Trail of Lightning (The Sixth World Book 1)

by Rebecca Roanhorse

  “Orders were for her,” the guard complains.

  “I know they were, but let’s be reasonable. We aren’t letting her go off alone with you, so you should let us come,” Kai says. He stares at the guard, eyes a bright silver through the medicine still on my eyes.

  The guard grunts and exchanges a look with his partner. The partner shrugs and the other Bear clan guy’s eyes flicker up to the space over my shoulder. I turn to see Mósí give a slight nod in our direction. “Fine. Bring your little menagerie. It won’t help you in the ring.” With that, he turns and heads back in the direction he came from, leaving us to follow.

  I look over at Clive, broad and muscled but somehow innocent-looking with that curly hair and freckles. And Kai, studying me like I’m the most important thing in the world.

  “I think you’re both nuts,” I admit, “and you’re probably going to get yourselves killed if you keep this shit up. But I appreciate the gesture.”

  “It’s not a gesture, Maggie,” Kai says. “We’ve got your back.”

  “Clive?” I ask.

  The redhead’s face is solemn. “You saved my life, and my sister’s. You don’t even have to ask.”

  It’s as good as it’s going to get, and they are capable of making their own decisions. If they want to follow me into the darkness, who am I to stop them?

  “Okay,” I say. My hands move to check my weapons before I remember I’m unarmed. “Let’s go meet Mósí.”

  Mósí’s lair, and it really could only be called a lair, is carved out of the earth, deep down in the cavernous depths of the Shalimar. The guards lead us down a twisting staircase well below the main club, and walk us through a passageway that looks like it was dug right out of the red dirt of Dinétah. The rounded tunnel is rough rock and packed soil on all sides, above and below. We move through the darkness like moles. My night vision is great, but even I have to rely on our Bear clan guides holding gas lanterns to lead the way. Above us, I can hear the stomping and cheering of the crowd. We are directly below the fighting pit, and dust and loose debris trickle from the ceiling with each grunting thud above our heads as the fights rage on.

  We finally reach an opening where the tunnel expands out to an underground cave wide enough to fit us all standing side by side and leave room for a dozen more. The cave is round, with a raised platform dominating the far end and a hallway curving around a corner to our left. The floors are covered with furs, and above the platform, small rodents hang by their tails from the ceiling like decorative pendant lights. I spot brown desert mice and the larger rats common in Tse Bonito. Even a few gray squirrels. They all stare out into the room with little black dead eyes. I shiver involuntarily. Weird has crossed over into macabre.

  Kai is close enough for our shoulders to brush as he whispers in my ear. “What is this place?”

  “Mósí is a cat,” I say.

  His eyes wander over the ceiling. “That explains the dead animals, at least.”

  I try to think of everything I know about cats, which isn’t much. I’ve never owned a cat, and the wild ones in the mountains, the bobcats and mountains lions, keep themselves hidden when I’m around. Grace’s cat seemed to like me okay, but really, who can tell for sure? And I’m not sure even a careful knowledge of cats would help me understand Mósí, although a basic understanding of coyote behavior has helped me keep up with Ma’ii more than once.

  From above the platform across the room, our hostess descends a spiral staircase, green party dress swirling. My guess is at the top of that staircase is a glass-encased box above a fighting pit. Not an ideal exit because I’m not sure how to break that glass, but it looks to be the only other way in and out of the cavern besides the way we came. If it comes to it, I’ll find a way to break the glass.

  Mósí pauses briefly on the bottom stair to take us in. She’s older than I expected. She seemed young from a distance, but now I can see gray streaks in her black hair, and the suggestion of fine lines around her eyes and mouth. Of course, what does age mean to an immortal creature? The real question is why Mósí has chosen this particular mask. What purpose does it serve, and what does she hope to accomplish by appearing like a matron instead of anything else? If it’s supposed to reassure me that she’s got my best interests at heart, it’s not working.

  Her eyes pass over us before touching briefly on Kai. She gives him a smile, like she recognizes him. Weird, but I’ve noticed Kai elicits weird responses from people, particularly the Bik’e’áyée’ii. This is just another one.

