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With effort she ignored Lenoir and focused on Suki. ‘What did Tanel do to you?’

  Her friend’s breathing quickened and she quivered. Naif stroked her arm soothingly. Her flesh felt hot and feverish. ‘You’re burning up. Suki, what’s wrong?’

  ‘You cannot tell the others. Even Liam.’

  Naif nodded.

  ‘You tell them and we’re no longer friends. Understand?’

  Another nod.

  Suki lifted her arm and twisted it so that Naif could see her hand. A crude bandage was stuck to her palm. Suki peeled it back.

  Underneath, her Ixion badge oozed with infection. The skin had begun to rot at the edges and the smell made Naif’s stomach churn.

  ‘He held me down and put his teeth to my badge. I can still feel them, sharp and filthy.’ She covered up the wound and slipped her hand behind her back. ‘Then he sucked. I could feel my life going.’

  ‘Y-y-your blood?’

  ‘Not just. Something more.’ She bit her lip. ‘Might sound frossin’ mad to you but he took my lieb.’

  ‘Lieb?’

  ‘Spirit. You know what that is, Naif ?’

  Naif nodded hesitantly. On Grave, spirit was a forbidden word. ‘Spirit is sinful.’

  The words were out before she could consider them.

  ‘Sinful! Is that what they teach you in Grave?’

  ‘Yes. Shun spirit. Live wise.’

  ‘The only thing frossin’ sinful thing are those frossin’ houngas who lied to you with all their sick talk. Spirit is life force. Not just your blood and flesh but your will and your fight. Spirit is everything rolled up into one. Without spirit we die.’

  Naif thought quickly. Suki’s explanation made sense. The Elders had used their explanation as another way of controlling their people.

  ‘If Tanel was consuming your spirit, how is it you are still . . . you?’

  ‘Am I?’ said Suki. A hint of hysteria had crept into her voice. ‘That frossin’ Riper put his mouth to me. Stra’ knows what poison is inside me now.’

  ‘Did you get Schel to bathe your hand?’

  Suki glared at her fiercely. ‘No one must know. You swore.’

  ‘But it could be making you sick.’

  ‘Eve will keep me from the fight –’ Suki broke off suddenly.

  ‘What fight? Suki? Tell me! All those weapons. What’s Eve planning?’

  Suki shook her head. ‘Best you don’t know.’

  ‘Don’t treat me like that!’ Naif said in sudden fury. ‘I’m not a frossin’ child.’

  Suki leaned back on her heels against the rock wall and laughed. ‘My Naif has grown teeth. Perhaps Eve will let you join the League yet.’

  Naif tossed her head and parted the creeper to look out. The scent of the moonflowers overwhelmed her; so sweetly pungent. Clash and the others were climbing towards them. Clash held Charlonge’s hand and several torches, while behind them Brenny, Liam and Jarrold each carried books.

  Naif went to step out to call to them but Suki held her back.

  ‘What?’

  ‘Look,’ said Suki.

  As the group reached the halfway point, a shadow glided along the tier below Clash and the others.

  Naif went to shout a warning but Suki clapped her healthy hand across Naif’s mouth.

  ‘Not yet!’

  Naif resisted her instinct to call Lenoir for help. What was Suki waiting for?

  They were only a few tiers from the top when Suki took her fingers from Naif’s lips. She quickly unhooked some rope from her belt. ‘I want you to step into the open when I say. Call to them. When the Riper comes, I’ll rope it.’

  ‘A rope won’t hold a Riper,’ said Naif quickly.

  ‘This one will,’ said Suki. ‘I know. Now call to Charlonge.’

  Naif stepped into the open and shouted. ‘Charlonge, Clash, quick. A Riper stalks you.’

  Clash reacted instantly, pushing Charlonge ahead and whipping the sword from his belt. He stepped lightly around Jarrold and Liam, barking at them to hurry on. Brenny piled his books onto Jarrold and followed Clash’s lead. He lifted a club from the holster on his shoulder.

  ‘No!’ whispered Suki angrily. ‘Why must they always do that? The direct fight is not always the smart fight. Tell them to get up here.’

  ‘Clash, leave him! Come. Please!’

  The Riper halted a few arm’s lengths away, eyeing Clash and Brenny close by and the others who were escaping. Naif could see it trying to decide which prey to pursue.

