Praise for New York Times bestselling author MICHELLE SAGARA and The Chronicles of Elantra series
No one provides an emotional payoff like Michelle Sagara. Combine that with a fast-paced police procedural, deadly magics, five very different races and a wickedly dry sense of humorwell, it doesnt get any better than this.
Bestselling author Tanya Huff on The Chronicles of Elantra series
Intense, fast-paced, intriguing, compelling and hard to put downunforgettable.
In the Library Reviews on Cast in Shadow
Readers will embrace this compelling, strong-willed heroine with her often sarcastic voice.
Publishers Weekly on Cast in Courtlight
The impressively detailed setting and the books spirited heroine are sure to charm romance readers as well as fantasy fans who like some mystery with their magic.
Publishers Weekly on Cast in Secret
Along with the exquisitely detailed world building, Sagaras character development is mesmerizing. She expertly breathes life into a stubborn yet evolving heroine. A true master of her craft!
RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) on Cast in Fury
With prose that is elegantly descriptive, Sagara answers some longstanding questions and adds another layer of mystery. Each visit to this amazing world, with its richness of place and character, is one to relish.
RT Book Reviews (4 ½ stars) on Cast in Silence
Another satisfying addition to an already vivid and entertaining fantasy series.
Publishers Weekly on Cast in Chaos
Cast in Ruin
Michelle Sagara
www.mirabooks.co.uk
Id like to dedicate this book to the Harlequin/LUNA team.
Editorial
Mary-Theresa Hussey, Elizabeth Mazer, Margo Lipschultz and Tara Parsons;
Art
Kathleen Oudit, Vanessa Karabegovic and Shane Rebenschied;
Marketing
Marianna Ricciuto, Ashley Reid and Diana Wong;
and the Harlequin Sales Group
as well as all the others who touch the book behind the scenes.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
CHAPTER 1
The worst thing about near-world-ending disasters according to Sergeant Marcus Kassanat least the ones that had miraculously done very little damagewas the paperwork they generated. Two departments over, the Hawks required to man desks visibleand accessibleto the public would probably have disagreed. Vehemently. In Leontine.
In the day and a half since four very large Dragons, a small army, and every Sword on the roster had converged on Elani street, thered been a steady stream of people coming to the office that bordered Missing Persons to make complaints, demand redress, or simply ask for some assurance that the world had not, in fact, ended. The numbers of civilian complaints had, in theory, peaked.
Theory, as usual, was invented by some bureaucrat in a high tower who didnt have to actually deal with said complaints. Private Neya, however, wasnt even Corporal, let alone lofty bureaucrat. She was part of the emergency shift of Hawks whod been crammed into a workspacealready tight to begin within order to deal with the civilians. The Hawks who regularly manned these desks were generally older and certainly better suited to the task.
They appeared to appreciate the help about as much as the help appreciated being there.
Youre beat Hawks, her Sergeant had growled. For some of the officers who worked in the Halls of Law, growl would be figurative. In the case of Kaylin Neya, it was literal: her Sergeant was a Leontine. You deal with the public every day.
Right. We deal with the public accused of stealing, mugging, and murder. All in all, it didnt give the brightest window into the human condition. When Sergeant Kassan failed to even blink, she added, You know themtheyre the people I dont have to worry about offending?
Marcus, however, had failed to be moved. Kaylin had not, which is why she currently occupied half a strangers desk.
You were assigned to Elani, he pointed out. At the moment, Elani is still
Under quarantine. Yes. I realize that.
Since you cant do your job there for the next few days, you can make yourself useful in the front rooms, since we are still paying you.
Not surprisingly, many of the reports delivered by timid, angry, or deranged civilians involved descriptions of a giant Dragon roaming the streets. His color varied from report to report, as did his activities; he reportedly breathed fire, ate peopleor at least large, stray dogsand leveled buildings. He was alternately the usual Dragon sizewhich, to be fair, was not smallor giant; he was also deafening.
