“Daniel?” she said, trying to sit up. Dizziness overwhelmed her, but she persevered until she was firmly braced on her arms and could make her voice heard.
“Daniel?”
No one answered. She tried calling Ares, but there was still no response. A little short of breath, she swung her legs over the side of the cot and staggered to the tent flap.
The camp was in disarray as soldiers moved quickly this way and that...not many, she saw, compared to the number she’d seen earlier. They were like ants left behind to tidy the nest after the others had gone raiding.
She looked out of the tent, blinking against the light. One of the hooded soldiers paused as she saw Isis and hurried to join her.
“What is going on?” she asked, grasping a tent pole for support. “Where is Ares?”
“Gone,” the soldier said. “Lady Isis, you should not be out of bed.”
“Gone where?” Isis demanded, refusing to budge.
“To Tanis. He was summoned by Anu with most of the troops.”
“For what purpose?”
“We were not told, Lady.” The woman hesitated. “Lord Ares left a message for you. You are to remain here and rest until he returns. You suffered a long illness because of the poison, and you cannot risk moving about too quickly.”
“A long illness?” Isis said. “How long?”
Once again the soldier hesitated. “Two weeks,” she said with obvious reluctance.
Isis felt a swell of alarm. “Where is Daniel?”
The soldier looked genuinely concerned. “We only know that he tried to return to the city alone. We have heard nothing from him since.”
Nothing, Isis thought. Either he had made it into Tanis, or he had been captured attempting to do so.
Curse him.
“I must go,” Isis said, slipping back into the tent to gather her clothes and her day coat.
“Ares gave orders—” the soldier began, following her into the tent.
“He is not here to enforce them,” Isis said. She looked hard at the woman. “And you cannot.”
The soldier flinched at the hardness in Isis’s tone and the push of her influence. “I beg you, my lady...”
Isis began to dress. “I will know exactly what is going on in my city, and if Daniel is there, I will find him.”
There was nothing more the woman could do, and she knew it. She and her fellow remaining soldiers watched helplessly as Isis donned her day coat and commandeered one of the three horses left in camp.
She reached Tanis at sunset. The fields were abandoned—no humans and Opiri changing shifts, no signs of life outside the city at all save for the presence of the Opir guards outside the gate. They started when they saw her and looked at each other uncertainly.
“Do you not recognize me?” Isis asked. “Open the gates.”
With haste, the guards obeyed her. Isis rode into the courtyard and left her mount with the first Opir she met. There were no humans here, either.
When she entered the city proper, she knew that things had gone very wrong in the time she had been away. She walked through her ward, noting broken windows and discarded signs, burn marks on buildings and the utter absence of humans.
But there were Opiri here, most drifting about as if they had no idea where to go. Isis was preparing to approach one of them when Athena rushed up to her, her gray eyes wide and worried.
“Isis!” she said. “Where have you been?”
Isis took Athena’s hand and led her away from the street. “What has happened here, Athena?” she asked.
“Are you all right?” Athena asked, as if she hadn’t heard Isis’s question. “Nobody knew what had become of you.”
“I am fine,” Isis said. “Have you seen Daniel?”
“Not since his exile. Why do you—”
“Tell me what’s happened here.”
“The city is in the grip of madness,” Athena said. “In just the past two weeks, everything we worked for has come undone.”
“How?” Isis asked, grasping Athena’s hands.
“The fighting became much worse after you disappeared,” Athena said, her gaze darting across the central avenue. “There were more riots and protests by the humans and more attacks by Opiri. Most claimed they fought in self-defense, but there were many instances of humans found with their blood taken against their wills, even a few deaths.”
“Killings?” Isis said, horrified but not wholly surprised.
“And increasing reports of humans disappearing,” Athena said, distress in her voice. “Humans have avoided the depository, and the stores of blood have diminished. Opiri have panicked.” She clutched Isis’s arm. “I was asked to take over your ward, but—”
“Where are the humans now?” Isis asked.
“Most of the humans who resided and worked here retreated into the other wards.”
“Because I was not here to help them,” Isis said. “Where is Anu?”
“He remains in the tower, sending his agents to investigate the troubles.”
“And what has he done to end these troubles?”
“He has brought in armed Freeblood soldiers from outside, a force he has kept in training to handle any attacks on Tanis. They are presently protecting the humans.”
“Protecting? These soldiers would fight against other Opiri?”
Athena hesitated, lips parted, and Isis knew she had to take the risk. “Athena,” she said, “I believe that Anu tried to kill me.”
“What?”
“I was poisoned after I accompanied Daniel out of Tanis. Tainted blood. That is why I have been gone so long.”
“By the infernal Styx,” Athena swore. “Why? How can you be sure?”
“He now views me as an enemy, because he knows I will stand firm against his plans for Tanis.”
“His plans?”
“These troubles did not come about on their own. Someone set them off.”
“And you believe Anu is involved?”
