Nyx ducked and rolled under Husayn's right jab and threw a right uppercut to her body. Husayn blocked with her left elbow and pushed forward again, throwing a left hook followed by another right jab.

Husayn had gotten a good deal more skilled with age. Not quicker-just smarter. Still, Husayn moved forward when other boxers moved back. Nyx should have remembered that before agreeing to a "friendly" spar with Husayn.

Nyx stopped trying to drive her back and stepped sideways instead. She threw a punch at Husayn's kidneys, but her heart wasn't in it. Husayn swung and caught her with a left hook to the jaw, another left hook to the face. Nyx saw darkness move across her vision. Something flashed at her from the back of her brain, some other f.u.c.ked-up memory. She deflected a double right jab, but she didn't see the uppercut coming until it knocked her backward onto the dusty mat. Her head felt like it was floating.

Husayn laughed. "You're getting slow, old woman."

Nyx used the ropes to help herself up. She waited for her head to clear.

Husayn's gym had two rings, and a couple of kids were sparring in the other one, far more effectively than Nyx had been.

"I've been out of the ring for a while," Nyx said. She worked her jaw. She was going to hurt tomorrow. h.e.l.l, she hurt now.

Husayn grinned crookedly. She had gained a little weight and broken her nose a couple more times, but otherwise, she was the same Husayn. She'd stopped fighting for the magicians not long after Nyx went to prison, and she got leave from the magicians to start her own gym. Lots of young kids came her way hoping to gain some experience before testing their mettle in a magicians' ring.

"How's business been?" Nyx asked. She found one of the discarded corner stools and started unknotting her gloves with her teeth. Nyx's team was around, Husayn had a.s.sured her when she drove up just after mid-morning prayer; they'd shown up a day before the quarantine, then scattered their own ways. Probably to mosques and brothels, Nyx thought.

Husayn shrugged and pulled off her own gloves. She never laced them very tightly.

"Been good, as things go."

Nyx nodded at the sparring kids in the other ring. She let her gloves drop to the ring. "I thought you kept a busier gym."

"Huh," Husayn said. "Used to. Most of them headed out to Chenja. There's a fighting ring out there taking away my best fighters."

"You know where in Chenja?"

"I heard they're out of Dadfar."

"That so?" Nyx said. If they were going after Nikodem in Chenja, the fighting rings were a good place to start. And Husayn had spoken to the aliens before.

"Yeah, heard that from a couple girls now," Husayn said.

"You remember a fight in Faleen, about seven or eight years ago? You fought an outrider named..." Nyx realized she'd let the name slip again, and had to fish for it. "Jix. Jaks something, Jaksdij, maybe?" f.u.c.k, Nyx thought, I cut up the kid's brother, and I don't even remember her name.

Husayn crinkled her mouth. "I fought a lot of girls, been knocked around a time or two." She rapped her knuckles against her head. "Don't remember all the girls I fought."

"How about aliens? You ever seen any of those?"

Husayn's face opened up. "Aw, h.e.l.l, the aliens, yeah, I remember them. Aw, yeah, that that fight." fight."

"I might be looking for one of them. She met up with you at that fight in Faleen. Name's Nikodem Jordan."

"Blood and h.e.l.l, Nyxnissa, what're you getting yourself into?"

"Nothing I can't handle."

"I heard that before."

"What did she talk to you about?"

Husayn sighed. She spared a look at the sparring kids and then went and picked up another of the corner stools and plopped it down next to Nyx. She sat, leaning in close, so her sweat dripped on the mat at Nyx's feet.

"She was a real strange talker, that one. Was pretty nice, hearing she was so interested, but those magicians, they said not to talk about boxing or bugs too much, you understand?"

"Magicians like Yah Tayyib?"

"Huh," Husayn said, and spit. She wiped at her face, grimaced. "He wasn't the one cutting black work. Can't fault somebody for doing their job."

"Let's say this isn't personal. What if I told you Nikodem was back-and missing-and the queen had me looking for her?"

Husayn guffawed, but when Nyx's expression didn't change, she sobered. "No s.h.i.t?"

"No s.h.i.t. It's cloak-and-dagger work though, all right?"

"Right, all right. This real spindly girl comes in and talks to me before the fight. I was pretty riled up, you know. I get all anxious before a fight, and answering questions-from dogs or aliens or whatever-is not something I got any interest in."

"What did she want?"

