by Zara Quentin
Zorman burst out laughing.
That sound triggered something in her. All the rage that had kept her still, now pushed her forward. Jade rushed at him, raising her fists to hit him, to hurt him.
But a pair of firm hands grabbed her from behind. Jade turned to look at Axel in disbelief. He shook his head at her.
“Not this way,” he said, low enough so that only she could hear. “Keep it together. Remember what you’re doing.”
Jade clenched her teeth, wishing he was wrong, but knowing he wasn’t. It took all her will to inhale deeply and steady herself. Axel held her a moment longer, before she exhaled and shook his hands away. Jade turned slowly back to Zorman.
“You. Murdered. Papa.” Despite her attempt at calming herself, rage rose within her at the sight of Zorman and she spat out every word. “You tricked me into giving you my company. You ordered Travellers in my own Squadron to kill me.” Jade felt her nails digging into her palms again. “Do you deny it?”
Zorman’s eyes danced and a smile played on his face. “Deny it?” he laughed. “Oh Jade, you were always so dramatic. And so naive. Sweet, too. How could someone like you run a business like Gariq Industries?”
Jade clenched her teeth, pressing them together so hard that her jaw ached. “I would have learnt.”
“You didn’t even want to learn. I was doing you a favour. Or did you forget that?”
“Murdering Papa was a favour?” Jade raised her voice. “Having me killed was a favour? You have a strange idea of a loving family.”
There was a glint in Zorman’s eye. “Gariq Industries was my inheritance, but Magnus stole it from me. He got everything I should have had. Everything I deserved. He was served it all on a platter, and he was about to do the same thing to you, an ungrateful little girl. You would have ruined the company. I’m going to make it great.”
Jade remembered the way she’d always seen her uncle—charming, friendly, playful. But now all that fell away and she saw who he really was. Zorman had not done this on a whim. He had not just taken advantage of an opportunity. He had planned this. His charismatic personality masked his calculating determination.
“That’s not a reason to kill people.”
“Magnus was always too pious for his own good. He’d kept Gariq Industries down for the good of a few cursed barbarians. He put Premye above his own family. You want to talk about a loving family? Your father loved that tribe of backwards, uncivilised barbarians more than he loved his own wife and kids. Must have been something unfortunate going on there.” Zorman raised an eyebrow and leered at her.
“Don’t you talk about Papa like that.” Jade felt a hot rage flush through her. She jabbed a finger at him. “Did you kill Basalt too? Were you planning on killing all of us just to further your ambitions?”
Zorman raised one eyebrow, a smirk playing over his face. “Basalt? It was Magnus who killed Basalt—I can’t take the blame for that one, I’m afraid.”
“Liar!” Jade hissed.
“Jade,” Axel said, putting a hand on her arm again. He felt cool. His words were an anchor of logic in the tide pool of grief and anger that was threatening to engulf her. Jade took a breath and swallowed, pushing down her feelings.
She turned to Scosse who had not moved.
“You heard him,” Jade clenched her fists as she spoke, trying to keep up a veneer of calm. “The only honourable thing now is to arrest him for murder, fraud and treason.”
Zorman laughed. “Treason?”
Jade spun around. “Treason against the Dragon-Gods. You orchestrated an attack on Premye, on an innocent religious order.”
“Air Marshall Scosse, Lord Protector of the Dragonverse, ordered an attack on a group of rebels who had attacked and killed Travellers for no reason. I think you’ll find most Taraqans consider it to be justice.” Zorman replied.
“You know very well why they did it!” Jade spat. She turned back to Scosse. “Are you really telling me you won’t arrest him? Even after he admitted to killing my father? Papa was one of your supporters. He was your friend!”
Scosse’s eyes were like ice. “Magnus’ death was a result of natural causes. I am as grieved as anyone, but justice is about more than assuaging the grief of a poor, young girl.”
“You know it wasn’t natural causes.” Jade pointed at her uncle. “Zorman just admitted it.”
“I heard Zorman admit nothing except that he and Magnus were perhaps not always on the best of terms.”