“Yes. Athena, Ares never left the city. Anu blackmailed him into training an army by threatening his wife, Trinity, who is incarcerated in Tanis. The army is under Anu’s command. I do not believe it is here to protect humans, but to hold them prisoner.”
“But what does Anu want?”
“To be a god again, with thousands of humans at his feet. And to get that, he has bribed the most influential Opiri in Tanis with new Households and serfs stolen from the human population.”
Clearly astonished, Athena looked toward the tower. “I believe you,” she said suddenly. “I would not let myself see how Anu was changing. But if he built an army without telling us, and forced Ares to serve him...”
“There is more,” Isis said. “Daniel is Ares’s son—I will explain later—and he has returned to the city to try to free Trinity.”
“I am sorry, Isis,” Athena said, clasping her hands. “I know nothing of this.”
“Then either he has managed to get in and stay free, or he was taken in secret. Anu will surely question him if he can. I must get to the tower and try to find out what is happening.”
“You will go to Anu, knowing he might try to kill you again?”
“He will be thrown off his guard by my appearance. And I must know if he has Daniel.”
“Then I will go with you.”
“If you show yourself as my ally, your life may be in danger.”
“If what you say is true, I would not be your only ally,” Athena said.
* * *
They walked directly and openly to the tower, Isis making certain that the Opiri they passed saw their faces. Their only real protection now was their visibility, and the questions that would be asked if either or both of them disappeared.
They met not
a single human along the way, and Isis fretted over Ares and the army. What orders had they been given, and would Ares carry them out?
Trust us, Ares, she thought. We will find a way to free your mate.
No one tried to stop them as they ascended to Anu’s suite. The guards posted there seemed surprised to see Isis, but they quickly let her and Athena enter.
The room was populated by its usual contingent of favorites, courtiers and liveried guards...many of whom, Isis thought, must be among those who had returned to the old way of serfs and masters. Anu surged out of his seat when he saw Isis.
“Isis!” he said, extending his hands. “You are well! We feared that—”
“I am grateful for your concern,” Isis said, striding up to the throne, “but I am astonished at how bad the city has become. How could it get so far?”
Clearly taken aback, Anu dropped his arms. “Where have you been, Isis? You left to observe the expulsion of your human lover and could not be found by any of my searchers.”
“I became very ill,” she said. “I did not recover for two weeks.”
There was no sign of guilt on Anu’s aquiline features, nor did he ask her who had taken care of her. “What illness could keep you away so long?”
“It was almost as if I was poisoned with tainted blood.”
Anu’s courtiers murmured among themselves. Anu silenced them with a downward sweep of his hand.
“Did you take anything from the exiles, from any human?” he asked.
“No. The last blood I took was from Lawkeepers who were escorting me back to Tanis.”
Stunned silence fell over the room. Anu took his seat and rested his chin on his fist.
“Lawkeepers,” he said. “No Lawkeeper would harm one of the Nine.”
“Yet I can find no other explanation,” Isis said, holding Anu’s stare. “I was left to die.”
“If this is true, it is only more evidence of a conspiracy within Tanis,” Anu said.
“A conspiracy?” Isis said.
“You asked how the city could have descended so far. It did not happen by accident.”
“You think the Lawkeepers are involved?”
“Not until this moment.” He lifted his head from his fist. “Can you name these half-bloods?”
“I would know them if I saw them again.”
“I will have Hermes call them to the tower in small groups, so that none will suspect that they will be questioned.”
Isis inclined her head, but her mind was racing. So Anu was suggesting a conspiracy, when he himself was surely at the center of it?
Why shouldn’t he speak of it? she thought. Who would seriously suspect Anu unless he or she had Isis’s experiences and knowledge...or was one of his allies among the Opiri or the Nine? He could so easily deflect any idle suspicion by acknowledging that something had turned rotten at Tanis’s core.
“Where does this conspiracy originate?” she asked him.
“I fear that human rebels are involved,” Anu said, “though what they intend remains unclear. We will soon know the truth. And now that you have returned safely, you must join with us in presenting a united front to our people.”
“What of the army guarding the humans?”
Anu glanced at Athena. “That is an unfortunate, but temporary, necessity, both for security and protection. I have explained to the others why it was necessary to keep the force’s existence secret, so that no outsider spy could learn we had readied defenses against an attack.”
“And what is being done with Opiri who injure or kill humans?”
“This situation will not last,” Anu said, absolute confidence in his voice. “I have called a meeting of the Nine and the Council for midnight. Everything will be explained there. For now...” He smiled at Athena. “Please attend Isis in her quarters here. We would not wish her to become ill again.”
“Of course,” Athena said.
“I will send servants to collect your things from your ward apartments, Isis,” he said. “Rest while you can.”
With that, Anu seemed to dismiss them, though Isis could feel his stare on her back as she and Athena left the suite. They took the elevator to her long-unused quarters. As Isis was considering what next to try, human servants entered to remove the dustcovers from the furniture and pad quietly about the suite, making it fit for habitation. Isis waited until they were finished and drew Athena to a couch in the sitting room.
