“Gift me the jewel,” Cesare ordered and held out his hand. The curse of the stone had been weighed against the Fools, and the Fools had won. Mart would rather risk the anger of the Wolf Diamond than the shapeshifters’ down below.
Sophia swallowed.
“Don’t,” I said.
Below us the Arena roared with indignant screams.
“Gift me the jewel, woman.” The tattooed snakes rose from Cesare’s skin and hissed.
Sophia’s long, pale fingers let go. The golden tear of the Wolf Diamond fell and landed in Cesare’s huge palm. “It’s yours,” she said.
You moron.
The rakshasas flew up. The skylight blocked us. Mart’s hand flashed and the heavy glass shattered into a glittering cascade of shards. We pushed through it and then we were flying above the city.
I LAY IN A GOLDEN CAGE IN A PUDDLE OF MY blood. It soaked my hair, my cheek, my clothes. I breathed it in, its scent and magic cloaking me. I could feel the blood around me the way I felt my limbs or my fingers. It had left my body but we remained connected. I had always sensed magic in my blood, but I’d never felt it, not like this.
Inside my stomach, tiny flecks of power smoldered, the remnants of Roland’s sword. My body was absorbing them slowly, one by one. His blood mixed with my own, releasing its power, and anchored me to life and pain. I didn’t move, conserving what little strength and magic I had left. I chanted, barely moving my lips, trying to push my body into regeneration. It didn’t obey very well, but I kept trying. I wouldn’t give up and just die.
At least the pain had dimmed enough for my eyes to stop watering.
High above me a golden ceiling stretched, shrouded in shadow. Tall walls defined a cavernous chamber, their carved glitter flowing seamlessly into the tiled floor layered with vivid velvet and silk pillows. Nataraja, the People’s head honcho in Atlanta, had tried to furnish his room just like this. But his chamber atop the People’s Casino paled in comparison to this room. All of Nataraja’s wealth wouldn’t have bought a single panel of these golden walls.
I wondered if he had gotten his interior-decorating ideas from visiting a vimana. The People’s association with rakshasas must have gone pretty far back.
Just beyond me, the Wolf Diamond shone on a narrow metal pedestal. The two trophies of the rakshasas’ might: me and the gem. Where is your curse now, you dumb rock?
A steady hum underscored my thoughts. The propellers of the vimana. I had lost consciousness during the flight. When I came to, we had landed on the balcony of the flying palace sitting aground in the lush jungle, and Mart had tossed me into the cage. Now I lay there, neither alive nor dead, suspended three feet above the floor in a cage like some sort of canary.
Mart sat among the pillows below. He’d traded his cat burglar suit for a turquoise flowing garment that left his shoulders and arms bare. Three women fluttered over him, like brightly colored hummingbirds. One washed his feet. One brushed his hair. One held his drink. Other rakshasas sat along the wall, a respectable distance from him, a motley crew of monstrous and human bodies in jewel-toned cloth. Some came and others went through the arched entrances puncturing the walls.
Mart stared at me, his blue eyes two merciless gem-stones, pushed the women aside, and strode to the cage. I stopped chanting and just lay there, like a rag doll. I had enough strength left for one lunge. The second he opened that door, I’d break his neck. His finger twitched and Livie came into my view. Her face was a pale smudge next to the amber of Mart’s skin.
Mart spoke, lilting words interspersed with harsh sounds.
“He says that if you live, you’ll serve him. If you die, they will eat the meat off your bones.”
If they ate me, they would become more powerful. I had no idea how I could prevent it. Here’s wishing for a power word of spontaneous combustion . . .
Mart spoke again, his gaze boring into me.
“He wants to know if you understand what he said.”
I had to survive now. He left me no choice.
“Do you understand?”
Arrogant asshole. A tiny ripple pulsed through the puddle of my blood. Neither of them noticed it.
My voice was a raspy whisper. That was all I could manage. “First I’ll kill Cesare. Then I’ll kill him.”
Livie hesitated.
“Tell him.”
A single sharp word snapped from Mart’s lips. Livie jerked, as if whipped, and translated.
Mart smiled, baring perfect teeth, and strode back to his place.
I lay still, inhaling the vapors rising from my blood. My vision blurred, clearing for a few moments, then dissolved back into a foggy mess. The only reality that remained was the steady pain in my stomach, the blood spread out before me, and my silent chants.
A hulking shape appeared on the edge of the room and grew as it approached. Cesare. Still in his human shape. The snakes rose from his body, hissing, tangling with one another. He carried a golden goblet.
He paused by my bars and said something to Mart.
He was going to drink my blood. It would make him stronger. My blood would nourish the creature who had tried to murder Derek. I don’t think so.
Cesare thrust his hand through the bars, and scooped my blood into the goblet. Bastard. Anger built inside me, straining. My fingers trembled.
A thin line of magic stretched between me and the blood in the cup. I still felt it. The blood was still a part of me.
He tipped the goblet to his lips.
No. Mine.
Rage snapped inside me, and I sank it into the blood, commanding it to move as if it were a limb. It obeyed.
Cesare’s eyes bulged. He clawed at the gush of red that had suddenly become solid in his mouth, moaning like his tongue had been cut out. That’s right, you fucking sonovabitch. I shot more power into the blood. It hurt, but I didn’t care.
Sharp red needles burst out of Cesare’s face, puncturing his left eye, his lips, his nose, and his throat. He screamed, his ruined eye draining in a gush.
Payback for Derek. Enjoy, zaraza.
I liquefied the blood. One more time. The needles withdrew and then burst out from his face again. Cesare writhed, howling, ripping chunks from his face. Rakshasas ran; someone screamed. I hated to cut this short. I wanted to make it last like what he had done to Derek, but they wouldn’t let me keep it up. I liquefied the blood again, spiked it, twisted it in sharp bursts, melted it again, and finally hammered magic into it. A blade of blood shot out of Cesare’s throat. It turned, neatly painting a crimson collar around his neck. I let the blood go and it turned to black dust, its magic exhausted.
Roland had the power to solidify and control his blood. Now I had learned it, too. I didn’t know if it was the boost of having his blood sword dissolve inside me or if it was my anger, but I had the talent now and had spent every iota of it making Cesare suffer.
Cesare’s head rolled off his shoulders. A small gush of blood gurgled at the base of his spinal column. His body toppled back. He fell with a thunderous crash and behind him I saw Mart. He said something to Livie and laughed. She licked her lips and translated. “He says you’ve proven useful already.”
TIME DRIPPED BY, SLOWLY, SO VERY SLOWLY. RAKSHASAS drifted through the room. I silently chanted, encouraging my body to heal, my chapped, bloody lips whispering the words over and over, but the strong current of magic inside me had shrunk to a mere trickle. It sat there weak and useless like a soggy tissue and refused to respond. Still, I tried.
Cold fingers touched my hand. I focused and saw Livie, her eyes huge as she bent to me. Tears wet her cheeks. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I’m so sorry I got all of you into this.”