Free The Tyranny of Ghosts: Legacy of Dhakaan - Book 3 by Don Bassingthwaite Page B

a
chaat’oor.”
    “We can talk about this later,” said Tenquis. He turned golden eyes to Geth. “Please just go now!”
    The hair on Geth’s arms and the back of his neck rose. There was more than just frustration and anger in Tenquis’s voice. There was anxiety too. Maybe even outright fear. He genuinelyneeded them out of there. “Ekhaas,” Geth said, “we should go. This isn’t the right time—”
    The
duur’kala
wasn’t swayed. She looked at the scroll in her hands. “The life of Taruuzh?” Her glare moved from Kitaas to Tenquis. “I’ve been struggling on my own to learn about the Rod of Kings and you’ve been here learning about the rod’s maker with her.” Ekhaas flung down the scroll. “Is all of this about Taruuzh?”
    Kitaas froze. Her eyes darted to Tenquis, and her ears went all the way back.
    “No,” said Tenquis. His voice was soothing, but he took a step away from her and held out his hands. “No, Kitaas. This isn’t what you think.”
    “Isn’t it?” asked Kitaas, baring her teeth—then she grabbed a curl of paper from the table and bolted for the door.
    “No!” Tenquis spat. “Stop her!”
    Geth leaped. Kitaas tried to duck past him, but he got his arms around her and wrestled her to the ground. She drew breath, ready to shout. Geth freed one hand and slapped it over her mouth, then yanked it away with a hiss as she sank sharp teeth into his fingers. He grabbed a fold of her black robe, forcing it into her mouth and holding it there as a makeshift gag. Kitaas’s eyes blazed at him.
    Her hands writhed underneath them. Geth heard the tearing of paper.
    “Get her up!” Tenquis came hurrying around the table. Geth twisted around, turning Kitaas over. Scraps of paper fluttered away. Tenquis cursed and scooped them up. His face flushed dark. “Mercy of the sorcerer-kings!” he cursed as he bent down to pry the last pieces from Kitaas’s fingers. “Well done, Ekhaas. You couldn’t have just left us alone?”
    She looked at him in amazement. “What were you doing?” she asked.
    The tiefling’s teeth showed stark white against his skin. “What you couldn’t. Getting an archivist’s help.” He got thelast bit of paper away from Geth’s prisoner and stood. “I’m sorry, Kitaas, but she was right.”
    Kitaas shrieked into her makeshift gag, thrashing with new energy. Geth tightened his hold on her as he stared up at Tenquis.

    “I could tell after your first day with the Register that you weren’t going to get anywhere,” Tenquis said. “It was obvious that Diitesh was playing you. If you were going to find anything, it would be by pure chance, and how long would that take? I’ve done this sort of research before. You needed help. I decided to get it by pretending to search for additional
daashor
lore.”
    The tiefling stood at the table, his back to them in anger as he picked through the scraps of paper Kitaas had shredded and struggled to piece them together. Geth exchanged glances with Ekhaas and Chetiin. They both looked like he felt—stunned at Tenquis’s initiative. “Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked.
    Ekhaas spoke at the same moment. “Why Kitaas?” More properly restrained with rope drawn from one of Tenquis’s magical pockets, her sister squirmed and hissed.
    Tenquis raised his head and finally looked around. His eyes went to Geth first, and he looked a little shamed. “Maybe I should have told you,” he said. “But you’ve been spending time with
duur’kala
digging into your mind. And if I’d told you, Ekhaas, what would you have done?” He dropped the paper scraps and turned fully to face them. “I could have traded some of what I knew about the
daashor
to any archivist, but that wouldn’t have been enough. Your people are too devoted to their sense of duty. You and Kitaas gave me what I needed. A chance to recover lost lore
and
steal glory from you was more than she could resist.”
    Kitaas gave another muffled curse. Geth watched