by Ann Denton
Mala turned to a window, straightening her baggy Erlender jumpsuit. Lowe’s face stared impassively back at her. Let’s see what you’ve been up to, lover boy.
Chapter Forty-Two
Mala waited in the shrine, curled uncomfortably into a corner. She was mashed between a grandfather clock and a gaudy red velvet curtain. Tingles traveled up her legs. Hurry up and get here already.
Her wish wasn’t granted until after her left leg was asleep. The door creaked open. Mala peered around the curtain. The Chiara entered hesitantly, a small book of drawings under her arm. She took a seat in one of the chairs, clearly expecting to wait.
Impulsively, Mala stepped out from behind the curtain.
“What?” Stelle dropped her book.
“I heard you were going to be here,” Mala said.
“You have to leave. If he sees us together … If he thinks you and I are working together behind his back, he’ll kill me.”
Mala kept her face impassive. You don’t want Troe to realize you’re conning him? So sad for you. “I thought you’d be happy to see me. It’s been awhile.”
Stelle rolled her eyes. “Two months? Get out of here. I don’t want you hurt, you stupid idiot.”
The tone of Stelle’s voice. The simultaneous frustration and affection clinched it. They’re together.
“Maybe it’s worth getting hurt,” Mala retorted. Whatever he’s doing, Lowe thinks you’re worth it. Betraying the Senebals. Betraying me.
“Just hand over the girl already. And then Tier gets his Kreis. And then I’m free to leave.”
Mala stood stock-still. Until she remembered she was already supposed to know all of this. “You really think they’ll let you leave?”
Stelle’s lip wavered. She stepped forward. Suddenly her lips were on Mala’s. “We’ve had this discussion. Now get out of here.” She pushed Lowe toward the door.
But the handle turned. Stelle froze. Mala scrambled back to her hiding spot.
The prince strode in, with a confidence too bright for a disfigured teenage boy. His smile was feral.
“So … whadja’ see?”
“She needs the boy. What Tier said is true: this girl has limitations. She’s not as powerful as you.”
What?
The prince waved his hand dismissively. “A’ course she’s not. What I care about is how she got close. What’d she do?”
Stelle bowed her head. “I can’t see the past.”
The prince knocked her book out of her hands. “You’ll need to give me somethin’ more than excuses.”
Stelle scrambled for her book and shuffled the pages. “Here, this is him: he’s tall. Thin. He’s there with her. Every time I see her. And I don’t know what it is. But he’s dangerous, I can feel it. He’s dangerous.”
Mala didn’t need to see the picture to know Stelle was describing Ein.
“I think this boy came in with Keptiker. Let’s go find yer danger, shall we?” He held out an arm. Stelle took it hesitantly. She pulled the door firmly shut as they left the room.
Mala almost fell out of her hiding spot. They’re going to get Ein! What do I do?
Chapter Forty-Three
Mala slipped into the hallway. She grabbed the first unarmed Erlender that passed her. Slamming the girl into the wall, Mala grabbed her throat. And stared. She melted.
She let the girl run off screaming, as she continued down the hall. This time she didn’t hide, assuming she’d melted into an Erlender. She did it again.
Grab a servant. Choke them. Melt. Let them run off screaming. Floor after floor she climbed, repeating the process. After three floors, she started to hear the thump of soldiers’ boots. She grabbed her own neck hard and gave an ear splitting shriek.
Two blue noses came running. Mala pointed down the hall, breathing too hard to speak. The soldiers took off.
As fast as her legs would take her, Mala headed up to the sixtieth floor. Erlenders believed in demons. They believed in evil. Hopefully they’ll be spreading mud on every doorway and burning herbs in their cups. And those guards will be on a wild goose chase. Though the prince will know. He knew about me. He was looking for me. He’ll be looking for me. I hope I bought us enough time. As her thighs burned she tried to make decisions. She tried to weigh each option.
Mala had to catch her breath on the fortieth floor. She rounded a corner and saw a teenage Erlender couple struggling just beyond a stack of dusty cubicle walls near an open elevator shaft. The boy was wrapped head to toe, badly bandaged. The girl tugged at the boy, who froze when he saw Mala. The girl turned slowly. Mala started. Alba!
