I’d refused to entertain the thought, not since they’d thrown me in the dungeon. Now, anticipation rippled through me. I hadn’t seen my brother since I’d left for the Circe. So much had happened since then – so many things I wanted to tell him. But, would he believe me?
The chill in my bones was completely gone now, but in its place, a blistering heat. My head lit up again, and I felt feverish. The inexplicable return of heat loosened my stiff limbs and scorched my veins. I pinched my nose between my clawed fingers and tried to take a deep breath. What was going on? My chest heaved, like I’d just sprinted down the hall. I concentrated on the bookshelves, endeavoring to ignore the unbidden anger rising up my throat.
The door lock clicked, and I bolted from the chair, dropping into a crouch. Two Marksmen shoved a person inside. He hit the edge of the couch with a grunt. The door slammed shut again as the Marksmen left without a word. The bolts and lock of the door echoed hollowly in the room.
‘Hugo!’
I started forward, but instantly froze. Red tendrils wafted around the edges of my vision, and I felt the stirrings of adrenaline and instinct move up my spine. I scooted back to the bookshelf on the farthest side of the space.
My brother brushed off his tattooed arms. ‘Those guys get really testy when you start talking about their moms,’ he remarked, a hint of a smirk playing over his face. He looked me up and down, noting the cloak. ‘I know it’s not the best of circumstances, but I figured you’d at least be a little happy to see me.’ When I didn’t reply, his thick brow lowered, turning his eyes to shadows. ‘Sebastian, are you okay?’
He moved closer, and my lip curled. ‘No, don’t come any closer.’
Hugo’s humor flashed to immediate seriousness. ‘Sebastian …’
I choked down a growl and pressed my back hard against the bookcase until my wings burned. Blood pounded in my ears. ‘Please, Hugo. I don’t feel totally in control of myself right now.’
‘What are you talking about?’ Hugo started forward again.
I shoved off the heavy, stifling hood, taking shallow breaths. Through the crimson film across my eyes, I saw my brother stop dead, staring at my face in surprise. My horns, I realized. He hadn’t seen me since they’d been added to my transformation.
Hugo hesitated, scrutinizing me with more attention now. Then he nodded, and took a step back, keeping his distance from me. His acute gaze swept over the room until it landed on the untouched slice of meat, still steaming on the plate. Understanding flickered in his eyes. ‘You’re refusing to eat.’
‘Part of my master plan.’ I attempted a grin, but my lips wouldn’t obey. I pressed my fingers into my temples. ‘Quentin says he wants me coherent for the trial. I think a gargoyle who’s too weak and sick to stand isn’t going to look like much of a threat.’
‘So how’s this plan working out for you?’
My teeth sliced into my lips. ‘Terribly.’
‘Sebastian, you have to eat. You won’t make it two more days.’
The pounding in my head grew worse as my temper teetered dangerously. My vision tunneled on Hugo. ‘I don’t know what else to do. I tried to reason with the Queen, but she looked at me like I was a piece of garbage. I’m not going to be able to talk my way out of this. Karl is dead, and everyone thinks I’m the killer.’
‘Not everyone.’
‘Doesn’t matter,’ I growled. My voice had thickened. The haze was like a film over my eyes I couldn’t blink away. ‘They’re going to kill me, anyway. Or lock me up until I die, so what’s the difference?’
Hugo took a step forward. My back hunched automatically. ‘No, you don’t get it, Sebastian,’ he said. ‘If you don’t eat, you’ll turn to stone.’
I stared hard through the red. ‘What?’
‘Only two things can kill you, diamond weapons and other shadowen. Turning you to stone, though? That’s easy enough. If you get too much sun … or not enough meat.’
My gaze flicked to the plate. ‘Stone …’
‘Yeah,’ he said, looking me up and down. ‘You know, like a statue.’
I curled my stiff fingers. ‘Why didn’t Karl tell me this before?’
‘Because he didn’t think you’d be stupid enough to starve yourself.’
In another life, I would’ve laughed. But the anger inside me had churned into a white-hot rage, and I could only reply with a rippling hiss. My body shook, my muscles flexed taut along my back, my wings straining against the metal bindings. Hugo held his ground, but I smelled his fear.
