When they stepped inside, the factory was empty of people, but the fumes of dyes and chemicals were still strong, etched into the walls and permeating the air.
“My mother worked in one like this,” Teo said, his voice low with a bitter note. “No one can survive long, breathing in this stuff all day.”
Aina placed a finger to her lips, then looked around the factory—three stories rose above, all work floors with machinery standing still and uniform like soldiers. Dread formed a pit in her stomach at the sight. Thousands of employees needed these jobs, hired by Steels who would just as soon let them die from the factory fumes; Inosen as well, whose Steels bosses would report them to Diamond Guards the minute they discovered who they were.
The only light came from fluorescent bulbs in a second-floor manager’s office, which had a large window for managers and supervisors to watch the work floor. A narrow metal staircase without a railing ran along the right side of the wall, the only way to walk between each floor.
“You all have weapons?” Aina whispered, and when they nodded, she said, “Good. See the staircase? I think there’s a basement.”
They began walking down the stairs, sticking close to the wall to avoid tumbling over the railing-less side. Aina’s anticipation rose as they did, her heart beating so loudly in her ears, she feared it would give them away.
It was nearly pitch-black down here, which she supposed made sense if they’d wanted to keep this hideout a secret. They must have set up some kind of bribe with the factory managers. The stairway creaked under their footsteps, and she winced each time, expecting a sleeping Jackal downstairs to wake up and start shooting at the staircase any moment now.
When they reached the bottom, she blinked a few times to adjust her eyes to the darkness. It was empty, their breathing the only sound. Her heart sank, but then she shook away the disappointment. Even if Kohl wasn’t here, they could find something to help track him down.
A few of the windows above let in moonlight that illuminated the space. Unused or broken machinery spread around the room in a sort of maze. A single wooden door was in the far corner of the basement. Rows of cots lined two of the walls, dust swirling in the moonlight above them. In the dark corners were boxes of what might be supplies or weapons.
She pointed to one of the boxes, and Teo moved forward to check it. But before he got more than a few steps, the door in the corner creaked open.
Aina threw herself behind one of the tall textile machines that stood near the stairway. Teo squeezed in next to her a moment later while Raurie and Ryuu hid behind another machine.
Torchlight shone through the door as three men entered, their footsteps echoing off the basement floor. Through the door, Aina could make out the rocky, rough-hewn walls of a tunnel. Her hand gripped her knife so tightly, she thought she might break the handle, but Kohl wasn’t part of the group. One of the men’s sleeves were rolled up to show the tattoo of a Jackal’s open jaw. They left the door open, and slow-moving footsteps sounded from farther down the tunnel—more people coming.
When Ryuu squeezed a little bit more behind the machine, his shoes squeaked on the floor and one of the Jackals looked up.
“Thought I heard something,” he mumbled, his voice carrying in the quiet.
“Rats,” said one of the other Jackals in a dismissive tone. “You got what we need from the Blood King?”
Aina stiffened at those words, leaning forward around the machine as far as she dared to see what this could be. The other Jackal nodded and flashed something in his pocket. Its smooth surface glinted in the torchlight, but he put it away so quickly, Aina couldn’t tell what it was.
“How many more of these shipments will Bautix be doing?” the third one hissed, casting a quick glance upward as if he feared someone could hear them. “Feels like we’re getting a new one every other day.”
“He has to wait for the smuggler from Kaiyan to return to act,” the first one said. “These shipments, they’re smaller parts of a whole that the smuggler is sending in before his return.”
A minute of silence passed, punctuated only by labored breathing and the still-approaching footsteps coming from the tunnel. Then, four more men entered carrying two heavy boxes between them—and none of them bore Jackal tattoos. The Jackals stepped aside to let the men pass, then stood with their backs to the door they’d all come through.
The third Jackal’s eyes flicked up once more, and this time, Aina followed his gaze to the manager’s office on the second floor. Three figures had stepped into the light, and Aina cursed herself for not checking that room before. She squinted, trying to make them out, when one of the Jackals on this floor spoke again.
