Star Eater

by Kerstin Hall

“Ah,” said Millie. “That’s the place.”

  The hostel was a triple-storey edifice propped up against the city wall. The foundations had sunk, and jagged cracks ran up the brickwork. The left side was rough-plastered, the right raw brick and lime, like a creature half skinned.

  “There should be a shaft below the floor of one of the back rooms,” said Millie. “It comes out in the Fields.”

  “And no one will object to us using it?” I asked.

  “Well, I wouldn’t say that.” She glanced at me askance. “But you could convince them, if the need arose. Right?”

  I nodded.

  Finn seemed distracted; he kept turning to look at the street behind us, frowning. Millie nudged him and he started.

  “Everything okay?” she asked.

  “Yeah.” His expression cleared. “Yeah, sorry. There’s a lot going on around here, that’s all.”

  “Well, maybe stop eavesdropping, then. Come on.”

  Millie entered the hostel first, and I followed. The interior smelled musty, and the floorboards creaked beneath my feet. A sullen teenage boy sat on the edge of a rutted bench beside a splinterboard door. He scowled at us.

  “What d’you want?” he asked.

  “For you to mind your own business.” Millie flipped a coin at him. He caught it out of the air.

  “I’ve never seen any of you before,” he said, casting a dubious eye over Finn. He stuck a thumb toward the splinterboard door. “Still, it’s nothing to me. That way.”

  “Thanks,” I said.

  He gave me an odd, appraising look, and I regretted having spoken. Millie stared at him, her face hard.

  “Millie?” Finn muttered.

  “Hm.” She reached into her pocket and flipped the boy another coin. “For your trouble.”

  The door stuck, and the hinges groaned when it swung open. The corridor beyond was dim; dark mildew stained the walls and shifted in the unsteady lantern light. From the upper floor, people’s footfalls sounded loud and heavy.

  Finn touched the small of my back, and I jumped. His expression was troubled.

  “What?” I murmured.

  He shook his head. “I don’t know. Never mind.”

  “Room eight. There’s supposed to be a hatch set into the floor.” Millie hurried ahead of us down the passage, scanning the brass plates above the doors. “It’s probably concealed, in case the Order ever came knocking, but I can’t think it’ll be too hard to access.”

  “Wait,” said Finn suddenly.

  A floorboard creaked. The splinterboard door swung shut, just as Millie pushed open the door to room eight. Finn shoved me behind him, shielding me against the wall with his body.

  “Kamillian,” said a new voice. “I was hoping you’d turn up.”

  I whipped a lace shield around Finn and threw out a cord to yank Millie back toward us. A second later, a woman with short black hair stepped out from room eight. She had a crossbow trained on Millie’s forehead.

  “Lariel?” said Millie.

  I didn’t hesitate; I threw out another rope of lace, meaning to rip the weapon out of the woman’s hands. But my power dissolved when it came within a foot of her body.

  The woman saw my expression and smirked.

  “It’s Elfreda, isn’t it?” she said. “Is something the matter?”

  I had never felt anything like this before. It wasn’t that my lacework had been blocked, or had run dry. My power had just evaporated like water on a hot stone.

  “I guess you’re Lariel Sacor, then,” I said slowly.

  She shrugged. “Might be.”

  “What are you doing to my lace?”

  “Ah, that would be the new crossbow bolts. They absorb lace, so if I were to pull this trigger”—she gestured with the crossbow toward Millie—“you wouldn’t be able to stop the bolt from cracking her skull open.”

  Finn made a guttural sound in the back of his throat. I heard footsteps; more doors opened, and three men emerged, crossbows loaded. Millie edged closer to me.

  “What’s this about?” she asked.

  “Didn’t Finn tell you? He definitely saw me last time.”

  “Last time?”

  “Oh.” Lariel raised an eyebrow. “He hasn’t said anything. That’s interesting.”

  “Shut up,” growled Finn.

  “What’s going on?” Millie’s eyes darted to her brother. “What is she talking about?”

