Amalgamate

Chapter 75

Deisha came back with Kester and his six wolves. "I've told them everything. Any news?"

Silas' phone beeped at him. It was a text from Dorian. He read it out loud, "They're not here. Someone took them. Skylar vanished, but Dugald's a corpse."

"Looks like Faelan was telling the truth." Tearlach shrugged his shoulders. This whole thing was snowballing into a giant mess.

"Faelan? He's one of Scanlan's." Fitz was more than a little cautious when it came to working with traders.

"Yeah, well, he wants a place with us. He's our inside man. Our only inside man." Kester looked to Deisha.

"Well, that aside...we need to find Rowan fast before she does something else that gets her either hurt or killed. Tell us more about these trackers." Callum didn't really see any other options.

"They are a species of people who have remained a pure race. They can't breed outside of their species so as to preserve their powers and secrets. Their tracking ability only gets passed down to the males. Never met a female from that species, so I have no idea how that piece works." Ian felt all of their gazes upon him.

"Well, up until a few hundred years ago purity was typical of all the lore species. They're segregationists. What else?" Cuan knew there'd be worse. He was just hoping it was something they could work with.

"Trackers can move through time and space. They use clues left behind at the site of the portals and through the portals. See, every creature who creates a portal does it a little differently, so they leave their individual finger print, and that can be picked up on and followed by a tracker if they know what they're looking for. If they know the site where the portal was opened, it's no work at all to locate the person who opened it, but if the site is unknown, it's a little more time consuming if not impossible. It also depends on the person who created the portal. Some are more skilled at hiding their tracks than others." Ian thought about Deisha. Her portals were damn near impossible to track because of all the links and cross overs she used to hide her trail.

"I guess I'm not gettin' it. Why is this bad?" Tearlach leaned up in his seat.

"When you deal with trackers you are dabbling in black magic...in a kind of magic that even we lore don't really understand. They are extremely general and vague negotiators. By the time you're finished with them you won't even recognize the initial deal, and they will have the shirt off your back and more." Ian remembered what Deisha had dealt with when she tried to use a tracker to find Rowan after every other avenue had failed to produce results.

Deisha stood in front of a window, gazing into the night sky. She couldn't help but relive pieces of that exchange. She'd paid out more than money...much more.

Ian nodded at her. He knew what she was going through listening to his speech. "The trackers are a dark, egocentric people who have no empathy for another's plight. They won't care about how you feel, your situation..or what's right. It's all about what they want and what they can get by manipulating you."

"So we kill the bastard if he gets too demanding." Tearlach still didn't understand. Certainly these were variables that they were capable of controlling.

"That's just it Tearlach. They're already dead. They're ghosts. They can take physical shape. Hell, they look human most of the time. But if they slip into ghost mode, you can't get to em'." Ian knew first hand about killing trackers because he'd chased Deisha's ghost tracker for years before he'd finally caught up with him.

"Ghosts, huh? Why doesn't anyone know about these people?" Cuan looked around the room. Apparently he wasn't the only one who hadn't known about them.

"They don't advertise." Deisha's voice was faint. She only knew about them because of all the research she did years ago when she was searching for Rowan. She'd tried every avenue available to her to find Rowan, all of which proved unsuccessful as well as physically and emotionally detrimental to her well being.

"How do we find one then?" Silas had been silent until now, but this sounded like a real challenge, and if using one would help them find Raine, he'd figure it out. He knew how his brother Dorian felt about her even if he wasn't ready to admit it to himself.

"First off, a man deals with the tracker. Secondly, just so you all understand- the tracker does exactly that, finds the person and reports his or her whereabouts. If you need to hitch a ride between realms, that will cost you extra. Finally, the tracker will see the prize long before you find out anything. Sometimes he decides the prize is worth more than the pay out, and he keeps it for himself." He couldn't look at Deisha knowing what she'd endured with her tracker. Despite everything she'd sacrificed, she'd never been able to find Rowan.

"You mean they keep whatever you paid them to find?" Tearlach was leaning more towards not involving these ghosts.

"Yep." Ian was blunt because he needed to be. "They could decide to keep Rowan for as long as she was useful to them."

"Wait...so they break the agreement? Why involve them? Of course, they'll want her. Shit, everyone wants her!" Hell, Cuan still wanted to take a run at her himself.

"Technically, no. They don't collect until they follow through with their end of the deal. Sometimes they draw the exchange out so that they can use the object or person you're looking for first. The more desperate you become, the more they up the anty- make sense?" Even though the men in this room were lore, they had no idea what was out there, lurking just beyond them. Why was it every species thought they were the top of the food chain?

"It's like the humans having no idea they're surrounded by us. There are layers." Cuan wondered what else he didn't know.

"I vote no. I mean, she sifted herself. She's not in any immediate danger. Let's give her some time to cool down with Maitland and maybe she'll come around." Deisha spoke rationally, but she had some personal motives behind her decision.

"I'm with Deisha. I say no." Tearlach looked at Ian.

"Alright then, we agree. No trackers." Ian winked at Deisha. He'd hated to bring the subject up, but it was only an option if it was on the table.

"So we wait?" Silas' excitement at the prospect of danger diminished almost as quickly as it had been incited. He hated waiting. None of the triplets were known for their patience.

"We wait and hope she comes around to our way of thinkin'." Ian knew that was a long shot, but maybe Maitland would be a levee, holding her irrational or impulsive thoughts at bay.

"Yeah, well, I wouldn't hold my breath. I think we all know how stubborn and unforgiving she is." Callum couldn't help but think of the picture she'd taken of him after launching him through a wall. She tied him up and gagged him before leaving him in a bed of hosta.

Ian had to get out of there. He couldn't process it all. He'd failed. He'd failed her. He hoped Maitland had his wits about him because she was set in her ways and growing exponentially more powerful with each passing day. She was proving over and over again that she didn't need anyone, and that she was a woman who would stand on her own two feet come hell or high water. Ian left the room and headed for the front door. He needed some fresh air and quiet time alone to think.