Engines and werewolves

Chapter 66

I turn that over in my head for a while, but it seems only fair.

sister collins is all brisk efficiency. She hustles me into the next room, and I strip off my new clothes and stand patiently while she walks around me. She touches the marks, carefully.

“They don’t hurt?”

I shake my head. “Feels perfectly ordinary.”

“And you say these came from some kind of mushroom?”

“Yes,” I say, belatedly realizing this might not have been such a good idea. sister collins seems sharp enough to poke holes in my hasty cover story. “It wasn’t like anything I’ve seen up here,” I improvise. “Probably only lives in the Deeps.”

“Hmm.” She frowns. “Could you sketch it?”

“Marvel would do a better job, once she wakes up.”

She nods. “It sounds like a useful thing to add to our repertoire. I may suggest an expedition to retrieve some.”

“I don’t know if I could find my way back to the exact spot,” I say.

sister collins waves a hand. “It will be difficult, of course. But without a Ghul talent in the crew, we need all the help we can get.”

I yawn. “You must get some ghulwitches as sacrifices.”

“Less frequently than you might think,” she says. “The only one I know of served in Shiara’s clade, but he was killed more than a year ago.”

There’s more to that story, but her expression warns me not to dig into it. I’m certainly not about to tell anyone Marvel’s secret, even if it still gives me the creeps when I think about it too hard. sister collins indicates that I should get dressed, and leans out into the hall to summon a bowl of crab juice.

“It’ll be just the one night, you understand,” she says. “We need the space for the injured, most of the time.”

“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “After tomorrow, I’ll have somewhere to go.”

I spend another uncomfortable night in the stupid City of bangad-style bed, suspended several feet above the floor for no readily apparent reason. At least the crab juice, the soup of miscellaneous crab parts and mushrooms ubiquitous on Soliton, is hot and delicious.

In the morning, I go back to Marvel’s room. She’s still asleep, and a young man in dark robes is carefully giving her water. He pauses as she moans, and shifts uneasily.

“Her fever has come down nicely,” sister collins says, when she bustles in. “She’s going to be fine, though of course the leg will take some time to heal.”

I remember the feeling of the hammerhead’s jaws closing on my own leg, the snap of breaking bones and the hot gush of blood from shredded flesh. Now the only evidence is a ring of curling blue marks around my calf, thanks to Marvel. My stomach still lurches when I think about her power, but not as badly as it once might have.

sister collins and her assistant leave me alone with Marvel. Her features are smooth now, calm. Her eyes quiver, shifting restlessly under closed lids. I wish she’d wake up.

There’s a knock on the wall beside the curtain doorway, and a hesitant voice. “Victoria?”

It’s Belvia, looking even more nervous than usual. I force a smile, trying to put him at his ease, but it doesn’t seem to have the intended effect. I don’t have a lot of practice not frightening people. Better to get to the point.

“What’s going on?” I ask him.

He’s looking past me, to Marvel. His eyes are wide. “Is she really going to be all right?”

“sister collins says she’ll be fine,” I say, irritably. The way he looks at her bothers me. “What are you doing here?”

He looks back at me and swallows hard. “Andre sent me.”

“Is he ready to talk?”

Belvia shakes his head, miserably. “He says … he accepts your challenge. He’ll be waiting in the Ring at midday.”

I look at him blankly. “The Ring?”

“It’s where formal challenges are fought,” Belvia says. “So there can be witnesses.”

Rot. I’d hoped Andre would come to his senses. “Did he tell you anything else?”

Belvia shakes his head again. “But…”

“But what?”

“I shouldn’t tell you this.” He glances at Marvel. “The Butcher came to our quarters last night. She and Andre talked for a long time.”

Which explains a lot. No doubt the Butcher promised him her favor if he kills me. So much for Andre coming to his senses.

Rot them both, then. We’ll do this the hard way.

“Okay,” I tell Belvia. “I’m going to go and get this over with.”

“But…” He looks like he’s about to cry. “Andre is … strong. You should apologize. He might—”

“Stay here with Marvel,” I say, ignoring him. “If she wakes up, tell her I’ll be back soon. Can you do that?”

“I’ll tell her. But what if—”

“Tell her,” I grate, “I’ll be back.”

Belvia blinks, and nods.

* * *

It can’t be long until midday, so I don’t have time to waste. Fortunately, the Ring isn’t hard to find. All I have to do is follow the crowd. Apparently the news that the infamous Deepwalker will be fighting has spread rapidly, and a steady stream of crew drifts down the ragged street. Word of what I look like has spread, too, and I can hear the whispers around me, see the glances at the marks on my face. I keep my eyes fixed ahead, ignoring them.