Reign of the Fallen (Reign of the Fallen #1)(49)
“Shade-baiters.” My heart races faster at the thought of the false necromancers, blue-eyed Karthians who never receive any formal training to raise the dead, but offer cheap trips into the Deadlands to search for loved ones—trips from which the client rarely ever returns. Shade-baiters almost always take a person’s money and leave them for dead where no one will ever find a body. “And you let her go with them?”
“Sparrow, who the blazes is she?”
I turn to meet Jax’s gaze, and I can tell by the look he gives me that my face betrays my worry. “Meredy Crowther. Evander’s little sister.”
“What?” Jax groans. “How was I supposed to know? And what could I have done to stop her from going with them, anyway? I’m not her father.” He sounds as guilty as I feel. I shouldn’t have been so eager to see the back of Meredy, even if I didn’t want to help her. I should have told her exactly why she couldn’t go to the Deadlands. Scared her away from the idea for good, even.
“She gets to make her own choices, just like us,” I say softly, more to ease Jax’s guilt than mine. Nothing but finding Meredy safe and sound will make me feel better now.
I leap off the bed and scramble to throw on my boots. I can’t believe I didn’t realize how determined she was to go to the Deadlands. I was too preoccupied by my potions and my problems to see how desperate she was.
If she dies, her blood will be on my hands.
I grab one of Jax’s many knives, testing its grip in my small hand. It’ll do. I shove the dagger in a spare sheath and hand Jax his sword, earning a wide grin from him. Shades are a deadly threat, but I’ve sparred enough to know fighting humans is much easier.
“You don’t have to come,” I say breathlessly as Jax rushes to the door with me, already armed. “I’ve been to the Deadlands alone, and I came back. I can do it again.” I smirk at him as I add, “Besides, I can’t offer you your weight in gold for risking your life.”
“No way am I missing a chance to make something bleed.” Jax bangs his shoulder against mine, making me grin, too. “You’re stuck with me, partner.”
“Fine.” I fling open the door. With a guilt twisting my insides as I think of Danial, I add, “We might as well grab Simeon if he’s willing, too. We could use the extra help.”
Meredy might be a painful reminder of Evander, but I can’t let her die like this.
I just hope we aren’t too late.
XVI
Standing outside the Crowther manor in the dead of night, I’m beginning to think my idea was a bad one. Jax and Simeon, flanking me on either side, are in total agreement.
“I don’t see why we need to bring a grizzly bear to the Deadlands when we’re packing enough steel and fire to raze an entire province,” Jax growls.
He glances over his shoulder at the nearest glowing gateway, which hovers in a neighboring manor’s yard. I hope the baron who lives there won’t hear the commotion we’re about to cause and send for a guard. This will be difficult enough without several curious nobles poking their noses in our business.
“We’re wasting valuable time,” Jax mutters, jarring me from my thoughts.
“Your time is valuable? I had no idea,” Simeon drawls. It’s good to know his sarcasm is alive and well after all we’ve been through lately. I catch his eye, and he grins as he sweeps back his sandy blond bangs. “But really, Sparrow. I think we’re strong enough to take three rogue necromancers without a thousand pounds of muscle and claws backing us up.”
“Three on three,” Jax agrees, squaring his shoulders with an expression as hungry and wild as the wolves inked into his skin. “A fair fight.”
I shake my head, then pound on the manor door. If there’s ever a time I need a vial of calming potion, it’s now, when I’m about to willingly plunge into the well of memories contained by these imposing walls.
“The bear isn’t a weapon,” I hastily explain as I wait for Lyda or Elibeth to appear. I knock again, harder. “As a beast master, Meredy’s tied to the bear somehow. He can track her scent, too. Maybe he can even tell us if we’re chasing a lost cause.” I knock a third time, nervousness humming in my veins.
“And what’s to stop him from, you know, eating us instead of doing all those helpful things?” Simeon demands, his teasing grin not entirely covering his apprehension. “Danial’s already unhappy with me. Just think how he’ll yell if I get turned into bear chow.”
“From what I understand of beast masters, their animals are tamer than wild ones. They pick up some of their master’s humanity in the magical bonding process, which is why they don’t just attack people in the streets.” I shrug, hoping I’m right. I’ve never had a conversation with a beast master about their magic, despite knowing Elibeth for years.
“I dated a beast master last year,” Jax says in an offhand voice. “Remember Tabathy? Older, gorgeous, taller-than-me Tabathy? Best six weeks of my life, except she insisted we keep things secret. Oh, and her beast was an owl. It liked sitting on her wardrobe and watching me while . . .”
I press my ear to the door, listening for the patter of feet inside the manor. But all I can hear is Simeon snickering and slapping Jax on the back. “No, I don’t believe it,” Simeon gasps between laughs. “You and Tabathy. That’s about as likely as you and—”