ElyriasEcstasy by Amber Jayne and Eric Del Carlo Page B

anything more than what he spoke out loud.
    This Shadowflash, well…he was the best, wasn’t he? No one
could argue that. And that made him the most dangerous, and was the reason why
this current situation had the potential to implode. Why it was, in short, a
disaster.
    But there was still time to clean it up.
    Aphael turned his gaze over to the woman accompanying Rune,
dismissive even though he had specifically ordered her brought before him. A
glance at her told him all he needed to know. She almost certainly had nothing
to do with the escape that had occurred, just as the other woman who’d lain
tonight with the Weapon was absolutely not involved in some tangled conspiracy.
But there was the rub— almost . These sows, he knew, sometimes connived
and contrived, wheedling favors from the weaker officers, like fancy clothes or
increased rations.
    He addressed the guard who had brought both visitors here.
“Take this breeder into custody along with the other. The one that spent the
evening with him .” He waved his hand toward the receiving chamber’s
doors. Then, not quite an afterthought, “Have the Interrogators release Miss
Temple for tonight.”
    He could always have his dear Virge arrested another time.
He didn’t want the Guard distracted right now. They had already been mobilized
and were being sent into the streets of the Lux city that surrounded the
Citadel. This was something of a dicey operation, however, since the Guard
officially had no jurisdiction over the military—and it was, after all, a
member of the military, a Weapon , who had gone AWOL. Still, it wouldn’t
do to flex too much militaristic muscle in the city. The Guard were supposed to
keep order domestically.
    The woman, belted into a coarse robe over some gauzy bit of
nothing, was removed from the chamber. The space felt close, the air heavier,
as Aphael Chav faced Rune alone. The Shadowflash was waiting stoically,
obviously aware that something unusual was afoot tonight.
    The Toplux paced a few steps. He wore silken nightclothes
and his white hair was in disarray. Even so, he was sure he exuded an air of
control, of authority. It was so familiar a front he was confident that even
this ultimate Shadowflash couldn’t perceive his anxiety.
    He gazed at his receiving chamber’s baroque furnishings and
fixtures. This crisis was dire and action needed to be taken urgently. But this
situation, here in this room, was also an emergency of sorts, one which needed
to be handled delicately. Aphael, after all, knew of the relationship between
the two members of his very best Shadowflash/Weapon team. He perhaps understood
the depths of their relationship even better than the men themselves. After
all, he had knowledge of their shared past, which the drugs of the military
medical technicians had systemically erased from the two men’s minds.
    When he halted and turned to face Rune once again, he found
somewhat to his dismay that he had to suppress a shiver. There was an intensity
about the man, something not quite human.
    Hah. Well, the freak wasn’t strictly human, was he?
Or at least he had natural abilities that no normal human was supposed to have.
    “You heard the alarms?” the Toplux asked.
    “I did.”
    A silly opening question, Aphael Chav thought, but one had
to start somewhere. “There has been an escape.”
    Dark blue eyes blinked. “From the Guard facility?”
    “No.” The Toplux drew in a breath, held it a moment then
said, “From the military complex. A Weapon has broken out of his quarters and
gone over the fence. Several soldiers were injured in the process. We require
that this escapee return to the Citadel.”
    Those eyes widened, but otherwise Rune showed no reaction.
He continued to stand stiffly, awaiting his orders.
    And now here they came, Aphael thought grimly. “It is Urna
who has fled. I require you to find him.”

Chapter Five
     
    “There is vermin in every city,” Rune muttered on the
rooftop, preparing to strap