Bloodrush (Scarlet Star Trilogy #1)

Chapter 25 - A Bitter Wind

Lurker tipped his hat. 'That's what they call rushers who put the red of an electric eel in their belly. Met a couple in the south, back in the old days, 'fore the war. Though I ain't ever seen one do that.'

Merion grinned, and Lurker took a step back. 'And it looks like that ain't the only thing you can do,' he said, grimacing and pointing at his own teeth.

Merion raised his tingling hands and gingerly probed his mouth. His teeth were razor sharp, filed to points. That took the edge off the rage; that was for sure. It took a full minute for the shade to fade, and for his teeth to return to their normal selves. Merion was relieved to say the least. He did not take his fingers off his teeth for a long while.

'Rhin would have loved to have seen that,' the boy muttered.

'Where is that faerie anyway?'

'Hiding underneath my bed, refusing to come out. Something's spooked him, but he won't tell me what it is. Another problem to add to the pile.'

Lurker sighed. 'Look, boy, so you ain't the Serpeds' favourite flavour at the moment. That ain't to say you ruined this forever, Merion. You need to calm down, or you'll end up burning yourself out. I'm talking about you, mopin' around, glarin' at everything, fists clenched all the time. You're angry. We get it. Do something about it instead of tryin' to boil away to nothin',' Lurker said.

'You don't understand.'

'Oh,' Lurker wagged a finger. 'Being shackled in a place you don't want to be? I know all about that, boy.'

Merion had forgotten himself. A trickle of ice-cold guilt ran through his hot veins. 'I'm sorry.'

'That you are,' Lurker nodded, before raising his head to the western sky, where the burning sun was busy sinking. 'And look who decides to finally show up. Lazy corvid.'

Merion felt a wing brush his ear as a piebald shape flew past him. He flinched, and as he did so a spark flashed across the back of his hand. Merion winced and rubbed his skin. Jake croaked as Lurker stroked the obsidian feathers under his beak.

'This is why you can't get too angry. Don't do no good, boiling blood when you're rushing. Soaks deeper into your heart.'

Merion hadn't a clue what that meant, but he agreed that it did not sound like the best idea in the world. For the first time in a day and a half, he took a deep breath and tried to push his anger back for a while.

'Come,' Lurker waved a hand, 'let's try another shade, before that sun sets.'

But Jake was having none of that. He hopped from Lurker's shoulder to his arm and squawked long and loud before jabbering away. Merion got nothing from the cackled words, but Lurker was listening intently, and as he did, his face began to fall, and the muscles along his jaw began to clench.

'What's the bird saying?' Merion asked.

'Let's get back to the house. Now,' Lurker ordered as he reached for that cannon he called a pistol, letting it dangle by his side. Jake croaked once more and fell silent.

Merion did as he was told. He got the most distinct impression that this was not a time for discussion.

*

Darkness fell like a sheet over a corpse. Merion jogged alongside Lurker, weaving through stables and outhouses to avoid the main streets. Merion listened to the music spilling from the taverns, the yells from a dozen fights in the workers' camp, even the shrieks of fun from the windows of a nearby whorehouse. He shot a glance at the bruising sky. No matter how hard he squinted, he could not spy a single star, not one glimmer. Even the moon was absent tonight. Something about that was terribly ominous.