Chaos (16 page)

Next to me, Treasa shifted uncomfortably. “You would be wrong.”

“Too right,” said the Tanner, running one of his huge hands over his unruly beard.

I gestured at his throne. “You’ve certainly got a lot of nice metal tools there.”

The Tanner grunted. “We were allies at one time. Many years ago. But no
w . . .
let’s say we have different visions for the future.”

“Glad to hear it,” I muttered.

“Glad you’re glad,” he said. “I think we could help one another.”

I looked up at Malachi, and he gave me a small smile. “You’re my Captain,” he murmured. “This is your decision.”

“I’m not the Captain anymore,” I whispered. But Ana wasn’t here to make the call.

I turned back to the Tanner to see him surveying me with interest. “Why do the Mazikin give you so much independence?” I asked. “I was told that every human here was a servant.”

He gave me a rueful look. “I’ve been here for a very long time, and because of the way I arrived, I was more able to speak up for myself.”

“The way you arrived?”

He leaned forward, letting his elbows rest on his thighs. “Did you know that the Mazikin managed to find their way to the land of the living?”

I frowned. This dude was definitely not from Rhode Island. But then I recalled Ana telling me that the Mazikin had found their way out of the Shadowlands before. Five hundred years before. “You didn’t come from the dark city, then.”

He shook his bushy head. “Got way too drunk one night and let the wrong people walk me home. Next thing I knew, I was tied to a table.” He pointed across the room at a few men watching the dancers onstage. “Same thing happened to Bartholomew and August over there. We’re from the same town.”

Since the Tanner hadn’t committed suicide, he would never have belonged to the dark city. He’d never have been as depressed and passive and confused as the rest of the humans around him. “So you showed up here and started skinning goats for the Mazikin?” I asked.

He gave me a darkly amused look. “Aye, girl, I’ve been of service to the Mazikin. Not sure I had much choice if I wanted to keep my own skin. But now they trust me, and you should be very glad of that.”

I thought about Takeshi’s hatred of the Smith—and of the man in front of me—for their collaboration with the monsters who controlled this city. And then I felt Malachi’s hand in mine, no longer chained, safe and solid. “At the moment, I am.”

He smirked. “Good. Because I want your help.”

“With what?”

He grinned, revealing his rotting teeth. “I think it’s time for a little rebellion.”

SIXTEEN

B
EFORE
I
COULD REPLY,
the Tanner waved his arm, beckoning to someone at the back of the room. The metal door scraped open, and Takeshi and Ana were escorted into the chamber. Malachi made an anguished sound at the sight of them, and Takeshi and Ana’s eyes lasered to him. Malachi let go of my hand as they walked, with guards on either side of them, toward the front of the room.

They came to a halt in front of us. “Captain,” Malachi said to Takeshi, so quietly I could barely hear him.

Takeshi smiled. “Captain,” he said in reply.

Then the two of them strode forward and met in the middle, grasping each other in a fierce hug. Though Malachi was taller and more muscular than his mentor, Takeshi seemed to be holding him up for a moment. They pulled apart abruptly, their emotions quickly sinking beneath smooth exteriors, but I could see the tremors of Malachi’s unsteady breaths. It was like there was too much to be said, so they’d decided to say nothing at all.

Takeshi gazed up at the Tanner. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

The Tanner arched an eyebrow. “I never thought the famed and feared scourge of the city would be saying that to me.”

“I never thought I’d be saying it,” Takeshi muttered.

The Tanner snorted, and then gave Ana a distinctly hungry look. “And you’re one of them, too. A Guard.” He smiled wide again, making me shudder. “Four of you. This is an unprecedented opportunity, I’d say.”

“What kind of rebellion are you considering?” I asked, casting a sidelong glance at Ana. The Tanner was creepy in the extreme, but we couldn’t exactly be picky about allies right now. “Because we were considering one, too.”

“I’d never have guessed,” he replied drily. “Tell me what you were planning.”

Ana stepped forward to stand next to me. “You want us to tell you our plans in a roomful of people who could take that information straight to the Queen?”

The Tanner looked around with surprise, at Treasa, at the dancers performing for a host of leather-clad people lounging at the tables along the side of the room, and then back at us. “Everyone here is loyal to me. Traitors are sent to the meat factory.”

I barely concealed my disgust. “How about this, then—you have all the power. I think you can understand why that makes us hesitant to spill our guts.”

“I could spill your guts for you,” Treasa volunteered, her hand on the hilt of her dagger.

Malachi gave her a murderous look. “Try.”

She stared at him like she might enjoy taking him up on the challenge, but then she shrugged.

The Tanner, who had watched the exchange with amusement, held up his hand. “Peace, Treasa. I understand their concern.” His gaze landed on me. “I want to dethrone the Queen. She is the source of misery in this city. With her gone, the Mazikin will be finished.”

“What do you mean?” asked Malachi. “They rule the city.”

“But she is the mother of all of them.”

My eyebrows shot up, but then I remembered her oddly distended belly as she appeared in front of the crowd in the square, and how Takeshi said that all the Mazikin cubs were kept in one nursery. “Wait. What?
All
of them?”

