born, not children in the true sense of the word, but flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone nonetheless. Bred and born of the unMagic our captors have perfected.”
Suspicion gnawed at my stomach, a suspicion that made me slightly ill. “You can’t possibly mean—”
“Clones,” she hissed. “The mortals have succeeded where we could not and cured our ‘flagging fertility. By creating Sidlieborn clones.”
My pulse skittered. If word of this spilled out among the arcane community, the Accord would be shattered as painfully as it had been forged. And Furies might well be added to the endangered species list. We could not withstand another War, not so soon.
“Uh, Riss.” Scott’s voice buzzed in my ear, but I brushed it off like an annoying insect.
“Where are they being held?”
Her eyes took on a pleased glow and she relaxed her body. “Somewhere to the west.”
Damned Sidhe and their thrice-damned riddle-speak. No wonder they’d been able to screw so many mortals over in ill-made bargains over the ages. The gods may have cursed them to always speak the truth, but there are all kinds of truth. “We’re on the frigging East Coast. That’s an awful lot of west.”
Her lips curved. “I meant the’ west of this particular province. What do the mortals call it? Oh yes, the commonwealth.”
Well. That helped somewhat. Western Massachusetts was a whole hell of a lot smaller than the west of the entire effing country.
“Who exactly is holding your brethr—”
“Riss, move. Someone’s coming your way!” Scott’s words thudding into my earpiece jerked me into action. “Shit. Sorry. I’ll try and contact you later.” To that end, I drew out a knife, cutting a lock of hair from the Sidhe’s corpse and slicing a small section of skin, careful to make sure drops of blood clung to it as I wrapped the materials in the scarf. I jammed the candles and scarf into my bag, covered the corpse, and shoved the cooler closed. Just in time to hear the room’s door begin creaking open.
I wrapped myself in camouflage, partially unfurling my wings and beating them,’ gaining just enough leverage to launch myself over and behind an examining table shrouded in shadows on the far side of the room. No sooner did I drop into place than several figures stepped through the doorway. I kept my body completely still and peered through the opening in the table’s bottom. One thing caught my attention right off the bat. Only one of the figures wore the typical scrubs of the city coroner’s office. The other three skulked around in cheap three-piece suits straight from the covers of Yes-Men-GQ.
Elliana took exception to my delay. “Move your ass, Fury!”
“One sec.” I breathed the words as softly as I could while still being picked up by the microphone.
Good thing the room was so damned long. “Feds.”
The ME led the other men straight toward the cooler marked Turner, Vanessa. My fingers clenched on the steel underside of the exam table. If they turned the body over, they were going to notice the little souvenir I’d taken.
But the feds just gave the body a cursory inspection. They dismissed the ME with pointed looks toward the door, waiting for him to disappear before speaking.
“Looks like she hasn’t been here, at least.”
“Yes, but the fact that she hasn’t yet returned to her home is a problem.”
The third suit shook his head. “Merely a complication. She will turn up sooner ‘or later. Furies always do.”
I stiffened when I realized they meant me. Sure, I’d suspected that the feds, or at least someone very high up on the f9od chain, was involved somehow. But this sounded an awful lot like they’d been the ones trying to have me killed...
“We have several more men seeking her out. And the Harpies may well succeed in flushing the Fury out into the open.”
The first man crinkled his nose, flicking at invisible specks of dust on overstarched cuffs. “I detest dealing with such
Suspicion gnawed at my stomach, a suspicion that made me slightly ill. “You can’t possibly mean—”
“Clones,” she hissed. “The mortals have succeeded where we could not and cured our ‘flagging fertility. By creating Sidlieborn clones.”
My pulse skittered. If word of this spilled out among the arcane community, the Accord would be shattered as painfully as it had been forged. And Furies might well be added to the endangered species list. We could not withstand another War, not so soon.
“Uh, Riss.” Scott’s voice buzzed in my ear, but I brushed it off like an annoying insect.
“Where are they being held?”
Her eyes took on a pleased glow and she relaxed her body. “Somewhere to the west.”
Damned Sidhe and their thrice-damned riddle-speak. No wonder they’d been able to screw so many mortals over in ill-made bargains over the ages. The gods may have cursed them to always speak the truth, but there are all kinds of truth. “We’re on the frigging East Coast. That’s an awful lot of west.”
Her lips curved. “I meant the’ west of this particular province. What do the mortals call it? Oh yes, the commonwealth.”
Well. That helped somewhat. Western Massachusetts was a whole hell of a lot smaller than the west of the entire effing country.
“Who exactly is holding your brethr—”
“Riss, move. Someone’s coming your way!” Scott’s words thudding into my earpiece jerked me into action. “Shit. Sorry. I’ll try and contact you later.” To that end, I drew out a knife, cutting a lock of hair from the Sidhe’s corpse and slicing a small section of skin, careful to make sure drops of blood clung to it as I wrapped the materials in the scarf. I jammed the candles and scarf into my bag, covered the corpse, and shoved the cooler closed. Just in time to hear the room’s door begin creaking open.
I wrapped myself in camouflage, partially unfurling my wings and beating them,’ gaining just enough leverage to launch myself over and behind an examining table shrouded in shadows on the far side of the room. No sooner did I drop into place than several figures stepped through the doorway. I kept my body completely still and peered through the opening in the table’s bottom. One thing caught my attention right off the bat. Only one of the figures wore the typical scrubs of the city coroner’s office. The other three skulked around in cheap three-piece suits straight from the covers of Yes-Men-GQ.
Elliana took exception to my delay. “Move your ass, Fury!”
“One sec.” I breathed the words as softly as I could while still being picked up by the microphone.
Good thing the room was so damned long. “Feds.”
The ME led the other men straight toward the cooler marked Turner, Vanessa. My fingers clenched on the steel underside of the exam table. If they turned the body over, they were going to notice the little souvenir I’d taken.
But the feds just gave the body a cursory inspection. They dismissed the ME with pointed looks toward the door, waiting for him to disappear before speaking.
“Looks like she hasn’t been here, at least.”
“Yes, but the fact that she hasn’t yet returned to her home is a problem.”
The third suit shook his head. “Merely a complication. She will turn up sooner ‘or later. Furies always do.”
I stiffened when I realized they meant me. Sure, I’d suspected that the feds, or at least someone very high up on the f9od chain, was involved somehow. But this sounded an awful lot like they’d been the ones trying to have me killed...
“We have several more men seeking her out. And the Harpies may well succeed in flushing the Fury out into the open.”
The first man crinkled his nose, flicking at invisible specks of dust on overstarched cuffs. “I detest dealing with such
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