An Artificial Night - BK 3 (22 page)

“How many miles to Babylon? I fear we’ve lost our way,” I chanted, ignoring Quentin’s quizzical look. “Can we get there and back by the candle’s light . . .” I tapered off, cursing inwardly. Rhyming has never been one of my strengths.

“Before the break of day?” Quentin finished, putting his hand over mine. I flashed him a grateful look as the flame changed colors, going from blue to a hot amber gold.

That wasn’t the only change. Runnels of wax began dripping down the sides, streaking the previously smooth surface. There was no actual blood, but I could feel the tingling burn of blood magic taking hold around me. “That’s our cue,” I said, standing. “Come on.”

“Where are we going?”

“If this is working, to the kids.”
And if it’s not,
I added silently,
straight to hell.

The flame brightened as we raced from building to building, trying to outrun the wax and our unseen pursuers at the same time. The flame dwindled whenever we took a wrong turn, guiding us along and consuming wax at a frightening rate. We ran until I wasn’t sure I could run anymore, and I was about to call for a stop when the flame flared, turning blue again. I skidded to a halt. Quentin wasn’t quite as fast; he caught himself on my shoulder, nearly knocking us both over. “Hey!” I protested. “Remember, you’re
bigger
than I am!”

“Sorry,” he said, straightening. “Why did you stop?”

“I think we’re here.” I gestured toward the nearest door. It was made of rough wood shoved into a badly assembled frame, and the walls around it were more intact than those of the other buildings. The wax had stopped melting. I was taking that as a good sign.

“Now what do we do?”

“We break in. Here, hold this.” I handed him the candle and turned to examine the door. Just for fun, I tried the handle. It was locked. I hadn’t expected anything else. Drawing my knife, I inserted it into the keyhole and twisted until it had gone as deep as it would go.

“What are you doing?” asked Quentin.

“Hang on.” Devin had taught me a lot of things, including opening locked doors. He said I was one of the best students he’d ever had. I jiggled the knife a bit more, getting it exactly where I wanted it, and smacked the pommel with the heel of my hand. The lock gave way, leaving the door to swing easily open.

Quentin gaped. I stood, shoving the knife back into my belt, and reclaimed the candle. “One of the many skills you can learn from a wasted youth,” I said and stepped inside.

The room was dark and square, filled with rustling noises and small, huddled shapes that seemed to be trying to crawl into the walls. I held the candle up in order to see what they were, and a small voice from the back of the room asked, “Toby? Is that you?”

Oh, thank Maeve; we were in the right place. “Raj?” I called back. “Come on out, kiddo. It’s me.”

The shadows rustled again, resolving into children. They were clinging to each other, obviously terrified, and I couldn’t blame them. One stepped forward, holding his head high as he tried to look like he hadn’t been afraid. I lowered the candle to keep the light from hurting his eyes, but even in the dimness, it was impossible to miss the bruises covering his face and shoulders. The Hob he’d escaped with before was leaning on his arm, limping; she looked like she’d been beaten worse than he had.

Raj stopped, looking at me gravely. “October. You came.”

“I came,” I said. Quentin stayed silent behind me, watching.

“Auntie Birdie? Is that really you?” The voice was soft and anxious, like it expected to be silenced at any moment. I froze. Jessica has always been one of the most confident children I’ve ever known. Hearing her sound like that . . .

Blind Michael was going to die. There wasn’t another option.

“Yeah, baby,” I said. “It’s me.”

That was all the confirmation she needed. Jessica came running out of the back of the room, towing Andrew along with her, and flung her arms around me. My height—or lack thereof—didn’t seem to matter; I’d said the right words. She buried her face against my shoulder, sobbing, “I was so
scared.
”

“I know, baby,” I said, stroking her hair with my free hand. I looked down at Andrew, who had switched his grip from Jessica’s arm to my belt. “You okay?”

“We gonna go home now?” he asked. “No more bad mans?”

I nodded. “Yeah. We’re going home. We’re all going home.” I looked up, asking Raj, “How many of you are there?”

“Many,” he said, not even trying to hide his exhaustion. “Five from my uncle’s Court, and more that I don’t know.”

“There’s at least twenty, Auntie Birdie,” Jessica whispered. “They’re real scared.”

Oh, root and branch. My bargain with Blind Michael only covered my kids; that was all he’d promised me. And there was no way in hell I could leave the others behind.

“Everyone get up and come on,” I said. “We’re getting out of here.”

Children are children whether or not they have pointed ears, and sometimes the illusion of authority is all they need. They broke away from the walls and walked toward us, sniffling and crying as they came. Jessica was right; there were more than twenty of them, a mixed bag of changelings and purebloods. They were alone, and justifiably terrified of what was going to happen. I couldn’t have left them behind if I wanted to.

“Quentin, Raj, each of you take a group of about ten,” I said, looking to the two who seemed least likely to fall apart. “I’ll take care of the rest. Spike, keep an eye out for guards, okay?” The rose goblin rattled its thorns and leaped from my shoulder, streaking out of the hall.

That was the only real precaution I could take. Offering a silent prayer to any gods who might have time to listen to a changeling who didn’t know when to quit, I turned and led our motley group out into the shadows of Blind Michael’s artificial night. If we were lucky, we’d live to see another dawn.

T
HE SMALLEST CHILDREN WERE THE FIRST TO TIRE. They faltered and fell, and the larger kids picked them up and carried them without needing to be told. They knew that unless we worked together, we were lost. I surveyed them grimly as we walked across the plains. Most were barefoot, and more than a few were wounded; they’d never survive any kind of real journey. I had no idea how I was going to keep them calm and moving long enough to get them home. For the moment, that could wait. My main concern had to be getting them out of the open and out of the reach of Blind Michael’s men.

