mistake was made.”
Gina stepped forward, pushing past Carter. “But its meaning
was clear enough for you to make us pick up and move back to the canyon. You
knew exactly how and when the gift of shifting would be bestowed upon us. You
even knew what animal we would be linked with. Do you really expect us to
believe that you had difficulty interpreting Tochapa’s meaning?”
The old man didn’t answer. He reminded Carter of a child
caught in a lie, not sure whether to come clean or continue the deception in
hopes of getting away with it. But how did they all know who to blame? “Who is
he, Gina? What does he have to do with all of this?”
Keeping her gaze on Dyami she said, “He is the canary. He’s
our healer and has had a tattoo of the yellow bird on his shoulder for as long
as I can remember. Tochapa must have showed him the truth months ago, but he
kept it secret. His hatred and desire for revenge meant more to him than the
safety of his people… again.” A tear slid down her cheek and she angrily swiped
it away.
Carter took a step, instinctively wanting to comfort her,
but stopped himself before he could. No matter what this man was guilty of, it
didn’t change what Gina had done all those years ago.
Myrine stepped forward and spoke for the first time since
Bidzil began his story. “It seems we’ve all been duped. Regardless of how we
got here,” she glanced at Dyami, “we need to move on and figure out exactly who
the maestro is, and why he’s pitting your tribes against each other.”
“Oh, shit.” Han’s eyes widened as he watched Asteria emerge
from the tree line with yet another straggler in tow.
Ranger Kell Christner looked terrified.
Chapter
19
The scene in the conference room at the El Tovar hotel
reminded Carter of a Congressional meeting. Both sides, in this case the
Havasupai and the Yavapai, were represented by their council members and a few
select others, and the arguing was incessant.
After the revelations of the evening before, Myrine decided
it was time to put both parties together. She rented the small room so as to
hold the early morning meeting on neutral ground. She thought they could
discuss their situation and work together to find the maestro.
So far, things were not going as planned.
Both tribes’ representatives arrived wearing full ceremonial
gear and raring for a fight. Hostilities, both new and ancient, found their
voice as tensions grew.
At first, Myrine tried to silence the bickering, but for
every altercation she successfully halted, two more sprung up in its place.
Appearing to give up, for the moment at least, she joined Carter in the back of
the room. “Got any advice on how to get these guys on track?”
With a sympathetic smile, Carter simply shook his head.
“There’s over a thousand years of anger between these tribes. This is probably
the first time they’ve all been in a room together. You’re not going to be able
to settle them down until they get a few things off their chests. All we can do
is wait and hopefully stop them from killing each other.”
Myrine gave a tired smile. “How very Zen of you. Any word
from Han and Jackie?”
“Not yet.”
The two members of the Omega Group had opted to miss this
morning’s meeting in order to keep an eye on Ranger Christner. The poor woman
allowed curiosity to get the best of her the night before and ended up seeing
way more than she’d bargained for. Han was able to calm her down enough to
convince her that they weren’t dangerous, but they couldn’t risk leaving her
alone. She’d been a less-than-enthusiastic guest in Jackie’s hotel room ever
since.
“What are we going to do about her?” Carter asked.
Myrine raised her eyebrows. “Honestly? I’m not sure yet.
Han’s made his position pretty clear. He doesn’t want her memories erased.”
One of their new recruits, Jason, had the ability to enter
someone’s mind and selectively eliminate memories. Even though he had yet
Gina stepped forward, pushing past Carter. “But its meaning
was clear enough for you to make us pick up and move back to the canyon. You
knew exactly how and when the gift of shifting would be bestowed upon us. You
even knew what animal we would be linked with. Do you really expect us to
believe that you had difficulty interpreting Tochapa’s meaning?”
The old man didn’t answer. He reminded Carter of a child
caught in a lie, not sure whether to come clean or continue the deception in
hopes of getting away with it. But how did they all know who to blame? “Who is
he, Gina? What does he have to do with all of this?”
Keeping her gaze on Dyami she said, “He is the canary. He’s
our healer and has had a tattoo of the yellow bird on his shoulder for as long
as I can remember. Tochapa must have showed him the truth months ago, but he
kept it secret. His hatred and desire for revenge meant more to him than the
safety of his people… again.” A tear slid down her cheek and she angrily swiped
it away.
Carter took a step, instinctively wanting to comfort her,
but stopped himself before he could. No matter what this man was guilty of, it
didn’t change what Gina had done all those years ago.
Myrine stepped forward and spoke for the first time since
Bidzil began his story. “It seems we’ve all been duped. Regardless of how we
got here,” she glanced at Dyami, “we need to move on and figure out exactly who
the maestro is, and why he’s pitting your tribes against each other.”
“Oh, shit.” Han’s eyes widened as he watched Asteria emerge
from the tree line with yet another straggler in tow.
Ranger Kell Christner looked terrified.
Chapter
19
The scene in the conference room at the El Tovar hotel
reminded Carter of a Congressional meeting. Both sides, in this case the
Havasupai and the Yavapai, were represented by their council members and a few
select others, and the arguing was incessant.
After the revelations of the evening before, Myrine decided
it was time to put both parties together. She rented the small room so as to
hold the early morning meeting on neutral ground. She thought they could
discuss their situation and work together to find the maestro.
So far, things were not going as planned.
Both tribes’ representatives arrived wearing full ceremonial
gear and raring for a fight. Hostilities, both new and ancient, found their
voice as tensions grew.
At first, Myrine tried to silence the bickering, but for
every altercation she successfully halted, two more sprung up in its place.
Appearing to give up, for the moment at least, she joined Carter in the back of
the room. “Got any advice on how to get these guys on track?”
With a sympathetic smile, Carter simply shook his head.
“There’s over a thousand years of anger between these tribes. This is probably
the first time they’ve all been in a room together. You’re not going to be able
to settle them down until they get a few things off their chests. All we can do
is wait and hopefully stop them from killing each other.”
Myrine gave a tired smile. “How very Zen of you. Any word
from Han and Jackie?”
“Not yet.”
The two members of the Omega Group had opted to miss this
morning’s meeting in order to keep an eye on Ranger Christner. The poor woman
allowed curiosity to get the best of her the night before and ended up seeing
way more than she’d bargained for. Han was able to calm her down enough to
convince her that they weren’t dangerous, but they couldn’t risk leaving her
alone. She’d been a less-than-enthusiastic guest in Jackie’s hotel room ever
since.
“What are we going to do about her?” Carter asked.
Myrine raised her eyebrows. “Honestly? I’m not sure yet.
Han’s made his position pretty clear. He doesn’t want her memories erased.”
One of their new recruits, Jason, had the ability to enter
someone’s mind and selectively eliminate memories. Even though he had yet
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