Only a Monster(Monsters #1)(53)

The man wore a gold pin on his lapel: a winged lion, posed as if stalking the viewer, wings outstretched like a bird of prey. The stall owner was a middle-aged woman with purple lipstick and a matching purple jacket. The Court Guard’s manner was easygoing, but the woman’s hands shook as she put the phones into a box. She didn’t look at him directly.

Aaron took Joan’s elbow and moved her quickly past them. As they walked, Joan began to spot more and more guards with winged-lion pins. Stall owners looked on, white-lipped but not protesting, while phones and other devices were confiscated, as their tables were stripped bare.

‘Technology out of its time,’ Aaron whispered to Joan as they reached the stairs. ‘Technically illegal, but Court Guards don’t usually concern themselves with small markets like this.’

Joan swallowed. ‘Ruth said she saw Court Guards after she spoke about the massacre,’ she whispered. ‘And I was overheard speaking of the massacre yesterday. Do you think they’re looking for us?’

‘If they were here for us, their attention would be on people, not technology,’ Aaron said. ‘It’s just a coincidental raid. Come on.’

To Joan’s relief, Ruth opened the door to the flat on the first knock.

‘There are Court Guards—’ Aaron started to say.

‘I know,’ Ruth said. ‘I’ve been watching them from upstairs.’

She ushered them into the bedroom nook. There was a pulldown ladder in the ceiling.

Joan followed Ruth up the ladder and found herself in a rooftop garden. On one side, the market’s glass dome rose like a sail. From up here, the leadwork ravens in the blue glass were the size of cats. Waist-high parapets enclosed the rest of the rooftop, reminding Joan of the Liu family’s courtyard.

‘You can see everything from here,’ Joan said wonderingly. Below, on the street, monsters were popping in and out of existence like soap bubbles. She didn’t think she’d ever get used to that. Through the glass dome, the market was laid out in miniature. The guards looked the same as everyone else from this height—their pins too small to see. But Joan could tell where they were from the spaces other people left around them. And, even from up here, Joan could see how the guards had changed the atmosphere of the market. Customers were moving more slowly, heads turned to track them. Sellers were quieter.

‘No one ever comes up onto the roof,’ Ruth said.

‘Because it’s ghastly,’ Aaron said. Someone had put potted plants up here, but they were long dead—withered to silver stems. The parapets were crumbling. He added, conceding, ‘Although, true—it’s a comprehensive view.’

Joan sat on a parapet, facing Ruth and Aaron. ‘We have some news,’ she told Ruth. ‘We spoke to Ying Liu. He confirmed the rumours. Some of the Lius remember another timeline.’

Ruth’s eyes widened. ‘He told you that?’

‘That’s the least of it,’ Aaron said. ‘Your cousin is in possession of contraband from the Monster Court itself. Did you know that?’

‘What?’ Ruth said. ‘No!’

Joan unclasped the gold necklace and leaned over to hand it to Ruth. ‘Gran gave it to me just before she died.’ She hoped Ruth wouldn’t feel hurt that Gran had given her something.

Ruth didn’t look hurt. She looked puzzled. She took the necklace and stretched it out against the bright white sky. She twisted it slightly, making the chain glint.

‘Have you seen it before?’ Joan said. ‘In Gran’s house, maybe? Or did she ever wear it?’

Ruth shook her head. ‘Not that I know of. What are these dark patches on the chain? They almost look like stone.’

‘I don’t know,’ Joan said. The question made her feel strangely uneasy. She remembered again how she’d touched the necklace after Gran had died: how, when she’d lifted her fingers, the gold underneath had been dull and dark. That couldn’t be right, though, she thought again. She had to be remembering that wrong.

For some reason another memory came to her then: Ying Liu spreading his fingers to touch those dark patches. The way he’d looked at her searchingly afterward.

‘According to Ying Liu, that’s a key to the Monster Court,’ Aaron said.

Ruth jumped and almost fumbled it, as if he’d told her she was holding a snake.

‘That’s what he told us,’ Joan said.

Ruth’s eyes were huge. ‘This is a key to the Court?’ she said. ‘I don’t understand. How is it even a key? It’s a necklace.’

‘I don’t know,’ Aaron said. ‘But look. The pendant is a sigil. It looks almost like a family chop.’

Ruth held it up again, curiosity apparently overcoming fear. ‘I’ve never seen this sigil. . . .’ She frowned, looking more closely. ‘What is it? A gargoyle? There are knots in its tail.’

‘A chimera of some kind,’ Aaron said. ‘But I’ve never seen it before either.’

Ruth turned the pendant over. There was an indented, stamped image on the underside of the disk. The same creature, standing on a scroll. Joan squinted at the words. Non sibi sed regi. Latin?

‘“Not for self, but for king,”’ Aaron said.

‘Those words don’t belong to any of the twelve families,’ Ruth said.