Behind us, Ankalas scoffed."You should require no time at all.Your creche-mate, imbued with your authority, came to an agreement with us.It is your duty to honour that."
Araxis didn't even bother looking back as he held the disc up, where it glinted in the dim light cast from the light panels overhead.He pinched the centre between his thumb and pointer finger and, with a flick from his other hand, set the disc spinning.At once, shimmering golden letters painted the walls and ceiling, although in here, with the clutter, they were distorted and broken.
Araxis huffed, catching the disc in his palm to stop it spinning as the letters winked out.He looked again at Nizanin, frowning."Are you remaining on Sozamia Station for some time, or do you depart soon?"
"Soon," murmured Nizanin serenely, eyes half-lidded."The shipment is nearly ready to be transferred.We would like to complete this exchange in a week's time, give or take.One of our number will reach out to finalize details." Then, their smile sharpening, they added, "Let us know if you require any further assistance.We will also be certain to keep an eye on your creche members, should they need our aid.We must look out for one another in these trying times." Their crest rustled softly behind them and then they stood.
Even though I'd met them before, I still expected Nizanin to be taller – they had the kind of eerie, suffocating presence that suggested they'dloomover you – but Nizanin was short and slight in a way that reminded me uncomfortably of the kids on Seraphim who'd been part of the first terraforming projects.Malnourished.And yet there was a danger that radiated from every limb and in each precise and graceful movement.
As they stood, their dark stare cut to Elethenn, who was hunched over on the floor, his chin long since tipped down as he stared emptily into the pool of blood he was sitting in."Would you like us to deal with him?" they asked."What a wretched, ill-formed thing.He would not have survived to leave the nest had he hatched with a clutch.But he may yet offer utility, even if he is not fit for a creche.He seems to misunderstand his place." As they spoke, their black stare was unflinching, steady, almosthungry.
A sharp wheeze rattled in my chest, like I was trying to gasp but my throat – vise-tight – made it feel like I was breathing through a straw.
"He is useful to us," Araxis said, firm."His place is with us.He will remain with our creche."
Nizanin trilled, looking at both of us indulgently."Youarelike Thalidi.Soft.It is a good quality to offer to those we must protect.It is dangerous when that softness is exposed to the world beyond.Anyone might seize upon it and tear tender flesh to tatters.Save your softness for your virra, sinnenthi – but it is a lesson you will learn in your own time, as did your Thalidi.Our condolences for your loss, Araxis of Creche Thiel, though it was many years ago." Then Nizanin gracefully stepped over Tam's body as though avoiding a puddle, and reached out to accept Ankalas's proffered hand.Sentelli moved around the desk the other way, shoulder bumping into Araxis as he slid by with a sharp look.
"We will be in touch," Ankalas said, opening the door as Nizanin glided out, their guards following a second after, and then the door shut and we were alone.
"Holyfuck," I gasped, and then I launched myself out of the chair, stumbling over Tam's body and crouching down by Elethenn.I untied the twist of fabric from around the back of his head, hauling hard on the strips at his wrists too.His skin was bruised gray-green around his wrists, his chin still tipped down even as he reached one shaking hand up and rubbed at his mouth distantly."Fuck, are you okay?"
Elethenn said nothing, his tongue wetting his bruised lower lip.
Water, I thought distantly, and I shoved the bottle at him."Do you want –"
"Sashen."Araxis spoke behind me and I twisted to look up at him.His face was blank, and he held out a hand."Elethenn will be fine.He just needs a moment."
"But –"
"It's cultural," Araxis said, and there was something like pity in his voice.I knew that tone; Ihatedthat tone, and in a rush, I realized that, for a sinnenthi like Elethenn, this –this, being assaulted and trapped and used as bait and then having a virra fret over you while you were stillsitting in a pool of blood– might be the worst humiliation you could suffer.
So I shoved myself up, out of the pool of Tam's gleaming blood, and stepped back to Araxis, who drew me in the moment I was close enough for his hands to reach.He pulled me hard to him, pressing his face against my neck as he inhaled deeply, almost desperately.Heat prickled at the corner of my eyes, and I felt like I was suddenly someone very, very small standing in the shadow of a tidal wave.Something inexorable and dangerous that was crashing toward us that we couldn't escape.
"What in the actualfuck," I hissed, wide-eyed."They just – TheykilledTam!"I couldn't hold the thought; I couldn't contain it.It kept threatening to spill out past the white-knuckled hold I had on myself that was slipping, moment by moment.
Behind me, I could hear Elethenn moving.A soft sound like he was clearing his throat."We should leave," he said, voice scraped raw, hot and scratchy."We're vulnerable here.The Unbound may know exactly who ordered the attack on Sashen; they may have shared our location.They havenohonour, Araxis.The sooner we leave, the better."
"Wise advice," Araxis said quietly as he released me.I turned to look at Elethenn who, while upright, was holding one hand hard to his side, his body curved forward, like he couldn't stand straight.His face was like a mask, matte white and blank.He took a few unsteady steps forward, pain tightening his jaw, and then went to a dirty shelf in one corner where he retrieved my wristband.Ankalas must have set it down at some point; I hadn't even fucking noticed.
"Dreyko has my swords," I said distantly as Araxis slid the golden disc into an inner pocket of his jacket, still resting across my shoulders.I could feel the weight of it against my chest, warm.
"Then we shall retrieve them."Araxis threaded his fingers through the waves of my hair, gentle.His black eyes were fathomless as he studied me, and all the things I wanted to say – that he shouldn't listen to the shit Nizanin was saying; that I was sorry I'd been lured down here and brought him into it; that I was so profoundly thankful to have had him by my side; that, no matter what, I always felt safe when he was near; that I really would have liked for him to meet Tam, who'd died because ofme– fell away as I shivered under his touch."You did well, beloved," he murmured, thumb stroking my cheek as I fought valiantly against the heat searing my eyes.
I couldn't look at him.I jerked my chin down, and found myself staring at the pool of blood on the floor, and that was worse.God, that was worse.
Next to me, Araxis tapped at his wristband, pulling up a map of Radiant Ward."I brought a station shuttle to the ward docks.Elethenn, this is your neighbourhood, yes?Perhaps you could identify the best route from here, one where we are unlikely to run into trouble."
"I… yes."He ducked his head and edged over Tam's body to the door, casting one last, darting look at the corpse on the floor, before he opened the door carefully to scan the hallway beyond.
I turned to take in the grisly scene one more time, my heart throbbing hard in my throat, before following Elethenn.Araxis took up the rear, a shadow at my shoulder as we slid through the back hallways.My swords and jacket were waiting in a puddle on the floor, as was Elethenn's pistol and the signed photo I'd gotten for Tam and had left at the bar.When I reached for them all, a sliver of paper – torn from the corner of a fight night poster – fell out, scrawled with jagged letters:sorry, kid.My vision whited out for a moment as I stared at it, before crumpling it into a ball and throwing it furiously into a dusty, cluttered corner where I also shoved the notion that I hadeverbeen safe here.
Like that – soaked in blood, in possession of a golden disc while ominous promises chased after us – we made our way to the docks of Radiant Ward and then, finally, home.
Chapter19
Dark of Night
By the time we got in, I'd gone through the entire fucking gamut of emotions and physiological responses.Giddy shock, at somehow walking out of that place alive; terror, at what might have been.Grief.Shame.ThatI'dput Elethenn in that position, thatI'dmade Araxis vulnerable, that Tamcer Temahura – who'd been so kind to me, so patient with me – was dead because of his proximity tome.
