She jumped.
It was amazing to watch her do it, amazing to watch the way she quickly responded to the augmentation and flipped up into the air. She hung there a moment, her staff spinning around, and almost connecting with Marin, but the other woman was equally skilled—if not more so.
Marin was augmented. She had to be.
Sam landed and spun around, but Marin was there, smacking her on the side with one end of her canal staff. The other jammed into Sam’s shoulder. She screamed.
Alec darted forward, but he wouldn’t be fast enough. He wouldn’t be able to reach her before Marin finish her.
With a sickening crack, Marin struck her on the side of the head and grabbed the man lying near them—likely the man they were to find—disappearing into the night.
Alec raced for Sam.
He ran his hand along the side of her head, noting the angry wound, the way that her scalp was split open from the last attack. One of her arms was damp, and he realized it was the blood flowing from where the staff had pierced her shoulder. His mind raced through poisons that might have been used, realizing that if he didn’t treat her quickly enough, any poison that might have been on the tip of the staff would have too much time to set in, and might be irreversible.
She still had a pulse, and she still breathed. If nothing else, she lived. He didn’t know how much longer she would, but for now, he had that.
“We need to get her into the hospital,” Beckah said.
“Not the hospital.”
“Alec, I know how much she means to you. We need to take her someplace where we can get her help. We’re right here. I can go get one of the masters, and we’ll do what we can to save her.”
Alec closed his eyes, thinking. He couldn’t use her blood, not without knowing if it was poisoned. If it was, it would take too much strength out of her to enact the healing. That didn’t leave him with many good options, but maybe Beckah was right. Maybe taking her into the university would be the only thing that could save Sam.
Why did it make him so uncomfortable?
“I need to take her to my apothecary,” he said.
“Your father might be able to help her, but don’t you think you’d be better able to help her here?”
It came down to what he believed. What did he believe about the university’s ability to heal? He believed that they had knowledge and skill, but he also knew that once he had her stable, he could use his easar paper to complete the healing. Would the university allow that?
“I don’t think I can leave her here for healing,” Alec said.
“Alec—”
Alec shook his head. “They have prejudices that place her in more danger.”
“Even if you could help her at the apothecary, you can’t get her there. Your section of the city is too far from here. Are you willing to risk her safety for that?”
He wasn’t, but he also wasn’t sure that he could leave her here, not without knowing exactly what had been done to her. She was injured, but if it was more than just an injury, if it was a poisoning, as well, that was something he didn’t think the university was completely prepared to manage.
At the same time, Beckah was right. He couldn’t carry her—not quickly enough. If he tried, he’d end up either dropping her or she’d end up dying long before he could reach the apothecary.
He wanted to scream, to yell out to the gods and demand their help, but that wouldn’t do anything. That wouldn’t get him any of the assistance he needed.
Alec looked up, feeling helpless.
As he did, he realized there was another figure in the courtyard.
He hadn’t seen him standing there, hidden in shadows, wrapped in a strange cloak that seemed to shift light around it, forcing his gaze away. But now that he knew the man was there, he couldn’t help but see him.
“Tray.” Alec stood and started toward him. He wasn’t certain whether Tray would flee. “How long have you been here?” Alec asked.
“Long enough,” he said.
“Long enough for what?”
Would Tray be upset that Sam had fought with Marin? Would he blame his sister for fighting with her? There was much that Tray didn’t know, but Sam hadn’t wanted him to know. She preferred to keep him in the dark, mostly so that he didn’t have to deal with the stress of what had happened, but also because she wasn’t completely sure what to say to him.
“Long enough to have heard.”
Alec glanced back to Sam before turning and looking at Tray. “What did you hear?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“Can you help? Sam is—”
Tray rounded on him, fury rising in his eyes. “Why should I help?”
“She’s your sister.”
“Is she? From what I heard, that’s not even clear.”
Alec licked his lips. Marin and Sam must’ve argued about the nature of Tray’s relationship to Sam. It didn’t surprise Alec. It weighed on her, and she struggled with trying to understand what it meant for them.
“And what do you think this means for you? Do you think it means that Sam cares for you any less? The one identity she never lost, the one truth she held to was that she is your sister.”
A trace of the anger faded from Tray’s face. “Is it true?”
“I don’t know,” Alec answered. “Sam thought it was, but…”
“Why didn’t she tell me?”
“She hadn’t found you.”
“She did. She had an opportunity to tell me, but she didn’t.”
“She found you?”
“She wanted me to get word to Marin. Now I think I understand why.”
“No. That’s not the entire reason why. Marin… did something to Sam… long ago, something that prevented her from remembering her life before Marin entered it.”
“What do you mean that Marin did something to Sam?”
“I don’t know what it was, but she somehow wiped Sam’s memories from before. She took away what Sam knew of her family.”
“Our mother died.”
