City of Burning Shadows (Apocrypha: The Dying World) (20 page)

“I work for Price & Breckenridge,” I yelled back, “who you hired to keep your sister safe. If I’m working with the Jansynians it’s to that end.”

Copper didn’t just roll her eyes; she rolled her whole head. “If you’re too stupid to realize Jansynians are using you for their own ends, I don’t know what to say.”

Micah was helping Copper with some unfathomable construction project. Right now it resembled a bird’s nest of welded pipes and metal spikes. I didn’t even want to know. “So far I’ve gotten more help from the Jansynians than you’ve been able to offer.”

“Both of you need to take a deep breath,” Micah said, his voice strained from supporting the heavy pipes as Copper worked. Even stripped down to nothing but a loose pair of pants, he was covered in sweat. “Ash, it’s nice to see you and all, but I assume you came here for a reason other than to argue about our neighbors upstairs.”

It was true. “I need your help with something. Something to do with keeping Spark safe,” I added quickly at Copper’s dark look.
 

“Anything, of course.” Micah’s smile was genuine. It warmed me, relaxed me. Something I’d forgotten in the months I’d been hiding from the world—from myself: how nice it was to have friends.

Too bad I had to drag him into this business. “It turns out, the biggest threat to Spark isn’t the Jansynians.”

“What are you talking about?” Copper snapped.

By now, I was getting good at laying out what I knew about Syed and the threat he represented. Especially as people like Iris and Seana were able to fill in bits of information that were beginning to all fit together in my mind. Copper glared the whole time I talked, her frown so tight I was amazed her face muscles didn’t cramp.
 

Micah listened like—well, like a priest. This was something new and interesting, and even the danger couldn’t dampen the excitement on his face. Of course, he hadn’t faced Syed yet. It was hard to communicate the visceral terror of seeing the strange, shadowy monster moving inside a person who looked otherwise normal.
 

“This is incredible,” he said. “All of it.”

“And your Jansynian woman told you how to kill this…this thing.” Copper sounded, of all things, angry.
 

“She told me what she knows.” I shrugged. “Obviously no one has any hard data, since he’s still alive and walking around, but based on my own experiences, I think her theory is sound.”

Copper finally waved Micah back. He took a deep breath, blew it out slowly as he wiped his arm across his forehead. “This is all…I can’t even imagine what we’re in the middle of. And you know I’ll do anything I can.”

“But?” I asked. I could hear it in his voice.

He touched the tattoo on his shoulder—the one both like to and yet different from my own. “Bright God, remember? I never learned any of the fancy, theoretical magic you can do. Everything I know is lights and sound effects—stage dressing.”

“I think it doesn’t matter.” I hoped. Gods, I hoped. But we were running without a textbook. “It’s not so much what you do as the power behind it.”

Copper slammed her gloved fist down on the metal mass. “This is stupid. You’re just going to get yourselves killed. And then where will my sister be?”

“He’ll find her.” This, I knew for sure. “If we don’t stop him, he’ll find a way to get to her. I’ve been lucky this far. But he’s—he’s like something out of a nightmare. I won’t stand by and let this monster hunt my friends.”

Copper rolled her eyes again. “I can’t believe Seana would—” She threw up her hands. “Fine. Fine! But I’m coming with you.”

“No.” Bad enough I was dragging Iris and Micah into this. I didn’t need another person’s safety to manage. “You don’t have magic. You have no protection against him at all.”

“Oh, so you’re the expert now?”
 

I understood her frustration. I would probably have felt the same in her position. “Sorry, Copper, but no civilians tonight.”

That, it seemed, was one insult too many. Her eyes went cold as she glared at me. “Fine. But whatever happens tonight, it’s on you. It’s what you wanted.”

I hardly needed her to tell me that. “Come on, Micah. Let’s go talk strategy.”

“No!” Copper banged her fist again. “Take him later if you have to, but he’s going to stay here and help me finish this. No one else in this damn community has steady hands.”

Micah shrugged and gave me a
what can you do
look. He didn’t want to rock the boat any further.

It was fine. I could deal with that. It wasn’t like Micah was going to be able to offer much help planning a street-ambush. “Meet me at Price & Breckenridge when you can get away. But make sure it’s before sunset.”

