Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Jacaranda

W e parked Allegiant outside the gates of Faithless. We had no intention of antagonizing Rex Terian anymore than we needed to and entering his city by flying over the gates via ship would have constituted an insult. He had established a border, so we were going to respect it. For now.

Drift stayed aboard the ship—in case this was a violently short visit, we wanted to be ready to leave as soon as possible. Wave did, too, wanting nothing to do with the unclassed ghosts. I wondered if her ununited status was her motivation, or if it was merely her own snobbery. However, Omen joined us for the trip into the city. She was anxious to see the city that had been denied by Mother Portend.

She had changed from her conduit uniform to clothes similar to the other ghosts—usually whatever fatigues or uniforms they wore in life. Given the name of the city, being a representative of the faith was a bad idea. Her clothes were a combination of browns and tans that did nothing for her dark skin. It was strange to see her so unfashionable.

Omen stared up at the massive gates with the rest of us, her expression awed. “Portend had always said Faithless was nothing. This is not nothing.”

The city gates were thirty meters tall and barred entry to a city whose walls were half as high. A line of guards, both living and ghost, stood in front of it, checking those who came and went through the gates. The city was loud—there must have been thousands behind the gate. Faithless was far bigger than I had imagined and that was concerning.

Dozens of skenthas were bound to each side of both doors—I assumed they pulled the heavy doors open and closed. I didn’t like seeing so many so close up. Forty-eight skenthas in total.

Moons above. How did Rex manage that feat?

“You have furry elephants on Halla?” Sarah asked, pointing to them, her eyes wide with amazement as she took them in.

“Skenthas,” I explained. “Yeah, they’re like elephants, but they are not vegetarians.”

She continued to stare. “Their fur…is that the same gray fur that’s on Deacon’s bed?”

“Yes,” Deacon answered for himself as he walked up beside her. “That fur is from the first skentha I ever hunted.”

She glanced at him. “And since they’re not vegetarians, I’m guessing that was one hell of a hunt.”

Deacon chuckled. “It was a fair fight, if that is what you mean.”

“Do those things eat Ladrians?” she asked.

“Or anything else they want,” I interjected.

“But they’re using them like work animals,” she said, confused.

“I’m not sure how they’re doing it, either,” I admitted, and pressed my hand to her lower back. “Best we keep moving.”

As we came closer to the flowing foot traffic, several took note of Sarah. No other humans were in the crowd. They were rare enough on Orhon, but it seemed Halla was completely devoid of her kind. The ghosts could sense when someone was united, so they didn’t try anything with Sarah. I hoped they wouldn’t work their courage up to test her.

We made our way to the entry line, keeping to ourselves.

“You there,” the largest living guard shouted our way.

I met his glaring gaze with one of my own. “Yeah?”

But he wasn’t looking at me. His eyes were on Leda. He walked straight up to her, ignoring the rest of us. “You were sent to your new master. Why are you back, Leda?”

“Crius,” she greeted the hulking guard. “We are here to seek an audience with Rex.”

He glanced at all of us. “Which one is your new master?”

“She is.” Leda pointed to Sarah. “This is the contra, Crius.”

He laughed heartily. “No, really.”

Sarah stepped forward before I could stop her. “I am the contra, Crius.”

“Humans have the strangest sense of humor.” He rolled his eyes. “No, really—”

Sarah swiftly withdrew the bone knife we’d given her for protection and stuck the tip against his gut, without stabbing him. Every muscle in my body locked tight, ready for an attack from the other guards. Deacon, being closer to her, had his hand on his knife’s handle, ready for a battle. Omen, too. Leda, on the other hand, was shaking.

Sarah growled a warning at Crius. “Do not doubt me again, boy.”

He appeared to struggle with his embarrassment at the fact that a tiny human had gotten the drop on him, but was smart enough not to move. “Fine, fine. You can put that away.” His thick jaw tightened. “My apologies, Contra.”

Giving him a satisfied nod, she sheathed her knife in response to his apology.

Crius said, “I will call on Helios to greet you. I am sure he will be swift. You may wait over there, if you wish,” he said, gesturing to an empty space near the gate and the guards. “Be well.” Then, he darted to the messenger post.

Deacon turned his back to where Crius had been to subtly and quietly ask under his breath to Sarah, “What the fuck was that?”

She jutted out her chin. “Rex, and his people, need to know I am no one to be trifled with.”

