7 Deadly Instincts (The Sinfire Chronicles Book 1)

The fire snapped and crackled—they had lust rock, but Pinch had also spent a portion of the Yullolly festival gathering wood from the many overgrown trees around their neighborhood. While it had been cold all day long, it hadn’t snowed. Now, flakes whispered against the windowsill. If they were demons out on the streets, they couldn’t see them.

Yellow loved having all the people at home, and he went from one person to the next, sniffing them and letting them pat him. Everyone except for Lilian, who was clearly hurt the dog didn’t like her but still tried to laugh it off.

They still had the table in the living room, and so they all sat around it.

Settie was in no mood for banter. Then again, that wasn’t all that unusual. “What did you find?”

Midj put down her half-eaten cookie. “They ordered eggs. A lot of eggs. Looks like you’ll need me to help you cook, unless the princess spent time in the kitchen.”

Lilian giggled. “Never. Not even for my midnight snacks.”

Tomi squinted at Settie. “Is egg-cooking really going to be a thing?”

Settie nodded. “It has been in the past. Generally, it’s a way of surprising squads, not unlike choosing Chaotica for the Soulshred Week. Whoever is paying to kill recruits is also paying to stop us.” She sipped her tea. “Crewel was very unhappy that he had to proctor another fight between Gray and Rynn. I think he was a bit baffled, since on the way over, we talked about Ames and Lilian incessantly. He somehow knows there is a bit of friction on the squad.”

“Raining fire,” Ames said, nodding. “Even the stones will burn.”

Lilian sighed. “Yes, Ames is problematic. Though I am not advocating for her to be let go. We can all get along. I’m sure we can.” The princess then gave Pinch a little smile. “As long as we’re not fucking idiots.”

Settie set her cup down onto her saucer. “Yes. Let’s not be idiots. Cooking eggs can take many different forms, but we’ll need your expertise, Midj.”

“You got it, Captain,” the goblin girl said, her mouth full of cookie.

“Quite,” Settie couldn’t hide her disdain. “What else, Tomika?”

The cat girl smiled. “The crypts again were mentioned. It’s not like I found a schedule, just some notes that Crewel wrote down. And the egg order. And there were a couple of options for Sixblood. The rules and such. Will there be Downtime challenges like in Soulshred week? Yes. Do I know what will those challenges be? No. Crewel’s handwriting got really bad. There was one thing I didn’t understand.”

“Just the one?” the princess asked. “You’ve gotten such good information. I still don’t understand how you could sneak into the Magistrate’s office. It sounds terrifying. Then again, maybe beastkin don’t feel the same feelings as normal people.”

Tomi tilted her head. “I’m normal. Compared to Ames, I’m super normal.”

One corner of Ames’s mouth twitched. “Pie. In the pie, scorpions. A pinch in the sweet berries. Such a pinch.”

“Pamalee,” the fae girl muttered. “But then, you’re not talking about me. What are you talking about?”

Tomi cut through the banter to answer Lilian’s question. “I can jump, your highness, and yes, I was afraid, but then I figured, if I did get caught, we’d already survived one trial, so we could probably survive two. No big whoop.”

“I don’t like eggs all that much,” Ames said quietly. “But that probably doesn’t matter. Tomi, what was the one thing you didn’t understand?”

Tomi paused. “A phrase. The Dwell. It was repeated over and over.”

Settie closed her eyes. “The Dwell. Of course. He’s been talking about using it for a long time now.”

“Care to elaborate?” Gray asked.

He saw the anger in her eyes.

He lifted his hands to calm her. “Wait. Let me rephrase my question. How about a command. Would that work better? Tell us about the Dwell, captain.”

Settie shook her head. “The Dwell is…is the Belly of the World is an ancient city that has been here since the beginning of Midmere. There have been any number of townships, settlements, and whatever else. You also had demons digging through the rock to try and break free. The Dwell is the undercity, the tunnels, buildings, and structures that were stacked on top of one another, since the dawn of time. I knew the Magistrate wanted to explore the Dwell, but I didn’t think—” She took in a breath. “Normally, for events like Redemption Midnight or the Reckoning, recruits are taken into Old Town, to the Bleak Meadows, which is a kind of park on the northeast corner of Old Town, on the border between Pride City and Envy City. There, First Field has a kind of practice field for hunting demons. That is usually what happens. If he were take recruits into the Dwell, it would be…it could lethal for everyone.”

Gray had rarely seen the captain so shaken.

Tomi laughed jaggedly and got up. “Well, this is great. Going underground is something I enjoy so much. I’m sure I’ll be a very important part of the team when it comes to this Reckoning Redemption Testing thing.” She headed for her room in the back of the house.

“Wait, Tomika,” the captain said. “You stumbled on Crewel’s notes. This could mean anything. It could be for future events. And remember, you won’t be a part of Redemption Midnight. That will be Gray, Ames, and Lilian. It could be he is using the Dwell for that.”

“I’m going to sleep and forget that this Testing thing is even happening to me. Sorry you don’t like eggs, Ames. But if anyone can help change that, it would be Midj. ‘ts such a good cook and a great lookout. A true partner in crime.”

Midj grinned. “Knew about the cooking part, didn’t know about the looking out stuff, and me, criminal? Mother’s oven, never thought my life would be this interesting.”

