by M. J. Scott
SASKIA
* * *
The Guild hall was busy as usual as I walked toward Master Aquinas’ office. I hoped he would be available. Better to get this over with quickly. I didn’t think my announcement was likely to get a warm reception, but I wasn’t going to change my mind. The negotiations were my chance to finally do something.
No one was going to dissuade me.
Besides which, I was eager to get back to Simon’s house and rejoin the others. To do whatever I could to help them find Reggie. Even though I knew nothing could happen until the sun went down, worry gnawed at my stomach, making it hard to focus. Worry about what might happen to Lily and Fen. Worry about what might be happening right now to Reggie.
I’d gotten what I wanted today but there was no pleasure in the victory now. Though Reggie’s disappearance made me even more determined to help set things right in the City.
The clerk outside the office informed me that the Master was busy but that if I cared to wait, he would be able to see me after his current appointment.
I settled into one of the chairs outside the office to do just that, spending my time studying the portraits of previous Masters of both the Guild and the various metals. The current Masters of Iron, Gold, Silver, and Copper stared down at me from their prize positions above the Guild Master’s door.
I tried not to look up at the unsmiling face of the Master of Iron. Master Matthews had been nothing but supportive of me over the years I’d been at the Academy. An affinity for iron was rare in women, who tended to be more in sympathy with silver and gold for reasons nobody quite understood, but Master Matthews treated me as he did the male students. Hopefully that support would continue. Hopefully he would understand.
My stomach twisted again, nerves about what I was about to do mixing uneasily with the underlying stew of anxiety.
Eventually the clerk rose from his desk, a sheaf of papers in his hand, and tapped softly on the Master’s door before slipping inside. I heard him say, “Prentice DuCaine would like to see you, Master Aquinas,” before the door closed again.
I shifted in the chair. Although its upholstery was rich velvet and well padded, it was, like most of the furniture in the Masters’ offices, made of metal. I preferred wood. It was both more comfortable and less distracting. Wood didn’t sing to me like metal did.
I couldn’t afford the distraction right now, even if part of me automatically listened to the songs, identifying the makeup of the bronzelike alloy that had been used by whoever had fashioned the chair. Percentages and alternatives started filling my head. A little more tin and a shift in the magics used to strengthen and the chair could have been—
The door opened abruptly and the clerk emerged. “The Master will see you now,” he said, beckoning.
I rose, tried to smooth my somewhat rumpled skirt as my nerves bit harder. No turning back after this.
When I walked through the door, my heart sank a little. Seated across from Master Aquinas near the fireplace was the Master of Iron himself. Ellis Matthews looked exactly like one would expect a man who could bend iron to his will to look. Tall, broad-shouldered, and ruddy-faced. Dark hair tamed back from his face with a leather twist and eyes as dark a gray as the metal he controlled. Beside him, Master Aquinas looked almost small. But you couldn’t mistake which of them was the Guild Master.
“Saskia,” Master Aquinas said, “we were just speaking of you.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know why that might be. I forced my lips into a smile. “I don’t mean to intrude, Masters.”
Master Aquinas gestured to the chair beside Master Matthews. “You’re here now, so why don’t you tell us why?” He looked relaxed, slouching back in his chair as if he had not a care in the world, but his eyes were sharp. It had been only half a day ago that I had stood here and heard him tell me that I couldn’t have what I wanted. How would he react when I told him that I’d found another way to get it?
I swallowed, my throat suddenly dry. “I need to request a leave of absence, Master.”
Both men straightened. “Has something happened? Your family?” Master Aquinas asked urgently.
I shook my head. “No. Everyone is fine.”
Expressions of concern turned to frowns. Master Matthews’ forehead settled into deep lines of disapproval. “Then why would you want to leave your studies, girl? You’ve been making good progress.”
I bit down my automatic “apparently not good enough” retort and lifted my chin. “I’ve received an invitation to be part of the Templar delegation. And I’ve accepted.” I spoke the last in a rush before either of them could say anything.
“What?”
“You can’t—”
I held out a hand. “I have,” I said simply. “So I’m asking for leave from my studies for the period of the negotiations.”
Master Aquinas rose from his chair, displeasure sharpening his face. The chain around his neck seemed to flare brighter for a second. “We discussed this yesterday. Your talents are valuable and we don’t want you to be at risk.”
“I’m aware of your views,” I said, keeping my tone cool with an effort. “But I don’t agree with them.”
Master Matthews made a rumbling noise. “You’re a student, here, Prentice DuCaine. It doesn’t matter whether you agree with our views or not. You agreed to abide by the decisions of the Guild when you joined the Academy.”
“I’ve done just that for four years. I’ve done everything you’ve asked,” I said. “But now I’m asking for leave while I do something that’s important to me.”
“Does your family know about this?” Master Aquinas asked.
The metal in the room nearly quivered under the closely held disapproval in his voice, the song that lurked in the back of my head chiming an almost discordant note.
