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With Akiva’s Misbegotten, though, at least they stood a chance

Of course, that was its own hornet’s nest: the alliance Selling it to the chie of deception to ainst its deepest instincts Karou knew that every step forould ent of the company To shape the future, they would have to win at every pace And who constituted "they"? Along with herself and "Thiago," only Issa and "Ten"--as actually Haxaya, a soldier less evil but just as hotheaded as the real Ten had been--were in on the secret Well, and now Zuzana and Mik

"What’s with you?" Zuzana had asked, incredulous, as soon as they’d left Akiva and Thiago to their negotiations "Chu’ is, don’t you?" Karou had replied, evasive "It’s throwing blood in the water to attract sharks"

"Well, Ichummy,’ but I’m sure there’s a metaphor in that soht?"

"I ah it had been a relief to disabuse her friends of their notion of chuiven her no pleasure to tell them the truth about Ziri Both of them had cried, which had been like a pull-chain to her own tears, no doubt shoring up her appearance of weakness in the eyes of the coods and stardust, Akiva was anotherhim believe that she was "chummy" with the White Wolf? But as she supposed to do? She was closely watched by the entire chimaera host Some eyes seemed simply curious--Does she still love hier to dalance She couldn’t give them ammunition, so she’d kept away frolance in their direction, off the foro rode at the head of the host astride the soldier Uthe and sinuous He was the largest and o looked as regal as a prince

Nearer Karou, Issa rode the Dashnag soldier Rua, while right in the ing to the backs of raptors, were Zuzana and Mik

Zuzana was on Virko, Mik on E to leather straps as the chi the air Virko’s spiraling ram’s horns reminded Karou of Bri cat muscle, like a lion on steroids, and from the back of his thick neck bristled a ruff of spikes, which Zuzana had padded with a wool blanket that she’d complained smelled like feet "So my choice is to breathe feet the whole way or spear my eyeballs out on neck spikes? Aweso that on purpose!" as Virko banked hard left, causing her to slide cockeyed in her makeshift saddle of straps until he banked the other way and righted her

Virko was laughing, but Zuzana wasn’t She craned her neck looking for Karou and hollered, "I need a new horse This one thinks he’s hilarious!"

"You’re stuck with hi to veer around a pair of overburdened griffons She herself eighed down by a heavy pack of gear and a long chain of linked thuribles, many dozens of souls contained within She clanked with every raceless "He volunteered"

Indeed, if Zuzana hadn’t been so light, itVirko was carrying her in addition to his full, allocated load, and as for Emylion, two or three soldiers had wordlessly taken up soh not large, wasn’t the weightless petal Zuze was There had been no question of leaving his violin behind, either Karou’s friends, it was clear, had won real affection froroup in a way she herself had not

Froht not look like Ziri anymore, but he was Ziri, and Karou knew…

She knew that he was in love with her

"Why don’t you have a pegasus in this co as she eyed the ever- horse to ride, with a fluffyon a cloud"

"Because nothing is asus," said Mik

"Hey, there’syour ene a thousand feet to your death--aaah!" She shrieked as Virko suddenly dipped to pass beneath the s hard to bear a sack of weaponry airborne Karou seized a corner of the bag to help hiher as Virko drew ahead

"Better be good to her!" she called after hiasus in your next body!"

"No!" he roared back "Not that!"

He straightened out, and Karou found herself in one of those in-between ht of herself and Zuze, not soclass, or with their feet up on a coffin-table at Poison Kitchen Mik had just been "violin boy" then, a crush, and now here he ith his violin strapped to his pack, riding with them to another world while Karou threatened eance for misbehavior?

For just a , and the thuribles, and her pack--not to ht of her duty and the deception and the future of torlds--Karou felt alht with casual ht of the flick of a hand It was Keita-Eiri, a jackal-headed Sab fighter, and Karou saw at once what she was about She was flashing her hamsas--the "devil’s eyes" inked on her pal the sa the seraphie, Karou risked a look in their direction just in ti around, fury clear in her posture even at a distance

Not out of range, then Akiva reached for his sister and restrained her frohter as the chiripped into fists around her own marks She couldn’t be the one to put a stop to this--it would only s worse With clenched teeth she watched Akiva and Liraz draw even farther away, and the growing distance between the

"Are you all right, Karou?" came a hiss-accented whisper

Karou turned Lisseth was drawing up beside her "Fine," Karou said