Page 79 of Obsidian Prince

Liliana didn’t need her third eyes to show her the shading of pain that lay beneath. “He is not right.”

“How do you know?”

“Because people only give shovel speeches for people they care about.”

The car pulled up and parked in front of a tall concrete building with windows empty of glass and filled with armed soldiers looking out.

Sergeant Giovanni looked at Liliana oddly. “Do you love him?”

Liliana studied the sergeant’s rank insignia on her collar. “Sergeant Giovanni, my intention is to go into that building and fight a killer who has somehow circumvented an entire Army base and a landed Fae prince with power over earth and fire. I know the killer is a better fighter than me. I am not at full strength, but I would give my life many times over if I knew it would just be enough to save him.”

She looked at Liliana for a moment. “My name is Zoe.” A look of determination tightened her jaw. “No one is killing the Colonel if I can help stop it in any way.”

They went into the building side by side.

Four armed guards stood in front of the entrance to the building. They pointed weapons at Liliana and Zoe as they approached. “Password,” one said.

The two women looked at each other. Zoe shrugged.

“I am Liliana. Alexander said I would be permitted to come. He did not mention a password.”

The guards lowered their weapons. “The colonel told us to let you in.”

Liliana stepped forward, but the guard who had spoken stepped in front of Zoe. “Sergeant, you’re not cleared to be here. You’ll have to wait outside.”

Zoe squeezed her lips together tightly, then nodded. Liliana knew that if she was turned away, the soldier who had served Alexander faithfully for many years would drive off the base. After a few days of leave, she would be transferred somewhere else.

Liliana objected. “She needs to come with me. She has something important to tell your colonel.”

Zoe looked at Liliana, face expressionless.

Liliana looked back, meeting her eyes for a moment.

Zoe nodded. The guards let them both enter the odd tower with no glass in the windows. Another half dozen guards, including Lieutenant John Runningwolf, were in the large room inside. Bare concrete floors and gray cinderblock walls made it feel like a prison.

“Where is Alexander?” Liliana asked the stocky badger-kin.

“He’s fine. In the next room with Detective Jackson.” He pointed with his thumb to a door behind him, thick new-pale wood, with heavy bars drilled into the cinder block on either side to hold it.

Opening her fourth eyes, Liliana looked for Alexander. She saw him in a room with gray cinderblock walls and an empty window behind him. He was tied to a chair, with a bloody scrape on his cheek. While she watched, a fist impacted his face, rocking his head to the side. The spider seer flinched. The vision had the sharp clarity of present time. What she saw was happening, now. “Open the door. Alexander is in trouble.”

“That’s not possible,” John said. “I’ve been standing right here for an hour. There’s no other way in.”

In Liliana’s fourth vision, someone broke one of Alexander’s fingers. He grunted in pain, teeth gritted to hold back a scream.

Liliana pushed past the young soldier. She tried to figure out how to make the giant locking mechanism move. “Open this door!”

“Let her in, Runningwolf,” Zoe said. “The colonel gave her full access. At least let her see that he’s okay.”

“All right.” The big badger-kin slung his rifle over his shoulder. He punched in a combination on a device he pulled out of his pocket. A loud metallic click sounded. He used his considerable strength to push the mechanism of the huge lock, causing the metal bars to move out of the wall. Finally, the door swung open.

Liliana rushed in, Zoe and John right behind her.

Inside was a small gray room with a simple couch and chair. Alexander sat in the chair, looking up from the report in his hand. Detective Shonda Jackson had a thermos of some hot beverage in one hand and a pistol aimed at them in the other.

“Just me,” John said. “Liliana is here. She wanted to see that the colonel was okay.”

“I’m fine,” Alexander said. “No need to worry.”

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