"Niko," I said through clamped teeth, struggling to shove the fire in my face back down. "Didn't you know this area's supposed to be evacuated?"

"It's Miss Sajes to you, mutt." The sharpened tip of Niko's axe jabbed into my lower back. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't swing."

I rolled my eyes. "Because what I did to you, really wasn't that bad, considering what I've done to other—" I broke off as another spasm of pain shot through my chest.

"Then I'll swing for the others. Everyone has suffered enough of you."

The pressure of the axe vanished right as Grey sprang to his feet. He held up his hands in an appeasing gesture like he'd done with Ms. Lota. "Please, I feel so left out of this conversation. We haven't been formally introduced. And it's an injustice to be not introduced to such a beautiful lady."

I was finally able to turn and stare up at the Ourthian girl, standing in a wide stance before us. She'd never lived in Ourth, but her parents had. She had the softest hint of their accent, a supposedly deep soothing tone. But Niko smothered any gentleness under the rage that was carved into her rich, dark face.

"Don't patronize me, fluffy head!" She swung the large curved blade to point at him.

"Fluffy head?" Grey blinked several times.

"You are," I puffed.

He spared me a glance before focusing back on Niko. "I know he's done some terrible things, but you would honestly kill him for some pathetic pranks and rudeness?"

"Pathetic?" I pressed my hand to my side again.

"You are," Grey said out of the corner of his quirked mouth.

I tried to kick his leg but barely managed to get the side of his boot, and it only inflamed the sting in my foot.

"Clearly you don't know this thing very well. You haven't had the privilege of tasting his venom," Niko snarled.

Grey leaned against the crates. Another bead of sweat rolled down his face, but he gave her his shrewd smile. "Have you ever tried not opening your mouth? I've found that if you keep it shut, the venom doesn't get in."

Niko's eyes widened before she grit her teeth and pulled back her axe. "I see now. You two are the same."

A creak of a door swinging open made Niko jerk her head, and Grey ducked down with me again.

"Pa." Niko's hard face didn't soften as I had expected.

Grey and I held our breaths as we heard large footsteps thud into the workshop, even though we knew it was pointless.

"Inniko, borso mihan," an extremely deep voice grunted.

Niko's lip twitched back into another snarl, but she rolled her shoulders back and disappeared around the boxes to go help her father.

I glanced around us to see if there was any window or back door to make a break for it, but there was none close enough for us. My head would be rolling on the floor before we made it three feet out of our hiding spot.

Grey bit his lip. "I probably could have put that better," he whispered.

"I thought you said it quite well," I replied.

He bowed his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I might have said it that way as a retort. But I more meant that if you just don't let the words affect you, then you can't get under her skin." He focused on me again. "What exactly did you do or say to her?"

"I—"

"Called me a man."

Niko was back. This time an enormous muscular man as dark as a moonless night sky loomed beside her.

"You have got to get over that," I said. "I mean look at what you're wearing." It was a tan dress, but it was bunched up in the middle of the skirt, making them loose makeshift breeches that sat above the mens-cut black boots. "Plus, you've got your pa's broad—ow!" I jerked back as Grey pinched my arm.

He shot up again and stumbled a little over his feet. He caught himself against the crates and straightened. Then he gave the man a bow. "Mr. Sajes, I presume. I'm so sorry for this moron. I shall ensure he never says another despicable word about your lovely daughter ever—"

"I can fight my own battles," Niko snapped.

Mr. Sajes opened his mouth, but then the dreaded sound of galloping horses approaching made him close it and turn toward the door.

Grey swallowed hard, swaying a bit. "Please, Sir. I know we've just intruded on your home here, but we can leave. If you could just let us slip out your back door, we'll never bother you aga—"

Mr. Sajes held up a massive hand, still looking toward the front. A sharp rapping hit against the wood. "Open up. By the order of the peacekeepers, we demand entry."

"Get down," Mr. Sajes said softly.

Grey stood frozen for a moment before he slowly lowered himself.

Niko's head whipped back and forth to stare at us and then back to her father. "What in Fate's name is going on?"

