Page 171 of Voidwalker
“Harsh.” Astrid laughed once, a puff of mist on the air. “Where’s Antal?”
“Who?”
“Fi.”
“Oh. Him.” Bluffing was Fi’s only defense, the only way to stop herself from screamingwhy why why are you doing thisat Astrid until her throat turned raw. “Who can say? I’m sure you know how daeyari are. So hard to pin down and—”
The Beast snarled her to silence.
It crouched on all fours, muscles taut, tail swishing the same way Antal’s did when he saw something to pounce on. Its eyes weren’t as focused, pupil-less irises hazed with hunger and molten energy, yet the way it stared…
Fuck. Did it… understand her?
“We’re not playing this game.” Astrid’s words snapped Fi backto focus, snapped her heart back onto a string. “I know Antal’s here. My friend smells him. So you can either tell me where he is, or we can go hunting.”
Fi needed more time. Footsteps crunched snow in a nearby alley. More people. Too close.
“Leave Nyskya alone,” she said. “Then I’ll tell you where Antal is.”
“So you can walk me into his teeth? No, Fi. I think you’re better persuaded right here.” Astrid pressed her hand to the Beast’s muzzle, silencing it once again.
And readied her crossbow.
“Where’s the daeyari?” Cold metal glinted in Astrid’s hands.
Only to intimidate. The same show of bravado Fi was putting on.
But Astrid hadn’t struck lethal on the train. She wouldn’t shoot now.
“You’re better than this, Astrid.”
The crossbow settled in her grip, a musical note of clicking gears beneath skilled fingers. “Why rope these people in with you, Fi?” Astrid’s voice rose. “Why get involved in this at all?”
“Some things are worth standing ground for.”
“ButI wasn’t?”
Ten years of cold snapped between them. Fi pictured Astrid returning from Verne’s shrine alone. How still she must have fallen when she found Fi’s room empty.
“You could have run,” Fi whispered. Then louder, “You didn’t have to stay, Astrid. You could have run, like me!”
“Someone had to stay behind. To protect our home when you abandoned us!”
Astrid raised the crossbow. Fi in the sights. A flash of maroon sparked her fingertips, an energy bolt Shaped onto the track.
The weapon trembled in Astrid’s choking grasp.
She wouldn’t shoot. Fiknewshe wouldn’t shoot.
“This isn’t about what I did,” Fi said. “This isn’t about our fucking home. How can you use any of that to justify fighting at Verne’s side?”
“You’re helping a daeyari, too.”
“One who wants to change things! To be better than Verne!”
Astrid gritted her teeth, fingers like claws on the crossbow stock—a flash of fury in her eyes. “Is that what’s he told you? Don’t be ridiculous. All daeyari are the same. All daeyari rule the same.” She squared her stance, stock braced to her shoulder.
She wouldn’t shoot.
