Patterns in the Dark (Dragon Blood Book 4) (20 page)

“Glad to hear it.” Tolemek sounded bitter.

Maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned Zirkander. Every time she did, it seemed to grate at him. She didn’t know whether she should apologize—and would she have to continue to apologize every time she mentioned her commander’s name?—or accept that it was his problem that he needed to resolve on his own.

“I’m going to go check on our pursuers,” she said, letting go of his hand.

“Cas?” he said softly as she stepped away.

She paused. “Yes?”

“Thank you.”

She didn’t know what she had actually done, but she said, “You’re welcome.”

She waited another moment, to see if he would say more, but he didn’t. Hoping that meant he would stay put until she returned, she slipped into the brush, heading back toward the main trail. Zirkander thought she was going to check on pirates, and it was possible they were back there, but her senses had never relaxed, not since they had left town, and she couldn’t shake that feeling that something more inimical than bumbling treasure hunters was following them.

Indeed, as she crept through the brush, the sense grew more profound. Maybe it was all her imagination, or the creepiness of this place getting to her. She wasn’t superstitious, and dead bodies rarely bothered her, probably not as much as they should, but the mystery disease added a strange element.

After following the rim of the crater, she reached the trail that meandered down the hill toward the ziggurat. The close, humid air smelled of the fires burning in the braziers. The guard was still at his post. He must not have noticed any of the shots that Cas had heard in the distance, or he—or a team of soldiers—would have come out to investigate. None of the natives had guns, at least insofar as she had seen, so the sound of firearms would be a sure sign of intruders. She gazed down the trail and was on the verge of stepping out to follow it, but her instincts screamed a warning. She stepped into the shadows between two trees instead and found the trigger of her rifle with her finger. Reminding herself that she shouldn’t fire so close to the Cofah guard, she lowered the weapon on its strap and slid out a dagger instead. She wasn’t the most powerful person, but if she could sneak up on an enemy, she could cut a throat efficiently enough—her father had seen to that. But she had no idea where her enemy was. She must have heard some tiny noise or seen a shadow moving at the corner of her vision—what else could have set her senses to jangling so? But no matter how hard she strained her ears now, she couldn’t hear anything above the buzz of insects and the soft rustles of nocturnal creatures scampering through the leaf litter. Nobody was walking up the trail, and the guard hadn’t moved. So what—

“Over here, Caslin,” came a soft voice from the trees behind her.

Cas spun in that direction, her knife ready. She recognized that voice, but hearing it didn’t make any sense, not way out here. She had to be mistaken.

She waited for him to speak again, even as she tried to pick his figure out of the shadows. But the voice had come from too deep in the trees, and his dark clothing hid him too well. As sharp as her eyes were, she couldn’t find his silhouette among the foliage.

“Yes, it’s me,” he said. “I must speak with you. Move away from the rim, so the guard won’t hear us.”

Cas swallowed and tried to sound calm when she answered. “What are you doing here, Father?”

She didn’t move from her spot. She thought of the dirigible, the familiar look of that form sliding along that rope. She should have known. Even looking on from the distance, she should have known. And maybe, on some subconscious level, she
had
known. Maybe that was why she had been so wary, so alert all the way up here.

“I’m on assignment,” Father said, his soft voice giving away nothing.

It was the most obvious thing he could have said and the most bewildering, as well. “On assignment for whom? And to do what? To spy on us? To follow us? How could you have even been
able
to follow us?” Or was it possible he was on some independent mission that had only by chance intersected with hers? It seemed so unlikely. This wasn’t exactly a popular destination. Could someone else have learned of the dragon blood and been researching the source independently?

“That is my secret to keep until I’m done,” he said. “Now, step away from the rim. I have a warning for you.”

Cas warred with her natural instinct to obey his orders, as she had for so much of her life, and with her instinct to not trust the situation, to not trust
him
in the situation. She doubted he was a danger to her specifically, but she had no doubt that he would accept an assignment that would hurt her in emotional ways if not physical ways. Could Tolemek be his target? Or maybe even Zirkander? Since he had disobeyed orders and veered off on his own, someone back home might be irritated with him.