‘You knew this, too?’ I snarled.
‘Not until Karl called me a few days ago. He told me a lot of what he’d found, things he said he was going to tell you, but he also wanted to meet with me. Said he’d found something important in his grandfather’s books.’
I worked to regulate my breathing, but the air broiled in my lungs. ‘He told me he wanted to talk … and then he was murdered.’ My head buzzed, and I ground the heels of my hands into my temples. ‘I didn’t know … not eating … would do this to me.’
‘Do what?’
I clenched my fists. ‘Everything’s going red.’
‘Lack of meat shouldn’t affect you that way,’ said Hugo, now watching me like I was a bomb about to explode. ‘Not eating enough means you weaken to the point of turning to stone.’
‘Then what—’
‘Sebastian, is that prah?’
Hugo’s eyes fixated on the metal cuffs at my wrists. Something in the shock of his question subdued enough of the fiery emotions inside me that I was able to hold them up to the light and look.
From underneath the metal bands, my inhumanly colored blood trickled where I’d strained against them, but there was something more. The thick fluid seeping from my arms shimmered with flecks of silver and purple.
My heart screeched to a halt. That’s why Donani had been so concerned about my healed wounds. That’s why he’d taken my manacles. He’d coated the diamond spikes in prah – and now, the substance was running its course through my blood.
‘Hugo,’ I panted. ‘You have to get out of here.’
He kept the same distance he’d established between us as I began to circle the room, moving against my will, trapped by an instinct I couldn’t control. The same way I’d felt at the Circe when Augustine—
‘Why?’ Hugo demanded. His face was a mix of concern and resolution. ‘Sebastian, what’s going on with you?’
I gritted my teeth, forcing out the words. ‘Augustine experimented on his gargoyles … turned them into chimeras … said he was going to use prah to … to burn the humanity out of me.’ I took a shallow breath through my nose and out of my mouth. ‘And … I think it’s working.’
‘No, Sebastian. You’ve got to fight it.’
It was the moment from the Circe repeated. I was vaguely aware of my actions, but just as when Augustine ground the prah into my open wound, a terrible fury engulfed me, propelling me forward.
Hugo retreated with slow steps. ‘Hey, just calm down.’
A deep, vicious roar burst from my lungs.
‘Crap,’ said Hugo.
I tensed and sprang, but managed to twist my body out of the way at the last second, barely missing him as I collided with the bookshelf, spewing its contents. I whirled around, teeth fully exposed. ‘You don’t … understand. I … can’t stop it.’ Underneath my cloak, my wings convulsed against their metal bindings, snapping one band free. ‘They want me … to hurt you.’
Hugo dove for a wooden chair near the door. He slammed it against the floor, shattering it. He brandished a chair leg in front of me. ‘Well, that’s not going to happen, so tell me what I can do. How can I help you beat this?’
‘Just go,’ I snarled. ‘I’ll be fine … it will wear off.’
Hugo braced himself. ‘But we haven’t talked. And the trial—’
I cried out as a violent, gut-wrenching shock tore through me. My limbs crumpled. I caught myself before hitting the ground. My gargoyle radar
fired off like cannons in my brain.
‘Josephine!’
I clutched my head.
Josephine’s in danger! Help her!
Protective instinct streaked through the prah’s red fury, yanking me back from the edge long enough for me to meet my brother’s eyes. Understanding clicked in his expression. He didn’t argue, didn’t try to talk me out of anything. He simply tossed the chair leg aside and moved to the door.
‘I’m on it,’ he said.
That was the last thing I remembered.
11. Josephine
I stared, transfixed, at the dark figure on the rooftop. Options scrolled frantically through my head. The Dandelion Inn was at least thirty yards away. We’d never be able to run fast enough to reach it. If it really was a shadow creature, it could surely smell me by now.
The dark figure moved on all fours, gliding with inhuman grace over the length of the rooftop across the street. My stomach clenched. I could handle myself well enough, but not against a shadowen, with its beastly strength and ferocity. We only had one diamond weapon between us. The chance of she and I both getting out alive weren’t too good.
