Shine Light (7 page)

Naif bristled at her dismissiveness towards her friend. ‘Maybe they do. And I think Suki’s right about Varonessa. She holds a special position among them. I saw that the day they had Markes chained up in the crypt.’

‘Well, if Varonessa is the one, then we should take her. Force her to make them surrender to us,’ said Eve.

‘No!’ This time Clash and Naif were in agreement.

‘What do you think, Suki?’ Eve looked past them both to the curve in the rock. ‘And how much have you heard?’

‘Enough to know you doubt me, Eve. And enough to know Naif speaks good sense. Varonessa has her own band to protect her, and both Lenoir and Brand would come to her call. We wouldn’t get close to her,’ said Suki.

‘Suki!’ whispered Naif.

Like Eve, her friend wore a leather tunic held together with metal clips made from bent cutlery. Her hair was twisted into a topknot and secured with string. Her face and hands and legs were grimy; her knees bleeding.

Suki strode forward and hugged Naif fiercely. But when she drew back her expression was sombre.

‘I’m glad to see you, Naif, but you shouldn’t have come. The Night Creatures will stir. We’re not ready to hold them off.’

‘I had to,’ said Naif simply.

‘If Charlonge is to meet you then we should go to the Grotto
now
,’ said Suki, revealing she’d heard all of their conversation. ‘Rogue Ripers drift through there. And Brand watches as well. If she gets there before us . . .’

Naif’s heart faltered. She’d been the one to say where they should meet.

‘Take Brenny. He’s our best,’ said Eve. ‘I’ll stay to mind our work. Bring Charlonge and the books back here. Then Naif will go to Lenoir.’

‘Markes should stay as well. His badge is starting to change. And his injury . . . he won’t be able to travel quickly.’

‘What about the others?’ asked Eve.

Naif took a breath and then slowly let it go. She should tell Suki about Liam – prepare her – but not in front of Clash and Eve.

‘What is it?’ said Suki.

‘Emilia is frightened. It’s best she stays here as well.’

Eve looked at each of them in turn. ‘Agreed?’

They all nodded. Eve didn’t mention Liam.

Clash placed his hand on Naif’s shoulder. ‘Suki will show you where we eat. Grab some food and give me a few moments to get ready.’

He and Eve strode out.

Suki and Naif followed them to the mouth of the cave.

‘They’re making their own food here?’ Naif asked.

‘Since the Ripers divided, Brand has been patrolling the kafes. It’s not safe for members of the League to eat in there now.’

‘So how are they getting supplies?’

‘We steal them.’

‘We?’

‘I’m one of them now. After Danskoi, it had to be.’

Naif didn’t react to the news. After Danskoi, she wasn’t surprised. ‘But the Ripers must know you’re here, in this camp. Why don’t they just come in and . . .’

‘Take us?’

Naif nodded.

‘I think Brand likes us being in one place, where she can watch, but we have tunnels they don’t know about. We use them to sneak out and rob the kafes. And we still have friends among the young ones. Eve is revered and the Ripers can’t control that.’

‘It’s risky for those helping you, though,’ said Naif.

‘Yes, but Ixion’s changed. Can you feel it? There’s not the same order anymore. The other gangs have been fighting, and Goa . . .’ She shook her head. ‘Bad stuff is happening in that church.’

‘What about Lenoir?’

Suki gave her a narrow-eyed look. ‘I thought you would know that.’

‘I don’t,’ Naif said. ‘I cut our . . . connection while I was on Grave.’

‘He’s on the run from Brand. Moving every night or two from what we can tell. That’s keeping Brand busy as well.’

Suki stepped out into the night and turned sharply to the left. Naif followed and they walked single file along a narrow ledge. A short distance from the cave mouth, low in the granite wall, was a smaller opening – more like a tunnel. When they reached it, Suki stopped.

‘They’ll hunt you,’ she said. ‘One way or another they’ll take you. I won’t be able to stop them.’

Naif almost smiled. ‘I don’t need you to worry for me, Suki.’

‘And yet I must, it seems.’

There was no lightness in her tone. Her friend seemed so angry and bleak, Naif thought. What had the past weeks done to her? To them all? ‘Eve told me about Tanel, the Riper in the Grotto.’

Suki became very still. ‘She had no business speaking of that.’

‘I’m s-sorry. You haven’t mentioned Rollo,’ said Naif softly, changing the subject. ‘Where is he?’

She shrugged Naif’s arm away. ‘He comes and goes. He’s been back at the clubs, taking beads. Frossing his brains out.’

Naif couldn’t see her face properly but she sounded disgusted and disappointed.

‘You’re no longer friends?’

‘Ixion’s not a place for friends. They die or they leave. On Ixion you need allies.’

‘But some of them come back,’ said Naif. ‘Suki, there’s something you should –’

‘Rollo should have stayed here with the League,’ said Suki, cutting her off.

‘He’s probably scared. Like all of us.’

‘Eve and Clash aren’t scared,’ Suki retorted.

‘Then they should be.’

‘Fear is a waste.’ Suki turned and bent down to crawl inside the tunnel.