Mr. Sajes moved away from our eye-line, moving toward the door. Niko stamped after him.

We heard him unlatch the lock, and Grey turned and squinted through a crack between two of the boxes. I forced myself to turn and bit my tongue to keep myself from crying out. Grey looked at me. Careful, he mouthed. I ignored the warning and shoved him a little, so I could take a peek too. He adjusted so that he was above me.

The dark toned bladesmith towered over the man in the pale robe. "We don't mean to alarm you, but there's been an unfortunate accident," the peacekeeper said. "Even with our precautions two Chaos children have slipped into the city. We apologize for this horror. We are doing all in our power to regain control of the situation. One has already been taken care of, but there is another. He's a young, white-haired boy, wearing a bright red scarf. He and another boy with darker features were seen running off in this direction. Did you see them?"

Mr. Sajes was silent.

Grey's chin thumped against the top of my head. I pulled back to glare at him, but I saw the trembling in his hands that braced himself against the boxes and the unsteady look in his expression. His breaths were coming out almost as unevenly as mine.

"I have not," rumbled the low, thick voice of the Ourthian man.

I almost choked before looking back through the narrow crevice.

The peacekeeper didn't look convinced. "Are you certain? They could be hiding in your shop."

"I keep my door locked," Mr. Sajes replied calmly.

"For your safety perhaps it would be better if we take a look."

My vision was getting darker around the edges again. I was practically holding my breath to help stem the pain in my chest and to help keep quiet, but it was all making me lightheaded.

"I doubt a Chaos child would be foolish enough to hide in a Kybaan's home," Mr. Sajes said. "Not only that, but a trained bladesman. If I find a rat, I kill it before it knows to run. If I find your Chaos boy, I'll be sure to deliver the body to you personally."

I could only see the back of Niko's head. Her long, thick hair, darker than her skin, was wrapped tightly in a braided bun. She jerked back at her father's words and I saw enough of her profile to see the daggers she glared at him. She opened her mouth.

Don't you dare, I fired silently at her.

The peacekeeper rocked back a bit from the big man. "You are quite a force, Mr. Sajes, but Chaos children are more dangerous than you think. We recommend heading north for the palace until it's sorted."

"I'll be fine here for now, thank you." Mr. Sajes nodded and started pushing the door closed.

I waited for the peacekeeper to thrust out a hand and stop him, to shove in and make his search anyway, but the cloaked man stepped back and let the door shut.

"I doubt they'll stay away," Mr. Sajes said quietly.

"Papa!" Niko shook her head. "What in all the fiery pits was that?"

Mr. Sajes brushed past his daughter without responding.

Grey pushed away from the gap and thumped his back against the crates. He bowed his head into his knees. I turned, opening my mouth only to have that flaring agony light up my side. I grunted and fell back too, my vision going white.

After the pain spots cleared, I saw Grey in front of me again. He looked up as Mr. Sajes came over and took in a deep, shaky breath with a strained expression. "Thank you, Sir. I don't know how I..." He looked away.

Mr. Sajes crouched down beside us, looking me over and then turned to Niko. "Inniko, please go to the Gunheld Tower and explain to Mr. Gunheld what's happened to his boy. Do your best to avoid the peacekeepers."

"And why should I do such a thing? Are you taking his side over mine? After all he's done—"

"No," Mr. Sajes growled softly.

"Then why should I listen to you after what you di—"

"Please, mihan." The big man bowed his head.

Niko rocked back and forth for a moment before giving a frustrated shout and storming out of view.

"Are you hurt too, boy?" Mr. Sajes asked Grey, who still wasn't looking at him.

Grey shook his head quickly.

Mr. Sajes nodded. "Alright." Then huge, burly arms slid under my knees and around my back and lifted me up.

I made a pained squawk in protest at being held like a child.

Mr. Sajes turned and headed toward one of the back doors I thought might have been an exit. "Don't think I approve of you, Mr. Chronus," he murmured to me.

I couldn't really say much of anything as he pushed into what had to be his home. There was a small, dark kitchen, a sitting place, and bed in the corner. There was also a ladder, leading up to a loft. He brought me over to the bed on the other side of the room and gently laid me across the top.

