by Sarah Fine
“What do you mean?” asked Malachi. “They rule the city.”
“But she is the mother of all of them.”
My eyebrows shot up, but then I remembered her oddly distended belly as she appeared in front of the crowd in the square, and how Takeshi said that all the Mazikin cubs were kept in one nursery. “Wait. What? All of them?”
The Tanner nodded. “She’s like an ant, and this is her hill. Kill the Queen, and they have no mother. None of the female Mazikin can breed.”
“What about a father?” Ana asked.
“The Queen has many . . . companions. She picks the strongest to father her cubs.”
“But is there a King here?”
“Who do you think built the portal and found a way through it?” The Tanner grunted. “The King was her mate, one of the original two. He disappeared many years ago. He called himself Nero. I imagine he’ll return someday, but—”
“He will never return,” Malachi said quietly.
“Eh? How can you be so sure?”
“Because I disposed of him.” Malachi’s voice was steady, like the memory of that victory was giving him strength.
The Tanner let out one of those boiling, phlegmy laughs. “Forgive me if I suggest that it would take more than—”
“Malachi is telling the truth,” said Takeshi in a loud voice. “He stalked Nero, tricked him, captured him, and nearly died a few times in the process.” He gazed at Malachi with a fond, exasperated sort of respect, like a big brother might look at a younger sibling who’d pulled a badass yet incredibly dangerous stunt. “Nero is imprisoned in the dark tower behind the Suicide Gates,” said Takeshi. “He’s not coming back.”
The Tanner’s eyes lit with glee. “So again I say—if we kill the Queen, that’s it. We’ll be able to escape this hellish place.”
“That’s what we want, too,” Ana said, though she looked hesitant.
I didn’t share her caution—I couldn’t believe our luck. The Smith seemed to hate anyone who opposed the Mazikin, but the Tanner was the opposite. We’d offered the Smith a chance to be our ally, a chance to help everyone get out, and he’d flatly turned us down. But the Tanner seemed to want the same thing we did. “Why now, though?” I asked. “You said you’d been here for a long time.”
His eyes slid over the four of us. “There are few strong souls in this city. Over the years, I’ve gathered a few and protected them well in exchange for their loyalty. But we have been so long under the oppression of the monsters that most are utterly defeated.”
“You look like you’re doing okay,” snapped Ana. I stifled a smile. She didn’t do subtle well.
The Tanner ran a hand over his broad chest. “I am old and tired. I only want to help my people be free. You are warriors, and you can be the instrument of their salvation. When the Mazikin began to stir with their plans to capture Malachi, I sent my spies to watch for the Guard here.” He pointed a thick-knuckled finger at Takeshi. “I’d hoped he would attempt to liberate the new prisoner, and that we could help. Imagine my happiness when those fireballs exploded against the dome—I knew something was happening. And then Treasa came back with reports that two women had escaped off a meat cart and were loose in the city.” He grinned again, displaying those scary black teeth. “I knew what you were immediately. I knew now was the time.”
Ana crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.
“I have weapons,” he offered, as if he could see the gears turning in her mind. “I’ve built an arsenal. Not like the Smith’s, but I can arm you. And I have people. We can take my strongest guards. We can sneak into the palace and take them by surprise.” He raised his eyebrows. “I know a way. I worked on it for years, but it’s been ready for a while now. I just needed the force. Help me. It won’t be easy, but we can triumph over the Mazikin together.”
Ana turned to us. I could read the indecision in her eyes. She didn’t trust him, but she had no other plan—especially since he had us more or less at his mercy. I nodded at her. This was our chance. She looked at Malachi. He glanced at the Tanner and then nodded, too. She focused on Takeshi. He gave her a small smile. “Up to you, Captain,” he said quietly.
Ana stood up a little straighter as she met the Tanner’s bottomless gaze. “Okay. Let’s do this.”