A second later Alba was on top of her, knife out.
“Alba!” Mala shrieked. “Don’t!”
Alba froze, horror crossing her features. “How do you know me?”
Mala’s eyes flickered between Alba and the bandaged boy, who’d crouched behind the cubicle stack. His face was grey, deathly ill. His blue tattoos were hardly visible. Red rims under his eyes … Alba was helping a dying Erlender. Mala felt pity rise up.
Sick of betrayal, two steps from death anyway, Mala decided to try trust. “It’s really not gonna do much for your rep if you kill your roomie.”
Alba froze. Her eyes narrowed. She climbed off Mala but kept the knife out.
For the first time, the boy came forward. He stood next to Alba staring down at whatever body Mala happened to be in. “Prove it.”
Ges’s voice nearly made Mala sob. She put her arms out to hug him but Alba stepped between them.
Mala stared past Alba, right into Ges’s eyes. “It’s not about what’s probable. It’s about what’s possible.”
Ges broke into a wide grin. He shouldered past Alba and enveloped Mala in a huge hug. “Here,” he pulled out a flask and poured a little water onto her hand. Mala relaxed as she melted.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Mala asked, keeping an arm around Ges’s waist. “Are you okay?”
“She didn’t sell us out,” Ges explained. “And I’m fine, I’m hero-ing. Apparently you need disguises and stuff. Which Alba is quite good at. Looking like a corpse makes people turn the other way. No one wants to look you in the eye.”
“I came here to help,” Alba said simply. “I thought the best way to prove to Tier and the Ancients that I wasn’t with Blut … that I would never …. You know me. I want to help you.”
Boots echoed up the stairwell.
Sludge. “Well, that help can start right now,” Mala responded. “How the heck can we get outta here?”
Alba jerked her head. “Guess it’s back to the elevator shaft.”
Ges sighed. “If my arms don’t fall off and I don’t plummet to my death, I want it noted that I officially hate this. The anthill is so much better. I’ll take boring dusty archives any day. Real heroics suck.”
“Elevator was your idea, nerd-head,” Alba boosted Mala onto one of the ropes, and then Ges, then swung aloft with one hand while she used the other to pull a lever that slid the elevator doors shut.
“What is that smell?” Mala tried not to gag.
“Elevator doesn’t work. Guards turned the shaft into a latrine. Makes it an unpopular and dangerous way to travel.”
“Yeah, don’t ask us about any wet spots on our clothes,” Ges muttered.
“Which way?” Alba asked.
“Up,” Mala responded.
Ges groaned. “No!”
Mala grinned in the darkness. “It’s only twenty more floors.”
“Alba, hand me the knife. I’m pretty sure Mala wants us to kill her. Who other than a sadist would ever—”
“Ein should be meeting us at the top.” Mala shimmied upward.
“Can’t you climb any faster?”
A laugh bubbled up, but Mala swallowed it. She didn’t want it to echo through the shaft. For the first time since she’d discovered she couldn’t melt into the dead, she felt hope bouncing in her stomach, a tiny buoy in the midst of a terrible storm. Thank you, her mind whispered to
the powers that be. As she heard Ges and Alba snipe at one another in whispers, she said it again: Thank you.
Chapter Forty-Four
Mala’s arms were screaming when Alba finally pried open the elevator doors on the sixtieth floor. The carpet was worn down to a grey moss. She collapsed onto it. Ges fell on top of her dramatically.
“You are going to have to spoon-feed me for the next two weeks,” he groaned. “No, I take that back. Ein’s going to have to do it.”
Mala giggled.
Alba pushed the elevator doors shut. “Where is the brain-man?”
Mala froze. “On his way, I hope.” She bit her lip, turning her head toward the stairwell, listening for sounds that weren’t there. “He’s been compromised. I tried to meltdown and freak out a bunch of servants. Tried to cause some chaos to give him a chance to get away. I dunno if it worked.”
“What about Lowe and Neid?” Ges sat up.
