“Please,” Joseph begged us. “She will die.”
Daniel gaped at Joseph. “No . . . not magic—she wouldn’t want it.”
“And she will die otherwise.” Joseph’s gaze never left my demon. “Please. Oliver. Please heal her.”
Again Oliver gave a helpless, almost lost shrug and looked at me. “I cannot heal her unless you command me.”
I stared down at Jie. My magic was gone. It had pulsed out, a harmless wind, and now all I had was Oliver’s power. I would command him if I had to, but I didn’t want to force him. Not now that I understood him.
“What do you want?” I asked him.
He cringed. “No. No, El. Do not put this on me.”
“B-but . . .” I tried to moisten my mouth—each word was a blade in my throat. “I do not want to make you do—”
“You can,” his voice hissed. “You must command me or I will leave her—”
“You won’t.” I searched his face, his eyes. “I know you now, and you won’t.”
Pain tightened his features—and something else . . . something angry. “If you believe that, then you do not know me at all.” He leaned in and gripped my elbow, rough and tight. “But command me, El, and command me fast or your friend will die.”
My breaths came in quicker. Harsher. I refused to back down from his gaze. I did know him, and I did not believe for a second he would abandon Jie. “Oliver,” I whispered, bringing my nose to his and driving the command into his eyes, “do what needs doing. Sum veritas.”
His irises blazed blue. I blinked, and he released me—lurching around toward Jie.
But Daniel refused to move. “No,” he mumbled, angling toward Joseph. “Please. We can heal Jie the natural way—”
“Get your inventor out of here,” Oliver growled at me, “or this girl will bleed to death, and we will be too late.”
I marched to Daniel. Blood splashed on my boots, on Jie’s clothes. I grabbed his collar. “Come with me.”
His head rolled back, his gaze uncomprehending. “Jie needs—”
“She’ll be fine.” I tugged harder. “We need to get the airship running, and you have to be the one to do it.”
Understanding flickered through his eyes, and with a final, broken glance at Jie, he staggered to his feet.
Together, we descended the pyramid. Our boots scraped on the stones. The sun seared into our scalps, into our faces, while the wind carried away Oliver’s chanting.
But I felt my demon’s magic, so pure and gentle in my chest. He was tired—drained from the hell I put him through—yet he did as I had commanded, and each word he uttered pulsed through my veins.
And it made me strong.
Far to the south, small mounds poked up against the horizon . . . and a white dot floated above. Marcus. East was the Nile, a mirror of molten crimson. Sails moved along it like gliding gulls, and seas of orange grass fanned out along the banks as far as I could see.
My fingers closed and opened with each step. Curling, unfurling, and back again.
Why had Marcus done all this? Why had he pulled our strings like this?
So he can raise the Black Pullet.
But again, why? Were immortality and wealth worth all this planning and puppeteering?
“Empress?”
I looked down, my vision spotted and broken from the sun. Daniel was waiting for me, but his gaze was leveled high. On Jie.
“She’ll be fine,” I said to him, resuming my steady shamble. “Trust Oliver.”
“That’s exactly it.” Daniel’s lips twisted down. “I don’t trust Oliver—any more than I trust a Wilcox. And I don’t understand how you can.” He spoke with such venom that I knew he only wanted a target—a focus for his rage.
“Oliver is saving her life,” I said wearily, hopping down the next level. And then the next. “Come on. We have a balloon to follow.”
“You could show some goddamned concern,” Daniel snapped. “My best friend is bleedin’ to death from a bullet I put in her leg. Sorry if I’m a little distracted from your revenge.”
I slowed to a stop, my teeth grinding as I wrenched my gaze back to him. “I am concerned, Daniel. She is my best friend too, but we need to get the airship ready now or we will never catch up to Marcus.”
“I don’t give a damn about Marcus!” He vaulted easily to my level, his face lined with pain. “That’s your mission. Not mine.”
“My mission?” I threw my hands wide. “I’m not the only one who wants Marcus’s blood. Joseph, Jie—they want their revenge just as much as I.”
“No. You’re wrong.” Daniel stalked closer. “It’s just you. You and your demon have poisoned everyone—”