This last part was accurate. The rest, not so much. Kaylin, of course, knew the Dragon being described. Dragons were forbidden, by law, from assuming their native forms within the City of Elantra without express permission from the Eternal Emperor. Lord Tiamaris, however, had received that dispensation. He was, the last time shed seen him, a shade that approached copper. He did have an impressive wingspan, but none of the eyewitnesses had claimed to see him fly.
Most of the witnesses, however, claimed that Tiamaris led a small army. The descriptions of this army varied almost as widely as descriptions of Tiamaris himself. The word Barbarian came up almost as often as Savage, but both ran a distant second and third to Giant. She particularly liked the two peoplewho had come in together and were shoving each other in between sentenceswho claimed that they were an army of the shambling undead. Their size was, according to these civilian reports, all over the map; their numbers ranged from lots to fifty thousand. Most accounts agreed, however, that the strangers were armed.
This last had the benefit of being accurate. The strangersor refugeesthemselves were, as far as anyone knew, newcomers to the worldthe idea that this was a world, rather than the only world being almost as new to most of the authorities as the refugees themselves. According to the Palace, and more important, to Lord Sanabalis, the refugees numbered roughly three thousand strong. As their destination was the fief of Tiamaris, no formal census had been taken or even considered. They wouldnt technically be citizens of Elantra.
They werent giants, a race that Kaylin privately thought entirely in the realm of childrens stories, but they were about eight feet in height at the upper end; the children were taller than Kaylin. They didnt speak Elantran, which was Kaylins mother tongue; they didnt speak Barrani, either, Barrani being the language in which the laws were written. But the Imperial linguists, with the aid of Ybelline Rabonalani, had gone with Tiamaris. Theyd been the only people whod looked truly excited at the prospect of three thousand armed, hungry, and exhausted eight-foot-tall strangers. They were also, however, absent from the civilian reports, and therefore not her problem.
Kaylin had received some training in speaking with civilians, because some of her job did involve talking to possible witnesses in a way that didnt terrify them so much they denied seeing anything; putting it to use in the crowded office full of strangers was almost more than she could stomach. She did not, however, point out that they were blind or out of their minds; she transcribed most of what they said with unfailing attention.
This was, in part, because in the end Marcus would have to read most of these, or at least sign them. He loathed paperwork.
On the bright side? The unusual births, the rains of bloodand, in one area, frogsand the unfortunate and inexplicable change in the Citys geography, had ceased. Elani, however, now had a stream running along one side of the street, and the blood-red flowers that had popped up in the wake of the refugees were proving more hardy than tangleknot grass.
It would probably only be a matter of time before some enterprising fraud picked them, bottled them, and sold them as an elixir of youth; it was Elani street, after all.
Kaylin glanced at the small mirror at the end of the overwhelmed desk she was half behind. The Records of the Halls of Law, forbidden to the rank and file during the state of emergency, were now once again deemed safe to use, which meant the mirror added more external chatter to a loud and bustling office.
Kaylin tried to avoid listening to it; it only annoyed her. The Barrani Hawks were, of course, excused external desk duty. Something about tall, slender immortals put normal civilians off their stride; for some reason they felt the Barrani were arrogant and condescending. This was probably, in Kaylins opinion, because they had working eyes and ears. The Aerian Hawks were excused the emergency shift work because the small sizeand low ceilingsof the cramped room made having large wings a disadvantage. In theory.
Luckily, the force contained enough humans that the extra shifts decreed as necessary by some higher-up could be filled. If Kaylin knew who heor shewas, thered be a new picture on the dartboard in the office by the end of the week. Who knew a hand could cramp so damn badly when the only activity of the day was writing and trying to hide the fists that incredible stupidity normally caused?
Severn Handred, her Corporal partner, had fared better, in large part because he didnt mind the stupidity. He met her when she managed to edge her way out of the single door that ledfrom the inside of the Halls of Lawto the office itself. There was a door on the opposite wall, as well, but as it led into the people who were waiting to make their incredibly frustrating reports, Kaylin avoided that one.
