The Madness Project (The Madness Method) (40 page)

“I made a mistake,” I murmured.

“Congratulations,” Kor said, his voice a little rough.

I glanced at him in surprise but he had his face turned
aside.

“I found out who the
stavo
is,” I said, and related
the unlikely events that had led to the discovery, and how Derrin had reacted.

“Vanek Meed!” Kor cried when I’d finished.  “You went and
talked to Vanek Meed.  Stars, Tarik, but you’re crazier than I thought.”

“I don’t know what to do.”

“Last time I gave you advice, you didn’t follow it.”

“It was terrible advice.”

He shoved my head aside.  “Well.  I’d say you can either go
straight to Durb yourself, or go to the Bricks and warn them.  This crew you’re
running with, they’re not going to wait.  And they won’t suddenly decide they
don’t
want to off Alby Durb.  So you need to be careful, because if they find out
you’ve warned either of them, it could destroy whatever trust you’ve gained so
far.”

“I was afraid you’d say that,” I said.  I slanted him a
glance.  “I know you’ve warned me about bringing you incomplete information
before, but…you should probably hear this.  I found a body in the Troyce &
Fallon factory.”

He jerked away from the wall.  “You mean, like the others? 
In the Hole or whatever they call it?”

“Yes, like the others.  No, not in the Hole.  In the
factory, above ground.  Derrin claimed not to know anything about it, and I’m
inclined to believe him.  I don’t know who, or what, or how, only that the
person was a mage.  Anyway, I just thought you should know.”

Kor thrummed his fingers against the wall, chewing on the
inside of his cheek.  “There’s something fishy going on around there.  You’ve
got to get in with this Kantian fellow, or somehow get past him to Rivano.”

“I know.”

He thought for a while, twirling a coin through his
fingers.  I watched him surreptitiously, suddenly noticing all the ways he
reminded me of my mother.  The warm complexion, the dark eyes, the
presence
that had annoyed me at one time but now didn’t even surprise me.  They even had
a similar profile, which I supposed meant I must have looked a bit like him
too, since as far as I’d ever been told, Tarik was the spitting image of
Elanar.  I sighed and slumped back against the wall.

“There’s something you need to know about how suppliers
work,” Kor said after a while.  “If Alby Durb does hit the cooler, the Bricks
are going to have a load of trouble coming down on them.  See, Durb brokers
deals for weapons, drugs, skirts, information, whatever, between the Bricks and
the buyers.  He keeps the buyers honest, because he’s got the force he needs to
make them comply.  So he protects the crew from
them
, not just Vanek
Meed and the city police.  If he’s gone…there will be no one to keep the buyers
from basically making the Bricks their slaves.”

“They’ve got a handful of kids who can handle a weapon, from
what I saw,” I said.  “Those people underground…they wouldn’t have the spirit
to stand up for themselves.  Half of them were glassed out anyway.”

He shook his head.  “Such a bad business.  Tarik, of all the
dangers down in South Brinmark…that’s the one you need to fear the most.”

“Don’t worry,” I said, shuddering as I thought of Liza.  “I
saw what it does to people.”

“Well, now that I know that Alby Durb’s the supplier you
were looking for, I’ve got a bit of information you might need.  If something
happens to him and the buyers start nipping the Bricks’ heels, arrange a meet
with a fellow named Joren.  He’s boss of the buyers’ ring.  Basically sees to
it that the drugs and goods and services get where they’re needed.  Just tell
him you know about the little Gribsy Squeeze he’s been up to.”

“Gribsy Squeeze?” I echoed, baffled.

“He’s been grafting, skimming the profits, just a bit here
and a bit there, making himself a tidy sum.  His lackeys don’t know a thing
about it, and if they did, they’d take him on a long drive down a short road.”

“How do you know about that?”

He grinned and tapped his forehead.  “Told you.  I’ve been
working those streets a long time.”

“So I just mention Gribsy Squeeze and he’ll let up?”

