she wanted a smoke. A good pipe on a sunny balcony somewhere far away from the ruined shambles of her life. Instead, she got glaring lanterns and the thunder of boots as the soldiers surged into the cavern.
“Down here!” someone shouted. There was a string of curses and clanging metal as the men climbed over the downed tanks, and then she heard a man shout her name. The light moved to shine right in her face as a pair of young guardsmen dropped to their knees at her side.
“Lady Sara!” the one in the officer’s coat cried, holding his lantern high. “What happened?”
Sara pressed her fingers against her eyes, trying in vain to blot out the glare. “Too much,” she muttered. “Help me to the Merchant Prince. It looks like I get to ruin his day twice over.”
There was a chorus of shouts as the soldiers ran to obey. Sara let them lift her, too tired to protest when the pair of guardsmen slung her between them like an oat sack. She closed her eyes as they carried her past the destruction, past Sparrow’s body, still lying where it had fallen. Only when they’d climbed the stairs and emerged into the noise and light of the Council Citadel on high alert did she let herself look ahead to the long, painful, hateful, slow process of rebuilding, or at least patching over, everything that had shattered today.
“What was that, Lady Sara?” her guard asked, looking down.
“I said, get me a new pipe.”
“Yes, Lady,” the guard said, and then he turned to shout the order over his shoulder.
Sara scrubbed her eyes, breathing shallow against the growing pain in her back. Through the windows she could see the sunset painting the white walls of Zarin in bright oranges, as bright as Banage’s fire bird. Feeling slightly ill, Sara turned away, letting them haul her up the endless stairs to Whitefall’s tower.
Powers, this was going to be a long night.
CHAPTER
12
Eli woke up to the familiar feeling of Josef’s boot in his ribs. He rolled over with a grunt, blinking in the dark.
“Hour till dawn,” the swordsman whispered. “Time to go.”
With a noncommittal grumble, Eli sat up off the board floor and rubbed his aching eyes. Oh, the comforts of home. He arched his shoulders to get the kinks out of his back and looked over. Josef and Nico were standing under the tiny street-level window set high on the wall. The street lamps’s glow filtered down through the wood- thatched shutter, the only source of light in the small basement they’d taken over for the night. When Josef saw him looking, he tossed Eli something small and dark. The thief caught it by reflex and looked down to see a round loaf of dark bread.
“Eat,” Josef said, eyes narrowing as Eli took a small bite. “Quickly.”
“It will be faster if I don’t choke,” Eli said, chewing thoughtfully.
Josef’s scowl deepened. “It would have been faster if we’d used the night to get out of town.”
“Some of us haven’t been living like a king,” Eli said pointedly, breaking the bread in two. “And unlike you two monsters, I need normal, human amounts of sleep. I’ve had a very rough few days, thank you very much.”
Josef shook his head and turned back to the window, glaring suspiciously at the passing feet of the early- morning traffic. Beside him, Nico leaned against the wall staring intently at the Heart of War’s blade, which was leaned up beside her.
Eli shoved the bread in his mouth, wondering what the demonseed saw when she looked at Josef’s sword. Not for the first time, he wished he could see as she did, as spirits saw. He’d been curious his whole life, but when he’d asked Benehime, back in the days when he still asked her for things, she’d just laughed and told him there was nothing to see.
That line of thought brought him right back to the place he didn’t want to go. Eli slumped on the ground, chewing mechanically. The first rule of thievery said that the only person you had to be honest with was yourself. It was the rule he broke more than any other, and he always, always regretted it.
Eli’s hand slid under his shirt of its own volition, feeling the smooth, unburned skin of his chest. Yesterday he’d almost believed that all he had to do was get to the Shaper Mountain, get his lava spirit back where he belonged, and then everything would be fine. He’d have Karon, he’d have his freedom, he’d have Josef and Nico, and the world would be roses. No more dealing with his past, no more walking the edge of Benehime’s displeasure. Paradise, or as close as he could hope to come. Now, with the rush of his escape gone, the truth was getting harder and harder to ignore.
Eli closed his eyes and forced himself to face reality. There was no way Benehime would actually let him go. They’d argued before, never that badly, but if Benehime could be convinced with words alone, he’d have been rid of her a long time ago. Whatever freedom he felt was an illusion, nothing but slack in his long leash. Any moment, she’d pull it taut and he’d be right back in her lap again.
Eli grimaced and tongued the bread that had gone to sawdust in his mouth. How stupid, getting his hope up. He should know better by now. She was the only prison he could never escape.
Across the room, Josef said, “What?”
Eli jumped. “What?” he repeated dumbly.
“You’re looking uncharacteristically gloomy,” the swordsman said, folding his arms over his wide chest. “That’s usually a bad sign.”
Eli sighed. If Josef was noticing, it must be bad. “Just feeling sorry for myself,” he said, all smiles as he polished off the last crumbs of the bread. “I’m a tragically heroic figure, you know.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Josef grumbled, pushing off the wall. “But if you’re done with your sulk, we need to talk business. I’d like to know how we’re getting to the Shaper Mountain without walking halfway across the continent. You said you had a plan.”
“Yes,” Eli said, clearing his throat to buy some time. Josef was staring at him like a hawk, his whole body poised like he was about to charge. Nico was looking at him as well, one skeletal hand picking idly at the coat that pooled around her like spilled ink. Under such scrutiny, Eli couldn’t help but think how many times they’d sat like this, hidden in some hole while he laid out his brilliant plan to turn everything around. Trouble was, this time he didn’t know what to say.
He took a deep breath and started with the truth.
“We have to move fast,” Eli said. “I saved Karon from the volcano who expelled him years ago. My body was the only home he had left. Unless Benehime sent him to another volcano, which I doubt she was thoughtful enough to do, he’s fighting for his life as we speak. If conditions are right, he can keep his core alive for several days, but if Benehime dumped him somewhere cruel, like into the sea or under a glacier, he’s already snuffed out. The only way to know for sure is to ask the Shaper Mountain. If there’s a chance Karon’s still alive, I need to get to him fast. Anything less would be an insult to all the times he’s saved our lives.”
“If that’s how it is, why did you go to sleep?” Josef said, crossing his arms.
“Because I was tired,” Eli said, rubbing his eyes. “Because running off on no sleep is a quick way to make mistakes we can’t afford, because I need every bit of my mind together before I try to get the Teacher to do me any favors, and because if we can do this like I’m hoping we can, Karon’ll be back in my chest by this afternoon.”
“This afternoon?” Josef said, loud and incredulous. “Powers, Eli. We couldn’t fly there that fast. What the…”
His voice trailed off when he saw Eli wasn’t looking at him but at Nico. Josef looked back and forth between them, his scowl deepening, but it was Nico who spoke.
“The white gate in the air,” she said softly, her dark eyes boring into Eli’s. “You’re going to open the hole through the world again.”
Eli shook his head. “I can’t do that anymore.” He stopped a moment, surprised at how strange it felt to admit that. But it passed quickly, and he pressed on. “The only one who can help me now is you.”
Nico’s eyes went wide, and Eli held his breath. She knew what he was asking. He could see it on her face. But before she could answer him, Josef’s voice fell like a sword stroke, cutting the silence clean through with a
