The Devil's Concubine (The Devil of Ponong series #1) (14 page)

“Three dots of blood. The low spray.”

“You pointed them out.”

She rested her cheek on her knees. The sarong
he’d given her to wear was the softest cotton she’d ever felt. “Come on, Kyam.
Put it together.”

“You called me Kyam.”

“Forgive my familiarity. I got carried away.”

“You’re enjoying this.”

“Only on an intellectual level. I’ve seen
more than my share of mutilated bodies. One gets used to it. The smell, never,
but the blood and brutality...either you go mad, or you pretend it’s merely a
cerebral exercise.”

Or you sell your soul to the
Devil for vengeance.

Kyam seemed a bit taken aback, but then
lightly touched her hand. “I understand. And you can get as familiar with me as
you like.”

“If I get into the habit, I might slip in
front of another Thampurian, and I don’t need that kind of trouble,
Mister Zul
.”

He nodded, even though it was clear he didn’t
like agreeing with her.

There was no need to pound him over the head
with that lesson, so she said, “The blood. It told a story. Tell it to me.”

His forehead furrowed as he concentrated. “The
spray was low, so he was on his knees.”

“Very good.”

“Someone stood in front of him, which
explains the break in the spray pattern, so his throat probably wasn’t slit
from behind. And Ravidians have those neck frills… if you want to slit their
throats, you almost have to come at them from the front to be sure you’ll get
the right angle. So a front attack could be the way they’re trained to kill.”

“Excellent, Mister Zul.”

“You sound like my music tutor, except that
you haven’t smacked my knuckles yet. She suffered for years before she gave up
on me. You could save yourself a lot of time too if you’d simply tell me
everything you know.”

That was something she couldn’t afford to do,
not until she’d had a chance to speak to PhaNyan and LiHoun. “I don’t drop
compliments like a lace hanky in front of a gentleman, so take me at my word.
You’re doing fine, but I’ll give you a hint since you’re in a hurry. The trail
of blood drops fell from the meat they cut off the harbor master’s body. They’re
not important. However, the three distinct blood marks are. Tell me why.”

Kyam cleared his throat but said nothing.

“Evenly spaced, about a yard apart. Parallel
to the line of dripped blood,” she prompted.

“I was in the same room you were, and I saw
the circles you talk about, but I have no idea what they mean. How do you do
this trick where you see things I can’t?”

No one had ever asked, so she wasn’t sure how
to explain it. “Everything is a pattern, or not part of a pattern, or it’s
completely random. Those are the only options. So you find something that doesn’t
fit in the pattern, or what’s missing from it, and figure out why. And don’t
allow yourself to imagine a pattern when what you see is truly random. You have
to see, really see, what you’re looking at, rather than what you’re meant to
see. The clues are a story, Mister Zul. Find the beginning and follow it to the
end.”

“That was enlightening.” He made a ‘hurry up’
gesture. “Let’s just assume that it would take hours of our valuable time for
me to figure it out, if ever.”

“What I saw was the bloody dewclaw of a
Ravidian. After he sliced open the harbor master’s throat, he walked to the
window. Probably to toss the meat he cut from the body over the cliff to the
water below. The bloody marks – not drops – aren’t a footprint, but
they’re better than one in a way, because Ravidians are the only race I know of
with dewclaws.”

“Are you sure that’s what made those marks?”

“We could go back and examine the harbor master’s
neck more closely to be sure that the fatal wound was caused by a dewclaw-shaped
weapon and not something meant to make marks like wolf teeth, but we’re not
making a case to present for a judge,” she reminded him. “Besides, I don’t want
to stick my hand into his neck. It’s probably filled with maggots.”

“I wonder if the print of a Ravidian’s
dewclaw is unique, like a fingerprint,” Kyam asked. “Not that it matters. As
you pointed out, we’re not making a case against a specific Ravidian. All we
need to know is that a Ravidian did it.”

She smiled benignly at him. It was so nice
for once to talk to someone who could almost keep up with her. “So there’s your
proof that the Ravidians are, indeed, guilty of something. That should be good
enough for your superiors.” She stood. “Let’s go back to town. You can make
your report while I take care of a bit of business.”

He came to his feet. “I’m afraid I can’t do
that.”

“Stubborn man. You could have the Ravidians
arrested for the harbor master’s death right now and save yourself a good deal
of trouble. Bring them in for questioning.”

She stood too.

“You forget that I don’t know where they are
exactly, but I think that you do. Something to do with medusozoa, I believe.”
He had the effrontery to wink at her before taking her hand and placing it on
his arm.

~ ~ ~

The marketplace was in chaos as people squatted in groups
and talked in excited voices about the funicular. People streamed downslope, as
others returned to share their reports of the damage.

QuiTai caught a glimpse
of LiHoun from the corner of her eye as she and Kyam passed the government
building, but he disappeared quickly into the milling throng. She didn’t see
PhaNyan, but if he knew what was good for him, he also hovered close.

Kyam moved with
determined speed through the crowd, nearly colliding with a woman who balanced
a basket of fibrous jikal roots on her head. If he didn’t want to attract
attention, he was doing it all wrong: he should have stopped to listen to the
gossip.

Since they’d left
the harbor master’s apartment she’d been too busy managing his train of thought
to keep far enough ahead of him. The priority now was convincing him to leave
her alone long enough to talk to LiHoun and PhaNyan. Unfortunately, he loomed like
a jealous lover. Maybe another demonstration of her defensive moves was in
order. They might end in a compromising position again, though, and she’d
enjoyed the first time too much to trust herself a second. Besides, one of the
wolves might see, and the thought of facing Petrof’s anger sent a cold jolt of
fear through her.

She touched the vial
of black lotus on the chain around her neck as if it were a talisman. With a
lot of luck, she could dope him long enough to carry out her plan. Kyam would never
forgive her… but she’d warned him that she wasn’t a nice woman.

