Stephen Goldin & Mary Mason - The Rehumanization of Jade Darcy 01 by Jade Darcy

Author:Jade Darcy
Format: epub
Published: 2013-06-15T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Commander Horsson

They'd packed the truck that night with one last load of furniture, mostly bulky but light items that wouldn't slow the vehicle down, "provided we live to escape in it," Jade kept muttering. Then they'd gathered together the supplies for the sortie.

Fastal questioned every item Jade packed: the plastic cable ties, the piano wire, the legs off the broken chair, even the amount of water. Jade finally exploded. "Look, you ignorant two-legged bovine, you hired me to get you in and out of this god-be-damned mess. Either shut your mouth, or I'll fucking well quit and spend the next week dancing on your grave—if they find enough of you to bury when the Commancors finish with you."

With peace and quiet restored, Jade finished packing in short order. She placed a small rucksack with the rest of her belongings in the truck, hesitated, then added the elaborate curved dagger Fastal had given her. One more knife won't make any difference, and with that jeweled sheath it might give me away. And losing it would be a shame. It's too ... valuable.

Jade returned to the house and searched through it one more time for any possessions she might have forgotten. In the interest of efficiency she went immediately to the third floor and worked her way down. When she reached the ground-floor kitchen, she found Fastal trying to pry something out of the doorframe at shoulder level. In the twilight it was hard to make out what it was. She shone her flashlight on it and caught Fastal's face as he whipped around to see what she was doing. His eyes flared bright orange in the glare, then he shut them.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked. "Looking for treasure?"

"I wanted to take this for my home." Fastal pointed above the door to a carving he'd been trying to pry loose. "The dahgab is the demon of our house, our shield. This is the only one intact. It came from Lemmanta. It should go back there with me."

"It'll go back in pieces if you keep that up. Move over."

Jade examined the ugly carving of a mutated Jerusalem cricket and finally found the carefully puttied nailheads. She removed from her pack the diamond-dusted wire she always carried coiled in the pocket behind its clasp. Grasping the tiny handles, she pulled it taut and slid it behind the carving. In few moments the piece loosened. Warning Fastal to be ready, she cut through the last tiny nail and it tumbled into his hands.

"Thank you. I was afraid I'd damage it."

"Stash it. Then, if you're done, moonrise is in a few minutes and we should get going."

Within moments they were on their way, each carrying a good sized pack and extra water containers. Jade thankfully let the Lemmant take the lead when they reached the forest. Not wanting their trail to be found later, Jade hadn't marked the path through the brush, and only Fastal's lifelong familiarity with the place kept them from getting hopelessly lost in the darkness.

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