Part 37 (1/2)
Tomtom glanced at Tinker struggling in Riki's arms and a smile quirked at his mouth. ”I have done all I will do in that regard.”
”You failed miserably,” Sparrow said.
d.a.m.n right, b.i.t.c.h, Tinker thought fiercely, still muted by Riki's hand. Tinker thought fiercely, still muted by Riki's hand.
”Exactly,” Tomtom said. ”I will not endanger my position by fruitlessly striking at him. The dogs were expendable, but I will not risk my warriors.”
”He suspects that his domi domi's disappearance is not an untimely accident,” Sparrow said. ”He plans to return to the citywide search.”
”And you will take the river edge as before,” Tomtom waved aside her concern. ”Avoid this valley as planned. If you can not, call your contact first and we'll trigger the greater cloaking spells.”
”Wolf Who Rules loves this little piece of tras.h.!.+” Sparrow cried, making Tinker's heart do a strange little flip in her chest. ”He's not being swayed from the truth. He knows we took her, he just doesn't know how or where we're hiding her.”
Tomtom turned to look at Sparrow full on, wordlessly.
Sparrow visibly needed to steel herself against his cold look. ”You are failing to see how dangerous he is.”
”And you are overestimating him,” Tomtom said flatly.
”Your people have never dealt with a domana domana lord on his own land,” Sparrow said. lord on his own land,” Sparrow said.
”A knife in the spine,” Tomtom said. ”An arrow through the eye, or a sword through the heart, and he will die like everything else in this universe.”
”No!” Tinker cried into Riki's palm, and the tengu held her tighter still.
Tomtom turned away dismissively as the ma.s.sive warg was brought in, muzzled, on a stout stick lead. The beast strained against the handler, heading for Chiyo.
”So arrange the knife!” Sparrow refused to be ignored. ”Or the arrow or the sword! Kill him!”
Tinker wriggled in Riki's hold. Shut up, b.i.t.c.h! Shut up! Shut up, b.i.t.c.h! Shut up!
Tomtom's tone grew flatter, colder. ”I will not stand here, repeating myself, or do you wish to go after the kitsune?”
Sparrow looked then, as did Tinker. The warg loomed over the kitsune, erect, proportionally wrong for the female, seeking an entrance in her slight body. Tinker looked away, desperately concentrating on anything but Chiyo and her sharpening whimpers. Sparrow watched, not even flinching as the kitsune gave a scream of agony. Tinker hunched against the sound of the big animal laboring, and Chiyo's now endless, shrill barks of terror and pain. She wanted to cover her ears, but Riki wasn't loosening his hold.
Sparrow tore her gaze away from the G.o.dless union. ”So be it then. Let Wolf Who Rules be the domana domana you cut your teeth on. If you're to take this land, you'll need to face them eventually.” you cut your teeth on. If you're to take this land, you'll need to face them eventually.”
”Ah, good, he's tied with her.” Tomtom ignored Sparrow in favor of the breeding. ”If she brings a litter to term in two months, I'll breed her again next season.” Tomtom glanced down at Tinker. ”This one has the domana domana genome? Perhaps I'll get my own litter on her. She's tiny, but I suppose that gives her a certain childlike allure.” genome? Perhaps I'll get my own litter on her. She's tiny, but I suppose that gives her a certain childlike allure.”
Tinker shrank away from his clinical gaze.
”You can breed her later,” Sparrow said. ”The queen's seer says she's the key to our plans regarding the gate.”
”So it was reported to me.” Tomtom knowing obviously threw Sparrow; Chiyo must have told him earlier, after reading Tinker's mind.
”The seer said,” Sparrow continued, ”that the only way to bind her was with ties of her own making.”
”Which means?” Tomtom asked.
”You'll only be able to hold her with promises freely given,” Sparrow explained. ”How you'll manage that, I do not know, nor do I care. Torture her if you must, but bind her. Obviously she'll slip away if you do not.”