He looked at Copper. She waved dismissive approval. Good enough.

I got out.

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Something to be Remembered For

Amelia’s house had emptied by the time I got back. The herd of vehicles that had been parked here while Amelia was having her meeting was gone. I pulled my cycle into the driveway and sat for a few minutes, soaking up the quiet. So much had happened so quickly, and now I was gearing up for a confrontation with a nightmare out of legend. Nothing about this was good. Nothing about this was going to be easy.

At the door I was met by the same man as last night. I used the same magic on him as I had on Seana. Even if I didn’t know him well, I could focus on
human
well enough. He was clean.

He let me in and directed me to the sitting room where I’d met with Amelia last night. I went straight there, but stopped short two steps through the door. Amelia was in there all right, on the long couch, with a book in her hand. Iris had stretched out on the couch next to her, her head in Amelia’s lap. Amelia stroked Iris’s hair—today a deep, contented blue—as she read.
 

The scene was tranquil, intimate. I couldn’t bear to interrupt.

Too late. Amelia lowered her book, but the smile she gave me was warm. “It’s all right, Ash. Come in.”

Iris opened one eye, narrowed it at me, then closed it again.
She
obviously wasn’t happy I was interrupting their quiet time. But Amelia was the boss.
 

“I have the beginnings of a plan,” I said as I claimed an overstuffed chair across the rug from them. Again I summoned the magic to make sure Amelia was still Amelia, that Iris was still Iris. Even if Iris had her eyes closed, I was certain—fairly certain—I’d feel the shadow within her. I saw nothing strange, felt nothing strange. Maybe it was silly to do this to everyone, but I was still rattled by Syed in my house.
 

And he could be anywhere.
 

Amelia set her book down, nudged at Iris with her leg. “Time to wake up, love.”

Iris sat up, giving me a full-on glare. “Sure, because Ash’s plans so far have gone so well.”

I looked down, away from both her and Amelia. I was going to be asking Iris to go into danger again and I didn’t even know if she was fully recovered from being shot.
 

It must have shown on my face. “Ash, look at me,” Amelia said.
 

I looked up. She took Iris’s hand. “Iris getting injured wasn’t your fault. This is a dangerous business. People are going to get hurt. You can’t let that stop you from doing what needs to be done.”

It was a sentiment Seana would have agreed with. That didn’t make it easier to swallow. “It’s going to be dangerous. More than anything we’ve done yet. I’m working on guesswork and rumors and second-hand data. But I don’t think we have a choice. We have to hunt Syed.”

Iris flinched as I said his name. Amelia leaned back against the couch, crossed her arms. “I don’t necessarily disagree with you, but I’d like to hear how you got there.”

“We need water. Our best hope for that right now is the Desavris satellite. But for that to work, we need either one of their scientists to fix what Syed broke or for Spark to figure out where the problem is. And we also need Copper not to disrupt things in a misguided attempt to help her sister.” I ticked off the points on my fingers as I made them. “We can’t help Seana’s scientists. We can’t help Spark fix the design. Copper isn’t going to move tonight. What we can do—what I hope we can do—is find Syed and neutralize him.”

“Kill him,” Amelia corrected.

Hard to face that. Hard to wrap my mind around that cold purpose. I’d never killed anyone. I leaned forward, buried my face in my hands. I’d been a librarian, dammit. “Yes,” I muttered into my palms. “Kill him.”

“He killed Eddis Desavris,” Amelia said in a soft, chill voice. “Destroyed research that could save millions of lives. He’s followed you, broke into your home, tried to erase your thoughts, and would have left Iris bleeding to death in the street if you hadn’t chased him away with magic. Yes, Ash, you’re going to kill him.”

Iris pressed her shoulder against Amelia. Amelia patted her knee and asked, “Do you think you can?”

“Magic works against him. I know that much. I know I have to destroy his body, and then the shadow-thing inside. I also know he’s an ancient monster who’s existed in stories as long as humanity’s been telling them.”

“But he’s alone now,” Iris said, an edge to her voice. “Just like the rest of us. His father can’t protect him anymore.”

Amelia nodded. “When?”

