Page 130 of The Bone Season

‘What have we here?’

I let go of Liss. Three red-jackets had just sauntered into the shack. One of them seized her by her other wrist, yanking her to her feet.

‘Hello, Silks,’ he said. ‘Reading for your guest, are you?’

‘Emil, I was just—’

‘You werejustusing the æther in private,’ said another, a woman, with the air of a committed jobsworth. ‘You only read for your keeper, 1.’

‘You know I have no keeper, Kath.’

‘Gomeisa still calls you. Your gift is only for his use.’

‘Leave her alone,’ I said.

They looked at me.

The woman had thick mousy hair, drawn into a bun, showing that one of her ears had been cropped. The two men looked so alike that they could only be twins, sharing the same dimples and blue eyes. The only difference I could see was that one of them was missing half a forefinger.

They were all in their twenties or early thirties, with a good number of scars. None of them were from my Bone Season.

‘There you are,’ one of the men said. ‘We heard you passed your second test. We’ve been hoping to run into you, 40.’

‘Have you, now?’

‘Suhail told our keepers that we couldn’t find you, that day you missed the curfew. They beat us.’

‘And you’ve been sore ever since.’ I sighed. ‘Sounds like you’ve a problem with the Rephs, not me. I didn’t beat you.’

‘They’re good to us.’

‘Yes, they sound it.’

Liss shook her head, still restrained by the other man. I stared them all down.

‘You don’t deserve the honour of a red tunic,’ Kath sneered. ‘You show up here like you own the place – throwing your special gift around, using it to attack the Rephs. Warden didn’t even discipline you, from the looks of it.’

‘I didn’t ask to come here,’ I pointed out. ‘Your keeper take that ear off ?’

‘It was the price I paid.’

‘We’ve been here for years,’ one of the men said. ‘This is our place.’

I smiled. ‘So, what, you’re here to put me in mine?’

‘You understand.’

‘Well, look at you. The big man.’ I arched an eyebrow. ‘Nashira will crop more than your ears if you kill me. You sure you want to try?’

‘We’re not here to kill you, brogue,’ Emil said, with a short laugh. ‘Since the Warden didn’t takeyourear, we thought we’d serve justice ourselves.’

‘It’s only fair.’ Kath unsheathed her own blade. ‘It won’t hurt for long.’

Hector had tried to intimidate me when I first joined the underworld at sixteen. He had wanted the pleasure of introducing me to its violence. It was only the arrival of a poltergeist that had stopped him.

‘Give it your best shot,’ I said.

Kath took a step towards me. I stood to meet her, reminding myself to be careful. This woman had been training for a decade. She was tall and strong, and must have survived many patrols in Gallows Wood.

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