Well? he asked. He was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest.
I didnt kill anyone, she replied.
That bad?
I think it was the conspiracy of evil chickens that did me in.
Pardon?
You heard me. I honestly have no idea how more of the Hawks in that damn office arent arraigned on assault charges.
Bridget keeps them in line.
Bridget?
Sergeant Keele.
Kaylin cringed. I could see that. Sergeant Keele was one of the staff regulars; this was her domain. Shed been entirely undelighted at the additional staff thrust upon her, in part because she felt it impugned her ability to handle the situation. She had, however, been brisk, if chilly, and she didnt mince wordsor orders. If hazing was part of the unofficial schedule of the regular office workers, it wasnt something she had time for, so it had to be damn subtle.
Can you top evil chickens? she asked hopefully.
He thought about it for a minute. Probably not.
Dinner?
He nodded slowly. You didnt happen to check the mirror before you left?
I shut it off. Why?
Sergeant Kassan is expecting us.
What? Why?
The important question is actually, When?.
She swore.
Caitlin was still at her desk, but many of the regulars had already vacated theirs and headed home, something Kaylin had every hope of doing soon. The office den mother looked up as Kaylin entered. Bad day, dear? she asked.
Kaylin shrugged. It could have been worse.
Oh?
I could have been the one who had to listen to Mrs. Erickson.
Caitlin, used to seeing some of the paperwork that crossed between offices, grimaced. Mrs. Erickson was famousor infamousfor the messages she carried; they were invariably from the dead. The nosy, busybody dead. They ranged in importance from left shoesKaylin had refused to believe this until the report was pulled and shoved under her noseto Empire-spanning conspiracies against the Dragon Emperor. Since Mrs. Erickson liked to bake, all her messages were conveyed alongside cookies or small cakes, none of which had ever caused even the slightest bit of indigestion.
What was todays message?
I missed itI was too busy dealing with the reports about the invading army and its Dragon. Whatever her dead messenger was concerned about, though, it was long. How were things here?
Well, Margot is threatening to join the Merchants Guild and file a formal guild complaint if we dont lift the quarantine on Elani street soon. Shes also seeking financial redress for economic losses taken because of the involuntary closure of her store.
Kaylin snorted. Let her. I cant quite decide whod be the loser in that transactionMargot or the guild. Kaylin despised both with a frequently expressed and very colorful passion.
I dont believe Lord Grammayre is looking for more official difficulty at the moment.
At that, Kaylins expression flattened. Youve had word?
Not official word, no. But the investigation into the Exchequer is not going well. The Human Caste Court has closed ranks around him. The Emperor has not closed the investigation, but by all reports he isnot pleased. She paused, and then added, Word was, however, sent from the Palace. For you.
Kaylin winced. Its only been two days, she murmured.
Two days, for Lord Diarmat, is long enough. Marcuss voice growled from behind her.
Marcus was at his desk, surrounded by the usual teetering piles of paper; Kaylin counted three. The gouges in the surface of said desk didnt appear to be deeper or more numerous, which probably meant his mood hadnt descended to foul, yet.
Youre late, he growled. Since his irises were a distinct gold, Kaylin said, Not according to Sergeant Keele, sir. She walked over to his desk and took up position in front of it; Severn lingered behind.
Without preamble, he handed her a set of curved papers. She took them as if they were live cockroaches and began to read. The top letterand it was a letterwas from Lord Sanabalis of the Dragon Court.
Sanabalis had extended the period of grace in which she was allowed to skip the magic class he was responsible for making certain she attended; the transitioning of three thousand refugees who required housing and food were of primary import for the next week. Or two. He wished her luck during the extra work that this type of emergency generated, by which she inferred he knew of her days work in the outer office.
The second letter was from Diarmat, and it was not, by any reasonable definition, a letter; it was a set of orders. She read it once, and then glanced up over the top edge of the page to see Leontine eyes watching her carefully.