Taliesin Ascendant (The Children and the Blood) (29 page)

He looked at her like she was crazy. “Didn’t notice anybody putting up posters, if that’s what you mean. I just spotted some folks with dogs over in this industrial area. Homeless-looking types. Might be cripples. Could just be humans.” Defaulting to a shrug again, he glanced between her and Nathaniel. “I mean, hell if I know, right?”

“Okay,” Ashe said. “What about the Blood? Any of them around?”

At this, he chuckled. “You kidding?”

Her eyebrow twitched up and he gave another snort of laughter.

“Your people been killing my kind off left and right, your queenness. The Blood’ll be here. Trust me.”

“But have you seen them?” she persisted, struggling not to react to the words.

“What? You think I’ve been looking?”

She mirrored a shrug at him. “I just think you have a better chance of spotting them than we do,” she said, a hint of tension breaking through her voice.

He shifted his weight awkwardly. “Yeah, well…”

She waited.

“I haven’t seen them,” he admitted. “But they’ve got to be here. Like I said, you hung out the welcome sign when you killed off everyone who might notice they were around.”

At Ashe’s expression, Nathaniel made a low warning noise.

“I mean, not you
personally
,” Mud backtracked. “Just, you know, wizards. I mean–”

“Yeah,” Ashe cut in tightly. She glanced at Nathaniel. “North side of town?”

He nodded and then turned his laser gaze on Mud. “Move.”

“Now, wait a sec. I didn’t say I was going,” the man protested. “I don’t think any of us should just rush out and–”

At another noise from the wizard, he blanched and then retreated toward the kitchen.

Nathaniel’s eyes flicked to her, concern showing through his stoic expression. She nodded. Taking a deep breath, she followed him from the room.

*****

“They’re probably not even here anymore,” Mud groused, watching the cars pull away. “This isn’t a good idea.”

Eyeing the industrial chaos, Ashe ignored him. Thin drizzle drifted down from the pitch black sky, coating everything. Blocky gray buildings lurked ahead, framed by metal girders and pipes like permanent scaffolding. Above the structures, lifeless smokestacks rose into the night to be lost in the rain, while past the torn chain-link fence behind her, a dead streetlamp gaped down on the street, casting no light.

“Where to?” she asked.

Mud grimaced, and then caught sight of Nathaniel and Elias behind her. From his expression, she could only imagine what their faces looked like, but he lifted an arm grudgingly, pointing deeper into the complex. “Down there.”

“So lead the way,” Nathaniel growled.

Horror flickered across the man’s face.

“We’ll be right behind you,” Ashe said.

“I–” he started, and then cut off, swallowing hard. Casting furtive looks to the wizards, he shuffled toward the buildings.

She glanced back at Nathaniel. Expressionless, he bowed his head and then motioned for the other guards to fall in around her.

Deep shadows closed in as they entered the complex. Drawing slow breaths, Ashe scanned the darkness, unable to see if anything marked the walls. Despite walking carefully, gravel still crunched beneath their feet, the sound carrying through the susurrus of the rain. Around her, the others watched the girders and pipes, wary of an ambush.

She could feel her heart pounding. People with dogs, Mud had said. There wasn’t a chance in hell Elias or Nathaniel would let her go on alone, but at the first hint of wizards, the dogs were bound to go berserk. And then, if the people ahead were cripples, things would really get tricky.

Swallowing, she concentrated on keeping just enough magic around herself to stop a bullet, hoping it wouldn’t attract attention.

Gravel crunched ahead and she heard a dog growl. Breath catching, she glanced to the others, but they were already moving. Scrambling backward, Mud rushed for the space between two thick pipes, while the guards fell back. Following them, Ashe ducked through the entrance of a nearby building.

A heartbeat passed. Ignoring the quiet noise of displeasure from Nathaniel, she cautiously leaned her head around the doorframe, watching the opening at the end of the gravel stretch.

The footsteps came closer.

In the paler shadows ahead, a teenage boy stepped into view. The drizzle matted his unkempt red hair, and with a thin hand, he clutched the makeshift collar of the scruffy mutt at his side. For a long moment, he stared at the deep shadows between the buildings, barely moving.

