Grief of the Undying (The Ichorian Epics Book 3)

by Emilie Knight

  Eudora touched the bandage, and her fingers came away red. Tears fell, but she forced a few steadying breaths.

  After a moment, Pen asked, “Are there any other details? Anything that might point to who or where he is?”

  “No, he just—” Eudora sighed again. “He just kept muttering to someone else, but there was no one.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “He kept saying things like ‘I know’ and apologizing to me, I think. Then he looked away and said, ‘shut up, that’s not helping.’ I asked who he was talking to, and he just said, ‘he won’t tell me.’ He was frantic too, like he was afraid of something.”

  “He was scared?” Pen asked intrigued.

  Eudora nodded. “And that was before he cut his wrist.”

  “Wait, why did he cut himself?”

  “He … he forced me to drink from it, to drink his blood. Said it was some sort of ritual.”

  “Oh gods, that’s—” Palamedes stopped himself, but Eudora completed the thought.

  “Revolting.”

  Anger lit in her eyes.

  “You’re going to find that bastard, right?” she pressed.

  “Yes,” Pen said not feeling the confidence behind the word. “One more thing, have you ever been in the Lion’s Den?”

  “No.” Confusion knit Eudora’s brow. “I just walk past it for the market sometimes.”

  Pen cursed silently. Their only lead basically ran dry.

  “Thank you,” she said standing. “I’ll make sure the guards stay to keep you safe until he’s caught.”

  After a few extra reassurance and goodbyes, Pen was back outside with Palamedes.

  “Which way did he run?” Pen asked.

  “East, but I lost him after weaving through more streets,” Palamedes said. “This city is a maze.

  “You think he was heading for the Den? He could have seen Eudora through a window,” she said starting to head in the Den’s direction.

  It was the only damn idea she had. It had to amount to something.

  “I don’t think so, but wait. Pen, wait!”

  He caught her arm. She flinched at the contact, but he let go immediately. Based on his eyes glancing to where he touched her and back, he noticed her jump.

  “What?” Pen added annoyance to her voice hoping to mask the embarrassment of twitching.

  “You look like you’re about to faint,” he simply stated.

  “I’m fine,” she insisted, though her mind swam in a fog of images from Eudora’s thoughts.

  The face she’d seen was familiar, but she couldn’t pinpoint where. She had to remember. The last time she forgot a face Raisa ended up hurt.

  “When was the last time you’ve eaten anything?” he asked as she started walking again.

  He didn’t stop her this time but strode along.

  “I don’t know,” she said, “but I’ll get something. We need to record all this while it’s fresh.”

  She wondered if she could also mention the lad’s face to him. He wasn’t that old, maybe in his twenties. She’d have to explain the vision to Palamedes, though, and she could hardly explain it to herself.

  “I’ll run to your apartments and get the journals,” he said. “I think you should go to the hideout.”

  “What? Why?” she asked.

  “Because you’re still worried about Raisa,” he said, “and we both need a moment to gather our thoughts.”

  Pen held her tongue. It was a decent plan, but they couldn’t just sit around.

  “He’s still out there,” she stressed. “We were so close. I fucking saw him.”

  “I know but we lost him,” he stressed, “so we need to regroup. Once we gather everything, we can look at it with fresh eyes. Where are you going right now anyway? Back to the Den? We don’t know if he’s there, and barging in again could scare him off. Plus, if he’s smart he won’t go back.”

  “We can’t just relax,” she barked.

  “I’m not saying that. Only that we at least get some food in us. You can check on Raisa. It will only take a few minutes.”

  Falling silent, she looked away and finally took note of the sunlight touching the rooftops.

  “Fine,” she said. “I’ll see Raisa, then we’ll keep searching.”

  “I’ll even bring the maps and journals to the hideout,” Palamedes offered.

  “No, Raisa didn’t want any Fang information there because of the political angle with me.”

  “I get that, but she also asked me to help you with it. I think once she realized this political mission for the queen was about a killer, she waived that rule.”

