“So do you know where Vejovis is?”
“I know of some likely places to look,” he replied. “But his exact location? No one knows that. Vejovis is a secretive creature.”
“I don’t have a lot of time. How quickly can you find him?”
“I can’t say. Perhaps a day. Perhaps a week. Perhaps a month or more.”
She shook her head. “A week, maybe. A month, definitely not.”
“I can’t make any promises when I don’t know where he is. We would have to search multiple locations.”
She exhaled. “Okay. But you do know where to look?”
He nodded.
“So I suppose you want to know what I’m going to offer you in return for your help?”
His smile was so cat-like she was surprised he didn’t have pointed canines to match. “I think you already know there is only one thing I will accept.”
“The Sahar.”
He took a sip of his wine. “Actually, I am entitled to more than just the return of my birthright. You cannot understand the damage my reputation has suffered since losing the Sahar.” His expression went cold. “Do you know why I am here today and not in my homeland?”
She shook her head.
He downed the rest of his wine before answering. “Because no one in my family wants to see my face. They are disgusted by my failure.”
Each word came out like spitted poison. She flinched. Yep, there it was—the rage beneath his calm exterior. Just as this sanctuary held hidden enemies waiting for her or Ash to make a wrong move, Miysis’s calm façade hid a fury he could barely contain. Fear whooshed through her belly. This wasn’t safe. Whatever deal she made, she needed to convince Miysis not to harm Ash. The Ra daemon was angry enough to kill.
“You offer me what is rightfully mine in return for my help,” he continued, his rage transforming back into smooth confidence. “You offer me what Ashtaroth stole from me. I do not need to bargain anything for the Sahar. You brought him here and I can take it from him at any time, or—as I assume you were not foolish enough to bring it with you—force him to reveal its location.”
She clenched her hands. She’d been afraid of this—that Miysis wouldn’t be satisfied with only getting the Sahar back.
“What do you want then?”
He drummed his fingers on his knee. “Presently, you are the only person who can wield the Sahar.”
She tensed.
“How quickly you paled, Piper. Calm yourself. I have no intention of mimicking Samael’s crimes.”
“What exactly do you want then?”
“I want you to use the Sahar to complete a task for me. Just one.”
“What task?” she asked suspiciously. She wouldn’t kill anyone for him.
“I need you for a minor excavation job that would otherwise take weeks. I’m sure that with the Sahar you could have it done in a few minutes.”
“Excavation?”
He nodded.
“Where?”
“The details can wait until it is time for the task.”
She narrowed her eyes. “This is just straight demolition, right? I won’t be hurting anyone or blowing up people’s houses?”
“Of course not,” he said, the words clipped with offense at her insinuation.
She bit her bottom lip. It sounded simple enough. As long as she wouldn’t be hurting anyone, she didn’t see the harm. She let out a deep breath.
“We’ll need to find Vejovis first. I can’t use the Sahar like this.” She pressed a hand to her throbbing forehead. “Once my magic is sealed, I’ll take care of your task. However, I have one condition.”
“What’s that?”
She glanced at Ash slumped on the bench, nearly comatose and helpless. “You have to swear not to harm Ash or hold him against his will today or at any point while we’re fulfilling either side of our deal.”
Shadows slid across Miysis’s eyes. She tried not to fidget as he thought it over.
Sighing, he leaned back. “I will not enact any harm against him until our bargain is complete.”
“So we’re agreed then?” she asked.
He nodded. “Yes, we have a deal.”
“Excellent.” Piper jumped about a foot off the ground at the sound of Ash’s voice behind her. She spun around.
Ash was sitting casually on the bench, clear-eyed and by all appearances perfectly healthy. He was holding a dagger in one hand, nonchalantly tossing it into the air and catching it by its point. A drugged person would not have that kind of coordination, though he was barely able to walk before.
He smiled coolly at Miysis.