As soon as Ana agreed to an alliance, the Tanner produced a map of the underground tunnel system he’d been working on. Takeshi and Malachi pored over it eagerly. Takeshi knew the city well, but it was clear these paths were new to him. Malachi was simply a map enthusiast, having devoted years to constructing a map of the dark city. When we’d been in the land of the living, I knew for a fact he’d spent time on Google Maps, memorizing the layout of the neighborhoods we patrolled. By the end, he knew Rhode Island as well as I did. Better, maybe. And as he eagerly stared at the Tanner’s map, I had no doubt he was readily absorbing the information. It filled me with so much relief, seeing his mind sharp and focused, seeing Malachi as he should be. I was grateful to the Tanner for helping it happen.
As we all looked over the map, we saw that the Mazikin city was much smaller than the dark city, maybe ten miles square, but still vastly complicated, especially because there was an entire network of tunnels and caves belowground. We decided to take a team of twenty through a series of tunnels that led to the underground river that acted as the water supply for the entire city. It flowed under the Bone Palace, connecting to their kitchens and waste-disposal system. What that meant: because the palace was at the northern edge of the city and the river flowed to the south, the Queen and her favorites got clean water, and the rest of the city got water polluted by their waste. I actually found myself pitying the inhabitants of the southern areas.
The Tanner said he had a way for us to sneak into the palace from right below it. We’d take it over from the inside out, when they were least expecting it. It seemed like the best chance we’d ever have, so we accepted the bone-handled weapons he offered, the stiff leather armor, and the thick boots, and we followed the Tanner into the catacombs he had created beneath his fortress, where the rest of his people were assembling.
Malachi stayed close to me, though I wasn’t sure if it was because he was trying to protect me—or if he needed my protection. I wasn’t complaining. I was still trying to convince myself we were really here together, that I could really trust it, though the warmth in his eyes and the careful touches he gave me were bringing me closer with every passing minute. He slid his fingers down the strap of my satchel, untwisting it at my shoulder. “Ready,” he said softly.
I put my hand over his, holding it to a spot next to my collarbone, where a starburst scar decorated the skin beneath my tunic. “Can you do this? You could stay, Malachi.”
“Perhaps you should,” said Takeshi. “You don’t look like yourself.”
Malachi stiffened. “With all due respect, neither do you. And yet here you are.”
Takeshi grinned. “Here I am. And I suppose I’m not your Captain anymore.”
Malachi rolled his eyes, but his posture loosened. “When you were, you didn’t exactly go to much effort to prevent me from getting injured. I seem to remember you causing me injury on a few occasions.”
Takeshi shrugged as Ana joined us, having acquired a few thigh sheaths and knives from the Tanner’s guards. “When it served a purpose, I didn’t mind sacrificing.” He gave Ana an admiring look, and I was reminded that she was the reason he was here. He’d postponed his shot at getting released into the Countryside because he hadn’t wanted to leave her behind. He took her hand and laced her fingers with his.
“I know,” said Malachi, glancing at their joined hands. “And neither did I.”
“Do you think this is going to work, Takeshi?” I asked. We were in a huddle apart from the rest of the guards, men and women who were gearing up and speaking in low, nervous tones. The Tanner had disappeared into his own privat
e chamber with Treasa.
Takeshi gave the side-eye to the Tanner’s people, who struck me as different from the walking wounded I’d seen at the Smith’s stronghold. Those people had been scarred, hunched, and oppressed. These people stood straight, their faces bright with pink cheeks and red lips. They had few scars or injuries to slow them down. Somehow, the Tanner had taken care of them and kept them strong. Even Takeshi looked slight and wary when compared to them. “I had no idea he’d built his own tunnel system,” he said. “Or that he’d gathered such numbers. He’s been planning this for some time.”
“And you trust him?” Ana asked, running her hand up his arm.
“I don’t trust anyone,” he replied simply. He put his hand around the back of her neck as her face fell, drawing her close and whispering something to her in Japanese.
Malachi cleared his throat. “Once we’ve destroyed this portal, do we have a plan for making it back to the gates of the city? We’ll have to travel the length of it. Ten miles at least, north to south, according to the Tanner.”