Then the hair at the
nape of her neck rose, and a shiver went down her back even though it was the
hottest time of day. She rubbed her arms. “Stop that.”

“Stop what?” Kyam
asked as he pulled her past an abandoned fritter stand. Her stomach grumbled;
they hadn’t eaten since breakfast.

“You’re growling at
people. I can’t hear it, but I can feel it.”

He gripped her elbow
hard and dragged her down a side street while he cast suspicious glances at
everyone they passed. She barely kept up with his long stride.

“You know one thing
that bothers me?” she finally said. “You haven’t seen the Ravidians in town for
several days. As far as I know, my people haven’t seen them either. If they
aren’t here, who brought down the funicular?”

“I have my theories.”

His grim expression worried her. And for
once, she didn’t have a theory herself. It would take a gang of brawny men to
hack that cable apart. The only men fitting that description in Levapur were
the werewolves, but she would know if they were working with the Ravidians. It
had to be someone else. She simply couldn’t imagine who.

“Are we heading back to your safe house?” she
asked.

He shook his head. “Rule of safe houses: only
use them once.”

She knew no such rule. She used her safe houses
many times.

“I need to make inquiries about who might be
working with the Ravidians. Give me a few moments to talk to a couple of
informants,” she said.

His grip on her tightened. “Not alone.”

“Quit trying to stick your finger into my
rice bowl. This is outside the scope of our business agreement, which clearly
stated that I would help you find the Ravidians and their crates, not that I
would solve a murder. That’s purely a Thampurian matter.”

Kyam craned to see if anyone had followed
them out of the marketplace.

She saw LiHoun, but the old man blended so
well with the rest of the people on the street that he didn’t draw Kyam’s
attention.

“I thought that the Devil was interested in
those crates too.”

“With the evidence we’ll find, he’ll
understand that there is no profit in this scheme for him. As for me, I get to
bring Jezereet’s murderer to justice. My justice. The murderer is going to be
very sorry that he killed her.”

“I’m pretty sure he already is, Lady QuiTai.”

~ ~ ~

They reached Kyam’s apartment building and walked up the
short flight of steps to the doorway. LiHoun barely darted out of sight before
Kyam’s watchful gaze swept across the street. He was so close. How could she
buy time? All she needed was a minute away from Kyam.

Kyam slammed open the
door and shoved her into grimy foyer, then herded her toward the staircase.
LiHoun would probably wait for her to come down, but with the clock ticking,
she wanted as much of a head start on Kyam as possible. She pulled away from his
grip. “Mister Zul, if you don’t mind, I need to make a short stop before we go
upstairs.”

“For what?”

She stared at him as if she expected him to
read her mind. Then she raised her eyebrows. Finally, she rolled her eyes. “A
gentleman can heed the demands of nature anywhere...”

He took his time thinking, as if he’d been
given a difficult puzzle to solve. “Come on, then.” He led her past the stair
and down a hallway to the back door of the building.

“I don’t need an escort.”

“Someone could have seen us come into this
building.” He opened the back door.

They stepped out onto a veranda whose uneven
steps led down to a small yard. A faded ball nestled in a curtain of vines that
cascaded from the hillside above. An old woman raked the dirt inside a wire
coop while jungle fowl pecked at the ground around her ankles.

“Little brother! I have eggs for you,” the
auntie called out. Her eyes disappeared into the folds of her cheeks as she
smiled. After a brief glance at QuiTai, she clucked at Kyam and wagged her
finger at him. “I’ll give you extra since you have a guest.”

QuiTai stepped into the outhouse and held the
door open a crack to watch Kyam make his way to the coop. He said, “Eggs? You
spoil me, auntie. Have you eaten?”

As the auntie ducked into the coop, a rooster
with an iridescent green-black tail flew at her with his talons out. “Stop it,
ChuChun!” she scolded. Kyam stepped inside the coop and grabbed the angry bird.

QuiTai heard a scratching at the side of the
outhouse by the vine.

“
Psst
.
Auntie QuiTai.”

She closed the outhouse door and leaned to a
large gap between warped boards in the side wall. “Uncle LiHoun! I’m impressed.”

“Cats have their secret ways.”

“I don’t have much time, so listen closely,
favored uncle.” She spoke quickly. “The Ravidian smugglers took over a
medusozoa plantation. A remote one. Cay Rhi has the highest probability. They’re
raising special medusozoa that don’t glow at night in the tide pool beds. I
want you to capture several medusozoa in a glass container with a strong lid
and take them to my estate. Take lots of vinegar with you to neutralize any
stings. Look.” She held her scarred palm through the crack and heard his intake
of breath. “One sting did this. Two will kill you. And the stingers don’t have
to be attached to the medusozoa.”

“I understand,” LiHoun whispered.

“Ravidians will be guarding the pools. Their
dewclaws can gut a man in seconds, so watch their feet. I think there are
three, but there may be more.” She fed coins out through the gap in the boards
and heard them clink into his hands. “Not for the wolves to know. Speed
matters.”

LiHoun recited the entire message verbatim. “Anything
else?” he asked.

“PhaNyan was also supposed to be here. I
expected him to help.”

“No one has seen him for several days. And an
angry wolf is searching for you, auntie. He was furious when word reached the
marketplace that you escaped from the wreck.”

Ivitch, no doubt. She hoped the soldiers
would arrest him before he found her.

“Are you done yet, Lady QuiTai?” Kyam called
out.

“Go. Be safe, uncle,” she said.

“Lady QuiTai?” Kyam pounded on the door.

She flung it open. “Your manners are
atrocious.”

“Save the lecture for when we’re inside and
safe.” Kyam yanked her across the yard as if she were a disgraced child.