Red Hood's Revenge

she had done.
    “Are you all right?” Danielle asked.
    “The cape blocked Naghesh’s magic. Thank you.” Talia turned away from Naghesh. Danielle’s face was bloody, one eye swollen. “What happened—” She frowned. “I did that to you.”
    “ Naghesh did this.” Danielle crouched over Snow, helping her to sit up. Snow didn’t appear as badly battered, but her eyes were shut. She groaned and tried to push Danielle’s hand away.
    “Snow?” Talia dropped the sword and knelt beside them. “What did I do to her?”
    “Not you. Snow pushed herself too hard,” Danielle said.
    “Nonsense,” Snow mumbled. “I pushed just the right amount.”
    “I’m sorry.” Talia scooped Snow into her arms. Her weight was nothing. “Where’s Zestan?”
    “Probably summoning the Wild Hunt back to the palace.” Danielle retrieved her sword and checked the door. Though she sounded calm, Talia could smell her nervousness. Another side effect of the cape, no doubt. “I sent the Hunt away, but it won’t last long.”
    “She knows about the Kha’iida.” Talia frowned, trying to remember. Everything since Naghesh took control of her body was like a dream. Or what she remembered dreams to have been like, at any rate. It had been so long. “We have to get out of this room.”
    “The ghosts.” Snow’s eyes twitched, never focusing on any one point. “You have to take them from her.”
    Talia stared down at her. “I’ve committed thievery plenty of times, but I’ve never stolen a ghost.”
    “You can steal these.” Snow leaned her head against Talia’s shoulder. “You have to reach the Kha’iida. Warn them that Zestan knows. Wait for the proper moment, then turn the ghosts against the Wild Hunt.”
    “First I get you out of here,” Talia said.
    “No time.” Snow closed her eyes. “The Wild Hunt is already on their way.”
    Talia swore and headed for the doorway. “Danielle, get Snow somewhere safe and stay hidden.”
    “Safe?” Danielle arched an eyebrow. “Where exactly—”
    “Zestan doesn’t care about you. She wants me.” Talia set Snow down, steadying her until she regained her balance. She slipped Snow’s knife from its sheath. While not as powerful as Danielle’s sword, that dagger had power of its own, and Talia suspected she would need all the help she could get. “May I?”
    “Will you let me buy that dragon?”
    Talia grinned and swapped Snow’s knife with one of her own.
    “What about Roudette?” Danielle asked.
    Talia glanced back. Roudette appeared smaller without her cape. Smaller and older, scarred from a lifetime of fighting. “Tell the Kha’iida to take her to the desert. Lay her out with her weapons in her hands, her eyes open to the sky to help her spirit find its way.”
    “She killed so many people.”
    “So have I.”
    “Not like this. Not for money, or for pleasure.”
    “I could have.” Talia pulled the hood over her head. “I know what it’s like to lose everything and everyone you ever knew. The temple took me in. Faziya taught me to feel joy again. And then Queen Bea found me. Roudette . . . she had no one.”
    “She looks almost peaceful,” Danielle said.
    Talia took Danielle’s sword in one hand, Roudette’s hammer in the other. “That’s because she knew what I intend to do to Zestan.”

CHAPTER 23

    T ALIA TORE THROUGH THE PALACE. Zestan had left the occasional ghost behind, but Talia dodged past them before they could strike. This wasn’t like Snow’s magic, transforming only the shape of her body. Roudette’s cape joined her to the wolf, merging two spirits into one and combining Talia’s mind with the instincts of the wolf.
    Wind rushed through her fur. She could hear Zestan’s summons, calling to the Wild Hunt. She could smell the fairy magic permeating the place that had once been Talia’s home. She felt the ghosts before she saw them, their mere presence causing her hackles to rise.
    Faster than any horse she crossed the courtyard. She leaped through the broken gates and sprinted into the desert. The sun had risen, warming her body as she crossed the dry lakebed. Dead vines cracked beneath her paws.
    She could hear the howls behind her now. Whatever Danielle had done to send the Wild Hunt away, it wasn’t enough to hold them against Zestan’s call.
    A part of her wanted to turn and fight, to face the enemy the wolfskin had been created to kill. Instead, she ran faster, wind roaring in her ears. She felt almost as if she were