I had to step outside the cave to turn, otherwise I would have destroyed it when the change came. At least the cold no longer hurt me when I changed, rising to eighteen hands tall in the bright morning sunlight upon a snow covered mountain.
"Kneel down!" Teeg was shouting as I attempted to shade my eyes against the glare. I realized eventually that he was shouting at me—the wind was telling me things as I listened to it. I had to huddle in melting snow while Teeg tied the blindfold around my eyes. It was just as he'd said—I could see through the loose weave of the cloth and it did make the brightness bearable. Lifting Teeg afterward, we strode down the mountain as snow sizzled and melted around each step I took.
"Hurry, baby." I was shivering again while trying to dress damp skin in tight leather. It wasn't going very well. We stood on what looked to be a back porch area behind the compound—a concrete deck with a short concrete wall around it and a low, overhanging ceiling. I'd had to stop outside it and turn, forcing Teeg to haul me over a snow bank and onto the concrete floor. Teeg had to help dress me; my fingers were freezing after five ticks.
Our target didn't expect an attack from this side of the house, and certainly not in the form it came. Who knew if they even suspected High Demons were real? Jes had thought they were myth. He'd asked me many questions while he'd worked at getting my strength and agility back. Some I'd answered, some I hadn't.
Teeg had an electronic card in his pocket. All he had to do was swipe it around the locked door leading onto the concrete patio and there was a beep before the door opened for us. I knew to be quiet as we walked inside—Teeg held a ranos pistol in his hand as we cautiously made our way through a storage room. He walked ahead of me—barely—as we made our way through the entire compound, room by room, building by building. The compound consisted of a five-sided collection of buildings with a central roof covering all of it. The roof was constructed of reinforced steel and built to withstand the snow that might fall upon it. A slow-melter worked to keep the snow at a manageable level and also provided water for the compound—we found the control box for it and the rest of the compound inside one room in the second building. The entire place was empty. Teeg holstered his pistol.
"Now what?" I asked.
"We make ourselves at home until they come back." Teeg was grinning. I just shook my head at him—it sounded like colossal foolishness to me.
"And what do you intend to do if we can't handle what shows up?" I had my hands placed strategically on my hips.
"I have this," he pulled the transmitter that made my skipping and mindspeech useless from an inside jacket pocket.
"How many pockets does that thing have?" I reached a hand toward him.
"Nope, you don't get to explore right now," he grinned, pulling the transmitter beyond my reach. "Let's see what they have to eat in the kitchen."
The kitchen and six bedrooms were all inside the same building—the fourth one we'd explored. All were connected through a tunnel that ran underneath. At least the inside of the compound was warm enough. Teeg said the snow outside helped insulate everything. Sunlight collector poles painted white covered the top of the compound, too. We hadn't seen those until we'd gotten very close. Everything was solar-powered. I found food in a freezer and prepared a meal. I was tiring, though, and cleaning up the kitchen afterward took the last of my strength.
"Lie down, baby." Teeg led me to a comfortable sofa in the media room. Our rogue warlocks hadn't denied themselves any comforts.
"This was Zellar's hideout, wasn't it?" I asked as I curled up on the sofa.
"We think so, yes," Teeg nodded. "Sleep for a while, Reah. I'll wake you if our residents show up." Teeg leaned in to kiss my forehead as he knelt next to the sofa. He was rubbing my belly gently as I fell asleep.
* * *
"Erland." Wylend looked up from the message he'd received to watch his best and strongest ally's face as he handed the news to him.
"My King?" Erland decided to go formal.
"Erland, I want you to look at this message I received. I can't trace it to the source—it has been blocked. Tell me what you think." Erland accepted the comp-vid from the King of Karathia.
King Wylend, greetings, the message began. I am contacting you to arrange a meeting. As you know, I am forming an alliance, which many are calling the Campiaan Alliance. It is my hope that you will consider joining. I think many things can be arranged to our mutual benefit. I am attempting to make this alliance a mirror of the Reth Alliance, but as you likely know, it will be a long road. So far, I am making slow but steady progress. Things are gradually coming in line with the placement of laws and such. I will contact you again soon to learn your feelings on this. I know you have been doing research already. The message was signed Teeg San Gerxon.
"So he knows we've been snooping," Erland handed the comp-vid back to Wylend.
"I would know," Wylend agreed. "Is there anything new on Reah or Gavril?"
"Nothing since we got word that two bodies were hauled away from that hotel—one in pieces, the other still intact. The word I got from the ASD source was that the second was still breathing when they hauled it out—it was held inside a stasis gurney."
"Then Reah may still live." Wylend set the comp-vid aside.
"Gardevik seems to think his son would know if she'd died—his Thifilathi would be grieving if she had. So far, Tory's Thifilathi is fine."
"Then I might wish for such a barometer," Wylend sighed. "Did I make a mistake waiting? Erland, tell me I was not the greatest fool you've ever seen."
"My King, you are not a fool. Reah herself saw the sense in this, I think. How many potential captors might have gone looking for her before this, if they learned you were mated? This was wisest, Wylend. She has nothing to give them now. Not where you're concerned."