“I thought you didn’t believe that?”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“Then help me. I need to get Sam to—”
“Bastan. That’s where she needs to go.”
Would it help to take her to Bastan? He wouldn’t have any of the necessary medicines that Alec might need, but then, he might have access to other things that Alec needed. He was well connected.
“Bastan is the one who sent her here,” Alec said.
“I know,” Tray said.
“Do you know who that man is to Marin?”
“I don’t know anything about Marin,” Tray said.
He lifted Sam, scooping her with no more effort than Marin had seemed to display when lifting the other man. He started toward the bridge and moved quickly.
“How did you get access to the university in the first place?” Alec asked.
“I don’t need to use the bridges, if that’s what you’re asking,” Tray said.
“That’s not—”
Tray smiled. “And I don’t use a canal staff, not like Sam.”
He made it to the edge of the canal and, holding Sam close to him, simply jumped.
His jump carried him across the canal, soaring easily over the water.
Alec had seen Sam jump canals before and had seen her use her staff to carry her up and over, and that had been impressive. When she used her augmentations to jump over the canals, he felt that the fluid strength that she displayed was impressive. With this, it was simply brute strength.
That had to be the Theln side of Tray.
Beckah stood beside him, staring over the canal. “How is that possible?”
Alec shook his head. “I have no idea.”
He raced toward the bridge with Beckah next to him. Thankfully, he had the necessary papers to give him access to the other side, and he raced through the streets. Tray was nowhere in sight. With his speed, even carrying Sam, he would arrive at Bastan�
��s long before they would.
“Where are we going?”
“Caster section.”
“Caster? Why would you bring your injured friend away from the university and into a lowborn section like that?”
“Because that’s where Sam is from.”
Alec hurried through the streets, and as he ran over the next bridge, an idea came to him.
He didn’t know what Sam might have been dosed with, but the slowing of her heart made him wonder if perhaps there might have been foxglove on the staff. It was possible there was another explanation, but he wouldn’t have any way to help her without access to medicines. Even had they taken her to the university, there was no guarantee that they’d have had the medicines he believed she’d need.
That left him with one option, but it would mean a slight delay in getting back to her.
Alec changed course, a brief detour on his way to Caster. He would go to his apothecary and borrow once more from his father, only this time, the supplies he needed were for someone he truly cared about. The last time had been for thistle root and had been for understanding, as much as it had been to help the other man. This time, he went so that he could help Sam—if only it wasn’t too late.
As they entered his section, he breathed out, feeling a mixture of relief, as well as trepidation. What would happen if his father didn’t have necessary supplies? If it was foxglove, they needed thistle root to help her, but he’d taken the last of his father’s supply.
“You’re going to raid your father’s supplies?”
“The man that Tray intends to take her to has access to resources, and I don’t doubt that he will do all he can to help her, but he doesn’t know what to use. I know what I might need.”
“How do you know what you’ll need?”
“Well, I don’t entirely. I have an idea—and that might be enough.”
He reached his father’s shop and checked the door. It was unlocked. That was a surprise, but more surprising was when he pushed open the door, he saw a lantern glowing near the back.
“Father?” Alec called.
His father stepped out from the back of the shop and glanced from Alec to Beckah. “It’s awfully late for you to be visiting, Alec.”
“I need your help. Sam was possibly poisoned.”
“Possibly?”
“I don’t know if she was poisoned, only that it’s likely.”
“Alec, I’ve taught you well enough to know that you need to know what the potential toxin is in order to adequately counter it.”
“It might be foxglove. Then again, it could be something else. It was Marin.”
“Marin?”
Alec still hadn’t figured out how his father and Marin knew each other, but there was no doubting that they did.
“Why would Marin poison Sam? You told me she’s always tried to help her.”
“It’s a long story, but Marin did something to Sam long ago that wiped her memories from her mind.”
His father’s eyes widened. “That’s a dark use. There’s only one thing that would make that possible.”
“Whatever augmentation Marin used on her took away memories of her family, memories of who she was before.”
“It’s not an augmentation,” his father said.
“It would have to be. Marin is the one who did it.”
“The same Marin who has helped protect a half Theln?”
“You’ve known?”
“I know many things about the goings on within the city.”
Alec would have to find those answers later. Right now, he needed a way to help Sam. “What is it? What would Marin have done that could take away memories?”
“You’ve seen it before. When you helped the princess, you saw how the Thelns have a way of damaging others.”
“The Book of Maladies?” he asked. If it was the book, the only way to counter its effect would be to destroy the page involved. That was how they had managed to save the princess, though he still wasn’t certain how Marin—and it had to be Marin—had managed to take that page from the book.
“That’s the only thing I know of that could do what you’re describing.”
Alec squeezed his eyes shut, feeling a bit daunted, before opening them again. “We’ll have to deal with that later. First, I need to help her.”
