The Dream Crafter(50)
His fingers curled around a pointed corner, and letting it bite into his flesh he pulled –
The buzz of his mobile sounded sharp in the nighttime quiet. Placing the book down, he put the phone to his ear. “Yeah.”
“Bad news,” came Nemesis’ voice. “Someone not me got Hadrien.”
Merc’s body sagged, frustration knotting his gut tight. “Who?”
“I arrived after the fact. It was a professional, and if you pushed me, I’d guess Blackguard, though I wouldn’t swear to it.” Her voice tightened, lowered, the worry coming through. “Are they allied with the Guild, or do they have a special problem with you?”
“If it’s Blackguard, they have a special problem with me.” Putting it mild there. Griffith was legendary in his ability to not hold grudges and let a job be a job. In fact, there was only one exception to that rule.
Lucky him.
“Well, if that news has you happy, this will have you doing cartwheels.”
“Oh good, can’t wait to hear this.”
There was a pause, and if it was bad enough that Nemesis had to steel herself to share it, it was bad. “Reign has spread the word you have the Spellbook, and that he would take it as a great favor to have it brought to him.”
Which, in vampire-speak, meant Reign wanted the book with all due haste, and his minions would be crawling over each other to receive the kind of regard presenting him with the Spellbook would achieve. “How widespread?”
“Everyone.”
Merc bit down on his tongue to keep back the desire to yell, which would do nothing and only waken Amana. “Why? The Spellbook is useless to necromancers! Why is he involved?”
Nemesis was silent for several moments, and with no noise to distract him, Merc’s own rapid breathing bounced through his ears. Several rotations, getting calmer and calmer, before Nemesis brought forth, “You’re bound, aren’t you?”
There was no point denying. “Yeah.”
Nemesis breathed hard through her nose, the sound of her frustration taking the edge off his. “Well, at least we know Hadrien isn’t dead, since otherwise you and I wouldn’t be talking right now. How did Hadrien get you in a bound?”
“I have no idea.” It shouldn’t have been possible. Merc’s defenses should have prevented it. But somehow the little toad pulled it off.
“And the end condition?”
“Spellbook in his hand, noon in five days time – exact.”
“Well gee, let’s not make it too impossible, shall we?”
Merc laughed, which really should have been impossible with what they were discussing. “I haven’t given you all the details, so don’t think I have it quite so easy yet, okay?”
Nemesis’s offered no response. Instead, she said, “I’ll keep looking for Hadrien. If he is with the Blackguard, I’ll see if there are any official channels I can take advantage of to get him back.”
“Thank you. This means everything.” And it did. He brought his breathing under control, letting the frustration release.
“Don’t get soft, darlin.”
“I’m not, and to prove it, I got another favor.”
“Now you’re pushing it to see if you can.”
He snorted, but continued. If Nemesis wasn’t going to help anymore, she already would have shut him down. “I know, but most of my usual contacts are laying low. You’re one of the few ready to throw a big FU in the Guild’s direction.”
“Lay it on me, but I’m not promising anything.”
Merc looked over at Amana, making sure she was still asleep. Satisfied, he said, “I need to find out if there is a prisoner in the system. First name is Nakoa, though I’m not sure if that’s a nickname or not. Good chance he’s in one of the Three.”
“That’s all you’ve got to give me? Do you realize how many prisoners are housed, and how many layers of security I need to get through to access any kind of information?”
He grabbed the book and made his way to the safe, eyes on Amana and step soft as he got the book nestled back into safety before he made his way back to the bed. “That’s why I got you, to do the impossible.”
Merc knew that Nemesis was rolling her eyes as surely as if she was standing in front of him, and her tone of voice confirmed it. “Don’t rely on me to completely be your Deuses Ex Machina. The Seven Houses are getting slightly more interested in the goings on since Reign came into play. I’m not sure how much time I have left to help in your sneaking around.”
“Whatever you can do I’m grateful for. Hadrien is still the priority.”