“Excellent,” he repeated, his deep voice shivering along Piper’s nerves. “But you forgot something, Ra. You forgot to get my promise not to harm you.”
At the last word, a dozen daemons in green camouflage burst out of the bushes, long-handled halberds all pointed at Ash. Startled birds took to the air in a brief cacophony of flapping wings and shrieked warning cries.
Silence fell, and no one moved.
Ash tossed the dagger one more time, caught it by the tip, then pitched it into the middle of the circle. It skittered loudly across the stones. “Calm down, cat-boy. I was merely pointing out your oversight.”
Piper glanced wide-eyed at Miysis, who was staring at Ash with his jaw tight and his face a little paler than normal. His eyes had gone black.
“I see your resistance to drugs is stronger than I had anticipated,” Miysis said, his normally melodic voice rough with a growl. With a brief wave of his hand, he had the soldiers lift the deadly blades away from Ash.
She looked back at Ash. “How long ...?” she stuttered.
“I was never that drugged to start with. The dizziness passed once we were out of the elevator.”
“You—” She broke off, shaking her head. “Why were you pretending?”
Ash smiled at Miysis. “Because I knew the Ra would drive a much harder bargain with me rather than with you.”
Miysis stood abruptly. “I have arrangements to make. Return in four hours.” He jerked his chin at one of his soldiers. “Escort them out.”
Without another word or glance, he strode away, through another path in the aviary.
Piper bit her lip. She hoped Miysis had bargained sincerely, because she really didn’t want to find out how many loopholes the Ra prince could find in their flimsy agreement. Her life, and Ash’s, counted on Miysis keeping his word—and she hoped she’d covered their bases enough to keep them safe.
CHAPTER 11
SITTING on the bench with her face in her hands, Piper fought the nausea churning in the pit of her stomach. Her head ached ceaselessly, the pressure in her skull almost unbearable. It wouldn’t last forever. The headaches came in waves—twenty or thirty minutes of excruciating pain that died down to a dull ache for an hour before the pain level started rising again.
She couldn’t specifically remember how long it had taken her as a child to reach this point, but it had been months, not days. It was happening too fast. At this rate, she would be having seizures before the week was out.
“How long?” she croaked.
Ash sat beside her on the bench, elbows braced on his knees, chin resting on his hands. “About twenty minutes before we return to the embassy.”
She bobbed her head in a weak nod, but otherwise didn’t move. Her body felt cold and hot at the same time from the pain, and her sides stung where Ash’s claws had punctured her skin in the elevator. She’d cleaned the cuts herself and had no intention of telling anyone—especially Ash—that he’d hurt her.
The park they were waiting in, a few blocks from the embassy, held nothing more than a few struggling trees and yellow grass, with chipped, weathered cement benches for seating. Piper had claimed one shortly after they’d arrived an hour ago. They couldn’t go anywhere else in the city. Brinford was no longer safe; as soon as they were done helping her, Ash, Seiya, and Lyre would flee to another city, or another world, and hopefully leave Sam
ael’s assassins behind.
Ash and his sister were back in their warrior clothes, not worried about standing out in the deserted park. Seiya stood in the long shadows beneath a tree, armed to the teeth and clothed all in black, her gaze vigilantly scouring the park. Lyre paced across the stubbly grass, unable to sit still.
Beside her, Ash stared at nothing. He’d been strangely distant since leaving the embassy. She suspected it bothered him that she’d seen him lose control again. She still hadn’t figured out how to broach the subject.
“I need a distraction,” she said, her voice hoarse from the pain. “Talk to me.”
“About what?” he asked.
“Anything.”
He thought for a moment. “I met Miysis on one of my first solo missions for Samael. A Ra aristocrat was engaging in some under-the-table dealings with a crime syndicate. They were meeting to finalize a deal, and Samael didn’t want that to happen.”
She tilted to her head to peek at him through her fingers. He’d never talked about his missions for Samael before.