“It should be chaos,” said Takeshi, releasing Ana, whose cheeks were glowing. Whatever he’d said had put her at ease . . . and apparently turned her on. “Our goal should be to sneak out and run. I have a few tunnels we can use to go part of the way, and there’s a safe chamber on the east side of the city that contains a few Mazikin disguises.”
Malachi’s brow furrowed. “What about everyone else?”
“What do you mean?” Takeshi asked.
Malachi straightened his shoulders. “What about the other human prisoners in this city? How will we get them out?”
“We won’t. It’s impossible. If the angels will not intervene, there is no way to liberate the entire city. And you know they won’t. Raphael and Michael made that clear, time and time again. We don’t even know how long they will open the dome after we destroy the portal. For all we know, it will slam shut before we can even make it to the gates. I do not trust the Judge. She’s shown that she’s very willing to abandon her Guards when it suits her.”
“But we have to try,” said Malachi.
“You served the Judge for years, Malachi,” said Ana, moving so she was halfway between Malachi and Takeshi. “Why do you still feel as if you owe her anything?”
“I don’t,” Malachi snapped, his clipped accent razor-edged. “But I owe the people who are imprisoned here because I went on a stupid, fanciful crusade to liberate their souls!”
I put my hand on his chest. His voice had risen, becoming loud enough to draw stares from the Tanner’s guards. Worse, Treasa was standing not twenty feet away, watching us. She’d appeared out of freaking nowhere, and I had no idea how long she’d been there.
“We’ll figure it out,” I said to him, sliding my hand down his forearm to grasp his fingers. His determination to atone for what he saw as his responsibility in trapping countless tortured souls in the city was what had caused him to pull away from me and into himself. It was part of what had made him vulnerable to the Mazikin, the thing they’d used to ensnare him. But though I’d come to the city only for him, I couldn’t help but share his desire to do something for the others. Malachi was my top priority, but he wasn’t my only consideration. “We’ll do everything we can. Maybe the Tanner will help. He said he wants his people to get out.”
I looked to Ana for support, but she was shaking her head. “I don’t see how it’s possible to free everyone in the city,” she said, shooting Malachi an apologetic look. “And it wasn’t part of the conditions the Judge set. We need to focus on the mission—and then on getting ourselves out. I don’t want to be trapped here forever.”
“Let’s head out!” roared the Tanner. We looked up to see that he had emerged from his chamber wearing a full set of leather armor and carrying a heavy spike-studded mace and a long knife. His cheeks and lips were flushed, like he’d been standing near a fire.
As we lined up to descend deeper into the tunnels, I edged close to Takeshi. “Do you have the grenades?” I whispered in his ear. To my knowledge, he hadn’t set any off in the square as we freed Malachi, but I dearly hoped he’d found a way to conceal them before being captured.
He glanced at me. “Had to stash them in the square when the Tanner’s people attacked. No one will find them.”
I was in shock. “Are you seriously saying we’re going in without our best weapon?”
Ana’s fingers closed around my arm and squeezed hard, a warning as Treasa walked by, glaring. I didn’t look away. If the skinny bitch wanted to take me on, she was welcome to. The knowledge that Takeshi had lost our grenades had put me in a really bad mood.
My violent thoughts were interrupted as we were engulfed by the claustrophobic darkness. I had to focus on not twisting my ankle. We were single file, the Tanner’s well-armed people in front of and behind us. My boots slid noisily in the loose gravel of the steeply sloped tunnel, and soon Malachi had slipped his fingers around the back of my pants to keep me steady. I was embarrassed and grateful at the same time. Ahead of us I could hear muttered conversation, but it was so dark and echoing that I had no idea who was speaking, or about what. We filed downward like that for several minutes before the trail flattened out. My hands skimmed along the rough-hewn walls of the passage, which were becoming increasingly damp.
“We must be getting close to the river,” Malachi said.
