Authors: M.J. Scott

Shadow Kin (35 page)

BOOK: Shadow Kin

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Warm and safe. I moved a little closer.

“Now, that’s just asking for trouble.” He chuckled, half under his breath.

“What is?”

He pressed his hips into me.

“Oh. That.” One mystery solved, at least. He still wanted me.

“Yes, that. Which we can’t do anything about in broad daylight on the rooftop of the Brother House.”

“Guy would disapprove?” I quipped.

“Not just Guy,” he said, letting go of me abruptly. He sat up.

I did the same. So much for small moments of time. “If you’re worried about the Fae, there’s little point. They’re unlikely to change their mind about me, Simon. You need to come to terms with that.”

I looked up at him, sunlight turning his hair gold. His expression was distant, blue eyes staring out over the City. “Truly, Simon, you’re not going to change their minds.”

“I was thinking of the Templars.”

Hells. I hadn’t considered the knights. “Do you care what they think?”

“When they’re currently standing between us and Lucius, I do.”

“Oh.” I sat up, suddenly chilled, despite the warmth of the sun.

“No, I didn’t mean . . .” He stopped, scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Suns, I don’t know what I mean. This isn’t what I expected.”

“Expected from what? Last night? Or life in general? Did you think you’d just bed me and move on?”

“No. I—” He smoothed his hair down but couldn’t quite smooth the look of frustration from his face. “What did
you
expect?”

I stared at him, imagining my expression pretty much mirrored the frustration on his. “I didn’t
expect
any of this. Five days ago my life was perfectly simple. And then you happened.”

His brows drew down. “You’ll have to pardon me for not rolling over and dying.”

“You didn’t have to roll over, you just had to lie still,” I pointed out.

He snorted but his lips curved. “I’ll remember that next time.”

“There won’t be a next time.”

“You’re not the only assassin Lucius employs,” Simon said, humor vanishing. “Once you give your testimony, then I’d imagine he’ll be after your head too. Which means there’s a high chance I’m going to encounter more of them. Besides, Lucius isn’t the only danger we face.”

More chills ran through me. He was right. Lying in the sun with this man thinking I was safe was an illusion. The reality lay below in those treacherous streets of the Night World. Danger. Death. Or even, I realized, in the cool gray rooms beneath our feet. The Templars hadn’t come to any sort of official decision about me. They didn’t have to keep me here, regardless of what I agreed to do.

And by staying here, I was making things worse for Simon. I shouldn’t have slept with him. It would’ve been easier to walk away before. Before I knew how easy it was to let him hold me.

“You should let me go,” I said. Before he got too used to saying “we” when he should be thinking of his own safety. My pulse started to pound as I spoke.

“You’ve changed your mind?”

No. Though it was tempting at this point to just run and Lady take the consequences. “After I do what you want, it would be better if I left.”

“Go where, exactly?”

“Away.” Away from the City. Far and fast. Even though I didn’t believe I could really outrun what I’d be leaving behind.

“Lily, what makes you think you’ll be any safer anywhere else?”

I scowled at him. Idiot man. He needed to learn how to take the opportunity to retire safely from the field when it presented itself. “I might not be. But you will.”

One of his dimples flickered. “You don’t know that. Lucius was trying to kill me before you, after all.”

“Because of what you’re doing down there.” I jerked my chin in the direction of St. Giles.

“Maybe.”

“Definitely. What you’re doing could change everything.”

“If we ever find a cure,” he said shortly.

“Why do it at all?” I asked. “Last night it seemed as though you think the blood-locked deserve the consequences of their decisions.” Had I misjudged him?

“No one deserves that, no matter what they’ve done. And regardless, I took an oath to heal.”

“No matter what?”

“Yes.”

I really didn’t think I would ever understand him. Why help those you despised? But even though it baffled me, it also gave me a tiny sliver of hope that maybe, just maybe, if he ever found out about me, he’d be able to see past my addiction. “So you’ll keep working even though Lucius is threatening your life.”

“Yes. Besides, we don’t know why Lucius sent you.”

“What other reason does he have to kill you? You’re a sunmage and Guy’s your brother. You’re too well connected for him to try for you without a very good reason. The question is, who was it that told him what you were doing?” I said seriously. Someone had to have betrayed the secret. I didn’t see any other way for Lucius to have found out.

“Very few people know. And I trust them all.”

“One person can keep a secret,” I said. “After that, it’s almost impossible. You only need one person to be curious about what’s in that tunnel, the same way I was.”

“That tunnel has some pretty strong ‘don’t notice me’ magics,” Simon said.

“That wouldn’t stop a Fae. Might just make them more curious, in fact.”

“They’d have to be strong to get past the iron. Besides, the wards are only keyed to a few people. I’d know if anybody else had been down there.” He frowned as he spoke. Perhaps not quite as confident as he sounded?

“They wouldn’t necessarily need to breach the wards. They could just watch and listen. See who comes in and out of the tunnels. Put the pieces of the puzzle together that way.”

“You think a Fae would betray us to the Blood? The Fae who work at St. Giles are not the kind to side with the Night World.”

