Still bringing me with him, Jaguar reached to the black key I had been interested in not long ago. This time, Ashley did not speak up; either he had permission to be back there, or she knew better than to argue with a trainer. As for me, I absolutely did not want to follow Jaguar into that horrific place, but there was no way to escape unless he released me.
He let me go once we were across the threshold. In Jeshickah’s disturbing style, the floors were exotic marble, polished smooth, lovely unless you had personal experience to tell you they looked just as beautiful with an added splash of red.
Too many memories distracted me at first, keeping me from tracking Jaguar as he crossed the cell and cautiously approached a figure hunched in the far corner.
I knew from my brother that these cells were cold, even in summer. That chill could sap the energy from a serpent, who relied on heat in the air to warm the body.
Hara Kiesha Cobriana lifted her head groggily and stared at Jaguar for a long time, as if unsure where she was or who he was…or who she was? I didn’t know. Was this a fugue left by the trainer’s work, or just too much time without warmth and proper rest? This cell was not cold enough to kill her, and unlike a human, a shapeshifter couldn’t get sick, which meant keeping her here like this would make her docile without endangering her life.
I wasn’t sure what Jaguar was looking for, but he didn’t wait for Hara to fully rouse before he turned and led us both back out. I heard Hara call after us as we left, but already the heavy door was closing, locking her away again.
“What were you after, Malachi?” Jaguar asked me, now that he had established that both of Gabriel’s valuable pets were accounted for.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
The response earned me a backhand that sent me stumbling into the wall. What was I supposed to have said? I came here to kidnap Master Gabriel’s beloved hawk, seemed like a bad idea. I don’t know sounded stupid, but at least that was in line with what most of the trainers expected from me.
Jaguar had known me when I was a child, unable to understand simple commands or speak in anything but nonsensical garbage. If I held to the wide-eyed line of I don’t know, he would believe me. Eventually.
Unfortunately, he didn’t keep talking to me. He asked Ashley, “What did he do when he came in?”
She didn’t know me, or owe me any loyalty. In fact, if she had known me, she would have owed me only hatred for the part I played in bringing her here. So I could not feel betrayed when she said, “He spoke to me, and then he tried to open the cell door. When I told him Master’s orders, he left.”
A concise explanation that did not include the worst transgressions.
“What did he say to you?”
There it was. Could I convince Jaguar that I just wanted to see how she would react? Saying you could help a slave escape was not the same as doing it. They could and certainly would hurt me for it, but I hadn’t actually taken or damaged any property.
“He said that he would not hurt me, and that he knew me.”
For some insane, merciful reason, she stopped there. My heart nearly stopped with her.
“That’s all?” Jaguar pressed.
“Yes, sir.”
Wide, golden eyes looked right at him as she spoke. Lied, to a trainer’s face. Lied cleanly, calmly, convincingly.
Jaguar turned and stared at me as if trying to divine answers in my face. He knew something was wrong. Maybe he believed I had bewitched the hawk. I knew I hadn’t, but that seemed more believable than that a supposedly broken slave had lied to a trainer for me.
Worse, Jaguar was obviously in the mood to work. Was his falcon boring him? Frustrating him? Did she need some time to cool down, or recover? Either way, he was considering taking his mood out on me. I was freeblood, but I had given him an excuse.
He was too focused for my magic to help me escape. If I ran, he would catch me, and if I fought, I would lose. There was only one way out of this that didn’t involve a trip to the infirmary.
I didn’t attempt to meet the trainer’s steady gaze. Doing so would be like locking eyes with a wolf—an indisputable challenge. Instead, I broke eye contact and dropped to my knees, bowing my head.
The self-protective action was instinctive, encouraged by the ghosts of a thousand slaves who had lived in this building before now. It was only as my knees hit the floor that I imagined what Farrell would say if he saw me like this. For years, I had kept my two selves separate—the Malachi who lived by the code of the Obsidian guild, and the Malachi who came to Midnight to lose himself for a little while. By and large, when I was at Midnight I didn’t act as a slave, addressing every vampire and shapeshifter with a title and kneeling whenever one of my “betters” approached, but I did what I needed to survive.