Then he looked at the dog quizzically. Seeming uncertain, he turned and walked away.

Ashe exhaled. The kid was a cripple. So far, mostly good.

She glanced up at Nathaniel. The wizard watched the space left by the boy for a few more heartbeats, and then motioned for the guards hiding across from them to move. Edging out of the doorway, he paused, and then nodded for Ashe to follow.

They crept to the end of the row. A long span of gravel stretched away on either side, lined by more blocky buildings. Misting rain obscured the distance and only the glow of a security lamp gave any light.

Several yards away, the boy huddled inside the doorway of a building, his hand running over the dog’s fur distractedly as he watched the darkness.

Nathaniel gave her a warning look, resting a hand briefly on her shoulder to keep her from moving. With quick gestures, he directed two of the guards to circle the building. On the other side of the gravel walkway, Mud shifted uncomfortably, clearly wanting to leave.

Minutes passed. The guards returned.

“Another kid watching around back,” one whispered. “Three others sleeping inside. All cripples, but with no weapons we could see.”

Nathaniel glanced to Elias, who scowled. Reaching over, Elias hauled Mud from the shadows.

“Go assure them we don’t mean any harm,” he ordered the man quietly.

“Don’t you think we–”

“Now.”

Shuffling reluctantly forward, Mud headed for the boy.

Elias looked to Nathaniel. The large man motioned for the guards to surround the building.

“Hey,” Mud called to the kid.

Scrambling to his feet, the boy stared at him. Clenching the dog’s collar with one hand, he held up the other defensively as he retreated deeper into the entryway, tugging the animal with him.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Mud snapped, stopping in the middle of the gravel path. “I just said hi. You’re acting like I’m a wizard or something.”

The boy froze, the caution growing tenfold in his eyes.

“Oh, good grief,” Mud grouched at the expression. “I’m not okay? I’m just here with some friends of mine. They told me to tell you they don’t mean any harm. Oh, and they’re going to want your help.”

At her side, Ashe could hear Nathaniel make a nearly inaudible groan.

Alarm overwhelmed the caution in the boy’s face and he backtracked swiftly.

“What?” Mud called as the door slammed.

“Wonderful,” Elias muttered.

She followed the two wizards out of the shadows.

“The kid wouldn’t–” Mud started, gesturing helplessly as they approached.

Ignoring the man, they strode past him. Inside the building, they could hear the dog barking madly. Stepping in front of her, Nathaniel tried the handle, and then glanced back.

She grimaced and then nodded, not seeing another option. He shoved open the door, breaking the lock on the other side. Magic rising like a protective wall, Nathaniel led them into the building.

Panicked, the cripples were scrambling from their moth-eaten blankets. A dark-eyed young man was fumbling a handgun from beneath his coat, while behind him, another raced for the opposite door.

“Hey, wait!” Ashe called.

The gun went off. Bucking wildly with recoil, the weapon jerked from the young man’s grasp and clattered to the concrete, while the bullet ricocheted from Nathaniel’s defenses to vanish among the barrels on the building’s upper level.

“We’re not going to hurt you!” she tried.

Horrified, the young man stood paralyzed, his eyes darting from the wizards to the fallen gun, and then he dashed after his friends.

Successfully opening the rear exit, one of the kids rushed forward and then shrieked. Stumbling backward, he stared in horror as the other guards came in, the boy who’d been watching the rear door racing into the warehouse ahead of them. Claws skittering on the concrete, the dog bolted around the wizards and took off howling into the night.

“This is going well,” Elias commented.

Ashe grimaced. “Come on.”

The cripples backpedaled toward the center of the room, each of them trying to watch all the wizards at once. With Nathaniel a step ahead of her, she started toward them.

To a person, they were young. The oldest couldn’t have been more than sixteen, and a boy toward the center of the group looked like he’d be stretching the truth to claim twelve. The one who’d guarded the front door stood clutching a girl with hair as red as his own, while the others cast frantic looks around, searching for alternate weapons.

She paused by the gun and then stooped to pick it up. As one, the cripples’ eyes locked on her. For a heartbeat, she hesitated, and then sent the gun sliding across the concrete toward them.

