by Miles, D. L.
Win laughed, light and healthy. It made Zia smile. “Donataen was a lot like you, actually. He dated plenty of girls.”
“Hey, I don’t date ‘plenty’ of guys,” Zia argued, but she knew the truth.
“Oh calm down, you’re young, it’s allowed,” Win swatted at her daughters hand lightly, “but Donataen spent a lot of time with you, showing you…Tracking, and he preferred it that way.”
“There was never one he was serious about though?”
Win thought a moment. “Not that I can recall, but he was out of the house a lot; he was in his twenties, he didn’t talk to his mother much about dating either.”
“He liked Specters, didn’t he,” Zia said, more to herself than anyone. Her eyelids fell towards the table, and she clutched her hands between each other. “He didn’t think they’re bad, at all.”
“Not all of them,” Win put her hands over Zia’s. “He understood that some were good, and some were evil. That’s just how life is. Why are you asking all of a sudden?”
Zia thought of how Mal had been helping her, and even though she didn’t like his methods, he had been useful. Not only that, he had gone out of his way more than once to protect her.
“I was just thinking,” Zia confessed, “I always thought they were bad. They’re made of darkness, how can they be good? We’re light, and their darkness, so…but then I keep meeting them, and one of them isn’t so bad. He’s actually really good, and I don’t get it!”
“Zia,” Win pulled her hands closer to herself, “in your life you’re going to meet a lot of people; humans, clan members, and Specters. You’ll meet the good, the bad, and at times it will be hard to tell the difference, but I know you, you’ll get through it.”
“I’m sorry for being so stupid,” Zia pulled her lips towards her teeth, “for being so…mean.”
Win just smiled, and released her daughter’s hands. “I knew you would overcome this.”
But Zia knew that in the near future there was a lot more she would have to overcome. There was a comfortable quiet between them as Win went back to reading the newspaper, and Zia just took in the moment. There would be so many more like this.
But as her eyes drifted down to the paper, she noticed something. She asked, “The Accords are being signed today? I thought that was next week.”
“Hmm?” Win turned the paper over to see the article Zia was referring to. “Oh, yes, they changed it because of the protesters I think. It’s only one part being signed, to allow Specters easier access across the borders.”
“What’s wrong with how they do it now?” Zia asked, but she knew how hard it was for a Specter to cross the border. They had to go into severe questioning, and they were the only ones that had to do it. Clan members were given access to everything, and humans just slid along by them.
“I think Iscah and her father were going to it,” Win checked the clock on the far wall, “maybe it would be good for you to go too, show your support?”
Zia was about to reject the idea, since she didn’t care to let Specters have easier access to the humans; since a lot of Specters fed off of humans after all. But then she remembered just how many humans were against the Accords, and knew there might be trouble. Trouble that Iscah was in the middle of.
“I think I will,” Zia agreed, and hurried off to get dressed.
City Ark was surrounded by people, most of them protesters; some were even protesting the protest! A few of them seemed human, and Zia scanned the crowd for Iscah or her father. Zia still carried the two daggers in her jacket, and she wondered if people were being checked for weapons before being allowed inside the Ark. She could also see a few Ventori standing on the sidelines, but she couldn’t tell if they showed support or just came to watch.
“Here,” a man approached Zia and handed her a sign. She took it without thinking, then saw it was for the protest, “we can’t let these things have rights!”
He walked off and joined the picket line in front of the Ark. Zia turned the sign in her hand, feeling its heavy weight and thinking about how he had sounded. He sounded cruel, was that how she sounded to others? One last look at the sign, and reading its words, she tossed it to the ground without a care. She vowed to not sound like that anymore.
A few steps towards the crowds, and she spotted Iscah’s strawberry-blonde hair a few feet away. Pushing her way past, she made her way to the edge of the crowd and grabbed onto her friends arm. Iscah almost shrieked, but stopped when she saw who was touching her.
“Hey,” Zia said, and they moved further away from the people, “where’s your dad?”
