Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) by Connie Suttle Page B

told the Hand where to deliver the blow, and the Hand had complied quickly. It didn't matter; the General was on his way to recovery, and there were other ways to create mischief for them.
    The Mighty Heart was dead—he'd seen that for himself. He took a great deal of satisfaction from that act, although he realized that the remaining two could still harm him. That lesson had been learned swiftly. He would have to devise a way to lure them in singularly, as that might be the best (and quickest) way to dispatch them. Once they were eliminated, everything would be his.
    "The mass killing on Frithia was a good beginning," the General began. "We will funnel those who are outraged by that event into other, better-established facilities and take them from within."
    "Several are already targeted, Liege," Acrimus bowed his head. "We are working to take them now, while they are vulnerable to us and more apt for our purposes."
    "Feed them well, then," the General replied. "Hate and prejudice always go down easier than honesty and respect."
    * * *
    Lissa's Journal
    "What are you talking about?" Norian stared at me. We'd gone to examine the site on Frithia.
    "You said you only found sixteen children. Some are missing, Norian."
    "What?" He stared at me.
    "Haven't you done a check on the families who were a part of this mess?"
    "We're still compiling information," Norian huffed.
    "Well, there are scents here and no bodies. Six little girls are missing." I walked around laser outlines printed on the floor, delineating the place where each person died. Scents of six small girls were next to their mother's bodies, but no laser outline marked their space. "I think they were still alive when they were taken, Nori." I blinked at Norian, who stared at me in shock.
    "I'll tell my people to concentrate all their efforts on the mothers, then." I'd just thrown a wrench into Norian's investigation, and he was angry that his people hadn't sorted this information already. "All the outbound ships have been checked; nobody got offworld that way," he added.
    "I figure our culprit didn't arrive or leave in a conventional manner," I muttered, studying the large temple. "And I haven't caught his scent, anywhere. Do you know where he lived? Any clothes left behind? I need his scent so I can track him. We don't need another scenario like this."
    "We?" Norian stared at me in disgust. "You're not the one getting nasty communications from everybody in the Alliance," he growled. "And I, uh, have reliable information that he is Sirenali. His name is Genley Reith, but we have very little besides that. Frithia approved this religion, but they're blaming the ASD for the outcome."
    "Did you investigate it beforehand?" I watched Norian carefully—he was upset about this, but possibly for none of the right reasons. I had a guess about how Norian knew the name and race of our culprit now—Kooper was with Breanne, after all.
    "Standard questionnaire for a religion already approved by the admitting world," Norian shrugged at my question. "Locals here handled it. We're looking into that, too, just to make sure bribery wasn't involved."
    "Or no obsession or compulsion laid, et cetera, et cetera?"
    "Breah-mul, you confuse me every time you use one of your blasted idioms," Norian complained.
    "I'll have you know, Norian Keef, that et cetera is Latin, from old Earth. If you ask Gavin, he can teach you the whole language. If he doesn't tear your head off, first."
    "Should I be worried that he might?"
    "If you ask him to teach you anything."
    "I'll keep my requests to myself," Norian said dryly.
    "Good." I walked away from Norian while attempting to Look for six small girls. Their location was blocked. Why was I not surprised? If my hunch were correct, the enemy still thought to manipulate things through others, just as he had all along.
    Ashe said he thought some damage was done before the General disappeared, but he couldn't say for sure, or how much damage had been inflicted.