Finally, she picked her way toward her father, her shoulders tense, her knife still in hand. Could she strike at him if she found out he had come for someone on her team? For one of her friends? In Tolemek’s case,
more
than a friend. Even though her father had molded her into the sniper he wanted to add to his business and treated her more like a son than a daughter, he had never been cruel, just distant. He had never caused her to loathe him in a way that made her want to hurt him. Oh, there had been times when she had imagined unpleasant fates for him, usually when he had been inflicting some training on her while the other girls her age had been playing games in the schoolyard. But surely other children had worse childhoods. She couldn’t imagine shooting him, even if she hated him at times for trying to make her into his ideal progeny instead of letting her choose a life of her own.

Full night had long since fallen, and she had to feel her way deeper into the trees. She stopped when her boot encountered soft mud that might have signified a sinkhole. Figuring she had gone far enough, she put her back to a tree, sheathed the knife, and folded her arms over her chest.

“What is it, Father?” she whispered.

From far closer than she expected, he responded. “Find a reason not to go into the pyramid with the others.” He clasped her arm, and she fought the urge to pull away. His voice was intense, an order, but it seemed to hold a plea, as well. Was he worried about her? Could he somehow know more than their team did about what lay in wait? “You’ll be in danger,” he added.

“I’ve been in danger all week.” Her entire career, for that matter.

“I must complete my assignment,” he said. “I don’t wish you to be harmed.”

“Does your assignment have anything to do with anyone in my party?”

He paused. “My assignment is confidential. As always.”

Of course it was. “How did you find us?” She had already asked it and didn’t know if he would answer, but maybe he would give her something,
want
to give her something. So long as it wasn’t confidential. She wanted to snort at that idea, but it
was
consistent for him. He had never spoken of his missions to her when she had been growing up, and he had spoken of the need to remain trustworthy to clients when he had been teaching her the business.

He released her hand, stepping back. Cas had only the vaguest sense of his form in the darkness beside her; he was probably wearing a hood, as he often did, to hide his light brown hair. He might also have dark paint on his face. How long had he been following them? Had he been close enough to touch them—to shoot them—more than once, without her detecting it? Had he overheard private conversations? She grimaced to think of him listening to the chat she’d had with Tolemek in their room back in town.

“I can’t speak of it with you,” Father said. “I only revealed myself because of my concern for you. I implore you to find a reason to stay outside the pyramid. Tell your
commander
—” his voice took on a snide quality as he said the word, “—that someone should stay outside to remain on watch for the pirates.”

“Are they still back there?” Cas wondered if the pirates had been shooting at him, or he at them for some reason. But it seemed unlikely that they would have noticed him if he didn’t wish it.

“A handful of them have pressed on. They believe you are on a treasure hunt.”

“Yes, I know.”

“Be careful, Caslin.”

She hadn’t heard him move, not so much as a leaf rustling, but already his voice had grown more distant.

“I do not wish to see harm come to you, but I have accepted this mission, and I will not fail in carrying it out, even for you.”

“If you kill any of my friends…” She bit her lip, not sure how to finish the threat, or if she even wanted to make one. She didn’t
think
her father would turn on her, but was she entirely positive that was the case? Would he have needed to warn her to stay away if it were?

She let her head thunk back against the tree. It didn’t matter now. He was gone. She might not have heard him leave, but she had sensed it. Maybe he was even now sneaking back to her team, intent on finishing his mission.

