by Ryan Muree
She wasn’t wrong; she was misguided.
Jahree turned for the mine, and Grier and Adalai followed.
He was right about saving Clove. If they weren’t honorable, if they didn’t do the right thing, then who would? Where would that leave them? What was all this for? He was a Keeper, or he wasn’t, but he had to decide who or what he was loyal to.
And then there was Kimpert.
Everyone, even the Ingini, knew Keepers followed the rules, and blindly, even. That Keepers believed what they were told.
He hadn’t always, but he thought it was for the better that he stay within the lines, follow the boundaries, not even toe them. Now, after the Battle in Marana, after Emeryss, none of that held true for him anymore. He wanted to question everything, challenge the Librarian’s decision to withhold knowledge from Ingini, and he wanted to know his role in all of this.
Goddess of Mercy, please see that we’re trying to make it right.
As they approached the mine, several other workers moved about the machinery for lifting out dirt and planks of wood.
“So, what? We just ask around?” Adalai asked.
Jahree walked up to an older man in tattered clothes with ruddy stains. Jahree asked him something, and the man pointed around to another group of men.
“He’s kind of broad-shouldered,” Adalai said. “He’s extremely fit.”
Jahree glared at her from the corner of his eye, but she ignored it.
Grier approached an older woman handing out water to the workers. “Ma’am, I was hoping you could help me.”
The woman had most of her teeth and a pale blue stare. She’d spent some time in the mines, apparently. “Yes? Water?”
Grier politely refused. “Do you know of a young woman, short, sort of messy hair in a ponytail? She goes by Clove.”
The woman clicked her tongue. “Clove? That sounds familiar. Gail. Gail!” She touched the shoulder of the elderly woman beside her. “Clove.”
“Huh?” the woman grunted.
“Where do I know that name? Clove?”
“Clove?” Gail smiled at Grier and tapped her chin. “I know it. Oh! Isn’t she friends with Mack?”
“Mack!” the other woman replied. “Mack, yes. He knows her. I’ve never met the girl, but he talks about her constantly like they’re spiritmates.”
“Are you certain?” Grier asked. It wasn’t much to go off of, but it was a name at least.
Gail nodded. “Every woman here knows Mack. He’s one of the few with all his teeth and vision.”
The two women laughed at one another.
“And those muscles…”
“Young men will be the death of me—”
“Young men with eyes for other young ladies will be the death of me.”
“Say,” Gail turned, eying Grier up and down. “You wouldn’t be interested in working in the mines, would you?”
The two women laughed again.
“He works here?” Grier asked.
Gail folded her hands in front of her. “Not usually. But he’s been helping out with the cave-in. Oh, he’s right there.” She pointed ahead to the back of a young man nearly as big as Grier, but on a shorter frame.
He, Adalai, and Jahree shared a glance as they walked in Mack’s direction.
“I’ll talk first,” he told them.
If the conversation didn’t go well, they couldn’t do anything about it there with all the Ingini around them. They needed to get him alone.
Grier stepped up and took a deep breath. “Excuse me, but are you Mack?”
The man turned around and looked up at Grier with green eyes. His jaw was clenched and cut squarely with smudges of soot. He looked at Jahree and Adalai. “Who’s asking?”
“We need to talk—”
“I know your face. You were here during the cave-in.” He pointed at Adalai. “You were, too. You were with Clove. What is this? Where’s Clove?”
Damn.
Jahree leaned in. “We really need to talk to you away from here.”
He crossed his arms. “Screw you. Where is Clove?”
Adalai curled her lip at him. “Either come now or—”
“Or what?” Mack put his hands on his hips and glared right back at her.
Adalai laughed. “Push me to it, and I’ll show you.”
“Clove’s missing,” Grier said low.
Mack’s nostrils flared as his attention returned to him.
“Clove was taken,” he whispered. “We have a lead, but we don’t know how to get to him. We need your help to bring her back. Can we please talk about this away from everyone?”
