Zuzana wondered what idea Mik might have that called for nerve. Will it impress me? she asked.
If it works? Yes. If it doesnt, and I come right back here looking sheepish or um, looking stabbed , dont mock me, okay?
Looking stabbed ? I would never mock you, Zuzana said, and she meant it in the moment. Especially when theres a stabbing risk. Theres not really, is there?
I dont think so. Humiliation, for sure. He took a deep breath. Here I go. And then his body was gone from behind hers, leaving her fully exposed to the elements, and Zuzana realized that she hadnt actually been cold before, but
now she was. Like climbing out of a tauntaun, covered in wet
Ugh.
Whats Mik doing? Karou asked, hopping down from the stone buttress that shielded themsort offrom the wind. Shed been pacing up there, watching out for Akiva under the pretext of standing guard. The sun was going down, and Zuzana didnt think they expected the seraph back for a while yet, but she hadnt bothered pointing this out to her friend.
I dont know, she replied. Something brave, to keep us from freezing to death. Immediately she regretted the complaint.
Karou winced. Im sorry were not better prepared, Zuze, she said. You should have stayed. It was so stupid of me to let you come.
Shush. Im not sorry, and Im not actually freezing to death or Id climb into the blanket pile with Issa.
There was a huddle around some of the colder-blooded members of the company, and all spare blanketsincluding Zuzanas stinky neck-spike padhad gone to that cause. Zuzana had a fleece on, at least, and Mik a sweater. They were lucky that theyd left all their things at the kasbah when they escaped, or they wouldnt even have had those.
Wheres he going? Karou asked. Mik had set off in the opposite direction from the resting chimaera. Hes not he wouldnt Oh. He is . There was dread and awe in her tone.
Zuzana shared both. Whats he thinking? she hissed. Abort. Abort. But it was too late.
With his hands shoved deep into his jeans pockets and shuffling his feet like a terrified hobo, Mik approached Liraz.
Zuzana rose to her feet to watch. The angel stood by herself at the farthest edge of this rock trench from the chimaera, looking every bit as pissed off as she had back at the kasbah, and on the Charles Bridge, too. Maybe more pissed off. Or maybe that was just her face? Zuzana had yet to witness evidence that the angel could look any other way. In flight, she and Mik had amused each other by coming up with personals ads for members of the company, and Lirazs had been something like: Hot, perpetually pissed-off angel seeks living pincushion for scowl practice and general stabbiness. No kissing.
Mik was not going to be that pincushion. Zuzana realized it was the hot partliterallythat he was after. It was crazy. And doomed. No way was Liraz coming over here to keep the huddled masses warm with her wings. Her fiery, lovely, toasty wings.
Mik was talking to her now. Gesturing. He made the universal sign of brrr , and then, right after, spread his arms like wings, and gestured back whence hed come, putting his hands together in a plea. Liraz looked, saw Zuzana and Karou watching. Her eyes narrowed. She returned her attention to Mik, but only briefly, and looked at him down at him; she was tallwith flat disinterest. She said nothing, didnt even bother to shake her head, just turned her back on him like he wasnt even there.
How dare she? Ill tauntaun her , Zuzana muttered.
What? said Karou.
Nothing.
Mik was coming back, sheepish but not stabbed, and though his mission had failedwhat had he thought, that Liraz could possibly care about their comfort?it had been marvelously bold. The chimaera, for all their monstrosity, were more approachable than she was.
My hero, Zuzana said without a hint of mockery, and, taking Miks hand, led him back over to the meager fire to set about conjuring up some more neck tropics.
13
TOGETHER
The sun set. Nitid rose, followed by Ellai, and Karou enjoyed her friends wonder at their first sight of the sister moons, even if they were just slivers tonight. They were gifted another glimpse of stormhunters, too, though this one from more like the usual distance. The temperature dropped further, and the huddles of chilled creatures tightened. They cooked, ate. Oora told a story with a haunting, rhythmic refrain.
Liraz still stood aloof, as far as she could get from the beast huddles, and as Karou tucked her fingers into her armpits for warmth, the waste of the angels wing heat seemed positively profligate, akin to pouring out water in the desert. She couldnt exactly blame Liraz, though, after the hamsa flashes she had endured on the journey. Well, she could blame her for being rude to Mik; Mik didnt have hamsas, and really: Who could be mean to Mik? Even the worst among the chimaera couldnt manage that. And look at Zuzana! Not for nothing was her chimaera
nickname neek-neek , and yet Mik turned her to honey. So far, Liraz alone had proven immune to the Mik effect.