“And you fixed me,” I counter. Like that was going to be any excuse. “I know I’ve gotten in your way tonight, but I can make it up to you.” I step closer. “You need backup and I’m a good fighter.”
“I’ve been alone in this awhile. I can handle myself.”
That scrap of paper flips into my mind. Jaya Smokewasdoing more than reporting Vencrin incidents in the streets; she was stopping them. But Bloodlurst can be sold by only one wizard. If she’s after firelight and it’s being stolen and taken elsewhere, this is going to be bigger than one or two wizards in an alley. “Two men dealing drugs is vastly different from an operation like this and you know it.”
She doesn’t flinch, but I can tell she’s deliberating by her expression, so I keep talking. Something I say might knock some sense into her. “Maharaja Naupure gave me your reports for a reason. And it was for this, to help you.”
“How do you know what kind of operation I’m after? How do I know I can trust you?”
She’s got me there. Iamlying to her, after all. Maybe she can sense it. But if I tell her now she’ll freak out and go off alone against who knows how many criminals.
She steps toward me. “Prove that it was Maharaja Naupure who gave you my report.”
I scramble for an explanation. What would be unique to my father? What sign or information didn’t come from her written hand? I think about the first time we met.
Got it. “You are trying to prove the firelight shortage is Maharaja Moolek’s doing,” I say in a low voice.
Jaya falls back on her heels. I’ve obviously shocked her.
“That good enough?” I ask, though I know it is.
She squints at me, a measured look in her eyes. “You’re wrong about one thing. It’s not tonight. In three days meet me at the East Village square, two after dusk.”
Now it’s my turn to go on the offensive. “How do I knowyouaren’t lying?”
“I guess we’ll just have to trust one another.”
“I won’t be late,” I say, half in reassurance, half in warning.
“I don’t doubt it.” She pauses as she reaches for the door, turns back. “One more thing. How are you with black magic?”
I smile. That’s one thing I don’t need to lie about. “A natural.”
Kalyan is so punctual even Riya would be impressed. I’m not late—the stars have just started their twinkling—but he’s beaten me here. He leans against an alley wall, eyes trained on the square. Funny enough, it’s a lamp carrying firelight that illuminates his features, especially his jawline. He’s watching for me, I realize with a start. Only I’ve come from the other direction, avoiding the openness of the square like the professional that I am. But I hang back in a curtain of darkness. He’s different from what I thought Jatin’s head guard would be like. I figured Jatin would pick someone, I don’t know, someone mean, someone exactly like himself and not just in looks. It shouldn’t fascinate me so, that Kalyan is kind. He was probably ordered to help, but the way he surveys the sky for me…
“Looks different without a parade and some girl hurling herself in front of a carriage, huh?” I say as I come up beside him and mirror his cross-armed stance.
He twitches; one could even describe it as flinching.
I can’t help but chuckle. “Did I scare you?”
Kalyan collects himself nicely. “For a moment there, I thought you had stood me up.”
He had a right to be worried. I almost flew past. Probably shouldn’t tell him that, though. “I thought about it.”
What is wrong with me?
He smiles regardless. He wears it so well too, that smile. “I guess I should thank you, then, for keeping your word.”
And yet I’m lying through my teeth. For the first time, guilt climbs through me regarding that particular detail. “We’re going to the docks. Pier Sixteen,” I answer, bringing Hubris to life in a rush of red smoke. I can’t risk the mission, no matter how kind he is.
The moon is wide tonight, but that’s okay. Light creates more shadows, and that’s black magic’s specialty. Kalyan and I fly low under a film of concealment. For safety reasons it’s illegal to even hover below rooftop level, but it’s too hard flyingandusing black magic to cover the glow of a skyglider. Kalyan seems to know how a strong wind can easily break an illusion, because he doesn’t contradict our unlawful maneuver. He even accepts my hand signals for turns and speed changes. Only Riya could be this coordinated with me. Must be a guard thing.
Houses spawn and collide with each other for space until the docks. Only the smells of fish and salt water signal the approaching ocean and the piers that branch into it. Kalyan and I zoom within the protective shadows of an alleyway until the wide shoreline welcomes us. We’re here and we’re vulnerable. From now on it’s best to be on foot. I swivel to tell Kalyan, but he’s gone. I look down, where he’s already landed, attaching his skyglider to his belt.
“We should walk from here,” he calls up in a whisper.
I drop within the next second. How is he so good at this so fast? It took me a month to properly trail and surprise attack drug deals in the streets, and that was with suitable escape routes and shadows.
