The inert male body lay on a cot, his chestbare, his blankets thrown to the floor. A rough red rash coveredthe flesh, a rash Amaranthe recognized. Maybe it wasn’t the same.Maybe the symptoms were just similar. Maybe…
“What is it?” Books asked, watching herface.
“Hysintunga,” she whispered.
“That’s one possibility, but there are otherdiseases with similar symptoms. The insects that carry Hysintungaaren’t native to this area-they prefer hot, humid climates-and it’sunlikely this man died of that malady.”
“I’ve seen it in Stumps before,” Amaranthesaid. “I’ve been
Books closed the door on the dead man.“Hysintunga is always fatal, isn’t it?”
“Unless you know a shaman who can healit.”
“But Sicarius is the only one who knows whereto find one?”
“Yes,” Amaranthe said. “It looks like thesepeople are beyond help anyway.”
“If those responsible for the kidnappings arealso responsible for this…how could they have known we’d comehere?”
“Maybe this has nothing to do with us. Maybethey just didn’t want this crew poking around on the bottom of thelake. For these people to be dead now, they would have to have beeninfected days ago.”
Amaranthe continued down the corridor. Morenarrow steps led down to the storage area where spindles secured tothe deck held coils of rope and chain. Cabinets lined thesidewalls, and a low ceiling sloped down to a larger double-doorcubby. She could stand straight, but Books would have to hunch lowto keep from hitting his head on ceiling beams.
“Let’s check these,” she said.
Books took one side and Amaranthe unlatchedthe cabinet doors on the other. Hooks and chains occupied onecubby, rope another, and copper equipment she could not identify athird. No diving suits.
“Any luck?” she asked.
“Not yet.” Books had reached the larger doorsat the end. He unlatched them and tugged one open.
An angry buzz came from the darkness within.A familiar angry buzz.
“Close the door!” Amaranthe shouted,stumbling for the exit. “Get back!”
When Books tried to comply, he cracked hishead on one of the beams, and his foot caught in a coil of rope. Hedropped his lantern and stumbled to the floor. His light winkedout. The door he’d thrust shut banged against the frame and bouncedopen again.
The glow of Amaranthe’s lantern was enough toreveal a fat insect as long as her finger flying from the hold. Atail reminiscent of a lizard’s streamed out behind it. Some utterlyuseless part of her mind remembered the Kendorians called themFangs.
Wings flapped, and the insect veered straighttoward Books. His feet were tangled in the rope, and hefloundered.
Amaranthe tore her sword free and set thelantern down in one motion. She darted to Books’s side and swung atthe insect. The blade sliced it in two. Its halves splatted to thedeck, the long tail still twitching.
Before she could reach down to help Books tohis feet, more buzzes filled the silence.
“Emperor’s warts,” she cursed. She startedtoward the cabinet, hoping to shut them in, but movement near thedoor made her jerk back.
Books extricated himself and leaped to hisfeet, his blade out before he stood fully upright. Four Fangsstreamed out of the cubby.
“Back to back,” Amaranthe barked. “Slice themor squash them beneath your boots, but you’re dead if you let thembite you.”
“Understood.” Books lowered into a crouch,sword raised.
One Fang veered toward Amaranthe. She whippedher blade at it, but the insect sensed the threat and flittedupward. Her tip smacked into a beam instead, jarring her arm. Theblade stuck in the wood, costing her precious time.
The insect arrowed toward her neck. Sheducked, spinning and tearing her blade free. Books’s sword slicedin, hacking a wing off the Fang. It spiraled toward a wall.
Before Amaranthe could thank him, she spottedtwo insects flapping toward him. “Watch out!”
The wingless one bumped against a cabinetdoor near her. Fear stole finesse, and she chopped at it like alogger with an axe. Wood chipped free, and bug guts splattered.
“Got one,” Books said.
“Where are the other two?”
Amaranthe put her back against the cabinetsand held her sword ready before her. She strained her ears,listening for their buzz, but she heard footfalls instead.Maldynado and Akstyr.
“Stay back, you two,” she called, chargingfor the corridor. “The bugs are deadly.”
She darted through the hatchway in time tosee Maldynado ducking and flailing his arms. Akstyr lingeredbehind, and he backed away at her warning.
A Fang buzzed about Maldynado’s head.Amaranthe ran toward him, sword poised for a strike.
He saw her coming and dropped to the deck.She never took her focus from the bug. It drew in its wings to diveat Maldynado, but she skewered it.
“Where’s the last one?” she demanded. If itescaped into the night, it could buzz about the city, infectingcountless citizens.
“Got it,” Akstyr said in a strainedvoice.
He stood on the steps, his arm outstretched.A bug hovered in the air, inches from his open palm. The wingscontinued to flap, but it did not make any forward progress.
Amaranthe raised her blade. “Shall I?”
“Wait,” he whispered.
Akstyr’s eyelids drooped, almost as if hewere falling asleep, but Amaranthe knew better. She did not lowerher sword and debated on simply ending it, but Akstyr neededpractice to master his art.
Seconds ticked by. Though she heard Maldynadorising behind her, she kept her eyes focused on the Fang.
She opened her mouth to question Akstyr, butpaused when smoke wafted from the insect’s wings. A heartbeat laterit burst into flame. Amaranthe gaped as it burned to a crisp. Ashestrickled to the deck.
“It worked,” Akstyr blurted, a grin on hisface.
“That was…disconcerting,” Books said.
“Can you do that with people?” Maldynadoasked.
Akstyr shrugged. “Probably not yet.”
Yet? The day he could do that would be theday Amaranthe feared Akstyr.
“Let’s see what they were guarding,” was allshe said.
The large cubby in the back of the storagearea held five diving helmets and suits as well as tubing andpumps.
“Now
“What is?” Maldynado asked.
“The fact that Taloncrest booby-trapped thevery equipment we need?” Books knelt to inspect the gear.
“This does lend credence to our theory,”Amaranthe said. “That something’s down there in the lake and thesepeople don’t want it discovered.”
“So they killed the whole crew?” Maldynadoasked.
“It’s possible this doubled as an experiment.When I met that colonel, he was quite cheerful about furthering hisresearch and didn’t seem concerned about deaths. Actually, he waslooking forward to dissecting my cadaver.”
“He sounds like a lovely fellow,” Maldynadosaid.
“I’m not sure how experimenting with diseasescould tie in with the kidnappings though.” Amaranthe reached up andgripped one of the beams over her head. “But if it
