“Daenaira, I don’t think she will do that. She just wants to be a friend and give you company and comfort. She wouldn’t come here to preach the tenets of death to you. I think she knows well enough just how aware of the nature of death you are right now.”
“Magnus, please.” She sat up and slid into his embrace, her head resting on him as she hugged him with weak arms. “I just want it all to go away. I want to wake up from this and let it just be a nightmare. I want us to go back to being happy, in love and able to conquer anything.”
“Baby, we are still in love and able to conquer anything, even this terrible unhappiness,” he said as he placed gentle kisses in her hair at the top of her head.
“How can you continue to love me when you know this is all my fault?” she asked him, painful sobs punctuating every word.
“This isn’t your fault, Dae! Why in Light would you think that?”
“She came after me for killing Nicoya! It’s because I did that which put our baby in danger.”
“Stop it. There is no one to blame save Acadian. It is her twisted path that we crossed and gave her notice of us. The gods will see her pay for all she has done, and I pray they will use me to do it. There was no choice but to kill Nicoya. She was as poisoned as her mother, and the infection almost took over this entire institution. You saved hundreds of lives and futures by doing what you had to do.”
“And destroyed the life and future of our baby in the process.”
“And where is your blame for me?” he demanded suddenly. “I’m the one who slept soundly beside you while she was force-feeding you that toxin and dropping poisoned poetry onto your body! And the way I crowed in front of everyone about the child. I should have realized the pregnancy would make you an ideal target for revenge. Had I kept quiet…”
“It would hardly have been a secret in a few more months,” she scolded, hugging him again. “Also, between your lectures, your hunt for the Sinner you found, and making love to me for hours, you were exhausted that morning. How could you expect to hear anything?” She sighed. “You’re right. It’s useless to play the blame game. It just allows her to keep hurting us, and I won’t give her that power.”
“Does that mean you will eat better and try to sleep? If you want, I will Fade into Dreamscape and watch over you. Even if just for a few hours.”
“Okay,” she acquiesced. “I need to get well again. When that murderous witch comes back, I want to be ready for her. What I did to her daughter is nothing compared to what I will do to her.”
Guin sat back, but he was far from relaxed as he sat in the small tavern that catered to some of the deepest parts of the Shadowdweller city. He had a beer in front of him, and he toyed with the glass while his other hand lay against the scabbard of his sword just beneath the hilt. Over the past few days he’d come there a lot. He had been surprised at first that no one recognized him, but then he had remembered just how far from the pageantry and core government places like this were. You could live your entire life in the bowels of their city and never once see the faces of the Chancellors, never mind their nondescript guards. He had laughed at himself for his own self-importance and then slowly tried to settle into a new routine that had nothing to do with staying alert at all times for the benefit of a beautiful woman.
To say he worried about her was an understatement. Even a week later he was incredibly obsessed with who was watching over her and if they were doing a good enough job of it. He tried telling himself it was no longer his responsibility, but it never worked. He knew that if the slightest harm came to her, he would never be able to forgive himself. So how was he supposed to cut himself free of that? How was he supposed to gouge out fifty years’ worth of ridiculous infatuation with a woman he was now convinced was completely incapable of understanding the kind of love that consumed him? If she had understood it, then she would never have let the Senate coax her into settling for less. Perhaps his only advantage in her ignorance was that her lack of knowledge had kept her from seeing that emotion inside him.
He briefly closed his eyes. It was a mistake whenever he did. Instantly he would find himself drowned in sensory memory of how she had felt against him and how it had felt to finally be joined with her body. But as glorious as it had all been, as addictive as it could have become, he realized now that he could not take only half measures. He was not that kind of man. He had always done anything of importance with full bearing and total commitment. To make love to Malaya without being able to express what he felt for her was like being bound up in a full-body condom. You could feel enough to take the edge off, but it deadened the full experience.
When Guin opened his eyes, a man was sitting in the chair across from him. He smiled like a wolf when he saw the leanly built male who was dressed all in black. His short, straight hair and amber-colored eyes gave him a neat but anonymous sort of appearance. Guin supposed he was good-looking enough, except perhaps for the scar running around the side of his throat. It wasn’t easy to scar the quick-healing Shadowdwellers, but if the cut went deep enough or was repetitive, it could happen. He knew the scar he was looking at had almost cost the man his life.
“I was wondering when you were going to show up,” Guin drawled, not at all disturbed that he hadn’t even been aware of his arrival. “How are you, Talon?”
“Well enough, I suppose. So”—he narrowed hard eyes on Guin—“what brings you back again so soon? Barely a word from you in decades, and now you’re practically living here.”
“I am living here,” Guin informed quietly.
Talon leaned forward in his seat at that bit of news.
“Finally grew bored with the pretty princess, did you? Took you long enough, didn’t it? Tell me, are the rumors true about you and her? Did you get to dip into that regal little—”
Talon cut himself off when he felt the sharp stab of Guin’s dagger in his thigh under the table, just enough to puncture the cloth of his pants, but not enough to break his skin. It took skill to be so precise. It was nice to know Guin hadn’t lost his touch.