  “Then he really did keep it secret from Enforcement.” Lariel shook her head in wonder. “I know you decided to take the fall, Finn, but to not even tell the Resistance why? That seems stupid.”

  “Finn?” said Millie. “What secret?”

  He spoke through gritted teeth. “That Lariel was behind the murder of the Sisters. She committed the crimes that I was sentenced for.”

  The men fanned out behind us, blocking off our way out.

  “You can’t be serious,” said Millie.

  “I mean, why else did you think he confessed?” Lariel moved closer, and Finn flinched. “He knew full well he would end up dead or in the Renewal Wards.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  Lariel gave her a pitying smile.

  “None of this makes sense,” said Millie. Her voice grew louder. “Why would he take the blame for you of all people?”

  “Oh, he certainly didn’t.”

  “But—”

  “Finn did it for you,” said Lariel.

  Millie paled.

  “I told the Councilwomen all about your involvement in the Resistance,” said Lariel. “All about Daje, all about your little plans.”

  “No, Millie, listen,” said Finn quickly, “the situation was complicated—”

  “They gave him an ultimatum,” continued Lariel. “Claim responsibility for the crimes, or have them pinned on his sister.”

  “It wouldn’t have made a difference!” Finn’s words came out in a rush. “I already knew I was infected. The Councilwomen showed me the list, and everyone was on it, everyone in the Resistance. But if I said I killed those women, I could at least keep you safe. I didn’t have anything to lose.”

  “How could you?” Millie’s voice was gravelly and soft. For a moment, I thought that she was talking to Finn, but then I realised her eyes were fixed on Lariel, burning with anger. “You heartless bitch.”

  Lariel’s face revealed nothing. She adjusted her grip on the crossbow.

  “You betrayed us? You were the one who framed my brother?” Millie took a step forward. “You murdered those women and cut them apart?”

  “It’s no more than they do to each other.”

  Millie swore viciously.

  “At least I killed them before slicing them into pieces.” Lariel’s mouth formed a hard line. “Don’t act like it’s so much worse.”

  My protective net began to thin; I pulled it tighter around us. Think! If I couldn’t use lace against these people directly, then I was all but defenceless. Could I try collapsing the building? I probably had enough power, but even if I shielded Millie and Finn with lace, we would still be buried under the rubble. I clenched my jaw. Had to be smarter, had to keep them both safe.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  Lariel snorted. “Trying to negotiate, corpse eater? If you come with me quietly, I’ll forget I saw the Haunt. Does that sound reasonable?”

  Finn bared his teeth, and he seemed suddenly larger and more threatening. The men surrounding us tensed, but Lariel only shook her head.

  “Don’t test me, Finn,” she said. “This won’t end well for you.”

  He spoke in a low, dangerous voice. “I can’t die.”

  She studied him, and her expression turned surprisingly thoughtful.

  “It’s a shame, really, about the infection,” she said. “Death would have been easier for you.”

  “Save your sympathy.”

  Her face hardened. “Well, you brought it on yourself. Tell me, what is it like to burn alive? How did it feel?”

  “
Enough,” I snapped. “I’ll come.”

  Finn grabbed my arm and pulled me close, shielding me against his body. He kept hold of my wrist; I could feel his heart hammering through his chest.

  “Don’t,” I said under my breath.

  “They can shoot me first,” he replied fiercely. “I don’t care.”

  “I’m warning you now,” said Lariel. “Old times’ sake? It isn’t going to stop me from putting a bolt through your head.”

  Millie stepped into the line of her shot.

  “Will it stop you from putting one through mine?” she asked.

  Lariel’s crossbow wavered.

  I used my lace to drag Finn’s arms open and stepped free. “Stop this! I already told you I’d come.”

  It was as though Lariel did not hear me. I saw her finger tense on the trigger, and I knew she would pull it. My mind went blank. Deep inside my chest, I felt something snap.

  All the light in the passage vanished.

  “Millie!” I screamed.

  Noise, all around me. Sounds of confusion, men fumbling through the dark, Lariel swearing. Finn knocked into me and wrenched me to the floor. A bolt hissed above us and thunked into the wall.