Like the main cave, it opened into a space wide enough to stand. Rough tables, stools and odd, cobbled-together cupboards furnished it.

‘We eat here in shifts. Not enough room for everyone at once. And sometimes not enough food,’ Suki told Naif as she straightened up and looked around.

Right now people sat at one candlelit table, leaning over a platter of fried starchies. She recognised Markes, Emilia and two others, Schel and the guard Brenny.

Markes’s leg was wrapped tight with a knotted bandage made from torn clothes. He had on a fresh shirt and pants and sipped from a mug while the others devoured the food. He looked exhausted.

Suki marched straight to the table, cutting across their conversation.

‘Brenny, grab your kit. We’re going to the Grotto. Schel, pack us some food. Starchies and some sugar-water.’ They all stared up at her.

‘Hello, Suki,’ said Markes.

Suki nodded. ‘Markes.’

‘This is Emilia,’ he said.

Suki glanced at the girl and her eyes narrowed. Naif knew that look. Her friend was making a quick judgement and it wasn’t favourable.

‘You should stay here. We’re going to meet Charlonge. Grotto’s dangerous and you’re in no shape to walk,’ Suki told him and then turned to Emilia. ‘You too. You look dead on your feet.’

Emilia didn’t argue with the decision but Markes glanced to Naif. ‘I should come,’ he said.

‘No,’ said Naif bluntly. ‘We have to hurry and you’ll slow us down.’

He stared at the table. She’d been too blunt. But there wasn’t time for argument.

Brenny got up and left, accompanied by Schel.

Suki turned to follow but then stopped and pulled a knife from her belt. Before Naif could speak, she’d darted into a hollow in the wall and dragged someone from the shadows.

Once she had him in the light, she froze.

‘Liam?’

The boy lifted his arm, uncurled a tentacle and gently took the knife from her hand. He blinked and uttered words in a language Naif had never heard.

Naif held her breath as Suki listened and stared at his deformity.

When he’d finished speaking, Suki began to tremble and she closed her eyes. Tears escaped from under her eyelids, trickling down her face and onto her tunic. They looked like blood against the worn leather.

Naif wanted to break the silence but this was not her moment to intrude.

‘Soueta?’ said Liam in a strangled voice. ‘Please.’

The girl took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She reached out to the boy she’d crossed blood with, and laid her wrist against his. A formal gesture.

After a moment, he unfurled his tentacle again and placed it in her hand. She lifted it to her face and held it against her cheek. Not a kiss but an intimacy that made Naif look away.

‘Suki! Naif!’ called Clash from the tunnel mouth. ‘We’re ready.’

Suki kept hold of Liam. ‘So are we.’

Clash led them swiftly and surely, shaving time off their trip with his knowledge of the Lesser Paths. Suki and Liam followed him and then Naif and Brenny came last. The Leaguers carried crude bows and arrows slung across their shoulders and knives in their belts. To see Suki in fighting garb both frightened Naif and gave her comfort. She sensed conflict coming as surely as she put one foot in front of the other on the rutted Ixion hillside. And the Ripers would prevail. Unless she could find another way.

As gently as she could, she probed her connection with Lenoir, allowing the throb that she’d come to know as his presence to return slowly. At first there was nothing but as she reached out to him with more assertion her body tingled.

You are home, little bat.

His reply was like a husky whisper in her ear, causing her to stumble.

This is not my home, Lenoir. It will never be.

You shut me out and yet you’ve returned.

I did not return for you.

Naif felt a wave of weariness and sadness from him.

For your brother and his friends then?

Yes.

Yet you know the dangers.

Yes.

She felt a caress this time, which she pictured as a smile. Not an expression of warmth but an acknowledgement that he had expected such loyalty from her, tinged, perhaps, with regret.

It was not my intention for your people to suffer, Naif.

Then release us all. Revoke the badges.

If I do that, my kind will die. And even if I could, Brand would oppose me.

She opposes you now and you defy her. How would it be different?

I can still regain control. Return things to how they were.

Ixion will never be the same. I will not let it be!

She paused on the path and looked ahead. In the distance she thought she saw movement. Or did her eyes trick her? She glanced forward and back. No one else had noticed.

Perhaps, but I can still rule.

Not without Varonessa.

So astute, little bat. I’ve missed you.

Naif pictured his pale, beautiful face framed by silken hair. She remembered his lips on her skin, the exhilaration of his touch as she lay in his carriage craving more.

Then came the glimpse of the beast that lay beneath when passion had overwhelmed him; his face had distorted into something terrible.

Where is the uther queen, Lenoir?

He was silent for so long that only the throb of his presence reassured her he was still there.

I don’t know.

You lie to me!

Test our bond, little bat. You will know that I tell the truth.

His words came to her with such clarity and honesty that they carried a scent: moonflower perfume, pure and gleaming.

But you are the one who took their queen. You forced them to serve you.

I did what I had to in order to survive.

Are you excusing yourself?

I have no need for pardons. It is what it is. Survive or die. I’m not paralysed by the web of guilt and confusion that besets your kind. The choice was simple.

My kind?

Humans.

What are
you
then?