"People do not see you, They invent you and accuse you."
— Hélène Cixous
Lin still tasted blood. She always did. It didn't bother her as much as it should, though that applied to everything. She wandered down the Library's docks, hands in pockets. The sun bore down into the wooden port, making the sailors sweat as they hauled crates of supplies from boats to carts.
The port bustled with workers, a clear path down the middle for traffic. Though it seemed that they parted further for her. Or, more accurately, they parted for her black—and damn hot—uniform and silver tattoos.
She knocked her wrist against the butt of her gun. The expensive tool hadn't been used in months, but it put her a row above other hunters. Thus, it was on display. She honestly wasn't even sure if it worked anymore.
The sea spread out to her right, an expansive reddish hellscape of waves. If she focused, she could spot some tendrils of magic floating in it. Her nose wrinkled at the thought. She didn't even like looking at the sea, with the smell of decay that rose from it. It looked like someone had bled a giant over the world. Lin ripped her gaze away from the dark mass.
On her other side, a massive sandy tower rose up. It seemed to vanish in the clouds and sway in the hard wind. It was wider around than some cities she'd been to, and descended deep beneath the ocean line. A marvel of engineering. Or magic, depending on who told the story.
"Fancy seein' you here."
Lin swung out with her elbow.
A man with sun-tanned skin and a matted grey beard ducked beneath her arm, far quicker than a man of his age and weight should. He popped back up and took a cautious step backwards, eyebrows raised. "No, lass—"
"Razo," she gritted out, nerves already frayed. She snapped out another punch, letting it fizzle out to a feint and kicking his foot out from beneath him. He grunted and finally toppled over with a yelled curse. He crashed against the wood docks with a short yell.
"Yield! I'm yielding! Shit!" He stuck his arms straight in the air, remaining flat on his back. "Shit! Stop!"
Her lips sharpened into a smile, though she didn't drop her stance. "I stopped."
Razo glowered at her over his ruddy cheeks. "I bloody noticed."
Lin stretched her hand out and hauled the larger man to his feet. She barely felt it, lifting his entire weight one-handed. He groaned once he was upright, clapping a hand on her shoulder and leaning against her as if she were a wall. "Why are you here?" she asked.
"Are ya being more of a dick than usual? I feel like y'are."
"I'm just thinking about something."
"Thought I smelled steak."
"Brain matter's pretty fatty, smells more like bacon," Lin said offhandedly. Razo glared at her.
"I know, I was bein' funny."
"I'm being serious. Why are you here?"
"Your dad's worried." He was trying to be nonchalant about it. It didn't work.
Lin groaned. She rocked back on her heels and ran her hand through her loose hair. "Tell him I'm enjoying myself."
"Tell him I'm enjoying myself," Razo canted his voice ridiculously high, "girlie, he'd kill me if he knew what you were up to. And then he'd hunt Greymark, if he thinks he can manage. Man's damn near as frightening as you."
"Near," Lin said. "Not as, not more. Don't forget that."
"You're in a mood today, ain't ya?" Razo grumbled, clapping dust from his jacket.
Their little scuffle garnered attention from the sailors, exhausted faces turned and desperate for any distraction. Lin rocked her head against her shoulder, glaring at their curious eyes. Without fanfare, she threw her arm around Razo's shoulder and half-dragged him away. After a moment, he pulled her in another direction.
They wandered away from the tower, towards the empty end of the dock where only the largest or most desperate of sailors tied their ships.
Razo's ship wasn't large enough to warrant such distance, he could easily tether Sirenita a few meters from shore. It was the cargo that demanded such precautions. Their value came before anything else. He was runner for the most powerful people alive, with more independence than any sailor Lin had ever met. She didn't know how he'd managed that. She didn't ask.
Sirenita bounced among the waves. After giving the boat a familiar smack, Razo climbed the short ladder to the reinforced hatch, leaning against the railing as he searched for the keys. Sirenita was a small ship, little more than an armored houseboat. And it was completely sealed to the ocean water, moderately bulletproof as most merchant ships had to be. A few holes in the couches within attested to the 'moderately' part of it.
She sniffed and ducked her head under her hand, smoothing her hair back. The black roots were slightly greasy, a strange sensation compared to the straw-like consistency of the rest of her hair. She fluffed it behind her, overlong locks smacking her back.
She really needed it cut.
Razo finally unlocked the door, fumbling with the key a few times. The acidic slick of the sea still clung to the sides of the ship despite the hot sun. Lin squinted through the rays to gather her will to climb inside.
"Alright, I actually did get you something," Razo said from inside, his voice echoing in the cargo hold.
Lin smiled and swung her body through the hatch, landing gracefully in the steambox-like hold. The metal flooring felt strange and ungiving beneath her boots, despite the slow sway of the ocean beneath them.
Razo eased his way through the cramped area, shuffling along some unmarked path between stacks of crates. Some of them were so large she wondered how they'd fit back out the hatch. A small puddle rippled in the corner, and she didn't think it was seawater.
The only light was the sun streaming through the hatch. Across from her, a sealed door led to the bridge and living area. A lamp swayed from the ceiling, unlit and possibly broken.
"Ah! Found it!" Razo lifted a box above his head, barely pausing before heaving it at her face.
