Page 67 of Under the Iron Sky

Emelda groaned again, twisting away from him.

Aeris whirled around. The undeniable rage on his face didn’t seem to faze Malakai, but it scared the hell out of Soraya. “What did you give her?”

Malakai held his hands up in surrender, although there was no doubt in Soraya’s mind he could give the Ethereal a run for his money if he needed to. “Just something I picked up on the lower levels. Have you been down there lately?” He loosened a long whistle. “Good grief, those gutter fairies have some good stuff. It was supposed to cheer her up, and I specifically told her not to drink so much if she was going to take it, but then we went to the Pitt, watched some fights, and, well—you know what a lush she’s become.”

A loud crack, then Ikarus stepped into the courtyard just as Aeris was sliding his hands beneath Emelda’s knees and shoulders and lifting her into his arms. He took one look at the passed-out fairy, then glared at Malakai. “What did you do?”

Malakai’s hands shot up again just as Aeris disappeared, taking Emelda with him. “Why does everyone always assume I’m the problem? She’ll be fine once she’s slept it off. Fucking hell—she’s not made of glass, you know. It’s time you two stopped treating her like it.”

Angry as he was, Ikarus didn’t seem surprised to find the fairy so intoxicated.

“Don’t worry,” Golla said, so close Soraya nearly jumped out of her skin. Her eyes snapped down to find him by her feet—well, his shoulders and body; his head had disappeared into the wall until he slunk back and smiled up at her. Was that how he’d been watching her?

“Mel get upset a lot,” Golla explained, although he seemed more interested in the small black-and-red flowers that were sprouting out of his arm. “Aeris always busy so Malakai look after her. Then Aeris get angry at Malakai, then Mel get angry at Aeris. Until Aeris bring her a present, then she forgive.”

“I didn’t ask.”

“But you interested though.”

“I’m not.”

“Then stop watching.”

Soraya shooed the creature away, then went back to looking out the window. While she’d been distracted, Ikarus had sunk onto the bench Emelda had been sleeping on. “Why would you give her anything at all?”

“Today’s the fifteenth,” Malakai replied simply, as though that answered everything.

Which it clearly did for Ikarus, if the slow clenching and unclenching of his jaw was to be believed. “Fuck,” he whispered, almost a growl. “I forgot it was the anniversary today. I’ve been so busy with—”

“With the human,” Malakai interrupted. “I know. You’re always busy with the human these days.”

Ikarus’s mouth pressed into a tight line. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Just an observation.” Malakai withdrew another ash-stick, the veins on the back of his hand making the half butterfly tattoo inked there look as though it was about to take flight. He snapped his fingers, summoning a flame so blue it was like looking into a cloudless sky, and extended his hand.

Ikarus stared at the now smoking butt, a peace offering for whatever tiff this was, then sighed. “You should have reminded Aeris,” he said, slipping the ash-stick into his mouth. “You know he likes to be around when Mel takes a turn.”

“Tried to, but he and our fearless leader”—flames danced across Malakai’s fingers as he made a sweeping motion toward Ikarus—“were nowhere to be seen. She was crying and upset. She wanted help, so I helped her. That’s all.”

Tipping his head back, Ikarus took a deep drag. He pinched his eyes closed, holding the smoke in his lungs.

“So, where were you tonight?” Malakai prodded.

“Out,” Ikarus replied, the word engulfing him in a cloud of smoke like fire from a dragon.

A long silence passed before Malakai asked, “He’s putting more pressure on you, isn’t he? To search her memories.”

“Search the human’s memories, command his legions, bring him the pieces of the Arch. The list never ends.”

“And let’s not forget about this Hex old Rambam has got you working on.”

Soraya’s heart fluttered in her chest. What the hell was a Hex? Some sort of weapon? She leaned a little further out the window, hanging off their every word.

Ikarus stilled for a moment, his eyes snapping to Malakai as though the pyromancer wasn’t supposed to know that, then frowned and said, “Rambam?”

Malakai shrugged, grinning. “A new nickname I’m trying out. Ramapheal is so long.”

“Please make sure I’m there when you test it out on him.” Ikarus took another drag, apparently not at all interested in talking about this Hex.