Ashes of Honor

Tybalt turned to face me. “Not at all,” he said. “Samson has doubtless intended to have me overthrown for quite some time. He hasn’t been foolish enough to force his son to challenge me, but I’ve heard him talking to the guards, implying that I am not fit for my position. He lacks the power to take my place. Sadly, that doesn’t stop him from taking my life.”

“Only Raj isn’t strong enough to kill you empty-handed,” I guessed. “Hence the gun.”

Raj looked deeply embarrassed. He set the gun down on the nearest table, muttering, “Father didn’t think I could take Uncle Tybalt without help, even if he was wounded.”

“Your father is wrong about many things, but right about that much,” said Tybalt. “If Raj kills me, however he accomplishes it, he becomes King. Samson’s co-conspirators would then be absolved of their part in this. There is no shame in backing a revolution that succeeds.”

“And if you live?” I asked.

Tybalt didn’t say anything, but his smile seemed to hold far too many teeth.

I sighed, retrieving my jacket from the floor and shrugging it back on. “Okay. Raj, you’re with us now. Etienne, you go with Quentin. We know Riordan’s involved. I think she’s using a blood charm to call Chelsea back to her. Quentin has a duplicate of the charm I showed you. Take some of the power dampening solution from the cooler in the car. You see her again—”

“I’ll pour it on her,” said Quentin.

Etienne and Jin blinked. I raised a hand, signaling that I’d explain later, and said, “Good. Tybalt, can you reach the Shadow Roads, or are you still too beat up?”

Tybalt looked at Jin, who rolled her eyes, wings buzzing in annoyance. “I don’t suppose I can stop you from flying around like a pixie with its head cut off any more than I can stop Toby,” she said resignedly.

“No, you can’t,” he said, looking amused.

“Hey,” I protested. “I’m always careful after a healing.”

Jin didn’t dignify my blatant lie with a response. She glared at Tybalt instead. “Will you at least try to go easy on yourself for the next few days? I know it’s hard. Toby’s essentially a walking bad influence. But please.”

Tybalt quirked a faint smile. “I bow to the wisdom of milady chirurgeon.”

“Huh?” said Quentin and Raj, almost in unison.

Jin smirked. “It means ‘doctor.’ I’m glad someone here knows how to take medical advice.”

“He’s using words that are no longer recognized as valid in Scrabble,” I said.

“I don’t care, he’s a smart cat. And before you try to tell me where to go, I’m staying here. You people are going to need patching up, I’m sure of it.”

I wished I could argue with her. Sadly, she was probably right. “Fine. Tybalt and I will go to Berkeley on the Shadow Roads, see if we can pick up Chelsea’s trail where we saw her last. After that—”

My phone rang.

I blinked, digging for the phone. “What the—I thought my battery was dead.”

“It was,” said April cheerfully. “I recharged it for you.”

“Without taking it out of my pocket?”

April blinked. “Why would I need to take it out of your pocket?”

“Right.” The display said it was May calling. I flipped the phone open. “Hello?”

Screaming and the sound of something being smashed greeted me, followed by the sound of May shouting, “Toby! Get over here! I don’t know how long I ca—”

The line went dead.

I shoved the phone back into my pocket without thinking about it, already breaking into a run. “Tybalt! Shadows! My place! Now!”

Tybalt nodded, stepping back toward the wall. The others moved out of our way as I jumped for him; he grabbed my hands, and then we were falling into darkness.

The Shadow Roads were cold and airless, but nothing came to attack us as we ran through the black. That made it a more pleasant trip than our last one. When I inevitably faltered—I may heal like a superhero, but it takes a lot out of my body, and I hadn’t eaten nearly enough to make up for it—Tybalt caught me smoothly and ran on through the dark with me cradled in his arms, holding me tight against his chest. This close, the heat from his skin was enough to beat back some of the chill. I relaxed as much as I could with blood freezing in my hair and terror pounding in my veins and let him carry me home.

I knew we were getting close when he slowed long enough to drop me back to my feet, murmuring next to my ear, “Seconds, little fish. Hold fast…”

And then we were bursting back out into the warmth and light of my cluttered living room, where May promptly hit me in the back of the head with my own aluminum baseball bat.