“None of his usual reaper spies could get in. I didn’t have much of a reputation yet, so he sent me undercover. The meeting place was a high-end gentlemen’s club. I managed to sneak in and blend in with the crowd, though I’ve never felt so out of place in my life. I didn’t know where the meeting with the Ra aristocrat was taking place, so I took a position near the bar where I could observe most of the room.
“After several minutes, a daemon sat down beside me. Blond, green eyes ... I knew he was a Ra, but he was too young to be my mark. He ordered a drink and started chatting with me casually. I barely responded, not wanting to give myself away, but he kept on talking about random little things. Then he mentioned that he’d always wanted to see the secret room on the second floor but the security was too tight. Only special guests were allowed. Then he smiled, tipped his drink at me, and walked away.”
Sounded just like Miysis. “Was he setting you up?”
“Yes and no. The room he described was the exact one I needed and I easily completed my objective. I escaped out the back and was heading down the street when he stepped out in front of me.
“He introduced himself, then thanked me for taking care of such an annoying problem. He appreciated not having to get his hands dirty. Then he told me to give his regards to Samael.”
“Did that bother you?” she asked. “That he’d used you?”
He shrugged. “Not especially. It didn’t matter how the job got done, as long as it was done.”
“It sounds like things started out relatively cordial between you two,” she noted. “When did that go downhill?”
“A few years later.”
“What happened?”
He didn’t answer.
She studied his profile. “Is it better now?” she asked softly. “Not having to follow Samael’s orders anymore?”
He gave a short nod.
She hesitated. “Seiya doesn’t seem as happy about her freedom as I expected she’d be.”
After a long moment, he said, “The last two months haven’t been easy, but it’s infinitely better than what we escaped.”
She sighed, pressing a hand to her throbbing head. “Everything has changed, hasn’t it? Ever since losing my apprenticeship, I’ve spent so much time wondering what I’m supposed to do.”
Ash looked at her sharply. “You lost your apprenticeship?”
“Oh ... I guess you didn’t know. My father cancelled it before I left for boarding school.”
His voice softened. “I’m sorry.”
“I don’t know what to do with my life anymore, or what my future will be.”
He tilted his head back, looking up at the overcast sky. “Me neither.”
She gave him a questioning look.
“For as long as I can remember,” he said, “Samael controlled almost every aspect of my life. Inwardly, I was consumed with not just surviving him, but escaping him. Destroying him if I could. I devoted every moment to it.”
His hand closed around the hilt of one of the swords strapped to his thigh as his jaw tightened. “I have nothing to do now, nothing to work toward. I don’t have a purpose.”
Hesitantly, she touched the back of his hand. “I feel the same way. I’m sure we’ll both figure it out.”
She fell silent as the pain in her head built, squeezing her brain and pushing against her skull. She swallowed a groan. Time lost all meaning. Eventually, Lyre joined them and the two guys coaxed her to her feet. Awareness of her surroundings barely punctured the cloud of pain. The headache should have died down by now.
With Ash on one side of her and Lyre on the other, Seiya trailing behind, Piper let them lead her to the embassy. Someone else rang the buzzer; she wasn’t paying attention. Then they were moving again. The rush of the waterfall in the foyer filled the echoing room. She leaned on Ash while he spoke to Sara, the words passing through her ears without comprehension. Everything was pain.
“Her hands are freezing.” Lyre rubbed her fingers between his warm palms. “Piper, can you hear me?”
She gave a weak nod.
“Come on. This way.”
She took a wobbly step away from Ash and toward Lyre—and suddenly the floor was rushing toward her face.
Arms scooped her up, lifting her into the air before settling her against a warm torso.
“That was close,” Ash said, his voice rumbling from his chest into hers. “Piper? Say something.”
“Hey,” she breathed. She turned her face into his neck, trying to block out the light. Her head throbbed, the pain so intense, pounding inside her skull with each beat of her heart. Why wasn’t it diminishing? The last headache had only lasted for thirty minutes.