“I’ll take that as a yes,” Talon mused with a grin. “So the real question becomes ‘Why did you leave?’ but news travels fast and even we have heard of her marriage-to-be. I guess that would phase out any old lovers around the palace. Wouldn’t do to have them all around her when the new husband comes about. So did she fire you or did you walk out?”
“I walked out,” Guin said through his teeth, “and it would behoove you and that uncanny mental diving rod you call a brain to shut the hell up about it before I go digging for your femoral artery.”
“Good. Glad you had the pride to take yourself away. Good to see that hasn’t changed. It’s been hard to read you since you crossed to the lawful side of the night. And a lot has happened since then.”
“Yet you seem the same, Talon,” Guin said. “Far too chatty for your own good. It always amazed me how you could manage to keep quiet enough to do your jobs. Did you ever talk a mark to death? Just curious.”
“Not to death. But I once had an excellent conversation with this unfaithful husband who, as he found out upon my arrival, had been discovered by his wife. At first he tried to convince me that infidelity was not a crime deserving of capital punishment. Sound arguments, good debater,” Talon mused.
“But you did him anyway.”
“Yes. Unlike you, I can talk to my victims without turning into a devotee.”
“Had you spoken with her and learned what she was, even you could not have found it in you to destroy her. And you know what they say…”
“If you can’t kill ’em, protect them from the rest of the killers?”
“Yeah.” Guin chuckled. “Something exactly like that.”
“Seemed to have worked for you,” Talon remarked with a shrug. “Who am I to judge?”
“I’m glad you feel that way, because I am going to ask you for a very big favor.”
“I hope you mean expensive. On your part, that is.” Talon chuckled.
“I can pay you whatever you ask. I know how this works and the price list hasn’t changed much over time. However, this is a bit off list. And a bit out of the ethical…at least for you.”
Talon frowned at that information. “And when you think of unethical, you think of me?”
“No. When I think of the only one I can trust down here, I think of you. You won’t just take my money and then waste precious time dicking around.”
“Hmm. So who do you want dead that you can’t get to for yourself?”
“No, her I am going to find one day on my own. I need you for something more complex than just a common mark.”
“I’m listening.”
“I need you to take out an entire guild.”
“Bloody hell.” Talon hissed. “It was nice seeing you,” he spat as he stood up sharply.
“A woman and a newborn baby, Talon. That’s the mark they accepted. If you can live with that, then go.”
Talon hesitated just as Guin knew he would. For all his cold-blooded exterior, Talon had his scruples. He came from the school that said children were innocent and incapable of true crime or anything deserving of ultimate punishment. Anyone who accepted a hit on a child was the scum of the earth and deserved to be hunted down himself.
“The woman who arranged this contract has already killed a baby. I’ll take care of her for myself. But two months after this female mark I speak of gives birth, she and her baby are to be cruelly killed. Not just killed, Talon, but murdered in such a way that the husband and father will come home to find the pieces of his family everywhere.”
“Gods,” Talon ejected, sitting down again hard, his fist banging on the table. “I’m no damn saint, the gods know that, but there are ethics even for men like us. When I was young I was eager for any excuse to hunt and kill a target, but never a child. Never a pregnant woman. Never an innocent. I know you felt the same and that is what turned you away from us. You were tricked that night into believing you were hunting a dictator, a woman who was hungry for power, wealth, and the desire to crush the Shadowdwellers under her heel. When you recognized Malaya for what she truly was…”
“Talon…just take the job. Research the truth of it as you like. I will give you all of the particulars. You have six to eight months at the very least, provided she doesn’t miscarry. Don’t delay. It won’t be easy. There are three guilds who would take so low a deal, and you must find the one who took this particular one. Then you will need to know every assassin member and kill them to the last man. If you do this, you will be seen as a betrayer to your own kind if they discover who is responsible for it. That’s why this offer comes complete with a career change, should you desire it. I have friends in the upper levels who could use a man of your talents. Except this time, you would be working on the proper side of the law.”
Talon laughed at that.
“And all my sins will be forgiven?” He shook his head. “I seriously doubt that.”
“It depends on who is doing the forgiving,” Guin said quietly, taking an absent swipe at the condensation on his mug.
“Brother, you have found your religion. I, on the other hand, have no faith in anything but myself. Only I can forgive myself for the sins on my head, and frankly I don’t think I deserve it. I’m glad you found a way to feel otherwise, but even so, look where you are now. Back where you started.”
“Only until this is all resolved. Then my life will be topside, far away from here or New Zealand. There are other fights out there in need of a good warrior and I intend to find them.”
“You’re going to live in the human world of light? Dangerous way to survive, brother. Are you letting a woman chase you from the dark?”
“That’s my business. Yours is to say yes or no to this offer.”
“Aye. Give me a turn to think it over. I know I can pull it off, there’s no doubt there, but pulling it off anonymously is a trick in these close quarters. I have to decide if I want to throw away everything I know just for a pretty penny.”