“Zia?” Iscah replied. “Oh, he’s inside! He was chosen to view the signing! Isn’t that cool?”
“Yeah,” Zia shrugged. Why would someone want Iscah’s father to view the signing? He wasn’t anyone important. “How come you guys are here, anyway? There might be a riot.”
Iscah laughed nervously, “You know us, support everyone.” She avoided eye contact, and shoved her hands into her pockets.
“Iscah, are you—“ Zia began but a scream cut her off. The crowd roared, and suddenly everyone was pushing to get to the front. Zia acted quickly, and started moving Iscah to the far reaches of the crowd but it was too late; they were swept into the riot.
The Light Guard and the Human Guard stepped in as the crowd rushed for the Ark. How it had started, Zia didn’t know, but she knew it wasn’t going to end with many people standing. An elbow hit her in the ribs, and holding onto Iscah’s arm she managed to get to the edge of it all. She pushed her friend into a nearby alley, and pulled out the cobalt dagger.
“Here,” Zia said, trying to pass the weapon to Iscah. She didn’t take it, and only held up her hands. “Take it! Use it if anyone gets close or tries to grab you!”
“No, I don’t think I could,” Iscah tried to argue, but Zia shoved it into her hands. She hissed, and her skin sizzled, the blade dropping to the ground. Zia’s brows raised, and her mouth gaped; the cobalt had just burned Iscah.
“Issy?” Zia said, looking at the red, swollen flesh on her friends hand. “What…?” She couldn’t even form a sentence.
“Sorry,” Iscah’s eyes were already welling with tears, and she vanished into the air.
“Iscah!” Zia screamed, wanting an explanation but getting none. All she had was a ring of pale blue dust at her feet, and the screaming of people behind her. She was still staring at the dust and the dagger when someone yanked onto her shoulder.
“Here’s one of them!” a man screamed and Zia was dragged into the alley. Two more people followed them in, and Zia was still stunned by the fact that Iscah had been burned. But she came to her senses when the stranger shoved her away from him, and she hit a wall. “Filthy things.”
“What in Light are you doing?” Zia shouted as she spun around. The men, both middle aged, and a younger woman moved towards her. The woman held a sign in her hand, while one man had nothing; the third grabbed a pipe from the ground.
“You things are monsters,” the woman said, voice shaky, “you hunted us for a millennia, and now you want to live with us?”
“I’m not a Specter, you morons!” Zia said, trying to convince them seemed useless though. “I’m Ventori!”
“Yeah, sure,” he replied. The one with the pipe had had enough, and rushed at her. It raised into the air and as it came down on her she blocked it with her left forearm. There was a sickening crack, and she crumbled to the ground.
Normally a hit like that wouldn’t hurt her much, but having such an aimed blow with a metal pipe at least cracked her bones. As she reached into her boot for her chain, she realized that it wouldn’t do much good against humans.
“You should learn your place, Specter,” the man laughed, and handed the pipe to the woman. His hands moved to his belt, and he started to unbuckle it. Holding onto her arm, she wondered just how stupid this man, and the others were; did they really think they could do anything to her in the middle of a riot? She made it to her feet,
and cursed at them.
“I am Ventori,” she yelled out, “I will be the one to show you your place.” Though her arm was wounded, she held her hand towards her boot and her cobalt chain moved to her will; a little trick Donataen had taught her. Her arm ached, and she knew it wouldn’t fully heal for at least two days, but that didn’t matter now. That made them pause.
A whistle blew from the end of the alley, and the attackers turned to see an armoured guard heading for them; followed by two more. It was the Light Guard, and by the looks on their faces they knew what was going on.
“Attacking a clan member is the highest of offences,” the center guard said. “Come peaceably or face worse consequences in the catacombs.”
Zia saw his eyes go to the man’s hands on his belt, and he glowered at him. The man flinched, but the three went along easily. Zia sneered at them, adrenaline still preparing her for a fight. But she knew they would not get off easily for what they had tried to do.
