SEVENTEEN
Do you?
Do you what?
Do you love me?
Danica woke in darkness. She’d dreamed of Cole. For a moment she couldn’t remember what had happened, and she panicked when she couldn’t find Lara next to her.
And then she remembered Lara was dead, and she was wracked with sorrow. She tried to keep herself quiet, but her sobs echoed into the dark. Memories of Cole flashed through her mind, moments they’d shared. W alking near Rimefang Loch beneath a blood sun. D oing shots of green liquor on an airship passing over Kalakkaii. S moking naked in Cole’s little apartment in Ath while they read cheesy lines to each other from paranormal romance novels. L ooking at one an other, staring at one an other, kissing and caressing and listening to music from the grammaphone.
Danica lay in the dark. She imagined Cole next to her, just like in her memor ies, with her dark hair spilled o nto the floor, her pale skin, her luminous eyes large and expressive and filled with something Danica could only hope was love, Black’s own helpless devotion reciprocated.
She smiled at the memories, even though they brought tears to her eyes.
Do you love me?
I don’t know.
She was on an airship. She heard the hum of machinery and smelled fuel. T he large steel vessel vibrated as it barreled its way across the frozen sky.
It was a large ship, she guessed, an Ironnaught, which meant t hey were on a long voyage. A vessel that big meant Rake had brought plenty of res ources along. Men, Scarecrows, vehicles.
What the hell are you up to? Why are you in bed with Koth?
No one came for her. She was left alone in the dark. H er spirit was distant and blocked off. Shielded by the Fade, Raven.
What do you want with me, Rake?
I guess we’ll use you after all, he’d said.
Use me for what?
She couldn’t come up with an answer. From what she could tell, he just wanted to make her suffer.
She slept.
S he and Lara and Cross and Kane are all in the Black Hag back in Thornn. The room bustle s with people. The air is bright in spite of the tobacco smoke. People laugh and smile and dance. The dark air swirl s with dissonant chords of tribal music and heavy beats. The smell of bacon and bread is strong.
She sits at the table, and all three of them look at her gravely. Their bodies fad e before her eyes. The y begin to crumble like they ’re made of sand.
She panics. She reaches across for Lara, but her hands pass right through her, and Cole’s body comes apart and collapses into dust.
She reaches for Cross, and Kane. She takes hold of them both, but her grip is tenuous. They ’ re slipping through her grip, slowly coming apart.
They ’ ll both be gone soon. She doesn’t have much time.
Danica woke in darkness. A gain. Voices from dreams and memories plagued her thoughts.
The air was colder than before. G usts of cold wind push ed through the gaps in the steel-plated hull. T he floor dipped at a steep angle. The ship must have been flying through some treacherous territory, navigating high peaks or sharp winds. Everything lurched.
Danica slowly rose to her hands and knees. Her body was rigid with pain. Her spirit had never had the opportunity to fully heal the wounds she’d suffered in t he Gauntlet, so her arm and leg were both tender, and they pulsed with hurt. A t least they were no longer bleeding.
Her back was sore, and her arms ached so badly she could barely lift them. She felt how swollen her face was from the battle with Creyzak.
Lara.
Do you?
She stood up and stumbled through the darkness. S he found a wall, and slowly explored the perimeter of the room. It seemed to be empty, which meant they’d likely stuck her in a spare cargo hold. Ironnaughts were massive ships designed to haul hundreds of prisoners at a time, and they were armed to the teeth in case they ran into any trouble. Even if Rake brought a massive force along there’d still be rooms to spare for the likes of her.
I’m not done yet, you bastards. You know me, Rake. You know I won’t die easily.
She found a recess in the wall, and after she probed around for a minute she realized it was the hatch door with a rotating wheel handle that was undoubtedly locked from the outside.
It occurred to her they must have placed her in some sort of shielded chamber. She doubted very much that Raven was just standing around outside so Black couldn’t channel her spirit.
She rested her face against the cold metal. The Ironnaughts weren’t terribl y well insulated. The heat she’ d felt when she’d first woken hadn’t been from the engines but from whatever lay outside. That meant they’d started off near the Scorpion Desert, not far from Black Scar, and now that it wa s colder they were likely entering the north. They were probably somewhere in t he Reach.
And what the hell do you want there, Rake? The Reach was barren tundra, a no man’s land populated by tribes of uncivilized creatures. Aside from some scattered settlements, there was very little to be found in the area.
But there are lost cities there, she reminded herself. Places like Karamanganjii. The last place she’d seen Lara until they’d both been taken in Blacksand.
God damn you, she thought. You knew they’d kill her anyway s. Why did you give them Cross?
You have to fix this. I don’t how, but you have to.
She st oo d at the door. She listened.
S he heard beastly roars that she thought came from below. Th at meant th ey were carrying Ebonbacks, and maybe Razorwings. Of course, if the Kothians had tagged along then there was no telling what sorts of undead monstrosities might have be en on the ship.
The fact that Rake had chosen to all y T he Revengers with the undead of Koth turned her stomach. If there was any modicum of kinship or familiarity left for her former allies, it had been dispelled by that arrangement. It didn’t matter that some of T he Revengers might not agree with the alliance: none of them would oppose Rake. Even his co-founders hadn’t been strong enough to stop him from taking over the prison. T he Revengers would follow him no matter what, and that made each and every one of them her enemy.
Black searched around the door, desperate for a way out, even though she knew there wasn’t one.
Save your strength. Prepare your mind. When an opportunity comes, you ’ll have to seize it.
T he door opened. It might have been hours later.
Danica was sitting on the floor. She rested and meditat ed as best she could. Kane had taught her some yoga on the ir lengthy train trip along the Dubrakki Railway, and she found it helped calm her mind sometimes.
She snapped to and stood up as the door opened. Danica looked for a n opportunity, but she quickly realized this wouldn’t be it. Two Scarecrows stood in the doorway with jury-rigged 20mm rifles aimed straight at her chest. T heir leering and near ly skeletal f aces seemed to grin. The corridor was filled with dim red light, like they stood in a darkroom. Danica had to squint to see.
“Slowly,” Raven’s voice commanded from deeper in the hall. “Try anything stupid…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Danica said. She was too weak and exhausted to fight the Scarecrows without the aid of her spirit, so she quietly stepped forward and offered up her wrists. They cuffed her with cold iron and led her down a long corridor lined with vault-style doors. The steel was riveted and stained. Everything smelled like fuel and sweat.
The Ironnaught lurched as they led Danica up a steep set of metal stairs. The Scarecrows flanked her front
