The impling retreated a step, but seemed incapable of leaving.
An idea came to me, impulsive.“Wait.Go find the ship with the figurehead of a Hart.Then come find me again.”
The creature shuddered, then launched itself past us—over the edge of the cliff and into the impenetrable fog.There was no splash, no screech, no distant impact.The creature simply vanished, and I was left unsure whether it remained in our world at all.
Perhaps it would obey.Perhaps it would not.
With its departure, the pain came stronger.I held up my arm to check the locations of the wounds—would it not be fitting if the monster had slit my wrists and I bled out here within moments?
Grant took the arm before I could get a good look and began to bind it tightly.In my free hand I clenched the coin tighter, though my awareness of the Other still did not fade.The visions that had clamored for attention before now strained—seeking a crack in my barriers.
For there truly was a crack now, one I could not close, no matter how hard the talisman dug into my skin.
“You need stitches,” the highwayman said.
“We must be discreet,” I warned him.
Grant rolled his eyes, but his exasperation was a veil, and a thin one at that.He was worried.“Shut your mouth and come along.”
THIRTY-SEVEN
An Uncommon Remedy
MARY
My cell lay in an appropriately sinister region of the Ess Noti headquarters, complete with iron-banded doors—all locked—and the muted glow of under-populated dragonfly lanterns.Hae conferred with two guards in a side room, holding my arm all the while like one might an unruly toddler, then accepted a key and led me to the end of the corridor.
He unlocked a door and prodded me through into a startlingly large, clean room, which I saw from the floor as I promptly tripped on the carpet and went sprawling.The pain was obscene, and when my vision cleared, Hae watched me from the doorway.
Or rather, he looked through me, his gaze suddenly so intense, so vicious, gooseflesh prickled up my arms.
I knew that look, though on Samuel it was gentler.He was in the Dark Water.What did he see?
Not me.
I lunged towards him, intent on knocking him to the floor and—well, I hadn’t thought further than that, but any form of violence seemed good.
His hand shot out and closed around my throat with preternatural speed.
“Hush,” he breathed, still staring through me.“I must focus.”
I made a sound between a squeak and a growl, both choked off as he squeezed.
I seized his forearm for support and dug my nails into his flesh.After a handful of heartbeats, loud and trapped in my swelling face, he dropped me.I staggered back into a table, which in turn clattered into the plastered wall.
“Try to leave and I will know.”Hae held up the hand he’d just had around my throat and stretched his fingers meaningfully.His eyes were focused on this world again.“Your talisman is gone, I have your scent, and there is nowhere you can go where I will not see.”
The slam of the door cut off any response I might have made.
I had been a fool.More than a fool—I had been the highest kind of idiot to think Ben and I could go near the Ess Noti, let alone find Samuel’s cure.
Frustration lit in my chest, overriding lingering fear and pain and a plentiful dose of self-pity.I entertained those feelings for a few frustrated breaths before thoughts of Samuel and Charles overtook me.
I had to escape before they learned where I was and came after me, endangering themselves.But my leg quavered, my stomach was sour with pain, and the whole of me maddeningly weak.
First, assess my surroundings.Second, rest.Third, escape.Whether the instructions came from my subconscious or Tane, I didn’t know.But I clung to them.
The room had a comfortable bed, a chest of drawers, and a bookshelf, both of which were empty except for a washbasin and pitcher of water.There were no windows save for half a dozen round, fist-sized inlets, which let in the very last daylight.Most of the light came from a dragonfly lantern, all golden males, and heat came from the walls themselves, accompanied by the hiss of unseen water.