“Correct,” replied Treasa from behind him. I jerked, unaware that she’d fallen in that close to Malachi—and that she’d managed to get at our backs. I wanted to push Malachi in front of me to get between them. Malachi gave one of my curls a little tug, like he was reading my thoughts.
Gradually, the temperature in the tunnel dropped, and soon I picked up the faint sound of rushing water that grew louder the farther we went. Finally, the tunnel opened up in a cavern. A few of the men who had been walking in front of us held up lanterns—tallow candles in crude glass jars dangling from straps of braided leather.
It suddenly occurred to me that all the leather in the city probably didn’t come from goats.
At the far end of the cavern was an arched doorway, and from the other side came the roar of the river. “We face a long hike upstream,” boomed the Tanner over the white noise of the water. “The rocks are slippery, so be cautious. One wrong step and you’ll be carried away. It’s not a good way to spend eternity.”
Since drowning couldn’t kill someone here, I supposed they’d suffer all the pain of that experience without escape. I had to wonder where the river led, though, and if anyone had tried to get out that way.
The Tanner gave me and Malachi a shrewd look. “If you think that’s a way out, think again. The Mazikin have thoroughly explored that option. The river flows through the dome—but living creatures do not.”
So much for that. We followed the small crowd through the archway and entered the underground tunnel carved by the river. Our pathway was much narrower than the trail we’d been on before. I instinctively grabbed for Malachi’s hand. His voice was in my ear a moment later. “What is it?”
“I’m not much of a swimmer.” And now that I knew the river wasn’t an escape route, it seemed even scarier.
“You’re not going to end up in the water, Lela, so it won’t matter,” he said.
Ahead of us, the Tanner’s people were already picking their way along the rocky, wet edges of the tunnel. Treasa had pushed her way in front of me and was now between me and Takeshi. It was like she was trying to keep the Guards from having the opportunity to talk or plan without her overhearing. I didn’t have the headspace to worry about it, though, because I was too busy trying not to freak out.
All we had was a narrow lip of stone, about a foot wide and obviously man-made. The pathway to the palace must have taken years to create. The spray from the rushing river soaked my hair and face as soon as I stepped onto the trail, but my cloak was waterproof, so I wasn’t too
soggy, for which I was pretty thankful. I concentrated on my hands and feet, copying Treasa’s movements. She trod carefully, gracefully, and deliberately, never making an impulsive move. As much as I disliked her, she was a good person to have in front of me.
I had no idea how long we traveled like that, single file, one foot in front of the other, conversation impossible because of the relentless raging of the white water that flowed not two feet below our trail, but after a while I grew numb. I began to fantasize about being back in Rhode Island with Malachi, about what we could do if we ever got a chance to live. We’d never had a shot, not even close, and I wanted a future. For both of us. I wanted to take him to the beach and lie on the sand with him. I wanted to buy him a Del’s frozen lemonade and watch his face as the tart sweetness hit his tongue. I wanted to kiss him in the rain. So many normal, boring, perfect moments. If only—
It happened so fast. Ana’s foot slipped on a smooth rock as we reached a curve in the tunnel, and with a shriek, she splashed into the current. In half a second, her fingers were curled over the jagged rocks as the river did its best to drag her away. Treasa and I started to reach for her, but Takeshi was there first. With firm hands, he grasped hers. Ana’s face was a mask of fear, her mouth open in a soundless scream. “Try to get a foothold!” Takeshi shouted.
She shook her head, but I could see flashes of movement beneath the water. She was trying. Malachi wrapped his arm around my waist to hold me steady as I grabbed her sleeve and attempted to help Takeshi drag her out of the torrent. Inch by inch, we pulled her from the water, and Takeshi smiled as she grabbed a handful of the tunic over his chest.
“You’re all right,” he said loudly.
Her fingers tightened on his shirt as she pulled herself onto the jagged trail. But then her knee slipped and her hand jerked downward. Takeshi lurched forward and tried to catch himself, but his palms slipped over the slimy rocks.
