Jade War

Without his regular dose of shine, an addict would normally begin to feel the effects of jade overexposure within twenty-four hours. With jade trapped inside an adrenaline-overloaded body, it was sure to happen much faster than that. The Itches would set in shortly thereafter.

They collected the camping lantern and tools from the empty farmhouse. It was entirely silent out here in the country. The night sky was clear and filled with stars. None of the pollution or noise from Janloon reached them, and there were no other dwellings in sight. The nearest town, Opia, was thirty kilometers away on winding, mountainous roads. As they walked back to the cars, Hilo made a point of personally thanking the three Nails (that was what Tar called his people now, to differentiate them from Kehn’s Fingers) for spending what would’ve been a nice evening diligently carrying out such an unpleasant task. All of them—Doun, Tyin, and Yonu—assured the Pillar that it was simply their duty to the memory of Kaul Lan, and they were only sorry that it had taken them so long to find the thief and dispense the clan’s justice.

Hilo said to Tar, “You made sure the bartender who phoned in the tip was rewarded?”

“Of course,” Tar said.

Between handling this and whispering the name of Koben Ento, Tar had been working hard lately. With the clan’s expansion into Espenia, Hilo had some ideas for how to use Tar’s small team in the future, but now was not the time to broach them. He put a hand on his Pillarman’s back. “I know that sometimes I’m impatient or short-tempered with you, but only because you’re my closest brother now, and I trust you with things I wouldn’t trust to anyone else,” Hilo said. “I’m glad I can count on you, Tar. I don’t say it often enough.”

* * *

It was the early hours of the morning by the time Hilo arrived back home. He closed the front door quietly behind him as he entered without turning on any of the lights, so as not to disturb Wen and the baby, only two weeks old, a girl of course. In the kitchen, he draped his jacket over the back of a chair and washed his hands in the sink. He was tired, but also hungry and thirsty, so he poured himself a glass of water and took two oranges from the fruit bowl and a bag of peanuts to the table. The Pillar sat in the dark, peeling and eating the oranges and cracking the peanut shells. He was rarely alone, so he relished the moment of peace and did not hurry to go to bed.

Hilo took Lan’s jade from his pocket, set it on the table, and looked at it.

A stir in his Perception told him that someone else was awake in the house. He sensed Niko’s approach before he heard the boy’s feet padding hesitantly down the stairs and stopping at the entrance to the kitchen. The blinds were open over the patio door and the moon’s glow mingled with the courtyard lights so it was just bright enough for Hilo to see his nephew’s face, creased with sleepiness and mild concern. “Uncle?” he said. “Why are you sitting in the dark?”

“I got home late and didn’t want to wake you.” Hilo held out his arms and the boy came to him, climbing into his lap and laying his head against his uncle’s chest. Even though Niko and Ru knew each other as brothers and called Wen their mother, Hilo always insisted that Niko call him uncle so that he’d never forget who his real father was. Hilo smoothed the boy’s hair and whispered, “Stand up, I want to show you something.” He set the three-year-old (almost four now, Hilo reminded himself) down on his feet and said, “Do you want to know where I was tonight, why I got home so late I couldn’t tuck you into bed? I was searching for something, something that’s been lost for a while, and I finally found it.” He picked up the cuffs and the necklace of jade and let the boy admire and touch them. Some limited jade exposure at this young age was not harmful; indeed, it was beneficial for a child to have a basic foundation of jade tolerance before Academy age. “This was your father’s jade, Niko,” Hilo said. “It belonged to him when he was Pillar of the clan. One day, when you’re a Green Bone, it’ll belong to you. I’ll keep it safe for you until then.”

Niko yawned. “I’ll have to grow a lot bigger first.”

“A lot bigger,” Hilo agreed. He picked the child up and carried him back up the stairs.

CHAPTER 44 The Man in the Middle

Willum “Skinny” Reams stood on a private boat dock under the shadow of the Iron Eye Bridge. It was a cloudy, starless spring night and the dark was almost absolute, save for the lights that illuminated the six-lane freeway that ran overhead, carrying a constant stream of traffic across the Camres River, the rush of the tires above louder than the steady lapping of the water below.