  “Just bring the journal so I can add my side of things,” she said not wanting to completely disregard Raisa’s caution.

  “All right,” he gave. “I’ll meet you back at the hideout, then.”

  Pen steeled herself as much as she could before entering Raisa’s room. Hearing the rattling breaths through the door was almost enough to break her again.

  Drivas sat at her mother’s side picking a bun apart and swallowing the bits, more out of boredom it seemed. The bruises around her eye and neck were still purple, but the swelling had gone down. She perked up and smiled when she spotted Pen.

  “Hey,” Pen said squeezing her shoulder. “How’s she doing?”

  “The same,” Drivas replied, “but Kaya said that’s good. That she’s still breathing at least.”

  “Yeah, that is good.”

  Pen didn’t feel the same hope that was in Drivas’s voice. The rattling wouldn’t let her.

  “Why don’t you get some real breakfast,” Pen suggested. “I’ll watch over her.”

  “Did you eat yet?” Drivas asked, getting up.

  “No, but I’m not hungry. Later.”

  Pen took the chair and forced a smile to Drivas.

  She nodded and left for the kitchens, casting one more hopeful glance to her mom.

  Once Drivas was out of sight, Pen sunk deeper into the chair and hid her eyes with a hand. Raisa’s labored breathing filled her mind, and when Pen finally moved her hand, it came away wet.

  “So, apparently,” Pen said softly for only Raisa to hear, if she could, “I can go inside people’s heads while I touch their blood with mine. The fuck was that?”

  She scrubbed away the tears in frustration.

  Chapter Forty One

  Pen

  The kink in her neck woke her, but at least she was warm. Pen found herself slumped over in the chair still next to Raisa, with a blanket and the fire roaring now, even if there was daylight pouring in from the window.

  Rubbing the soreness from her neck, Pen glanced to the window noting how warm it looked outside and paused. A crane was sitting on the roof of the neighboring shop. She knew they were perfectly common around the ponds and swamp here, but she’d never seen one inside the city walls. It was a gorgeous bird that was probably just enjoying the sun before the coming winter.

  Shaking the thought from her head, Pen checked Raisa’s wounds, glad there wasn’t any fresh blood. Her breathing hadn’t changed, though. Raisa still laid there, pale and unmoving, forcing air into her wounded lungs.

  “I’m going to get some food,” Pen told the sleeping Raisa. “I’ll bring you some broth too.”

  Standing, she laid the blanket over the foot of Raisa’s bed, briefly wondering who left it on her. She left Raisa’s room, passed through the office, and headed for the kitchens. Before she even reached the stairs, voices came from the common room.

  “You think he’ll go after this latest girl?” she heard Palrig ask.

  “I don’t think so,” Palamedes replied. “We stopped him, sure, but I don’t think the specific women matter. I’m even starting to wonder if he wants to kill them at all.”

  Rounding the corner and archway, Pen saw them with Kaya standing around a new table in the center of the common room. All of the notes and lists along with her journal and map covered the surface, completely obscuring the wood.

&nbs
p; All of them glanced up as she approached, and Palamedes grinned.

  “Afternoon,” he greeted.

  “How long have I been asleep?” Pen asked.

  “Nearly twelve hours.”

  “Why didn’t you wake me? I can’t just sleep at a time like this. And why is all of this here?”

  “Hey, I tried to wake you, but you were basically dead to the world,” he defended. “So, I tucked you in and let you be.”

  “Oh, thank you,” she said a little embarrassed.

  “As for everything being here, I mentioned it to Palrig and Kaya, and they agreed that working here would be easier for us.”

  “This isn’t political anyway,” Kaya said shrugging. “So, it’s not breaking any rules, and from Raisa hiring him she clearly felt the same.”

  “What if the queen’s guards came looking for me, though?” Pen asked. “I have to report to her in a few days.”

  “Then they’ll just see an old fletching shop,” Palrig said. “And besides, I wanted to thank you for helping with Drivas and that madman. It could have been a lot worse if you weren’t there.”