“Simon and Guy were the ones that invited me,” I said. Not quite the entire truth. But explaining that a half-Fae seer from the border boroughs had coerced my brothers into extending their invitation wasn’t going to help my case. I wasn’t ready to share my newfound ability to quiet a seer’s visions either. If the Masters heard about that, they wouldn’t let me go anywhere until they’d figured out exactly how I was doing it and whether such a thing could be put to any other good use.
Neither man looked pleased about my announcement of my brothers’ involvement. Master Aquinas’ mouth was a flat, unhappy line.
“When it comes right down to it, your brothers’ consent or otherwise doesn’t really matter. You are under my authority,” he said shortly.
“Are you saying no?” I said.
He tapped his chain with one long finger. “What would you do if I did? You can be asked to leave the Guild for disobeying the will of the Guild Master, Saskia.”
My skin went clammy. I hadn’t expected that level of displeasure.
Time to make a choice.
Fen had made a difficult decision when he’d agreed to help our side. He’d risked his entire life.
Was I willing to do the same?
I hesitated, thoughts whirling. I’d wanted nothing more than to be a Master since the first hints of my power had blossomed.
What good is having power if no one lets you use it? The voice in my head was savage.
“Are you saying that you’ll expel me?”
“You’re not qualified yet, Saskia,” Master Matthews said warningly. “You can’t throw everything you’ve worked for away.”
Anger surged, the chain at my neck heating to a point just below uncomfortably warm. “If my skills are so valuable, then can you afford to let me go?” I said, trying my best to sound civil. “Maybe you need me more than I need you.”
“Hold your tongue, girl,” Master Matthews growled.
My hold on my temper slipped further. “No. I’m sick of being told what I can and can’t do. You can throw me out, you can refuse to train me, but that’s not going to change my mind. I know enough now that I can make a good living if I choose.”
“Is t
hat so?” Master Aquinas said.
I bit back my retort. Getting into a shouting match with the Masters of the Guild and my specialty wasn’t going to help matters. I needed to appeal to their calmer sides. I took a deep breath, held out my hands, palms up. “These negotiations are important,” I said. “If they don’t go the way we all want, then nobody is going to care whether or not I’m qualified. Nobody is going to care if anybody’s powers come with a Guild stamp of approval. We’ll be at war.”
Master Matthews made another rumble of displeasure.
“Which is exactly why we should be protecting anything that gives us an advantage. You can’t help anyone if something happens to you,” Master Aquinas said.
“I can’t help anyone if I sit here doing nothing. I’m sorry, Guild Master. You’re not going to change my mind. Will you grant my request or not?”
He stared at me, pondering earth knew what in his head. Then he made a noncommittal gesture, half shrug, half head shake. “The Masters will need to discuss this, Saskia.”
I nodded. If that was how it was going to be, then that was how it was going to be. I felt sick to my stomach, but I had made my decision and whether the Guild approved of it or not couldn’t make any difference to me.
“In that case,” I said, “you can send word to me care of my mother to let me know your final decision.” I curtsied respectfully. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, Masters, I have to pack.”
FEN
* * *
The Beast scent twined around me as I moved through the hallways of the pack house, following the guerrier who’d come to the gate to fetch me when I’d turned up demanding to speak to Martin.
I fought the urge to wrinkle my nose. There was something about the deep earthy smell that always set my nerves on edge. I didn’t know if it was mere dislike or something deeper and more primal. A recognition of kinship I didn’t want to acknowledge, or a lingering effect of the banishment my grand-mere had suffered. I wondered if it was even possible for a casting out to affect more than the person who’d been targeted—then I pulled my errant thoughts back as we drew closer to Martin’s reception room.
I was here for one purpose and one purpose only.
To find out if Martin had Reggie and promise as little as possible to him in return for extracting that information. He was going to be angry enough with me when the delegations were announced and he discovered that I was working with the humans. It would be better not to give him even more ammunition for his fury by promising things I had no intention of delivering.
The halls of the pack house were busier than they had been the previous night. It was early evening still, but the Beasts were rousing to their nightly business. There were plenty of guerriers roaming the corridors, but we passed a number of women and a child or two making their way to wherever they were bound as well. Most Beasts lived close to the pack. The alpha’s immediate family and closest guerriers and their mates and children lived within the walls of the pack house itself. I wondered if more than the usual residents were taking shelter here from the unsettled streets outside.
I had no love for the Beasts, it was true, and they were no angels, but it was hard to wish ill on women and children.
I gave myself another mental shake at the thought. The damned DuCaines were rubbing off on me. Well, Simon and Saskia at least—I couldn’t see Guy sparing much concern for any Beasts. Luckily I didn’t have time to be any further distracted. We reached the doors and I was ushered inside with a promptness that made me wary.
Martin’s eyebrows rose slightly at the sight of me but his smile was blandly welcoming. “What brings you knocking on my gates, puppy?” he said. “Come to your senses, have you?”
No beating about the bush, then. I took a breath and reached deep for arrogance to match his tone. “That depends on whether you can give me what I want.”