She caught it in both hands. It was around the size of her torso—which wasn't negligible—and heavy. She wondered how Razo had managed to heft it so easily.
"What—is this a bomb?"
"No."
"Poison?"
Razo scowled at her. "Just open the damn box before I change my mind."
Lin snorted and unlatched the lid, opening it gently in case he had decided to kill her via explosive. She didn't smell anything weird, and no wires came to light, so she flipped it open the rest of the way. Books. Beautiful, freshly transcribed, books.
She gasped and ran her fingers over their spines. There were about twelve or so, Library editions of course, and all of them had enticing names printed in black.
"Aw, Raz," she breathed, "you're gonna get in trouble."
"They won't notice. 'Snot like King Wilson reads much of—ah," he cocked his head to read the title of one of them, "hells, that one's got dragons."
Lin shrugged and pulled out the book in question, scanning the cover briefly before slotting it back in place. "Never read any of hers before. It's been forever since those damn Librarians have bothered to transcribe anything good."
"They copy down some good literature." His accent stumbled over the long word. "More like it's been forever since you've bothered to read anything good."
Lin scowled at him, barely refraining from kicking him. Even then, it was just to avoid dropping the books. She scanned the rest of the books, smiling as she did. Then her expression dropped.
"Is this a bribe?"
"No bloody shit it's a bribe." Razo tightened his lips at her. "It's been months since you seen your parents. Weeks since I seen you. I can't cover forever."
"You're a good liar, Raz. I'm sure you can manage." Lin set the box down, closing it firmly. Goodbye, fair books.
"Yeah, yeah," he said, "but still, you need to visit. Just once'd be good. You don't even havta mention Alekhine if you don't wanna."
There was a moment of tense silence as Lin absorbed that. She set her jaw and turned on her heel.
"Lin! You bloody immature brat!"
"Eat me!" Lin shouted back, her long stride unbroken even as she jumped from the hatch to the pier. Razo was coming after her. She could hear his muffled cursing even as she walked away.
The sigils that decorated her arms chose that moment to tighten on her. She stumbled to a stop, irritation spiking.
The ink shifted beneath her skin, shapes folding into each other and flaring with heat. She cracked her neck as whispers slid into her head. She could have mistaken them for her own thoughts had she not known them as intimately as she did.
Instinct that had been carved beneath her flesh, overriding nearly all higher functions. Her standing orders. A damn nuisance when she was playing at being human.
Kill her.
Lin sighed and looked over her shoulder. Razo was hurrying through the crowd, he stopped several feet away, eyeing her up and down.
"Hey, I know I shouldn't'ave brought him up. I'm sorry." He raised his hands in surrender after contemplating her expression. "Shit. Don't bloody kill me."
"Get back to Sirenita." The words were almost slurred, even as she forced herself to say them. "Now."
She turned without making sure he was gone, hand on her knife hilt. She stepped through the crowd, all of them parting for her, most of them recognized her as the hunter she was. The rest were just smart enough to leave her alone.
She stepped from the blaze of the outdoors into the cool shadows of the Library.
The sigils practically yanked her toward the upper levels. She barely noticed the shelves of books as she passed them, the curve of the halls and the filtered sunlight that lit the core of the building. Any other time, she would have paused to take it all in. The Library was a marvel she'd admired dozens of times before, and would continue to do so. As long as the fight that awaited her didn't damage it too badly.
Kill her.
Yes, yes, I'm going to.
Lin mounted the stairs with quick, long strides. Then her sigils curled around her in anticipation. There. Here. Kill her.
A few Librarians were scattered among the desks. A transcription room then.
Lin spotted her prey immediately. The toe of a shoe poked out from behind a bookshelf, magic blurring in and out of Lin's enhanced vision.
Stealth forsaken, Lin whistled. A low, two-tone noise that pulled everyone's attention to her.
"Get out." Softly, with an implicit threat. The room was bright enough to glint sunlight off her tattooed sigils.
The Librarians recognized her—how could they not—and fled, some of them tucking precious volumes beneath their arms. Their grey robes fluttered as they bolted down the stairs.
Kill her.
Lin clicked her teeth.
"I'm not hurting anyone." From the bookshelf.
"You're a witch," Lin answered dully, in the same practiced way she pulled her knife from its sheath. "I'm a hunter. Do the math."
The witch stood up and peered around the bookshelf. She looked... normal. Black hair and a dress in the southern fashion. She could almost pass for human, were it not the fact that her feet were bare and the whites of her eyes had turned oily black.
Lin cocked her head as she listened to the Librarians evacuating the floors, level by level. "The huntress," they whispered, "she's killing a witch. Run."
The witch could hear, too. She swallowed and shifted where she stood, knuckles going white around the bookshelf. She didn't attack yet, there was something unsporting about slaughtering an enemy before they got their bearings. Lin had time, she could afford to wait.
Kill her.
Yes, shut up now.
Lin watched the witch carefully. This was a young one, some baby fat still clinging to her face despite the obvious malnourishment. The witch sniffled, like she might cry. She ducked her head. Lin swallowed as she glanced over the witch's form. No gemstones. The typical indicator of a witch was their jewelry, and this one had none.
The humanity dropped in an instant. Almost faster than Lin could see, a bolt of flame surged from the candles. Whipped by a torrent of wind, the blaze roared towards Lin.