I nearly smiled at her stubborn bravery, even if it could have gotten us all killed. “She scared the crap out of me, too, Deacon, but she’s right.”

“We’re here, so come on,” Omen said impatiently, then left for where Crius had told us to go.

We followed, and it was better than being in the crowd, but the open position also left us vulnerable. Is that why he sent us here? I kept my eyes on everything around us for any sign of trouble, and within minutes, I found it. “Leda, is that Helios?”

She seemed to recoil as her gaze landed on the man I was referencing. “Yes.”

I instinctively gripped the end of my weapon. “You don’t like him?”

She shook her head. “No one likes him.”

Helios was nearly as tall as Deacon, but not as muscled. I can take him, I thought to myself, knowing it was really not an option considering it would undoubtedly incite a riot. I needed to follow Sarah’s lead in Faithless. We were here to support her return of Leda and that was all. Once we were done with that business, we were getting the fuck out of there.

I forced myself to remain calm as he smiled smugly at Sarah. His navy blue uniform was made of fine silk, his shoes of cina hides. Expensive duds on a cheap excuse of a man .

Amusement flickered in his eyes as he gave her a thorough once over. “I understand you nearly gutted one of our finest, Contra .” He said her title like he doubted either her, or it.

“Are you Helios?” she asked.

He smirked at her. “Forgive my manners. It is not every day a human comes unannounced to see my master. I am Helios Vestig, minister of foreign affairs. You are Sarah Hollinger, the human who killed Mother Portend, an enemy of our city. On behalf of all the residents of Faithless, I thank you.” He bowed at the waist to her before he stood once more. “You may leave now,” he said dismissively, and spun on his heel to turn away.

“Vestig!” Sarah hollered fearlessly, impressing me once again with her gumption.

Nearby ghosts stopped what they were doing and stared at our group.

Helios whipped back around. “You barked?” he said in a snide tone.

“I did not come here for your thanks,” Sarah said, holding her own. “I came to see Rex Terian.”

He arched a brow. “But you did not send an envoy.”

“No, I did not.”

“You dare presume—”

“I am Sarah Hollinger, the contra, the Mother of conduits,” she said valiantly. “You will make arrangements for me to see your master in person myself. Now .”

His feathers were ruffled, being yelled at by a human in front of all those witnessing the exchange. “I am not your scout, Contra,” he sneered. “Tell me why I should bother with any of you.”

Shoulders tense, she glared at him but said nothing for a beat. Then she smoothed the anger from her face and calmly said, “I have a gift for Rex.”

Helios’ lip curled with disdain. “If you wish to see him despite this ghastly breach of decorum, Contra , then you must fight for the right to see him.”

She looked completely taken aback, while my own stomach churned with unease.

“You want to fight me?” she asked, confused.

He laughed. “Certainly not. You will fight one of the champions of Faithless in the arena.”

No fucking way. I immediately stepped forward before she could agree. “I will be her champion, Helios.”

“Jac, no,” she said, frowning at me. “I’ll do it, I just—”

I leaned down to her ear. “Not happening, baby, so it’s best to let me do this without argument. If we argue in front of Helios, it will make us look weak.”

“Fine.” She huffed her breath out of her nose in frustration, clearly not happy with me usurping her authority. “Jacaranda Cozz will be my champion in the arena.”

“Very well.” Helios clapped, and four living guards came to his side. “Take that one to the arena to prepare for his fight. Take the rest by carriage to the arena, so they may watch their champion fall.” Two guards came to collect me, while the other two left to fetch a carriage.

I turned to Deacon and Sarah. “I’ll be fine. Watch out for each other.”

“Wait.” Sarah grabbed me by my collar and brought me down to her height for a kiss. Nearby, Ladrians gasped at the scandalous sight, but she ignored their shock, her gaze filled with worry when she met mine. “Don’t do this if you think it will go badly. Escape, do whatever you need to—”

I kissed her again and stroked my fingers along her soft cheek. “Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself in a fight. You and Deacon be careful and watch your backs.”

She swallowed hard and nodded as Deacon took her hand in his, just as the guards nudged me away from the group.

I grumbled, pulling my shoulder away from their pushing hands. “I’m going.”

I honestly didn’t know if they were taking me to the arena, or someplace to be executed. Helios’ story about needing a fighter would have been the perfect ploy to separate a fighter from our crew. But I marched with the two guards despite my doubts.