The Tanner nodded. “She’s like an ant, and this is her hill. Kill the Queen, and they have no mother. None of the female Mazikin can breed.”

“What about a father?” Ana asked.

“The Queen has man
y . . .
companions. She picks the strongest to father her cubs.”

“But is there a King here?”

“Who do you think built the portal and found a way through it?” The Tanner grunted. “The King was her mate, one of the original two. He disappeared many years ago. He called himself Nero. I imagine he’ll return someday, but—”

“He will never return,” Malachi said quietly.

“Eh? How can you be so sure?”

“Because I disposed of him.” Malachi’s voice was steady, like the memory of that victory was giving him strength.

The Tanner let out one of those boiling, phlegmy laughs. “Forgive me if I suggest that it would take more than—”

“Malachi is telling the truth,” said Takeshi in a loud voice. “He stalked Nero, tricked him, captured him, and nearly died a few times in the process.” He gazed at Malachi with a fond, exasperated sort of respect, like a big brother might look at a younger sibling who’d pulled a badass yet incredibly dangerous stunt. “Nero is imprisoned in the dark tower behind the Suicide Gates,” said Takeshi. “He’s not coming back.”

The Tanner’s eyes lit with glee. “So again I say—if we kill the Queen, that’s it. We’ll be able to escape this hellish place.”

“That’s what we want, too,” Ana said, though she looked hesitant.

I didn’t share her caution—I couldn’t believe our luck. The Smith seemed to hate anyone who opposed the Mazikin, but the Tanner was the opposite. We’d offered the Smith a chance to be our ally, a chance to help everyone get out, and he’d flatly turned us down. But the Tanner seemed to want the same thing we did. “Why now, though?” I asked. “You said you’d been here for a long time.”

His eyes slid over the four of us. “There are few strong souls in this city. Over the years, I’ve gathered a few and protected them well in exchange for their loyalty. But we have been so long under the oppression of the monsters that most are utterly defeated.”

“You look like you’re doing okay,” snapped Ana. I stifled a smile. She didn’t do subtle well.

The Tanner ran a hand over his broad chest. “I am old and tired. I only want to help my people be free. You are warriors, and you can be the instrument of their salvation. When the Mazikin began to stir with their plans to capture Malachi, I sent my spies to watch for the Guard here.” He pointed a thick-knuckled finger at Takeshi. “I’d hoped
he
would attempt to liberate the new prisoner, and that we could help. Imagine my happiness when those fireballs exploded against the dome—I knew something was happening. And then Treasa came back with reports that two women had escaped off a meat cart and were loose in the city.” He grinned again, displaying those scary black teeth. “I knew what you were immediately. I knew now was the time.”

Ana crossed her arms over her chest and stared at him.

“I have weapons,” he offered, as if he could see the gears turning in her mind. “I’ve built an arsenal. Not like the Smith’s, but I can arm you. And I have people. We can take my strongest guards. We can sneak into the palace and take them by surprise.” He raised his eyebrows. “I know a way. I worked on it for years, but it’s been ready for a while now. I just needed the force. Help me. It won’t be easy, but we can triumph over the Mazikin together.”

Ana turned to us. I could read the indecision in her eyes. She didn’t trust him, but she had no other plan—especially since he had us more or less at his mercy. I nodded at her. This was our chance. She looked at Malachi. He glanced at the Tanner and then nodded, too. She focused on Takeshi. He gave her a small smile. “Up to you, Captain,” he said quietly.

Ana stood up a little straighter as she met the Tanner’s bottomless gaze. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

As soon as Ana agreed to an alliance, the Tanner produced a map of the underground tunnel system he’d been working on. Takeshi and Malachi pored over it eagerly. Takeshi knew the city well, but it was clear these paths were new to him. Malachi was simply a map enthusiast, having devoted years to constructing a map of the dark city. When we’d been in the land of the living, I knew for a fact he’d spent time on Google Maps, memorizing the layout of the neighborhoods we patrolled. By the end, he knew Rhode Island as well as I did. Better, maybe. And as he eagerly stared at the Tanner’s map, I had no doubt he was readily absorbing the information. It filled me with so much relief, seeing his mind sharp and focused, seeing Malachi as he should be. I was grateful to the Tanner for helping it happen.

As we all looked over the map, we saw that the Mazikin city was much smaller than the dark city, maybe ten miles square, but still vastly complicated, especially because there was an entire network of tunnels and caves belowground. We decided to take a team of twenty through a series of tunnels that led to the underground river that acted as the water supply for the entire city. It flowed under the Bone Palace, connecting to their kitchens and waste-disposal system. What that meant: because the palace was at the northern edge of the city and the river flowed to the south, the Queen and her favorites got clean water, and the rest of the city got water polluted by their waste. I actually found myself pitying the inhabitants of the southern areas.