“He’s the mole.” Saying it out loud made the hurt come back. Mala shoved it down. There’s no time for that, idiot. Focus. Focus. She gave Ges and Alba the rundown.
“So Tier’s in on it? He sold you?” Alba spit.
“Looks like it. Traded me for Kreis prisoners or something.”
Ges nodded thoughtfully. “You die or disappear. Fell looks totally incompetent as your champion. He gets some Kreis prisoners of war back safe and sound… stays head of the Ancients. But wouldn’t the king mind giving up prisoners? They never do that.”
Mala shrugged a shoulder. “The prince didn’t seem worried about it.”
“The prince? Tier is working with some kid?” Alba scoffed.
“He could just be standing in for his dad. Easier for a kid to get around,” Ges pointed out. “People don’t notice kids.”
Something Lowe had said months ago came rushing back to her. People underestimate kids. ‘Adults don’t notice kids.’ Maybe Lowe gave them the idea to use kids.
“But, if Lowe is working with the Erlenders … why would he have killed Blut?” Alba asked. “That’s messed up, if they’re both on Troe’s team.”
Mala stared at the pair of them for a split second. Why would he have made me kill Blut?
“He’s trying to save her. Get her out or something. Maybe Blut would have just handed me over to Troe. No trade.”
Alba shrugged. “Kinda extreme.”
“Look, you’re talking about people who are all technically crazy,” Ges reminded them. “Logic might not be their strong suit.”
“Yeah, crazy,” Mala repeated. Lowe’s crazy. For her. And I’m just some pawn … a bitter taste filled her mouth. She let the bitterness harden into anger. So he thinks.
Chapter Forty-Five
“We should just chain him up right away,” Ges argued.
“That would blow Mala and Ein’s cover, smarty,” Alba retorted. “What are you gonna tell Troe? Oh, Keptiker just goes around tying up six-year-olds for no reason.”
“Sh!” Mala stopped the bickering with a hand. Shuffle. Scrape. Shuffle. She heard gentle footsteps. Not Troe’s soldier’s boots, but the shuffle of worn shoes. Ein? She moved toward the stairs.
“Well, you caused some trouble,” Ein muttered.
“Lowe?”
“Went to the kitchens to find out what the muck is going on. They’re pulling everybody aside and questioning them. It’s chaos. They’re talking about a demon stealing people’s skins. Hope it was worth—” He froze when he saw Alba and Ges.
“Um … we have some stowaways,” Mala stammered. “Come to help.” She pulled out a dusty office chair and gestured for Ein to sit. He did.
Ein cocked his head in silent question, but didn’t speak. Alba and Ges jumped in, telling him how Alba had found Ges and Neid’s friend Bar, in the forest. Bar had run, but Ges had pounced.
“Like a kitten,” Alba laughed. “But anyway, once it came out that everyone thought I was a traitor … and that Mala was here on this horribly understaffed, under-planned mission … we just—”
“Decided to join forces. Little kitty and tiger mom to the rescue,” Ges interjected.
Once their giggles subsided, it was Mala’s turn. Slowly, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the drawing Troe had given her. She handed it to Ein.
“The Chiara draws things. Troe thinks she draws the future. You heard Verrat before I killed her: she thought Keptiker was gonna kill her. And I melted into him. Technically, she was right.”
Ein opened his mouth, sarcasm clearly written on his face. Alba and Ges kept silent. They had heard some of this. But Mala hadn’t told them her plan. And she had to convince Ein that it was a good plan. Because she had the feeling he was the key to making it work.
She took a deep breath and continued, “The Chiara gave Troe a picture of your sister. Said she was dangerous. You saw that picture. The guards had it. When she saw them roughing you up, she got out of line. She was coming to help you. And they killed her.”
“Troe’s delusional and evil,” Ein muttered.
“Even so … the Chiara gave him this drawing of me. She told Troe that I’ll be his queen.”
Ein’s face contorted from shock to horror and then humor. “You can’t be serious.” He glanced at Alba and Ges, but they remained stoic.
Mala took a deep breath. “Ein, you’ve seen the girl I melt into when Lowe …” she couldn’t finish.
“Yeah, the redhead,” Ein supplied.