He took a long breath as if to answer, then hesitated and
studied me seriously.  “Probably.  But
be careful
.  I mean it, Tarik,
watch your back.  Because that kind of information is powerful, but…it can
kill, too.  A man like Joren is a coward, but I wouldn’t put it past him to
take a life if it meant protecting his own.”

I swallowed.  “All right.”

“You got any lads down in the Hole you can trust yet?”

“There’s a few,” I said.

“Good. 
Don’t
go alone to meet Joren.  Don’t ever. 
You’re not invincible.  Take your own crew and try to meet on neutral ground. 
You might not be able to get a daylight meet, but at least go somewhere you can
see clearly.  Do you understand?”

My stomach squirmed.  I’d strutted up to Vanek Meed like I
was an untouchable prince, but there were so many things I didn’t know about
the underground.  So many ways my ignorance could get me killed.  I hadn’t been
brave to go to Vanek Meed; I’d been stupid.  I’d skipped over bravery and gone
straight from cowardice to rashness.  It should have gotten me killed.  But I’d
thrown myself into a world where I’d have to press on, and because I’d gone to
Durb, now I would have to go to Joren.  And after Joren?  What then?

God help me.

“I understand,” I murmured.

“All right, get out of here.  Try not to harass your friends
this time.”

The stifled smile on his face made me grin, and I pushed
away from the wall.  I stopped beside him and gripped his arm, meeting his gaze
firmly for the first time.

“Never thought I’d say this, but it’s an honor.”

“What is?” he asked, looking rather baffled.

“Being related to you.”

“
Reishke
,” he muttered, which I assumed was a Tulian
obscenity, but he smiled as he said it and pulled me into a fierce hug. 
“Scram, kid.”

Chapter 17 — Hayli

It was mid-afternoon when Shade finally reappeared.  I tried
to tell myself that I’d not been watching for him, but the way my heart jumped
when I saw him coming up to the gate, I knew it was a fib.  He had a look about
him that I’d seen Derrin get before, all manic intensity and focus like there
was only one thing in the world that mattered.  And the way his gaze skipped
right over me, I knew that I wasn’t it.

He scanned the enclosure once, and when his steps turned my
way, I hopped off the low wall.

“Hayli,” he said, his gaze still roving over everything but
me.  “Where’s Derrin?  I’ve got to see him straight.”

I glowered.  “Dan’ na.  Haven’t seen him all morning.  I was
supposed
to be training with him but he up and shot off first thing.”

“Damn,” he said, but I think he’d stopped listening after
don’t
know.

He tipped two fingers to his temple and swung away.  I
ground my teeth and stalked straight after him.

“Shade, cut it out!” I cried, reaching out to grab his arm.

He spun and ducked a step back, glaring at me.  “Watch it,
Hayli.  What’ve I told you?”

My heart ached like it had got a bitty hole chewed into it,
and my hand prickled, itching to slap his face.  But I couldn’t face that anger
in his eyes, or the sadness that glimmered even deeper inside, a flood behind a
dam, as if the anger were the only thing that could hold it back.

I bent my head and said, “Why’d you need Derrin?”

“I need to make sure he doesn’t do something stupid,” he
said.

“Dan’ you talk about him like that!  Derrin would never do
anything stupid.”

He gave me a little mock bow.  “I defer to your judgment.” 
He studied the old factory a moment, then scrubbed his hand over his head and
turned back to me.  “So he’s not anywhere here?”

“No.”

“Come with me, Hayli,” he said.  “Help me find him.”

“You always make it sound so easy.  Brinmark is grobbing
huge.”

His eyes widened, then he grinned like a mad cat.  “I know.”

I balled up my hands, because more than ever I just wanted
to grab him and shake him.  One minute he was blazing up like a furnace, all
fire and fury, the next…the next his gaze held me like an embrace.  And I was
sick to death of the back and forth, dizzying as a ride at the Medemy Fair.

“Shade, I dan’ get you,” I murmured.  “You baffle me
sometimes.”

