Chapter Thirty-Two

 

Brazio woke a few minutes after Pandora had stitched up his neck with her opal. She hadn't bothered cleaning him up, there was far too much blood, but she kept the critters from feasting on the sticky substance covering his skin. Pandora hadn't realized he was awake, as her focus had been on the surrounding area, keeping watch with her sapphire. He held up a blade, pointing the tip at her.

"You're as weak as a babe. I can take that from you whenever I want. But I don't know why you'd want to kill the person who saved your ass."

"Drops?" His question came out weakly. He'd probably lost three liters of blood. There wasn't much more to lose.

She was surprised that he hadn't recognized her but remembered that they were sitting in darkness with scant illumination to see with his amber.

"Pandora. I fought your nephew last year."

He wheezed out an acknowledgement.

"I just came from him actually. Him and his friends, Camina and Tick. We took down some Blue Daggers who'd been given a big batch of Eclipse for payment."

She held out a vial and his eyes widened with recognition. She wasn't surprised that he'd heard of it.

"They're headed back to the Machi with their half of the haul. The Eclipse was a payment to the Alliance to wipe out both clans and claim the Undercity for themselves."

It was a simplified version of what was happening, but she assumed he knew the stakes already. She left out the part about her mother and grandfather. That was too complicated to explain. Brazio struggled to sit up, but he could only make it a quarter of the way before he collapsed. Pandora pulled out her water bottle and let him sip some.

"You need to restore your blood volume. I have a candy bar around here somewhere."

He managed to get a few bites down along with more water.

"Crows," he said.

"What about them?"

"Betrayal."

He pointed to his neck.

She started to say "Titus Cabone" but quickly rectified her near mistake and said instead, "The people who did that to you are working for the Crows?"

"Yes," he wheezed again.

Pandora looked in the direction of the Machi. It was all the way across the Undercity.

"Those were your allies."

Her grandfather's plan was becoming clearer by the moment. He'd either sent the Crows to Niran Santos or bought them out later. Imbedded in Razor, they'd learn their secrets and have a prime spot for betrayal. It was the same reason they'd sent her to join the clans, but he'd done it on a much larger scale. She'd been thinking too small.

"The Alliance is supposed to join the fight, probably to wipe out the Drops once Razor is taken care of, but hopefully we put a stop to that. For now."

"Machi..."

"You can barely move, old man. Am I to carry you the whole way?"

Brazio burst into a coughing fit. He sounded like death. Then he surprised her by sitting up and motioning for the water bottle. He took a long drink and finished the candy bar, shoving the wrapper into a pocket.

"Why helping?"

I fucked your nephew? She chuckled. "Because there are a lot of people I love in my clan, and if Razor goes down, then Drops will be next. If we don’t work together we're both screwed."

He stared at her for a long moment before nodding, then motioned for her to help him up. As she pulled him upright, she said, "You're going to have to walk without too much of my help. I can offer a shoulder, but if that asshole who tried to kill you shows up, you're on your own. I know my weight class and he's way above mine."

Brazio smirked. "Smart girl."

The next ten minutes of helping him down the slope and getting him to walk were excruciatingly slow. Brazio had to lean on her shoulder and rest every fifty feet. After finishing another bottle of water after she'd strained it through a filter, he seemed to gain a little energy. Enough they were able to move at a steady, but crawling pace. It'd take them all day to make it to the Machi. If someone didn't find them first.

She took them by the northern route around the wild zone that held the well of fire. To reach the Machi they'd pass near or through the Terreno. The Drops and Razor areas were on opposite sides of the Undercity.

When she stopped to give Brazio a rest, he leaned against the wall and sipped the water.

"You know who's behind it?" he asked.

Pandora had a good idea he was using his amber. "I have my suspicions."

"My brother was worried that there were shadows behind shadows pulling strings. I'm beginning to suspect he was right." He handed her the water. "Come on. We need to go faster."

He was one of the most feared warriors in the Undercity, second to Duro, but she saw the concern in his gaze. Almost everyone he loved might be dead for all he knew.