Mala forced herself to spit out the words. “His first love. The one you said he might not be over?”
“What does that—”
“She’s the Chiara. Stelle. I saw her. She met with Troe. She’s been feeding Troe all this information. All of these pictures.” Mala ferreted around in her pocket. She pulled out the scrap in there. “But she burned the one of Lowe. This is from Wilde. She didn’t bring it to Troe. She’s drawn all the rest of us. But she hid his picture.”
Ein’s jaw dropped. “Lowe is the mole?”
Mala bit her lip. “Unless you think she’s really predicting the future.” Come on, Ein. Possibilities. Not probabilities.
Ein snorted.
Mala continued, “That’s why I melted into him this afternoon. To be sure.”
Ein stared, waiting, until Mala gave a solitary nod.
“Why? Why the hell would he do this? Why would he get my sister killed?”
“I know there’s some kind of exchange—Stelle’s freedom is worked into the deal for bringing me in—me for some Kreis prisoners. Tier and King Troe have some kind of deal. Troe and his sons … one of them is interested in how I melt. How I got the way I am.”
“If Tier is trading you … we can’t trust anyone at the Center.”
Mala nodded. “We’re alone.” And she felt like she was treading water in the middle of a lake, in the midst of a storm. Alone.
Alba grabbed her hand. “Not quite alone. But not government guppies anymore. Bottom-feeding Ancient. But what are we going to actually do? Other than stop taking orders from people obviously out to kill us.”
“Well …” Mala took a deep breath. “I have an idea. It’s kind of out there. But you’re gonna have to trust me and just do it. Do you trust me?” She stared straight at Ein.
He cocked his head. “Is it that bad?”
Mala bit her lip. She managed a small grin. “I don’t think it’s any worse than being paraded around in your underwear, shocked with electricity, forced to kiss an entire lineup of guys …”
“Okay, point taken,” Ein smiled. “I’m evil. I’ll do it.”
Mala heaved a sigh of relief. “Good.” She dug into the flight suit’s front pocket. This time she pulled out the tiny item that she’d pocketed during her long wait for the Chiara. Slender and black, it sat like a tiny arrow on her palm.
“Yes!” Ges whispered. Alba chuckled.
Ein looked at it. “No!” He backed up.
“You promised!” Mala said. “Besides, if this doesn’t work, who cares? Stupid Mala. Lowe’s a traitor and I’m an id
iot and Ein’s right about everything. And the world goes back to normal. It’s just a pinprick.”
“Why the hell would you do this? I’m not even Kreis!” Ein retorted.
“I can’t prove she can paint the future. But I can test whether magic exists,” Mala replied slowly. “And I know you think this is crazy. But I’ve been thinking, since the prince asked this afternoon about me. About how I got the way I am. About what I did. He thinks I did something. That someone did something to make me what I am. And I was thinking about everything—this ceremony, Ges and blood sacrifice. We read a book. Ges and I. We thought it was the cut that was the blood sacrifice. But the final trial made me think—”
Ges sucked in a breath, the first to figure out where Mala was headed. Ein tried to interject, but Mala waved him off.
“My mom died to save me. The same night I did this stupid little ritual. And Neid tried to save you … Look I know that this is wishful thinking. Crazy talk. All of that. But we’re partners, right? And I don’t want to lose you. So I did some crazy things today. I melted down a couple times. Spread some chaos. People think demons are on the loose. But it won’t be enough. Because Stelle drew you, too. Troe’s looking for you.”
Ein froze.
Mala grabbed his hand, “Ein, please please just do this for me. One little cut and then I’ll know. I’ll know that it’s stupid, I just—I need this. If I can save you … Please. For me.”
Ein gazed at her and she registered the pity in his look. But she didn’t care. She had to know.
“Fine,” he rolled his eyes.
Mala sucked in a breath. She held the hour hand like a knife. She turned Ein’s palm faceup. She kissed it gently. “Thank you, Ein.”
Alba took a spot near the stairs to keep watch. Ges stood back a respectful distance. Mala pulled Ein to his feet. She carved a line into his palm, waiting until the blood pooled on the surface. “Repeat after me.”
