extracting his woman from the dining room table where she'd been sitting in intimate, private discussion with an arrogant king. The bastard had made a tent with his fingers before his mouth in kingly fashion, leaning on his elbows in his old chair at the table in what used to be the family compound house! No. Not tonight.
Plus, he still had Yonnie, Tara, and Gabby... definitely Zehiradangra, maybe even Kamal. Hmmm... Later. They'd come into the game later. Right now he had to wipe out this particular board before he and Cain reset it again to battle over the best two out of three rounds.
Carlos glimpsed Cain in the dining room, new awareness filling him and making him ball his fists at his sides. If Damali was over there battling, as was Cain, and they both took heads off with blades to protect Marlene, then obviously the hybrid creatures from Cain's world could die. Maybe not in the same way as on the earth plane, but exterminating one of those bastards was possible.
Suddenly it all became so clear to Carlos. Yonnie was right. Cain had played him in such a smooth move that it almost made Carlos spit. How better to come out looking like the more honorable man than to deliver a starved and dehydrated corpse to Damali's feet, but one that was intact and had no signs of mortal combat? No doubt Damali would run a scan to get to the truth, and there'd be no lie to be found; Cain wouldn't have slaughtered her man in a battle.
That way how could Damali blame Cain for not knowing how to get through the rip to bring her dead man home, especially if she never composed again to bring him through the veil? The scientists' involvement was a fluke and probably wouldn't happen again for a while, long enough for him to starve to death. It would be fate, an accident. One of those fucked-up things that happens when two men fight over a woman.
The more Carlos thought about it, the angrier he got. Cain's plan was simple: Heal his competitor, make a fellow warrior think it was impossible to fight in Nod. Then let him die of starvation in the realm that had no human sustenance. After that, when Damali began composing heartbreak and loss songs from worrying herself sick, Cain could bring a limp body home to Damali and comfort her as she blamed herself for the death of her lover. He would let her see the vision of how the two men who wanted her had lived under a strained but peaceful truce while her man unfortunately withered away.
He knew how this would go, yeah. Damali would blame herself; Cain would tell her, "Baby, it wasn't your fault. No one wanted this. It was on Carlos, who followed me there, angel. I tried to do all I could, but I couldn't get him back to you fast enough. But I tried." Then one thing would lead to another, in the course of compassion and comfort. Her guilt would eat her alive, and so would that Song-of-Solomon, Old-Testament-touting, King-David-plotting, ruthless motherfucker. Only problem with Cain's little game was he didn't expect his adversary to get home alive and in one piece. Cain didn't know who he was dealing with--a man with nine lives who had already seen shit like this before. Okay. Now it was war, for real. Carlos smiled.
Carlos forced his attention to Krissy and J.L., refusing to give in to the pull of Cain and Damali's focus, which was now on him. "Guys, the pressure is on, but it's not fair to rest all that on your shoulders. I know you're scared to death of picking a safe house and then having something go wrong, right?"
Krissy nodded as she looked up at Carlos with wide, trusting eyes. "We don't want anybody to get hurt because we made a mistake."
J.L. pounded Carlos's fist. "Man, I don't envy you guys being the generals."
"Hey, just do your best, that's all anybody can ask. We all make mistakes." Carlos held the junior Guardians' eyes with an empathetic gaze, knowing everybody in the room, especially Damali, heard the implied admission. "Ask me how I know." He moved away from them and let out his breath hard. "You don't even have the right tools that you need."
Carlos hesitated, knowing technology was Cain's weak spot, so he focused on that, almost smiling as he felt Cain's focus hone in on him. "You're