"I didn't ask you to help me," I wheezed up at him as he adjusted the pillows against my back.

"I'll go get some water for your feet," he said. He stepped aside and went for the back door of the addition.

Grey, who had followed him, let out a long breath. "Even after he helped us, you still can't shut up." He sat down in a small chair beside the bed.

"Why are you ashamed whenever someone helps you?" I asked and winced.

Grey hunched forward and rested his elbows on his knees and his chin in his hands. "Ashamed, am I?"

"I don't know," I said. "You're something, though."

It hurt me to talk, so I didn't say anything else. Grey didn't either. Mr. Sajes returned and began to clean my feet. I was too exhausted to object. My consciousness slipped away before Alastair showed up, but I had the pleasant feeling of being stabbed awake for his greeting.

I gasped and jolted forward, but Alastair's wrinkled hand braced my shoulder against the cushions.

"Steady," he said.

I glanced down and saw a thick needle shot into my bruised side. I glared at the old man. "What in the name of Alon?" I hissed through gritted teeth, gripping his arm tightly.

Alastair sighed, and after a second longer, pulled out the needle. The moment it left my body, a full expanse of air easily filled my lungs. I had almost forgotten what that felt like.

The alchemist stood and went over to a box at the end of the bed.

I looked over to the chair and saw Grey slumped over, snoring lightly. Then my eyes circled the rest of the small space. The bladesmith and his daughter weren't there.

"I was hoping for a few more days to prepare, but I don't know why I expected to get that," Alastair muttered, digging through his kit. He glanced up at me. "Not even a full twenty-four hours, and you had to go blow up the city."

"I had help this time." I meant to give a sardonic shrug, but the pain from moving my shoulders about knocked me out again.

Alastair watched me struggle a moment before standing with a new needle. He stuck it into the arm that might have been dislocated and pushed down on the plunger. I grit my teeth, but a slightly pleasant numbing sensation buzzed over the pain.

The door to the workshop opened and Mr. Sajes and the axe-wielding girl entered.

"Peacekeepers are everywhere. There's no way you could slip away, now," Mr. Sajes informed us.

Alastair nodded. "I expected as much. Nothing like this has happened in over a decade." He tugged at his beard. "I hate to take more advantage of your hospitality, Mr. Sajes, but would it be possible for us to stay the night? I think there will be enough lapse in the early morning for us to sneak out. And I'll be sure to pay you."

Mr. Sajes bowed his head.

"Thank you."

"Where are you going to go with a Chaos child?" Niko stepped in front of her father and put her hands on her wide hips, swaying them a bit from side to side. I shuffled a little from an uncomfortable fluttering in my stomach.

Alastair cleared his throat. "I'm not sure it would be wise to say."

"I'm not going to snitch on you." She rolled her eyes.

You wanted to, I thought.

"Mihan, be respectful," Mr. Sajes reprimanded her.

Alastair drummed his fingers on the footboard of the bed. "Here, Mr. Sajes, allow me to get the payment now." He turned away from me and went into the little dining area. There was another bag on the table. Mr. Sajes followed him.

Niko glared after them before turning it back to me. She stalked over to the bed and snatched the front of my shirt and yanked me very close to her round face. It was smooth and I wondered how soft. My heart did an annoying stutter. And again, agonizing heat blasted under my skin. Her own heat steaming across my nose and cheeks didn't help. "Why should I help you?" She snarled quietly.

I swallowed hard down my dry throat. "You shouldn't."

Her lips parted.

"You're wrong." I jerked my head toward Grey. "He's different. We're not the same."

She shook her head, making a few of her dark curly hairs come loose and swing in front of her face—I thought I saw a glint of silver among the black. "Oh, but you are like him. You may not be marked, but that doesn't mean you don't have a monster's claws."

I grit my teeth. "Be careful, or I might be the one to swing at you."

