9
ROMAN HAD DECLARED that turning into a crow for the second time in one day was above his pay grade. He whistled, made some kissy noises with his lips, and a black horse trotted out of the woods. He mounted bareback and headed to the house.
I climbed back into the swing. Flying really was overrated, but it was fast, and beggars couldn’t be choosers.
According to Teddy Jo, the pegasi couldn’t be tamed, but they could be enticed.
“They’re curious and they like adventure,” he said, as we flew southwest. “You’re going to walk up to the herd and offer them a gift of some sort. Carrots, sugar, whatever. If you’re interesting enough, one of them might come over and decide to go adventuring with you.”
“And if none decide to adventure?”
“Then there’s nothing we can do.”
Oh boy.
“Why do you need a pegasi, Kate?”
“I need to get to Mishmar.”
“What is Mishmar?”
“My father’s magic prison in the Midwest.”
Teddy Jo chewed on that. “Why?”
“I’d rather not say. But I need to get there as soon as possible.”
“Well, they are damn fast. Faster than me flying. I took one to Miami the other week. Made it in six hours. You need one as soon as possible, I take it?”
“Yes.” It had been three days since I found out about Saiman’s kidnapping, which left us with twelve days until my wedding. In Sienna’s original vision, I had married Curran and our wedding led to the battle. But with the way I was altering the future, I had a feeling the battle would happen before that.
“Then we’ll do this tonight. I’ll pick you up around eleven. Can you be packed and ready?”
“Yes. Can I ask you to drop me off at Milton’s ER? I need to check on a patient there.”
“You sure you want to be dropped off at Milton? That’s a long trek back and you have no horse. I can wait.”
“Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?”
“Well, since you got my sword back, I figure I can be cordial for a day or two. It will wear off.”
“Yes, it would be awesome if you waited for me.”
“Will do,” he said.
Milton Hospital occupied a squat solid building that looked less like a hospital and more like a bunker with narrow windows guarded by grates, thick walls, and spikes on the roof. Most hospitals now looked that way. Things that fed on humans were drawn to the scent of blood, and hospitals were full of bleeding people.
“Depressing places, hospitals,” Teddy Jo said, landing in the parking lot behind some large trucks. He shrugged his shoulders and his wings vanished. “Visiting a friend?”
“Something like that.”
“I’ll come in with you. I could use a nice chair.”
I left Teddy Jo in the waiting area. An older nurse, rail thin, with pale blond hair twisted into a bun, walked me to Adora’s room. The sahanu sat on the bed, flipping through a newspaper. Her color was good. Considering that her intestines had been spilling out twenty-four hours ago, it was a great improvement.
She saw me and tried to get up.
“No, no, stay where you are,” I told her.
“Yes, Kate.” She bowed her head.
The nurse gave me an odd look. I sighed.
The nurse turned to Adora. “If you need anything, I’ll be down the hall.”
Translation—yell for help and I’ll come running. I couldn’t really blame her. I smelled like a swamp and the sword wasn’t exactly helping my trustworthy image.
I pulled up a wooden chair and sat in it.
“How are you feeling?”
“Much better. I will be useful soon.”
I tried to think like Martina. Ascanio’s mother was one of the Pack’s counselors and she’d helped me before. Sadly, I had neither her skills nor her experience.
“Is it important to be useful?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“All things must have a purpose. My purpose is to serve one of your blood.”
“But you’re not a thing, Adora. You’re a person.”
“People must be useful, too.”
Well, she had me there. This wasn’t going well. “Tell me about yourself.”
“I’m fast and strong. I’m proficient with bladed weapons but prefer Japanese-style swords. I possess three power words but can use only one at a time. Among my generation, I’m ranked fourth.”
“Why fourth?”
She hesitated. “I’m very fast, but I have a limited magic reserve compared to two others and a limited kill ratio compared to three others. Also I kill better at short range.”
“How many sahanu were in your age group?”
“Originally, twenty-two.”
She wasn’t surprised by the word. Julie’s information seemed to be accurate.
“What do you mean by ‘originally’?”
She hesitated. “Some people died. Some people were taken from the fort before completing their studies, because they were needed elsewhere.”
“How many completed the course of study with you?”
“Nine.”
“I saw a large dark-skinned woman who wears chain mail and carries a hammer.”
“Carolina. She’s ranked eighth.”
She didn’t seem worried.
“There was also a man with a patched trench coat.”
“Razer.” She paused. “Ranked first.”
“Tell me about them.”
“Carolina is powerful but not as fast as me. Her magic produces a telekinetic push that’s devastating at a range of up to five meters. A quicker fighter or a ranged opponent can take her out. She’s best in a team of two or more, where someone can watch her back.”
“And Razer?”
“Razer is faster, stronger, and more precise than me. His magic is more powerful than mine. He kills his opponents and sometimes he eats their flesh.”
“Is Razer fae?”
She nodded.
That’s what I thought. There had been reports of children born to seemingly normal parents with facial features and abilities consistent with those of the fae as described in legends. Mostly in urban areas up north, ones with a large concentration of Irish immigrants, such as Boston and Weymouth. By the last census, six percent of Atlanta’s population had claimed Irish ancestry. I knew this because the Pack had detailed maps of the city and at one point I was asked to help tag them by the mythology of their culture. In the post-Shift world, where you were from mattered because the myths and legends of your homeland followed you.
Nobody knew exactly what the fae were capable of. Some called them elves, some called them fairies, the fair folk, or Tuatha Dé Danann, but everyone agreed that they were bad news.
“What are his powers?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I only fought against him twice. He didn’t use magic to win.”
That meant he won on speed, strength, and skill and she had more than a normal human’s dose of all three. Razer would be fun.
“Are there any other fae among the sahanu?”
“Yes.”
“Among the nine?”
“Irene is fae,” Adora said. “I think.”
“What are her powers?”