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  Significance was slight and slender, with the build of an artist or a priest. Xe hit her hard enough that she flew back three metres and landed hard on the ground.

  Orfeus crashed to the ground and breathed out hard, winded. She lay there and for a moment couldn’t get up again. But she had to.

  She hauled herself into a sitting position, and shook her head hard to try and clear it. Her hair was caked in blood. She breathed out, then tore at her pantleg, already nearly burned through by the cuff. A strip tore off easy enough, and she wrapped it around her inner arm with its small puncture, just tight enough to keep it from bleeding. It seemed only a trickle, but she needed to not bleed out.

  Significance didn’t seem especially worried, watching her curiously. She had the creeping, vile suspicion that to xem this was still part of the experiment. “No one’s coming for you,” xe said, as she bled on the floor. “What do you do now?”

  Orfeus bared her teeth and yanked free another length of fabric. She wrapped this laboriously around her other arm. It took her longer than it should have, her fingers slow, clumsy. Please, all the gods, not her hands.

  She lurched to her feet and staggered to the table. Significance tensed, ready to move. Xe could certainly move faster than she could. Orfeus slowed her movements, like she was more dazed than she really was. She pulled her cloak off the table and wrapped it around her shoulders, shivering.

  “Sweet,” O’Hallow said, sounding amused. “You can keep the cloak if you want, but I would like you to sit back in the chair, please. Don’t make me force you.”

  Orfeus couldn’t help but look at the other things on the table. Gleaming and nasty things, scalpels and needles.

  “It won’t hurt,” Significance promised. Xe held up xyr hand, finger extending lazily in her direction. She couldn’t take another shock like that.

  Orfeus picked up her metal knife and turned on xem with bare and gleaming blade.

  Significance actually took a step back. “You’re a barbarian!” xe said, staring at it.

  So horrified at this abandonment of morals, down here in xyr little torture science den. Orfeus grinned darkly. She could still taste blood in her mouth. Her grip was at least sure enough for a knife hilt. “You said it yourself,” she said. “We’re animals.”

  She took a step forward, and Significance took a step back. Xe sniffed, like xe wasn’t bothered. “What do you expect to do to me with that?” xe said with a wave at the knife, voice rich with disdain.

  Orfeus didn’t glance down at the knife. She already regretted needing to use it, such an ugly thing, but right now it was hard to regret anything. She didn’t look at the tied-down people in the row of chairs, either.

  She prowled a slow step forward. O’Hallow took a step back. “I don’t care how many modifications you people make to live as long as you do,” Orfeus said. “I don’t even care what you learned to do to yourself with your own questionable research. I just know what I know.” She lifted the knife. “You’re Blooded. Yes. If I get enough blood out, you’ll die. That’s just how it is.”

  Another wary, skittering step back, xyr eyes huge. It gave her a pang of nearly-guilt. Xe looked young. Xe wasn’t. “That’s true of you as well as me,” Significance said.

  “Yes,” Orfeus said and grinned broader, broad, showing all her teeth, peeling back her split lip. “I guess it comes down to which of us has more nerve.”

  Significance snatched up a tasegun and fired it, and Orfeus jerked back with her limbs stiff, teeth rattling in her head. She kept her grip on her knife, though she felt blocky and strange.

  O’Hallow stepped forward, gun readied again. Orfeus dived forward first in a smooth motion, using all the fighting she’d practiced, and brought the knife down in a slash across xyr arm.

  Significance flung xemself back from her with a yelp, and clutched xyr arm to xyr chest. The tasegun rattled to the ground. Orfeus lowered her knife, breathing hard.

  O’Hallow twisted xyr fingers in a light little gesture, and as the gash started to heal stared at her with huge, wounded eyes. “I’m not your enemy,” xe said. Orfeus threw back her head and laughed, deep in her belly and so hard it hurt, rattling off the edges of all her hurts. Significance cocked xyr head. “Fair,” xe said sadly. “Alright, then, I’m not your only enemy.”

  “So?” Orfeus said. If xe was fool enough to propose an alliance again, she would stab xem somewhere far more lethal.