She rolled her eyes and pulled back, and it felt like when Alastair removed the first shot and I could breathe again. I sunk back into the pillows. Niko turned, and I saw the axe at her back in its leather sheathe. There was a small hooked clasp around the handle that could be easily removed or latched for her convenience. "I'd love to see you try, Chronus. The two of us haven't had the opportunity to go head to head. I think it's overdue."

I narrowed my eyes. "Take on an injured? Isn't that beneath you?"

"It's not beneath you," she said.

I didn't deny it.

Alastair and Mr. Sajes returned. "Salem should be able to move soon," Alastair said. "Would it be alright if the boys took your loft? I'd hate for him to take your bed from you."

"The loft's my room," Niko snapped.

Mr. Sajes nodded. "You can sleep with me, Inniko."

Niko shook her head.

"Take the other boy up there," Mr. Sajes gestured to Grey, still out like a light.

Niko stared long and hard at her father before going over and roughly shaking Grey's shoulder. He jerked up, wide-eyed. "Alright, freak," she said. An irritating prickling sensation flickered across my shoulders. "Come with me."

"Wha—?"

She dragged him to his feet and swerved him around. "Wait, a second." He craned his head to glance back at me. I gave him a nod, and the two of them vanished up the ladder.

Alastair checked over my feet, put a salve on and wrapped them. After his potions settled in me, I drifted back to sleep for a bit before waking to the smell of burnt potatoes and slightly charred vegetables. "Eat up," Alastair handed me a plate of those exact items.

"Why would I want to eat that?" I scowled down at the blackened food.

Alastair had already walked back to the kitchen. "You need strength. Afterward, you should try to stand and move around a bit."

I groaned. I was starving, but this was not what I wanted. I glanced out the crack in the window and saw the sun peeking in. My guess was afternoon at this point, but I had no idea. Succumbing to my growling stomach, I ate the burnt food. I glanced up at the loft, but didn't see the fluffy head. After I'd finished the food, I threw the hot blankets off of me and put weight on my bandaged feet. They stung, but it didn't even touch the pain they'd been in earlier. It was the same with the rest of my body. It was achy and sore, but I could move around and breathe without buckling like a puppet with cut strings.

I climbed up the ladder to see Grey sitting underneath a window, his eyes closed.

"Wow, the lightning really zaps it out of ya'," I said.

His eyes fluttered open. "Awful pun." He grinned tiredly at me.

"I can't believe it was you two idiots who completely obliterated Swarling Way."

I jumped and glared as Niko stepped out from the shadowy corner, her arms crossed.

Grey looked up at her. "Is that why you're not afraid of us?"

"Afraid?" She snorted. "Why would I be afraid of a fairy and a mutt?"

"We completely obliterated Swarling Way," I said. "That fairy can electrocute you, and you already know my reputation."

She marched over to me and my jaw clenched. She was barely taller than me—only by an inch...maybe two—but she used that inch...or two...to their full extent. "And I'm a Kybaan."

"Oh," Grey sat up a little straighter. "I've never met a Kybaan...or well, I haven't met a lot of different kinds of people. But anyway, I'm curious. Is it true about your strength?"

Niko's lips twitched before she turned away from me and looked down at him. "If you're asking if I could pick up Chronus here, and huck him over the next-door building, then yes I could."

Grey's eyes widened. "Fascinating."

I let out a hiss. "I find it less fascinating."

"Ms. Sajes," Grey said. "I'm really the most curious about why you're helping us. Why are you and your father helping a Chaos child?"

"Haven't you ever heard not to look a gift horse in the mouth?" Niko tugged at the strap across her shoulder that held her axe. "I'm just doing what Papa says." Her lip curled. "I don't care about the whole Chaos thing. I'm just bitter because I didn't get the chance to turn Chronus over to them."

"You also seemed pissed at your pa," I cut in. "I figured you'd turn us in just to spite him."

She rounded on me again. "If the roles were reversed, you would have done it. The business between me and my father is personal, but I don't let things like that define my actions."

I sneered. "Right, not you."

Niko swung her leg around and smashed her boot on my wrapped toes. I cried out and stumbled back into the straw that lined the floor around us. "Case and point," I ground out.

She shook her head and clambered down the ladder.

