Instead, she laced her fingers through his and pulled his hand away. Then she leaned over so they were almost nose to nose. “I’m here. I’m alive.” She kept repeating those two phrases as Zhek worked his magic. She desperately hoped they’d gotten here in time.
Rendor passed out during Zhek’s administrations.
“It’s for the best,” Zhek assured her. “He’s been stabbed. It’s deep, but the blade just missed his stomach.”
“Will he live?”
“He’s young and strong and stubborn. But if he doesn’t want to, then I’ve no cure for that. You must stay with him and talk to him once we get him to a better and cleaner location.”
She recruited a bunch of strong men to help carry Rendor to another room. Zhek led the way and she was about to follow when she noticed Jaft and Rae clinging to each other as if they were fighting a strong wind. Oh no.
“I’ll catch up,” she said. She approached them. Both had tears in their eyes. Rae sobbed with little hiccups. It could only mean bad news. “Lian? Elek?”
“Both gone,” Jaft said. “Crushed in the explosion.”
If the priestess wasn’t already dead, she’d murder the woman with her bare hands. No, that was too quick a death. She’d leave her on the surface for the Sun Goddess to cook.
Shyla stayed by Rendor’s side, talking to him and including him in the organization of the clean-up and search for survivors. Shyla learned that Yates had challenged Rendor again. They had fought, but Rendor’s heart hadn’t been in it and Yates stabbed him, winning the match. Yates tossed him into a black cell to either bleed to death or die of infection.
When Zhek’s potion wore off, all her aches and pains returned with such force that slamming into a wall would have been softer. All she could do was crawl under the fur with Rendor and pass out. They were in the room that she’d woken in when the Water Prince’s guards had captured her the very first time—a lifetime ago.
When she woke, she learned Ximen, Hanif, and Kaveri were still among the missing. Ilan had arrived with his rats to find bodies. They had good news almost right away as Cat Toy found two guards who’d been trapped under the rubble but were still alive. The rescue sent a pulse of energy and hope through the search crews.
The people had rallied and stormed the chapels, freeing the “sinners” and securing the deacons. Shyla would visit each one and assess them all when she had time. But there was one person she made time for—her friend Banqui.
He’d been captured by the Arch Deacons when they’d ambushed the Invisible Sword and forced to work in the chapel on level seventy-one, melting platinum for the torques. While exhausted and malnourished, he was still in better shape than after spending time in the black cells.
Banqui leaned on Timin’s arm as the physician escorted him to Shyla’s office and sleeping quarters. Banqui grinned when he spotted her, spreading his thin arms wide for a hug. Shyla obliged, hugging her friend and ignoring the sharpness of his bones under her arms. Timin retreated to give them some privacy.
“I knew you’d come for me,” he said.
“I knew you had to be in trouble because you promised you wouldn’t leave Zirdai without saying goodbye,” she reminded him. But the one thing she wouldn’t do was tell him that he’d accidentally led the Arch Deacons back to the Invisible Sword’s hideout. The man had suffered enough.
“Ah, yes. Your exceptional memory has saved me again.” He pulled back to look at her. His good humor faded. His fingers dug into her upper arms. “You… Your… You…”
She pried off his hands before he could draw blood. “Yes, Banqui. Me.”
“How… Why… But you…you…scoffed at the notion of magic!” The words burst from him.
“I did. I’m sorry I doubted you.”
“What changed your mind?”
She gave him a wry smile. “I did my research and was shown irrefutable proof.”
He snorted. “Typical.” Then he placed a hand on her shoulder. “After all that, The Eyes of Tamburah found the right person to save the city of Zirdai.”
“I had help.” She gestured to Rendor’s prone form. “Lots of help from people willing to give their lives.”
“All great leaders do. Thank you.”
After Banqui left, Shyla worked on writing a list of the guards who’d died. A commotion outside her room interrupted her. She was halfway to the door when Hanif and Kaveri burst in followed by a handful of dusty and sweaty people. All celebrating. She was squeezed between the two as tears of joy blurred her vision.
“Where—”
“Trapped in the prince’s main office!” Hanif said. “The entrances were blocked. We couldn’t get out. No one heard us yelling.”
“Or the deacons were ignoring us,” Kaveri added grimly.
“Then the rats came and we thought we were done. That we’d die of thirst and become rat food,” Hanif said.
Ilan cradled Cat Toy and beamed.
“I can’t wait to feel the sun on my face again,” Kaveri said, shivering.
“You’re going to have to fill in as the interim Heliacal Priestess. That means you’ll have a sun ceremony every angle zero,” Hanif said.
She brightened until Gurice and Mojag arrived with bad news.
“They found Ximen’s body,” Gurice said.
Shyla sucked in a breath as pain dug its claws into her stomach and twisted. Hard. Mojag hung his head. The boy looked exhausted. He’d seen too much death in his short life.
“He’s the last of the Invisible Swords,” Gurice said. “We lost fifteen members plus the twenty-three who’d been captured.”
That was too many. There were only thirty-four surviving members. She glanced at Rendor. Would he be number thirty-five?
After everyone left, she continued working on the list of deceased guards. At one hundred and seventy-five, it was considerably longer than the Invisible Swords. And they hadn’t dug through all the rubble yet. Twenty-two guards were still unaccounted for and are presumed dead. That left one hundred and three survivors. Seventeen prisoners died along with a dozen servants. If she included the missing, the total equaled two hundred and sixty-four.
Fatigue and overwhelming grief pressed on her. For Ximen, Elek, Lian, and the others. Its crushing weight made every breath a colossal effort. Heartsick, Shyla hunched over the desk, staring at the names. The Invisible Sword had won. They’d overthrown the Water Prince and Heliacal Priestess and stopped the horrors. So why didn’t it feel like they’d won?
Angles later, she dragged her battered and bruised body from the desk to the sleeping cushion. She pulled back the fur and froze.
Rendor stared at her. His gaze was clear and focused. “We have to stop meeting like this.”
And just like that, her energy returned in one blazing rush. “I agree.” She hugged him. Hard. He grunted in pain but squeezed her back with equal fervor.
“I thought you were a dream,” he whispered in her ear. “The floor swallowed you like a mythical sand beast. No one could live through that.” He slid his hands along her back as if reassuring himself of her presence. “You’re alive.”