Breathless, they watched her, and then the oldest-looking of the boys inched from the group toward the weapon. Extending a hand, he kept his eyes on her as he closed his fingers around the gun.

Her eyes narrowed. Red welts wrapped his wrists. Her gaze darted across the others. It was the same on each one she could see.

Sebastian killed two kids for escaping his custody. Others had fled too and at the time, the ferals hadn’t located them.

A flicker of hope crept through her.

“I mean it,” she said, returning her gaze to the young man and working to keep her voice calm. “We’re not going to hurt you.”

She heard shuffling footsteps behind her and she glanced back.

“Will you tell them?” she asked Mud.

Reluctance contorting his face, the man paused. “Okay, yeah, fine,” he muttered. He ambled forward. “They’re not going to hurt you,” he called.

“Please do better than that,” Elias suggested dryly, watching the boy with the gun retreat toward his friends. “The kids are about to have a heart attack.”

Grimacing, Mud hesitated and then shuffled past them. “These wizards killed a freaking pair of ferals for me, alright?” he told the teenagers. “You can trust them.”

He glanced back at Nathaniel and Elias, his eyes belying his own faith in the statement.

“So they’re not going to kill you, okay?” he continued. “Not intentionally. They just want your help finding the damn Blood.”

Any trace of color still present drained from the kids’ faces. Near the center of the group, the smallest boy whimpered.

“No, seriously,” Mud insisted. “These are the real ones who want to do that. Not the other bastards. And they’ll let you kill them. I mean, the Blood. I mean, they’ll let you kill the Blood.” Flustered, he paused, and then tried for a reassuring smile. “That’s good, right?”

Terrified silence answered him.

“Okay, I give up,” Mud grumbled, turning and heading for the door.

Working to keep her frustration in check, Ashe watched him go and then glanced back at the kids. Elias was right. Whether they gained the cripples’ help or not, the situation was precariously on the edge of becoming out of control. Another few moments and either the kids would pass out or that gun would go off.

And who knew where the ricochet would hit this time.

Her gaze flicked down to their wrists again.

“Elias,” she said quietly. “How much cash do you have?”

“What?”

“How much?”

He hesitated, and then moved cautiously for his wallet. As a group, the kids tensed.

“About a hundred?” he answered, scanning the contents.

“Give it to me.”

Carefully, she took the cash and then edged forward.

“We won’t hurt you,” she repeated. “But then… you’ve heard that line before, right?”

She jerked her chin toward the wrist of the young man holding the gun and watched his face tighten, confirming her words.

“I…” she began, wanting to apologize and then falling silent at the knowledge it wouldn’t do any good. Their friends were dead because of what Sebastian and Darius had done. What she’d told the wizards.

Apologies wouldn’t fix anything.

“We’re not them,” she amended. “We actually do want to fight the Blood. And if you don’t want to help us… that’s fine.”

She laid the money on the ground.

“We’re going to head outside. We’ll leave the back door unwatched. If you want to help us, come find us out front. If you don’t…” she backed away, leaving the cash. “Take the money. Get yourselves out of town. There’s too many ferals around to keep hiding here forever.”

She motioned for the other wizards to move away. Still clutching the gun, the young man watched them draw back at her command. His eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Let’s go,” she said to Elias and Nathaniel, turning from the look in the boy’s eyes.

Without waiting for a response, she walked out of the building. Leaving the kids huddled together in the center of the concrete floor, the guards filed from the room after her.

By a rusted garbage bin, Mud was sitting on a low cinder-block wall.

“So how’d it go?” he asked.

Ashe ignored him. Crossing to a point some distance away from the man, she hoisted herself onto the wall. Elias followed, stopping beside her to lean against the cinder blocks.

A moment slid past.

“Thanks for the money,” she said quietly.

Elias shrugged. “Good cause.”

She glanced down at him, but he was watching the door.

The minutes ticked by. Guards surrounded them, scanning the area for threats. The rain continued to drizzle down, dampening any piece of her hair that had managed to dry while she was inside. Moisture clung to her skin and clothes, and she resisted the urge to let her magic drive it away.

No reason to scare the people in the building further.

“So when do we check if any of them are still there?” Elias asked.