  ‘It’s a rogue!’ Clash cried. He charged forward with his sword but the Riper shifted position in an eye-blink, dodging him easily. Brenny followed quickly and caught the Riper with a glancing blow.

  The attack angered the creature and in another blur of movement it slashed Brenny across the neck. The boy toppled forward and fell awkwardly.

  Clash bellowed in fury, stabbing again and again.

  But the Riper leapt upwards, chasing the three fleeing quarries, and Clash’s blow sliced empty air. Naif’s brother spun and fell to his knees, scooping Brenny in his arms.

  Suki sprang from behind the curtain of creeper. ‘Call them over here, close as you can. Tell them there’s a way out,’ she instructed Naif.

  ‘Here! There’s a way out!’ Naif beckoned frantically into the moonlit Grotto, stepping back and up towards Suki as she did.

  Liam reached them first, his tentacles wound around a load of books. Jarrold lagged behind, slowed by the extra burden of Brenny’s load, and the fact he kept pausing to urge Charlonge on. Char was glancing over her shoulder at Clash.

  ‘Char!’ shrieked Naif. ‘Don’t look back. Hurry!’

  ‘Naif, get in here too!’ called Suki.

  ‘Not yet! Char! Jarrold!’

  The Grotto rang with screams. Dimly, Naif knew Lenoir heard her; too far away to be of help, he remained tense, waiting for the outcome.

  Char got ahead of Jarrold and then hesitated again, waiting for him.

  ‘Go!’ he called up to her. ‘Go.’

  She turned and climbed the final tier to join Suki, Naif and Liam. As she did, Jarrold stumbled, the books slipping from his grasp and spreading over the ground.

  Without thought, Naif ran down to help him, scooping up the precious artefacts. ‘Get up!’ she cried.

  But the Riper was on them. Naif saw its pale face, haggard and gaunter than she remembered any of them looking before. Drool glistened at the corners of its mouth, and the smell from beneath its cloak suffocated her with memories of the dead cart on Grave. Rot and something indescribable that comes with death.

  It splayed its hands before her, fingernails long and sharp, ready to strike.

  Naif, flee! Lenoir pleaded in her mind.

  But she couldn’t move. She was transfixed by how milky the Riper’s eyes had become, and how its skin had roughened to the texture of gravel and darkened in patches under the eyes and cheekbones and around the mouth.

  What’s happened to it?

  Starvation is causing it to devolve.

  This will happen to you?

  If I do not eat. Yes.

  A picture of his physical perfection flashed into her mind. How terrible to lose such beauty.

  Naif, the rogue will kill you. Put your fingers to his throat. The soft part under the jaw. Gouge it and he will bleed. In his weakened state that will stop him.

  As the Riper raked her skin, she lunged at its throat, enduring the tearing of its fingernails as she thrust her own fingers up under its jaw and scratched. Almost immediately, its decaying skin tore and she felt something warm and slippery.

  The Riper stiffened.

  But as Naif scratched harder it began to thrash, throwing her sideways. This time it pounced on her, pinning her arms to her side. Drool and blood wet her face. She closed her eyes against the inevitable.

  Lenoir. Keep my friends safe.

  Naif! Lenoir’s cry was lost in the bellow that Jarrold let loose as he belted the Riper in the head with a heavy book using every b
it of strength he possessed.

  The creature stopped, stunned, then turned and lashed out, knocking him down.

  But Clash appeared from the other side and the Riper was forced to stand to protect itself.

  In that instant, Suki loosed her lasso. It fell over the Riper’s head and shoulders on the first attempt and she hurled herself down the tiers, pulling it tight as she ran.

  ‘Knock it over. Quick.’

  Jarrold and Clash converged to tackle the Riper while its arms were pinned. They sat on its chest and legs until Suki had knotted the rope safely.

  She stood up and drew a dagger from a sheath strapped to her calf. ‘Move aside, Clash. I’ll finish it now.’

  ‘No!’ said Naif. ‘You can’t just . . . kill it.’

  Suki squared her shoulders. ‘You tell that to Brenny.’

  Naif looked below them. Brenny was where Clash had left him, his neck twisted at an impossible angle.

