Witch's Pyre (Worldwalker #3)(23)

What do we do, then? Try to strike up a conversation with one of the Workers? Breakfast smirked as he asked this in mindspeak. The thought was ridiculous enough to get a smile out of all of them—except Rowan.

What I want to know is where they come from, he said. Everyone looked at Rowan. They’re called the Hive, but has anyone seen an actual beehive anywhere?

No one had.

I looked all over today for some place big enough for a large number of Warrior Sisters to congregate, but apart from those lookout towers, there isn’t any. The towers only fit a dozen or so Sisters at a time, Rowan continued. So, where’s their hive?

Out in the fields? Tristan guessed.

Rowan shrugged. Lily could sense that the rest of her coven felt a bit embarrassed, especially Caleb. While they were getting their hair done, Rowan had been trying to gather information about their Woven hosts. Lily looked at Rowan.

What do you suggest we do?

She didn’t like asking Rowan for direction. She liked it less that for the first time she had to really look at him. He was thinner. His skin was sallow, his eyes more sunken, and his hair was long enough to brush his shoulders. He looked haunted and hungry. Like looking across a burning desert, Lily could only suffer the glaring beauty of him in small bursts. She looked away.

Keep Toshi busy tomorrow. I’ll look around some more and try to see which way they come and go, he answered.

I’ll go with you, Caleb offered.

Rowan shook his head.

We’ll both go, Tristan said.

No. Stay close to our witch, Rowan said. His hot, dark eyes came up to meet Lily’s cold, light ones. She’s in more danger around Toshi than she thinks. She has no idea how far an orphaned mechanic would go for her.

Lily wore her new scent to dinner that night. She realized when she put it on that one of the compounds in it was designed to soak into the skin, pleasantly altering the wearer’s mood. She could see it tracing around her veins, lighting her up inside. She wondered whether this agent—whatever it was—occurred naturally in the scent components, or if it had been added for her benefit. She liked it. Maybe too much. When she stepped out of her bath and joined everyone else in the ladies’ sitting room, she felt a bit reckless.

Lily crossed to a pitcher of chilled water that was resting on a silver tray by the open balcony doors. The night jasmine on the veranda had bloomed and several Workers were combing through the velvety petals. She took a drink, feeling the coolness of the water wash down her throat while she watched the Workers shiver through the flowers, seemingly oblivious to anything but the task of gathering nectar.

When she turned, everyone was staring at her. Her gaze sought out Rowan and stuck there. He was meant to wear black, she thought to Lillian, and wondered whether, in some part of the back of her busy mind, her other self was listening. He’s like a dark flame burning out a slender slice of nothing between all the others.

Rowan’s eyes narrowed at Lily as she stared, a bemused smile threatening to break through his glower. The smoke willstone at his throat swirled with shadow and light and for a moment Lily couldn’t imagine why they were fighting.

Then she remembered the cage. He would have let me die, she said to Lillian, although she could tell that Lillian was deeply occupied with something else. Another thought occurred to Lily, one that bit deep. Does he still want me dead?

“Lily,” Rowan said, his forehead pinched with confusion. “Who are you mindspeaking with?”

Lily looked away. Why does he always know what I’m up to? she complained to Lillian. “Are we waiting on anyone?” she asked aloud, ignoring Rowan’s question.

“Just you,” Toshi answered. He paused to sniff the air. “You’re wearing it.”

They shared conspirators’ grins. “I wonder if Grace will notice.”

“Oh, she’ll notice,” he replied, stepping forward to take Lily’s arm. “Even if she doesn’t say anything.”

“Did you tell her I got it?”

Toshi gave her an offended look. “I don’t tell Grace everything.” Lily curled her hand over his bicep as she studied him, wondering whether that was true.

He led them downstairs and into yet another wing of Grace’s impressive residence. Lily wondered if the Governor’s Villa was like the White House, with a new tenant every four or eight years.

“How often do you have elections here?” Lily asked Toshi.

“Five years for parliamentary positions, ten years for service positions,” Toshi answered.

Lily nodded at that. “What about the governor’s position, or Ivan’s place as head mechanic?”

“Head mechanic is different,” Toshi said. “It’s based on talent, and Ivan is the most talented mechanic in the city.”

Lily eyes shot down to Toshi’s deep rose stone and wondered whether he was being loyal to his mentor, or whether he truly believed Ivan was the best.

“What about Grace?” Breakfast asked. “Does the governor need to be a witch for some reason?”

“Grace was chosen by the Hive to mediate between them and the humans long ago. She’s the only one they’ll communicate with,” Toshi said, turning his head to include the rest of the coven in the conversation. “She brings proposed laws to the Hive, and then comes back to Parliament with what they will and will not accept.”