Of Noble Chains (The Ventori Fables) (28 page)

“Kehzia!” Aeryn cried as he ran through the trees.  When he came upon the scene he froze, his eyes moving from Zia as she dropped the large branch, to the two werewolves at her feet.  He asked, “What happened?”

“Delmont,” Zia pointed at one werewolf, “his random friend.”  She pointed at the other.  “Delmont killed him, I knocked out Delmont.”

Her breathing was beginning to even out, and slowly Aeryn walked over to her.  She couldn’t feel anything in her arm or on her back, and she was grateful for it.  But Aeryn didn’t seem as pleased.  He knelt by Delmont and ripped the dagger from his shoulder.

Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out a pair of
reduc-chains, and wrapped them around the werewolf’s wrists.  In a fluid motion, Delmont changed back into his human form, and Zia could see him breathing as his chest moved up and down.  Part of her was relieved that he was alive, and he was going to be properly punished for her brother’s murder.

“Next?” Zia questioned, wanting to get to Achaicious.

“Yeah,” Aeryn said, “Mal’s out front, go meet with him and I’ll take care of this.”

Zia must have taken a hit to the head, because she wavered a moment on her feet before obeying.  There was no snarky response, and she didn’t question what he was going to do.  She didn’t even ask for her dagger back.  When she was safely out of sight, Aeryn looked down at the werewolf.

Delmont’s eyes had begun to open, and Aeryn wanted to make sure he saw his death coming.

“She might be merciful,” Aeryn whispered in the dark, “but I am not.  This is for Donataen, and Cindel.”

His eyes were watering as he plunged the dagger into Delmont’s heart.  After two years of searching, after two years of
suffering
over his mistake…this moment gave him no pleasure.  Because in the end, it was his own fault that Donataen had been killed.  He knew he hadn’t avenged Donataen’s murder, not yet.  That would only come with his own death.

Zia was beginning to feel dizzy when she made it out of the trees, but she told herself it was just the left over adrenaline.  She spotted Mal standing near the bench, inspecting the long scrapes that covered it.  When he heard her footsteps, he looked up.

“Are you hurt?” he asked, meeting her halfway.

“Just a scratch,” Zia held her hand up to stop him as he reached for her.  His hands fell limply at his sides.

“Did my big bad assistant give you trouble?” Achaicious asked as he stepped out of the air.  Mal flinched, and raised his hand for a spell when the other Caster waved at him.  “Now, now, I don’t want any trouble.”

“We have an order for your arrest,” Zia said, surprised at how powerful she sounded, “come peaceably or face the consequences in the catacombs.”

Achaicious laughed, but it faded quickly.  He said, “I’m sorry about Mr. Delmont, when I heard of an order being put out on me I didn’t know what to do.  He thought he was helping when he attacked.  I tried to stop him, but you know how
hardheaded werewolves can be.”

His black coat billowed around him, and Zia could taste metal on the wind.  Why was he being so civil?  Something, if not everything, wasn’t right.

“What are you doing?” Zia narrowed her eyes at him, and tried to read them.  But all she could see was arrogance, like he knew what was going to happen.  Like he was going to be walking the streets in no time at all.

“I’m giving myself in,” Achaicious held his hands towards her, “I do hope you’ll put that in the report.  They might go easier on me in the catacombs, then.”

Mal and Zia exchanged a glance, neither of them knowing what he was planning.

Achaicious drew the eyes of all the Ventori in the Ark, but so did Zia as she held one hand on his arm.  He was acting much too smug, and it worried her.  Shouldn’t he be more concerned with his punishment?  Yes, he was only going down for selling spells to STRAYs, but he nodded at people as a greeting, and he was smiling.  Zia didn’t think he should be allowed to smile.

“You’re going into the catacombs,” Zia said as they moved to the front of the line, “don’t look so happy.”

“Yes,” Achaicious slid his eyes towards her, “but they have to be better than any punishment served in Castaliana.”  He laughed.

