Ghost Mimic by Jonathan Moeller Read Free Book Online Page A

loud click. I winced at the noise, but the men in the strong room did not seem to hear. She released the second lock to a similar click. 
    “Turlagon’s death must look like an accident,” said the cold voice, “so we shall hand the corpse of his traitorous courier over to him.”
    “What?” said Sankar, shocked.
    “He can keep the Atagaria woman to do with as he pleases,” said the cold voice. “Perhaps she will reveal the location of the trapbox after sufficient torture, and he will then perish when he opens it. Kill him.”
    “No!” shouted Sankar, and steel rang on steel. I shot an urgent look at Nerina, and she opened the third lock. This time five clicks rang out in rapid succession, followed by the groan of relaxing metal and the noise of grinding gears.
    The trapbox had unlocked. 
    Before I could react, Sankar stumbled out of the strong room, bleeding from a half-dozen mortal dagger wounds, and collapsed to the floor, his blood seeping into the dirt. Several men with daggers stepped after him, gazing at his corpse. One of them saw us, and an expression of utter surprise went over his face.
    For a moment I froze.
    What would Caina do?
    The answer came to me.
    Caina would burn down the building and escape in the confusion. 
    I stepped back and ripped open the heavy lid of the trapbox, placing it between me and the Teskilati agents. As I did, I heard a cracking, shattering noise as the counterweights in the lid shattered the clay flasks of Hellfire lining the box’s interior.
    A red glow started to come from the box.
    “Run!” shouted Malcolm, and we all obeyed, sprinting for the stairs. The cold-voiced man shouted orders, and the Teskilati agents started after us, but by then were racing up the stairs. Nerina slammed the door behind her as we reached the kitchens, but I doubted that would slow them for long. I wondered how long it would take for the Hellfire to ignite. Caina had said that Hellfire burned when exposed to air, and…
    It did not take all that long.
    The floor heaved beneath my sandals, and the cellar door ripped off its hinges, followed by a howling gout of crimson flame that lashed at the walls. The heat of it struck me, and I gasped and followed the others as they sprinted into the courtyard. Already I heard the roar of the fire spread through the Scratched Penny, followed by shouts of alarm and the cry of fire. 
    I ran back into the alley, peering at the main street. Flames had begun to dance in the windows, and the doors to the common room burst open, men spilling into the street. Emir Turlagon bellowed in rage, demanding that Sankar surrender himself, but none of the men slowed. I saw Caina backing away from him, her ornate skirts gripped in either hand, her blue eyes wide as she stared at the burning building.
    Then she saw me and broke free from Turlagon’s stunned men, who made no effort to stop her. 
    All five of us fled into the alley and retreated to the House of Agabyzus.

Chapter 6: Mimicry
     
    I expected reprisals. I expected the Teskilati to descend upon the House of Agabyzus in wrath, or for Turlagon to show up and threaten to bring a lawsuit against me. 
    Yet none of that happened.
    “Turlagon has fled the city,” Caina told me over coffee a few days later, dressed once again as the courier Marius. Her current costume was a far cry from the beautiful young noblewoman who had taunted Sankar and wept before Turlagon. “The fire that destroyed the Scratched Penny was obviously started by Hellfire, so I think even Turlagon managed to figure out that the Teskilati were after him. He left the city within an hour of the fire, and is likely on his way to Tanzir Shahan and the rebels.” 
    “What about the Teskilati?” I said. The House was as busy as usual, and in a few moments I would need to get to work. But as important as the House was, there were more important things. The lives of my sons, for one.
    And my work with the Ghosts had helped me preserve both their