I looked over at Grey, who had a frustratingly pleasant expression on his face. "What? No sassy remark or long-suffering sigh?"

Grey chuckled. "Don't worry, in my head you're getting an earful."

"Why not out loud?" I cradled my throbbing foot.

Alastair's head suddenly popped up from the ladder. "Come here, Salem."

"Why?" I muttered from my flopped position on the ground.

Alastair turned his head. "Come here, Grey."

Grey yawned and stretched before crawling over.

Alastair held out a tall cream candle. I noticed the sigil carved into the wax on the side. "This is a snuff candle. As it says, it snuffs the light of whoever holds it. In other words, when it's lit it will hide you from view. The peacekeepers are doing searches of homes now. They'll come around here, certainly. I've hidden the cart in a shed a few streets over, but I have to return to the library for the inspections." He placed the candle into Grey's hand. "The two of you stay here. When they come, hide in the corner, but wait until the last possible moment to light this. It burns out fast, but it will hide you from them while it burns."

Grey nodded. "Thank you, Sir."

Alastair returned the nod. "Remember it hides the light, not the sound." He gave me a look before ducking out of sight again.

Grey moved over to me. "Alastair's got something for everything, doesn't he? How has he not been caught yet with all the alchemy he uses?"

"He usually does have something up his sleeves." I scanned over the regular-looking candle that was about the height of my hand and the circumference just larger than my palm. "And either the peacekeepers are as stupid as they look or Alastair uses the alchemy to not get caught using the alchemy."

"He's got some sound circular reasoning." Grey smirked.

Less than an hour later we heard the stampede of galloping along the street. A chill swept up through the eaves. I peeked out the window, down to the road where fifteen or so men and a few women in the bone-colored cloaks dismounted their pitch-black horses that were slightly larger than their normal equine counterparts. "They must breed those things," I whispered.

Grey, who sat curled up underneath the window again, shivered. He rolled down his sleeves over the goose-bumps. "They like to be intimidating, and those horses definitely help."

The peacekeepers separated into groups of three and went to the surrounding houses and shops. Most of them didn't bother knocking and just barged in. I supposed all the sane people had abandoned the area, so there wasn't anyone to answer their doors anyway.

The sound of the big workshop doors crashing in made me duck back down. Grey and I crept to the corner like we were told to. Then came the thuds and clangs, and Mr. Sajes's rumbling voice spoke out in protest on the other side.

Niko, who had been sitting silently at the dining table, rose to her feet. I could just see the top of her dark head. But then the apartment door swung open, and Grey and I curled in tighter into our corner. I glanced down at the candle in my hand and realized with a gut-wrenching jolt that we didn't have spark rocks. We had no way to light the stupid thing. I turned my wide eyes to Grey. He wasn't looking at me. His stare was trained ahead, his breath bated.

"Step aside, girl," a man said. I could practically feel the retort burning in Niko's throat. The table was knocked to the side. I heard the pillows and blankets being ruffled and shaken. Then I heard the tearing into the old stiff mattress. They were ridiculously thorough. "Vaska, check the attic," said the same male voice.

Then there was the creek on the ladder.

With one hand wrapped around the candle, Grey lifted his other over the wick. I had the brief moment of feeling like an idiot for worrying about our lack of spark rocks before his finger sparked and lit the candle with a pop and a stunning flash. The light brightened the space and would normally have drawn eyes to the corner where we were, but the hooded head that rose up, glanced around the room evenly.

The light from the candle shone on her ice white face, the shadows from her cloak, giving her the appearance of wearing a stone mask. There was a tinge of blue to her skin and I realized that she must be from Irst, or have some relation there. The woman climbed the rest of the way up, and her height of over six and half feet confirmed her having some ice giant blood. Her boots scraped across the straw as she slowly dragged her way around the place. Not once, did her eyes stray on us. She walked the perimeter, heavily hunched under the low ceiling. Grey and I stood and inched around her, when she got near. Even her skin emitted cold. We shielded the candle between us, careful not to breathe out on the small flame.