“You’ve all been very helpful, bringing this delivery,” he announced to the men who’d carried in the crates. One of the crates was slightly open, and Aina could make out the edge of a grenade and the barrel of a gun. “I have your payment right here.”
Then, he pulled out from his pocket what he’d shown the other Jackals before, something from Kohl. The glass sphere shone brightly under the torchlight, with a clear liquid inside, smoke rising off it and fogging the inside of the sphere. Aina’s breath caught, and she beckoned the others to retreat with her toward the stairs leading out of the basement.
Before any of the men who’d brought the weapons could do more than lean forward to see what the Jackal was showing them, the Jackal threw the sphere on the ground and it shattered. Smoke rose into the air as the Jackals vanished into the side door and slammed it shut behind them. A lock sounded.
“Run!” Aina whispered back to her friends as soon as they reached the steps.
“They tricked us, those goddess-forsaken bastards!” shouted one of the men who’d brought the weapons.
He ran to the door the Jackals had left through and began pounding on it, but it wouldn’t break, even when he slammed his body into it. Risking a glance over her shoulder as they raced up the stairs, Aina watched as one of the other men collapsed on the floor. His eyes stared glass-like at the ceiling, the shadows of machinery towering over him while Kohl’s poison choked the air.
“What kind of poison is that?” Raurie asked as the other two men reached the staircase and began racing toward them.
“Move!” one of the smugglers shouted behind Aina, pushing so hard she almost fell off the stairs. Ryuu grabbed her by the elbow to stop her fall while Teo caught up to the smuggler, yanked him back from the top step, and shoved him off the side of the stairs. They reached the first floor, the whole factory dark except the light from the second-floor managers’ office. The three people there began to turn away, and the glint of a diamond earring caught Aina’s eye.
The fluorescent light revealed the man’s face: a tightly coiled red beard, starkly pale skin on a chiseled face, and sharp blue eyes. “Bautix,” Aina whispered as he lifted his chin at her in a taunting gesture.
She’d make him tell her where Kohl was hiding—and then she’d slit his throat. The last smuggler fled to the nearest door. He tried to shove it open, but something outside blocked the exit. They were trapped, and the poison would drift up to the factory’s main floor in seconds if they didn’t move. Aina raced to the next flight of stairs, with Teo, Ryuu, and Raurie right behind her. Teo fired into the window on the second floor. It shattered, spraying glass everywhere, and the three men inside ducked. But Bautix hardly looked shaken—he stood straight, facing them with an amused grimace on his face.
They reached the second floor just as Bautix vanished through a door in the back. The two men with him, most likely Jackals, lifted their guns.
Aina slammed her back into the wall, dodging the first shot. Ryuu fired back, one of his bullets hitting and instantly killing a Jackal.
Before the second Jackal could shoot them, Aina leapt through the window and knocked the gun out of his hand. It skidded across the floor, and Raurie put a knife to the man’s throat a breath later. Aina raced out the door to find Bautix.
The door led to a hall
way that passed through the back offices. The hallway was drafty, with all the windows open, and a sudden wind brought goose bumps to her skin. She raced down the hall, checking through each door, but there was no staircase to the other floors, and Bautix wasn’t in any of the rooms. She ran to the fire escape instead, but didn’t see him anywhere on it, nor on any of the surrounding streets.
She slammed her fist on the railing. It may have been years since he’d actually fought in Sumerand’s army, but clearly the skills hadn’t left him.
A moment later, Teo, Raurie, and Ryuu joined her on the fire escape, their shoes clanging against the metal surface. “Bautix is gone,” Aina said, her voice harsh. “This was a waste of time. Kohl wasn’t here, and now this hideout is compromised. They won’t stay here anymore.”
In silence, they left the warehouse by the fire escape and circled back to the front to meet Tannis and Lill. As they did, Kohl’s words came back to Aina, calling her a broken blade that couldn’t do its job and needed to be thrown out. She curled her hands into fists, knuckles straining.
