Nasheth ordered a set of screens be erected in the rear of the tent, nearer the kitchens and tents for the majority of the public, and demanded that the Light Archon accompany the “outlanders”. Hawk knew from the way he flinched that this was an insult to the Archon, but she didn’t care. Anything to get away from Argon before he started abusing his people again.
“We have to stop it,” Em said. “We need to stop it. They’re going to burn—”
“—with or without your permission, yes. They are going to burn. Attempting to save them will only add your body to the flame. Blood-gift is considered sacred by many. To interrupt it is to ask death. Argon saved your life, Em, by speaking before His people could fully process what you’d just done.” The Archon patted their hand. “I will not say it will be alright, because it will not be. But this has been life for as long as I have breathed, and as soon as they’ve finished sanctifying Fire’s altar, we’ll be able to rejoin them.”
“Rejoin them?” Em said.
“It is never wise to leave your enemies to talk amongst themselves. Earth Archon and Fire will ally together to speak badly of me. I struck the first blow in that argument—reminding Nasheth that both Argon and her own Archon are against her most sacred edict—but that won’t hold for long. And I do not dare leave any of you alone.”
“I’m sorry. I blew it in there.” Hawk said.
“Oh, you did no such thing, my dear girl. I was actively impressed that you got even this far. I bid you leave for your own sake, Hawk-of-the-…” and he stopped, transfixed for a few moments as he made the connection she’d damn near given herself a hernia to avoid. Fuck, the truth was that easy to sus out? “West. Hawk West. You lied to Nasheth. To her very face! And succeeded! But why take that risk?”
“Let me answer your question with a question, Archon,” She said, and she could feel the damned tears now, burbling up like some sort of poisonous well. “Did the Shadowmaster steal the piece of the First God? Or is he made from it?”
The Archon was very still.
“There is a reason Nasheth was asking about Alex,” She said, to the others. “She didn’t know if he had a family, if he was married, or anything. She just grabbed him because he was there. Maybe it did kill him.”
“Or maybe there is a blasphemous lie I do not dare repeat.” The Archon said, very quietly. “Perhaps there is something I heard from the Shadowmaster’s own lips.”
“And if you just come out and tell us the damned story?” Em asked.
“I will become fodder for the fire for telling, and you would be burned for listening. Or worse. Nasheth is quite…creative when it comes to punishing the misdeeds of others.”
Kaiser stood and shook himself. “Well, I’m not going to sit here and listen in on hypotheticals and probabilities. I’ve got places to go, a business to run, and a world that needs some serious help. What the hell are we going to do with these people?”
Dryly, Em said, “We can apply every federal and local law in the Boston municipality and drag their asses in jail for multiple murder, because in case you missed it, they’re killing people in there.”
“Lower your voice,” The Archon said. “Unless you wish to join them.”
They settled.
“Willheim, you ask the question I have long struggled with. I know my myths are false, but our Gods are real. Nasheth touched the Earth Archon’s face over a small thing, and you see the horror she’s become. But the true horror is that Earth could always have left. All Archons have that choice—all worshippers have that choice. You may always and ever change your patron, or leave them entirely. But they love their Gods. Do you see it? They love that which harms them. I can argue with a thousand minds, a million of them. It is no hardship to debate. But I have not the power to change even one heart. And nor…” He stopped talking, which meant he was about to say something about the Shadowmaster.
Stolen novel; please report.
“Nor would our friend with the purple hands,” Hawk said. Em understood immediately. Henry and Kaiser looked lost.
“He can change neither mind nor heart. He learned long ago, he cannot fight the Gods with words, any more than I can. Darkness does not listen to words; it heeds only fire.”
“But he fights them,” Hawk said.
“Every hour that is not spent on food or rest…and he doesn’t give that a tenth of the time he should.”
“He wouldn’t,” Hawk said, remembering dozens of cold dinners, and I’m sorry, Babe, I lost track of time. This case I’m on…”Not if he is who I think he is. Do you know who I think he is?” She said to the Archon.
