Page 56 of Brimstone
I fell straight through the netting, through the canopy of the bleached red tent beneath it, and landed with a hard“Ooof!”on somethingveryuncomfortable.
The sound of rotten, creaking wood reached my ears, and a second later I was deposited unceremoniously onto blistering hot sand. Stale bread rolls thumped down on top of me.
Swift appeared in my field of view, his auburn hair backlit and glowing like a sunset on fire. “That wasnotokay,” he said in a flat tone.
I blinked sand out of my eyes. “Ahh, quiet. I brokeyourfall, didn’t I?”
“My cart! Bastards! You’ve destroyed my—” The shout cut off when the old woman took in the two miscreants who had destroyed her property. Carrion had lived in Zilvaren for lifetimes, but he had done so as one of them. Glamored. He’d been tall and broad for a human, but now he was hovering near seven feet and possessed the pointed ears of the Fae. As for me? I was a sight taller than Swift. Significantly better-looking, too, but that was beside the point. I flashed my canines at the sunburnt woman, giving her a broad smile.
“Apologies, madam. We had a little argument with gravity. Looks like gravity won.”
I acted fast. It would have been smarter to glamor us as soon as we’d left the Hall of Mirrors, but there hadn’t been time. I dove deep into my magic and cast it over myself and the smuggler, the change taking effect in the blink of an eye. I didn’t feel any different, per se, but the layer of illusion clung closeto my body like a second skin—an itchy one that I immediately wanted to shed. When I looked at Carrion, he was shorter again. Rounded ears. Shoulders narrower. Stubby, ineffective teeth. He looked human. I tried not to think about what I looked like, masquerading as one of them . . .
The stall owner righted her lopsided hat, rubbing her forehead. Was she about to pass out? Shehadjust seen us morph from Fae to human, which accounted for the confusion on her face.
“Hah. Looks like gravity won. That wasalmostfunny,” Carrion groused. He thrust out his hand, offering to help me up. Loath as I was, I accepted; my ribs were on fire, and I was so caught up in the debris I’d made of the woman’s bread cart that I kind of needed the help. The smuggler looked far too pleased with himself as he hauled me to my feet. “Where to now?” he asked.
“You tell me. The whole point of you coming back to Zilvaren was because you know this city. Better than anyone, you said.”
“And that’s true,” Carrion snapped back. “But I need to know what you want to take care of first. The silver, the infected feeders, or the brother?”
“There! Down in the square!”
Through the gigantic hole we’d ripped in the tent’s canopy, we could see three guardians leaning out of the window high above, peering down onto the street. They’d already spotted us. It wouldn’t be long before they were on top of us.
“The silver,” I answered. “We’ll take care of the silver first. Now let’s move.”
“You’re too pale,” Carrion hissed. He charged headfirst through a network of winding side streets, keeping his eyes firmly fixedon the tops of his boots. I followed, hand resting on the hilt of the dagger at my hip.
“What do you mean,toopale?”
“I mean, even the dead in Zilvaren have more color in their cheeks than you do. The suns are pretty intense here. Everyone’s burned or tanned, or both. You look like you’ve lived underground all your life. It’s making people stare.”
I glanced around and saw that he was right. People were staring. “And?”
“And it would be better if we went unnoticed right now. We don’t fit in here as it is.”
“I’ve already glamored us. I can’t do any more than that. My magic needs time to replenish.”
Carrion’s pace slowed a fraction. “Replenish? What doesthatmean?”
“It means to refill, refuel, re—”
“Saints and martyrs, do you have to be so literal? I know what thewordmeans. I want to know why yourmagicneeds to replenish.”
I bit back a sigh, eyeing the crowd from deep inside my drawn-up hood. “I’m not Zilvaren-born, Carrion. My magic isn’t of this place. I can’t draw from it as freely as I would back in Yvelia. We’re lucky I can draw from it at all. There are realms and worlds amid the void of this universe that are entirely barren of magic. If a seed of magic didn’t still cling for purchase somewhere within the bowels of this miserable place, I’d be completely cut off from my gifts. I just exhausted a good portion of the magic available to me back in the hall. It’ll be a while before I have full access to my magic again. Glamoring us might not demand much of my resources, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to sacrifice precious energy by giving myself a fucking tan.”
Carrion didn’t say anything for a beat. But then a thought occurred to him. “If you exhaust all of your magic, you’ll be as powerless as me, then?”
I scoffed at that. “Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous. I’ll still know how to hold a fuckingsword.”
“All right. There’s no need to be rude about it. Can you—look, can you just stop scowling at people? This is the Hub. Zilvaren’s elite live here. Everybody knows everybody, and we donotlook like we belong to the city’s rich and well-to-do. If you keep glowering like that, they’re definitely going to notice us.”
This is thenicepart of the city?”
“Believe it or not, yes. Quickly, we’re going this way.” Carrion squinted up and down the street before darting down a side alley. I grumbled, following, not liking any of this one bit.
We had three days until Saeris awoke the quicksilver again, though. There was a lot to be accomplished in that time, and Carrion’s knowledge of Zilvaren was already paying off. Heseemedto know where he was going. Or . . . wait a minute. “We’re heading away from the palace, Swift. Do you know of some secret way into the treasury?”