  “I know it wasn’t me that set his dog on you,” Significance said, eyes on her. “So who?” Xe shrugged out xyr arms. A fearsomely fast healing job, for xem to move this fluidly again already. “How many people can possibly want you dead? It seems to be a lot. Was it your little lover? You had one back in your dye town, yes? Did she tire of you?”

  The tip of her knife shook. “Yes,” Orfeus said in a voice that sounded smaller than her own. Significance grinned, bright white teeth. Orfeus shook her head. “She wouldn’t have…killed me.”

  “Someone tried to,” O’Hallow said. “You can just leave, and leave me here to go find the real threat, and…” Xe shrugged. “And I’ll vanish, and not be your concern, and you can hunt down your hunters or play your songs or whatever you want.”

  She ignored that. “At this point, I don’t care,” she said. Lying again. “That was nothing. I’d take an attack from someone in the Wild over any interaction with you any day. Sneaking and lying and deceiving…” Those all sounded familiar. Orfeus wavered. “Cruel,” she snapped. “Selfish and cruel.”

  Significance stepped back. Xyr eyes were fixed on her like she was a fearsome thing, and she rather liked it. “Please,” xe said, like the word was unfamiliar to xem. “I just want to do the work. There was only the work.”

  Orfeus curled her lip and lifted her knife.

  There was a hand on her wrist, then. Orfeus stared down at it, thick fingers and a heavy gauntlet. Her eyes traced up the burly arm to the person standing beside her. “Faolan?” she said stupidly.

  Standing there like she hadn’t left to chase down demons and finally given him the perfect excuse to let her stop being a problem for good. Faolan, standing strong in his wolf mask and armour, the most familiar imaginable nightmare, except it didn’t feel like a nightmare any more.

  He gently tugged her hand down. She let him, frowning.

  “This isn’t a kill contract,” Faol said. She paused. “Maybe tomorrow,” she said, because Faolan was honest to a fault.

  Orfeus bit back an unnecessary laugh. She kept half her eye on Significance, standing very quiet and still like xe hoped to be forgotten.

  Faolan met her gaze. She’d always liked those deep brown eyes. “You don’t like killing, Fox,” he said.

  Just like that, the energy ran out of her, and she sagged against him. “No,” she agreed. She added, “Xe would deserve it.”

  Faol took the knife from her unresisting hand. “Don’t we all?” he said. He turned his gaze, focusing instead on Significance.

  Orfeus rested her weight on him a little harder. She hadn’t quite realised how much everything hurt. Her head was dizzy and spinning, her nose felt broken, blood in her mouth, aches in every muscle she had, burns at wrist and ankle, so many things. Faol’s body was warm against her, more than enough to hold her up. “No, you’re very brave,” she said.

  Faol made a small noise, halfway between indrawn breath and inquiry, but shook his head. He gently pushed her away to one of the chairs. “Sit down.”

  She didn’t want to go in the chair. And there were reasons, things she still must do. “I have to…”

  “Sit down, Orfeus,” Faolan said. Her voice was warm, but her eyes stayed fixed on Significance O’Hallow, which Orfeus appreciated. “Healer, heal yourself.”

  That sounded nice. Orfeus let out a long breath and tried to muster up whatever of her Blood was left. She flicked her fingers in heal. She didn’t get the gesture right until the second time, and tried not to notice the worry and dread that pressed down at her chest. />
  Faolan prowled forward, and Orfeus tipped back her head to watch him blearily from where she sat. “That’s not how the saying goes…” she said.

  The Wolf walked up to Significance and stopped just short of xem. Orfeus bit back her warnings. Faol would know better than to treat xem as no threat.

  Faolan said, “You’re under arrest, likely.” He sounded neutral to it. “Eldergrove authorities should be here soon. Harm anyone and I’ll harm you worse.”

  Significance nodded and sat down, arms wrapped around xyr knees.

  Faolan glanced between xem and another of the empty chairs, clearly thinking. Eventually she shook her head and just pulled manacles from her belt, clipping O’Hallow’s wrists together.

  Orfeus dropped her gaze to her own self, watching as her wounds knitted together, as skin healed. The arch of her foot ached sudden and sharp, and Orfeus let out a breath as any energy left in her trickled out. That was her Blood for the day.