“I think I do,” he said. “Hawk West.”
“Well, I’m lost,” Henry said.
“You can be lost,” Em said. “I wish I was.”
But the person Hawk was watching was Kaiser. It wasn’t a big jump from Shadowmaster to Alex if you had even half of the story, and the coded hints she and the Archon were dropping weren’t hard to follow either. She watched his eyes for a brief second, before dropping her own. She couldn’t be sure, but he’d had a terrible knowing look.
One of the sadder truths in life: love is also leverage. The people you care for can be used against you with ease, if someone is unscrupulous…and Hawk was pretty sure Kaiser had burned his last scruple when he made his first millions.
If Alex was the Shadowmaster, Kaiser could use Hawk against Alex.
That was what Alex had been afraid of, an eternity and less than one week ago: That Kaiser would get access to an Archetype’s power. That was why, after they killed the Ape Archetype at the Bronx zoo, Alex had given her its remains, the Orb that now sat in a terrarium in her living room, surrounded by fire ants. He was afraid of Kaiser with a grip on that kind of power.
Now, in her mind, she plotted out what had happened. Alex had been in the Prism; Naomi, Arthur Anderson and whoever the hell Kali’Mar and Illyris had been must have stormed the Prism immediately, while he was still confused, hurting, and unable to protect himself. And they’d damaged his Orb. The question was…was that damage truly lethal? Or were these Orbs somehow capable of regenerating themselves? Could he have survived having a damaged Orb?
Then she shook herself for her own stupidity. They hadn’t just damaged his Orb. If she was right, they’d eaten the fucking thing. All but one-fifth of it.
So she said, again, “Archon, which is it? He stole and ate it, or—”
“I will not answer that question in the presence of anyone but my named heir. And I won’t dare even that in the middle of Nasheth’s camp.”
“You’re afraid of her.” Kaiser said, with contempt. “Do you know what she used to be? A—”
“Be SILENT.” The Archon said, and to the shock of everyone, Kaiser shut up. And turned red after a moment, which suggested his sudden obedience wasn’t entirely his idea. “I’m sorry, both for shouting and for using that particular bit of power on you, Willheim. It will wear off in a moment. And now you need to listen: you are trespassing near blasphemy, the sort that kills your entire line. You think I do not know the truth about our Gods? That they once walked among us as men? That they are flawed? I am not blind. I see the Earth Archon’s deformity, Argon’s depravity, Nasheth’s indifference to all but her obsession with the Fifth God. I know Illyris’s lusts and Kali’mar’s sins. I know they are nothing like their claims. I was taught so, each lesson ripped from blood to bring me nearer to the truth, which is this: I do not follow anything but the basest of men, granted power beyond imagination. But I was also taught how to keep silent so that my knowledge does not die with me. It is wise to fear anyone who has power over your life. You cannot trust that they will ever choose in your favor…and when they do, you must ask why.”
Hawk had to close her eyes and take a deep breath after that little speech. When she felt sure that she wouldn’t collapse into tears, she said, “Your friend with the purple hands taught you this.” It was not a question.
“Indeed.” A tilt of the mask.
“Alex West taught me the same thing.” And then she could have kicked herself, because she said that in front of Kaiser, and now those cold blue eyes of his were fixed on hers, the laugh lines around his eyes crinkling in an approximation of kindness. He aped empathy the way gorillas could imitate human words, but unlike the Ape herself, and her chosen fellow apes, he had yet to make the jump from imitation to the real thing. He’d heard what was important: Alex West was her husband, and there was a high probability now that he was also the Shadowmaster. Which meant if Kaiser wanted to manipulate the Shadowmaster, it might be as simple as putting a gun to Hawk’s head.
And the hope she’d started to feel died in her chest.
Because if that was true, if Kaiser had indeed made the connection in full, the best thing she could do for everyone is walk away from Alex West.