Page 146 of Gates of Tartarus

Thursday, 6 December – Maela

“Maela?” Emlyn’s voice is low. “What’s happened?” He leans forward – somehow, they’re all on the floor with me now – and I look blankly back at him. There’s movement to my right, and then Kavi’s pulling me onto his lap and against his chest, and I lean back into the warmth of him and sigh.

“Querida?” Jorge asks gently. “Can you tell us what you saw?”

I continue to stare into the hallway. “It’s Elizabeth,” I whisper. “Elizabeth is Rhea.”

Seef’s head jerks up, and he looks at me searchingly, blue eyes the heart of a fire. “What!” I hear Emlyn exclaim.

“She was on a video call with Magda. Magda took care of Artemis, but that’s OK, because Fallon was there.” I’m not making any sense, the words coming out jumbled, as if someone’s turned me upside down and shaken them out of me, but nothing is making any sense. Only it is, isn’t it? The answer has been right in front of us, all along. Gaia.Megale Thea. Great Goddess. Broad-bosomed Earth, mother of the Sky, the Mountains, and the Sea. And the Titans. Of Rhea. Clever, clever Rhea, to give her group such a wholesome name. Gaia is an environmental theory, a space mission, a metaphysical media network. Clever, clever Elizabeth.

“Díos,” Jorge breathes. Kavi is silent, but his arms have tightened around me.

“OK, Maela,” Emlyn says grimly, tension radiating off of him, “take a deep breath and tell us what you saw.”

I open my mouth, but before I can continue, my phone rings again. It’s Elizabeth. Worriedly, I look at Seef, who nods.

“Hello?” I answer, tentatively.

“Maela!” Elizabeth’s crisp voice bites out my name, an arch tone lacing her words. “I hear you and Kailani have been talking, hmmm?”

“I…” My blood runs cold, and Jorge’s hand squeezes my knee. “No. Well, uh, yes? But…” I’m not sure how to answer, not sure where this conversation is headed, and I’m praying Kailani is alright.

“No and yes? You’ve been sharing secrets, haven’t you? Little secret squirrels, hoarding your nuts, as it were.”Amused. She sounds amused. Is that bad? Good?

“Well, I wouldn’t necessarily saythat,” I reply carefully.Sharing secrets. Has she found out? Does she know?

“Oh Maela, Iwarnedyou,” she says playfully. “I have Kailani here as a matter of fact. There’s no escaping me, now that I know.”

I can’t speak. The look on my face must betray what I fear, because Emlyn’s jaw tightens and Seef’s mouth is a slit in angular planes. I close my eyes and swallow, trying to focus on what Elizabeth is saying. Pressing the phone to my ear, I can just hear Kailani’s voice in the background, taut with controlled emotion, saying as loudly as she can without being obvious, “guys are there. She can’t... anything. We haven’t told... teams.... They don’t know... agreed to work…”

Elizabeth’s hand must be over the speaker, because Kailani’s voice is slightly muffled, but it gives me enough to go on; and I’m more confident when Elizabeth directs her attention to me again.

“Kailani told me you two had quite the discussion?” she asks, tone leading, and I follow willingly now that I can see the path. Or what I hope is the path.

“Ah, yes, we did. Well, you see, there are mitigating factors, just at the moment, but, yes. We did. We made a decision. Together. On what to do.” Emlyn looks up quizzically, but Jorge leans forward to intercept him, nodding at me.

I canhearthe smile in her voice when she replies, faux-whispering in a conspiratorial fashion. “Absolutely. I understand there are things to be worked out. I can’t tell you both how happy I am that you’ve finally decided to join the team.”

Making a non-committal sound, I motion at the guys to start making some noise. Kavi duly obliges, clearing his throat.

“Us, too. Me, also, I mean. Um, Elizabeth, I’m sorry to cut this short, but…”

“The natives are getting restless?” she guesses dryly, and I nod, though she can’t see me. “I’ll walk through the options with Kailani and contact you later with the same information. This really has quite made my day, Maela. Good luck with the team.”

The phone goes dead, and I collapse back into Kavi, letting out a huff of a breath.

Regina Triumphans

Thursday, 6 December – Kailani

Elizabeth hangs up the phone, face inscrutable, and I pray to all the gods above and below Maela managed to swim through that mess without hitting a mine. From what I heard, everything went fine, but Elizabeth had turned her back and was whispering for part of the conversation, and I can’t be sure what was said.

Then she smiles, a bright, fierce smile that I haven’t seen on her face before. Triumph and satisfaction merge in her expression to create a new, unknown feeling of a long plan coming together at last. Her thin frame relaxes, and I didn’t realize how much tension it had held until her shoulders lower and she stretches her neck.

“Ah, Kailani,” she begins, congenial warmth heavy in her voice, and, acting on instinct, I blindly hit the ‘record’ button on my phone in my pocket. “You have to satisfy my curiosity. How did this all come about? Fallon let me know that there was an international call placed within our building–” my eyes widen and she laughs. “Yes, yes. I told you once, you may remember. We track, and block if necessary, calls in and out of the building, other than the entryway offices. We have so much trademarked and patented material that we can’t risk a mole in the organization. And with the new developments, we’re being extra cautious. So anything unusual lights up our system.”

“Even from private phones?” I ask, struggling to get the words out in a normal voice.

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