That thought almost made her sprint back to them, but the thickness of the brush impeded her, and her own spinning thoughts impeded her too. If her father wanted to kill Tolemek or Zirkander or even Sardelle, couldn’t he have already done it? He had been stalking them for days. Surely, he’d had them within his rifle sights. Of course, if
Sardelle
was his target, maybe he hadn’t been certain a bullet would be enough to kill her. If he had seen her shield the group from those arrows, he might think she had that capability to shield herself all the time. Maybe she did. Cas had no idea if the soulblade slept or if it was cognizant of dangers to its wielder all the time. Cas knew nothing about magic, beyond what she had learned in the last couple of months, and she doubted her father had any particular knowledge of it, either—it wasn’t as if people were hiring him to assassinate witches every other week. He could be studying Sardelle from a distance, trying to get a feel for her abilities, before pouncing.

But what would Sardelle have to do with the ziggurat? If she was his assignment, why would he have to come all the way here to find her? He had warned Cas not to go
inside
. Could he know about the dragon? Maybe he had also been sent to ensure the Cofah had no more blood to use. Or for all she knew, he might be there to collect a few vials for a wealthy client back home.

Cas swiped a vine away from her face and pushed aside her thoughts. She was almost back to the others. Even though she knew it wouldn’t be what her father wanted, she would have to warn Zirkander. And Tolemek too. In case she was wrong and he
was
a target. Her belly clenched at the idea of that. He would need every chance at defending himself.

She paused at the sound of voices.

“…what about
inside
the gate?” Zirkander asked. “Any idea how many people are in there? Or if there are any booby trapped doors in the ground that send a man plummeting a hundred feet into a room to be incinerated?”

“A
hundred
feet?” Sardelle asked lightly, her voice close to his. Cas hesitated, reluctant to walk up on them if they were embracing—or doing
more
than embracing. “Really? However did you survive the fall?”

“I landed on Tolemek’s hair. It’s cushy.”

Sardelle snorted. “I’m sorry, but it’s still a hazy blur in there to me. The dragon makes it like trying to find the stars in the sky when the sun is out. And the trying is giving me a headache. I shudder to think about what power he can wield when even his aura makes my brain hurt.”

A twig snapped. Cas didn’t know if they were shifting positions to kiss, or if someone had turned in her direction. Sardelle had mentioned she was struggling to sense people, but Cas was probably standing close enough for her to know she was there.

Cas cleared her throat before coming closer. “Sir? I have a… concern to report.”

“Another one?” Zirkander sounded about as enthused as the pig on the spit about to be roasted over the fire.

“Sorry, sir.”

More twigs snapped, and he stepped away from a tree, so she could see his outline facing her. She winced, knowing that her father would see his outline—all of their outlines—too, if he was in the area, watching this conversation. For now, she didn’t have that feeling of being watched, as she had for so much of their journey, but that wasn’t all that reassuring. It could mean he had gone inside the ziggurat already, that he was ahead of them, doing something that might be at odds with their mission.

“There’s an assassin here,” Cas said, “from back home. A sniper, really, but he’s accurate with a knife and a garrote too.”

Zirkander sighed. “And would you by chance happen to
know
this assassin-sniper?”

“Yes, sir.”

A long silence followed.

“Do
I
know this assassin-sniper?” Sardelle asked.

“You’ve met briefly,” Zirkander said. “He showed up after my house had been vandalized. At the time, I thought it was merely inconvenient timing. Now I’m wondering… Ahn, did you speak to him or just see him? Any idea who sent him or why he’s here?”

“Or how he found this place?” Sardelle added.

Zirkander’s words had set her mind to turning again, and Cas didn’t answer right away. He had mentioned that he had seen her father before they left for the mission, but she hadn’t realized it had been at his house or that Sardelle had been there.

“I did speak to him,” she said slowly, mulling over the possibilities. “He wouldn’t tell me anything, except he warned me not to go in the pyramid. Sir, what was he doing at your house? I haven’t spoken to him in…” She couldn’t even remember the last time. They had been avoiding each other since she joined the military.

“He gave the impression that he was there to pummel me—or worse—because I’d allowed you to cavort around with a certain pirate. Because, as you know, I had so much to do with that.”

“Right. And he met Sardelle at the time?”

“Briefly. He also offered me his card, in case I wanted to hire him to deal with the vandals.”