The streets of Faithless reminded me of Yesanol—dirty, full of people, gray, in every direction. Buildings varied in size, from single story to multiple. Vendors hawked, thrusting handful of goods in front of me. Not long ago, they would have ignored me as much as they ignored the guards. But being back in Deacon’s employ, my clothes were well-kempt, my hair was trimmed, I looked healthier.

I looked like I had wealth and status.

It was a strange thing to be viewed that way. Memories of my boyhood, before I had been given to Deacon’s father as a child, flooded to the front of my mind. Days when I, too, had hawked my family’s goods—my mother’s questionable neneed. I was four or five, barefoot, shouting at strangers for them to buy her cheap liquor. It was strong enough to degrease an engine and not fit for Ladrian consumption whatsoever, but we tried.

“What are you staring for, fighter?” one of the guards taunted. “Your tail up your bum?”

I rolled my eyes, realizing I had stopped in front of a vegetable stand. “Lead the way.”

Two streets further, and a turn to the east, and suddenly, the arena loomed overhead. It was bigger than the one in Yesanol. “You folks are serious about your fights, aren’t you?”

“Best sport there is,” one of the guards said.

“The only real sport left, besides split disk,” his sidekick added.

“Anyone know what the latest score was on the Drecks game?” I asked.

One guard snorted. “You think they broadcast split disk to Halla?”

“Guess not.”

They walked me up to a window next to the gate where a girl sat, waiting for tickets. “This one is fighting for the contra.”

She frowned at the guards. “Huh?”

“Just add him to the fighters, Erinye,” the guard groused.

“Aye.” She nodded and typed onto a touchpad. “Need a name.”

“Jacaranda Cozz.”

A moment later she glanced up. “You are entered. You two, take him below.”

“Below?” I asked, because that didn’t sound so good.

But the guards didn’t reply and nudged me again, until I went with them. The side entrance opened up to stairs that dropped into darkness beneath the arena. Once we were down below, a faint light came on and it moved ahead of us, leading us to our destination, which was a large metal door. A guard knocked, and as the door creaked open, steam poured out.

Inside were girls. A lot of girls. Laughing, chatting, strolling, moaning girls. There was also the occasional male fighter, but mostly what I saw was girls.

Because they were naked.

I came to an abrupt halt in the doorway. “The fuck is this?”

A guard gave me a push, forcing me to step forward, then shut and locked the door behind me. In addition to the girls and the random fighters, were several large hot baths. It was too steamy inside for me to size up my competition—all of them were in the baths. Two Ladrian girls, one blue-haired, one pink-haired, smiled and came straight to me. They were completely nude and heavy with curves.

They giggled as they said, “Hello,” together.

I cautiously said, “Hi.”

Blue batted her lashes coquettishly at me. “Would you like to join our bath?”

“I’m supposed to be fighting—”

“Yes, that’s why we’re here,” Pink said, stepping closer and caressing a hand down my chest.

“To help bathe the fighters,” Blue added.

“Or to relieve their tension,” Pink flirted.

Then they both giggled again.

I exhaled a breath, trying to sort out what the fuck was really going on. But I didn’t want to make a scene when I had no idea if there was a way out of this place, so I said, “I’ll take the bath, but no tension relief, thank you.”

“This way.” They each took a hand and pulled me to a steaming bath in the corner. Then they started to undress me.

Tamping down my annoyance, I brushed their hands away “I’ve got it. Thank you.” I stripped off the rest of my clothes myself and slipped into the hot water. It felt great, but I couldn’t relax. I was too distracted by the sights and sounds around me.

“After your bath, we will oil you down,” Pink said.

“Not needed,” I replied.

“Oh, but it is,” Blue chimed in. “Rex demands all the fighters are bathed and oiled to perfection. He likes to see the muscles clearly from his view in the tower over the arena. The oil makes them more defined.”

I grit my teeth. “Fine.”

Pink and Blue slipped into the bath on either side of me, nuzzling against my body. Pink skimmed her hand up my thigh and smiled up at me. “I’ve heard about you, Jacaranda Cozz. Girls say you have a magic—”

I slipped away to the other side of the tub before she could grab my cock. “My magic is reserved for my companion and my consort.”

They both pouted, and I wondered what the hell Rex had been up to over the years. This was nothing like what I had expected, and I imagined the bathhouse would not be the only time I was surprised in Faithless.