Zia thought of Machatta, and how that must have been a shot at her.  But there was no way he could know she was here, was there?  Had Mal been right to warn her about the Realm Walker?

It was taking too long to process Achaicious, and Machatta didn’t like having to wait any longer than she had to.  But after what felt like a century, the Light Guard began to escort her brother down to the catacombs.  She followed after them, moving down a darkened hallway; not even she knew what awaited them down there.

The guards took a sudden turn, and started leading Achaicious up more stairs.  When they stopped, it was in front of a door, and a man exited.  He handed her brother a folder and said, “This is your new identity.  You’ll be moving to Tranon, and you are not to operate your own business.  The Lord wishes you to continue selling to STRAYs, and
not
keep records of it.”

“
Tranon?” Achaicious spat.  His guards walked away, leaving him with the stranger.  The man’s eyes glowed in the darkness, a strange aura of green, but Machatta couldn’t tell what kind of Specter he was.

“Here,” the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, and Machatta knew it was time to act.  She dropped her shield and entered the realm, shoving the stranger backwards, ashes flying in every direction.  Achaicious didn’t have time to react when she grabbed onto his collar, and pulled him into her realm.  Her banished realm.

“
Machatta
?” he screamed.  “You cannot be here!  You’re not strong enough!”

“I’ve learned, dear brother,” she whispered, her eyes narrowing on him as she threw him to the ground, “and this is where you will stay.”

Achaicious looked scared, but as he stood his normal arrogance took over.  He yelled, “You cannot keep me here!  I will find a way out, I’ve always been stronger than you.  If you can become a Walker, I will surely do it just as easily.”

“Not with those, you won’t.”  Machatta nodded her head at the
reduc-chains that bound his wrists.  “You will rot here.”

Achaicious ground his teeth together, and she prepared to leave.  When she did he would no longer be able to see the walls around him, it would be a haze of red and grey.  He would be lost forever, just like he had planned on doing to her.

“They will find me,” he stated simply, “they won’t leave me here.  If you have mercy on me, they may have some for you.”

“They know not what they are against, Achaicious,” Machatta turned to leave, when she faced him again.  Her arm stuck out, and a blade shot out of it, cutting into Achaicious’ neck.  Blood seeped from the wound, and spluttered from his mouth as he fell to the floor.  She turned again, and thought,
Maybe I do have mercy
.  Because some part of her didn’t want to leave her brother in such a wasteland.

As he made a noise behind her, she said, “I will take down the Ark if it’s the last thing I do.”

Zia could feel the scratches on her back beginning to heal, but they still needed to be properly bandaged.  She rolled her shoulders, trying to get a feel for how big they were but with the rest of her body aching it was hard.  They waited in line, the same line in which she had gotten her badge just a day earlier; Aeryn insisted.

“Can’t we do this in the morning?” Zia asked.  “Or like, mid-afternoon?”

“Nope,” Aeryn said.  “You want to rank up, we need to stand in line.  And then we need to report to Madsen.”

“Again?”

“Every STRAY.”

Zia cursed Madsen’s name under her breath.  But then again, if she hadn’t been such a racist, Zia never would have gotten to find her brother’s killer.  She never would have been able to get her rank so fast, or work with Aeryn.  Maybe she owed Madsen a thank you instead?

The line went quickly, and when they reached the front there was a woman sitting there.  She looked up at Zia, and then to Aeryn, and asked for her badge.  Zia passed it over, and in a
few quick movements her little green line had an identical friend.  When she got it back, she stared at the lines, no longer an initiate.

“Thanks,” she said to the woman, and the Ventori left.

“You should go home,” Aeryn told her when they got outside.  “I’ll take care of the paperwork.  Just go get a bandage for your back.”

“Okay,” Zia replied, and she began to wobble home.  “You’ll contact me, right?”

“Yeah,” Aeryn nodded, “maybe in a couple of days.”