The candle was warm, and I watched multiple beads of wax melt off from the side, like *magma on ice*. They rolled over Grey's fingers and pooled into my palm. It didn't burn, but it looked like it had already shrunk, meaning we really didn't have a lot of time.

The peacekeeper went over to Niko's mattress pad that rested on a bale of hay in the corner, and gave it a thump with her balance staff. Then she flipped it over and jabbed the bale harshly with the red stick. After that, she pulled out a knife from her belt and tore the mattress open that had a combination of more straw and a bit of cotton inside.

Grey and I glanced at each other. Who in all the four kingdoms would think to hide inside a mattress like that?

The woman straightened up, done ripping apart that particular piece of property. She then went over to a wooden chest at the foot of the bed. She swung it open and dumped out the contents. Brown and gray frocks spilled out, along with some beige undergarments. There was a pair of work pants and another pair of shoes—a nice actual feminine pair. A scrap of paper slipped out too and glided across the ground to rest at our feet. Neither of us made a move for it. The peacekeeper stood and paced around the space again, kicking up the hay around her feet, scanning the floor. She must have been looking for trap doors. Her fingers traced over the wood paneling of the walls and again, we had to silently steer around her as she came closer.

The candle was less than half its initial size. Wax sealed itself between my fingers. Bits of it dripped down by our feet. Grey only had his thumb and two fingers left wrapped around it.

After jiggling a loose board and finding nothing more than a few spiders behind it, the Irst woman backed away and returned to the ladder. Her descent was painstakingly slow. The flame just about made contact with my skin, Grey pinching a small piece of the wax. Then her head vanished and the fire went out. We both ducked down fast.

"Nothin' up there, Sir," the woman's low, heavily accented voice spoke for the first time.

Grey and I flattened ourselves against the floor, breathing as quietly as we could.

"Alright," the man accepted. The thud of their footsteps headed back to the workshop. Then the door swung shut. Neither of us moved until the voices from there also faded away.

Niko stomped her foot. "Those sick, twisted tefing bleksims!" She divulged into Ourthian swears.

I rolled off of my aching chest and wheezed in a breath. While Alastair's potions had definitely helped along my healing, I still had a ways to go.

"Are you okay?" Grey asked, getting to his hands and knees.

After several more rattling breaths, I pushed myself into a sitting position. "I'm okay as one can be after being landed on by a fat fairy who thinks he's some kind of bloody hero."

Grey let out his own breath. "Fat? I'll say it again, it's called muscle. I understand you're unfamiliar with it." He got to his feet and went over to the ledge and looked down to the main level. His shoulders slumped.

I winced as I dragged myself up and limped over to stand next to him. I was just in time to see Niko storm out of the wrecked apartment. All the cupboards were open, one entirely off its hinges. Pots and pans were scattered across the floor, surrounded by bits of glass from dishes, I figured. The table and benches were overturned. Mr. Sajes's bed was pulled aside, the posts having scraped through the wood beneath. The mattress was worse than Niko's, ripped to shreds.

"They really don't like you," I said.

"Yeah," Grey sniffed. "But they don't have to get other people involved like this. This is wrong."

I stared at him. "Of course you care about how it affects everyone else. What about you? You're alive. You're safe. Don't tell me you'd rather be caught than have a few houses ransacked." I shook my head. "Selfless freak."

Grey spun on me, his sharp eyes crackling. "I'm not worth—" he bit his lip and blinked quickly. Then he turned and walked over to Niko's bed and started stuffing it back together.

I looked down at the mess again. Niko and Mr. Sajes spoke in Ourthian on the other side of the wall. Niko sounded as angry as ever, and even her ever-calm father had a flinted edge in his tone. I could imagine the ravaging carried over into his workshop. The boxes were probably dumped out, weapons were most likely torn from the walls.

I slowly backed away from the rim, doing my best to shake off the wax that coated my hand and trying to rid the bitter taste in my mouth. My bandaged foot crunched on something. I glanced down and saw the piece of paper that had been dumped out of Niko's clothes chest. I scooped it up and looked over the narrow, slanted writing. It wasn't in Ereliss, but it was clearly some kind of note or letter. It was short and signed at the bottom by an illegible signature.

