Sung in Blood Read Free Page A

and Su-Cha arrived. "Catch them, Rider?" the imp piped.
    "No. They were looking for a last message. And found one."
    "Darn. That means trouble."
    "For them." Rider indicated the wall.
    Su-Cha chortled. "You changed it. Are they going to be mad."
    "More than you know. I'll be there to greet them."
    Chaz rubbed his hands together eagerly, drew the huge and entirely illegal sword he carried. He examined its edge.
    "No," Rider said. "I'm going alone. You have your assignments."
    "Rider!"
    Rider ignored their protests, leaned out the window.
    "What is it?" The whole laboratory shivered. Glass rattled. Dust danced.
    "Military airship. I should have sensed it sooner. The web is more damaged than I thought. We'll have to wrap this up fast and get to repairing it."
    Noise rose from the Plaza as the airship passed over. It settled toward the military moorings on the Martial Fields.
    It was a gaudy bombard from the eastern fleet. The side effects of the sorcery that propelled it faded.
    "Off on your errands now," Rider said.
    "Suppose we catch the killer?" Su-Cha asked.
    "Bring him here." Rider's voice was cold grey iron. "There are questions I want to ask."
    "Right."
    Chaz was out the door already, humming. He'd thought of an amusing trick to play on Soup and Preacher.
    Su-Cha, Spud, and Greystone followed.
    Rider busied himself in the laboratory, collecting items he concealed about himself. Then he set out on the trail of glowing footprints. He believed he knew where they were headed, but wanted to see what stops they made.
    The footprints materialized a dozen steps ahead of him, faded that far behind. Before long the men making them separated. He elected to follow the smaller prints.
     
     
    V
    Chance led Su-Cha, Spud, and Greystone across Chaz's path. The northerner was holding up a wall with one shoulder while talking to an attractive young woman. His mind was not on business.
    Su-Cha said, "Feast your glims on this, guys," and he scrunched his eyes tight shut.
    His body changed. Not much, but enough to provide the appearance of a child about four. Then he charged Chaz, wrapped his arms around the barbarian's legs. "Daddy. Daddy. Mommy says you have to come right home."
    Chaz's jaw dropped. The woman's brow wrinkled. The barbarian saw Spud and Greystone grinning. He roared, "Su-Cha! I'll flay you and use your damned spook hide ... "
    "Daddy? Are you mad?"
    Chaz kicked the imp into traffic, where he narrowly missed being trampled.
    The young woman gave him bloody hell. He tried to explain. She did not believe a word he said. Imps!
     
    Chaz was angry. He did not observe his surroundings in the alert way survival in the north demanded. He overlooked the gnarly men entirely, though they stood out even among the ten thousand outrageous foreigners haunting that Shasesserren street.
    He worked his way from place to place, asking after Soup and Preacher. None of their acquaintances had seen them. He grew concerned. They should not have been so hard to find.
    He made the acquaintance of the gnarly men as he cut through a delivery way between major streets. Those men seemed to prefer alleyways.
    A rush of feet from behind.
    Chaz's reactions were not impaired. Out came the illegal but seldom challenged sword. A gnarly man howled out his life as a cross stroke opened his belly. Another shrieked and clutched a savaged bicep. The mob halted, danced back out of reach.
    Emerald cursed his men for idiots, cursed himself for being saddled with them, cursed the orders that brought him to Shasesserre. He redeployed. Two men with gladiatorial-style nets moved to the fore.
    Chaz was not given to suicidal heroics. He retreated.
    The net men knew their stuff. They feinted, pressed, feinted, tried to tangle Chaz's legs and blade. Their comrades threw brickbats. One especially savage throw glanced off Chaz's shin and succeeded in distracting him.
    Net in high, brushed aside. But the net low tangled his right ankle. Down he went. The pack leaped forward.