"Wanted to know how we trained, what it felt like to be a boxer, whether or not the bugs or inoculations got in the way. Best I could figure, she thought the bugs made us feisty or some s.h.i.t, 'cause she couldn't imagine us going around bashing each other up for fun. She must live on a real dull world."

"She say anything about why she was here? What she was working on?"

Husayn shook her head. "Naw, and I didn't think to ask. Magicians all around, you know? I figured she was under their protection. Whatever project magicians got going, you leave it be. You remember."

"Yeah," Nyx said. "I remember."

"Something else she said, though-wanted to know if I'd ever fought a shifter. I told her we don't allow shifters in a ring, and she said why not? I told her it was 'cause they had an unfair advantage. She thought that was stupid, you know, since we'd fight magicians and all. I had to tell her being a magician just means you're using bugs. Magicians can stop using bugs. They can even drug up the bad ones to keep keep them from using bugs. But shifters, it's in their blood. They're half us, half something else. Told her the First Families used to call them angels. She was real interested in that." them from using bugs. But shifters, it's in their blood. They're half us, half something else. Told her the First Families used to call them angels. She was real interested in that."

"Huh," Nyx said. "She didn't know the composition of shifters?"

"Naw, she thought they were just like magicians. Called on certain bugs or something to change them up. I told her no, they were something else, something that got f.u.c.ked up at the beginning of the world. Told her shifters live half in this world, half in the afterlife. Angels."

Nyx nodded. It was a popular idea-shifters being angels or demons-but she had known too many shifters to buy into that one. So Nikodem was interested in knowing about shifters. Bugs and shifters. We're all trying to cure the war, We're all trying to cure the war, Kine had said. If shifting was genetic, in your blood, could you pa.r.s.e it out? Kine had said. If shifting was genetic, in your blood, could you pa.r.s.e it out?

Do something dangerous with it? Use it to make other things? Gene pirates muttered about that kind of s.h.i.t all the time, but Nyx had stupidly believed it wasn't something Nasheen or Chenja would consider. Too f.u.c.ked up.

"Thanks," she said. "I better clean up and talk to my crew."

"Yeah, I saw some of them come back in when you hit the mat. Isn't much of a safe house if they keep wandering around in broad daylight," Husayn said.

"Thanks. I'll talk to them," Nyx said.

"Nothing of it," Husayn said. "You spend six weeks here, I could get you back into shape, you know."

"We won't be here that long," Nyx said. The bel dames would burn them out.

Husayn shrugged. "Too bad. I keep wanting to whip that dancer of yours."

"In more ways than one, I'm sure," Nyx said.

Husayn winked. "That Chenjan accent turns me frigid. But you know, your little black man's not a half-bad boxer."

"Rhys doesn't box. He's a dancer."

"He does does box. He's a magician, ain't he? And he's in good shape. A little small, maybe, but there are a lot of women at that weight. I've been working with him since he got in. I thought he was training with you." box. He's a magician, ain't he? And he's in good shape. A little small, maybe, but there are a lot of women at that weight. I've been working with him since he got in. I thought he was training with you."

Nyx knit her brows. "Not with me."

"Well, he's not bad."

"I'll keep that in mind."

So Rhys was boxing now, despite his long-suffering abhorrence for blood and violence. When had he started that up? It explained how he stayed in shape. He was probably taking lessons from Husayn just to spite Nyx. If she had fewer things to worry about, she might have let it get to her. As it was, she'd spent the last two nights mostly drunk and driving, trying to ward off nightmares of Kine lurching out of the tub, seeking her out with cold hands and bloodied eye sockets. It was not enough that she still dreamed of her dead brothers and her dead squad. Now her sister clawed at her as well. Too many dead.

Nyx hopped out of the ring. She landed badly and winced. She was hungover, and everything was starting to hurt again.

Nyx headed into the steam room. She cleaned herself up and slipped into the closet where Husayn had built a stairwell that went up into the attic.

Nyx found Anneke with her forehead pressed to the floor. Anneke prayed facing north in the center of a vast array of weaponry. Taite had set up a makeshift com center in a far corner, and he and Khos were playing cards on the console. It looked like they'd all slipped in while she fought. What, had they been at lunch?

Rhys had hung up a sheet to screen his sleeping area from the others. She heard him praying, too low to make out the words, as usual, and figured it must be about noon.

She was hungry. They must have eaten.

"What have you all got for me?" Nyx asked.

Khos leaned back in his chair. "What happened to the bakkie?"