He took a step closer to me, just one scant step, but it
turned my world on end as he smiled down at me.  For a second he just held my
gaze with that smile, then it quirked a little broader and he dropped his head
toward mine, whispering, “That’s the idea.”

And with that he strode off, back toward the gate with that
wild predatory grace.

“
Drat!
” I hissed.  “Dratty…drat!”

Anuk would have just cussed him out, the cruder the better,
and Derrin might have had some elegant obscenity primed for the occasion, but
even saying
drat
was a reddener for me.  I tapped my toes and knotted my
hands, and finally gave up and ran after him.  He didn’t even slow down, and
didn’t glance at me at all, but a few steps later he threw back his head and
said,

“Wonder where Alby Durb holes up.”

“Why?  That’s the supplier, right?”

“Right.”

“Eee, why d’you want to see
him?
”

He flicked a glance at me.  “I’ve got reasons.”  Then,
suddenly, he snapped his fingers and said, “Astel!  Bet she knows that sort of
thing.”

“Who’s Astel?” I asked, glowering.

I had to laugh at the look he gave me, all indignation and
wounded pride.  But he didn’t answer.  We walked along in silence, me
struggling to match my steps to his long strides.  The wind nipped through me
like flecks of glass, but at least we were dry today.  Patchy clouds gave us a
glimpse of a rare blue sky, and in the odd flare of sunlight, the city seemed
to sparkle.  Ice clung to the undersides of iron fences and the crossbars of
the street lamps, and turned the wet gutters white.  We passed a flock of crows
picking through frosty grass in a small park, and the sight of them got my
heart fluttering and my fingers prickling.  I wondered—like I always
wondered—if my crow had a life of her own, lived in rare stolen moments.  If
she had a flock she belonged to, or if there was a flock she loved but could
never quite fit in with.

Shade led the way north, and as we got into some of the
finer streets, I saw folks twining the lamp posts and hitching rails with
purple and gold garlands for Kalethelia.  Some of the carriage horses even wore
purple plumes and golden bells, and I tried to imagine if Prince Tarik’s
motorcar would be decked with ribbons too—or would have been, if he’d stayed in
Brinmark.  I wondered if Shade even knew what all the colors meant, but I
didn’t know if Istians celebrated the holiday.  Even Rivano didn’t like it
much, saying it was a false celebration of nothing whatsoever.  A made-up
festival for the shortest day of the year, when the old feasts and rituals had
all been shunned along with mages and all their magic.

But if Shade was curious about the garlands, he didn’t ask. 
We eventually reached a fine restaurant with a dark green awning and empty
tables clustered on the sidewalk, meant for finer days in warmer seasons. 
Shade jerked his head at me and pushed the door open, holding it with his toe
for me to enter.  I took a deep breath, letting the warmth from the radiators
thaw my numb cheeks.  My stomach grumbled at the smell of frying fish but I
didn’t think Shade had money for a meal.  I certainly didn’t.  Still, Shade
strode straight up to the counter and thrummed his fingers against the greasy
wood.

A few moments later a girl popped out of the kitchen, wiping
her hands on a bar rag.  She had hair red as Pika’s and a sharp face, all
angles and shadows.  But when she saw Shade she grinned, and the smile softened
all her edges.

“Why, hello there, doll,” she said to Shade, traipsing up to
the counter and including me in her smile.  She had a south Cavnish accent
thick as stew, even worse than Red’s.  “Didn’t know if I’d see you around
again.  Care for a beer or something a bit stronger?”

Shade held open his hands, like he meant to show her he had
no money.

“On the house, love.  For your moll here, too, if she wants
something.”

Shade and I stared at each other, and just for a flash I
thought I saw him wink at me.  My stomach turned a little somersault and I
focused on counting bottles of liquor behind the bar.

“Thanks,” Shade said, “but we’re just here for a moment. 
Wondered if you could help me out.”

“Anything for you,” she said, leaning her elbows on the
counter straight across from him and twirling a loose strand of hair.

I choked back a cough and stared at my hands, because Shade
couldn’t
be serious.  This girl couldn’t be serious.  What a load of blithering
malarkey.