Sparrow nodded then and swept away, leaving Tinker with her enemies without so much as a glance. Tinker had thought she hated Riki and Chiyo; she understood now what a shadow of hate that had been.
With a look from Lord Tomawaritomo, Riki released his hold on Tinker.
”You were human, the weakest of us.” Tomtom studied her with his cat eyes. ”If the elves had left the gate between our worlds open, we would have long since enslaved the humans. Weaklings, all.”
”You don't need muscles when you have brains,” Tinker snapped.
”The question is, how elfin are you now?” Lord Tomawaritomo said. ”If I have you punished as you should be, will you survive it? The human didn't.”
He meant Russell, whittled down by inches. Her arms tucked tight to her chest, and he laughed. She tried not to think of those bright sharp knives, the blood, and the white of bone.
”The risk would be great that she wouldn't survive,” Riki murmured.
Lord Tomawaritomo glanced at Riki, eyes narrowing in speculation. ”If you helped it escape, death would be preferable. You are being spared right now only because I myself called you away.”
It took Tinker a moment to realize that Tomtom was referring to her as ”it” as if she was a thing, not an intelligent being. Only a warning look from Riki kept her silent.
”Chiyo doesn't have the brain to keep her deluded,” Riki explained.
”See that this is secure,” Tomawaritomo growled softly, pointing at Tinker. ”Then get me a whipping boy to use against it.”
Riki bowed low, caught Tinker, and hurried her from the room, while Tomtom turned back to supervise the end of Chiyo's breeding.
They locked Tinker in a broom closet. It was only wide enough for her to sit down, knees tucked under her chin. No air ducts or even electrical outlets. After Riki untied her, four of the oni warriors, the shortest clearing seven feet, put her firmly into it, shut the door, and locked it, leaving her in darkness.
Hours crawled by.
A whipping boy. Who would they bring to torture in her place? Oilcan? No, no, please not him! No, no, please not him! Lain? That would be unbearable too. Windwolf? Unlikely-for all the reasons why Tomtom was refusing to kill him-Windwolf was too visible, too well guarded. Nathan? It would be the ultimate irony if he died for her. Lain? That would be unbearable too. Windwolf? Unlikely-for all the reasons why Tomtom was refusing to kill him-Windwolf was too visible, too well guarded. Nathan? It would be the ultimate irony if he died for her.
Oilcan made the most sense, though, and the realization made her start crying. d.a.m.n it, she hated to cry. She rocked in place as tears burned in her eyes. Oh, please, please, anyone but Oilcan.
She heard footsteps approach the door and an exchange in Oni. One of the guards unlocked the door in a jangle of keys, and they opened it up, all poised to grab her if she tried to put up a fight. Ha! She was tempted to snarl at them, and make them flinch, but something about coming only to mid-stomach on them kept her from taunting them.
They took her to Tomtom's suite. Whereas most of the place was run-down offices and warehouses, the suite had been remodeled to opulence. The ceiling was a design of blocks within blocks, the walls a deep rich red, and the polished wood floor strewn with the pelts of large white animals.
Tomtom, Riki, and the torturer waited there with a host of armed, tense, and b.l.o.o.d.y warriors. Their focus had been on a body lying still on the floor in front of Tomtom. They s.h.i.+fted their feral interest to her as her guard checked her just inside the door. The body lay curled into a fetal position so that she could see only the curve of the spine.
Tinker trembled. Who was it? What had Tomtom's people done to the person to make him or her lie so still? Please, not Oilcan.
The body s.h.i.+fted, revealing the spill of long elfin hair, and she felt a wave of relief. Not Oilcan. Oh, thank G.o.d. And then she recognized the elf: Pony.
On the slight wave of Tomtom's hand, the guard let go of her, and she went to Pony without thinking. They had stripped him down to his loose black pants and beat him soundly. He flinched violently when she touched him.
”Easy. It's me, Pony.”
He slit open his blackened eyes, and looked at her in first confusion and then in dismay. He groaned and tried to get up, to get her behind him, to protect her. He only managed to sit up, and she caught him before he collapsed.