Just as a precaution, I made everyone hold hands, forming clumps that led, eventually, to leaders holding onto my belt. If the candle could do anything to cover us all, it would be a blessing.

The forest seemed to reach out to meet us as we made our way across the plains. Whatever power Acacia had in her husband’s lands was working for us, thank Maeve, and as the trees grew closer, Quentin, Raj, and I urged the children to walk faster, moving them toward safety. It wasn’t until the last of them was under cover that I really started to breathe again. The hard part was still ahead of us, but we’d cleared the first hurdle.

Helen—the Hob who escaped with Raj—was one of the worst off. Her leg was sprained when the Riders took her back, and after watching her walk, I was afraid her ankle might be broken. Despite that, she’d shown a real gift for calming the smaller children, and once we were in the trees, she settled down with half a dozen of them, humming lullabies in an attempt to get them to sleep. I hoped she’d succeed, because they’d need the rest. We had a long way to go.

Quentin and Raj approached as I stood at the edge of the trees, moving up from opposite sides. Raj was walking more easily now that we were away from the hall, and some elements of natural Cait Sidhe cockiness were creeping into his gestures. Good. I didn’t know him well, but no kid deserves to be broken, especially not by a monster like Blind Michael.

“How is everyone?” I asked, looking to Quentin.

“Shaken, but holding together,” Quentin said. “Most of them seem to think they’ve already been rescued, and that this is just the break before we head home.”

“Encourage that; I’d rather they were optimistic than hysterical.” I looked to Raj. “Helen’s pretty hurt. There weren’t any healers in my group or Quentin’s—how about yours?”

“No, and I’m not sure how much farther she can go,” Raj said, expression grave. “How far are we from the exit? We may need to carry her.”

“Damn. Is she strong enough to do some basic sewing-magic?” Hobs are hearth-spirits; their magic focuses almost entirely on cleaning and patching things. They can wash and darn a sock with a wave of their hand, using stitches too small for the human eye to see.

“I think so.”

“Good. Get any clothes the other kids have to spare—socks, jackets, whatever they can afford to give up—and see if she can sew it into a litter. We’ll drag her if we have to.”

“Can’t we just use some branches?” asked Quentin.

I eyed him. “Do you want to explain that to Acacia?”

He paled. “Okay, no.”

“Good.” I looked back to Raj. “Can you keep everyone calm until we get back?”

His eyes widened, pupils narrowing in surprise. “Get back? Where are you going?”

“To get my girlfriend,” Quentin said. His voice was sharp but calm.

“Your girlfriend?” Raj glanced toward Helen, almost automatically. “Why wasn’t she with the others?”

“Because she’s human,” I said. Raj turned to stare at me, ears slicking back. “Blind Michael takes fae kids to be his Riders. He takes the mortal ones to be his horses.”

“That’s not going to happen to Katie,” Quentin said.

I shook my head. “No, it’s not. But that means we have to leave for a little while. Raj, can you watch things here?” Even though I barely knew the kid, he and Quentin were the closest thing I had to lieutenants. I couldn’t abandon the children if Raj wasn’t willing to take care of them, but I couldn’t let Quentin go after Katie alone, either.

Much to my relief, Raj nodded. “I think so. Almost everyone is tired. They should sleep for a little while.”

“Good. Just don’t let them leave the trees. Do you remember the lady of these woods?”

“The yellow woman?” he asked.

“Yes, her. Her name is Acacia. If anything happens, go to her. Tell her I couldn’t make it back, but that Luna is expecting you. She’ll help you.”
I hope,
I added silently. I had to give Raj something to cling to; if I was leaving him in charge, he had to hold things together. That meant he needed to believe he had a way out. “If we don’t come back . . .”

Raj nodded. “I understand.”

“Auntie Birdie?”

I winced. “Yes, puss?” I said, as I turned.

Jessica was behind me, expression pleading as she grabbed my arm. “Please don’t leave me. Please don’t go. I’ll be good. Just please, please, don’t go.”

“Oh, sweetheart.” I hugged her tightly, careful to hold my candle away from her hair. “I’m sorry. I have to.”

“Will you come back?”

I pushed her out to arm’s length, expression grave.“I’ll try, baby.” Looking back to Raj, I said, “If we don’t come back, find Acacia. She’ll get you out.” If she could.

“All right,” Raj said.

Jessica made a soft mewling noise, beginning to cry. I gave her a final hug and pried her hands off my arms as I turned to walk out of the woods, Quentin close behind me. Spike trailed us to the edge of the trees before stopping, clearly intending to stay where it was most needed. Good. Between Spike and Raj, I could almost believe the kids would be all right without us.

“Toby?” Quentin said.

“Yeah?”

“I . . .” He stopped, searching for words. He couldn’t thank me.

I smiled wryly. “I know. Come on.” I offered my hand. He took it, and together, we stepped out onto the plains.

The distance between the forest and Blind Michael’s village hadn’t increased while we were in the trees, a small blessing, and one we needed very much. We crossed the plains quickly, moving with more confidence now that it was a familiar journey. That was good, because the stakes were higher, and this was our last try. We’d get Katie and get out, or the odds were good that we wouldn’t get out at all. My candle burned clean the entire way, and that made me nervous. Blind Michael had to be expecting me. Either the Luidaeg’s protections were working better than I’d dared to dream, or we were walking into a trap. I honestly couldn’t have guessed one way or the other. All we could do was keep going.

We saw no one as we entered the village and began moving from building to building, searching for something that could make a feasible stable. Blind Michael’s horses were alive and mortal. That meant they’d need food and water to survive, as well as enough space to stay healthy. There should be a paddock of some sort, and a place where they could be exercised . . .

I stopped, sniffing the air. Everything in Blind Michael’s lands smelled foul and rancid, but this was something different, something under the decay.