  Finally, she settles on me. Motions me forward to meet her at the edge of the dais. There’s a pile of rabbit hides heaped there. My moccasins sink soundlessly into the thick mass of fur as I join her.

  “Welcome, child,” she says, her voice an inquisitive purr. “Let me see you.”

  I stand still in the twilight of her cavern and let her look. “I thought cats could see in the dark,” I challenge her.

  “We can, child. And we can hear your heart beating too. And smell your arousal, among other things.” She sniffs, her nose twitching.

  That’s not creepy. I wait as she stalks a circle around me, close enough that I can feel her whiskers brush my bare arms.

  “So you are Neizghání’s weapon. His battle child.”

  Neizghání again. Maybe it’s not just my reputation. Maybe Ma’ii told Mósí about my former teacher. “What did the Coyote tell you?”

  “Oh, it wasn’t Ma’ii who told me about you. It was the mother.”

  “Neizghání’s mother? Changing Woman?” It never occurred to me that Neizghání’s mother would know about me, much less talk about me.

  “Hmm . . . just so. She is kind to us. The Cat, the Buffalo, the Deer. Even the Coyote. It is we who keep her company in her House in the West, not you five-fingered, with your problems and riot.”

  I think I’m supposed to feel slighted, but the thought of spending time with Changing Woman shakes me to the core. Not because she is a Holy Person, powerful beyond anything I know, but because Neizghání is her son.

  Mósí sees me pale, and smiles. “Oh, do not fret. We spoke of nothing that is not already known.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Just so.” She touches a finger to her nose and points at my heart, then my groin. “Just so.”

  Creepy to the core. I can feel my limited patience already beginning to wear thin. I’m not in the mood for guessing games with a cat. We came for a reason, and it’s not to dissect my relationship with Neizghání with yet another curious and gossiping Bik’e’áyée’ii. I have no idea why they all seem so interested, but now isn’t the time.

  “Did Ma’ii tell you why we wanted to talk to you?”

  She inclines her head, still pacing her circle. I have the urge to grab her and hold her still. My hand twitches with the need.

  “He said you had something,” I say. “Something that can make monsters.”

  “You were among my patrons earlier? Did you enjoy our little fights?”

  I blink at her rapid change of subject. “We came late, so we didn’t see the fights,” I admit. “But about that object. Ma’ii called it a fire drill—”

  “Cats are hunters, of course. Not true fighters. Oh, we’ll fight when cornered, but we prefer to stalk our prey. It’s the chase that we love.”

  My eyes flicker to Kai. He’s the one who has a way with words, and Mósí was interested in him in a way she didn’t seem to be with the rest of us. Maybe he can get the Cat on track.

  Kai catches my look. He clears his throat and takes a step forward.

  “Is this your prey?” he asks, gesturing to the various rodents hanging from the ceiling. Mósí stops stock-still and looks at Kai. For a moment I think she’ll pounce on him, but instead she bursts out laughing. It’s a high abrasive giggle that goes on long enough for Kai to look over at me, a puzzled expression on his fine features. Damned if I know why the Cat’s got the hysterical giggles, so I just shrug.

  “No, sil
ly child,” Mósí says, once her laughter dies off and she’s caught her breath. “These are the gifts from my darlings.” She motions toward the numerous domestic cats that wander freely around her den. “I hang them to show proper respect.”

  “Sort of like a creepy mother hanging up her kid’s paintings on the refrigerator door?” I ask.

  She smiles, an unpleasant look that exposes her elongated front teeth.

  “My apologies, Mósí,” Kai says, not missing a beat. “I should have known a great huntress like you would have much more valuable prey.”

  “Mmmmm,” Mósí agrees. Her eyes flash to me, then back to Kai, listening.

  “We’ve come because Coyote told us you had something that may help us find out who is making the monsters that are terrorizing Dinétah.”

