The Shifter Part 13

"I think I'm being used enough."

"Temper, temper. This is business, dear, and negotiations are always challenging."

"I don't like your business."

"Such a shame. You're uniquely suited to it."

The servant reappeared. "Sir. I counted thirty-three pieces, sir."

Close enough.

"Will that suffice?" Zertanik waved the servant away.

"I'll need it all tonight. Line up your vultures and I'll be back in-" I totaled the runs between Danello's, Tannif's, and here, leaving enough time to work out a plan for tomorrow-Saints, it would be after midnight before I returned. Would people be willing to come here in the middle of the night? "Three hours to do the heals."

"Done." He stood and offered his hand. I shook it, wiping it on my pants afterward. He grinned at that and gestured toward the door. "Think about my offer, dear. I could make you rich."

He probably could. After all, he'd already made me a monster.

Halima and I hurried through the silvery darkness to her brothers, our way lit by the moon above and corner streetlamps bathing the evening-s.h.i.+ft soldiers in yellow light. To keep my mind away from the big things, I focused on the little ones: Halima's scuffed shoes, shop-door jingles as the last of the shopkeeps locked up and went home for the night, muddy flower beds. Brighter yellow lamps glowed in the League's dome, a lighthouse for the lost and hurting. A prison for the forgotten.

Little things weren't working.

"Halima, when did they start getting bad?"

"This afternoon. Jovan and Bahari were sick at school so they sent us home."

Less than a day. Maybe this was how their bodies adjusted to the pain. Maybe it was all perfectly normal. Maybe they'd be better by morning. Too many maybes. I was starting to sound like Aylin.

We hurried up the stairs and inside. The twins sprawled on their bed, faces pale, eyes wet. Jovan offered a faint grin as I approached. Bahari wouldn't look at me.

"How are you two doing?" I put a hand on Jovan's head. Cool and damp.

"Don't feel good," he muttered.

He didn't to me either. The rib pain bubbled inside him, but I sensed others things that shouldn't have been there. His blood felt wrong, but not like a bleed or a crushed organ. It felt...almost thick. His heart beat too fast, his breathing was ragged.

Bahari fared no better. In this, they were also identical.

If they were a few years older, they'd be able to handle the pain better, but their talents hadn't developed enough to help them yet.

I turned to Halima. "Where's Danello?"

She took me to him, and I bit my lip to hold back the gasp. Danello lay still as death on the bed, his skin beyond pale. His fingers twitched in time with his panting. I'd swear he'd lost weight. My heartbeat skipped, and I rushed to his side.

"Danello?" I brushed damp hair off his forehead and felt my way in. Same thickness in his blood, and his liver seemed wrong. So did his stomach, with dark blotches almost like bleeds splattering it.

Halima tugged on my sleeve. "Is he gonna die?"

I didn't want to say yes, but I couldn't say no. "I hope not."

"Take it back."

"I can't, not yet. Tomorrow, early." Saints willing. I'd done this to him. To them. Please, Saint Saea, give me time to fix this Please, Saint Saea, give me time to fix this.

She sniffled. "Promise?"

"I promise." If I wasn't arrested, or killed, or locked away in a high room with too many beds and not enough conscience.

I gave Danello's hand a gentle squeeze and ran down the stairs and back into the street. Even the big things couldn't distract me from my guilt-the families huddled in doorways, folks with stretchers heading for the cemetery, the hungry eyes watching me, noting my League braids-none of it blocked out the horrifying truth.

Oh, no. s.h.i.+fted pain must kill if it doesn't get healed right away. Even worse-it killed them fast. And I'd just agreed to do it for thirty-three pieces of pynvium.

I stumbled, catching myself on a fence. Or had I already fallen? How many would Zertanik bring me tonight? How many lives was I willing to trade for Tali and Danello? For Jovan and Bahari?

I glanced toward the Sanctuary, though I couldn't see it in the darkness. Saint Saea, I don't have the right to choose. Please tell me what to do Saint Saea, I don't have the right to choose. Please tell me what to do.

She didn't answer. I hadn't expected her to, but it would have been helpful.

Mama had told me never to s.h.i.+ft again. I'd thought she just didn't want me to get caught by the trackers, but was there more to it? Had she known it would kill? Had any Healer known?

I pushed off the fence before soldiers grew wary enough to question me and continued to Tannif's, searching my memories for Grannyma's advice. One kept jumping out. She who has a choice has trouble She who has a choice has trouble.

An aromatic cloud of roasting coffee wafted over me, and a second bit of wisdom echoed in my ears. Don't fear what you can't change Don't fear what you can't change. But I could change this one. I could tell Zertanik no. Tell him s.h.i.+fted pain killed. I didn't know why it thickened the blood and organs, but it did, and they had to believe me. None of the folks who accepted their loved one's pain were likely to survive until more pynvium arrived.

If I said all that, five people died, one I loved, and the others-my stomach went tight just thinking about losing them, even though I hardly knew them.

I shoved the thought away as I pushed into Tannif's. Few people were there this late. Aylin was sitting in the back, across from a blond boy with broad shoulders. She looked up as I hurried over, but he didn't turn around.

"Thank you so much for meeting with me-" I gushed, then dammed my grat.i.tude quick. "You're Lanelle's boy!"

He gaped at me. "Do I know you?"

I stabbed a finger at him. "This is the boy who told you he is the boy who told you he thought thought apprentices were being carried upstairs?" apprentices were being carried upstairs?"

"Wait a minute-"

"Yes, this is Kione. Nya, why are you yelling at him?" Aylin glanced around and smiled nervously. "People are staring."