“Hang in there, okay?” Ash murmured.
“Hanging,” she whispered.
He carried her into the elevator. She closed her eyes, focused solely on enduring each passing second. Her stomach swooped as the elevator ascended. The doors dinged and Ash started walking again. She heard voices somewhere ahead.
“Bring her this way.” Miysis’s melodic voice came out of nowhere, suddenly beside her. “Sara called up and told me Piper was ill. My healer will be here in a moment. She’s preparing a temporary treatment.”
Ash carried her another dozen steps, then the world wobbled sickeningly as he lowered her onto something soft. She opened her blurry eyes and found herself on a sofa in some kind of lounge-like room. Miysis and Ash were both kneeling in front of her, side by side. And they weren’t even arguing. It was a miracle.
“Piper,” Miysis said gently. “Can you tell me what’s wrong?”
“Pain in my head,” she whispered, closing her eyes again. “It’s the magic.”
“What kind of pain is it? Sharp, shooting, burning, pressure?”
“Pressure.”
“It’s escalating too quickly,” Ash murmured to Miysis.
“My people are moving as fast as possible,” he replied. “Teams have already checked the most accessible locations but he wasn’t at any of them.”
“Piper doesn’t have the time for you to search every remotely plausible hideout from here to the Overworld,” Ash growled.
“I know that—”
The pain suddenly spiked, spearing her skull. Piper gasped, flinging out a hand to grab Ash’s arm. She opened her mouth to speak and her stomach jumped into her throat.
Ash and Miysis sprang away as she doubled over and vomited on the floor. Her stomach heaved until she thought it might eject itself from her body. When the spasms finally stopped, she slumped backward, moaning. Ash pulled her off the sofa and back into his arms.
“Where’s your damn healer?”
“This way.”
Ash moved her to the other end of the room and set her on another sofa, and then there was a new voice.
“Piper.” The voice was soft and motherly.
She cracked her eyes open to find a middle-aged Ra daemon kneeling in front of her, smiling gent
ly. Miysis, Ash, Lyre, and Seiya crowded behind the woman.
“Piper, I have something that will help you, but you need to be brave, okay?”
The woman picked up a small plastic box with pin-sized holes in its sides from beside her. She opened the lid and carefully reached inside. Her hand emerged, holding a huge, hairy spider. She gripped its dark body between two fingers and a thumb, its long red legs flailing in undulating waves.
Piper’s blood went cold. She jerked backward. Strength returned to her muscles on a wave of adrenaline as she scrambled away and lunged for the back of the sofa, fully intending to jump over it and run for the nearest lockable room.
Miysis and Ash grabbed her arms, pulling her back down on the sofa.
“Piper, calm down.” Miysis clasped her arm tightly. “It’s just a spider.”
“What the hell kind of spider is that?” Lyre demanded.
“Piper, this is a rune spider,” the healer said. “They are native to certain forests in the Overworld, and their venom contains some unique properties. Foremost, it affects the part of the mind tied to magic. It will numb you to your magic and cause much of it to diminish for a period of time.”
“Why do you have one of those in your embassy?” Lyre whispered incredulously to Miysis.
“All you have to do is let it bite you,” the healer said as though it were the most reasonable thing in the world, “and the pain will go away.”
Piper shook her head before the woman had even finished, unable to take her eyes off the squirming spider. It was huge. It would fill the woman’s hand were she to let it sit on her palm.
“I’m fine,” she croaked. “I can handle the pain. Put it away.”
“Piper—”
“I’m fine!”
“Piper,” Miysis said sternly, “let her help you. It’ll be over in a second.”
“No!”
“She’s an arachnophobe,” Ash said. “She won’t let it bite her. Can’t you inject the venom?”
“We’ve tried that before. It doesn’t work the same. It needs to come straight from the spider.”