  Kai joins us on the rabbit furs. He reaches out, taking her hand and gently pulling her down to sit among the soft mass of dead rodent skins. He gestures at me to sit too, and I begrudgingly join them, sinking down to rest on my heels. Kai makes a motion with his free hand and Clive sits down too.

  “Hmmmm . . . you are a fine young man,” Mósí murmurs, eyes still on Kai. She rubs a hand up and down his arm across the soft velvet of his shirt before weaving his fingers in hers again. “Yes, a fine young man. Strong medicine you will give to the People. Yes, you will. If you survive.” She looks at me and giggles, like Kai’s survival is a joke.

  Kai blanches, but maintains his smile. He squeezes the crazy Cat’s hand like this is a normal conversation. “Have you heard of these monsters?” he asks.

  “I have heard.”

  “They are evil, mindless. They have killed children. Mothers and fathers. Brothers and sisters.”

  “And you wish to kill the one who has made them?”

  “Yes,” I say.

  Mósí’s eyes turn to me. “Just so, battle child. You are a hunter, like me. You crave to taste the blood of your enemies, to hear their necks snapped between your jaws.”

  Kai coughs at her vivid description and I have to admit that it’s not how I would have put it, but it’s close enough. “Will you help us?”

  She purses her lips, the picture of consternation. “It is not so easy. You see, another has laid claim to this thing you desire.”

  “Who?” Kai asks.

  “This one came to Mósí, first with threats. But I said no, it is mine by rights, brought to me as a gift. To take a gift from one that it was freely given to? The Mother would not allow it. So this one promises to pay great sums of riches for it, but what are riches to a cat?”

  I bite my lip, holding back the obvious. This particular cat is a bookie.

  “I told him the same thing I would tell you,” she says.

  “Which is?” I ask.

  “You must fight for it. In my pit.”

  “That’s it?” I ask. Nothing more than I’d planned to do anyway before Kai showed up with tickets.

  “Maggie, wait,” Kai says. “We don’t know—”

  “I’ll do it.”

  Kai stands, pulls me up and away from the Cat. She gives me a predator’s smile.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” Kai says in a whisper, his voice uneasy. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

  “Ma’ii said this was the answer to finding the witch.”

  “And you trust him?”

  “No, but isn’t that why we’re here?”

  “I just think it’s a bad idea for you to go into that arena.”

  “I can handle myself in a fight, Kai. Of all the things to worry about, that’s the one that least worries me.”

  “This will be the final bout of the night,” Mósí says.

  It doesn’t really matter which fight it is. And there’s a little part of me that’s been craving the arena since I first saw it. The violence is familiar, simple. Something I understand. I step away from Kai, back to Mósí.

  “I’ll do it.”

  “Yes,” Mósí purrs, her eyes glittering. She raises her voice as she calls to her guards, “It is witnessed. Neizghání’s battle child has promised herself to the pit. This is a promise that she cannot break, lest she risk the displeasure of the Diyin Dine’é.”

  “It is witnessed,” intone the guards formally in one voice. Mósí’s smile is so self-satisfied that I expect to see feathers drifting from her mouth. Something’s up.

  “What am I missing?” I ask Kai.

  He shakes his head, as baffled as I am.

  “Maggie,” Clive’s voice comes from behind us. I look back over my shoulder to where he’s still sitting by the doorway. He’s ashen under his freckles, lips white. “I didn’t say it before, but the final bout isn’t to first blood. It’s to the death.”

  Chapter 30

  “Whatever it is, it’s not worth dying for.”

  Kai’s up and pacing, more agitated than I’ve ever seen him about anything. He’s twisting the rings on his fingers, one by one, working back and forth across his right hand. His kidskin boots are kicking up little puffs of dust each time he turns on his heels. His eyes are glowing silver again, like they have a life of their own.

  I’m sitting on the ground watching him, faintly amused. We’re in a long narrow cell with two doorways. The far door leads out to a circular hallway that rings around the fighting pit. The other leads to a chain-link fence that swings open and goes directly into the pit itself. Mósí’s guards escorted us out of her evil kitty lair and led us here after I agreed to the fight. Kai insisted that he should come with me, and with a tilt of her feline head that did nothing to lessen my suspicions, Mósí agreed. But she kicked Clive out, back to his front-row seat and his fine view of the impending carnage.

