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IT WAS A TIGHT SQUEEZE for Saboraak to push through the door while I held it open. This building wasn’t made for dragons. Once she was in, I followed, circling her to come to rest beside her snout. She placed it delicately on the counter.
“I knew you’d eventually see the light,” Karema Lo’Torlan said, coming through the sliding door to the backroom.
She moved lightning fast – much faster than I expected a middle-aged woman to move. She was nose-to-nose with me before I could gasp, her eyes narrowing as they squinted into mine. There was a glimmer of silver in them, swirling like milk in tea.
I took a step back, but she reached beneath the counter and pulled at something and with a snick the long counter began to slide, grinding like rock on rock as it withdrew into one of the walls. Karema smiled with satisfaction and then stepped forward to fill my vision again.
I gave her my best cheeky grin – middle-aged women loved it – and tried to ignore the stab of fear down my spine.
“I see all sorts of things,” I said, lifting an eyebrow suggestively. Let her guess what that meant. It was important to keep an opponent on their toes, always guessing what you were really saying. “I’d like to see Zin.”
“Of course, you would.” She stepped back, and I swallowed.
While we were talking, people had crept into the room, forming a circle around the edges. A big man just behind Karema shoved Zin at me before I could even get a good look at him. She stumbled into my arms with a squeak and I tottered backward, trying to stabilize us both. She shoved something into my trouser pocket so fast that I doubt anyone would have seen her move and then, when we had caught our balance, she looked up at me with huge eyes – eyes that were actually looking at me – not faraway like they usually were. There was a plea in them.
“The girl may go,” Karema said, her words like iron. “You, must stay.”
Wait. What?
“That wasn’t the deal,” I said.
“The deal was for the dragon,” Karema said coolly. “But we are not fools. We know how this works. Without you, the dragon is useless to us. So – you come with the dragon. Tell your friend to go quietly. No need for her to get hurt, hmmm?”
I swallowed.
“Go, Zin,” I whispered. I hoped she could find her way to Zyla. Or that Zyla would find her. I hoped she would be okay. It felt like letting a child leave unsupervised. She was too innocent for a city – too vulnerable.
Someone behind us opened a door.
“Don’t even think about it, Tor,” Karema said smoothly. “Any move from you and we will snatch her back. And yes, we know your name.”
My smile twisted into something darker. Of course, she knew my name. Apeq told her. I had no doubts about that. Especially now.
I watched Zin walk out the wide doors and tried to keep from clenching my fists. Now what, Saboraak? Should I jump on your back and we can flame our way out of here?
You know I hate to kill people.
Even if they were trying to kill us?
I shall make an exception in this case.
I shifted toward her, about to mount when there was a low laugh. The big man – the one I hadn’t had time to look properly at – was laughing. He looked familiar, though I couldn’t place his face at first. His head had a scarf wound around it veiling his face and he wore a short black coat and gray breeches. Had I seen him before? When he spoke, all doubt faded away.
“You are clever for a street urchin,” Shabren the Violet said. He looked different outside his violet robes, but his voice remained the same. I would have known it anywhere. It haunted my dreams. “That’s what you were before Hubric recruited you, isn’t it? I heard word from the men I stationed at his mountain retreat that the two of you were together. So now I know why you robbed me of those girls. But, no matter. I do not need them. I do not even need the Kav’ai who was with them – not with you here.”
“Let me guess,” I said smugly. “You’re looking for fashion advice. Purple never was your color, but that scarf isn’t doing much for you, either.”
“Always the joker. You really think you can talk yourself out of this? Tell him what to expect, Karema.”
Behind me, the door slammed shut. Zin was free. I didn’t hesitate. I pulled my dagger free from my belt and launched myself toward Shabren. The man was lightning fast, but it wasn’t his wild dodge that sent me flying, it was something powerful slamming me from behind like the fist of a giant.
I slammed into the doorframe behind Shabren and dropped to the ground, my whole body shaking and convulsing. I couldn’t stop it, couldn’t control it, couldn’t even form words from behind my chattering teeth.
“Don’t kill him! We need him alive to manage the dragon.”
I wanted Saboraak to run. I wanted her to flame them all, but she wasn’t doing any of that. Docile, she waited as one of the side walls slid open to reveal a staircase. Like a pet dog, she followed Karema’s gentle urgings.
“Come along, dragon. Follow Karema.”
She followed.
“Take him below and lock him up. He won’t be able to move again today.” Shabren’s voice seemed far away.
I was still shaking uncontrollably when rough hands lifted me up and carried me after her. I couldn’t control my head and neck and when we took a turn at the bottom of the staircase and I lost sight of Saboraak. I felt a tear leaking from the corner of my eye.
Trust me, she said as my consciousness faded away.
My last thought was that it had been a mistake to trust anyone – even myself.