“Tonight. Micah’s meeting Iris and me at P&B. Then we hunt.”

#

At Amelia’s suggestion, I went to the kitchen to make myself some dinner. I suspected she wanted alone-time with Iris, before Iris and I went hunting legends. Syed could kill us tonight. Or worse. I didn’t want to think about the worse.

I took advantage of Amelia’s well-stocked fridge and built a sandwich as thick as my arm. Not just meat and cheese, but lettuce and cucumbers and tomatoes that I hadn’t been able to afford since I got out of the hospital.
 

If Spark’s technology worked—if Seana and Amelia and I could pull this off—everyone could have these things again. Miroc could come back to life. Not because the gods had deigned to return their gifts to us, but because we, their children, had found a solution. Because we stepped up and reshaped the world in our own damn image.
 

Survival wasn’t just a dream. It was in our reach.
 

Before I’d finished, Amelia joined me at the kitchen counter. She pulled up a stool and sat beside me, snagging a couple pretzels out of the bag I’d found in her pantry. “I wanted to say thank you,” she said. “I know the past few days I’ve asked a lot.”

“I’m the one who should say that.” I pushed the bag towards her so she’d have easier access. “You took me in when you had no real reason to save me. You’ve been patient. You’ve been understanding.”

“And now I’m turning you into a killer, sending you out after a monster that may or may not be able to die.”

I shrugged. “At least my final days won’t be boring.”

Amelia laughed softly at that. “Boring wouldn’t be so terrible. At least for a little while.”

“Is that what you want?” I was honestly curious. I had no better idea now than I did when we met of what made Amelia Price tick.

She went to the fridge, poured herself a glass of tea, considering the question. “No,” she finally said. “I could have had that. Barring the Abandon, I mean. I could have stayed home, lived a life of quiet luxury. I certainly didn’t have to help Jonathan start up Price & Breckenridge.”

Ice cubes clinked as she swirled her glass, thoughtful. “It seems so pedestrian, but I really do want to leave my mark on the world. I want to accomplish something I’ll be remembered for.”

“If we make this satellite thing happen, that’s a pretty good start,” I said.

“Indeed.” She poured me a glass, slid it over. “What about you, Ash? What do you want more than anything?”

A year ago, my easy answer would have been that I wanted the world back the way it had been. I wanted my quiet life in the temple. I wanted the certainty of the gods and the status quo as it had been for thousands of years.

In the last few days, that answer had changed. “I want this. I want to see things happen. I want to help the world change. I want to live surrounded by the people I care about, and I want to live in the world as I choose it, not as it’s handed to me by the gods. By anyone.”

Amelia smiled at that. “A good answer.”
 

She leaned back against the counter, looked out the kitchen window. Far away, on the other side of the city, the Crescent shimmered like a mirage. “Your Jansynian woman—Seana. Do you think you’ll go back to her? For real, I mean. After we’ve settled this business with Spark and the satellite.”

I wanted to. Kaifail knew I wanted to. But even after last night, there was still so much distance between us. Arguments and decisions and things that had gone wrong before. “I don’t know.”

“You love her?” Amelia asked, like it was the simplest question in the world.

In truth, it was. “Yes.”

“My advice to you—never waste a moment of that.”
 

This from the woman in love with a shifter. Even if Iris didn’t lead a dangerous life, it wasn’t as though her people were known for their long-term commitments to anything. “I’ll try to keep that in mind.”

She nodded and her soft look fell away. All business, Amelia straightened up and looked me over. “Check in tonight—as often as you can. I don’t care how late things go. Keep me informed. I’ll have Vivian and Josiah on standby if you need them.”

“Thanks.” I stood up. “Wish me luck.”

Amelia shook her head. “No wishes. The gods are gone, like you said. It’s time we make our own luck.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A Shot in the Dark

Kaifail was a lecher. Other gods settled down, romantically speaking. Jansyn and Zifla were soulmates—or whatever you called it when the gods were involved. Torin had his consort. Ouliria had hers.
 

Kaifail seduced mortal women and goddesses alike. He convinced Robain she was his one-and-only. His affairs with each of the Twins drove a wedge between them. And there are so many stories—more than I can count—of the mortal women he beguiled and then abandoned.