His head cocked, green eyes slanting a question at me in a manner that was all too reminiscent of the Beast that lurked beneath his skin. “And what might that be?”
His tone was mild, but around me the atmosphere changed as the guerriers came to a subtle alert. “I want Regina back,” I said.
Martin looked genuinely taken aback and my heart sank. Either he was doing a very good job at pretending or he knew nothing about what had happened. “Regina? She’s one of the humans you run with, isn’t she? Works in that dress shop with the hai’salai you’re so fond of?”
He knew that much. Which only confused me more. I knew he kept tabs on me but I didn’t think he had much reason to be interested in Holly or Reggie. “She works with Holly Evendale, yes.”
“And you say she’s missing?”
“Yes.”
The corner of his mouth turned up slightly. “Well, then. That is unfortunate. Dangerous times in the City right now.”
The hairs on the back of my neck rose. I couldn’t growl like a Beast but I wanted to. “Do you have her?”
Martin’s mocking expression didn’t falter. “What would I want with a human seamstress?”
“I rather assumed it was to get my attention,” I said carefully. “That much worked. But rest assured, if Reggie is hurt you will regret it.”
“And if I did have her, what then, puppy?”
“Then I would assume you want something and that we can come to a trade.”
“A trade?”
“You want my services.”
“You value the human girl that much?”
“I want her back.”
Martin’s face lost its smile. “Then perhaps it is a pity that I do not have her.”
The words were both relief and terror. Because if Martin spoke the truth, it was likely that Reggie was either in the not-so-tender care of the Blood Court or dead.
Hard on the heels of that realization came another: Martin had admitted he didn’t have Reggie too easily. Not his way to give up an advantage, so he must have another angle to play. Which meant that he knew more than he was telling.
“Do you know who does?”
On cue, his smile reappeared, more than a hint of cocky satisfaction playing in his eyes as his expression bared his too long canine teeth. “I believe that is information that is valuable.”
And there it was. The bargaining. I’d known it was coming, as much as I’d hoped I might be able to avoid it. Even if I didn’t intend to honor my end of the bargain, I didn’t like letting Martin think he’d gotten his way. It grated against the habit of a lifetime. “What do you want?”
“Do you really have to ask?”
I didn’t, but it was best to spell things out when making any deal in the Night World. “You want a seer.”
Martin nodded, his grin just as self-satisfied as ever.
“I won’t join your pack.”
“Puppy, what makes you think I’d let a mutt like you in anyway? I need your visions, not your muscle. I don’t care what you do with your spare time as long as you’re around when I need you.”
“What do I get in return?”
“Maybe I’ll tell you where your little human is.”
“How do I know that you even know?”
Martin folded his arms. “Take it or leave it.”
Fuck. He had me. For now. There was always Lily, who was even now slipping invisibly through the Blood warrens, searching for Reggie. She could also search the pack house if she needed to. Beasts didn’t tend to use sunlamps, so her powers would be free to work here. But Lily would be searching the warrens for hours yet and I couldn’t afford to waste any time. I wasn’t going to give Martin a total victory, though. “I have one condition.”
“Oh?”
“I want your help to get her back. If she’s somewhere I can’t get to myself, then you’ll lend me some of your guerriers.” If Reggie was being held in Blood territory, as I feared, then I would need help to retrieve her. There was no way Simon or Guy could help me. There was too much tension in the City for either of them—known enemies of Ignatius—to appear anywhere in the Night Wor
ld and not cause a riot. There were glamours, of course, but glamours could be broken. Too risky. No, if I was to have backup, it would have to be from those whose presence would not be remarked upon. The Beast and the Blood often mixed in the Night World. A squad of Krueger guerriers would do nicely. Muscle and camouflage all in one. They could pass me off as one of their own.
“And if I don’t?”
“Then you will have to live without my services and I’ll take my chances.”
That sharpened his gaze and his smile dimmed. “Fuck, puppy, are you sleeping with the chit? In love with her?”
“That’s none of your business. Do we have an agreement?” I met his eyes—glittering green with annoyance now, much as mine probably were—and waited.
Eventually he nodded. “All right. I’ll give you four men. And whatever else you need once you find her. Is that sufficient?”
I returned the nod. “It will do.”
Chapter Eight
SASKIA
The night stretched endlessly as we waited for Lily to return. Fen had been back from the Krueger Pack House for several hours and the five of us kept vigil in Simon’s parlor, conversation growing thinner and thinner as we fell to watching the clock inch oh so slowly around the dial.
Simon started to pace around two a.m., fingers clenching and unclenching at his side as though he reached for a sword. I knew he would have given his right arm to accompany Lily, but there was no way for him to follow her into the shadow.
Guy, on the other hand, seemed calmer, but I didn’t know if it was fatigue or willpower keeping him silent. He’d gone back to the Templar Brother House, ridden out on patrol, then rejoined us after midnight. He sat in one of Simon’s chairs and stared into the empty fireplace, occasionally answering when Holly spoke to him. I didn’t want to know what he was seeing wherever he was in his head.
