Red Hood's Revenge

and raised his hands.
    Talia risked a quick glance behind. “I said we don’t want to kill them.”
    Roudette growled. Snow and Danielle were already pulling her back from the bleeding guard.
    “Get their weapons.” Talia waited, then led both men up the stairs at swordpoint. She readied her zaraq whip in her other hand, but there were no guards at the top of the stairs. Nor was there any gate or door to keep the animals from escaping. Only magic held the raikh’s creatures in place.
    The stairs might as well have led to another world. A fairy world, full of life and color. Fruit trees grew on two sides of the reflecting pool in the center of the garden. Familiar plants grew side by side with the exotic. Talia recognized several fairy species, including the pebble-skinned graniteberries growing along the wall and the long, silver-leafed elven pear trees bordering the stairs like a living doorway. The smell was overpowering, the sickly-sweet scent of the fruit mixing with the perfume of the flowers growing alongside paths of crushed green stone.
    A white owl perched in the pear tree to her left. It cocked its head as Talia pushed the guards into the garden. Coyotes and jackals sunned themselves on stone benches. A desert cat batted lazily at a yellow fruit Talia didn’t recognize. A brown snake as long as a man slid past a mouse, but neither animal paid the slightest attention to the other.
    Talia pushed both guards against the wall, where they couldn’t be seen from the stairs. The second guard was rather bloodied, but none of the wounds appeared deadly. Roudette had been toying with him. With a pointed glance at Roudette, Talia said, “I’d wait quietly if I were you.”
    She stepped away, footsteps crunching on the gravel path. “Faziya?” Several of the animals looked up at the sound of her voice, but she saw no recognition from any of them. “Snow, is there any way you can tell which one is Faziya?”
    Snow studied a hawk that was bathing itself at the edge of the pool. “Their thoughts . . . there are no memories beyond the animal.”
    “What does that mean?” Talia asked.
    Snow approached the hawk, one hand extended. It spread its wings, but it allowed her to touch the feathers of its neck. Snow jerked her fingers back. “This is more than shapechanging. Whoever this used to be, that person is gone.”
    Her words sucked the air from Talia’s chest. She shoved past Snow and crouched in front of the hawk, staring into its eyes. “Maybe some of the animals are natural. Maybe this one wasn’t transformed.”
    “I can feel the curse running through his bones,” Snow said. She bit her lip and turned to Danielle, as though she was asking for help. “I’m sorry.”
    Talia backed away. “Try the rabbit.”
    Danielle started toward her. “Talia—”
    “No!” Talia spun, searching the bushes. Faziya was here, somewhere. “These are Rajil’s prisoners. She could have killed them, but she didn’t. What would she do if she needed to question one further? There has to be a way of reversing whatever was done.”
    “There probably is,” Snow said slowly. “But this is fairy magic, stronger than anything I’ve seen.”
    “Deev magic?” Talia asked.
    “Maybe.” Snow shook her head. “Give me time alone with them, with Trittibar’s help and access to my library, and I might—”
    “We’re in the middle of the raikh’s mansion! The Wild Hunt returns tonight!”
    “I know that!” Snow turned away, rubbing the back of her neck. “I can’t do it. I’m sorry.”
    “Then we find Rajil.” Talia pulled out her sword. “We do whatever it takes to make her restore Faziya.” She was halfway to the steps when she heard shouts from below.
    “I don’t think finding Rajil will be a problem,” Snow said.
    Danielle readied her sword. “How many guards does your average raikh keep on hand?”
    Talia smiled. “Let’s find out.”

CHAPTER 14

    T ALIA MOVED TO THE SIDE OF THE STAIRS, hiding behind one of the pear trees. She calmed her breathing, listening as the footsteps slowed. She gripped a low branch and stepped around, kicking high enough to catch the first guard on the chin. He fell back, to be caught by his companions.
    Talia swore. She counted six men in the lacquered armor of the raikh, as well as a creature of smoke and shadow. Men she could fight, but fairy magic was another matter. She jumped to the side, taking cover as a spear flew past.
    “What’s the plan?” Snow