  Pen didn’t know how to reply. It wouldn’t have happened in the first place if she’d warned Raisa about Tetrides.

  Giving Palrig a quick nod, she turned to Palamedes again. “I heard you say the Fang isn’t actually trying to kill them?”

  “It’s just an idea,” he said, “but Eudora said he was scared of something. That he was supposedly sorry.”

  “She said he was talking about some ritual,” Pen added. “That might be his main goal, whatever it is.”

  “Right, and I think, well if you don’t want to, then we’ll work with it but …”

  “What?” she pressed.

  “I think we can set a trap,” he said, “but with you as bait.”

  “I am not letting this lunatic snap at my throat.”

  “Fair, but with your power you can stop yourself from bleeding out. Actually—” he cut himself off seemingly remembering something, “from what I saw in Malliae, you wouldn’t die anyway. So, it’s not a great situation, but a … relatively safe one.”

  “Wait, wait, hold on.” Kaya raised a hand to stall any reply. “What are you talking about?”

  Palamedes paused, probably worried that he’d said too much.

  “I’m the Blood Warrior,” Pen told Kaya, “also cursed by Nyx so I can’t die.”

  Kaya opened her mouth to reply, but said nothing. Looking to Palrig in confusion, he nodded, confirming the idea for her.

  “By Zein’s name,” Kaya cursed quietly with the moon goddess’s name, stepping away from Pen.

  “I’m not that scary,” Pen scoffed.

  “No, but you’re one of the gods. You’re literally Zein’s niece,” Kaya said.

  “Only a demigod, and well, technically yes,” Pen gave.

  “So, we set a trap,” Kaya said growing excited, “and you can catch him.”

  “I’ve been trying to catch him this entire fucking time.”

  “But now we have a plan.”

  “Well, we’re working one out,” Palamedes said. “We’ll need a night to really nail down everything and come up with contingency plans.”

  Pen nodded. She hated waiting again, but the Fang never attacked often. There was always a few days, even a week, between attacks.

  “Well, I’m starving,” Pen said. “Let me get some food, and we’ll start planning when this guy can bite me too.”

  They talked for the rest of the day, picking out possible locations based on the other victims. It was always a hidden back alley, but close enough to a place for the body to be found.

  Drivas joined them for a while when Kaya went to tend to Raisa again. After explaining what they were doing, Drivas volunteered to help too, but Pen put a stop to that quickly. Someone needed to keep an eye on Raisa anyway, and Pen was not risking her out there. Not right now.

  As night fell, Palamedes, Palrig, and Kaya prepared to head out to the locations they picked, planning to map out a route for Pen to take. She gathered her cloak and went to join them when Palrig spoke up.

  “I think you should stay here and rest up a bit more,” he said, as she shrugged on her cloak.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Much better after that twelve hour nap.”

  “You were practically unconscious,” Palrig argued. “Let us do the leg work for now, because the real job is going to be when you confront this man.”

  “Sure, but—”

  “He’s right,” Palamedes added. “You’ve been overworking yourself.”

  “I kind of have to.”

  “You don’t, though,” Palamedes said softly. “Not when we can work together, and that’s what the Wolves are good at. Let us scout things out tonight, then we’ll enact any plans tomorrow. You need to properly rest because you’re tearing yourself apart over this and Raisa.”

  She didn’t know how to reply, but for once she didn’t feel awful. She wasn’t perfectly rested, but it was like before when she’d slept next to Alard. She felt a little better, but more time would do her some good.

  And these people were willing to give her that time.

  “Okay,” she sighed, feeling appreciation that she wasn’t used to.

  Palrig left with Kaya, and Palamedes went right behind them, patting Pen on her shoulder.

  The smile she gave him wasn’t forced for once, but when he left the room, another thought jumped to her mind.

  “Palamedes, wait!” She left the table to catch up to him.

  Kaya paused at the stairs too, looking back to them.

