Page 60 of Red Demon (Oria #1)

Tea Shop

T he last slivers of sun rolled away behind the horizon, leaving behind a spill of orange, pink, and violet light.

We’d reached the roadside tea shop to intersect with Soren, and I felt like I’d stepped into a much older world than the one I knew.

Low tables clustered under and between trees, lanterns flickering atop them.

Children scurried and clung to the low branches in the outer courtyard.

Among the many cushions on the grounds were living sofas, intricately woven from branches and soft moss.

Underneath our feet, Oria shimmered and thrummed low, keeping the garden seats alive and vibrant.

Beside me, Faruhar kept the hood of her cloak up, unsettled to be near so many people. I gave her arm a reassuring pat as I pulled her beside me on one of the living sofas.

“They’ll be out in a minute.” Asher returned from inside, carrying an open bottle of wine and glasses. “Relax, we’re all safe here,” he said to Faruhar, pouring her the first glass.

Faruhar smiled, but did not lower her hood.

Instead, she inched closer to me. I thought about putting my arm around her, kissing the top of her head, but I stopped myself.

Mira passed me some wine. I took a hesitant sip, a frown creasing my forehead.

“Wasted on me.” I turned to Faruhar. “Does wine do anything for you?”

Her hand covered mine as she borrowed my glass for a sip. “If I want it to.”

I looked up to see Soren and Telesilla, their pace slowing when they saw Faruhar, now sitting straight-backed under their sharp gaze. Telesilla saluted, then sat down at the end of the table, swinging her lone white braid in front of her.

She dropped a small, folded piece of paper on the table. I picked it up.

“That notice was delivered to nearby temples today, and Mahakal had his birds deliver them to major Asri businesses in the rural areas,” Telesilla said.

“And from what I understand, he also dropped one in front of the Underground entrance you last used, just after bombing it. Perhaps that last one was more for flair.”

I swallowed. “I’m sorry.”

Telesilla glared at Faruhar before she shrugged. “No one was hurt.”

I picked up the note and read it aloud for the group. “Jesse Eirini and the Red Demon. You have three days to surrender in exchange for the lives of your friends. Asher Eirini and Mira, daughter of Solonstrong and Temar, can both be forgiven. You cannot.”

Faruhar sipped her wine, looking between Telesilla and Soren. “Have you betrayed us already?”

Telesilla blinked at Faruhar’s raspy voice, the first time she’d heard it. “No. We have kept our word to Asher. That being said, my mentor Reic urged me to be … cautious with our arrangements.”

Asher cocked his head. “Does that mean he tried to talk you out of the whole thing?”

Telesilla grimaced. “I expect his fire will cool when we tell him about the magic blocker you retrieved today.”

Soren nodded at Mira, who sat straight, holding Asher’s hand. “It’s good to meet you,” he said in Chaeten. “I’m encouraged to meet another person who escaped a Z’har pledge.”

Mira offered him a tight smile. “If you asked me three days ago who was dropping SBO, I would have said you Underground rebels. But I trust Asher’s dahn, and he trusts you.” She turned to Asher, swallowing. “Watch them closely while I ask them these next questions, please.”

Asher focused his attention on Telesilla and Soren.

“Do you have any part in distributing SBO, to anyone? At any time?” Mira demanded.

Telesilla leaned forward, her gaze sharp. “Of course not.”

“No, friend,” Soren said, furrowing his eyebrows. “No.”

Mira drew a long breath. “If I could give you the code for an anti-SBO mod, could you help me broadcast it to other rebel networks in the nine islands, using Oria?”

“I might be able to help get you into an empire field station too,” Faruhar added. She turned to Telesilla. “If I get you an ID tag to get you in the door, do you have anyone who could boost Mira’s message to a higher security level?”

Telesilla blinked. Soren shifted back in his seat, staring at her as if she’d dropped from the sky.

“Possibly. We have a few people with the right combination of Chout and technological experience,” Telesilla said.

