Page 43 of Heir

—compressing and contracting—

—exploding and snaking its way through the countryside in a way no human was capable of—

Sirsha finally understood how the murderer had cloaked herself. Why the trail had split outside Navium. She wasn’t some especially cunning killer. She had magic.

It was strange, skillfully concealed, and unlike anything Sirsha had ever tracked. But it was still magic.

And Sirsha was not allowed to hunt magic. Not unless she wanted to die a violent death at the hands of the people she used to call family.

She wondered why she hadn’t sensed the killer’s power from the beginning of this accursed hunt. Magic was difficult to hide, let alone from as skilled an Inashi as Sirsha. But then, it had been years since she hunted a magical entity. She must be getting rusty.

The ocean—which rarely showed interest in Sirsha—surged, and the boat lurched away from the dock. Sirsha caught the trail now, clear as if it was illuminated in starlight. It led west, toward the Southern Continent. The place Sirsha had spent the last eight years trying to avoid.

Now she’d have to head straight for it. To hunt a magic-wielding murderer, of all the bleeding luck. The exact thing she was forbidden to hunt, and of course, being an utter fool, she’d made a blood vow to catch it, if not kill it. She couldn’t even take the money and run. The damn vow wouldn’t let her.

She thought of her silver-eyed client—of his response when she’d asked if the killer was unnatural.Of course he’s unnatural. He kills young people for sport.Curse him, he must have suspected the nature of this killer. And hehadknown about her magic. Only an Inashi had the skill to track a magical entity. More importantly, only an Inashi could bind a magical entity.

If they could identify it, anyway. Sirsha had no idea what she was hunting. Normally it would be fellow Inashi who would work that out. But as she didn’t have that, she’d need help…

“Sailor!”Quil shook her, and Sirsha realized she was on her knees, body trembling. The Martial knelt before her, his visage dark, as if he was ready to thrash whoever had done this to her. Behind him, Sufiyan had taken the helm, his face soot-streaked and dull-eyed.

“Sorry.” The Martial took his warm hands off her shoulders. The cold gripped her in his place. “Are you all right? Your eyes…”

“Quil, get back.” Arelia pulled him away from Sirsha, and she knew that for the moment, the killer was the least of her problems.

“Your eyes,” Arelia said, “went completely white. An unusual and rarely seen phenomenon known to occur when one is possessed by a ghost. You arenota sailor. Where is Captain Tanlius and who are you?”

“A traveler.” Sirsha raised her hands, wishing she’d kept a blade in her sleeve. “Desperate to get out of that hellscape, same as you.”

Quil put his scim to Sirsha’s throat, his mouth thinning to a forbidding line. “Did you kill Tanlius?”

“No!” Sirsha said as he dug the scim in deeper. “I swear, it was a Kegari!”

Quil peered at Sirsha’s face, searching for signs of perfidy. “Are you one of them?”

“I was fighting them!” Sirsha said. “And in any case, have you everseena Kegari? Sickly and sallow as corpses, most of them. Wouldn’t know a hot day if it burned them to a crisp.” Sirsha held out one strong brown arm. “I’m not Kegari. I’m a traveler and I happened to see the ship.”

“No onehappensto see this ship.” Quil drew himself up. “It belongs to m—”

“The Empress of the Martials.” Arelia cut off Quil with a look Sirsha couldn’t read.

“If it belongs to her,” Sirsha said, “then you have as much right to it as I do. Unless one of you is the Empress in disguise?”

“Suf, search her things,” Quil said. “I’ll bind her up.”

He tried to truss her up quickly, but Sirsha shoved him away, wincing as the wound above her hip reopened. Eventually, he was forced to wrap one muscled arm around her shoulders while Arelia tied her hands.

“Bet you enjoyed that.” Sirsha grinned at Quil, because she suspected he was the exact type of righteous prig who would find enjoyment of such a thing repulsive.

As predicted, he seethed and turned away. And because Sirsha wasn’t above petty joys, she found his outrage deeply gratifying.

Arelia took the helm as Sufiyan silently rifled through Sirsha’s pack. Though Sirsha tossed her head, seemingly unconcerned, she grew increasingly uneasy.

“Stop worrying about me and get us away from the coastline,” Sirsha said. “We’re too close to the city. If the Kegari spot us, we’re done for.”

Quil ignored her and behind them, Sufiyan cursed in surprise. Sirsha sighed, expecting him to have found the stash of gold that her client gave her for supplies. She’d have to part with it, but at least she’d had the sense to keep the rest of her gold on her body. She’d fight to the death before anyone took that away.

But Sufiyan wasn’t paying attention to the gold. Instead, he held up her client’s ring.

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