Mack turned, reached for a massive metal tool on the table he was working at, and spun back to them. “Lead the way.”
A tool as a weapon. Grier appreciated the fact this guy wasn’t totally clueless, but he wasn’t even the least bit threatening. Mack had no idea what he was in for.
They walked on quietly and as casually as possible back out of the camp and through the trees on the other side of the hill. The airship was farther back, and Adalai was leading the way.
“Not another step. Out with it. Where is Clove?” he demanded.
Grier swallowed and faced him. “Ethrecity is our best guess. We think one of her shipping bosses kidnapped her.”
“You think? How did this happen? Who the fuck are you?” He lifted his metal tool at them.
“Calm down.” Adalai smiled. “You’re not nearly as tough as you think you are.”
He moved to go after her. “Oh really—”
Grier put his hands up between both of them. “We’re trying to help Clove. We were investigating something in Sufford, and she was grabbed when we were trying to escape.”
Jahree nodded with him.
“And this bitch?” Mack gestured at Adalai.
“Our fearless leader, apparently,” Jahree mumbled.
“Clove was helping us,” Grier added to keep them on topic. “That’s when she got grabbed. We need your help to get her back. We don’t want anything bad to happen to her.”
Mack’s jaw relaxed a little.
Jahree began leading them toward the airship again. “We think a man named Trent might have kidnapped her. He was the one who set her up with her last shipping order.”
“Trent?”
Jahree continued. “He’s in a hangar on the north side of Ethrecity, and we want your help to find it and him. He likes to skin his people alive, according to Clove.”
The airship was just in sight, camouflaged by rocks and grass Mykel had created.
“What?” Mack blurted, jogging to keep up. “Wait, why should I believe any of this?”
“Don’t,” Adalai said, pulling up her sleeves and crossing her arms. “It would make this a lot easier.”
Mack looked them over, from Adalai’s wrist to Grier’s bracer poking out from under his sleeve. “You’re not Ingini.” He pointed at Grier. “You’re Revelian! You’re friggin’ Revelians! Where’s Clove, you assholes!” He lunged forward, his makeshift weapon raised.
Jahree lifted a hand and blew him back effortlessly.
Mack landed on his backside, eyes wide and ready to kill. “I’ll kill you. I’ll fucking kill you—”
“Try, hot shot,” Adalai said. “You won’t win, and you won’t save Clove.”
His chest heaved, and Grier extended a hand to help him up. Mack knocked it away and stood on his own. “Whatever you did to Clove—”
“I’ll tell you the whole truth.” Grier raised his hands in surrender.
Fighting would not be smart, despite what Adalai was thinking. The poor guy wouldn’t make it more than two steps, and they needed Clove too badly to even tempt knocking him out.
“Clove crashed into Revel,” he explained. “We found her, but we didn’t find her brother. She believes he’s still alive in Revel. She’s helping us solve a few things, and we’re going to help her get her brother back.”
Mack shook his head. “Revelians never make good on
their deals. They always screw you. They always stab you in the back.”
“Actually, I’m Stadholden,” Grier said, “But that doesn’t matter.”
“You’re a liar.” Mack’s jaw clenched tight. “You’re all liars.”
“Then why come get you, you jelted piece of shit?” Adalai bit.
“Open the doors, Sonora,” Jahree said.
The machinery cracked open, dirt and grass fell from the metal pieces, opening the ship’s cargo hold for them to step on. The others were standing there waiting and looking at Mack.
He swallowed. “This is—”
“Pigyll,” Jahree replied. “Upgraded. And we have someone else.” He motioned toward the cages in the cargo hold to Kimpert.
Mack’s eyes settled on her sitting in the corner as the others joined them. His focus went from them to the weapon in his hand, to the cages, to Kimpert. “She’s that CEO. You… you…” His finger moved from her to them. “You kidnapped her? Did you cage Clove, too?”
“Yes,” Grier said.
“Not really.”
“Technically…”
They had all answered together.