As the female guard grabbed the second man, she eyed Zia’s chain, wrapped neatly around her injured arm. She smirked and said, “Nice cobalt.”
“Thanks,” Zia smirked back. The guard handed the man to one of her comrades, and stopped to face Zia. Her armour was glowing, even in the shade of the buildings, its sleek silver radiating. Zia remembered when she was eight she had wanted to join the Light Guard, to become a Light Knight and protect humans. That seemed like the worst idea now and her mother’s words echoed in her head, “You’ll meet the good, the bad, and sometimes it will be hard to tell the difference.” It didn’t seem very hard now.
“You’re young for Ventori,” the guard said, “are you an initiate?”
Zia nodded, her fingers loose on her chain.
“You handle yourself well,” the guard slid her eyes to the mouth of the alley, “did calling for help not occur to you?”
Zia shrugged, and noticed a dull ache in her left shoulder. “Not my thing.”
“What’s your name?” her armour clinked as she crossed her arms. It didn’t look to be an easy movement.
“Kehzia Noble,” she stated, “of the clan Medea.”
“Good to meet you Kehzia Noble,” the guard smiled and walked off to continue her arrests of the rioters, “I’m Nari, of the clan Raijin. You dropped your dagger.”
Nari held her covered hand out to the corner where the dagger lay. It jumped into her hand, and she tossed it towards Zia, who caught it in her right. She placed it back into her jacket, and let her chain fall back into her boot; she had never seen someone do that same trick with cobalt before. Not since Donataen.
Nari’s walk started into a run as soon as she was out of the alley, leaving Zia was stunned yet again. She had just met Nari the Unseen, a member of the Light Guard, and another Ventori whose rank was so high, they earned a title.
Another whistle blew, and Zia decided it was time to get out of there. Iscah was safe, probably, and apparently a Specter. Her father was safe inside the Ark, and the Light and Human Guard seemed to be taking control of the situation out front. So Zia slipped from the alley and started home, ensuring nobody was following her. It was only then that she saw what a monster she had truly looked like.
Zia bandaged her arm when she got home after making sure to tell her mother that Iscah was safe and the riot was under control. She didn’t mention what had happened in the alley, or how she had gotten hurt, or what that human had wanted to do. She couldn’t even find the words for it.
But her arm was healing now, and she kept the white cloth hidden beneath a long sleeve shirt. It had been a while since she had gotten hurt like that, even the Black Angel hadn’t done as much damage.
Sitting on her bed, she considered if she should go out and find Aeryn. But with what happened at City Ark, she doubted he had gotten an order yet for Achaicious and Delmont. Which only left her to think about Iscah. Her best friend was a Specter.
She didn’t know how to feel about that.
Chapter 25:
Click, click, click. Her bright red nails tapped against the desk, a scowl creeping across her features. Things were starting to get messy, and she didn’t like messy. It was bad enough the damned humans had started a riot out front of City Ark, now she had to deal with this new menace. It should have been handled by Achaicious and his dog of an assistant.
The papers breezed across the sleek desk as she tossed them aside, thoughtful as to what her next move would be. Her Lord wouldn’t like this, these Ventori getting in the way and having to be killed. But they were necessary deaths, all for the greater cause. Ventori were determined people, and they didn’t just let go of things like the humans did; most of them would have to be killed when His plan was complete.
Click, click, click. She picked up the papers again, going over the report. An order was issued for Achaicious, and she knew she couldn’t let him go into the catacombs; he was far too powerful an ally…for now. Of course he would be killed later. But for now, she had to get rid of this order.
But how? The fool had clearly slipped up, allowing Rinehart to get his hands on such important documents. At least she wasn’t mentioned in them, they stated about his illegal dealings, and his arrangements with various Specters across New Havilan. Her lips pursed in the darkness, and she decided she would let Rinehart bring Achaicious in for selling illegal spells. It would be much easier to get him relieved of his charges in the catacombs rather than before he was even caught.
