Gates of Thread and Stone(73)

“Well,” Ninu said, “it would be a little alarming to have a leader who never died. Human minds are fragile things. Supply them just enough magic and miracles to keep their reverence, but not enough to challenge what they think they know of the world. Can’t have another self-inflicted cataclysm, can we?”

The sentinels gathered up the body, carrying it between them like a plank of wood.

Ninu grunted as he surveyed the mess left behind. “I do hope that won’t stain.”

I forced my eyes away from the blood on the floor, the same blood that ran in dark-red rivulets down the blade of my knife, gathering around my clenched fingers. The knowledge of what I’d just done swarmed inside me, threatening to make me sick all over the tiles. But I held myself in check. I couldn’t think about it now. There would be time later for breaking down.

If I survived this.

I was a fool. I hadn’t considered a puppet leader. I assumed Ninu could change faces. He was Infinite—I couldn’t begin to fathom what he could do. But I had hoped, because the knife had scared off the gargoyles, that it might be able to hurt him. Maybe even kill him.

Well, it had done its job, just not on the right Ninu. And now I’d lost whatever minuscule advantage I’d had. Maybe I could slow time again and— But would the same tactic work twice? I’d have to get Ninu closer. I wouldn’t be able to hold the threads long enough to cross the room.

I shifted sideways to keep both Kalla and Ninu in my line of sight. I wanted to drop the knife and wipe my hands on my tunic, to rid myself of that awful stickiness, but I couldn’t let go of the last thing standing between us, no matter how useless it might be.

“If you want my help, then let Reev and Avan go. Safely,” I added in case he tried to twist my words.

“Of course,” he said. “In time.” He smiled, a gradual stretch of his lips, as if whatever thought he found so funny was slow to form. “Time.”

“Now,” I said.

“You’re a lot like your father. Both annoyingly stubborn.”

Father? Was this some sort of trick?

“Your abilities are much rougher, though,” he went on. “Lack of practice, I think. And your mortal body obviously holds you back.”

Irra had said Ninu was the youngest of the Infinite. He couldn’t possibly know more about their ways than Irra. Ninu must be trying to mislead me. “Let my brother and Avan go now, with the promise that they won’t get hurt, and I’ll take you to Irra.”

Ninu cut his hand through the air. “Irra is nothing but a fly that needs to be swatted.”

The anger in his voice vibrated in my bones.

“He can play hide-and-seek all he wants. I’ll find him soon enough,” Ninu said.

What? I gritted my teeth and lowered the knife. Kalla had draped herself across a plush white sofa, apparently ignoring the conversation.

“Then what the drek do you want from me?” I shouted.

“What do I want?” His question echoed across the room. “No one but Irra could have helped you infiltrate the Tournament. So when R-22 reported your presence, I saw an opportunity finally to catch him.”

It had been Reev. Ninu’s wall in his mind had allowed him to recognize me and still betray me.

“But you tried to have Reev kill me,” I said.

“We needed only one of you,” he said simply. “Your friend’s information would have sufficed. And what better way to demonstrate our power than to let him watch his friend die by her brother’s hand? But then I saw what you did in the arena.” His eyes closed again, head tilting. “Irra must have suspected who you are, and yet he sent you anyway.”

What if Ninu really did know something about my past? “Who am I?”

“Irra had no information to offer you?”

“He didn’t know,” I said. The flicker of uncertainty in Ninu’s face gave me a brief moment of satisfaction. He might be just as confused by all this as I was.

“You are an answer to a question,” he replied confidently. “A means to an end. A bridge to the other side. Take your pick.”

I decided he had no idea what I was. “If you don’t care about finding Irra, then what was the point of sending Istar to intimidate me? And your puppet’s threats?”

“My human counterpart was told only about your significance to Irra. And his threats still stand.”

“But what do you want from me?”

Someone tapped at the door behind me. “Perfect,” Ninu said.

The door opened. Two sentinels guided Reev and Avan into the room. Reev entered by his own will, as distant and cold as his guards. Avan had to be supported. I struggled not to show the way my body went weak at the sight of them.

Avan was still in his cadet uniform, which now hung off his shoulders in bloody shreds. Physically, he looked okay, but the state of his clothes was evidence of what they’d done to him. And when I searched his face, the damage was clear. His eyes wouldn’t meet mine, but I could see that they were weary and dark with pain. His gaze darted around the room. Alert but uncertain. Haunted.

I rushed forward, choking on his name. The sentinels stepped in front of him.

“Get out of my way!” I shouted, shoving the bloody blade up beneath one sentinel’s jaw. She didn’t move; she just looked to Ninu for orders.