I sat back down in the corner and peeled strips of snuff candle away. Grey was upset. Niko and her father were upset, but I for one, wasn't. It was odd to be the one who didn't hate what just happened, but here I was feeling...relief.

But of course that feeling wouldn't even last the night.

* * *

Nightchirpers called into the darkness. It wasn't as loud as it was back at Alastair's tower that was out in a slightly more rural area. Stars blinked down through the open window. I leaned back against the wall and stared out at them. Tantia and Elluare's light spilled into the loft, creating the union color, lilac, across the floor. It didn't touch Grey, who had curled up under the window again to sleep. That kid could pass-out anywhere.

I glanced over at the empty bed that Grey had managed to make look pretty decent. Even though Niko wouldn't be using it tonight, Grey had decided he wasn't worth that either. I narrowed my eyes.

"You have done so much for us." Alastair's voice drew my attention away from the bed and back down to the dining room. The table had been put back up, as well as the benches. He sat at one, across from Mr. Sajes. "I take it you knew someone and that you were close."

Mr. Sajes bowed his head. "My sister. She got marked when we were children. Our family went into hiding together, but eventually we were found and she was taken from us. They threw my parents in prison and allowed me to go. I was lucky."

Alastair breathed out. "I'm so sorry, Brodri."

"I know the truth about Chaos children," Mr. Sajes went on. "They're not mad. They're cursed."

"I don't know." Niko stepped out from the corner with her arms crossed. "I heard bits of conversation when I went through town to get Mr. Gunheld. From the sounds of it, the lady that destroyed Swarling Way was pretty mad."

"It wasn't the mark that did that," Alastair said. "And you've met the boy sleeping up in your room. Tell me, do you think he's mad?"

"You can't always tell," Niko grumbled. "But either way, he's a cheeky devil."

I couldn't argue with that.

"Why are you protecting the boy?" Mr. Sajes asked. "You must know him to risk so much."

"You protected him," Alastair countered. "But in this case he's the son of a friend of mine."

I raised my eyebrows at his lie.

"Where could you possibly take him that would be safe?" Niko asked.

Alastair examined her quietly for a moment.

Don't tell her, I thought. My gut was tight with whatever she was up to.

Alastair let out a sigh. "West. We're planning on fleeing Venth all together, and take a ship to Ixth, where there's less peacekeeper control."

Idiot.

"You're going to Evocatus," Mr. Sajes said. "They deal with trade from Ixth."

Alastair nodded.

"But you can't go to the Crossway," Niko said. "You'll have to either go through Fyren or Torja to get there."

"Torja has less walls and less resistance, but to take those paths would put us here over a month longer than if we went through Fyren." Alastair steepled his fingers in front of him. "I know it's a lot riskier, but I have my way—"

Niko gave a sharp look to her father before she suddenly stormed toward the ladder. I straightened fast and hit my head against the back of the wall as she reached the top and instantly went for her clothes chest.

I pushed myself to my feet. "What are you doing?" I hissed.

She pulled out two dresses and a pair of work pants. Then she dragged out a canvas bag I hadn't noticed when the chest had been dumped out. She stuffed the clothes into the sack.

"No," I snarled, striding quietly up behind her. "You are not coming with us."

"Try and stop me, Chronus, I dare you," she said without turning. She continued to loot around for a bit longer. "Where is it?" She growled. Her eyes raked through her clothes and then she switched gears, checking around the surrounding floor.

I backed up a few paces. "Are you looking for this?" I pulled out the old paper I'd tucked inside my shirt.

She spun on me, her lip curling. "Hand it over, Chronus."

"You're not coming with us," I repeated. Then I grabbed the scrap with both hands and gave it a small tear.

Niko grit her teeth, her hand reaching back for her axe. Her eyes shifted over to Grey. She moved toward him. "You make another move, Chronus, and he gets it."

My hand twitched and I rocked forward. "Is that supposed to be a threat? Why would I care if you take it out on—"

Niko dove for me and managed to snatch the paper from my grasp. I stumbled back into the wall again. Without another word, Niko turned with the bag slung over her shoulder and the note in hand, and descended back down the ladder.