She picked up the phone and called him. She said, “Let them take you to the Ark. Send your dog to do as he pleases; he’s caused us enough grief.” The phone clicked off before he had a chance to reply.
Her hand reached over her desk and grabbed onto a stamp, and she smashed it against the order. After all, if she didn’t approve it and mark him as STRAY, everything could link back to her.
His plan was still in motion, and the Ventori hadn’t caught on yet. And if Rinehart the Unbreakable couldn’t see the bigger picture, then she was certain this half-human Noble wouldn’t either. And if she did? Well, she would just truly follow in her brothers footsteps.
The pain in her hand was unbearable, and she never though she would have to deal with this so soon. Iscah was in her bathroom, completely terrified of even moving an inch after the cobalt had touched her. She had no idea such a pain could exist.
But that wasn’t the worst of it; the worst was seeing Zia’s face, that look that told Iscah she had betrayed her friend. Iscah began to run her hand under the water rushing into the bathroom sink. As it touched her skin it only gave her more pain, but it was washing away the little blue residue that was on her.
Tears streamed from her eyes, and she wondered if running had been the right choice. No, not running, vanishing. She had put up a shield right in front of Zia, and then she ran. She didn’t even look back to see what had happened; hopefully Zia was okay, and got away from the riot unharmed.
But hopes and wishes weren’t enough of an apology, Iscah thought. Everything she had was starting to crumble around her, her lifelong secret out for everyone to see. Win had accepted it, and Cash already knew…but it was only a matter of time before their neighbours found out, right? Iscah had seen the beginning of the riot, the signs the humans held up, and how hated she was in the North Quarter. She didn’t want to move down to the South, but maybe she wasn’t going to have a choice soon.
A sob escaped her mouth, and she fell to the tiles beneath her, holding onto her soaking wet hand. She buried her face into her knees, the water still running in the sink, and more was dripping onto her clothes. She had saved Win by making her a companion, but all Iscah could think was, “I’m a monster. I’m just a monster.”
Zia had managed to put everything together after a while. How Iscah had burned her hand on the cobalt, and then disappeared into blue dust. How her mother had been miraculously cured after Iscah mentioned her becoming a companion, and how Iscah hadn’t looked her in the eyes for two days now. Iscah had made her mother her companion; she had
saved Win’s life.
Aeryn had yet to contact Zia, and she was getting tired of waiting around so she decided to do something good. She walked over to Iscah’s house, listening to other pedestrians talk about the riot. It was over now, almost everyone taken into custody by the Human Guard.
Iscah’s house was quiet, but the front door had been left unlocked and Zia stepped inside. She could hear water running down the hallway, towards the bathroom and she followed the noise. When she turned the corner, she found Iscah crumpled into a ball on the floor, weeping.
Zia rushed to her friend, and fell to the floor beside her, holding her. Iscah flinched, and stopped crying. She sniffled, “Zia?”
“Yeah,” she replied. Her face was against Iscah’s hair, taking in the scent of strawberry and apple. Though her arm hurt, Zia hugged her tighter when she tried to crawl away. “I’m sorry.”
“You’re sorry?” Iscah asked. “For what?”
“For not noticing,” she admitted, “and for always calling you a thing. Or a monster. I had no idea…”
“You’re not the one that hid it,” Zia felt Iscah shake her head, “I’m the one who—“ her voice broke off into a sob.
“Come on,” Zia said, “let’s wrap up your hand.”
Half an hour later they had put proper ointments onto Iscah’s hand, and it was now bandaged in a bright white cloth. They sat on the floor in her room, decorated with pink and frills, and Zia tried to think of what to say. She was tempted to ask about her mother, to confirm her suspicions but she couldn’t find the courage. It was very unlike her, she thought, to not be brave enough to do something. She didn’t like how it felt in her center, and shook her head. She asked, “So…why do you live in the North Quarter?”
Iscah curled her legs closer to her body, one hand encircling her steaming cup of hot chocolate balanced on her knee. She took a small sip, and replied, “Because we have to.”