“At first,” Jahree admitted. “It was war, it was in Revel, but we didn’t turn her in. We didn’t want to hand her over to the RCA because she had grimoires on her ship and we wanted to find out how they got there.”
“You used her,” Mack said. “How do I know she didn’t run away and you’re just trying to trick me into getting her back? I should call the UA on you right now—”
Adalai Blinked behind him and placed her arm on his shoulder. “I wouldn’t do that.”
He jumped forward away from her. His eyes were lined with a mix of fury and terror.
“Stop it, Adalai,” Jahree said.
Emeryss cleared her throat. “We found out the grimoires are being used on a special ship in Sufford. So, she was with me, investigating that ship, and when we escaped—”
“The Goliath.” Mack huffed and wiped his mouth as it turned into a laugh. “Clove hates all Revelians. She wouldn’t help you with this.”
Emeryss raised her hands. “She’s afraid that if you release the ship into Revel, it could end up killing her brother. She still believes Cayn is in Revel, and she wants to find him.”
Mack looked at Emeryss. It was the most genuine stare he’d given yet. He believed her, at least a little. “What stops me from killing all of you or turning you all in? You’ve already told me who probably took her. I could go get her myself.”
“Try,” Adalai said. “We have just as much reason to kill you as you do us.”
“And some of us, even Revelians, stick to their word,” Jahree said. “I promised to help her find her brother, and I still plan on doing that. Just like Clove, we’re all learning that maybe we don’t have a reason to hate each other so blindly—”
“Don’t believe them!” Kimpert shouted, now bent over at the bars staring through them. “Don’t believe them! They killed Hall, the mining foreman. They threw him off!”
Mack’s eyes grew wide before returning their focus on Grier.
“She’s conveniently leaving out that he was Revelian, put in that mine to help control you from Revel,” Grier said. “And she’s working with Revel, too. Getting rich off the wars and the grimoires she’s having you all ship and mine for.”
Mack turned on Kimpert. “That’s the first thing I’ve heard from them I actually believe.”
“Mack,” Grier said, “help us find Clove, and she can confirm everything we’ve told you.”
Mack’s grip around his weapon loosened, his shoulders rolled a little. The rough edge on his demeanor shifted slightly. “How do I know you won’t just kill me when we find her?”
Urla stepped forward. “You don’t, but I can tell you, we didn’t come all the way into this country and risk our necks to kill a couple of Ingini.”
Mack stared at each of them. “She’s with this Trent guy?”
Grier nodded. “In a northern hangar of Ethrecity.”
“You know that for sure?” he asked.
Grier shook his head. “No, it’s a guess.”
“She was definitely taken, though, by someone who didn’t want to be seen at the Goliath either,” Emeryss said.
Mack lifted his chest as he inhaled. “Then I’ll help you in Ethrecity, but we’re stopping in Dimmur first.”
“Why?” Jahree asked.
“That’s where we’re from.” Mack thumbed the tool in his hand. “Don’t underestimate her. Clove gets out of damn near everything, and if she’s lost Cayn, I know where she’d go first.”
“Don’t help them,” Kimpert blurted. “Get Clove back and kill them. Turn them into the UA. Tell them I’m here—”
Jahree flicked his hand, and she gasped for air until she passed out.
“That’s convenient,” Mack said.
Jahree nodded. “Kimpert’s also extra friendly with one of our bosses. We’re not sure who yet, but we’ll figure it out eventually.”
Mack swallowed. “Let’s go then.”
Chapter 23
Somewhere — Ingini
Clove blinked her eyes open to a glaring yellow ether-lamp and a pitch-black room beyond what the light illuminated.
Her mouth tasted bitter like she’d eaten rotten hol-sticks or vomited too many ethyrol cocktails. Her eyes and nose burned, her arms ached—they were pinned behind her. She moved her arms. She was tied to a chair.
“Hello?” she called out, squinting into the darkness.
Something moved at the edge of the light.
