Esau rubbed his hands. Dirt and blood stained his tattered clothing. “Thanks for rescuing us.”
“Are you all right?” Valek asked him.
“Minor stuff. I’ll be fine. Poor Mara had a rougher time of it, though.” Esau glared at the group attached to the trees.
Ice filled my veins. Valek and I exchanged a horrified glance. Was she...? Did they...? I couldn’t even think the word.
Mara straightened, jerking from my embrace. Tears streaked her face. She wiped them away with an angry swipe. “I...” Pulling in a deep breath, she continued, “It was terrifying to be tied up, utterly helpless and at their mercy.” A shudder shook her body.
“Did they...harm you?” Valek asked the question on all our minds.
“No. They threatened to, and their hands...” Another shudder. “But they didn’t rape me.”
We all breathed a huge sigh of relief.
She clutched my arm. “Where’s Leif?”
“We don’t know. We’d hoped he was following you.”
“He’s not. He would have found a way to let me know he was nearby.”
I agreed. “In that case, he’s probably in Fulgor.”
She nodded. “We need to find him.”
“We will, but first I need to interrogate the soldiers,” Valek said.
“I know why they’re immune to the sleeping potion,” Esau said. “Those crossbreed plants...” He waved at the wagon, but only a few dead leaves littered the bed. “They’ve been working on antidotes to sleeping potion, goo-goo juice and a number of poisons. So far, they’ve discovered one for the sleeping potion. And they also have Theobroma-resistant Curare.”
“How close are they to finding an antidote to goo-goo juice?” Valek asked.
“I don’t know.”
“Then let’s see what they know.” Valek pricked them with the drug, waited a few minutes and questioned them. Unfortunately, they were just grunts following orders. Their knowledge was limited. The only useful information we gleaned from them was that all soldiers on patrol or those escorting officers or prisoners would get enough of the sleeping potion antidote for the length of their mission.
We would need to find another drug that could incapacitate them. I hoped my father would have an alternative.
When he finished interrogating the soldiers, Valek inclined his head and motioned for us to return to our campsite.
Once we arrived, he said, “It’s too dangerous for all of us to search for Leif. Yelena, take Mara, your father and Onora to Owl’s Hill. Stay at the Cloverleaf Inn until Fisk’s people contact you. They will let you know HQ’s new location in the Citadel. Stay together until I return.”
Not sure I liked this plan, I asked, “Where are you going?”
“To Fulgor, to find Leif.”
Torn, I debated whether I should insist on accompanying him to search for my brother. But I decided that Mara needed me more right now.
“What about us?” Hanni asked. “We can’t go back to the garrison. The soldiers saw us helping you.”
“Go to the Lucky Duck Inn,” I said. “That’s our rendezvous location with Cahil. He’ll contact you there.”
Hanni pressed her lips together but didn’t voice her doubts.
“We should get moving,” Onora said. “Those guys are visible from the road, and I’m sure Bruns will send a patrol when they fail to arrive.”
Kiki had kept all six horses calm during the ambush. Cahil’s crew mounted three, and Mara and Esau each took one to ride. The wagon and the last horse would remain behind.
“They dumped all the plants right after we were captured,” Esau said, clearly pained by the loss.
His comment reminded me of the picture of the Harman tree. I retrieved it and showed it to my father. “Do you know what this is?”
Esau peered at the picture. “This is a beautiful rendition. Did you draw it?”
“No.” I pointed to Onora. “She did.”
His good humor returned. “Well done, my girl. You’ll have to come on expedition with me. The detail is exquisite.”
Embarrassed by the compliment, Onora ducked her head.
“Do you recognize it, Father?” I asked again. “It’s called a Harman tree, but we don’t know anything else about it.”
“It doesn’t sound or look familiar. Sorry.” He handed it back to me.
Oh well, it was worth a try.
Before Valek mounted Onyx, he pulled me close to say goodbye. “If you’re not in Owl’s Hill, Leif and I will meet up with you in the Citadel.”
I tightened my grip. “What if he’s been captured?”
“Then I will rescue him.”
“But...” What if Valek was caught or killed? I bit my lip, keeping silent.
He waited.
Trust. I needed to trust him. “Please be careful.”
“As long as you promise to do the same.”
“Do you think Onora would let me do anything dangerous?”
“As if you’d listen to her. I’m not that naive, love.”
I laughed. “All right, I promise to be careful.”
He kissed me long and hard. I wished that all this was behind us. That we could just be a regular family, dealing with mundane problems. When he broke off the kiss, his gaze seared into me with a protective fire I recognized.
“Thinking of locking me in that tower again?” I teased.
“Of locking us in.”
“Now you’re talking.” I claimed his lips for one more kiss. Then I hopped onto Kiki’s saddle and, with a small wave, set off south toward Owl’s Hill.
Mara kept quiet during the uneventful two-day trip. I filled my father in on what had been going on with the Cartel and me. He was delighted about his soon-to-be grandchild and new son-in-law, although he warned me that Sitia wouldn’t recognize the union until we filed the official papers, which might not happen if the Cartel remained in power.
Memories surged to the surface of my thoughts when we checked into the Cloverleaf Inn, which was one of the only two inns in town. We rented a four-room suite on the top floor so we could stay together. The place had been our headquarters while we’d planned a way to defeat Roze Featherstone and her Warpers six years ago. It’d been a long shot, and it hadn’t gone as we’d hoped—Moon Man and many others had died—but we’d won in the end and reinstated the Sitian Council.
With a start, I remembered that I’d been unable to use my magic during that time, as well. If I’d pulled any power, Roze would have learned of my location. The situation with the Cartel was on a grander scale than our problems with the Warpers, but not that
different.
I mulled it over. Excitement built as new possibilities bubbled in my mind. I didn’t need magic. Yes, I missed it; I’ve relied on my power for years and helped many people. But I didn’t need it. I was quite capable of dealing with problems without it.
For the first time since I’d woken up without my magic, I accepted my condition. It was time to move on and stop moping about it. My power would either return when the baby was born, or it wouldn’t.
Energized, I strode from my room. Esau sat on the couch, reading a botany book, and Mara was curled up in the armchair with a cup of tea. I called for Onora.
She shot into the living area with her knives in hand.
“Sorry to scare you,” I said. “But I’d like to resume our training while we wait for Leif.”
Onora glanced out the window. “Now? It’s almost dark.”
“Don’t assassins use the darkness to their advantage?”
“You want to be an assassin?”
“No. But I want to learn all the same skills.”
“Me, too,” Mara said. Putting her cup down with a clatter, she hopped to her feet. “Can you be an assassin without killing anyone?”
Onora shot her an odd look. “I...don’t know. I don’t think so.”
“Is there a name for people who have those skills?” Mara asked.
“Yes. Dangerous,” I said.
Mara rubbed her hands together as a gleam lit her eyes. “Oh, I like that. I want to be dangerous.”
I exchanged a glance with Onora.
“If she’s going to hang out with you and Leif, she should learn how to defend herself,” Onora said.
True. “All right, let’s get started. Father, would you like to learn how to sneak around in the dark?” I asked Esau.
“I’ve been sneaking around in the dark since before you were born,” he said. “How do you think I get those notte flowers for your mother’s perfume? They only bloom in the dead of night, and any bit of light will make them close up tighter than a...er...” He cleared his throat. “If you can navigate the jungle at night without being eaten by a tree leopard or garroted by a necklace snake, then I’d say you don’t need any assassin training.”