‘Oh, I believe you know exactly what I’m talking about. You have seen too much evidence of higher beings to deny any longer. The Tier feeds this world once again.This is no longer a godless planet, and the preternatural begin to rise from their long slumber. Fed by the power of the Waters I delivered for our Lord Lahar.’
Blake bit at her lip, hoping her expression didn’t betray her desire to slap the smug look from the captain’s face. ‘I don’t know what any of that has to do with Perry. What I saw was a sick man. An epileptic fit perhaps. Cardiac arrest…human shortcomings.’
Because if it were not, then what had happened to him could happen to Kira.
‘An utukku possessed this man. The residual indicators are clear, but such a creature has as little time for humans as I do.’ Blake had no clue what an utukku was, nor did Nex offer an explanation. Which was fine, so far as she was concerned. Just remaining upright was taking the bulk of her concentration. Nex continued, ‘That man was targeted for a reason – the utukku scented the gallu upon him, and hunted through the valleys of the human’s mind in search of Azrael. Perry’s mind is ruptured beyond repair.’ Captain Nex nodded towards the door. The sound of Nari and Reuben’s footfalls – heavy boots reverberating off the concrete floor – reached Blake, but she did not turn around. ‘He is dead, you understand? His heart beats at the will of a machine. Even if mere instinct led you to him, your decision to conceal him from us suggests to me you are far from oblivious to your sister’s actions. That you know full well where the gallu can be located, and perhaps this man’s discovery threatened that. Where have they gone, girl?’
The footsteps ceased, right behind her, but still Blake did not turn around. It was not just her hands shaking now – the trembling went right to the core. And along with it, a sickening, despicable relief that the truth could never be wrung from Perry.
‘I do not know.’ The words she was least fond of, spoken in a place she despised. ‘But I would like to know, as much as you would. Allow me to continue searching for her.’
‘You are intelligent, but you are not clever, and you will not win this game, whatever it is you seek to play. Not here amongst the gods and the godly. The reek of fear is strong on you. And rightly so. You’ve taken something the goddess covets. A terrible move, Technician. You’ll be involved in the search, that much is certain. I doubt it will be to your liking, though.’ Captain Nex’s amusement formed a contorted smile, laced with disdain. He flicked his fingers towards her, as though shooing away a fly. In his mind, he likely was. Reuben took Blake’s elbow.
‘Let’s go, Blake. Tamas is waiting for you.’
Led out of the ward by Tamas’s bodyguards, Blake searched once more for Cym. But found only the frightened face of the nurse who had attended Perry.
Reuben was not gentle as he shoved Blake into Tamas’s room but she made certain not to give any indication of the discomfort. The guards left them alone. If ever there was someone who looked as drained as Blake felt, it was Tamas. His olive skin was stormy and bruised beneath his eyes. He sat on the edge of his unmade bed. Once upon a very long time ago, they’d shared that bed, both regretting the encounter while the sheets were still damp. Tamas’s taste for men had been fortified, and Blake had learned without doubt she shared none of Kira’s obsession with bodily contact. The messy, revealing thing that it was. There’d been no one before, no one since. And no desire to change the status quo.
Inexplicably though, the relationship with Tamas had deepened. The silences they shared had lengthened. And when conversation did occur, he never remonstrated her when she sank into her thoughts, oblivious to the company she shared. They were perfect at being utterly disconnected, together.
But there was no oblivion now. No silence. Tamas stared at the flat-screen TV on the wall opposite his bed.
‘You’ve done a wonderful job, Blake,’ he said softly. ‘I knew you would. I wish my mother could see this. I’d make her eat each and every patronising word she spat at me when I chose you. She was an overbearing bitch. I do not miss her, but I’d endure a moment in her company if it meant she could witness this.’
The footage was of level eleven and the four carapaces Blake had led a team in creating. They dangled from four miniature cranes assembled around the Tier. These four had none of the sculpted beauty of Azrael. An odd compulsion had seen Blake remove all softness from their design and replace it with adamantine detail, fashioning the bodies on the thick set of a conditioned soldier and the blocky presence of a rugby player. Two males, two females. Intimidating, perhaps even frightening. She’d etched her own natural warning into their construction, like the blue rings on a deadly octopus, or the red stripe on the back of a spider.
Be warned. Stay away.
Blake bit the inside of her cheek, reopening a barely healed wound there. She may not adhere to the idea that the gods toyed with the world, but there was no denying the power of the technologies involved, and her own obsession with learning their secrets. Blake owed the Syranian’s Kira’s life, but she had never been totally blind to the dangers. The designs of the four hunters were her red flags to the world.
Tamas patted the mattress. ‘Come, sit with me, Blake.’
‘Tamas, I do not know where Kira has taken Azrael. I honestly do not.’ Blake sat down, the give of the mattress rocking her against Tamas. He laid his hand on her thigh, a physicality he’d not displayed since