Zia waved behind her absentmindedly as Aeryn walked back into Ventori Ark.  She sighed, and wondered what she should do now.  All the goals she had set for herself had been achieved, and in record time, she thought.  She avenged her brother’s death, she got her Ventori badge and rank, and she was well on her way to getting into college.  So…what now?

Mal and Hayden immediately entered her mind.  The Caster had gone home after Aeryn told him to, a little forcefully.  He had done his part to ensure Achaicious couldn’t cast any spells, and Aeryn didn’t want him involved in the rest of the process.  Madsen would probably have had a fit if she found out Zia had been working with a Specter.

So that just left Hayden.  Before she knew what was happening, she was already walking to his house; it wasn’t like she could bandage her own back, after all.

Hayden opened his front door to find Zia standing there, covered in dirt and blood but actually managing a smile.  His mouth hung open, and he just moved the door over more to let her inside.  When she walked past him, he saw that her jacket had almost been shredded.

“Light,” he said, holding onto her arms, “what happened?”

“I just need some help covering the wounds,” she shrugged weakly, “got scratched.”

“By what?  A werewolf?” Hayden had meant it as a joke, but when she tilted her head he knew he had guessed right.  “You fought a werewolf?”

“In the South Quarter,” she started moving upstairs when he pulled her back down and started leading her into the bathroom.  “It’s like I’m psychic.”

He flicked the light on, and Zia shimmied out of her jacket.  Hayden saw the dirtied bandage on her arm, but since there was no blood on it he took that as a good sign.  But her top had a length of scratches just like her jacket, and she started to take it off as well.

“What are you doing?” Hayden stopped her, not that he really wanted to.

“Well I need to take it off,” she sounded exhausted, “if you’re gonna fix me up.”

Zia didn’t want to take her clothes off in front of Hayden, not yet at least.  But she couldn’t reach around to properly clean the wound, and she couldn’t ask her mother or father to do it.  Hayden held up a finger, and ran out the door.  Zia heard glass clinking, and some shuffling when he returned with two bottles of beer, a towel, and one of his shirts.

“I’ll clean the wounds,” Hayden said, passing her an open bottle, “then you can take a shower and put this on.”

He placed the rest of the supplies on the counter next to her, and she sat down on the edge of the bathtub, her feet sliding on the smooth ceramic.  She took a drink, even though she didn’t really like the taste, and swallowed sloppily.  Hayden’s hands were cold as he lifted the back of her shirt, and the alcohol stung as he dabbed it on her.

“Sorry,” he whispered as she winced.  She took another drink and said nothing.

“My mom’s not sick anymore,” Zia confessed, wanting to drown out the silence between them.  The alcohol was bitter on her tongue, and she questioned how anyone could like it.  But it was an easy, repetitive movement.

“I thought she had the sickness,” Hayden replied, “how did she…?”

“Secret,” Zia didn’t want to tell him that it was because Iscah had made Win her companion.  Hayden wouldn’t question it too much, anyway.  But she had just really wanted to tell someone.  She wondered if she would go to the hospital and tell Mel about what Casters could do.  Maybe Mal could help her…?  Mel and Mal?  She chuckled, and found the thought bothered her.  “And tonight I got Donataen’s killer.  Killers, I guess.  Although…I think there might be a third.”

“Why’s that?” he dabbed her again, and she managed to not wince.

“He went down too easy,” Zia went on, “like he knew he was gonna get out anyway.  I mean, I saw them take him down to the catacombs…but I don’t know what happened afterwards.  I just can’t help but think that…what if someone at the Ark was doing something wrong?”

Hayden chuckled.  “At the Ark?  Zia, you must have hit your head or something because nobody at the Ark is bad.  They’re the good guys.”

Zia swallowed half her beer, and thought,
Maybe not
.  After everything that had happened that week…Zia didn’t know what to believe anymore.

Half an hour later Zia climbed out of the shower, and Hayden put a white cloth over her back as soon as she was dressed.  She threw his old shirt on, and thanked him with a kiss.  When she opened her eyes to look up at him, she thought the alcohol was getting to her head and she said, “I really like you.”