“What are your observations?” she asked Athena.
“Anu is hiding something,” Athena said. “I have no reason to disbelieve anything you have told me. I will give you whatever help I can.”
“You said you wouldn’t be my only ally.”
“I will approach Bes, and my most trusted companions. Without further proof that Anu has actually caused the troubles in Tanis...”
“He isn’t alone. Hannibal is part of it, but he must be afraid of what I might say of him to Anu. He is the one who told us about Anu’s scheme, under duress. But he could also do us much damage.” She touched Athena’s arm. “I must find Daniel, and Trinity if possible. You’ve heard nothing about prisoners in the towers?”
Athena clasped her hands in her lap. “There is a place in the tower that I have not seen,” she said, “an abandoned Household. I have heard rumors that special prisoners are being kept there, the worst of the troublemakers. If they caught Daniel attempting to return to the city, he might be there, as well.”
“You have no idea where it is?”
“If anyone else would know, it would be Hermes, since he still guides the Lawkeepers.”
“Could he have known that some of his half-bloods tried to kill me?”
“I cannot believe it. They must be working directly for Anu.”
“Then speak to Hermes, if you can find him. I do not care what you tell him, but see if he knows anything about Daniel.”
“I will,” Athena said, rising. “Be patient, Isis. Remain here. I will return as soon as I have learned anything of use.”
Isis’s patience had almost run out when Athena returned.
“I found Hermes,” she said. “I didn’t tell him about the incident with the Lawkeepers who attempted to poison you, or of our fears about Anu, but I know he senses that something is wrong. He told me where to find the prisoners’ cells. We can only hope that Daniel is there.”
Unless he is dead, Isis thought. But her heart told her otherwise.
Only a half hour before the midnight meeting was to take place, one of Hermes’s favorites, dressed as plainly as a servant, came to fetch Isis. He led her by back ways between and behind the Household suites through a series of narrow staircases and corridors built so that human serfs could come and go quietly when they served their Opir masters.
One of the corridors opened onto a dim stairwell, and the stairs led to the rear chambers of an abandoned Household that stank of stale urine, blood and perspiration. Isis’s hair stood on end. She tried to breathe evenly, and caught a single thread of scent among all the others.
Daniel. Alive.
CHAPTER 24
“Go,” Isis whispered to Hermes’s Opir. “I will find my way back.”
Without hesitation, her guide vanished. Isis crept into a wider corridor with cell doors, dozens of them running along each wall. Groans and cries followed her progress as she followed the scent, and she felt as if she had been poisoned all over again.
She found Daniel in one of the cells midway down the hall. The smells of sweat and blood were almost overwhelming, and she choked as she put her hand on the lock and pulled.
The door refused to move. “Daniel?” she called. “Can you hear me?”
There was no answer. She pulled harder, using all of her strength, and the door creaked. Righteous rage coursed through her,
and she nearly tore the door off its hinges.
Swallowing again and again, she stepped into the cell and looked down at the shape huddled on the filthy floor. Daniel was curled in on himself; his bare legs were a mass of bruises and raised welts, and his face was a patchwork of black and purple. One eye was swollen shut, but she knew when the other one saw her.
“Isis?” he croaked, bracing his arms against the wall. He struggled to stand, but she fell to her knees and stopped him.
“Daniel,” she whispered. “Oh, Daniel.”
“You...should not be here,” he said, his voice as ravaged as his body. “They will find you.”
Isis had no intention of getting into a pointless argument. She pulled him up, doing her best to disregard the ugliness of his condition, and half supported him to the door of the cell.
From some inner reservoir, he found strength to help her and take most of his weight on his own legs. Isis guided him toward the rear of the Household, stepping in anytime he stumbled, and all too slowly they arrived at the stairwell.
“Go...ahead of me,” Daniel whispered, the words sawing in his throat. “I’ll catch up.”
Isis stepped in front of him. “Move slowly. I will be here if you fall.”
Daniel must have recognized the futility of disputing her. He began to descend, bracing himself against the side walls of the stairwell. Isis remained close enough to feel his ragged breath on the back of her neck.
But he never lost his balance or stumbled again. At the foot of the stairs, he leaned heavily against the wall, his body trembling and fresh blood running from his more recent wounds.
Though it was dangerous to take the time, Isis knew that she had to help him heal, even if just enough to stop the bleeding.
She helped him to sit and, ignoring his faint protests, bit his neck as gently as she could. She released the healing chemicals into his bloodstream, praying that her efforts would bear fruit.
After several minutes he pushed her away weakly. “I’m all right,” he said.
Isis saw that his bleeding had stopped, the worst of his wounds beginning to close as if they had been stitched by an expert hand.
Harlequin Nocturne May 2016 Box Set: Dark JourneyOtherworld Renegade (Nightsiders) Page 23