Brazio sensed the intruder before she did. A figure stood on the far side of the cavern. A bright spark of phosphorus glare was followed by a flare being tossed into the center. A second and third followed the first, providing a red-orange dome of light.

Irina Stevya.

The Drops Academy instructor wore a black tracksuit. Her hair was pulled into a ponytail that should have given her a headache, and the hilt of a sword stuck above her shoulder.

"What a surprise. I was expecting to find a half-dead Brazio Santos but not one of my own students helping him. Has betrayal become a habit for you?"

The meaning of Irina's appearance and her words connected dots in Pandora's mind. How did she know Brazio was out here unless she was working for her mother? It was well known she coveted Duro's position as warleader. Had she been promised the position after the dust settled?

"You were the one to plant the explosives."

Irina smirked. "You saved Garret's life when you stopped him. I was planning on killing him after the deed was done because I knew he wouldn't be able to keep his mouth shut out of guilt, but then to my surprise, I saw you steal the satchel, disarm the explosives, and hide them in that cave. I'd always suspected you were the other spy but that only confirmed it."

She caught Brazio's furrowed brow. These truths would complicate things later, assuming she survived.

"I'm not a spy," she said, annoyed at her own lack of conviction.

"Spy or not, what does it matter? What matters is your choice now. Are you going to give up Brazio Santos? Or do I have to kill you too? Your choice. Killing him would go a long way towards appeasing the new lords of the Undercity."

"Do you even know who you're working for?" Pandora spat back.

The tension in Irina's body as she flinched said everything it needed to. "I know enough. Do you?"

"I'm working for the Drops. I'm not willing to sacrifice my family to get ahead."

"It was going to happen anyway, especially with Razor clan out of the way. I just got word from the Crows that the assault on the Machi is underway, which means his brother should be dead or soon to be dead. Maybe his daughter too. The Drops will be next. There's nothing left to stop it from happening."

Brazio grunted and tried to take a step forward but his knee gave out and he had to grab the wall to stay upright. His ashen expression was warped with grief.

"Better to get ahead of it and profit from the exchange of power." Irina pulled the sword from the sheath on her back. "Time to make your decision."

Pandora checked back to Brazio, who leaned against the wall, barely able to stand. He stared into the distance, the news of his family's death a shroud around him.

"Are you sure about this? There might be nothing left to defend soon."

Pandora pulled out her curved blades. "I have faith that Razor is stronger than the Crows, even after betrayal. If we're going to have any chance for survival, we need you. But you have to promise me that you'll make amends with Drops and band together to oppose the Crows and whoever else is behind it."

Brazio shot a surreptitious look at Irina, who was advancing across the cavern. She'd reached the dome of sputtering light.

"Here, you're going to need this," he said, pulling his sword from its sheath. "You know how to use one, right?"

She nodded. "Better than my blades."

He handed her the sword, which she accepted with both hands. The steel whispered from the sheath, revealing an exquisitely crafted weapon with arcane runes etched along the side.

"Its name is Reaver."

"I will treat it well."

"I don't care if you break it in half as long as you kill that bitch."

He gave her a gallows grin. The loss of blood had turned his normally brown skin ashen. He appeared ghoulish. She left the sheath behind and marched towards the center of the cavern, knowing that the chances of her beating Irina were slim.

The flares cast a reddish glare across their faces. Irina waited in a wide stance. Her blade was a version of the longsword, but thinner to support quick, two-handed strikes. Pandora had seen the instructor working out alone during quiet times between training sessions. She was a master at her weapon.

The blade in Pandora's grip was slightly curved, but not quite a katana. A non-straight blade was best against a non- or lightly armored opponent, while Irina's sword style had been made for piercing heavy armor. Pandora had no doubt that Irina was the better practitioner, but it wasn't just a fight with weapons. They each had their stones, with the sapphires being the main component.

"May the shadows keep you safe," said Irina, extending a shallow bow.

"And the light blind you," responded Pandora while staying upright.

"Your insult will mean nothing when you're bleeding out on the rocks."

Pandora snapped her body into a ready stance, feet parallel and facing forward. "And your arrogance will be your undoing."

"Time to die."