“Fair enough. But it’s not a bad reason to do it. After all, I did it just for a pretty face,” Guin said wryly.
“Speaking of…” Talon trailed off as he looked to a point over Guin’s shoulder.
Guin tensed tightly in dread. He whipped around in his seat and saw the richly cloaked woman who entered the tavern and heard the silence that fell over the patrons. Since over half of them were lowlifes and scum, Guin swallowed the choke of shock and fear strangling him and surged to his feet. He saw her lift her head and the first thing he latched on to was the warm whiskey of her eyes. His heart thundered in his chest as he realized she was the center of all attention, as always. No one could ever seem to help themselves when she walked into a room. Any room. Cloaked as she was or not, her presence alerted everyone in a wide radius that something incredible was in their presence.
In this case, it also helped that she was obviously wealthy.
It made her an instant target.
Chapter Eleven
Malaya pushed back the hood of her cloak, untying it at her throat and sweeping it off. She handed it to the young and fearful Fatima, who stood shaking behind her. However, Malaya reflected no such fear. As usual, she had perfect faith in herself and those she called her people.
“Good night,” she greeted several men who were openly staring at her. “I was wondering if you might know where I could find—”
“Fuck me,” Guin barked sharply, drawing her attention instantly. He was striding across the room with all speed, coming up on her hard.
“Oh! There you are,” she greeted him, smiling pleasantly as if they’d simply had an appointment to meet in any safe eating room.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded in a furious hiss. “Are you out of your mind? Where’s Killian? Your guard?”
“Um, back at home.”
“You gave them the slip? How in Light did you manage that?”
She smiled wider, the slyness in her eyes so wicked and beautiful it hit him in the gut like a punch. He reached out and grabbed hold of her arm, turning her around to march her right back out the door. She wriggled free of his grasp and turned back to the tavern, walking right into the middle of the room.
“What an interesting place.”
“A dangerous place,” he said hotly, reaching for her again only to be eluded by her grace and speed as she turned again. She met the eyes of a male patron and smiled at him.
“Hello. Will you buy me a drink?”
“Hell yeah,” he said, turning to look for the serving girl.
“Hell no,” Guin countered sharply. “I’m taking you out of here before people start to realize who you are.”
“Why shouldn’t they know who their Chancellor is?” she asked him, the stubborn glint in her eyes letting him know exactly how aware she was of where she was and the trouble he thought she was inviting. It was why she had raised her voice.
Murmurs and whispers flew through the room, and it took all of five seconds.
“Well, if it isn’t the proud bitch from upstairs,” someone drawled. “Look at her slumming with us regular ’Dwellers.”
“I’m hardly slumming and you are hardly regular,” she countered. “I hear you’re a collection of assassins, thieves, and assorted ne’er-do-wells. It takes talent to be all three. More so to avoid the city guard while you’re at it.”
Her cheek and confidence made some of them laugh.
“Yeah, but we’re not like you and all your ‘third power’ friends, lady. We’re just the nobodies who died and killed in the wars while you and the rest of the upstairs squabbled.”
Malaya frowned. “I know that. Everyone I know or knew died and killed in the wars. We were all fighting for our beliefs, one way or another. But that’s over now. My side won. Get over it.”
“Ooh,” the room chorused.
“That’s easy for you to say, living rich and happy in that palace of yours.”
“Oh yes, it’s a very easy lif
e having others up my ass watching every move I make, every shower I take, and everyone I bed. Not to mention having a room full of resentful men and women telling me I have to get married and even trying to pick the groom for me. Then I have to become a sperm receptacle until I become pregnant. And, as you know, pregnancy is so delightfully trying for our women. But far be it from me to resent dying in order to secure succession and keep the political balance protected so you no longer have to kill and die for the whims of others.”
Malaya reached for the drink the man had bought for her and she slid onto the tabletop for a seat as she looked down at him in his chair.
“So tell me your name,” she invited him.
“Jory,” he replied, seeming terribly eager to be getting her attention. Guin couldn’t say that he didn’t know the feeling.
“Jory. What an excellent name. From the Dubough M’nitha Clan, no?”
“Yes,” he said in clear surprise. “How did you…?”
“Well, that’s easy. You have the M’nitha sigil tattoo on your left arm and you tie your hair in the double braid. Both are original marks of your clan. I am curious. Other than your traditional markings, do you still keep clannish tendencies? I expect that most of your clan is also your blood in one way or another, but does that line in the sand still exist, do you think? The one between your clan and its old enemies?”
“Some, yes,” he replied, probably not even realizing how easily she had drawn him into the conversation and brought him right past all defensive “none of your business” stoppers. “Some are let go. After years of war, we’re mostly glad to have life quiet again. But no matter what your type tries to put onto us, clan will always be clan.”
“I don’t doubt that at all. And there is a lot of good to be found in that bond. You keep an eye on each other, and that makes a community.”
“What clan am I?” a big, brusque man at the next table demanded of her. Guin moved closer to her, folding his arms over his chest and keeping an eye on the room as he watched her work her brand of magic.
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