Like this.
I shifted my weight, preparing to stand and accept the consequences of defiance, and every muscle in my body seemed to lock. Fear became a physical thing, holding me down and warning me what would happen if I went through with this.
You’ll lose your usefulness to Nathaniel, that cowardly part of me whispered. Pretend a little longer, and you can stay here. Cause trouble, and where will you go next?
I let out a yelp as someone pulled me awkwardly to my feet.
“I need to borrow this one.”
Nathaniel’s voice was one of the sweetest sounds I had ever heard, though it wasn’t louder than the hateful internal voice that was calling me six different kinds of traitor to everyone who had ever loved, trusted, or respected me.
“Did you send him in here?” Jaguar asked.
Nathaniel laughed. “No. But who knows why Malachi does anything?” I managed to get my feet under me, but didn’t fight Nathaniel’s bruising grip on my arm. He was saving my skin. “How’s your new falcon faring?”
I didn’t understand the conversational change immediately, but Jaguar apparently did. He nodded, and said, “I never should have accepted another one after Charis. I understand now why Jeshickah decided outside stock might improve them. Has Daryl made a decision?”
“That’s why I was looking for you,” Nathaniel replied. “He rescheduled our first meeting. Do you mind if I hold on to Charis for another night?”
“Better you than me,” Jaguar scoffed. “I told Alain I would deal with these two traitors, and then I’m not taking any more. They’re not worth it.”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time Ahnmik approaches me,” Nathaniel said. “Come, Malachi.”
He dropped my arm as he turned away, and I followed gratefully, asking no questions while Jaguar could still hear us.
As we passed through the front door and into the outside air, Nathaniel hissed, “You are damn lucky I was there. What the hell were you doing, Malachi?” I hadn’t even opened my mouth before he continued. “Never mind. It’s time for you to return to your own kind. I’m sure Kadee will be anxious to see you.”
His shove seemed intended to propel me into the air with its force alone. I changed shape and awkwardly made it into the sky, screeching in protest once in falcon form because I knew better than to protest with human words where Midnight’s guards could overhear us. The message was clear enough, anyway. Kadee was with the Shantel. That was where Nathaniel wanted me to go. Had they come up with a plan for the riot Nathaniel wanted to trigger?
I made the mistake of flying directly into Shantel land, hoping their magic wouldn’t reject me. I ended up on the ground with my head spinning and my stomach rolling. I was still struggling to see straight when a leopard loped into sight. My eyes watered at the way the guard’s knife glistened when he changed back into human form.
“I think I’m expected?” I managed to say. “Malachi Obsidian. I—” I almost said, I’m working with Nathaniel, then realized at the last moment that it was unlikely that every Shantel knew what was going on. That would be far too many people to trust. “I’m a friend of Kadee’s. And I think the sakkri wants to see me.”
“Think?” the guard r
epeated skeptically.
“The message wasn’t entirely clear,” I admitted. “But I’m supposed to be here.”
He sheathed the knife, though I knew better than to take that as a sign that he trusted me. If I tried to cause trouble, the forest itself would come to the guard’s aid. “This way,” he said, turning his back on me confidently to lead the way. “Does this have anything to do with the other falcon?”
“Other…falcon?” Nathaniel had talked about borrowing Jaguar’s project, Charis. Was she here? Was she on our side?
Did Nathaniel realize I was probably the last person he should be relying on to negotiate with a falcon? Considering how my father’s people thought of mongrels like me, I would be safer with Jaguar.
I don’t know what you’re thinking, Nathaniel, but it isn’t a good idea.
“YOU ARE HARA Kiesha Cobriana,” Ashley murmured to the lethargic serpent. “You are heir to the serpiente throne. You are one of the strongest women I ever met.”
