(eng) Miriam Forster - Bhinian Empire 01 by City of a Thousand Dolls (retail)

Author:City of a Thousand Dolls (retail) [Dolls, City of a Thousand]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

20

SOMEONE HAD BEEN in Nisha’s bedroom.

When Nisha and Jerrit burst through the door, Esmer was sitting in the center of the room on the worn rug. A red-brown pool spread over the floor. The near wall was streaked with the same dark stain. Two painted words stood out clearly:

STAY AWAY

Nisha forced words past her throat. “Is that blood?”

Esmer wrinkled her nose, and her gray fur, standing on end, seemed to shudder. I don’t think so, she sent. Whoever did this had a pocketful of clovermint. I can’t smell Jerrit right now, not that I’d want to.

I’d smell like clovermint, Jerrit sent. Just like everything else in this room. He sniffed the pool; then, with a quick flick of his pink tongue, he tasted it.

Blech. He sat back. It’s ink.

“Ink, not blood.” But Nisha couldn’t stop staring at the red-brown words. STAY AWAY.

Fear wrapped cold fingers around her heart. Jina’s and Atiy’s deaths hadn’t been accidents or suicides or any of the explanations Nisha had been secretly hoping for. Someone was afraid of Nisha’s investigations. Someone wanted to scare her off.

The two cats circled the room, sniffing for more clues as Nisha sank down on her bedroll. Without thinking, she put her hand under her pillow, where she’d hidden the red silk scarf the Shadow Mistress had given her. Her questing fingers met nothing but her bedroll.

The scarf wasn’t under the pillow. It wasn’t under the bedroll or in the clothes chest. Nisha even lifted the rug, careful not to disturb the seeping ink, but the tiger scarf was nowhere to be found.

What’s wrong? Jerrit sent.

“The scarf is gone,” Nisha said. “The scarf the Shadow Mistress gave me.” Her voice came out flat and dull, like old paper.

Oh, Nisha …, Esmer sent, nuzzling her foot. I’m sorry.

“I didn’t even know what it meant,” Nisha said, hugging herself against the pain of the words. “I didn’t know what it meant, and now it’s gone. Why would the killer steal it? It didn’t mean anything to anyone else.”

The cats said nothing. There was nothing to say.

Nisha was suddenly tired all the way down to her bones. She wanted nothing more than to sleep, to make it all go away: her friends changing, the murders, the Council, and the stolen scarf, the only link she’d had to her parents and her past. Not caring that she still had chores to do, she crawled onto her bedroll and closed her eyes.

Stay with her, Jerrit, Esmer sent. I’m going to talk to the tribe. Giving Nisha another nuzzle, she padded out of the small quarters.

Nisha crawled off her bedroll to reach into the clothes chest. She pulled an old carving of a spotted cat out of the bottom and ran her fingers over the smooth wood. It was the last thing her father had given her. She held it tightly and curled into a ball.

Jerrit was pacing, double-checking every corner of the room. Nisha, this is getting too dangerous. If someone’s scared enough to leave you a warning … I don’t think you should keep poking into these deaths.

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