Poison Tree

younger than normal. Her dark hair had come loose from the scarf she wore, and it fell around her sweet-looking face, casting shadows over her eyes. Jason was pale, with dark circles under his eyes. When Sarik ran to his side, he inched away before saying, “Sorry,” and reaching up to grasp her hand. The chill in his skin told her that he still desperately needed to feed.

“You need blood,” she said.

He shook his head sharply. “Later.”

“What happened?”

Lynzi said, “We were attacked. Just outside the admin building. Jason, Israel, and a technician named Ben were all hit with some kind of arrow—”

“Bolt,” Alysia interjected. The human stood to the side of the window, wearing worn jeans, boots, and a long-sleeved turtleneck with a vivid blotch of blood at the cuff.

“Bolt, arrow, whatever,” Sarik responded. “Who attacked you?”

“We don’t know that yet,” Alysia answered. “Judging by the angle, whoever it was must have been on the balcony of the recreation hall. Lynzi says some witches might have been able to determine identity through auras or something, but I doubt even someone with a vampire’s sight could have made out more than general shapes given the weather, and

Jason doesn’t see how anyone could have predicted exactly who would be in that spot at that moment. So the targets were probably random.”

“What’s the di erence between a bolt and an arrow?” Lynzi asked. “You said it as if it’s important, Alysia.”

“It is important,” Alysia answered. “Arrows are shot by something like a longbow or a shortbow. Modern variations exist, but you might as well think Robin Hood. These were shot from a crossbow.”

As she spoke, Alysia stepped forward and unrolled a bundle of fabric that had been on

Lynzi’s co ee table, revealing three deceptively simple-looking black bolts. The shaft was a little fatter than a pencil, and the feathery pieces on the back were mostly black with gold detail. Each bolt’s tip was di erent: one was solid metal, one had a nasty-looking barbed tip, and one had the distinctive red sheen of restone. Alysia picked up one of the bolts.

Sarik noted that the human did not cringe, even though these had surely been inside someone’s flesh not long ago. She twirled it until the light glinted on a phrase written down the side in gold: One of the former.

“Who here is familiar with Onyx?” Alysia asked.

Lynzi said, “I’ve heard of them. They tried to recruit me, around the turn of the century—

the last one, I mean. They’re assassins.”

“Assassins and mercenaries,” Jason added. He paused, trying to decide how much Lynzi needed to know. “I wasn’t exactly a saint before I came here. I wasn’t personally associated with Onyx, but the woman I … who I worked for made sure we knew the important names in the game.”

“And Onyx is a pretty important name,” Alysia said. “They’re one of an elite trio of mercenary groups called the Bruja guilds. The phrase on these bolts is a reference to Bruja’s motto, and the crossbow is Onyx’s signature weapon.”

“You seem pretty familiar with them,” Sarik remarked. Her own voice startled her. How did it sound so calm? Habit, she supposed. For now, she needed to say the right things, ask the right questions. She could think it through and fall apart later. “Can you theorize why they would attack us?”

“If they’re mercenaries, then the only reason to attack is because they’re paid to,” Lynzi answered. “So the question is, who would hire them to attack us? And why?”

“Given the visibility and the wind, the fact that all three shots connected with their targets suggests an expert,” Alysia said. “And all three victims are still alive—that suggests that the attacker was very careful not to kill.”

“That seems like a stretch,” Jason objected, his hand instinctively going to a spot low on his stomach. “You saw the bolt that hit me—you were the one who took it out of me. It had firestone in it.”

“And we had a Triste in the next building,” Alysia replied. “Anyone from Onyx planning an attack would have done research rst. They would know what we can take. Jason was hit in the lower abdomen, Ben was hit in the leg, and Israel’s worst injury was to her hand, which was at her side next to her leg. I refuse to believe this archer could hit all three targets yet somehow aimed too low to connect with any vital organs.”

“The stomach is pretty vital, as is the femoral artery,” Jason replied.

“Not like the heart, or lung, or aorta,” Alysia argued, “and not with the kinds of healers we have on staff.”

“You were there?” Sarik asked as Alysia’s words sank in.

Alysia nodded, and then seemed to pause. She looked at Sarik, and Sarik could see in the human’s eyes the exact moment when she realized that her presence on the scene looked suspicious.

“I went to see if I could do anything about the network issue,” Alysia answered.

Before dawn, in sleet and freezing wind, after tech support had already been cal ed? Sarik bit her tongue to hold back the question.

Lynzi frowned and then rubbed her temple. Especially in her own ritual space, Sarik knew, the Triste could probably feel every spike of emotion around her, no matter how carefully someone tried to conceal feelings. On the other hand, with so many strong emotions piled on top of the exhaustion she must have been coping with after healing

Jason, Israel, and Ben, Sarik would have been surprised if Lynzi could read anything specific.

Jason squeezed Sarik’s hand. He said, “Alysia ran forward when Ben shouted for her. She helped get us under cover, pulled the restone out of me, and kept Ben from bleeding to death before Mary could get Lynzi. And she donated blood.”

Sarik nodded, taking in the information. Jason was right; Alysia’s reaction wasn’t what she expected of a mercenary.

Lynzi swallowed and said, “I think we need to send someone to Onyx. I’m sure they see us as a bunch of tree-hugging peaceniks, but SingleEarth is one of the wealthiest and most in uential organizations in the world. We need to make it clear that there is a value to not crossing us.”

Sarik shuddered at the notion and then turned and stared when Alysia said, “I can go and try to set up a meeting. Immediately, unless someone has a good reason to wait.” She glanced up at the clock on Lynzi’s wall. “The Hall is about four hours away. I can get there and back by evening.”

What are you thinking, Alysia? Sarik wished she could read the human’s mind. Alysia’s knowledge of Onyx made it obvious that she had some kind of history with them. It was possible that she was in SingleEarth because she had run away from that guild, but if so, why would she volunteer to go back there?

The panic of the morning was getting the best of Sarik. She didn’t have enough information to make sense of Alysia’s behavior, but she knew one thing for sure: she needed answers.

“You shouldn’t go alone,” Sarik said. “You gave blood this morning. You shouldn’t be driving four hours to meet with mercenaries.”

Alysia glanced at Jason and Lynzi, who were both obviously exhausted. They would need to feed and rest to recover their strength. That left only Sarik.

This is the only way to know, Sarik told herself. She had to risk it.

At last, Alysia said, “I would be happy to have you with me.”

“Fine,” Lynzi said. “I’m going to update Diana and then call Central to get security here.

Onyx may have elite mercenaries, but SingleEarth is not defenseless.

“Both of you. Travel safe.”

“I wish I could go with you,” Jason said softly, standing to come by Sarik’s side. He wobbled, unsteady on his feet, and she caught his arm and kissed him before her normal reserved attitude could catch up to her.

“I love you,” she said.

“Make sure you come home,” he said.