Whisper of Blade | ✓ (Crimson #1)

Chapter 33: Lullaby and Goodnight

The hardest lesson Minerva ever had to learn was how to move on. Now it looked like she'd have to do so again.

"I don't want to talk about it," she grumbled.

Kodak turned his head and spat.

When Minerva looked behind them, a glob of blood splashed on the cobblestones.

"Doesn't matter," Kodak answered. "We're going to talk about it because it's important to our respective ... conditions. This is a two-way deal, so you can't ask for my conclusions then refuse to share yours."

In a better mood, Minerva might have taken Kodak's frustration in stride. She wouldn't enjoy the taste of metal in her mouth, a crying boy soaking the front of her shirt, and only a sullen woman for company either.

As it was, she couldn't muster up the sympathy.

She stuffed her hands in her cloak pockets. "Maybe I don't really care what happens to me. Hope is such a traitorous thing—leaves you emptier than when you began—and it looks to be all we're gambling on."

"Fine." Kodak coughed and spat again. "You might be ready to give up and die, but frosts take me if I'm about to go quietly."

"Not going out quietly? I'm sure Nodon will be happy to hear you hacking out your lungs as you make the crossing," Minerva said with venom. She wasn't really angry with Kodak and regretted the ill remark as soon as she made it. I'm sorry. I'm just a useless failure who's angry with herself for making the same mistakes over and over again.

"At least I'm not the one who already looks dead," Kodak said drily. "Can you take Kaji for a bit? My arms are falling asleep."

"Only if he doesn't mind being carried pick-aback." They made the transfer and Minerva hoisted the boy up when he threatened to slip off. Kaji had likely worn himself out with crying. "Put your arms around my neck and try not to doze off," she said.

"I don't like eggsecutions," Kaji mumbled into her hair.

"Me neither," Minerva whispered. Taking stock of the sky, she estimated it to be a couple hours until sunset. They'd best have Kaji home and leave the outer ring before night fell.

Already she could feel eyes on them, causing the hairs of her neck to stand on end. Men sat against the walls of houses, smoking their pipes. A few children scampered about, seeming to disappear around corners and into cracks in the siding of buildings. Here in the slums of the city, the streets had no recognizable pattern. They intersected at odd angles—some led to dead ends. If an enemy breached the wall, this would be a nightmarish place to fight.

"Kaji, I need you to give me directions."

The boy yawned and leaned to the side whenever he wanted her to turn, much like a rider would with their toka.

Minerva wondered if he was leading them into a trap. It wasn't uncommon for shadier guilds to use a young child to lure their targets into a building. Such a tactic would even bypass the hollow place's warning since Kaji wasn't the one who intended to harm her and she wouldn't sense others until it was too late.

She shook her head as if that could banish the threat. The air here hung heavy and oppressive. With the buildings closer together, walking on the rooftops was less of a challenge, but it also meant the streets narrowed with less sunlight reaching them.

Minerva softened her footfalls, all too aware of how the terrain did not favor them.

Kaji pointed over her shoulder at a door. "We're on the ground floor." It could be hard to tell where one residence ended and another began—they were all squashed like kats trying to fit themselves into a space too small for them.