Magic Below Paris Complete Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 8): Trading Into Shadow, Trading Into Darkness, Trading Close to Light, Trading By Firelight, Trading by Shroomlight, plus 3 more

by C. M. Simpson

  Marsh gestured toward where the kat was carrying Aisha down the tunnel.

  “Follow the kat,” she said, searching their faces for the one she most wanted to return with.

  It took her a few minutes to find him, but when she did, she realized Patrik was moving in the wrong direction. She moved against the tide of men and women intent on following the kat and finally caught up to him.

  “I have to find the boys,” he said when he saw her. His eyes scanned the cavern. “I have to…”

  Marsh grabbed him by the arm.

  “We’re moving everyone back to the founder’s mansion. Everyone,” she emphasized, shaking his arm. “I’d hate for them to make it and you be recaptured.”

  “But I’m their father,” he said, gesturing helplessly at the people moving past them. “I’m supposed to be looking after them.”

  “Then get yourself to where they’ll be going.”

  “You don’t understand!”

  Marsh remembered how she’d felt when she’d seen Aisha in the tunnels and knew how she felt, now, letting the little girl lead a bunch of strangers up a tunnel to where her friends were supposed to be waiting.

  “I think I do,” she said, “and Fabrice will murder me if I let you get caught again.”

  She shook his arm again.

  “If they’re not there, I will find them. You are not the only ones I’ve promised to find. Please.”

  She was thinking of asking him not to make her drag him out of there but didn’t have to. Roeglin joined them.

  “That’s everyone,” he said, then scowled. “What are you still doing here? You’re supposed to be leading so Henri and Jakob don’t kill anyone.”

  “I’ve got Aisha doing that. I think they’ll recognize her and the kat.” She indicated the farmer at her side. “Patrik’s looking for his sons.”

  “Well, they aren’t behind me. I’ve cleared the cavern. They’ll be with the rest…” He paused and then shook his head. “Come on. We’ll sort out who we’ve got when we’ve got them to safety. We still have to get them past the Monetti place.”

  That got Patrik moving, although whether it was because of the danger of the raiders gaining reinforcements from Madame Monetti or because he hoped to find his children among the prisoners who’d headed back up the tunnel, Marsh didn’t know. As they started back, there was a shout from the other end of the cavern—the end where Roeglin had said Monsieur Gravine and his men were battling the raiders.

  Roeglin stopped, his eyes flashing silver, and Marsh pushed Patrik in the direction he needed to go.

  “Tell Henri and Jakob Marsh says go.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve told them.” Roeglin had come out of his head in time to hear her instructions. He glanced back toward where the sounds of battle had ended, and from where they could hear the sound of running feet. He grabbed Marsh’s hand and ran back down the tunnel, Patrik keeping pace beside them.

  “What is it?” the farmer asked, and Roeglin glanced over his shoulder once more.

  “The raiders called for reinforcements. I’m going to need Aisha’s help to seal the tunnel.”

  “I’ll fetch her,” Marsh said, trying to pull her hand free of his. He didn’t let go, though, gripping more tightly to prevent her from leaving.

  “I’ve already called,” he said, and glanced at Patrik. “You’ll have to come with us.”

  To give him credit, the farmer did not argue; he merely came back to Roeglin.

  “What do I need to do?” he asked as the hoshkat arrived carrying Aisha on her back.

  They stepped aside at the rumble of mulish hoofbeats, and Monsieur Gravine and almost twenty riders swept past them. As soon as the last mule had vanished into the darkness, Roeglin began running.

  “We need to close the junction,” he cried. “We can’t stop what’s coming.”

  Marsh wanted to ask what exactly was coming, but she didn’t need to. She could already hear it.

  Clawed hands scraped over stone, and voices screeched in gibbering howls that sent tremors up and down Marsh’s spine before dancing over her skin like a thousand taloned fingers. Hoshkat and humans fled as one. No wonder the mules had been moving so fast!

  Although the junction wasn’t too far from them, by the time they’d reached it, the sound of hunting shadow monsters was too close for comfort.

