Poison Tree

fatal. The Onyx attacker could have followed Alysia when she left her room, then lost track of her in the snow and thought she was with our group. They realized they hadn’t hit their target and split, and their employer hired Maya next.”

“You said before that Christian has some pretty close ties to the leader of Onyx. If the original shooter was from that guild, he also might have balked once Christian got involved,” Lynzi suggested, “so the client probably called in a new mercenary from outside the guilds. This might actually work for us. The Bruja guilds are too powerful for us to go against directly, but if this Maya is an independent mercenary, she can probably be bought.

Jason, what do you think?”

He nodded. “With SingleEarth’s resources, absolutely.”

“Then we can—”

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Lynzi called. For most people, it would have been reckless to call out without even looking through the peephole, but Lynzi’s magic would have alerted her if someone approached who was powerful enough to be a threat.

Mary opened the door and peeked her head inside.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she said, “but I have a young woman in the lobby looking for

Alysia. She seems very upset but won’t tell me what’s going on. Is anyone available to speak to her?”

“Please bring her in,” Lynzi said. After the secretary walked away, Lynzi added, “I hope you all have your seat belts buckled. This Haven hasn’t even had a chance to adjust to losing Joseph. Losing Alysia after she has barely had a chance to walk in the door is going to put a strain on our residents.”

Their guest, who arrived a minute later, was wearing worn blue jeans and a sand-colored peasant blouse. Her hair, which was a rich burgundy color, was pulled back, which put more emphasis on her dark, cinnamon- colored eyes. Sarik found herself staring at the woman, wondering, What now?

“Come in,” Lynzi said. “What can we do for you?”

“The secretary told me Alysia is gone,” the woman said, her eyes wide.

“I’m sorry to say she left SingleEarth just recently,” Lynzi answered. “Were you working with her?”

The woman drew a breath and nodded. “My little sister,” the woman said. “She’s been … ill, I guess? Or something? You see, our father left when she was very young. We didn’t know he was … I’m standing here and I’m sorry but it still sounds crazy. I mean, shapeshifters? Seriously? ”

“Sarik, why don’t you speak to our guest?” Lynzi suggested.

“Who the hell are you, the babysitter?” the newcomer demanded, looking at Sarik and the two boys.

Jeht started to stand when the woman turned on Sarik with obvious anger, but Sarik put a hand on his shoulder to calm him and tried to explain. “I can—”

“What are you?” their guest asked bluntly.

“I’m a shapeshifter,” Sarik answered. “Like your sister.”

“You’re a snake?”

“No,” Sarik answered. “I’m a tiger, actually. But—”

“Then what good are you?” the woman asked waspishly, before dropping her gaze and looking chastised. “I’m sorry. This is all just too much for me.” She turned to go, saying, “I’ll come back when I can talk to another human being.”

She stormed out, not leaving any contact information.

Sarik and the other mediators exchanged glances, and after a few moments, Lynzi said, “That was odd.” The Triste frowned, shaking her head before saying, “Well, it wasn’t odd for this place, but it seemed off somehow.”

Sarik didn’t attempt to make a judgment on the woman’s behavior. She doubted her own could be trusted just then.

“Family members of serpiente who have been raised human tend to go through a particularly di cult process,” Lynzi reminded them all. “Seeking help was probably di cult for her—only possible at all because she could convince herself that she could trust another human.”

Serpiente were not just shapeshifters; even in human form, their bodies functioned di erently from humans’. Among other things, their slow metabolisms made them nearly cold-blooded. When raised human, they tended to start changing during adolescence, a painful process that often triggered many series of tests and hospitalizations before they came to SingleEarth’s attention. Family members often had to transition from mourning for a loved one they thought was dying to coping with the knowledge that there was an entire world they had previously thought of as the provenance of myth and campfire stories.

“Should someone go after her?” Sarik asked.

“Chasing her through SingleEarth is not going to make her feel safer,” Lynzi replied. “She will either come back on her own or nd a human mediator she trusts at another Haven.

On the other hand, I think this is a good cue for us to adjourn. Sarik, the cubs could use your attention right now. Jason, stay a moment?”

Sarik nodded, recognizing a dismissal when she heard one, but she looked to Jason instead of leaving immediately. He gave a half smile and said, “I had to face her someday.

It’s a lot easier to face a mercenary with the weight of the wealthiest organization in the world at your back.”

Sarik heard the false bravado in his words, but sometimes that was the only way to face one’s fears. Fake it til you make it, she thought.

Meanwhile, as Lynzi and Jason discussed how to handle Maya, Sarik had to nd a way to explain to the child who had probably saved her life as well as Alysia’s that it wasn’t nice to kill people.

“Are these people warriors?” Jeht asked after they left the room.

Maybe that was the answer.

“Yes,” she said, “but not in the way you think. There are ways to be a leader, and to protect your people, that don’t rely on violence and brute strength.”

She had been thinking that if the cubs could not return to the Mistari, she needed to convince them that they didn’t need to be warriors. That wasn’t the right approach. It was too late to convince them that they didn’t always need to be ready for battle, but perhaps it wasn’t too late to make them see that not every battle involved claws or a blade.

Maybe, along the way, she could finally convince herself of the same thing.

CHAPTER 13

ALYSIA SAW CHRISTIAN go down but couldn’t spare any attention to see how badly he was hurt. Tristes were tough to kill—most people weren’t crazy enough to try. At that moment, she had to put all her focus on the two vampires who were flanking her.

And then there was one, she thought as Christian reached out and dragged one of them away from her. Judging from the bloodsucker’s shriek, Christian used more than his bare hands. Tristes were famous for making vampires their preferred prey, and an injured Triste was probably in no mood to be gentle.

Alysia saw the sniper just past where Christian was grappling with his vampiric target, and managed to throw her opponent in front of the next bolt that came her way. She followed him down with a stake, but the archer reloaded too quickly; before she could get under cover, she felt the impact in her esh. A steel-and- aluminum shaft shattered her kneecap on its way to burying its head in that vulnerable joint, sending black pain through her.

She was more aware of shadows and movement than she was of events in the next few seconds while she struggled to breathe, to somehow get her body ready to fight.

She looked up again to nd Christian standing, facing the direction where the archer had been a moment ago. The attacker must have decided flight was the better part of valor.