Midnight Feast

"You think we should go back to the forest?" Bilal asked.

Cita perched on the chair in the guest room, and Bilal sprawled on the bed. The kitten curled against Bilal's side, purring and glaring at Cita. Remnants of their midnight snack, raided from a deserted kitchen not a half-hour past, rested on a tray. The quiet night blanketed the building around them.

Cita paused, remembering the infected wound on the great beast.

"Yeah. Aki said that's the key. The blue flame and creepy laugh you described from the village? I think that was Aki. He visits. A lot. But you don't ever see him."

Bilal blinked and answered with care.

"That is … problematic."

"Aki's focused. And a bit of a pyromaniac. He doesn't like Rashida, either." Cita yawned.

"But I told him we couldn't kill her like he wanted. You wouldn't like it."

"No. It is best not to kill her." Golden eyes followed his fidgets. "Why does he want to kill her?"

"Because she drugged me again. But not the tea this time. It was the broth."

"I see. That would explain a few things." Golden eyes flashed in the candlelight. "Leave Rashida to me."

Cita yawned again and nodded agreeably.

"It's weird," he mumbled drowsily. "I don't remember the last time I was sleepy. I've just been—" Another yawn interrupted him. "Scusi. Just blacking out or getting drugged, it seems like."

Bilal's lips quirk into something that wasn't quite a smile. "It must be time for bed." He rose easily.

The kitten protested with a tiny meow before curling into the warm spot Bilal had left.

"Up you go."

"Okay," Cita agreed. He dragged himself from the chair and stumbled over to gather his weapons.

"One dagger. Leave the rest for now. A sheathed dagger."

Bilal caught his elbow and found the smallest dagger. Its leather sheath had a strap that clipped over it, securing the blade in the cover.

"Can't I have the bigger one?" Cita whined. He reached for the blade with the fire opal hilt.

Bilal intercepted him and placed the smaller blade in his seeking hand.

"This one is fine. Your room is not that far from here. If anything happens, you can hold long enough with this. Then I will be there."

Cita gaped, no longer fighting sleep.

"You … do you mean that?"

Cita rushed on before Bilal could answer.

"Because I don't think I've had that before."

Bilal met Cita's gaze in solemn earnestness.

"Through fire and flood, I will be there for you. I expect you to be there for me, too. Do not forget that."

Cita nodded, gripping his dagger. He cleared his throat, hoping to ease the tightness before speaking.

"So, where is my room again? I always get turned around."

Bilal chuckled and shook his head before leading the way from the room.

**

His breath was harsh in his throat, and clammy sweat coated every inch of his skin. Spiders crawled across him, through him. His fingers curled into claws as he tried to swat them away, but his arms wouldn't move. He tugged, increasingly frantic as he realized his arms were bound up and away from his body. He thrashed, teeth clenched around a scream.

"Calm down," a soft voice said. Hazel eyes met his as a calloused hand swabbed a damp cloth across his forehead and down his bare chest. "Your hands are bound because you scratched yourself bloody. If you're awake again and promise to stop, I'll untie you."

"T-tobias? Where?"

"We're at the clan house, remember?" Tobias frowned.

"Spiders …"

"There's no spiders here." Tobias dampened the cloth and resumed wiping down Cita's chest. "And there's no Uncle Tom, or Mr. Smith, or whoever else. And no pills, either."

"No … pills," Cita echoed as the nightmares swallowed him again.

**

"You drugged him again." Bilal's voice rumbled into the open stable doors, deep and echoing through the courtyard's pre-dawn light.

"I had no choice," Rashida insisted. "He was beside himself. I mean, he was even talking to that cat that follows you." She snorted. "As if it could respond like a familiar would."

A tiny hiss answered the healer.

"When did that get here?" Rashida asked.

"You know she follows me. But I do not see how talking to the kitten means you needed to break your word. And then you left him on the floor? What did you tell our hosts to keep them away?"

"I … no. You're twisting things."

"How am I twisting? I awoke after ... that, and he was face down on the floor. For a moment, I thought …" On a breath so faint as to be inaudible, he whispered, "Jas povtorno nema da uspeam."

"You thought what?" Rashida snarled over him. "That I'm an incompetent hack? I know my dosages. Do you think my master trained a fool?"

"I bear no grudge against your master, Rashida. But your master buys you no more grace. Make your choice now: either abide by the pact we made and stop drugging Cita or cease following us."

"You don't have the right to tell me what to do! I —"

"I cannot tell you where to go. But that does not mean I am not willing to leave you staked on the plains for the Infected. Make your choice."

The kitchen door shut firmly as Bilal left Rashida in the courtyard.

"Stubborn Dracaenaekin," Rashida muttered. "This is exactly why I chose Anasz, not you."

Aki strolled out of the stable, slipping his knife casually from hand to hand.

"Cita?" Rashida asked with a frown. "You shouldn't be up yet. Why are you in the stable? And where did you get that vest?"

"My vest is a family tradition. Not that it matters. What does matter is, surprise surprise, Bilal's as good as his word. Rare as a unicorn," Aki sneered, flipping his braids over his shoulders. "Doesn't seem like you're impressed, though. So, like I promised, I'm here to light up your life. Playtime is over."

Grabbing the dagger in his left hand, he summoned a ball of flame in his right. It swirled and flickered as if fighting a gale-force wind.

"As if a yantre like you would have the guts to do it," Rashida taunted.

With a growl, Aki threw the fireball. It skipped across the hem of Rashida's dress and landed in the water channel with a hiss.

Rashida shrieked as the fabric ignited. She turned and threw herself into the channel, emerging soaked and sputtering after the flames were doused. She stared at Aki with wide eyes.

"Cita! How dare you!"

"Oh, I dare much more than that. You've been allowed to get away with murder." Aki lobbed another fireball.

Rashida shrieked and ducked back into the water.

Aki smirked and continued, "Which actually, I'm okay with."

His right hand shot forward, unleashing a stream of fire that encircled them both. Blue light reflected off the trough's water as the flames danced above it.

"But I'm not okay with — Ahh!" Aki dropped his dagger, cupping a hand to his chest as blood poured from a newly opened gash. "Damn that man," he panted as the flames flickered out. "Why can't he just stay dead?"

"Cita?" Rashida asked with a shaking voice. "Who's dead?"

"I'm not Cita, you bitch." Aki glared at Rashida. "Someone's jumped the queue, but don't worry — I'll be back for you." He faded out with a spark of blue flame. "Count on it."