  Faolan prowled around, peering at equipment. He glanced at the chairs, then recoiled away with his nostrils pressing together, and went back to prowling. Bless his heart, he was always so easy to read.

  While also being impossible to read. He had come down here alone and without backup and stopped her from killing.

  Waiting for authorities, and for medical care, and she should wait for both of those things too. She would, but there was still work to do. Still the work.

  Orfeus pushed herself painstakingly to her feet. Her head spun, then settled just enough, though stars still burst in the corners of her eyes like fireworks.

  She went to where Linden was strapped into his chair, and meant to stoop to look at him but found herself on the ground on her knees instead. That would work fine. She looked carefully at his face. His beard was overgrown, not as tidy as he liked it. His eyes were open and unseeing.

  She looked away from his face and worked to free the bonds at wrist and ankle. The tubes and wires she could do less about.

  She levered herself up, resting her weight on his arm rest. “Hey, Linden,” she said gently, and he didn’t immediately respond.

  She couldn’t help looking in his face then. He wasn’t the worst off. Far from worst off. No wires burst out of his eyes. They were glazed, bloodshot. His fingertips looked calloused and were cold when she pressed at them. Not his hands…

  His lips were swollen and dry, the skin flaking away. He had a lot of burst blood vessels. Whatever Significance did to them strained their bloodways.

  Something in her throat was choked. The thought of having given so much, and been too late.

  “Linden,” Orfeus said again, desperate.

  One finger twitched. Orfeus seized it, pressed his hand, then made herself lessen her grip so as not to squeeze painfully hard. Her neighbour let out a rattling breath, then breathed in, gaping. His eyes swivelled around, but didn’t focus. He breathed out, shoulders tensing, trying to make words. “Hahahaha,” he said. “Ha. Hi.” He closed his eyes. “Hi.”

  “Hey, bud,” she said, and squeezed his hand. “Sorry…I’m sorry I took so long.”

  He shook his head faintly. He opened his eyes, but they stared sightlessly ahead. Orfeus felt cold all over. Silly. She was in her cloak.

  “Orfeus?” Linden said. His voice was still just a rasp, barely a piece of itself. He’d lost most pieces of himself. “You…came for me? I didn’t…no, I knew you’d…I knew you’d come…” He frowned, then, and turned his face in her direction.

  His attention was fixed on her, even if his eyes didn’t focus. Orfeus held her breath.

  “Did you feed Splodge?” Linden said.

  Orfeus laughed, and then laughed harder, and then pressed her forehead to his hand, leaning up against him. She hugged him, as gently as she could without making either of their hurts worse.

  Dread still ticked and trickled through her heart, but whatever had to come next, at least she had this. At least she had this moment with her friend, wounded and bloodied, but safe.

  After nowhere near enough time, she stood, swaying with weariness. No time to rest when predators still prowled.

  Chapter Seventeen

  I know you messed up and I do blame you for your part in the explosion, but Orfeus, you just left! I thought we were friends and your whole arrogance thing was just a showbiz persona, but you left. You dragged our town into danger and then ran off in the night. You could have helped make up for it. You should have been there for the replanting and the rebuilding and the healing everyone up. Healing the town. You could have sung us songs.

  You hadn’t done anything you couldn’t come back from.

  - The Weaver

  * * *

  Faolan came and stood beside her, and Orfeus took his arm. She no longer wanted to recoil away like she used to, and she’d chosen her fellow hunters as the better of two evils already. And he was warm.

  She leaned on his welcome strength and shot Linden a reassuring smile. “Splodge is safe,” she said. “She’s on a base full of bounty hunters.”

  Linden made a pained noise.

  Faolan squeezed her arm, maybe in remonstrance, and Orfeus jerked away. Faolan released her, looking pained. Did he just not realise how strong he was? Ridiculous.

  “The small hunter is fine,” Faolan said, her tone nearly reassuring. “She has destroyed most of my furniture.” Linden’s mouth twitched into a hesitant smile at that. Faol continued, “I left her with someone who swore she could be trusted.” Faol glanced at Orfeus and mouthed, Falcon.