Ashley’s memories of the days before she came to this place were faded and blurry, but Hara’s needling these past weeks had brought a few things into focus. Ashley had no interest in remembering who she used to be, but she knew who Hara was supposed to be, and couldn’t stand to see her so cowed.
The serpent’s eyelashes fluttered, but her eyes didn’t quite open. “Leave me alone.”
Ashley looked instinctively at the door, though she knew Master Gabriel wouldn’t be back for hours.
“Hara Kiesha Cobriana,” she tried again, using the name like a magical spell to draw the cobra back to herself. “If you—”
“What is the point?” Hara snarled, finally looking up. “It’s been weeks. My father isn’t coming for me. Either Nathaniel didn’t tell him I’m here, or Midnight wouldn’t let him buy me out, but he isn’t coming.”
“That’s the only reason you were fighting?” Ashley asked. “You were waiting for someone to rescue you?”
She was hoping to get a rise out of the other woman. Hara’s glare was halfhearted, but it was something.
“What right do you have to criticize?” Hara challenged. “You let him treat you like a pet. You deny even remembering you were once Alasdair.”
—
Every time I caught a glimpse of Hara with Alasdair, I wanted to hate her more, but ended up hating her a little less instead. I wanted to be angry that Alasdair was supporting the woman who had sold Shkei into slavery, but after each vision ended, I had to admit I admired how Hara—even while fighting tooth and nail to retain any semblance of self—was still pushing “Ashley” to admit who she had once been.
Had the falcon Jaguar worked with held on to who she was? He had expressed frustration with her and her kind, so she had clearly given him some trouble, but he wouldn’t normally work with Nathaniel to sell her unless he felt she was ready to serve. It didn’t seem like a trainer to give up on a project.
My head was spinning with possibilities—some good, and some very bad—as the guard escorted me into the Shantel village and straight to the sakkri’s hut, giving me no time to compose myself or look for Kadee. Inside, the elderly priestess was conversing with a fair-haired woman.
The falcon was wearing slim leggings, high boots, and a low-backed bodice that left bare the place where she would have worn wings on the falcon homeland, Ahnmik. She didn’t seem to be armed, but a master of Ahnmik’s magic didn’t need to be.
“Charis?” I asked, assuming this was the falcon Nathaniel had borrowed from Jaguar.
The falcon spun about as if startled. “Hehj?”
Instantly, I realized every assumption I had made was wrong. The wide eyes that stared at me with apparent excitement were pale green, more like my brother’s or sister’s than any falcon I had ever met, and there were no traces of blue or violet power in her hair. Her skin was fair by local standards, but did not have the unnatural porcelain color it should have.
She was a falcon. I was sure of it. But I was equally sure that this girl had less power than I did.
Her expression held bright hope. “You know Charis?” she asked in the falcon’s native language.
I looked toward the sakkri, hoping she could explain what was going on.
“We have struggled to communicate clearly,” the sakkri said. “Our languages have some similarities, but many differences, and she does not seem to speak the native tongue. I believe she was on her way to Midnight.”
I nodded, dazed. The more powerful falcons spoke multiple languages, but this one was ka’jaes, without magic, which meant she had probably never been taught anything but the language of Ahnmik. “Hehj’rsh’hena?” I asked. Who are you?
I could tell from her wince that my pronunciation was off, but I was trying to speak a language I had literally learned through childhood dreams. She should be grateful I spoke her tongue at all.
“La…” She responded in her own language, just as haltingly, though surely for other reasons. “La’Keyi’nasa’ha’o’Alain’ra’o’aona’Araceli.”
I repeated the foreign words, not because I didn’t understand them, but because I didn’t understand how they were possible. This powerless slip of a girl was claiming to be an emissary for Lord Alain, son of the heir to the falcon empress. That seemed odd enough, but in giving her name, she had included none of the lengthy titles of which falcons were so proud.
Of course she doesn’t have a title, I thought. She’s ka’jaes.
I reached toward her magically, opening myself up to the swirls of fate and prophecy that danced around every living creature.
