Storm of Locusts

Chapter 10

“Who’s out there?” Ben asks, a small dark lump in the middle of my bed. I’d forgotten she was here.

“Some people I know,” I say, stepping over Tah’s makeshift pallet on the floor.

“Friends?”

“Not exactly.” Ben watches me as I pull the sword scabbard from the closet. Run my hands along the black leather. The baldric is elaborately hand-tooled with Western swirls and filigrees. It’s beautiful and something I would have never considered myself, but Tah said it was important to have the proper house for such a sacred weapon when he gifted it to me. Where it came from and how he could afford such a thing is beyond me. But I’m grateful. It’s a work of art created by a master leatherworker. I lay the scabbard across the foot of my bed. Ben sits up to get a better look.

“Move,” I tell her.

“What?”

I gesture for her to get up, and she slides off mattress. I drop to my knees and reach into the space between the mattress and the wall and pull out Neizghání’s sword. Reverent and fully aware that I’m holding a supernatural weapon, I unwrap the sword from the soft cloth. It’s close to four feet long, with a one-handed grip. Its core is a black wood I’m not familiar with, the edges a series of sharpened obsidian laid together so closely that they almost appear as a single edge, the slight differentiation resembling forked lightning. Legend says that the Jo’hanaa’ei, the sun, gifted Neizghání and his brother with four weapons. From these weapons Neizghání made two of his own: the lightning dagger that pierced my side in the arena at the Shalimar and this sword. The dagger is with him underneath the earth of Black Mesa.

And the sword is mine.

I’ve never used it, but I’ve seen what it can do. In Neizghání’s hands, it became a living thing, a weapon of white fire. With it, he could call lightning from the sky. Take the head of a man in a single sweep. Rouse sheet lightning to wipe out armies in a single blinding blow. It’s the weapon of a hero, but I’m going to have to do for now.

Ben’s standing next to me, eyes glued to the sword. I give her a tight smile as I slide it into the scabbard, keeping the hilt wrapped in black cloth, secured with a length of suede tie. Wordless, she helps me lift the scabbard over my shoulder and secure the baldric across my chest.

“Are you leaving?” Ben asks, her voice small.

I nod.

“Can I come?”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?” she asks. “Because I killed that lady?”

I pause, close my eyes. I still can’t decide if it would hurt her more to know she killed the archer or that she didn’t. If it were me, it would be the latter, so I go with that, at least for now.

I take a deep breath to release the tightness in my chest and turn to her. “No, Ben. It’s because we don’t really know each other, do we? And the Thirsty Boys will be back for you later today, and they’re your family, not me. So why would I want to take you with me?”

My words are harsh, and I expect her to cringe, maybe even cry, but instead she raises her chin, her eyes blazing. “Because my uncle asked you to.”

So she knows about Hastiin’s request. That’s unexpected.

“I know he asked you to watch after me,” she continues. She steps toward me, hands on her hips. “He said that if anything happened to him . . . if he . . .” She takes a deep breath and practically shouts, “You owe him!”

“I owe him nothing,” I growl through a clenched jaw.

“Then you owe me!” she says, just as defiant. We stare at each other, and even though I’ve faced down gods and monsters, I’ve got nothing on a stubborn, grieving, and annoyingly righteous teenager.

“Tell me about your clan powers.”

She blinks at my quick change of subject. “What?”

“Tell me about your tracking power, and I’ll let you come.” Because it hasn’t escaped my notice that Ben might not be a burden when I’m looking for Kai, but an asset.

She flushes. Works her jaw.

“Your choice,” I say. “Tell me how they work, or you can stay with—”

“Blood,” she blurts. “It’s blood.”

“Explain.”

“I—I can find someone by the taste of their blood.”

Well, that’s different. “You used them up on the mountain today, but you weren’t in immediate danger. I’ve never heard of that. How did you do it?” Something I’d noticed but hadn’t had the opportunity to ask her about, all things considered.

She flushes, smooths her hair unconsciously. “Something to do with the blood part, I think. I . . . I don’t really know. And I’ve never had anyone to ask about it before. None of the Thirsty Boys have clan powers, and my uncle doesn’t . . . didn’t . . . approve.”

“You should ask Tah.” Or Kai. Kai would know. Or at least he could figure it out. “It’s a powerful thing, using your clan powers at will. It could change things.” For better or worse.

“So, can I go with you or not?” she asks.

I consider. I want to know more about how her powers work, but that can wait until we have Kai back. I utter the three words I know I’ll come to rue.

“You can come.” I sling my bag over my shoulder. “But there are conditions.”

She bounces lightly on her feet before settling down, face serious. “Like what?”

“First, you follow my rules. Second, no killing people without permission, and third, no . . . annoying me.”

She grins. Actually grins.

“Get dressed and get your stuff. You’ve got five minutes, and then I’m leaving, with or without you.”

“Yes, sir! Ma’am!” she corrects herself hastily.

“This is not the Thirsty Boys,” I say. “We are not playing soldier. I am not your commanding officer. Just call me Maggie.”

“Yes, Maggie,” she says, giving me a sharp salute, hand to forehead.

It’s not too late to change my mind. It’s not. But I don’t.

“One more thing, Maggie,” she says, making me pause in the doorway.

She hesitates.

“What is it?”

“Can I borrow a gun?”