“If the informant is Fae, then you don’t know what game they’re playing.” The Veiled World wasn’t called that just because it kept itself hidden. Part of the name came because of the almost impenetrable web of politics and family alliance, of feud and counterfeud, of social climbing and maneuvering of alliance and patronage that wove together the Fae Families. With such long lives, they could afford to set plans in motion that would take decades or longer to come to fruition. Who knew what one of them might do?

Simon looked unconvinced. “What do the Fae have to gain from war between the humans and the Blood?”

“Some of the Families would like nothing better, I’m sure. Just because the queen currently supports and enforces the treaties, it doesn’t mean everyone agrees with her will. No more than all humans do. Or all of the Night World.”

“No one can be stupid enough to think things were better the way they were.”

I didn’t find it hard to imagine any number of people in the Night World being precisely that stupid. “Not everyone is good, Simon. I keep telling you that.”

“You really believe someone is giving information to Lucius?”

I nodded.

“It seems ridiculous.” He tugged at the collar of his shirt irritably. “But ignoring your instincts would be foolish. How would you go about trying to find out who?”

“If someone is lurking in shadows, I would start by doing some lurking of my own,” I said. “After all, I’m the expert in that area.”

“That would only work at night, wouldn’t it?”

“Not so far underground. The lamps aren’t sunlamps, after all.” It occurred to me that whoever had sold Simon out could well be long gone. On the other hand, if I could convince Simon that it made sense for me to spend time in the tunnels, then I could probably arrange some time alone with Atherton.

“Of course,” I said casually, “if you want me to do this, then you will have to convince Guy and the others to set me free for a while. They don’t seem overly trusting. Do the Templars even know what you’re doing down there?”

“No,” Simon said.

I looked at him, surprised. “Not at all? Not even Guy?”

“No,” he said shortly, looking away. “Saving the blood-locked is not one of their priorities. They’re more focused on stopping the Night World luring more victims. Besides, they’re not healers. They couldn’t help.”

“I see.” Presumably that meant the fact of Atherton’s existence was unknown as well. I studied Simon for a moment. I might not understand him but I needed to remember that he was more than he appeared.

“Master Healer DuCaine?” There was a discreet cough behind us. I recognized the voice. Liam.

Simon looked up, frowning. “Yes?”

“The Abbott General sent me to find you. He requests that you attend him, if you have finished what you need to do here.”

With another deeper frown, Simon rose to his feet, then offered me a hand up. “Yes, yes. We’re done.”

I brushed dust from my trousers, trying to ignore the sudden knot of nerves in my stomach. Why were they summoning Simon? “I’ll go back to my room.”

Liam shook his head. “The request included you too.”

Chapter Fifteen

The Abbott General’s office was no more richly appointed than the rest of the Brother House. His furniture was the same simple style as the furniture in my small room. Only an elaborately carved cross and a tapestry of the order’s coat of arms hung on the walls.

Guy was already there when Liam showed Simon and me in. He was alone.

“Morning,” he rumbled. His hand scratched at a stubbly chin. I wondered if he’d been to bed at all. If he hadn’t, had he and the Abbott General stayed up all night discussing me? My hand strayed to check my dagger.

“Good morning,” Simon said. “Where’s Father Cho?”

“He’ll be along.”

“Why are we here?” I asked. If Simon hadn’t yet told the Templars that I was willing to give them the information they wanted, then I wasn’t sure what other reason there could be. Which left me little option other than to follow Simon’s lead and hope no one was about to try to kill me.

“I think I’ll leave that to Father Cho to explain.” Guy nodded at me, looking slightly amused. “Did you sleep well, Lily?”

“Perfectly well, thank you,” I lied. Did Guy know about Simon and me? I decided to ignore that possibility. “Being locked up must agree with me.”

“You weren’t locked up,” Simon said. “You can walk through walls.” His tone was sharp.

Was he angry? With me? With Guy? Whatever was bothering him, I didn’t have time to work it out. The large doors opened again and this time, Liam saluted as Father Cho came in.

I knew him by reputation, of course. The Abbott General of the Templars is somewhat of a feared figure in the Night World. I’d expected an older, battle-scarred version of Guy. But the man who walked through the door couldn’t have been more different.

Slimly built and shorter than any of the men in the room by half a foot, he wore a simple white tunic with the red Templar cross splayed across it over breeches rather than armor. His hair was cropped close to his head in the same style as Guy’s, true black frosted with silver, and he had the golden skin and angled eyes of someone born in the Silk Provinces. Far from home if that were the case. More likely, he was descended from those who’d made that long journey several generations back.

But for all his un-warrior-like appearance, he exuded command. When he took his place behind the desk and motioned us all to sit, it was hard not to obey instantly. But I waited to take my place until the others were seated.

Guy and Simon took chairs to either side of me, leaving me directly in front of Father Cho. His dark gaze fell on me, and I resisted the urge to look away. Luckily my practice in staying stoic under scrutiny was vast.

“So, you are Lily?” Father Cho said. His voice held no hint of the Silk Provinces.

“Yes, Father.”

“And what Brother Guy has told me is correct? You were formerly a member of Lucius’ Court?”

BOOK: Shadow Kin

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