‘Stay here,’ I said.
I tried to stand, but Katie yanked me back down, her eyes even wider than before, if that was even possible.
‘Josie, whatever you’re thinking about doing—’
‘As soon as I have its attention, run for the inn.’ My blood pounded so loudly in my ears I barely heard myself. ‘Get help from the Corsis.’
Katie hesitated, conflicted. Then, she nodded. ‘Okay.’
My phone buzzed in my back pocket. It had to be Quentin, trying to get hold of me. He’d have to wait. Instead, I gripped my necklace, finding strength in the sudden warmth of the glass. I watched Katie until she disappeared through some hedges out of view, and then I stepped out into the street.
The creature instantly halted, raised its head, and sniffed the air. Then it leapt from the roof, spreading its bat-like wings as it landed ten feet in front of me. My stomach plummeted.
The shadowen rose menacingly on two legs, shoulders thrown back. Its masculine face was a foul mixture of human and animal, contorted with deep black fissures that ran through its skin like cracks in a sidewalk. Its lips pulled back, exposing rows of teeth sharp as needles. They glinted in the glow of the street lamps. The creature’s purely silver eyes glared back at me, its expression so full of malice that it burned in my chest.
‘Gypsy,’ it said, drawing the word in a hiss.
This was no grotie. The shadowen’s ability to speak, combined with its decidedly male, humanlike form could only mean one thing: Chimera. But this didn’t look like the chimeras Sebastian and I had faced in Sixes. Its long jagged face and oozing skin was easily ten times more disgusting.
No time to plan or think. I turned the knife over in my hand, wielding it like a stake. I sprinted straight at the creature, full speed. The action caught the chimera by surprise. It reared back, then sprang forward onto all fours, heading right for me. Just as it rose off the ground to dive at my throat, I fell to the pavement, sliding feet first across the asphalt.
The chimera’s massive wings were directly over my head. I ripped my knife through the one leathery flap. The diamonds sliced through as though it were made of hot butter. The creature howled, stumbling over its feet and careening into a metal trash bin on the sidewalk.
A sizzling burn shot up my leg where I’d skidded. My jeans had ripped and my leg was scraped and bleeding. I blinked back tears and rolled to my knees, but before I got to my feet, the chimera recovered. In the space of a single breath, it loomed over me – quicker than I could react. I stared in terror as it sniffed the air hungrily, like a beast readying for the kill.
‘Back away, shadow creature!’
The chimera’s head snapped up at the sound of the voice. Esmeralda Lucian appeared in the center of the narrow street, with Katie right behind her, holding a trash lid like a shield. Ezzie’s eyes flickered silver in the twilight. She planted her feet wide and let out a snarling sound.
The chimera roared back at her, claws flexed and wings extended. I took the opportunity to scurry out of its way. I dragged myself to the curb, wincing as my bloody leg grazed the concrete. Katie ran to my side as the chimera turned its attention from me and faced off with Esmeralda.
‘Leave now,’ she commanded. ‘And I let you live.’
The chimera tilted its hideous head to one side and back to the other, inhaling deeply. Black liquid oozed from the corner of its mouth as it choked out her name. ‘Esmeralda.’
‘You know who I am,’ she answered calmly. ‘So you know you better run.’
Its nostrils flared, then it hacked out a low, grating laugh. ‘Human now.’
I watched as Ezzie’s face turned dark with a barely controlled fury. She widened her stance, shoulders thrown back. ‘Test me and see.’
The chimera inched forward, quivering with bloodlust and rage. Then, it hesitated. Its silver-orbed eyes darted skittishly between us. Suddenly, the creature screeched – loud and defiant – spread its wings and took to the air, vanishing into the violet sky.
Ezzie scanned the buildings and shadowy street in both directions for several moments before pulling her phone from her back pocket, pressing the call button, and putting it to her ear. I heard it ring only once. ‘I have her,’ she said as someone picked up. ‘She is safe. We’ll be there shortly.’
Ezzie put away her phone and approached. Katie offered me her hand.
‘Thanks,’ I said as she pulled me up.