“You can’t simply use your easar paper?” his father asked.
“She’s too weak to use her blood. Doing that would put her in danger, and I’m not willing to risk it.”
“If she’s dying, you may have to take that risk.”
“If she’s poisoned, I need to counter the poison before I do anything else.”
His father considered him a moment before nodding. “There are a few things that might be able to help,” he said, starting down the row of shelves. “If you think it’s foxglove, there is only one possible counter for that.”
“Thistle root,” Alec said. “Did you get my note?”
“A note? Alec, I’ve been gone for some time. I haven’t received any note from you.”
Alec looked over to Beckah. If he hadn’t received his note, that meant that he hadn’t restocked the thistle root. “How hard is thistle root to find?”
“It’s difficult. Collecting it requires a careful approach that’s not easy to do. I have a reasonable supply that would be enough to help all but the most heavily poisoned.”
“You did have enough,” Alec said.
His father turned to them, looking at Alec with a curious expression.
“There was a man, seemingly dead, that Master Carl brought into class to demonstrate foxglove toxicity. I was told the university didn’t have a supply of thistle root to heal him.”
“And you thought to help him.”
Alec nodded.
“Oh, Alec. What have you done?”
“What have I done? I was trying to help.”
“I am sure you were. The problem is that there are many uses for foxglove. The university often uses it to sedate dangerous people.”
Alec’s breath caught. What had he done? If they used it to sedate dangerous individuals, had he somehow inadvertently helped someone who might be dangerous to the university—and the city?
And then he’d helped Sam break into Master Carl’s room, and had helped her break this person out—the same person Marin now had.
“Why would they sedate dangerous individuals?” Beckah asked.
His father looked over to her, almost as if seeing her for the first time. His gaze drifted over her, scanning her for a moment. “There are many individuals who seek power and would use that to work against the city. There are many who have no qualms about using what they know and targeting others who might seek to protect the city.”
“How is it that you know this?” Beckah asked.
His father met her gaze. “Because I also work to protect the city.”
Beckah started to smile. “You’re an apothecary.”
His father nodded. “I am. One who trained at the university. One who understands the use of medicines for healing… As well as for other purposes.”
Alec turned sharply and looked at his father. “What are you saying?”
“I’m saying that I have worked for a long time to facilitate safety within the city.”
“Did you know about Marin?”
“I didn’t. Not before…” He shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is that you must try to save your friend. She is important.”
“Because she can help the city?” Alec asked.
“Because she is important to you,” his father said.
He grabbed a few jars from the shelves, each either a stimulant, or some sort of healing medicine, and placed them in Alec’s hands. “Try these. If you give her a boost, if you can help by stimulating her heart a little bit, you might be able to counter the effects of the toxin enough that you can use your abilities to save her.”
“Father—”
His father shook his head. “Go. We
’ll talk later.”
Alec turned, grabbing Beckah by the hand and pulling her from the shop, and hurried out into the street.
31
The Tavern Destroyed
The streets of Caster were dark by the time Alec and Beckah arrived. He felt uncomfortable here this late at night, though he knew he shouldn’t. No real harm would come to them, not so long as they remained on the main streets.
Beckah looked around, her head constantly swiveling as they made their way along the street. She kept close to him, holding tightly to his hand. “I’m not sure this is safe.”
“I had the same feeling the first time I was here. The people here aren’t any different from those elsewhere in the city.”
A cry echoed through the night, coming from deeper within Caster.
“Not so different? The guard patrols the other sections. They don’t even bother in these outer sections at all. It was bad enough the first time, but…”
“You were fine the first time. And the guard doesn’t bother because most of the sections like this have a different kind of policing,” Alec said.
“What kind is that?”
“The kind they do themselves. These people don’t want the guard patrolling here. I can’t blame them, either, as the guard has never served them.”
“You sound like you’re making excuses for them.”
“It’s not excuses. It’s simply the truth of this part of the city.”
When they reached Bastan’s tavern, none of the usual music filtered out the door. When Alec pulled the door open, he wasn’t entirely sure what he would find.
The tavern was empty.
“Alec? I don’t like this.”
He didn’t, either, but didn’t want to scare her by admitting that. The tavern should be busy, if only with Bastan’s men.
Alec hurriedly guided Beckah toward the kitchen. That had been the way he’d gotten down to Bastan’s hidden area before. If he were anywhere, it would be there. They’d taken long enough at the apothecary for Tray to have made it to the tavern with Sam.
There was no one to stop them, and Alec didn’t know whether to be thankful for that or worried. Like the main part of the tavern, the kitchen was empty, not the usual bustle of activity. Alec hurried through it and found the door to the lower level open. He took the stairs two at a time, his pounding heart racing in time with his mind. He hoped Tray had gotten Sam to the tavern without any interference.
Poisoned: The Book of Maladies Page 23