Chaos by Sarah Fine

Author:Sarah Fine [Fine, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, Action & Adventure, General, Fantasy & Magic
ISBN: 9781477847817
Google: YlKyoQEACAAJ
Publisher: Amazon Childrens Pub
Published: 2014-10-06T16:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

IN AN INSTANT, MALACHI and Ana were standing, knives drawn, over the struggling red-cloaked Mazikin. The blue-cloaked human had been lurched to the floor as its master fought, and the human’s hood fell back.

“Mom,” I said in a choked voice.

Ana quickly cut through the leather strap of the leash that had been strangling her. Rita didn’t back up, though. She threw herself toward the blue-cloaked Mazikin and clung to its back.

Malachi tried to lift my mom off the pile as the red-cloaked Mazikin let out a gurgling death rattle, but Rita clawed at him and he let go quickly. The blue-cloaked Mazikin raised its head. It was Zip. She wiped her bloody muzzle on her cloak and whined. Ana knelt next to her and began to speak to her in Mazikin, and Malachi quickly joined the conversation.

I clenched my teeth. Hearing him speak that ugly language reminded me forcefully of those moments after Juri had possessed Malachi’s body. I’d never wanted to hear those evil sounds coming from his beautiful mouth again. I turned back to Treasa, who was scanning the halls, looking like she was about to explode.

“We’ll be lucky if that one in red didn’t wake the guards,” she muttered. “We have to get the carcass out of this hallway.”

Malachi seemed to be telling Zip the same thing, because the two of them stood up, wrapped the dead Mazikin in its red cloak, and dragged it into the kitchen while Ana and my mother followed behind, using their own cloaks to mop up the blood left on the bone floor. They disappeared into the kitchen while Treasa and I haunted the corridor. A moment later, a low growl sent us scooting into the kitchen.

“The guards are coming,” Treasa whispered as Malachi and Zip emerged from the room with the trapdoor.

“Food scraps,” said Ana quickly, and when she saw my look of confusion, she added, “They have excellent senses of smell. We can hide, but they’ll know we’re here. Come on.” She followed her nose to the source of the awful smells, a huge pile of rotting food at the back of the kitchen. Without hesitating, she grabbed a handful and rubbed it on her clothes. Trying not to barf, I did the same, as did Malachi and Treasa.

Zip had cleaned off her mouth and stripped herself of her cloak. She shoved my mother toward us and motioned for us to give her the same stench treatment, then loped toward the hallway. We crouched behind a shelf of huge iron pots and listened to her having a conversation consisting of grunts and coughs with several Mazikin out in the main corridor. Malachi offered whispered translation. “She’s saying that she forgot her comb in the kitchens and came to get it. She says she stubbed her paw in the darkness and cried out, and is apologizing for bothering them. She works here, apparently.”

Takeshi had told me as much. “Are they buying it?”

Malachi nodded. “They don’t suspect her. They’re actually speaking quite affectionately to her.

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