“Good,” Mira said. “Because if I give you that code, you would have the information to make SBO instead if you chose; to hurt people instead of helping them.”

“ Niire Mai, ” Soren said, touching mind and heart. “I have only killed demons.”

“Demons like her?” I nodded my head to Faruhar.

Soren swallowed. He moved closer, then reached out a glowing hand to her.

Faruhar stared at it, her body trembling beside mine.

“What’s this?” I asked.

“I won’t harm you.” he offered his hand again.

Faruhar sat rigid, her hands shoved under her legs.

“He wants to see inside my mind.” Her gaze darted to me, fear in her eyes.

I remembered Bria’s frantic warnings, the fear that choked her voice when she spoke of Reic finding out about her.

No one with a sword would scare Faruhar.

Soren’s glowing hand did, so much that she wouldn’t tell him to fuck off herself.

“Why do you need to see inside her mind?” I said, my voice low and dangerous.

Soren flinched, his glowing hand retracting. “Just to understand. I want to trust her too.”

Faruhar’s lips tightened into a thin line. Then, with a start, she reached out and grasped Soren’s glowing hand in hers. He jolted as if shocked, his brow furrowing. Faruhar’s hand pulsed with a faint blue light. The glow from Soren’s hand sputtered and died, leaving his eyes wide with disbelief.

“You can block me out,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Who taught you that discipline?”

Faruhar shuddered. “An Attiq-ka tried to train me once. Didn’t work out.”

Telesilla sat forward, whipping her braid over her shoulder. “Who trained you? To my knowledge, no one but the queen’s mentor Marles has ever made progress with a Chaeten-sa.”

Faruhar stared back, her jaw clenched. “Isn’t Marles on the list of people the Underground wants to kill? Why give you another name?” Her gaze flickered to me again, a silent plea for help.

“None of this is your voided business,” I snapped. “We’re here to take Mahakal down. Can you trust her to help with that, or not?” When they delayed, I eyed the gate, the sunset road. I grabbed Faruhar’s hand and stood.

“All or none,” Asher said, with a nod to Faruhar and me. “You can keep the magic blocker when I’m done modifying it. We’ll also make you as many anti-SBO mods as Mira’s machine can produce. Or, with respect, we leave now.”

Mira smiled, her eyes glowing at Asher as she took a sip of wine.

Telesilla’s jaw clenched. Soren, however, continued to stare at Faruhar, his brow wrinkled in thought.

Faruhar squeezed my hand. I squeezed back.

“We will trust you all,” Telesilla said, with a curt nod to Soren.

We let out a collective sigh. Telesilla ordered us dinner as we hashed out ideas.

“We need to plan the wording on the anti-SBO message carefully; ensure people trust it,” Telesilla said a while later.

“Perhaps we pick someone credible and announce that they endorsed it?” Mira said.

Hums of disagreements from Soren and Ash.

“Who else do you want to kill?” Soren’s voice was low and measured.

Crickets chirped, and children laughed in the nearby trees. I exchanged a confused glance with Asher. Mira, however, seemed to understand where he was going with this.

“If you give someone credit for this—generosity,” Soren explained, “General Alexander may not believe them when they say they weren’t involved in our hack. He’s not known for his patience. He’ll hunt them down. So, who do you want to kill?”

“No one. I’m trying to prevent more suffering,” Mira said, her voice firm.

“Perhaps we are overthinking it,” Asher said. “It only takes a few people to try it and confirm the mod works. Even with no name attached, word will spread.”

Soren shook his head in disagreement. “Not everywhere.”

Telesilla nodded. “Tomorrow. We’ll sleep on this and discuss more then.” She scanned the group. “But we must strike in two days, before Mahakal’s ultimatum, before the General’s ships arrive.”

We nodded.

“Our network is willing to host you here. There are rooms above the tea shop.” Telesilla eyed Mira and Ash, no space between their thighs on their moss settee, and then flicked her gaze at Faruhar and me. “Two rooms are sufficient, I assume?”

“Thank you,” Mira said, when the rest of us delayed.