“Who are you?” she tried again.
“Haven’t heard from you in a while.” The voice to her left came deep and fragmented. Like he was struggling with something or holding back. “How long has it been? One week? Two?”
Who was that voice? She’d heard it before, but it wasn’t Branson’s.
A tall figure in a sleeveless white shirt with strong, thick arms and tanned skin held a fairly decent blade.
“Trent.” She swallowed, suddenly remembering what the blade would be used for.
His hair was wiry and tied back in a knot. His eyes were a little wild, the hair on his chin a little thicker than before.
She looked around for his stupid assistant. Bozo? Bongo? Bongo. The assistant who’d skinned the last man she’d seen with Trent.
“Why haven’t you contacted me, Clove? I thought you wanted to work with me.” He circled her, and she squirmed.
Shit. Shit. She couldn’t panic.
If she could get her hands free, she could punch him in the jaw, the nose, gouge out his eyes.
Be strong. Be confident.
“Did you miss that little war on the border?” she asked, turning her wrist and hands in different directions to try to loosen the ties.
He stopped circling to face her, his bottom teeth chewing on his top lip.
“Yeah, you sent us there in the middle of all that,” she continued.
He shrugged. “You said you wanted to make money. I believed you. You and your, uh, what was he? A brother? That’s right. You and your brother wanted money.”
“We did. We didn’t want to be in the middle of a friggin’ war.” She jerked her arms, testing how strong the restraints were. They weren’t terribly tight, but the way Trent fondled his knife told her she didn’t have much time.
“And what about my boxes? My delivery? The UA contacted me and said that they were missing a few.”
She swallowed. “Did they mention that the sirens went off right when they were unloading? That they instructed me to leave and get out before we were killed, and I lost my brother, anyway.”
He tilted his head. “So, your brother isn’t around? That explains why my guy grabbed you so easily. Doesn’t explain what you were doing snooping around the Goliath when you still owe me.”
Shit. She needed to deflect. “Your delivery nearly got us killed, and I ended up captured by the RCA!”
Trent scratched the
back of his head with the tip of his blade. “I thought you were this great pilot. I dunno, maybe the great pilot screwed up.”
She wanted to kick him in the balls. Her feet were free, but he was too tall for her foot to reach.
He bent forward and ran the dull side of his blade against her cheek. “How did you get free from the RCA?”
She jerked away from his knife. What should she say? That she was basically betraying her country and her people by helping these Revelians? That she was a traitor? She was, but it was all in the name of saving her brother and trying to save other Ingini in the long run.
Guys like Trent wouldn’t understand that.
“You didn’t get free from the RCA.” He trailed the tip of his blade down the side of her neck and across the front. “No one does. They’re here, aren’t they?”
She couldn’t breathe, couldn’t swallow. Her hands and arms were shaking so badly, she fought to clench them. Her thighs were shaking, too. The man’s screams from having his skin peeled off when she’d first met Trent came rushing back to her.
She had to try another angle. “Why did you have a guy in the Goliath’s hangar? You’re stealing grimoires from Kimpert?”
His smile faded, and he pulled away, finally giving her distance. She fought with the restraints more quickly.
“Is that what you think? That I’m stealing from her? She’s stealing from me!” he boomed. “Who told you I was stealing from her? Who told you I was stealing, huh? Because she’s stealing from me, that bitch!” He spat to the side.
Her eyes finally caught the red glow of the forge. They were in his office back in Ethrecity. Damn, that was far from the others.
Trent was back in her face, blade aimed at her nose. His eyes weren’t right, a little slower than the rest of him, and his breath was rank. Ethyrol, probably. “Who told you?”
“Kimpert.”
“Kimpert’s been reported missing.”
“And I kidnapped her. I have her locked up, too.”
At this, he leaned back and laughed hard. “You? You have Kimpert locked up? Where?”
“Outside of Sufford.” Her one wrist was nearly free, though her fingers ached from the lack of circulation.