Page 84 of Flame and Sparrow

He seemed pleased to hear his name, as though he’d expected me to forget him. “You’ve shown impressive strength to survive tonight,” he said. “Something in your blood seems to give you…resilience.”

The way he saidyour bloodmade all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end.

I lowered my voice, eyes darting about for eavesdroppers, and said, “You know what I am, don’t you?”

Either Dravyn had told him, or he’d discerned it for himself when his shadows tried to force their way into my mind…what else had he seen when his magic pried its way into my thoughts the other day?

He smiled his jagged smile. “I know much more than that.” He breathed out a puff of shadowy fog with the words, like he was exhaling a deep draw of pipe smoke. “Walk with me a moment?”

I hesitated until his magic made the decision for me, cold shadows weaving through my legs, caressing my back, urging me to move. It was much more subtle than the ropes of power he’d ensnared me with in Harithyn—I doubted he would risk anything more knowing Dravyn was close by—but it was enough to persuade me to follow him, especially when coupled with my own curiosity.

We moved toward the edge of the space, just out of reach of the light from the flaming chandeliers spaced throughout the room. I made it clear I wasn’t going beyond that; I would speak with him in the shadows, and I would not show fear, but I was not leaving this room with him.

“The dead veilhound at your home…” he began.

I had an instant, visceral reaction as the memories of my sister’s final weeks flooded my mind, and I had to lean against the wall to steady myself. This was not the conversation starter I’d been bracing for.

The Death Marr smiled and licked his pale lips, as if he could taste my discomfort and despair in the air and was savoring it. “I saw it in your mind the other day.”

I forced myself to breathe deeply. Normally.

“I wanted to ask…are you the one who killed it?”

My throat was too thick with emotion to speak, but I adamantly shook my head.

“I would have been very impressed if you had.” He cocked his head to the side, studying me. “The hounds are incredibly powerful. It would have been almost akin to killing a god, and would have required a very specific type of weapon to do the job…you know nothing of that either, I presume?”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He licked his lips again. “No, of course you don’t.”

I tilted my face away, searching for something to focus on aside from his unsettling expression. All the other Marr seemed to be trying harder than ever not to make eye contact with me. No matter how hard I stared at them, it was as though I’d faded away in the shadowy folds of the Death God’s energy.

“It’s the company you presently keep,” explained the Death Marr. “They don’t want to look this way because they do not want me here anymore than they wantyouhere.”

“Why? You’re a middle-god, aren’t you?”

He breathed slowly in and out, exhaling more of that shadowy substance. “Harbinger, they have begun to call me. They see evidence of the destruction clinging to me, and they want me to keep it to myself. To carry on as though nothing is happening on the edges of our realm.”

“Whatishappening on those edges?”

Another sharp smile. “I think you already know.”

My forehead wrinkled in confusion. “No, I promise you I don’t.”

He inhaled slowly, strangely, almost drinking the air. I again got the impression that he was tasting the emotions in it, trying to determine whether or not I was telling the truth.

After a moment his eyes brightened with what looked like realization. I thought he was finally about to reveal something useful when his gaze jumped to something behind me and he took a step back.

“Come see me again soon,” he said, “and maybe we can chat more in less…constrictingsurroundings.”

“Wait a minute—” I reached for his arm; it was like grabbing a cold, weathered tree trunk. His smile became more of a snarl. His eyes flashed and turned to that terrifying shade of pure black, and I instinctively let go. He was gone in the next instant, disappearing with a sound like wind rattling through tree limbs, leaving nothing but a few lingering wisps of dark power behind.

I swatted absently at the dissipating shadows, pondering.

I think you already know.

What had he meant by that?

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