"What happened to your face?" Taite said. They were playing for locusts, and one of the bugs was creeping off the table. They must have seen the bakkie in the garage.

"You still need me to fix that window?" Anneke said, coming up from her p.r.o.ne position.

Nyx found a seat on a threadbare divan at the center of the room. There were some deflated speed bags in one corner, and a lone punching bag hung from the long main beam of the ceiling.

"I missed you all too," she said.

"Anneke and I checked out some of the mercenaries on the note," Khos said, shoving his cards back at Taite. Taite poked at one of the locusts. If they were just a little harder up, he'd likely eat them. "Two more dropped their notes. If I didn't know better, I'd say somebody was convincing them it was a good idea. We're down to one bounty hunter and two mercenaries."

"The ones who dropped had pretty good money in their accounts after they did," Taite said. "I hacked into Raine's com for about a day before he patched the leak. As of three days ago, he's still after the note." Nyx saw the statue of Taite's little Ras Tiegan saint stuck up on the top of the com console. It was good to know that some things were constant.

"Where's Raine at?" Nyx asked. She wondered how much of her own gear they'd managed to get out.

"He has someone doing recon in Chenja. But he was just in Faleen talking with Yah Tayyib."

Yah Tayyib. Yeah, it was where she would have gone first too, if the old man would have seen her.

Rhys's praying died off, and he walked in, b.u.t.toned down as ever, though the attic was stifling. He'd cut his hair again, shaved himself nearly bald. She hated that.

"She isn't in any Chenjan districts I have contacts in," Rhys said. "All they know is that a lot of bel dames are looking for an off-worlder."

"Bel dames? Not bounty hunters or mercenaries?"

"Definitely bel dames."

So bel dames were were looking for Nikodem. And if they were looking for Nikodem, it meant they didn't know where she was either. Were they trying to make sure Nyx didn't get to her first? Why? To keep Nikodem away from the queen? looking for Nikodem. And if they were looking for Nikodem, it meant they didn't know where she was either. Were they trying to make sure Nyx didn't get to her first? Why? To keep Nikodem away from the queen?

"How about that transmission on our dead bounty hunter? Did you decode that?" Nyx asked.

"It's a transmission from someone who says they're on the bel dame council," Rhys said. He sat on the far side of the divan from Nyx. "They were asking him to drop the note on Nikodem in exchange for immunity. They knew he was smuggling out boys to Heidia and were threatening to cut off his head and turn him in unless he dropped out."

Khos grunted.

"Any idea which bel dame?" Nyx asked.

"No," Rhys said. "Taite ran it through our voice recognition reel and didn't come up with any matches."

Nyx raised her brows. "We should have every working bel dame's signature on that reel."

"Well, it was somebody from the actual council, not just a girl. Maybe she's too old to be on the reel?"

"She'd have to be real f.u.c.king old not to be on that reel-or pretty new. It took some skill to pinch that."

"Hopefully you didn't pay too much for it, then," Rhys said.

"I talked to Husayn," Nyx said, before he got cheeky. "No off-worlder has been asking about boxers or about the magicians in Faleen." She paused a minute and looked them all over. "She did say she's losing some boxers to a big ring in Chenja."

"You think Nikodem might be around boxers?" Taite asked.

"Either the Chenjans took her, with help from our magicians, or she went on her own to go sell something," Nyx said. "In any case, the boxing is a good place to start. It's something she was interested in last time, and if she's got as much of a thing for violence as her sisters say she does, yeah, I'd start with Chenjan boxing."

"If Raine's doing recon in Chenja, he might have the same idea," Taite said.

"We need to do better than Raine," Nyx said. And Nasheen wasn't exactly a friendly place to be right now. Not that Chenja would be an improvement, but she liked staying on the move, staying one step ahead of everyone. "I want to move operations to Chenja. Anneke, the bakkie is for s.h.i.t, and you and I need to work on it tonight."

"I don't want to go into Chenja," Khos said.

"Then don't. I'll get another shifter."

"Nyx-"

A low, steady whine started outside. f.u.c.king burst sirens.

Nyx raised her voice and shifted on the divan, turning back to Khos. "We already talked about this. You go or you don't. We're moving the day after tomorrow. Dawn prayer." She was done with all the sniveling. They were out of time for that.

Khos snorted and hunched in his chair.

The whump-whump whump-whump of the anti-burst guns shook the building. A pause. Another thump. of the anti-burst guns shook the building. A pause. Another thump.