  Suki thrust an angry finger towards the boy’s lifeless body. ‘It slit his neck wide open. And you were a breath from the same fate.’

  Naif stayed silent, unable to reply.

  Your friend is right. He will continue to hunt. He is starving. There is no place safe from him. Lenoir’s voice sounded so sad that it brought tears to Naif’s eyes.

  ‘You nearly died, Naif,’ said Jarrold. His face was white with shock and exhaustion. ‘We all did.’

  ‘I will do it,’ said Clash.

  ‘No!’ said Suki. ‘The kill is mine.’

  Naif left them arguing and slowly climbed the top tier of the amphitheatre. Jarrold followed her, carrying an armful of books.

  Liam and Charlonge waited for them there, Char clutching her arms to her chest, rocking gently on her feet. Liam, though, had eyes only for Suki. He watched with pride as she bled away the Riper’s life.

  Few words were spoken on the walk back to the League’s enclave. Naif stayed close to Charlonge and kept her distance from Suki, while she tried to quiet her chaotic thoughts. Lenoir’s presence had diminished to a quiet pulse of relief.

  Suki and Clash carried Brenny between them, while the others divided the books equally. Naif couldn’t look at the dead boy or the way his terrible wounds set his head askew from his body. Memories of Krista-belle suffering the same fate from a Night Creature in the church of Danskoi plagued her. She pictured the shock and the anger on Kero’s face. Where was he now?

  ‘The books are so heavy,’ whispered Charlonge. ‘I don’t think I can carry them much further.’

  Naif dragged her attention to the present. Charlonge’s voice trembled with exhaustion. They had dropped a little behind the others, both of them struggling with the weight in their arms.

  ‘Give me some.’ Charlonge didn’t complain as Naif took several from her. ‘Was it difficult getting them out?’

  ‘I told Jarrold how to find them. We were lucky a group of baby bats had not long arrived.’

  ‘From the barge?’

  ‘Yes. He went in and hid among them. No one noticed him. But it sounds as though things have changed. The new supervisor . . .’

  ‘No one would be as good as you. You cared for us.’

  Charlonge sighed. ‘I tried never to forget how it felt in those first few days on Ixion.’

  ‘You helped me in so many ways.’ Especially with Cal, Naif thought silently. The girl who’d had a crush on Markes had been so cruel.

  ‘Jarrold is the boldest young man I’ve ever known. His confidence carried him in Vank.’

  ‘Bolder than Clash?’ asked Naif lightly.

  Charlonge stumbled and righted herself before she answered. She kept her voice low. ‘Joel – Clash – is driven by anger. At your father, at your city. But Jarrold is naturally bold. It is in him. Through and through.’

  Naif nodded. Indeed, if it hadn’t been for Jarrold in Grave, she might never have escaped a second time. She owed him much, and liked him as well. But she would never take to his sister. Emilia’s silent neediness chafed at her. It was as if the girl spun an invisible web around Markes.

  None of that mattered now though. Only survival did.

  She shifted the weight of the books in her aching arms, suddenly possessed with the desire to reach the camp and begin reading them. The ones she carried were bound with animal hide and greasy cord. They smelled of Vank and her first days on Ixion; the strangeness, the exotic temptation, the sinful pleasures. How much wiser she felt now and yet it was only a few weeks since she’d left here. Would she ever have come had she known Ixion’s bitter secrets? Would she have pursued her brother?

  Yes. For the truth was, she could no longer tolerate Grave and the cruel and narrow ways of her people. Meeting Suki here had made her realise this and jolted her from her fear. Her friend was so different: bold and humorous and not afraid to speak her mind. How Naif had envied her easiness. But now she understood what came with that confidence. The brutality. The practicality. By coming to Ixion, Naif had not only learned something about herself, but about people. How naive she had been. Guileless.

  In her heart, Naif knew that she could not have killed the Riper as Suki had done, as her brother would have done. More fool her, perhaps. Or was it her bond with Lenoir that left her so conflicted?

  ‘Naif ? What is it?’ whispered Charlonge.

  Naif blinked. They were almost at the last rise before the Leaguers’ camp. She began to hurry despite the weight she carried.

  ‘Wait! Naif, what is it?’ Char called.