Jade felt the air go out of her lungs. She hadn’t believed Air Marshall Scosse was corrupt. Papa had supported Scosse, trusted him.
Her shoulders rounded, feeling heavy. Jade looked from Scosse, still standing under the statue of Our Lady Taraqa, then behind her to Zorman who stood in front of the now closed door. Jade shuddered. Here were two of the most powerful men in Taraqa. Maybe the most powerful men in the whole Dragonverse. Working together against her, how could she ever hope to make anyone believe her?
Behind her, Zorman cleared his throat. His footsteps rang out on the stone as he moved into the room, towards her.
“All right Jade, now that you see how things are, let me explain how we are going to manage this.” Zorman paused, not even bothering to hide the smirk on his face. “You see, I never wanted you to get involved in all this. I would have gladly allowed you to serve your time in the Force and given you a position in the company when you returned. It was you who had all these notions of revenge and justice. I’m not a monster. You’re my niece. So, I’m going to be generous.” Zorman looked down at her, as though she was small and insignificant. Jade’s hands shook as she curled them into fists, then stretched out her fingers, and repeated the motion over and over. Her breath came shallow and quick as the pressure in her throat and chest built up. “In return for allowing you to go back to your family and your life, you will agree that Magnus died of natural causes and that the skirmish on Premye delivered justice for the Traveller Force while resulting in no significant casualties on either side.”
Jade squeezed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth.
Zorman continued. “You will sign ownership of Gariq Industries over to me, publicly thanking me for agreeing to take it off your hands as you felt ill-qualified to run it after all. You will give your blessing for me to marry your mother—”
“What?!”
“—and adopt your younger brothers. And you will agree to take a supervisor’s position at Norveyne Mine.”
There was no easy smile on Zorman’s face now, no twinkle in his eyes, no charismatic charm. Jade barely recognised the man standing in front of her. This man’s face was all sharp lines and angles, punctuating a stony, fierce determination. His eyes were cold, devoid of any love for his niece.
“Now,” Zorman held out his hand to her. “Shake my hand to seal the deal in the presence of the Lord Protector.”
* * *
Jade looked at Zorman’s outstretched hand. The light from the candle in the statue’s mouth drew his shadow long and monstrous on the stone wall, his shadow hand outstretched, poised as though it was about to grab her with his claws. Jade clenched her teeth and glared at her Uncle, feeling a pressure gathering in her chest, fighting to get out.
Zorman seemed to see something in her eyes and he withdrew his hand, raising a finger in the air, a warning. “Don’t do anything rash, dear niece.” He reached into his pocket and drew out a small rectangle of glossy paper, holding it out. Jade didn’t reach out for it, but she couldn’t ignore it—a photograph of Mama and the twins. Though Mama was smiling, Jade saw a hint of sadness in her eyes. Both of the twins made funny faces, Slate poking his tongue out and Flint pulling at the sides of his mouth with his fingers. Jade immediately saw they had changed since she’d last seen them only weeks ago. Grown up a little. A lump formed in her throat.
If she made a deal with Zorman, she would get to see her family again. That was the basis of his deal. But could she really bless Zorman’s marriage to Mama? Or his adoption of her brothers? Papa�
��s spirit would never rest, and she would betray her own promise to the Dragon-Gods. But would Papa really want her to abandon Mama and her brothers? If she didn’t do a deal with Zorman, would she ever see them again?
Axel put a hand on her shoulder, squeezing it. She looked back at him, wanting his advice, but his expression was hard to decipher. At that moment, Zorman seemed to see Axel for the first time.
“Ah, I see you have brought the killer back to justice after all, dear niece. I’m sure we can make a hero out of you yet.”
“I thought you said you wanted Papa’s death to be recorded as the result of natural causes?” Jade retorted.
Zorman shrugged. “It was, of course. I’m talking about the Traveller deaths on Premye. Those backward Premyans couldn’t have acted on their own. No one would believe that. It only makes sense if another Traveller—a known traitor—helped them do it. It won’t be hard to convince anyone that he had the motive, the capability or the opportunity.”