“What would you do without me?” he’d asked one day several years ago when he’d spotted a grunt from a rival gang about to mug her in an alley off Lyra Avenue. Aina, only fourteen and still getting used to her training, hadn’t seen the boy, but Kohl had found him almost instantly.
“I don’t know,” she’d muttered, unable to say why it had frustrated her so much at the time. Even then, she’d known agreeing with him was the safest choice.
She wished she could go back in time and change her answer, tell him she’d never needed him at all. If that boy had mugged her, she would have dealt with the consequences. If Kohl had never brought her into the Dom, she would have found her own path. She wouldn’t have starved to death or suffocated on glue, alone in a back alley of Kosín.
She tried to convince herself of that now, but every time she came close to finding him, he vanished. Every time she had a clue, it proved fruitless.
Kohl had money, an entire gang working for him, and plenty of skill and weapons. She had all of that too, and they would continue running for each other’s throats and just missing until one of them had something that would give them the upper hand.
Something to put her a step ahead of him, something Kohl himself had never even dared to do. Something to give her power that the rich, like Bautix, hated simply because it wasn’t money and steel. Something the people of this city had always turned to when they had nothing else.
Her parents had used it to heal. She would use it to kill. She would beat Kohl at his own game.
Once they’d met with Tannis and Lill and retreated to an alley nearby, Aina looked around at them all and voiced what everyone had feared since the civil war.
“I want to learn to use blood magic,” she said, her voice a whisper yet freezing all of them in place. “To fight.”
4
“You what?” Lill asked. “Are you even an Inosen?”
Their alley was empty, lit only by moonlight streaming in from the main road. Water dripped from a pipe into a puddle near the mouth of the alley, and a rat dug through garbage with tiny, jerking movements. No other sounds broke the quiet night, but the hair on the back of Aina’s neck still rose. Anyone could be listening in Kosín.
But part of her no longer cared. Kohl and Bautix feared nothing, and neither would she.
“My parents were Inosen, and I used to be,” she said in a harsh tone. “I know the magic is risky, but—”
“Yeah, anyone seen using it gets instantly killed by the Diamond Guards,” Lill said, tossing her hands in the air.
“You think I can’t handle any Diamond Guards who come after me?” Aina asked flatly, one hand gripping a knife out of frustration—and if Lill didn’t shut up, she might use it on her. “I want to use the magic to fight, but even a tracking spell would be useful at this point. I can’t kill anyone if I don’t know where they are.”
“I asked my aunt June about doing a tracking spell to find Bautix,” Raurie said, crossing her arms, an uncomfortable look on her face. “She doesn’t want to get involved in anything to do with this mess, and none of the Sacoren will agree to bless us to use magic—even for nonviolent reasons. They know we’re angry enough to fight with it, if it came down to it.”
“And you have every right to be angry,” Ryuu said immediately. Lill narrowed her eyes at him, like she thought he might be acting nice as some sort of elaborate ruse.
“The magic puts a target on your back no matter what you’re using it for,” Teo spoke up, not bothering to lower his voice; it seemed to echo off the concrete walls around them. “But we walk around with targets on us every day; this is no different. And we need as many weapons as we can get to stand up to them. It’s a good plan.”
Raurie’s gaze trailed northward then, and even with buildings blocking the view, Aina could tell Raurie was looking toward the Tower of Steel—the seat of all government and economics in the country of Sumerand, led by the four governors who comprised the Sentinel. Though none of them could see it from here, its presence always hung over the city like a shroud.
“They’re also hoping the Sentinel will lift the ban on our religion, since Bautix isn’t there anymore,” Raurie said, the silver moon adding a soft glow to the brown skin of her cheeks. “But when has the Sentinel ever helped us?”
“Never,” Aina agreed. “And if Bautix takes back the Tower, it won’t matter what the rest of the Sentinel thinks. He’ll kill them to rule on his own, and we won’t stand a chance. If I can find a way to learn the magic, would you want to join?”
