Page 67 of Dark Gambit Reliance
"So his compulsion has an element of shrouding," Toven said. "Interesting. My shrouding and thralling didn't work on Pavel."
Jade pursed her lips. "We can only do that to humans. It doesn't work on us. Igor can't make me see what's not there, but he can force me to act as if I'm seeing it. Speaking of Pavel, I could also use his help. Can you compel him to obey my commands?"
Toven nodded. "I will do that. What time should I expect your signal?"
"I can't give you a precise hour, but it won't be in the morning." She winced. "To get to Valstar, I need to pretend to be interested in him sexually, and it will look suspicious if I do that first thing in the morning."
"We will do our best to get everyone in position by midday," Toven said. "If we can't have everything ready in time, we will grab one of the guards at the entrance to the tunnel and send a message with him."
Jade's eyes emitted a reddish glow. "If you free tomorrow's guard from Igor's compulsion and send him to me, I can use him to send a message back." She looked around. "I'll leave a note under that tree. Would you be able to retrieve it?"
"I'd rather that you came out again. Someone can meet you here tomorrow at the same time."
She nodded. "I'll send my second. Her name is Kagra, and I will need her help. You need to remove Igor's compulsion from her as well, and if you can do it early in the morning, it would be best so I can share my plan with her."
"You need to come with her. Can you make it here at eight in the morning?"
She tilted her head. "The hour is not a problem, but why do you need me to come with her?"
"You can't tell Kagra why you're sending her, and she will wonder why you want her to go to this precise spot. Furthermore, after I confer with my team, I might have updates that you need to know about. Igor's absence changes everything."
"You have a point. And since today I was supposed to be here with Pavel, I can say that I didn't get to hunt and that I'm famished after today's activities."
"Would they buy it?"
Jade smiled. "I'm a great actress, but after two decades of denying myself, this is atypical behavior for me. They might get suspicious. That's why I suggested that Kagra come alone. And like me, she has a strong mind and can resist the compulsion to some degree. After you free her, you can tell her about your team's suggestions."
"That's not good enough. We can't take the risk of her telling someone. You have to come with her."
"You don't trust me, do you?"
"Why would you say that? I'm risking myself and my mate to help free you, and all I have to base my trust on is your people's respect for you."
She nodded. "You can trust me. I vow not to betray you, and since you claim to know so much about me, you should also know that I take my vows very seriously."
"I heard it mentioned that the Kra-ell believe in the power of vows."
"Not all Kra-ell. Igor and his misfits do not take our traditions to heart, but I do." She smiled. "I also vow that after you rescue my people, I'll tell you what I know about the history of yours."
"It's a deal." He rose to his feet and offered her his hand.
They hadn't discussed what would happen after the liberation, but it was too early for that. Toven's objective was to ensure that the Kra-ell were not a threat to the clan, and with Igor out of the way, he could compel Jade or whoever else took over the compound to cooperate with Kian and Sari.
Jade shook his offered hand. "Before I go, I'll give you a little taste of history, so you will crave more. Long before the gods learned how to traverse space, they learned how to manipulate genetics, and they turned themselves immortal. Later, that allowed them to travel to distant planets and create slave species to serve them. They combined their genetic material with that of a local animal that was advanced enough to be suitable, and at first, they made many mistakes, but they learned from them. There is a reason you can't manipulate purebloods' minds, but you can do it to hybrids and humans. The gods designed human minds to be easily manipulated, and the hybrids inherited that from their human parents." She smiled. "The rest will come after my people are free."
47
KIAN
The call from Toven came at six-thirty in the morning, and after Kian put Turner and Onegus on the line, the god told them about the plan he'd hatched with Jade.
Kian groaned. "We have forty hours to get everyone in position on the other side of the globe, which includes about sixteen hours in transit. I don't think it's possible. We will have to wait for Igor to leave the compound again. I like Turner's idea of catching him with the help of facial recognition."
On the other side of the line, Turner huffed out a breath. "In Igor's absence, Valstar would take over, and we will be back to square one. We still need to invade the compound and ensure that no one blows it apart, get Toven to release everyone from Igor's compulsion, and reach a cooperation agreement with Jade. We've already sent the equipment to Russia, got an amphibian, and two drones, and we have twelve Guardians, including Yamanu and Bhathian, in place. We can make it."
"How are we going to transport everyone at once?" Kian asked. "Together with Kalugal's men, we need a plane that can carry seventy-one warriors and eighty-four exoskeletons."
"I was already working on chartering a Boeing 737. Let me get on it, and I'll have it ready for us in under six hours, and by the time they land, I will have a place for them to camp on that's close to the compound."