“Axel has done nothing wrong.”
“I very much doubt that,” Zorman snapped, turning to Jade. His eyes bored into her with an intensity that made her want to take a step back. His free hand curled into a fist while the other still held the picture of Mama and the twins. He waved it about. “Tell me your decision.”
Jade looked from Zorman to the photo, then across at Axel, who stood next to her. Her eyes lingered on him for a moment. Axel watched her intently, his arms crossed. His mouth was set into a thin line and the muscle in his jaw twitched, as though he too was clenching his teeth. Jade had pulled him into this, she knew that. Did he think she would betray him to Zorman? Could she? She’d never be able to help him out of it. Not from her post at Norveyne Mine, isolated as it was in The Fangs.
“What if I don’t sign?” Jade asked.
Zorman sighed. “That would be most unfortunate. For both of you. And Esme would be devastated to lose another child.” Zorman flicked a glance at Axel. “Though I doubt anyone would shed a tear for him.”
This was what she was being offered: exile, for her obedience. Or death.
She swallowed. Zorman raised one eyebrow, staring at her through cold, calculating eyes. There was no hint of warmth in them. She was nothing to him. Perhaps she never had been. Perhaps she’d only ever seen what she’d wanted to see.
Slowly, Jade shook her head.
“You will regret your decision, foolish girl.” Zorman spat the words at her, sneering as he spoke. The intensity of his hatred made Jade wince, but she forced herself to stand her ground. “And rather sooner than you might think.”
A frisson of fear ran down her back. She watched as Zorman, his eyes always on her, reached into the sack he wore around his torso.
He drew out something smooth that sat neatly in his hand. Shaped like an egg, it sparkled, glittering like a precious stone, sending ripples of red light to play on all of the walls.
Zorman’s eyes glittered as his lips spread into a monstrous smile revealing bared teeth. He held the glittering egg-shaped object towards her and Jade knew it was what she had glimpsed in his bag that day he had shown her the carving.
If there had been any more doubt in her mind of his guilt, it now vanished.
Here was the missing Eigot.
* * *
Jade gasped, her stare fixated on the red Eigot. In the back of her mind, a small voice told her to speak up, to demand Zorman return it.
But she couldn’t.
She was enthralled by the sight of it. It was beautiful. No, more than that—it was magnificent. Mesmerising. The ruby-red Eigot tugged at her, called to her, drew her. There was no doubt in her mind that this Eigot held all the magic the Dragon-God would ever wield. It pulsated with the potential of it, radiating its vibrating light around the chapel walls. It was not reflecting light, Jade realised. It was creating its own.
The Eigot rested in Zorman’s left hand, which started to glow a luminescent red. Jade stared, wide-eyed as the glowing light crept slowly up his arm. Her eyes followed the light as it crawled up his arm and neck, until she was looking into Zorman’s face. The glowing red light cast an eerie brilliance over his face and eyes, opened wide, their whites now radiating the same orange-red light. His hair stood on end as though shocked by electricity. The skin on his face was stretched tight into a menacing smile.
“Last chance, Jade. Join me and we will make the Dragonverse a better place.” He laughed. “For us.” The sound of his laughter sent a shiver down Jade’s spine, made her want to press her hands over her ears.
Her eyes were drawn back to the dazzling, red Eigot. In her mind, she saw herself standing with Zorman, powerful and important. Her chest swelled with the feeling, expanding to the point she thought she might burst. She felt the pulse of the Eigot’s magic like a second heartbeat.
But in her vision, she did not see Mama, nor the twins, nor Axel. Only Zorman. She felt full of magic, but alone. Jade turned her head away and closed her eyes, fighting against the pull of the Eigot.
She remembered she wanted to return it, not master it.
That thought immediately lessened the temptation. She drew a ragged breath, visualising DivineOne, and the Premyans who had risked their life to protect the Eigot from people who wanted to use its power.
People like Zorman.
Jade would not become like him. With an effort, she shook her head. “No,” she whispered.