Silence fell on the group as everyone pondered the question, but Aina’s determination only grew. She had no clue where to find a Sacoren—a priest for Inosen, like June’s aunt, who could bless others with the ability to use blood magic—but she’d worry about that later.
After a long minute, Ryuu spoke up first. “I will.”
Lill’s eyes cut to him sharply, as if she couldn’t believe what he’d said. “Why would you? You’re not an Inosen, and it’s not like Bautix would ever have a reason to fight you at your pretty mansion in Amethyst Hill. When was the last time you were punished for your beliefs, Steel boy?”
“When I lost my parents for them daring to help the people who shared their faith. I’ll do whatever I can to help.” He brushed back the black bangs that had fallen in front of his face and met Aina’s eyes. Her heart ached for him—she remembered how they’d met, how they’d learned to trust each other while coming from completely different lives—and now she couldn’t imagine not being friends with him. She couldn’t blame Lill for doubting a Steel by default. But Ryuu had more than proved himself.
“Ryuu lost his whole family because of Bautix and Kohl,” she said softly to Lill. “If there’s any Steel we can trust, it’s him.”
Lill didn’t reply, but her cheeks reddened a little as she backed down. Then she cleared her throat and said, “I’ll do it. I want to fight the Jackals and Bautix.”
“I’m sick of hiding and playing it safe,” Raurie said, tearing her eyes away from the Tower and looking out at the streets around them. “My aunt is scared of what will happen if we fight back, but it’s better than sitting and waiting for an attack, or hoping for the Sentinel to do anything for us. We have to help ourselves. I’m in.”
They split up soon after that—Teo to his apartment north of Center, Ryuu to Amethyst Hill, and Raurie and Lill to the safe house, while Aina and Tannis walked back to the Dom together. They kept quiet as they walked, and Aina noticed Tannis hadn’t said a word since Aina suggested learning blood magic. Her expression gave away nothing now either; her eyes were fixed on the horizon ahead, as if she were searching for the Dom.
The streets narrowed as they walked deeper into the Stacks, where slanted metal and cardboard homes stood so close together on the steep hills that it looked like they were stacked on top of one another. Though it was the place Aina felt most comfortable, her senses heightened now. All
her life, she’d never seen it so quiet, so empty of life. The only people outside were those who had nowhere else to go. She began to count down the blocks toward reaching the Dom, a ritual she now did every night. In her dreams, it always disappeared in a puff of smoke, a mirage that had never really been there.
They turned down the next street and stopped in their tracks at the mouth of the road. Three bodies lay on the dirt road, their throats slit. The rust scent of blood choked the air. The wood-slab door of a nearby home swung open in the summer breeze with an eerie creak.
“More dead,” Tannis said. “Bautix is having the Jackals kill anyone who doesn’t want to work with them.”
They took another road, the silver and red moons lighting the path ahead of them toward the eastern shore of the Minos River that circled the city. The whole way, Aina thought of Bautix’s threat, his challenging smirk, the violence growing closer to the Dom every day—and it made her more determined to fight back.
When they were a few streets away from the Dom, Tannis pulled a crinkled piece of paper from her pocket. “For the past week, I’ve been spying on some Jackals who were giving letters to a janitor who works at the Tower. I cornered him earlier today and got this.”
Aina took the note and read quickly. It didn’t make much sense—it listed measurements and coordinates she didn’t understand. But that wasn’t what made her heart beat faster and her hands grow so clammy, she almost dropped the note.
“This is in Kohl’s handwriting.” She said the words softly, not sure how much this mattered. All the threatening notes that had been left in front of her employees throughout the city had been in varying handwriting she didn’t recognize, like the one she’d seen earlier tonight. But something about this note was important, if Kohl had written it himself.
“Where’s the janitor?” Aina asked, and Tannis raised an eyebrow. “You killed him, then. Did he give you any information before you did?”
Shadow City Page 3