  She paused. ‘Come on, Char. Markes’s badge is changing and Suki’s was damaged by a Riper. The young ones on Sanctus need us and . . .’

  ‘And?’ said Charlonge, panting as she came alongside her.

  ‘And I think Dark Eve is preparing for battle.’

  Charlonge forced her legs to move more quickly and caught up with Naif. ‘Fross!’

  Eve sent guards to meet them and to help with Brenny’s body but neither Suki nor Clash would relinquish their hold. As they made their way solemnly to the caves, the Leaguers gathered to follow their path, some crying, others swearing when they saw what had happened.

  Eve waited at the mouth of the main cave, stiff with rage, the hilt of her huge axe resting against her thigh. They stopped just below her, waiting. Angled above them, drawn to her full height, she looked terrifying.

  Clash finally handed Brenny to one of the other Leaguers. While everyone else stood back he approached Eve with bowed head.

  ‘A rogue did this?’ thundered Eve.

  Clash nodded. ‘Brenny was brave, fighting at my side. We retrieved the books.’

  Eve shook with a fury that Naif had never witnessed in her before.

  ‘Charlonge, come here!’ she roared.

  Char hurried up over the rocks to join Clash. When she reached him, Naif saw her sway with tiredness.

  ‘You say the books will tell us about Ixion? The origins of the Ripers?’ demanded Eve.

  ‘I-I believe so. But I haven’t read them all. I only found these ones some weeks ago – just before Danskoi.’

  Eve clenched the hilt of her axe. ‘Tell me they are worth Brenny’s life.’

  Charlonge looked up at her, speechless, then to Clash for help. But Naif’s brother had nothing to offer her. Silence spread across the assembled listeners.

  Naif stepped forward, compelled to help her friend. ‘We believe the knowledge in these books is worth your and my life as well, Eve, if it means we can set the young ones free. Not just those here now, but those who would come.’

  Eve brought her fierce, bruising stare down on Naif. She lifted the axe from the ground as if she might take both Clash and Char’s head off with one swing.

  Char began to cry, but Clash didn’t flinch.

  Naif stepped up further, so she was alongside him. Back straight, eye unblinking, she withstood Eve’s wrath the same way she had withstood her father’s cold indifference and the wardens’ twisted tortures; the way she’d borne the pain from her obedience strip.

>   Nothing would make her cower. These books held the key to their freedom and their survival. She knew it.

  A hand touched her elbow and a sturdy frame planted itself next to her.

  ‘I’m Jarrold. I helped Charlonge with the books. I’m new here but . . . but shouldn’t we get on with it, so we don’t all end up like Brenny?’

  Something in Jarrold’s simple and sensible statement broke the tension.

  Eve lowered her axe to the floor again. ‘Wise enough words, young man.’ She lifted her gaze to the gathered Leaguers. ‘Brenny will get our highest honoured burial. In the meantime, all of you have tasks to fulfil. We have an island to take.’

  A murmur of approval spread among the Leaguers, and all but two went back to their work. Those who stayed, Naif guessed, were Brenny’s closest.

  ‘Take the books to the candle cave and find us what we need,’ Eve said to Naif and Charlonge. ‘Suki, Clash, with me.’

  With that she stepped down and went to speak more privately with Brenny’s grieving friends.

  Two Leaguers brought them food and basins to rinse their hands before they began. Charlonge insisted on the washing, fearful that the dirt would further stain the pages and obscure the writing.

  They sat cross-legged in a circle with the pile of books in the centre. Markes and Emilia joined Naif and Charlonge, but Liam and Jarrold begged off.

  ‘Carry them, I will,’ said Jarrold, ‘but read the frossing things? No! It’s worse than school.’

  None of them expected an explanation from Liam, and the way he stared at the books with suspicion made Naif wonder if he could read at all. From what she knew of Stra’Ha, the men existed to help provide for the women.

  Candle smoke stung Naif’s eyes as she began to skim pages. The rolling script had no punctuation breaks, and Naif strained to decipher the words. Much of it was a listing of daily tasks. The wording seemed clumsy too, phrases in reverse or such strange wording that the sense of it became lost.

  Morn of yester odor trapped burn

  Shieves molde in spite wind

  What in Grave did those things mean?

  After a time, the words began to blur and she had to fight the desire to lie down and sleep.