Zorman’s face distorted as his rage danced across it. “As you wish,” he hissed. Then Zorman reached out his arm towards her, his hand outstretched. His fingers started to close, as though squeezing something.
Except there was nothing there.
He stood several body lengths away from her, but suddenly, Jade felt fingers closing around her throat. Eyes widening, she instinctively grabbed at her throat, trying to dislodge whatever was pressing on her airway.
But there was nothing there.
Zorman cackled as Jade struggled breathe. Somewhere in the room, Jade heard Kyssa gasp. This was how Papa died, Jade knew with a certainty that seemed to come from somewhere outside her body. The pressure increased, every moment. She thrashed about, desperately protesting against the force squeezing the life out of her. Nothing she did would dislodge the invisible force closing her airway. Behind her, Axel yelled and there was a hand on her shoulder.
Then, as though it was happening far, far away, Zorman issued orders to Scosse and Kyssa. There was a flurry of movement around her, but Jade couldn’t focus on anything except the pressure around her throat. Axel’s hand was removed from her shoulder. He yelled again, then fell silent.
Jade couldn’t wonder what had happened to him. The edges of her vision started to blacken, blocking out everything except Zorman’s face. All she could see was his glowing orange-red eyes boring into her.
Jade dropped to her knees. She reached into her belt for the knife she’d hidden there. But it was gone. Suddenly Zorman’s face became a blur and Jade felt herself falling backwards.
31
Jade blinked, her chest burning, straining for the oxygen denied to her by the invisible force gripping her throat. Distantly, she felt a throbbing at the back of her head. She must have hit the stone floor as she had fallen backwards.
A blackness flickered at the edges of her vision. The room swam and blurred. A golden shape loomed above her.
Struggling to focus, her vision cleared well enough to see the head of Our Lady Taraqa looking down on her. Ruby eyes twinkled and flames licked the inside of Her mouth. Words echoed in Jade’s mind. Words from another time and place, spoken in a compelling and mesmerising voice.
If the Eigot is not returned, great evil will descend upon Our creations.
Jade’s eyes widened. She stopped struggling and stared up at the Dragon-God standing over her in wonder and amazement. Our Lady Taraqa glittered, millions of gold and red stars twinkling all over Her, filling the space above. Flickering flames licked at Her mouth, emphasising every movement, every word.
; You must not fail. Think of Us. Think of Magnus’s spirit, wandering and alone. Think of all the people in all the Dragonverse who will suffer if My son, your uncle, is not stopped.
Our Lady’s words resonated in her mind, laced with compulsion, obscuring all other thought. Jade had felt her will slipping away from her; it would be so easy to let go—to join Papa, and leave all these worries behind. Now the compelling will of Our Lady Taraqa brought her back to the present.
She was choking. The edge of her vision darkened again, fluttering blackness, threatening to send her into the abyss. Would someone find her body dumped somewhere and declare her death was from natural causes too?
No.
The thought brought back the rush of hot rage she’d felt when facing Zorman. He would not win. Jade would not let that happen.
With tremendous effort, Jade reached towards her belt, groping for the blow-dart she’d hastily tucked there after dealing with Broken Nose. Instead, her hand brushed over the dragonfly nestled on the dock fastened to her belt.
It wouldn’t serve as a weapon, but perhaps a distraction?
With a snap of her fingers, the dragonfly was released and went flying directly towards Zorman.
Jade struggled to focus enough to follow the path of the dragonfly as it buzzed towards the paired dock attached to Zorman’s belt. The dragonfly flew straight into the Eigot, which Zorman held against his waist, and bumped persistently against his hand curled protectively around it.
Zorman startled and flicked at the dragonfly in annoyance. His concentration lapsed momentarily as his eyes followed the dragonfly as it banged against his hand, again and again.
Immediately, the pressure on Jade’s throat disappeared and she gasped for breath, rolling onto her hands and knees, panting desperately.
Zorman swatted at the dragonfly. She had only a moment before Zorman’s attention focused on her again.
She had to make her move.