  “Thanks for the vote of confidence,” I say dryly as Kai worries the big turquoise number on his middle finger. He stops his nervous fidgeting long enough to give me the disgusted side-eye.

  “That’s not what I mean. I just mean this is not worth someone dying.”

  “You don’t know that.” I’m sitting cross-legged with my back against the wall, feeling incredibly calm. Noise filters in through the chain-link gate, and we can hear the raucous yelling of the crowd, making bets and generally calling for blood.

  “Yes, I do,” Kai disagrees. Twists another ring. Walks a few feet before he whips around to come back toward me. “I mean, I know this might be our key to figuring out who the witch is, but there’s got to be another way.”

  “Kai, let it go. It’s done. I’ll be fine.”

  “You don’t know that.”

  I cock an eyebrow. “Really? You don’t think I can win this? I think that hurts my feelings.”

  “Be serious for a minute.”

  “Clive said Law Dogs look the other way since everything’s voluntary, and they get a nice fat cut of the house winnings.”

  “It’s not the cops I’m worried about.”

  “So why are you worried?”

  Kai stares at me, incredulous. “How can you be so calm about going into a fight to the death? Even if you do survive, you’re going to have to kill to do it.”

  “It won’t be the first time.”

  “It won’t be the—!” he sputters.

  “Won’t even be the first time this week.”

  “This is not a joke!”

  I exhale loudly. “I thought you were okay with my ‘murderous nature.’ You told me that Living Arrow didn’t bother you. That you were glad to have a killer as a partner.”

  He pulls up short, face stricken. “And it’s my fault, isn’t it? I made you shoot Longarm. God, I made you kill him. If I hadn’t been so reckless . . .” His whole body sags, the fight going out of him. He comes over to slide his back down the wall and sit cross-legged next to me. He shakes his head, the weight of the Law Dog’s death truly hitting him for the first time. Our shoulders are close enough to touch, but we don’t.

  “Killing is my clan power the same way healing is yours.” I spread my hands, lift my shoulders in a small shrug. “It’s who I am
. I thought you got that.”

  “Yeah, monsters. Killing monsters. Hunting witches. Helping innocent people.”

  “I used to think it was that black and white, but now . . . I don’t know. It feels different, you know? Since Neizghání left. It feels like I can’t tell the monsters from the good guys anymore, so it’s best I pull the trigger and let someone else sort it out.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Maybe I do. Maybe I’m not one of the good guys.” I think of Black Mesa. “Maybe I haven’t been in a long time.”

  “You’re one of the good guys. I saw what you did in Rock Springs. You saved people’s lives.”

  “I almost got Rissa killed.”

  “You saved her life.”

  “No, I didn’t save anyone. That was you. I keep telling you that I’m no hero, Kai.”

  “Being a hero’s not about being perfect. It’s about doing the right thing, doing your best to get the people you care about home safely. You were willing to sacrifice yourself to do that. I don’t care what you say to try to negate that—I was there. I saw it.”

  He falls silent, gaze fixed on the far wall across from us. I lean toward him, let our shoulders finally touch. Try to tell him “thank you” for the faith he has in me. I don’t deserve it, am not sure what to do with it, but I appreciate it anyway. I expect him to pull away from me. But he doesn’t. Just glances over to where we’re connected.

  We sit there for a while, the only sound the distant screams of the crowd above us, cheering two opponents who are even now trying to spill the other’s blood.

  His voice is soft and distant when he finally speaks. “Who fed you such a total crock of shit?”

  I jerk away. “What?”

  He turns to me. His voice is calm, but his eyes are like tempests brewing below the surface of the sea. I shiver, trying to focus, but his sudden intensity has completely thrown me off. “Who convinced you that all you are is a killer?” His voice is louder now. “That Living Arrow is some sort of curse? That your past makes you some kind of monster?”

  “I . . . I . . .” I scramble to defend myself. “Evil is like a disease,” I start.