I clenched my fists and glared over the side as she leapt the last few rungs to the bottom. My stomach was a fluttering mess. That thing could not come with us.

"Inniko, please. There is no need for this." Mr. Sajes started to rise.

"I'm going, Papa." Niko slammed her bag on the floor. "I'm fifteen-years-old. That's the Kybaan age of the Ruras. Your argument was that it's a group ritual, not done alone. Well now I won't be alone."

Alastair put up his hands. "I don't understand."

Niko slapped the paper onto the table in front of him. "You explain this while I go pack more weapons." She spun and marched out into her father's workshop.

Mr. Sajes thudded back down on the bench and put his face in his hands. "I am so sorry, Alastair. This shouldn't have anything to do with you."

Alastair eyed the short letter. "Moria," he said soft enough that I had to lean in and strain to catch the word. "Inniko's mother."

Mr. Sajes let out a shaky breath. "Mori left me before I knew she was pregnant, and then she dropped my Inniko off in a basket with that note. I told Inniko that her mother was dead. I told her that she'd been sick and died when Inniko was very young. About two weeks ago, she found the note and I had to tell her the truth."

Alastair tugged at his beard. "That she's a peacekeeper."

My eyebrows shot up.

"That's why she wants to go to the Fyren kingdom. They keep records of where everyone is posted on all of Venth." Mr. Sajes closed and opened his fists, not in a threatening way. "I know that she used to be posted in Ibainia, still in Adderghast, but last I heard she was moved out of the kingdom."

"Inniko is aware that we'll be avoiding peacekeepers, staying far from Asylum."

"Knowing my girl, she will go with you along the Fyren roads until she is able to separate and make her own way there."

"You don't want her to go."

"I feel I don't have the right to stop her." He looked up at Alastair. "Other than you haven't agreed to this. You should certainly have a say in who you take. Niko is very headstrong and takes what she wants. She won't listen to me now, but perhaps she could eventually listen to you."

"I very much doubt that," Alastair murmured.

Try old man, the words bubbled in my throat. Don't let her come with us. I hated the heat that washed over me at the thought of her. It was different from the normal hatred rage. It was purely uncomfortable and made my insides squirm uncontrollably.

The old alchemist cleared his throat. "Ruras, I didn't know you still followed in those ways."

"To keep Kybaa's strength one must keep to the traditions. At fifteen all who worship Kybaa must leave home, away from their parents to discover themselves in a more survivalist way. Since finding the note, Inniko had been harping on me about it, so she could go find her mother. But Ruras is something you do with a group of others of that age. How old are the boys?"

"They're fourteen."

Sajes shrugged. "They're probably close enough, and since you're not her parent it might just balance it anyway." He straightened. "Am I understanding that you will take her with you?"

"You wouldn't accept the money I offered. I feel I owe you. If I can help your daughter with this, maybe she'll be able to forgive you and return."

Mr. Sajes dipped his head forward. "I pray for that."

There was a long pause between the two men. Mr. Sajes broke it. "It will almost be like the old days for you, taking young people out into the world."

Alastair sighed. "Not quite. I always took adults; twenty or older. I never saw myself taking three teenagers out there and now it's all so much worse." He shook his head and tilted it back to look up at the loft.

I dropped down fast.

"At least Chaos is gone," Mr. Sajes rumbled.

Alastair didn't say anything for a moment, but when he did, it was in the ever familiar drained voice. "I was never meant to be a parent."

I tentatively lifted my head a little in time to see Mr. Sajes look up at Alastair again. "Then why did you take in the boy in the first place? And then why did you keep him after seeing how he is?"

There was a long silence, the longest one yet, where an icy shot jabbed into my already roiling stomach. I hurriedly shuffled away from the edge and made my way back to the far wall, near Grey. He stirred slightly when I neared and turned away from me. I snatched the blanket from Niko's bed and wrapped it around myself and bunched up some straw as a pillow. I pulled the blanket up over my head and slammed my eyes tight to shut them all out.