  “Bring it down, Aysh!” Roeglin ordered, plucking the little girl from the hoshkat’s back and placing her at the edge of the tunnel opening.

  Marsh was relieved to see he didn’t take his arms from around the little girl’s waist. Seeing Aisha close her eyes, she stepped around them, pulling a sword and shield from the surrounding shadows and preparing to defend them if she had to. She heard Roeglin’s protest in her mind as she stepped into the tunnel on the other side of the arch.

  Don’t!

  Behind her, she heard the rumble and crack of rock and started to take a step back toward the opening, knowing she was going to be too slow.

  “Marsh!”

  Aisha’s shrill cry was followed by startled shouts from Patrik and Roeglin. Their cries were accompanied by the roar of falling rock and then Mordan was beside her, Aisha dangling from her jaws like a runaway kit.

  “Merde! You two are supposed to be on the other side of that!”

  “Bad Marsh!” Aisha started, but Roeglin had no time for arguments.

  Run! he shouted from the other side of the barrier, pushing the order through her mind with a mental shove for her to do exactly as he said. Marsh was bolting down the corridor before she was aware her legs could move that fast.

  Mordan ran beside her, a white-faced Aisha still in her mouth.

  Marsh took the child from the kat’s grip and turned her around to put her back on the kat’s shoulders. Now the little brat should have a chance.

  Run, Mordan! Get the cub to safety.

  Run with the shadows, Mordan told her, sharing the mental image of a shadowy Marsh running after her through the cavern.

  Marsh didn’t stop to argue. She sent an agreement through the link between them and focused on becoming one with the shadows.

  Mordan roared in her head and leapt away, and Marsh realized the kat could always have paced her as a shadow, except for when she’d transported herself through… the… shad…

  Marsh stopped.

  Mordan!

  She almost sobbed with relief when the kat skidded to a halt, circled, and came racing back.

  Come with me, Marsh told her burying her hand in the ruff of Mordan’s neck.

  The Deep help me, she thought, picturing the tunnel beyond the junction in her mind. She didn’t think it mattered what direction she was running in as long as she knew exactly where she wanted to be. She only hoped she could take the kat and the child with her.

  “Hold onto me,” she ordered Aisha, lifting her from the kat’s back and turning on the spot.

  If this didn’t work, she was coming right back here to defend them from the pursuing horde. All she could hope was that it wasn’t going to come to that; that the kat and child would be considered extensions of herself as she moved from human solidity to part-shadow.

  Run with me, Marsh commanded, showing the kat what she was doing.

  The hoshkat obeyed, running beside her, careful not to tear herself free of Marsh’s grip. As they leapt into the darkness, the shadow monsters screaming in their wake, Marsh focused on becoming one with the shadows and taking Aisha and the kat with her—and then she thought of a distinctive stalagmite and rock cluster she’d passed when she was Ardhur’s prisoner.

  There! They were going to step from here…to…there, through the shadows and the dark from one point to another, because the shadows were connected just like the caverns were.

  Her foot hit the ground and she stumbled, and then she remembered to open her eyes and ran smack into the rock formation she’d been picturing in her head. It was like running into a cavern wall; exactly like running into a cavern wall. Marsh heard Aish
a give a squeak of protest as she bounced off the rocks and dropped like a stone.

  Beside her Mordan twisted mid-stride, breaking Marsh’s grip, and hitting the formation side on before landing on all fours.

  “Bad Marsh!” Aisha muttered, pulling herself free of Marsh’s arms. “Bad, bad Marsh.”

  When Marsh didn’t reply, the little girl hesitated and then moved over to touch Marsh’s face. Marsh tried to get up, but couldn’t find the strength. She felt as wrung out as a wet dishcloth.

  “Give it a minute, kid,” she said, her voice slurring with fatigue as she tried to get Aisha to come into focus. “I need…”

  What did she need? Her head spun, but Marsh fought it. She needed to be away, by all the Deep.

  “I help,” Aisha said, laying her other hand on Marsh’s forehead. “Ouch.”

