Page 60 of On A Rift's Edge
“Please call Zale for me.” Kat knew Bug understood human speech and hoped Evangeline did as well. He was still surprised when a decent replica of a holographic phone screen appeared in front of him. Kat selected the option for a full video conference call, and a few seconds later a view of Remi and Kaveh’s living room appeared. Zale stood posed next to the glowing egg, Bug on his shoulder, and the music was so loud Kat had to motion to the half-kraken to turn the volume down.
“You let him into our apartment, you son of a bitch.” Remi yelled that out loud enough for Zale to hear, and the half-kraken held up a middle finger to the screen as the music dropped to a volume low enough for conversation.
“Lyall’s going to drop the wards.” Kat had no idea how that worked, or if Lyric was even capable of doing this. “We have an agreement in place.”
Zale gave an enthusiastic thumbs up, and then the transmission winked out of existence.
The room fell silent, and Kat held up Evangeline, who let out what he thought was a squeak of confusion.
The entire building shook, so hard that Kat would have fallen if Lyall hadn’t caught him.
A shimmering wall of colored light, a miniature version of the Saguaro Rift that stretched close to Moon Star Ranch, appeared in the center of the room.
It faded away, revealing a surprised Zale with Bug on his shoulder, and the glowing control object, which now pulsated with a deep red color reminiscent of blood.
“Holy shit,” Remi said. “That actually worked.”
22
Lyall tried to step back to protect Kat from the control object.
But the indenture contract had its claws in him, and he had no choice but to focus on Arimanius’s safety.
“I must admit, I’m impressed.” Ari ignored Lyall’s pointed glare and walked around the elongated egg floating a meter above the floor. The damn thing was dangerous, and his boss shouldn’t be getting this close.
Being forced to care whether Ari lived or died was the absolute worst.
“Is this the control object, Lyall?” Arimanius at least didn’t go closer to the thing.
“Yeah, they’re the real deal, boss.” Zale answered for Lyall, obviously eager to boast about his accomplishment to the head of the family. Bug took off from his shoulder and flew across the room to greet Evangeline. “Their name is Lyric. They can talk to me in my head.”
Lyall was surprised that Lyric had found much of interest in the half-kraken’s thick skull, but this explained how Kat had pulled this off. The young human had struck a bargain with both Zale and a phantom fetus who was certainly up to no good. In the process, Kat had betrayed his friend Kaveh, maneuvered around Remi, and even convinced Giana Gatti to play along.
All to give Lyall a chance to get away.
Now Arimanius possessed one of the most powerful Riftworld weapons Lyall had ever seen, and Kat had badly damaged his relationship with Kaveh, who cared deeply about his safety. Not to mention what the Saguaro Rift drakones might do when they heard of this.
“I’ve delivered my part of the bargain.” Kat walked up to Ari, doing an excellent job of being bossy. As worried as Lyall was, he did have to admire his Matchmaker pick’s bravery. “Now it’s time for you to hold your end up. Release Lyall from his indenture contract.”
“I will.” A smile played around Ari’s whiskered lips, which was never a good sign. “Lyall will be out of the contract and free to leave with you.”
Ari turned and gave Lyall a triumphant smile.
That was all the warning Lyall had before he doubled over, the force of the compulsion hitting him hard. His body contorted, transforming him out of his human shape.
Then he was looking up at the mafia boss towering over him. He had four paws and sharp teeth, but he didn’t even come up to Arimanius’s knees.
Shit. That ratkind son of a bitch had used the collar to transform him into his Earth canine form.
He barked furiously at Arimanius, but since he was a Scottish terrier again, that was all he could do.
“You can’t leave him like this.” Kat bent down and scooped up Lyall in his arms, which was even more embarrassing. “We had a deal.”
“Lyall’s no longer bound by the contract and can scurry on out of here at any time.” Ari moved closer to Lyric, who shimmered with iridescence, as if they wanted to entice him to approach. “I’m sure you’ll figure out how to get the collar off eventually.”
“I wouldn’t get too close if I were you.” Remi had a taunting edge to his voice. “There’s a reason even Kaveh keeps his distance from them.”
Arimanius scowled. Remi had always been good at getting under his father’s skin, and the mafia boss would want to relish this victory. However, Ari hadn’t lived this long with that many enemies by being reckless.