Ezzie glanced at my knife, her expression holding an air of appreciation. ‘You are proving yourself to be quite resourceful with Marksman weaponry. Now, come on. We need to get inside.’
I nodded and we followed her to the opposite sidewalk. The three of us walked hurriedly down the block, nearing the white picket fence that surrounded the Dandelion Inn’s front lawn.
‘So, Katie told you about the chimera,’ I said.
‘I didn’t have to,’ answered Katie. ‘Ms Lucian was already coming to find you.’
‘I’ve told you, call me Ezzie.’
Katie grimaced at her. ‘Right, sorry.’
‘But, I don’t understand,’ I said, as I fell into step beside our former teacher. ‘You were already on your way? Why were you looking for me?’
‘Hugo called me, after he’d tried unsuccessfully to reach you.’
I fumbled for my phone. It hadn’t been Quentin at all. ‘It was on silent.’
‘He’d just left the Court of Shadows and said I had to find you immediately.’ Ezzie paused, her hand on the gate leading into the yard. ‘But that wasn’t actually how I knew you were in trouble.’
My skin tingled strangely. ‘How did you know?’
Esmeralda gestured for us to go through the gate ahead of her. She closed it, taking one last survey of the street and sky before answering. ‘It was Sebastian,’ she replied. ‘I heard him in my head.’
‘You mean the telepathy thing,’ I said, remembering what had happened between them in Ezzie’s home underneath the Sutallee Bridge.
She nodded stiffly. ‘Gargoyles can communicate this way, but only when we are near each other – a useful ability when fighting other shadowen in close quarters.’ Her arched brows knotted low over her eyes. ‘What Sebastian just accomplished defies anything I’ve ever experienced.’
I swallowed past the lump in my throat. ‘What did he say?’
‘It was a short, strained burst, but very powerful. He said you were in trouble and needed help. Well, I should say he screamed it in my head, to be perfectly accurate. I tracked you down as fast as I could.’
However Sebastian had done it, I was beyond grateful. But the dull ache inside my chest grew more pronounced. My ribs felt suddenly too tight. Despite being held in the Court of Shadows awaiting trial, Sebastian was still managing to look after my safety.
‘Thanks again,’ I said.
‘We should be gett
ing inside,’ she replied. ‘My reputation alone kept that chimera from attacking, but it will only be a matter of time before it realizes I am not as powerful as I once was and decides to return.’
‘You don’t have to tell me twice,’ said Katie, scurrying up the steps.
Ezzie put a finger to her lips as we reached the top. Katie and I stared curiously at her as she fished a key from her jeans pocket, turned the lock, and then quietly pushed open the door.
Inside the parlor, Paizi and Ferka were in the process of serving coffee, their arms loaded down with trays. James stood in the same place as he’d been earlier that morning, looking like he was trying to hold up the wall. Kris and Vincent were near the hearth, their faces grim.
Hugo sat – with his phone still in his hands – facing two strangers who were perched stiffly on the couch. The unfamiliar man and woman looked up sharply as we entered the room, their eyes marking each one of us, but lingering the most on Katie.
Esmeralda stepped aside, moving with silent steps until she stood behind the guests. Katie inched closer to me as Hugo rose from his seat and offered the two of us a tense, carefully placed smile.
‘Are you guys okay?’ he asked in an even tone.
‘Yes,’ I answered.
He nodded, and I saw relief flicker behind his dark eyes before his countenance warped into something impassive – a calm lake on a windless night. He cleared his throat and turned back to the strangers.
‘Allow me to introduce my parents,’ he said. ‘Zindelo and Nadya Corsi.’
12. Josephine
The family resemblance between father and son was unmistakable. Zindelo shared Hugo’s same rough features, thick torso, and piercing brown eyes. In contrast, Nadya was tall and slim with a commanding chin. Her black hair was neatly braided in a traditional style and fell long over her shoulder.
All eyes in the room shifted to us. No one spoke. Even the inn owners froze in the middle of serving. At last, Zindelo set aside his cup, ran a napkin over his dark moustache, and moved to the front of the room. He surveyed us both, pausing for an extra few seconds on Katie. When he glanced back at me, his thick brows pinched together.
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