  Em wasn’t great with animals, but she wasn’t terrible either. Orfeus nodded, though she wouldn’t have been able to be angry at Faol if he’d left Splodge alone for an hour to come save her life.

  “Who’s this?” Linden said, tilting his head in the direction of their voices.

  Orfeus frowned. ‘Bounty hunter’ had already proven to be the wrong answer. She glanced at Faol hesitantly. “A friend?” she tried, and the Wolf’s mouth twisted in his version of a smile.

  “Oh, that’s good,” Linden said and closed his eyes. She tensed, but he didn’t seem like to lapse into unconsciousness. He shook his head and said, “I do get tired of being the only one.”

  “Ah,” Orfeus said. Injured as he was, she’d feel bad if she was annoyed at him.

  Faolan nodded towards the door. “They’re here.”

  Orfeus braced herself, and a few moments later the door swung in and a few people entered. Less than those who’d rushed into the base under the Catacombs, which after all had been abandoned. Just two sober people in blue uniforms and some other tall, stern, serious people, who went over at once to the bound Significance O’Hallow. Behind them was Margaux.

  Orfeus staggered a step towards Linden, then stopped: the sensible people in blue uniforms seemed to have that angle covered.

  A hand on her shoulder. Orfeus blinked at the hand, the broad unpainted nails, up Rivasoa’s arm. “Hi?” she said. “I suppose you’re going to berate me.”

  Rivasoa said gruffly, “You were meant to wait for backup, you fool.”

  “Yeah, that’s about—”

  Rivasoa hugged her, hard. Orfeus stood blankly in surprise, then let herself lean some of her weight into the tall woman. Rivasoa was tall and broad, and comforting. She smelt faintly of soil and of electricity, like standing in the garden after a thunderstorm.

  Orfeus put her arms around her and patted at her back. Rivasoa drew back after a moment, looking stately instead of awkward, with the damned gift Elders had to always seem composed.

  “You owe me a guitar,” Orfeus said.

  To her slight surprise, Rivasoa nodded. “I owe many things,” she said. She looked around the scene and winced slightly. “It is…there is too much here, for me to help. It is beyond my reach. But I can tell the story, to help this never happen again.”

  “That’s helping,” Orfeus said, because that seemed obvious. Rivasoa hugged her again, so maybe it wasn’t.

  Orfeus turned to watch as Significance w
as marched gently towards the door. Very gently. The guards handled O’Hallow like they were afraid to hurt xem. Orfeus chewed at her lip.

  Margaux steered her chair into the centre of the room, out of the way of the medics. Orfeus staggered up to her. “Councilwoman…” she said and then found she didn’t know what she wanted to say next.

  Margaux met her gaze grimly. “I appreciate that you refrained from dispensing your own brand of justice,” she said, and fixed her eyes on Significance as xe was pushed through the door. “Don’t worry.”

  Orfeus canted her head doubtfully.

  “The only people dealing with xem are powerful Blooded,” Margaux said. “And not the council, with our subjectivity. O’Hallow will be dosed to be kept pliable, so xe poses no threat, then trialled…” She shook her head. She looked tired, beneath the grim resignation. “What xe has done here is unspeakable. Don’t worry. Elders will take care of their own.”

  Orfeus nodded.

  Margaux tapped her fingers against the arm of her chair and looked steadily at her. “While you’re here, I wish to extend my apologies, singer. My opinion of you was … perhaps formed too hastily. We were wrong, I think.”

  “Oh?” Orfeus said. She found she didn’t even have the heart to mock her.

  Margaux nodded. “I’m glad you have the Blood, in fact, however you got it,” she said. “I wish Significance did not. I wish xe had not been placed in a position where xe had power over others, at least after whenever xe went bad – if xe wasn’t always—” She shook her head, the tiredness weighing heavily at her eyes. “I keep thinking I should have known something was wrong, but I’ve known Significance for centuries, and there was no change…”

  Orfeus crossed her arms and frowned down at the ground. “Significance seemed sincere,” she said and shook her head. “I should never have trusted xem either.” It was too much power for any one person to have, too long a life. But then, it was good these healers had access to Blood and lifetimes’ worth of knowledge. She was too tired to work it out.