Yves moved between them. “Dufae has an heir!” His voice was full of annoyance at their petty fighting. “A child by the name of Alexander Graham Bell. We need him.”
It was good that Louise had her hand already over her mouth. She muffled the whimper of fear.
Sparrow huffed slightly in exasperation. “What does this have to do with me?”
“He is in Pittsburgh.”
“He is human.” She flipped her hand toward the Chinese ambassador. “He’s the one with the spies within the EIA. I can do nothing with humans without attracting attention.”
“Dufae’s child tested fluent in Elvish, both in oral and written sections of the application, and claimed our gods as his religion. Obviously he’s been raised by an elf. His guardian might turn to the Wind Clan when we take him. We cannot afford to get the
“Are you sure that he will be useful? Neither Dufae’s sister nor his nephew matched his genius. This child could be an idiot.”
Yves still hadn’t turned to face the camera. It almost seemed as if he knew exactly where it was located and how to avoid it. “Someone in the NSA had the brilliant idea of screening college applicants for prodigies. They came up with test questions on building a gate that weren’t meant to be answerable. For almost three decades, no one has been able to. During the last Shutdown, Dufae’s child applied to Carnegie Mellon University and answered all the questions.”
Yves paced in the camera’s blind spot. “The humans have noticed our activities and have decided to put Bell into protective custody. The NSA has borrowed some operatives from another American agency to go to Pittsburgh and fetch Bell. They’ll be heavily armed and difficult to eliminate. It is possible that the Americans can make Bell disappear so not even we can find him. You two need to reach him first.”
Sparrow huffed again. “This would not be an issue if that idiot cat didn’t keep killing everyone who could build us a gate.”
Ambassador Feng reacted as if struck. “The scientists are not cooperating once they understand the situation. They’re smart enough to know that opening a gate between the worlds will result in full-out war.”
Yves waved aside the male’s comment. “She is right. We cannot afford another dismembered genius. Tell that cat of yours that if he harms Dufae’s child, we’ll have him skinned. Alive. Slowly. I’ll make him into a coat for my little sister.”
Ambassador Feng gave a slight bow. “I’ll have it explained so even he understands.”
What did they mean? Surely they didn’t mean an actual cat with fur? And yet that was what the words seemed to suggest. Was she mistranslating the French? And why were they even speaking French? Why weren’t they speaking Elvish?
“Can this not be delayed?” Sparrow seemed determined to not be involved in the plan. “Was that not the point of infiltrating the EIA? So that we controlled what humans came and went from Pittsburgh?”
“We cannot delay the visas for the two agents,” Yves stated. “The United States is expediting the papers using the fact that Dufae’s child claimed joint United States and Elfhome citizenship. The EIA has to give full cooperation to allow the USA the ability to protect its citizens; it’s part of the United Nations agreement. You must return to Pittsburgh immediately.”
“I can’t be there when Wolf Who Rules is killed.” Sparrow took a step backwards. “Your summons was the perfect excuse to be absent when he was attacked. Everything is set. He’s in Pittsburgh. I’ve brought one of his Hands with me to weaken him. A trap has been set that Yutakajodo says will succeed. I cannot compromise my position by returning until the deed is done.”
“My father commands it,” Yves stated coldly. “You must obey. Finish up here and return immediately to Monroeville and wait for Shutdown. Do what you must to make sure that you arrive in Pittsburgh first.”
“But — But—” Sparrow struggled to refuse.
Yves cut off her protest. “By the time you cross the border, the viceroy will be dead. No one will lay the blame on you.”
Louise realized she was crying. Alexander was an idea of a perfect older sister and a handful of photographs. Windwolf was much more a real person to her. Louise had watched hours of video of the viceroy and pored over all the known facts of his life. She knew him better than most of her teachers. How could they talk so casually about killing him?
Yves turned to Ambassador Feng. “We will need Shoji on this. He is the only one we have clever enough to verify that the work we get out of Dufae is correct. You have him on leash now?”
“Firmly. We’ve got the child caged in an obscuring spell at a secret compound. Shoji will not be able to find him.”
“Be sure to keep him well hidden and unharmed. We’ve missed our chance at taking the other children of the Chosen bloodline. Without the others, we’ll lose our hold on the tengu if the child we have is killed or freed.”
“We have Shoji.”
