THE REORDERING: A Signs of the Zodiac Novella by Vicki Pettersson

Author:Vicki Pettersson [Pettersson, Vicki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Alistern Press, LLC
Published: 2014-10-30T23:00:00+00:00

The sheets of destroyed wave matter spiraled into the well, slowing the upward thrust of my leap, and I lost all momentum almost as soon as I'd cleared the lip and reversed direction. I flailed but there was nothing to grab onto, until something snapped out at me just as I was disappearing over the gleaming edge. I tumbled and ended up sprawled atop Bastian, with the two mortals unconscious on the floor around us.

Suddenly, Hunter's breath came hot and rapid in my face. Are you okay?

His mouth moved, but the ringing in my ears blotted out his voice. "I can't hear anything."

At least I think that's what I said. I curled into myself, head tucked low as Hunter and Buttersnap kept nudging each other aside to loom over me. A little voice in my head asked me what the hell I thought I was doing. Risking my own life was one thing, and yeah, I'd once relied on fists and brains and more than a little guts to get me through tough jams in the past, but there was another part of me that was running the show now. I held my hand over my lower abdomen long enough that the ringing in my ears decreased to an occasional chime, and to reassure myself that the baby was okay. I finally straightened and nodded at Hunter. Buttersnap took the opportunity to bathe me in hot drool.

The mortals hadn't fared as well. They looked like they were sleeping, with their closed eyes, their pinwheeling limbs finally relaxed, yet their brows had gelled into cold furrows, and blood trailed from each pink earlobe.

"It's from the spinning," Carlos said, catching my wince.

The man wasn't breathing, the woman wouldn't be for long. "We have to get her out of here."

"I will take them with Buttersnap. I'm no good here, anyway."

No. He was too weak from being trapped in a room depleted of oxygen, and Buttersnap would be able to get him and the mortals past the wardens in the arena.

"Do the grays have a doctor yet?" I asked Carlos, while Hunter began loading the couple atop Buttersnap's back. Even together, they were dwarfed atop the beast.

"We still have Io," Carlos said, and I stole a sidelong glance at Bastian. Io was a former ward mother, once charged with raising the children on the Shadow side. She may even have had a hand in Bastian's upbringing, but no matter what she'd been or done in the past, she was a different person now. I trusted Io with my life.

I thought back to Bastian's quick reaction, the way he'd reached out and kept me from falling back into the black hole, and decided that despite his surly demeanor—and his wistfulness for a time when my father ruled this city—maybe it was time to afford him a small degree of trust.

"Don't be afraid to ask the Light for help if Io needs it," I told Carlos. "Micah, their healer, will know what to do."

He nodded once, but looked sadly back at the well.

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