The Tanner said he had a way for us to sneak into the palace from right below it. We’d take it over from the inside out, when they were least expecting it. It seemed like the best chance we’d ever have, so we accepted the bone-handled weapons he offered, the stiff leather armor, and the thick boots, and we followed the Tanner into the catacombs he had created beneath his fortress, where the rest of his people were assembling.

Malachi stayed close to me, though I wasn’t sure if it was because he was trying to protect me—or if he needed my protection. I wasn’t complaining. I was still trying to convince myself we were really here together, that I could really trust it, though the warmth in his eyes and the careful touches he gave me were bringing me closer with every passing minute. He slid his fingers down the strap of my satchel, untwisting it at my shoulder. “Ready,” he said softly.

I put my hand over his, holding it to a spot next to my collarbone, where a starburst scar decorated the skin beneath my tunic. “Can you do this? You could stay, Malachi.”

“Perhaps you should,” said Takeshi. “You don’t look like yourself.”

Malachi stiffened. “With all due respect, neither do you. And yet here you are.”

Takeshi grinned. “Here I am. And I suppose I’m not your Captain anymore.”

Malachi rolled his eyes, but his posture loosened. “When you were, you didn’t exactly go to much effort to prevent me from getting injured. I seem to remember you
causing
me injury on a few occasions.”

Takeshi shrugged as Ana joined us, having acquired a few thigh sheaths and knives from the Tanner’s guards. “When it served a purpose, I didn’t mind sacrificing.” He gave Ana an admiring look, and I was reminded that she was the reason he was here. He’d postponed his shot at getting released into the Countryside because he hadn’t wanted to leave her behind. He took her hand and laced her fingers with his.

“I know,” said Malachi, glancing at their joined hands. “And neither did I.”

“Do you think this is going to work, Takeshi?” I asked. We were in a huddle apart from the rest of the guards, men and women who were gearing up and speaking in low, nervous tones. The Tanner had disappeared into his own private chamber with Treasa.

Takeshi gave the side-eye to the Tanner’s people, who struck me as different from the walking wounded I’d seen at the Smith’s stronghold. Those people had been scarred, hunched, and oppressed. These people stood straight, their faces bright with pink cheeks and red lips. They had few scars or injuries to slow them down. Somehow, the Tanner had taken care of them and kept them strong. Even Takeshi looked slight and wary when compared to them. “I had no idea he’d built his own tunnel system,” he said. “Or that he’d gathered such numbers. He’s been planning this for some time.”

“And you trust him?” Ana asked, running her hand up his arm.

“I don’t trust anyone,” he replied simply. He put his hand around the back of her neck as her face fell, drawing her close and whispering something to her in Japanese.

Malachi cleared his throat. “Once we’ve destroyed this portal, do we have a plan for making it back to the gates of the city? We’ll have to travel the length of it. Ten miles at least, north to south, according to the Tanner.”

“It should be chaos,” said Takeshi, releasing Ana, whose cheeks were glowing. Whatever he’d said had put her at eas
e . . .
and apparently turned her on. “Our goal should be to sneak out and run. I have a few tunnels we can use to go part of the way, and there’s a safe chamber on the east side of the city that contains a few Mazikin disguises.”

Malachi’s brow furrowed. “What about everyone else?”

“What do you mean?” Takeshi asked.

Malachi straightened his shoulders. “What about the other human prisoners in this city? How will we get them out?”

“We won’t. It’s impossible. If the angels will not intervene, there is no way to liberate the entire city. And you know they won’t. Raphael and Michael made that clear, time and time again. We don’t even know how long they will open the dome after we destroy the portal. For all we know, it will slam shut before we can even make it to the gates. I do not trust the Judge. She’s shown that she’s very willing to abandon her Guards when it suits her.”

“But we have to try,” said Malachi.

“You served the Judge for years, Malachi,” said Ana, moving so she was halfway between Malachi and Takeshi. “Why do you still feel as if you owe her anything?”

“I don’t,” Malachi snapped, his clipped accent razor-edged. “But I owe the people who are imprisoned here because I went on a stupid, fanciful crusade to liberate their souls!”

I put my hand on his chest. His voice had risen, becoming loud enough to draw stares from the Tanner’s guards. Worse, Treasa was standing not twenty feet away, watching us. She’d appeared out of freaking nowhere, and I had no idea how long she’d been there.

“We’ll figure it out,” I said to him, sliding my hand down his forearm to grasp his fingers. His determination to atone for what he saw as his responsibility in trapping countless tortured souls in the city was what had caused him to pull away from me and into himself. It was part of what had made him vulnerable to the Mazikin, the thing they’d used to ensnare him. But though I’d come to the city only for him, I couldn’t help but share his desire to do something for the others. Malachi was my top priority, but he wasn’t my only consideration. “We’ll do everything we can. Maybe the Tanner will help. He said he wants his people to get out.”

I looked to Ana for support, but she was shaking her head. “I don’t see how it’s possible to free everyone in the city,” she said, shooting Malachi an apologetic look. “And it wasn’t part of the conditions the Judge set. We need to focus on the mission—and then on getting ourselves out. I don’t want to be trapped here forever.”