  Yeah, kid. Ouch. Marsh thought as Aisha’s touch sent echoes of agony ringing through her head. Even the emerald glow coming off the kid’s hands was painful. Why did she have to glow? Her irritation turned to concern when the glow shuddered and then went out.

  “All gone.”

  Not quite, Marsh wanted to say since her headache was still there, but she heard voices and knew they had to move. She had to get them under cover. They hadn’t come this far only to be caught again.

  Again, Marsh tried to get to her feet, but again her body refused to cooperate—and Aisha was no help. The kid had settled across her chest and was a dead weight. Marsh wanted to tell her there wasn’t any time for cuddles, but she figured there wasn’t any time for that, either. Instead, she reached out to the shadows.

  “Cover us,” she said, hoping Mordan had either curled up close enough to share their blanket of shadow or found her own hiding place nearby.

  The shadows rippled, but they would not come. Marsh’s head pounded with effort, and she tried again. Maybe asking nicely?

  “Please cover us.”

  But the shadows would not listen, and the two figures, one in the dark armor of a shadow mage and one looking more like a caravan guard, saw them. Marsh’s spirits sank, and then the shadow mage let out a shout of surprise and ran toward her.

  “Marsh!” He turned excitedly to the man with him. “Patrik! She made it! They made it! They’re here!”

  For Shadow’s sake, he didn’t have to sound so surprised. Of course, she’d made it, and just what was he doing here, anyway?

  “Roeglin?”

  Marsh couldn’t figure out why in all the Deeps he was so excited, and she couldn’t stay awake to ask. Fatigue rolled over her and sucked her under as he reached her, his look shifting from excitement to frustration.

  Just how much trouble was she in, anyway?

  And why in all the Deep did he think she needed him?

  19

  The Missing

  “Of all the bone-headed, bone-deep stupid, idiotic, infuriatingly—”

  “You done yet…Master?” Marsh asked, spraying Roeglin with crumbs.

  She was starving, and he’d split the supplies he’d been carrying between her and Aisha. Of course, he’d refused to give her the cookies until she’d eaten the shroom-bread and cheese. He didn’t seem to care how much faster they’d have restored her energy.

  On top of that, she already knew just how dumb she’d been; she didn’t need him to tell her again! If he kept it up, she wasn’t going to feel sorry about it; she was just going to get Mordan to eat him.

  She saw Roeglin’s eyes flash white.

  Nice. He still didn’t sound happy, but at least he’d stopped trying to yell at her and whisper at the same time.

  “We’re going when you’re done,” he told Marsh, handing Aisha a cookie.

  “Hey!”

  “She’s finished her roll.”

  Aisha waved her cookie and took the biggest bite she could stuff into her tiny mouth.

  “Showoff!” Marsh muttered when the child grinned at her through a mouthful of crumbs.

  But she finished off the second roll that Roeglin had insisted she eat and then stuck out her hand. Smirking, he placed two cookies in it.

  “Hey!” Aisha wasn’t impressed, but Roeglin turned to her, one finger upraised.

  “She had two rolls, so she gets two cookies.”

  He was trying to sound reasonable, and Patrik snorted.

  “It’s like dealing with my kids,” he remarked. “Same old, same old.”

  Marsh stopped chewing. It was hard to protest with a mouth full of cookie crumbs, so she glared.

  “If the shoe fits,” Roeglin told her, catching her look. She turned her glare to him.

  Smart ass.

  I can hear you, you know.

  So he could. That had possibilities. Marsh wondered what she’d have to think about to discourage him from looking inside her head…and then she wondered if she really wanted to stoop that low.

  You could try, he said, but later. Right now, we have to move.

  Marsh stood up and dusted cookie crumbs out of her armor. As she did, she caught a whiff of herself after three days of exertion and no bath. Oh, by the Dark. How could Roeglin even stand being that close to her?

  He didn’t reply, just picked up his pack, set Aisha on her feet, and glanced at Mordan. The hoshkat got to her feet and stretched, yawning to show an impressive set of fangs. Patrik stared at her, and kept staring as the kat padded over to Aisha and nudged her. The little girl turned to Roeglin.