Mistake.
She had no power, but somewhere on her person, she was wearing a talisman embedded with the magic of the royal house of Ahnmik. When my poorly disciplined power brushed over it, I was dragged into a tornado of politics, passion, intrigue, and betrayal.
“I gave Charis more freedom than her birth would have allowed her. I allowed her…many freedoms.” Alain paused, then, finally, he confided, “I knew what she was doing. I tried to ignore it, but once her treason became too loud, I couldn’t let it go. Charis would have gotten herself killed if she had gone through with her plans, and she would have brought a lot of people down with her. And it never would have worked.”
“I was never really privy to her plans,” Keyi said. “Mostly…we played chess.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, in the rhythmical language of Ahnmik. The vision wasn’t clear enough for me to understand what relationship this powerless girl had to the most powerful man in Ahnmik, or the falcon who had been sold to Jaguar.
“My lord sent me to assess the strength of the vampires’ empire, to advise him as to whether an alliance would be profitable.” She frowned. “Something knocked me from the sky.”
My stomach sank. I shuddered to imagine Mistress Jeshickah and the falcon empress, two near immortals with a thirst for power and nothing but ice in their souls, allied.
The sun itself would fall before them.
We were lucky the girl had made the mistake of traveling over Shantel land.
“To whom am I speaking?” the ka’jaes—Keyi, she had called herself—asked testily.
Truth, or lie? Most falcons could sense a lie, but this one didn’t have the power to do so.
“La’Malachi’ra’Obsidian,” I answered, erring—unusually enough, for me—on the side of the truth.
The words clearly answered none of her questions.
“But who are you? Did my lord send you to check on me?” she asked nervously.
“Why would he need to check on you?”
I tried again, and this time got a clearer picture of the situation.
Two women, sitting at a chessboard.
“They’ll let this entire world die if they continue this way,” Charis grumbled as she moved her bishop across the board to take Keyi’s rook. “Did you know it has been nearly a century since there has been a pureblood birth that did not result in a ka’jaes child?”
Charis considered
the fact that she was alive and sane despite being half crow a sign that the empress was unnecessarily destroying their world through her laws against quemak children.
“Pureblood ranked birth,” Keyi corrected absently as she considered her next move. “Risha was executed last week.” Ka’jaes falcons conceived far more easily than magic users, but doing so was as forbidden as the conception of quemak. Risha had been allowed to deliver her child—the empress would never allow the destruction of an infant, unborn or not—and then put to death.
“My apologies,” Charis said. “Your kind and mine are the exceptions.”
Though Keyi claimed to speak for the son of the heir to the Empress, if she had followed Charis, she was as guilty of treason as her predecessor.
Once again, I used the truth.
“I’m quemak,” I admitted, and saw her eyes widen. “I was born in Midnight.” Many of Ahnmik’s words had shades of meaning. The word I used for “born” was not the one usually used for children. This one could just as easily mean “created.” It was more accurate. “I have never been to Ahnmik, and I owe no loyalty to the falcon royal house.” She flinched instinctively at those words, which would have been treason if I had spoken them to…no, they were treason. If this girl reported back to the royal house about my existence, Ahnmik might very well feel the need to get rid of me. They had ways of tracking a traitor that were a good deal more frightening than those the serpiente employed.
If she doesn’t choose to side with us, we will have to kill her, I thought. She has so little power, the royal house won’t be able to tell exactly what happened to her.
“You’re loyal to Midnight?” she asked.
I looked at the sakkri, who had been waiting patiently, and said, “I don’t know what value she has in terms of Nathaniel’s plan, but I think it’s worth bringing her in as an ally.” Better than having a woman with the ear of the royal house on any other side.
“I concur. She’s a catalyst,” the sakkri said. “Like you are.”
“Catalyst?” I asked.
“Your being in a place and time changes it,” she elaborated. “You walk through visions and use those visions to guide you even when you think you are blind. How else did you end up here today when we needed you?”