If someone could control sylph…

I was staring at my hands, remembering Li’s sarcastic, “Safe journey,” before I’d left Purple Rose Cottage, when Sam appeared on the stairwell. “Time to go home.”

After switching off the console, I followed him down and tapped lamps dark. Whit and Orrin had already gone.

“Is everything okay?” Sam offered my coat.

I glanced at the desks where the archivists had been working, knowing who had those diaries and not telling me. Maybe Sam had the books. Maybe he didn’t. Regardless, I didn’t think he would do anything to hurt me.

“Last night, there were books all over your floor. What were they?”

Shadows darkened his expression. “I’m not sure this is a good time for this conversation.”

I snatched my coat, shoved my arms through the sleeves, and pulled up my hood. “Fine.” Wrapped up in my scarf, I heaved open the door and strode outside.

“Ana.” Sam stood near me, but not touching. Only templelight lit his face; I was still fumbling with my flashlight. “I was doing research on dragons.”

I spun, my light finally working, and almost blinded him with the white beam.

He blinked out of the way. “I wanted to see if I could learn anything.” His face shone pale in the glare of my flashlight. “It’s happened so many times, I keep thinking they’re coming after me, and it’s not just horrible luck. So yes, I had those books in my room. I also had books about sylph, because I was equally concerned about you. Two attacks in two days.”

My throat closed up, and I hugged him tight. “Oh, Sam.” I pressed my face into the soft wool of his coat, inhaling his warm scent. “I’m sorry. Don’t worry about me. If you want to research dragons, let me help.”

“I don’t want to burden you. Everyone has their own worries and fears they’re reborn with. Eventually— Eventually it sorts itself out, and we’re all right again.”

That sounded like what Sine had said. Maybe she hadn’t been so insensitive on purpose. It was just all she knew.

I reached up, touched Sam’s face. Stubble caught in the wool of my mittens. “Burden me.”

“You have more important things to worry about. The first progress report—”

“Next week. I know.” With a sigh, I peeled away from him and gave my flashlight a few more twists. Nice everyone was so eager for me to do well, but my biggest incentive was not being exiled from Range or, worse, dumped with Li. “It’s difficult to focus on my studies when my best friend is struggling just to get through the hour.”

He hesitated. “So I’m your best friend now?”

My cheeks heated, and I shrugged. “It was between you and Sarit, and you have the piano. She just has honey.”

Sam laughed, and his knuckles brushed the back of my mitten, as if he’d been about to take my hand, but changed his mind. “Even though I’m pretty sure you chose the piano, not me—”

I bumped my shoulder to his arm, making him laugh again. Now that I was getting used to the idea that he wasn’t laughing at me, I enjoyed the sound more and more.

We continued down South Avenue, but our easy silence thickened as I remembered the previous night’s events. The footsteps.

Cold air stirred around my hood, rustling my hair. I shivered with the temperature and memory, vainly peering at the houses we passed. How could I figure out who had followed me? My thoughts kept turning back to Li, her threats from the market day, and whether she might have learned how to control sylph.

Sam touched my arm.

I startled, almost dropping my flashlight. Wool slipped on metal, but I scooped the tube against my chest and pinned it there.

“You seem uncomfortable.” His expression was impossible to read in the dark. Only starlight and the eerie temple glow brightened the city. The moon hadn’t risen yet; some nights its light reflected off the walls, giving Heart numinous radiance. But not tonight. It was just dark. “Ana?”

I shifted toward him and started walking again, quickening my pace. “I’m fine.” Really, I just wanted to get inside.

He kept up easily. “I hesitate to call you a liar, but I can tell when you’re not being honest. Did something happen?”

“Last night.” I kept my voice low, smothered it with my scarf. “When I was coming back to your house, I heard someone following me. There were footsteps. They vanished when I turned around.”

He didn’t ask me if I was sure like I thought he would, just put his arm around my shoulders and gave me a gentle squeeze. “I have something for you at home.”

Inside the dim parlor, Sam motioned for me to sit, and headed to one of the bookcases. Old hinges squeaked as he opened a box.

He crouched in front of me and laid a small, sheathed blade on my knees.

I tried to draw away, but it was already touching me. “What is this?” Carefully, I nudged it toward him, off my knees, and into his waiting hands.

“A knife.” He slipped off the leather covering to reveal a tiny blade, as thin and long as my index finger. “You need to promise me something.”

I didn’t take my eyes off the steel. “I don’t want that.”

“Please, Ana. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t think it was necessary. I believe someone followed you last night. If their motives were benign, why didn’t they announce themselves?”

“You think someone might try to hurt me.”

Something flashed in his eyes, but I was too slow to fully see it. I had a hard time looking away from the knife. It was such a little thing, much too tiny for his grip. Perhaps if I thought of it as an oversize needle, it wouldn’t seem so terrible.

“When you were born, the Council passed a law forbidding anyone to do you harm. Because you might die.”

Suddenly, I remembered the first meeting with the Council in the guard station, and Sam saying there was a law about my death. I shivered, trying not to wonder what other laws the Council had made about me.

“The rest of us, we’d come back, but there’s no way to tell about you. The Council wouldn’t allow anyone to steal your life.”

For a moment, I felt bad about the assumptions I’d made about the Councilors, but Sam pressed the knife handle against my palm and held it there until I relented. It fit my hand perfectly.

“Just because there’s a law doesn’t mean everyone’s going to obey. It’s unlikely that anything will ever happen, but there’s no harm in your carrying a knife, even if it simply makes you feel better when walking home.” He hazarded a smile. “I’ll never let you get hurt if I can help it, but you don’t want me following you around everywhere, do you?”

Maybe. Yes. “Absolutely not. The masquerade is coming up, and I don’t care if everyone else cheats. No one is supposed to know who you are, right? I won’t let you see what I’m wearing, and I don’t want to know how you’re dressing up.”

“I know. But you’ll be carrying that.” He nodded toward the knife still in my hand.

It wasn’t heavy. The rosewood handle was smooth but not slick, and smelled sweet, while the delicate blade had been recently cleaned. No doubt it was sharp, but I didn’t touch it to see. Other than prettiness and whether I could carry it, I had no idea what to look for in a weapon, but I imagined this was a good one. Sam didn’t keep things he didn’t feel were worthwhile.

“Do you promise to keep the knife with you?” He looked earnest, and I really didn’t want to rely on him.

Carrying a weapon seemed extreme when someone had only been following me, especially if there was a law protecting me. But, as he’d said, not everyone observed laws. I wouldn’t care about curfew if the punishment wasn’t Li or banishment. What was the punishment for trying to kill me?

Again, I thought of what Menehem had been working on before he’d left Heart.

I slipped the sheath over the blade and set the knife on a nearby table. “Only because you asked so nicely.”

“Excellent.” He smiled, but a shadow lingered behind his eyes. He wasn’t telling me something, but I hadn’t

Вы читаете Incarnate
Добавить отзыв
ВСЕ ОТЗЫВЫ О КНИГЕ В ИЗБРАННОЕ

0

Вы можете отметить интересные вам фрагменты текста, которые будут доступны по уникальной ссылке в адресной строке браузера.

Отметить Добавить цитату