  “Up,” she demanded, patting Mordan’s back. “Dan says up.”

  Roeglin obliged, setting Aisha on the kat’s shoulders. Once she was settled, the five of them started moving back down the trail Marsh had taken just a few short days before. At least this time her hands weren’t tied. The journey seemed to take a lot less time, and soon they were moving past the grotto where Marsh had spent her first night of captivity. She was glad when they didn’t stop.

  The way she calculated it, they had at least a day’s journey ahead of them, and the next part of it would take them through the junction not far from Madame Monetti’s mansion. And that reminded her…

  “Did you get a hold of Madame Monetti?”

  Roeglin shook his head.

  “No. We tried when you disappeared. Monsieur Gravine sent a squad down to look for you, but she swore black and blue that you hadn’t been there and there was nothing to prove otherwise. They searched but didn’t find the passage leading to this one, and then Madame Monetti kicked them out. Said she was insulted by the way she was being treated, and that the founder would be hearing about it. Without proof, they had to leave.”

  “But you knew I’d gone there…”

  “And I was held up interrogating the raiders we’d managed to capture.” He looked torn. “I’m the only mind mage in the caverns, Marsh. I go where I’m most needed, and I don’t always get to choose. Monsieur Gravine decided he needed me to question them.”

  “And you couldn’t say no?”

  “I asked him to wait, but he didn’t, so I came after you, as soon as we were done.”

  From the shudder in his voice, “done” hadn’t been pleasant. He shook it off, though, and continued.

  “She said she’d never heard of you, hadn’t seen you, and asked if you were a courier for Kearick. Apparently, he should choose his people better and ensure he makes his deliveries on time. I told Monsieur Gravine she was lying, and he had us search the junction and the trail rather than press the point. It also gave him an excuse to station a squad at the junction near the Monetti place, but that was the best he could do without evidence. She’s still respected in Ruins Hall.”

  “She was.” Patrik sounded grim, his voice making Marsh jump. The big farmer had been traveling in silence up until that point. Now his voice was hard with determination. “I’ll make sure folk know exactly what she’s done. Her lines of supply will dry up, and she’ll have no choice but to run to the raiders or admit what she’s done and make amends.”

  Given those options, Marsh was pretty sure what the woman would do.
r />   “And we could catch her when she ran.”

  Roeglin shook his head.

  “We’ve got you. We don’t need any other evidence, because I can pull the memories from your head at the trial.”

  “And what then?” Patrick asked.

  “Then she’ll be executed,” Roeglin said, the utter calm in his voice coming as both a shock and a relief to Marsh. “We don’t have the people to spare to guard prisoners, or the resources, and we can’t let them go, knowing they’ll come back and do more harm.”

  The reality of it made Marsh feel just a little bit ill, but she couldn’t think of a real alternative. Roeglin was right; they didn’t have the resources to allow themselves the luxury of imprisoning someone who wanted to do the community harm, and the idea of letting them go so they could return with stronger forces and use their knowledge of the caverns against everyone was ludicrous.

  Patrik had no such qualms.

  “I’d say dispense with the trial for any of them,” he said, and Roeglin laid a hand on the man’s arm.

  “Trials and questioning help us find out if there are any worth saving.”

  “They’re not the ones who need saving.”

  Privately, Marsh agreed with him, but she didn’t say so out loud. Roeglin had to have a reason for what he was saying. If he did, though, the shadow mage didn’t bring it up. He just patted Patrik on the shoulder and kept them moving down the tunnel.

  They were an hour’s walk away from the junction when Mordan stopped, curling her lip in a warning snarl. Marsh looked down the tunnel, moving to the cover of the shadows at the edge of the tunnel before crouching, and asking the shadows to show her what was coming. Roeglin mirrored her actions, dragging Patrik into the shelter of a cluster of shrooms standing tall on the other side of the path.

  When he’d dragged the man into their shelter, they faded from view, and Marsh realized the shadow mage had called the shadows to cover them. Before she could think to do the same, the shadow threads answered, bringing her pictures of a heavily armed and armored group riding down the tunnel. Marsh held her breath.