A man’s voice, strangely distorted. Ysira whirled, shielded her eyes from the light. Someone was running toward her, but their footsteps faltered. Another voice joined the first, shouting. Angry with each other or with her? Or—was that fear?
Two of them approached. They wore big, blocky suits of armor and helmets that obscured their features. They moved cautiously, staying close to the enormous lights, as though they could not see in the dark at all.
There was something familiar about them, less a conscious memory than an instinct, buried in Ysira like a splinter. These people did not belong. Less, even, than the Osuun who painted the ruins in blood. They did not belong in this temple, nor in this canyon, nor anywhere near her.
Run,Ysira’s intuition screamed, but one of the strangers pointed something at her. Another device she didn’t recognize.
A dense ball of electricity hit her in the chest. With a cry, more stunned than pained, she sank to one knee. She dropped her weapon and skein of thread. Her passenger spasmed. The sensation faded.
She tried to stand and it hit her twice more, two jolts to the heart in quick succession. Between the light, her passenger’s odd behavior, and the hole in the universe, she was too disoriented to make sense of it. Her vision blurred.
“Don’t move!”
Something struck her in the back, hard enough to knock her over. Her jaw cracked against the stone. She thought, half-lucid, mind spiraling wildly,No please no not again?—
“Take her upstairs,” someone said. “Call a transport to the station.
They’re going to want to hear about this.”
This time, they hit her in the head. The world went black.
14
TRUTH
JACEN
Jacen woke with a pounding headache, a rancid taste in his mouth, and a lingering sense of shame. That was not unusual, but he was also surrounded by unfamiliar smells, lying on a very clean cot, and?—
Oh, no.
He tried to sit up, but a surge of nausea stopped him. Someone handed him a bucket. He vomited into it. When he looked up, wiping away sick, the first thing he saw was Seth Semira’s concerned face. He threw up again.
Most of the time, he was smart enough to do this at home. At home, he could wake up and go expeditiously back to the bottle.Here. . . his head felt stuffed full of wool, every thought was like trying to shift a load of rocks, but he had the overwhelming sense thatherewas the worst possible place for him to be.
“Where am I?” he croaked.
Seth withdrew the bucket. “Ogden’s clinic.”
Jacen could not recall what was so bad about this, only that it was very bad indeed. He hauled himself to a sitting positionand winced when he put weight on his right hand, which was wrapped in clean white bandages.
“Your novitiate found you,” Seth explained. “She said you came back late, ranting about things that didn’t make sense. You also said my name. She didn’t know who else to call, so she sent me a message by pigeon.”
“What happened toyou?” Jacen touched his face to indicate the bruises decorating Seth’s, and the smear of dried blood under his nose.
Seth scrubbed at it with a grimace. “I came by your chapel to make sure you were alive. And then I took a fall, because it was dark, and you don’t pick up after yourself.” He brushed off Jacen’s concern. “I’m fine. Your novitiate also said you mentioned this place, and Ogden’s good at what he does. He’s helped people like you.”
Jacen knew the sort. Drunks and thorn eaters, the most pitiable people in a pitiable city.People like me.Jacen massaged his forehead as though it might dispel his headache.
“I have no idea what Nines said to you, but I’m not here for—for treatment. I have to get out of here.”
“I didn’t realize,” Seth said quietly, “that it had gotten this bad.”
Where was the door? Jacen tried to stand again, but another wave of nausea overtook him.
“I don’t want to lose you.” Real pain showed in the faint lines around Seth’s eyes and the set of his mouth. “And you can confide in me. If I ever said anything to make you think you couldn’t, I’m sorry.”
The thought ofthatwas simply unbearable. In fact, everything was unbearable. A terrible heat rose in Jacen’s chest, constricting his heart, making it hard to breathe. He wanted to be anywhere but there. Anywhere but inside his own skin. He swayed on the cot.
