Stop.
The word came unbidden into my mind, and I wasn’t even aware that I’d spoken telepathically at first. But the cat creature hesitated, the gleam in its silver glare fading. The bird-snake landed opposite me, tilting its head. Its beak opened and closed. A fragment of hope kindled inside me.
Groties were dumb beasts, according to Karl. They relied purely on instinct, driven by their need to kill. Only chimeras and gargoyles could communicate. But maybe these creatures could understand basic commands. I closed my eyes and fired off another telepathic order.
Get back.
For a fleeting second, I thought the creatures might actually obey as they regarded me with unblinking, silver-orbed eyes. The enormous cat suddenly shook itself off, hissed, and dropped into an attack crouch. The bird-snake snapped its gray feathers. Both came at me, full speed.
I took flight. The winged shadowen pursued. I saw the Gypsies out of the corner of my eye, watching intently. Anger clawed its way up my spine. I didn’t want to fight. I just wanted to go home; to see Josephine again and go back to the way things were at the Circe.
But the thing inside me: the guardian or monster or whatever it was, wouldn’t let up. It welcomed the threat and longed for action. It pressed on the back of my skull. Controlling. Demanding. Unrelenting.
‘Please, let me out,’ I yelled.
My voice had turned to gravel and growls.
Donani flashed a wicked grin. ‘There’s only one way out, gargoyle.’
I changed direction and streaked downward, knocking the feline shadowen off its feet. It hissed as I came back around. Then, I was knocked off course. I slammed into the chain-link wall, the bird-snake creature on my back. Talons ripped my flesh.
Instinct and rage forged into one.
Everything went red.
*
When I came back to myself, I was lying on my side in the middle of the cage. My wings were splayed wide. Black blood spattered the floor. My shirt was gone, the remnants shredded into pieces a few feet away from me. My own purple-black blood dripped from claw wounds on my shoulders.
Both shadowen lay on the ground on the opposite end of the space. The bird-snake’s wings were bent underneath its body. The cat was huddled in a crumpled mass. I gasped in horror and struggled to sit up. Disgust and loathing churned in my stomach.
‘Oh no …’
Then, I realized, neither creature had turned to stone. Relief surged through me. If they weren’t stone, it meant the shadowen were still alive! I collapsed, breathing a thankful prayer. I didn’t want to kill them, no matter how much my instincts told me to.
A sudden wave of ferocious hunger lit into me. I gasped again and pushed myself into a crouch. My arms shook. I peered through the cage to find the Gypsies staring at me. Augustine’s black eyes met mine, and the corners of his mouth twitched upward.
‘I have seen enough,’ said the Queen.
Quentin didn’t miss a beat. He notched his bow, aimed at the shadow creatures, and let one arrow fly, then another. Each passed effortlessly through the narrow chinks in the fence. The diamond tips struck home. The grotesques howled in hatred and fury. A second later, their bodies shimmered dully and turned to granite in front of me.
One moment, they’d been alive.
The next, nothing more than hideous statues.
I felt hollow.
Marksmen entered the cage, spears at the ready as they approached me. But I stood quietly, folded my wings against my back, and held out my hands for the manacles. I was too hungry to think, too exhausted to care anymore.
‘Well,’ said Augustine to Quentin. ‘Would you be so kind as to inquire about my audience with the Queen once more?’
‘Tomorrow,’ she said, her expression smoother than stone. ‘I will send word concerning the time and place, when I am ready.’ The Queen brushed widely past him, holding her skirt to the side as though he was contagious. ‘Donani, escort this man out of the Court of Shadows immediately. He knows how foolish it would be to try and enter here again.’
Donani and another Marksman flanked Augustine. I watched through the bars as he dipped his head in respect, but his face went so taut that the scar along his cheek turned pink. He disappeared out the chamber without another word.
*
‘Why is Augustine so desperate so talk to the Queen?’
Quentin’s answer to my question was to shove me along the narrow corridor. He’d been given the job of getting the gargoyle back to his cell, and I’d never seen the Marksman look so pleased.
Just as we reached the door, I tripped over an uneven gap in the floor and pitched forward, landing on one knee. Fighting the grotesques had used up whatever remained of my reserves, and left me running on empty. Quentin waited while I regained my feet. He tapped the edge of his knife impatiently against his thigh.
His expression was enough to kindle the fire inside me, but I pushed it down and made my face smile back. ‘Oh, come on, surely you know the reason? Unless he doesn’t share important things like that with you.’
Quentin secured the lock on the cell door and looked down his nose at me, as though I were a piece of dirt he was preparing to flick off his shirt. ‘Your trial is scheduled first thing Monday morning, which means you’ll be spending the next two days in this cell. You may as well get comfortable.’
Chatting with Quentin Marks was the last thing I wanted to do, but he was also the only source of information I had right now. I pressed against the bars. ‘This is totally illegal, you know.’
Quentin seemed surprised, and then he laughed. ‘What, do you think your family would actually file a missing persons report on you, a shadow creature, and get the gadje authorities involved? Even a dumb beast like you knows better than that.’
‘Why not kill me now? It sounds like it’d be a whole lot easier.’
‘Oh believe me, it’s tempting, but Augustine was right. Once you’re convicted, we’ll be able to rid the Roma world of all shadowen, beginning with you.’ Quentin sheathed his knife. ‘I can wait a few days more.’
I leaned against the wall. My joints were beginning to feel stiff, and it hurt to move my fingers. ‘I’m flattered you’re going to so much trouble.’
‘There are other perks,’ he replied with a shrug.
The cold in my chest spread to my skin. ‘What perks?’
‘You mean, besides the satisfaction of seeing you get what you deserve?’ Quentin’s smile widened. ‘Well, that should be obvious, demon. Once you’re gone and Josephine and I are married, it’s only a matter of time before the Romany clan becomes mine.’ He took the lantern from its hook on the wall and called back over his shoulder as he walked out. ‘Have a good night, Sebastian.’
Tears threatened again, but I closed my eyes and forced them away.
Hugo ushered us into the Dandelion Inn, which was richly decorated with antique furniture, lace curtains in the windows, and doilies covering every surface. Two women met us in the cozy parlor of the Corsis’ bed and breakfast. Both were middle-aged, short in stature, and beaming brightly despite the earliness of the hour.
‘Hugo,’ said the first one, who appeared to be the older of the two. I watched, amused, as she hugged him fondly and planted a kiss on his cheek. ‘It’s been far too long.’
The