  “We’ll just be a second,” Pen said waving her off.

  “What is it?” Palamedes asked, concerned.

  “Um,” Pen couldn’t help twisting her fingers around themselves, but at least she wasn’t scratching her wrists. “There’s something I didn’t mention about the Fang.”

  His eyebrows knit together, angry but also not surprised at the same time.

  “You said you wouldn’t hide any information,” he accused.

  “I’m not hiding anything,” Pen defended. “It just happened last night and freaked me out, so lay off.”

  “What happened?” he asked.

  “Are you going to bite my head off again?”

  “No, just, I don’t like secrets,” he said. “So, what is it?”

  Pen took a breath before admitting, “When I touched Eudora’s blood with mine I … saw through her eyes for a second. I was in her head.”

  All agitation melted from Palamedes’s frame as he listened.

  “I saw the Fang through her eyes and felt her fear,” she said. “I felt her terror as my own.”

  “Are you okay?” he asked.

  “Now I am, but that’s never happened before.”

  “You saw the Fang? What did he look like?”

  Pen told him every detail she could remember, along with the fact that he was familiar to her.

  “Why not bring this up before to the others?” he asked, more curious than angry now.

  “Because I would have to explain all the blood … connection stuff, which has never happened before. And Kaya was already freaked out by me for a second there. I didn’t want to make that worse. You may not like secrets, but I like privacy in that regard.”

  He nodded, looking abashed but giving her the point.

  “That’s never happened before?”

  “No,” Pen crossed her arms, “and I know all the stories of the Warriors. None of them could do this.”

  “That is fascinating.”

  “What?!”

  “Sorry,” he said quickly. “I just … you’re … never mind, but this is fascinating. Can you move other people’s blood?”

  She was about to deny it, thinking of the young guard again, but stopped herself.

  “I don’t think so,” she said instead. “The original, Hamia, supposedly could, but I never tried.”

  “You should try it,” he suggested. “Did Eudora notice an
ything when you connected?”

  “I don’t know,” Pen admitted. “I don’t think she even knows that it happened.”

  “Well,” he said, “maybe we can test it on me?”

  “You? Now?”

  “Not now, but I assumed you’d want a willing test subject to not scare anyone else, for privacy.”

  She stared at him in disbelief. He looked perfectly innocent and willing to help her.

  “Um, sure,” she said not knowing what else to say, but appreciating it, “thank you.”

  The streets were deserted on the way to the cemetery. Pen tugged her cloak tighter, but actually enjoyed the fresh air.

  After talking to Palamedes, he’d left to catch up to the others, leaving Pen alone with Drivas and Raisa. She stayed for the rest of the day, checking on Raisa and talking to Drivas. When night fell, she needed to get out for a bit.

  Taking Palamedes’s advice on resting, she headed straight towards the place she knew she could be alone for a while.

  Checking on Arch and Alard would be nice.

  The sun had set a few hours ago, but the full moon provided enough light. She wondered if Dagger and Scythe were out tonight.

  They frequented the Lion’s Den often, and she thought about asking them to scout the place out for her. It couldn’t hurt. There was nothing that proved they weren’t human either. She could introduce them to Palamedes.

  Recruiting more help for the Fang would do them all some good.

  They wanted to talk to her about something before too. She had to remember to ask them about that later.

  Rounding onto the last street to the graveyard and the dead tree, a shadow caught her attention.

  Pen kept walking but glanced to the side of the road, heart racing. The shadow was a man dressed in traveling clothes walking beside her on the other side of the road.

  Her heart froze when he turned to look behind them. The round shield on his back outlined his shoulder.

  It was him. It had to be her father. She wanted to stop, to run up to him, demand what was going on. Why was he hiding so much? What was he doing here right now?

  He wasn’t even hiding. If anything, he was in a hurry to get ahead of her while staying on the other side of the street.

  He vanished again, and her heart lurched. She stopped and turned towards him, praying that he wasn’t gone again.