I plopped on the bench beside Aylin and lowered my voice to what I hoped was a threatening growl. "This friend friend of yours lied to you. He was standing guard outside the room they're holding Tali in." of yours lied to you. He was standing guard outside the room they're holding Tali in."

"Kione? Is that true?"

"Of course not!"

"I saw you there when I relieved Lanelle for dinner."

"Oh." His pretty brown eyes darted for a way out faster than a trapped rabbit; then he smiled. I'd bet my nine oppas that grin had never failed him before. "I was trying to help, Aylin. I told you as much as I could without getting into trouble. You know I can't give away League secrets."

Aylin snorted. "How stupid do you think I am? You brag all the time about your League secrets."

He laughed uneasily. "Some things you can't talk about. What do you think the Luminary would do if I talked about"-he glanced around-"that. Tukel said he was going to tell, and he wasn't on duty this morning. I bet he lost his job."

Or worse, though Kione didn't act as if that thought had occurred to him. Probably better for me that it hadn't. I doubted he'd help at all if he knew the real dangers.

I gripped a fork so tight it bent. "'Another one?' I quoted him. "'I didn't think they had any left.' Sound familiar?"

"Hey..." Confusion wrinkled his face. "How did you know...you weren't there...." His eyes lit up. "You were on the stretcher?"

"I heard every word!"

"And you're calling me me a liar? You tricked League Elders to get inside. I should go to the Luminary right now and report you." a liar? You tricked League Elders to get inside. I should go to the Luminary right now and report you."

Me and my big mouth. Anger felled more fools than sticks. "If you do, I'll tell him you left your post to go watch rainbows with Lanelle."

Aylin put a hand on each of our arms. "Stop it, stop it. This isn't helping."

"Sorry, Aylin," said Kione, sliding off the bench. "I'm not going to listen to anything she has to say."

She leaned across the table and grabbed his hand before he could walk away. "Kione, please. This is serious. Her sister is one of the apprentices in that room. She's trying to help her."

"Her sister's in the League League, for Saint's sake. She has the best care she can get. I'm sure they'll find whatever disease is causing this."

I jumped up and stood in the aisle, blocking his escape. A few people looked over, but I didn't care. "Disease? Is that what they told you?"

He shrugged, eyes flicking to Aylin, as if he didn't want to admit he didn't know everything he claimed.

"Those apprentices aren't sick. They're dying because the Luminary is using them like pynvium."

"What? Why?"

"There's no pynvium left, Kione." Aylin's soft voice floated up between us. "The Luminary is lying to us all."

He went pale, and that can't be faked. His mouth opened and closed as he sat back down.

"That can't be true."

"It is." I pushed my hair back and sighed. "I need to get Tali out of there, and I need your help to do it."

"Me? No, I can't."

"I need help carrying her out. There's a stretcher in the room. We can carry her out the side gate and take her to Aylin's."

He shook his head. "I'll lose my job."

"She'll lose her life life."

He flinched. "This isn't my fault."

"No, all you did was look the other way while they did it. How many apprentices are up there, Kione? How many did the Luminary use and toss away?"

"Thirty maybe, in that room."

His pause yanked the heat right out of me. "In that that room?" room?"

"It's the largest one, but there are two others. Maybe fifteen people each. Mostly second and third cords who were healing at the ferry site. Elder Mancov said the disease came from the Verlattan refugees, and that's why so many got sick so fast." Kione leaned closer. "You're saying that isn't true?"

Sixty people. Two thirds of the League at least, if not more. And I'd bet every last one of them was born in Geveg.

"No," I said, voice tight, "it's not true. There is no disease."

Aylin gasped a sob and covered her mouth with both hands. "Kione, you have to help us."

"I can't!"

"But we have to stop him."

"You can't take on the League-that's insane."

"Can you continue to do nothing?" I asked softly. It was about more than just saving Tali now. I had to get her out for the others, the sixty who didn't have a sister willing to do anything to save them. I couldn't accuse the Luminary on my own. The Governor-General would never listen to a homeless, useless Taker about what the Luminary was doing. He might listen to Tali, a credible League apprentice who'd been through it. Who'd escaped it. If the Governor-General listened, he might stop the Luminary and demand enough pynvium from the Duke to save the rest.

If, if, if. Just as bad as maybe.

But there was hope there as well. The governors.h.i.+p of Geveg may have been a reward for ending our rebellion, but even I had to admit the Governor-General had treated us fairly ever since, Baseeri man or not. Besides, he'd have quite the riot if word spread that he'd let his pynvium run out and his Healers die, and the Duke wouldn't stand for that. He might even march his soldiers our way after he finished with Verlatta. He'd done a lot worse to the folks in Sorille when they refused to stay quiet.

Kione just stared, his jaw clenched.

"Can you continue to do nothing?" I asked again.

"I'm not risking-"

"I'm not asking you to. When I show up just after sunrise, will you do nothing when I walk in, no matter what I'm carrying?" If I couldn't get Tali out, I'd have to take the pynvium in in and risk an Elder sensing it. Thirty-three pieces probably filled a mighty big sack. and risk an Elder sensing it. Thirty-three pieces probably filled a mighty big sack.

Aylin shook her head. "You can't go back in there alone."

"Kione? Will you?"

He wiped the sweat off his upper lip and nodded. "Yeah. I'll even go in a little early and keep Lanelle at breakfast long as I can, but that's all. I'm not crossing the Luminary for anybody."

"Thank you."

He scoffed and rubbed his palms on his thighs. "If you get caught, you don't know me."

"Fair enough."