  “Stay down!” he hissed into my ear.

  I heard harsh breathing and then a crash. Finn jumped up and lunged away into the pitch black darkness. I crawled forward. Not Millie, not Millie. I had seen Lariel pull the trigger, but then the darkness had swallowed everything up. A bang, muffled gasps. The door hinges screeched behind me—it sounded like at least one person had escaped.

  A heavy sliding thump, a body falling.

  “Finn?” I scrambled to my feet, panicked.

  “I said stay down, El!”

  Not him, then. His voice was further away than I expected; he seemed better able to navigate the darkness. I could not tell what was happening, but I stumbled toward the place where I thought Millie should be. Gargling sounds, choking.

  Eater, please, I prayed, reaching blindly ahead of me.

  I felt the air move as someone rushed past me. A gasp from ahead; maybe Lariel. More knocking against the floorboards. Then stillness and only the sounds of heavy breathing.

  “Millie? Finn?” I whispered.

  “It’s okay,” said Finn. “She’s just winded.”

  I felt the edges of a door frame. Finn caught my hand and guided me inside. Millie was wheezing.

  “I knew something was wrong,” she rasped. “The kid outside made it far too easy. Never checked for Sisterhood tattoos.”

  I found her, my hands searching her arms and back. Was she hurt? The moment before darkness swept through the room, I had been certain Lariel pulled the trigger. It was as if the bolt had vanished midflight.

  “Finn?” Millie coughed. “Is Lariel…?”

  “She’s still breathing. Just unconscious.”

  “I think her head hit the wall.”

  “Are you hurt?” I demanded. “Did she hurt you?”

  “Nothing serious.” Millie pushed away my anxious hands. “El, stop it, let me catch my breath.”

  She would have shot you! I wanted to say. Finn stood up and took a few steps to my right. I heard shuffling, the sound of fabric moving.

  “What are you doing?” asked Millie sharply.

  “I’m taking her bolts. I don’t want them used against us later.”

  “Yes. Good.” She took a deeper breath. “Sorry.”

  I wove my lace into thin strands and extended them like feelers into the darkness. By sensing where they dissolved, I could get a picture of where Lariel and her associates lay. Or, at least, where their weapons lay.

  “There are at least four sets of bolts,” I said. “I’ve never encountered anything like them before.”

  “No kidding,” Finn murmured as he moved to collect them.

  This had to be Celane’s doing; where else would mercenaries have acquired this kind of weapon? I shivered. The Reverend must be insane, giving that much power to someone like Lariel. It left every Sister wide open to attack. Not to mention the rod that had broken Lucian’s back. Exactly how many of these tools had Celane been working on?

  “I guess we’ll hang on to the bolts for now,” I said, forcing myself to focus. “You’ll have to carry them; they prevent me from using my lace.”

  “El,” Millie started, then stopped.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “You…” She faltered. “What Lariel said about me being in the Resistance? It’s not what you’re thinking.”

  If the situation were different, I could almost have laughed. “Don’t worry about it.”

  “We would never have hurt Sisters like that.”

  “I already know. Daje said the same thing.”

  “Oh,” Millie said, and then went quiet, probably wondering when I might have spoken to Daje. Wondering how much I knew, wondering how I really felt. Overhead, I could hear urgent voices, shouting from the street outside.

  “We can talk about it later,” I said. “It doesn’t matter anyway.”

  A rustle of movement. Lariel moaned.

  “I’ll carry her to the entrance,” said Finn.

  “Asan needs her,” I said.

  “And the Commander will find her. Frankly, if Daje has the rest of the Resistance searching, Lariel will be lucky to last until the morning. She’s betrayed a lot of people; there’ll be no safe haven for her in Ceyrun.”

  Millie made a sound.

  “What is it?” asked Finn.

  A pause. Then her voice emerged low from the darkness, little more than a whisper.

  “She’s defenceless.”

  He breathed out hard. “Mill, she just tried to kill you. She would have handed El over to the Order.”

  “I know.” She sounded pained. “But if it’s true, if she betrayed everyone … they’re going to tear her to pieces.”

