Page 48 of Monster Married
Okay, I was being dramatic. But the images of how the bear had left the cola ash people by the wall still sort of lingered on the backs of my eyelids whenever I closed them, and I needed a distraction. I was just going to focus on the bright things in my life.
Inkiri looked at me. “Who would forbid you to love a mate, sweet thing? Are you feeling well? Your skin looks pale.”
“What’s with him?” Fellisse said, coming up behind us.
“Oh, don’t mind me. I’m perfectly fine.” The next thing I knew, my foot caught on an oddly placed stone in the street, and I would have faceplanted if Inkiri hadn’t had such a good hold on me.
“Sadir?”
“Oh. Now I smell it too.” And then I heard a gunshot, and another. “I’m fine, it’s just, you know, I didn’t watch where I was going. Let’s find Lissir and Nokim.”
There was shouting ahead, and a gust of wind really gave me a noseful of smoke, little gray specks of ash dancing in front of my face. So much for most of the houses being protected against fire by magic.
Vergis jogged just behind the orb, which was keeping pace with him, and glanced around the corner up ahead with his gun ready. Wisps of black drifted skyward above the roofs. Fellisse grunted and ran past us to catch up with Vergis while the bagua with us guarded the rear, but before Fellisse reached him, Vergis spun and jogged back to me and Inkiri.
“Road ahead is almost blocked, and I see Koa Esher, their mages.” He gave me a lopsided grin. “I have an idea.”
I stifled the groan that wanted out. This was the bear all over again. “Of course you effing do.”
He gave me a seething look. “You want to watch someone’s home go up in flames and tell them later that you could have helped but didn’t like the idea of it?”
“You never said it was about that.”
“Because you never let me fucking finish.”
Inkiri clicked. “Vergis, your idea.”
“Right. Me and the princess stay here and help with extinguishing the fire. You two take the orb, circle around the other side, and find Nokim and Lissir.”
Another gunshot rang out. I suddenly had a very bad feeling about those noises, and something icy tickled along my spine. We had to do something fast.
I squared my shoulders. “Sounds like a plan. Let’s do it. Now.”
Inkiri looked down at me and opened his mouth.
“Nope. No. I like Vergis’s plan. Can you two please go find Lissir and Nokim?”
A host of emotions passed over Inkiri’s face. He looked at Vergis. “Keep him safe for me, Vergis.” Then he looked at me. “And you, Sadir. Keep yourself safe for me. I promise to do the same for you.”
With a human kiss to my lips, he turned and headed for an even narrower alley between two houses. Vergis made a small gesture, and the red orb changed course and bobbed ahead of Inkiri now.
Fellisse gave us a nod before he followed Inkiri, motioning for two of the bagua following us to go with him. That left Vergis and me with three of them. “Take care, you two.”
“What do I do?” I asked. The cold tingling along my spine was still there and growing stronger, and I didn’t like it.
“You hold those branches. Hmm. Weather is a pretty tall order, but I wonder… Come with me for a sec.” He dragged me to the corner ahead. The bagu guard followed. One of them said something, but Vergis ignored them. “Okay, quiet, no sudden movements. Just take a look at what’s burning.” Vergis pointed at the smoke when we were at the corner.
I nodded and leaned forward. There were the white-clad cola ash people, and there, the ones with the twisted horns and small, equally twisted bodies—their mages. They were holding their glass jars, but along with them were the military guards. Pretty much the same setup that had ambushed us at the lake on our way to the Stone.
The mages used their jars and dropped them, then straight away pulled new ones from bags they had slung over their shoulders. Some of the jars were relatively big, and the animals in there were more than just insects. They could have been the size of puppies. Whatever they were, they squirmed in terror inside those jars, and I had to look away.
All of the mages were focused on the burning building up ahead; a wooden structure, close to its neighbors, beautifully built, but slowly being devoured.
I leaned back.
“Saw it?” Vergis asked.
I nodded, and we took a few steps back.
