Page 19 of Dark Gambit Reliance

"Tom will leave as soon as we are done, and we are not going to use that house again."

"I thought it was his home."

Marcel stopped his descent. "It was rented for the meeting. I thought I told you that."

She rubbed her temple. "The headache I got when Tom tried to break through Igor's compulsion must have messed with my memories. I can barely remember anything about that night." She tightened her hand around his bicep. "Did you do anything to me to make me forget?"

"I didn't."

"I hope you're not transitioning," Eleanor said.

Sofia's heart leaped, in part from fright and in part from excitement. "Why? Is forgetfulness one of the signs?"

"Not that I know of." Eleanor kept going. "But every transitioning Dormant experiences different symptoms, and with you being the scion of a different species, I expect your transition to be even more different."

"What are the usual symptoms?"

Eleanor shrugged, jolting Cecilia in the backpack that was strapped to her chest. "I can only tell you about my experience. I was feverish, lightheaded, and then I lost consciousness."

That didn't sound like fun, but given that immortality was the prize, it was worth going through a lot more than that.

"Are we walking all the way to the house?" Sofia asked.

She was in good shape, but she was getting fatigued.

"Yes." Marcel slowed down. "I can carry you on my back."

As if she would let him do that. "No, thank you. I can walk. But I don't understand why we need to. The idea was for the guards to wake up and remember that they watched us go into the house, hobnob with some rich people, and go out. They wouldn't have done it on foot, and neither would we."

"We needed them to get out of the car," Marcel said.

By the time the house came into view, she was dragging her feet, and her legs ached so badly that she was considering letting Marcel carry her the rest of the way.

"Are the Guardians already there?"

"They had a big head start," Asher said.

"But they were carrying dead weight." Sofia winced. "That was a bad choice of words. I hope the Kra-ell are not dead."

"They are not." Marcel squeezed her hand. "Morgan informed me that they are chained and ready for interrogation and that we should leave the cat with the tracker in Tom's rented car. It's open, and the key is inside. We don't want the tracker to be too close to the two. They are supposed to be spying on you from afar, not to be right next to you."

"Eleanor and I can stay with the cat," Asher offered. "Just get us food and something to drink. For the cat too."

"We will do that." Marcel tugged on Sofia's hand. "Come on. It's just a hundred feet more."

She groaned. "There are stairs to climb. I don't think I can do that. How did Tom get Mia and her wheelchair up there? Is there a hidden elevator in the house?" She prayed that there was.

"He carried her and the chair." Marcel smiled. "You know that I would be more than happy to carry you up there." He wrapped his arm around her waist and propped her against his body. "But since you are so damn proud and stubborn, I'll just help a little."

Sofia didn't want to tell him that it wasn't just the physical exertion that made the stairs seem so ominous. Once she climbed them and the door opened, she would see who had been following her, and she was afraid to find out who it was.

15

TOVEN

Toven leaned against the dining table and observed the two Kra-ell males chained to the iron chairs the Guardians had brought from the outdoor garden. Both could pass for humans, which meant that neither was a pureblood.

That was disappointing.

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