  Finn was silent.

  “You know they will,” said Millie.

  “And she’ll deserve it,” he said harshly. “What do you want me to do? We can’t go back out there, we can’t take her to Enforcement ourselves. Believe me, Lariel was happy enough to throw you to the Order’s mercy, and she wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.”

  “I know.”

  “Do you? She pulled that trigger on you, and you’re still worried about what might happen to her?” His voice grew hoarse; he was struggling to keep his temper. “Come on, get a grip. Either I take her to the entrance, or we leave her here in the dark.”

  “Or we take her with us,” I said.

  Finn paused as if unsure whether he had heard me correctly.

  “We do what?” he asked.

  “Lariel can’t confess if she’s dead. By taking her with us, we ensure that she stays alive.” From beyond the passage, there were more sounds of movement, raised voices. “There isn’t much time. Finn, please?”

  “This is lunacy.”

  “You’re more than strong enough to carry her.” I felt my way to the wall and searched the floorboards, looking for any kind of latch or hinge. “We’ll deliver her to a chapter house outside the city.”

  My fingers met what felt like an old rug. I pushed it aside and ran my hands across the boards below. Uneven, loose. I wormed my fingers into the gap between them and tugged. The plank came away easily.

  “El, she’s a murderer.” Finn sounded strangled. “She killed your supervisor. She tried to kill you.”

  “No, she didn’t. She tried to take me to the Councilwomen.”

  “That’s worse!”

  “This isn’t about her; she’s just a tool.” I stuck my hand into the recess below the floor and found a handle. I pulled, and the hatch opened toward me. A draft of cooler air wafted upwards. “We need her.”

  He swore.

  “You know I’m right,” I said.

  I heard him tramp across the floor and the rustle of Lariel’s clothing as he lifted her off the ground.

  “We’re definitely going to regret this,” he said.

&nb
sp; Millie reached out in the darkness and found my hand. She squeezed it gratefully.

  The shaft smelled of dust and iron. It was disconcerting; in the absolute darkness, there was no way of knowing how deep it ran. I descended first. The metal rungs set into the side of the chute were icy under my hands, but solid. Whoever had set this up had meant it to last. My backpack brushed against the side walls, and loose dirt pattered around me.

  My feet found the ground.

  “It’s about fifteen feet deep,” I called and stepped back. “Drop the bolts so I can move them down the passage, or they’ll interfere with my lace.”

  There was a thump as the bolts hit the ground.

  In the direction of the city wall, the passage shrank, wide enough for one person to crawl through at a time. Still pitch black; I could see nothing. It was an eerie feeling, like if I wandered too far, the darkness might swallow me—I had the irrational sense that I might somehow lose my way. Shadowy fingers pressed against my eyelids. I tossed the bundle of bolts down the crawlspace and returned to the base of the shaft.

  “Okay,” I said. “If you lower her slowly into the shaft, I’ll be able to pick up her weight with my lace.”

  Millie and Finn manoeuvred Lariel through the hatch, and I wove a net to lower her down. Using my power blind was tricky; I had very little sense of her weight, only a slight strain against the ropes. I reached my arms up and felt for her feet.

  “All right, I’ve got her,” I said. “Be quick.”

  Distantly, I heard the sound of alarmed voices. It seemed the darkness had been discovered. I propped Lariel up beside the entrance to the crawlspace, listening hard. Hopefully the phenomenon would buy us a little more time, although the fact that one of the men had escaped the hostel posed a threat. Word of us leaving the city might get back to Celane.

  Dirt showered the base of the shaft, and a few seconds later, Millie reached the ground. She tapped my arm and leaned close to me.

  “He’s going to struggle,” she muttered. “It’s pretty cramped down here.”

  Finn was descending after her. “I can hear you, you know.”

  “Stop listening, then.”

  “You make it sound like a choice.” He paused, and his movements fell silent. “Sorry. Give me a moment.”

  Millie crouched and dragged Lariel into the entrance of the crawlspace.

  “I’ll go ahead,” she called, and then to me, much quieter: “Try to talk him through it.”