Chapter 14
‘We have to go back. Get the others out.’
‘What?’ Artair looked at her, blinking as though she’d suggested they both sprout wings and fly the rest of the way. Around them, the day was coming to an end, the sun ducking out before its shift was truly over, as it often did in autumn.
‘The rest of my jih kin. I can’t just leave them to that fate. To be entertainment for gawping humans. You saw how they were being treated.’
‘It was awful,’ agreed Artair. ‘But I have no money left. And I don’t think even you could poison all the people without getting caught. How do we get them out?’
‘I don’t know.’ Elver bit her lip, frustrated. ‘We have to try.’
‘It’s too dangerous. What if they figure out that we’re jih spirits too? I don’t think that woman in the red coat would need to think too long about sticking you in a cage.’ He frowned. ‘And then what would we do?’
‘I’d kill her before she ever got me inside a cage,’ Elver said darkly.
She glanced at Artair’s face: he looked troubled, his brows pulled down low over his eyes, but she could tell he wasn’t convinced.
He had his people to save, after all. What did it matter if she also had kin she needed to rescue, if those kin had fur and feathers and fangs?
A hot flare of anger roused in her chest, and she wished again that her poison would work on him.
Kill him, take the cub, go home. It would be the easiest thing in the world.
‘I’m sorry,’ he said, and to her surprise he touched her shoulder briefly, as though reassuring a friend. ‘Perhaps we can get something from the Tisk mage to help save them. And we can get them out on the way back.’
Elver moved away from him so that touching her shoulder again wasn’t a possibility. ‘Yes,’ she said shortly. There had to be another way, and perhaps Artair didn’t need to know about it. ‘Let’s do that.’
That night, when Lucian opened his eyes, he found that he was still outside, in a makeshift camp that looked more or less the same as the one they’d been in the night before—trees, bushes, a stream.
Standard outside things. But when he heaved himself into a sitting position, his hands bound behind his back, it was to find the monster girl standing over him, her dagger in hand.
‘Good evening to you too,’ he sighed. ‘The monks might have been pompous, pious prigs, but at least they didn’t greet me with sharp blades.’ He shifted on the grass. ‘They didn’t greet me at all, to be fair.’
‘I have an offer for you,’ said Elver. ‘One I think you’ll want to listen to.’
‘Oh? More apples, perhaps?’
‘How about…’ She pursed her lips, as though speaking this aloud cost her in some way. ‘If you help me with something, I will help you get your memories back.’
‘You’ll touch me?’
She nodded shortly.
‘Oh, that is interesting. And what would I have to help you with, monster girl?’
‘There is a fair near here with a load of jih creatures held captive. I want to get them out.’
He sat up a little straighter. ‘The monk wouldn’t help you?’
Something passed over her face that he couldn’t read and then it was gone. ‘He got the cub out. Used all the money we’ve got to do it. But he won’t go back for the others. Whereas I think you’re desperate enough to get your memories back that you’ll do as I ask.’
Lucian grinned. ‘I would say you are a very observant monster. I have one more request though.’
She scowled, but he sensed that she needed this badly, and for the first time in a long while he had a small advantage.
‘What is it?’
‘If I help you, you’ll tell me what is going on here, and why our sweet little monk is on the run from his monastery.’
Elver paused. He could tell that she was still very far from trusting him. But in the end she shrugged.
‘Fine. It’s not like it matters to me.’
‘Then I agree to your terms. Let’s go.’
‘There is one last thing.’ She brandished the knife in front of his face. ‘If you try to touch me without my permission, I will cut exciting new holes in you. Do you understand?’
‘I wouldn’t dream of it! I might be an evil spirit, but I am also a gentleman,’ said Lucian. ‘Now, let’s get these ropes off me so we can go and cause some trouble.’