Tomi laughed and threw a wave over her shoulder before reaching her door and walking through it. It had been a long day for her, and she’d spent most of it conscious, which was hard on her. According to her, she could sleep twenty hours a day quite easily.

Gray and the rest of the squad talked more about the events—egg cooking, Sixblood which was the game with the six hoops on the side of the field and various colors of balls that corresponded to the color of ribbons on the hoops, and the mysterious Dwell.

Gray tried to picture an underground city, but all he could see in his mind’s eye were the Soulshred crypts, the basement under Third Barracks, and the sewer tunnels in Cradleport. Any one of them wouldn’t be all that fun, especially when Crewel—and whoever was behind the conspiracy—were still gunning for them.

* * *

Later that night, Gray found himself back at the place of water and stars. It was one of the rare dreams where he was actually on the island and not standing in the water. Not only did he feel the dirt under his feet, he could hear the voices of the women inside the shack, smell the frycake in the grease, and smell the charbrew. He could picture Midj, on a stool, fishing the round dough out of the fry pot with a long stick—it was why frycake had the holes in the middle after all.

Gray looked down at the door handle. In this version of the dream, it was a metal dragon, and quite hot to the touch. Was he actually going to be allowed inside? It seemed so.

Oma’s voice drifted through the “Hello, precious dreamer. She’s not in there.”

“Who?” Gray asked.

Oma chuckled. “You know.”

He did. She was talking about Lilian.

Oma sighed. “Your little family is growing and growing. I’m glad you are enjoying your minutes. You will only get so few of them. Each one should be cherished.”

He had to laugh. “I’m doing my best. Why am I on the island? I’m so close.”

“Because all my little dreamers, every day, are ever on the edge of all their dreams coming true. Everyone’s grand destiny is just a heartbeat away. Will that day come of complete satisfaction? Not if you don’t learn to live in that moment of expectation and find joy there.”

Gray shook his head. “Have you been spending time with Ames? No, seriously, I understand. Blind John would talk about already having happiness but not yet.”

He put his hand on the door handle. The minute he did all the chatter inside went quiet. All he could hear was the quiet slosh of the ocean against the island’s rock.

“She’s in there now,” Oma said quietly.

And then the shack burst into the flames. The entire island was on fire, the trees all torches, filling the night with roaring and sparks and a terrible heat that washed over him. He heard the screams of the women in the shack even as the storms hit. The normally serene place was now a whirlwind of wind and snow—it was a blizzard now, the cold and fire mixing, fighting, and in the middle of it was the cloaked figure he’d seen before.

It was a demon, escaped from the Weeping Well, maybe Malchutt himself. Red eyes opened in the darkness of the cloak’s hood, staring right a Gray, who felt so seen, so exposed, so vulnerable.

Instinctively, though, he went to fill his hands with mana, to throw it at the demon, but he realized he didn’t have his stick.

That realization jerked him out of his sleep.

* * *

He was soaked in sweat—that was from the flames of the burning shack. He was also freezing cold—that was from the hurricane blizzard. He pulled himself from the bed without waking Ames or Rynn.

He was thirsty, but more, he needed to clear his head of the dream. Lilian couldn’t possibly cause the destruction that they were all seeing. Yes, she might be weak and empty, but she wasn’t dangerous.

Walking downstairs, Yellow came trotting up to him to sniff him and to get pets.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gray caught movement, in the living room, when everyone should be sleeping. His heart leapt in his chest and fresh sweat broke out over his forehead. Dying, flickering flames from the fireplace gave him enough light to see—someone was near the window. It wasn’t Settie, she’d be sitting in her chair.

It was Pinch. She turned, wearing a thick blanket around her shoulders. She didn’t say a word.

Yellow glanced at the fae girl, then at Gray, then back at Pinch.

He didn’t think too much of it—she seemed to want privacy, and so he went into the kitchen, to a bucket of water there, near the door, which Pinch had repaired completely. Still, with the falling temperatures outside, the water a thin covering of ice that Gray had to break. But he stoon had a mug of very cold water to quench his thirst.

He drank it in the kitchen before making his way back into the parlor with Yellow clicking along after him.

He was about to ascend the steps when Yellow whined.

He looked down at the dog, who again, glanced over at Pinch.

“Fine,” Gray said with a sigh.

He padded over, sipping from his mug as he went. “Yellow wants me to talk to you.”

“Me?”

He nodded.

Pinch went and sat down in Settie’s chair. Yellow went right up to her for some love. “What do you know, Yellow? You’re just a dog. A very cute dog, maybe the cutest, best boy ever, but okay. I did want to talk.”

“About what?” Gray asked.

Pinch glanced at a chair. “Sit. It’s nothing. I’m being an idiot.”

“A fuck idiot?” he asked.

Pinch smiled, and for her, it was like a laugh. “It’s the best kind.”

“Not the worst?”

“No,” Pinch said. “You’re the worst kind of idiot.”

“Why is that?”

“Because you don’t see what’s right in front of your eyes. And yet, you’re smart, capable, some might say handsome.”

That made him laugh. “Only some.”

“More than most.” Pinch paused. “I’m not fitting in. Neither is Lilian. Maybe Squad 23 is meant to just have the five of you. You created something special, very special—”

Gray went to interrupt her.

Pinch held up a hand. “Let me finish. It’s why you won on Culling Day, and you would’ve won the Soulshred Week if you’d let me die. You have a closest that is hard to near when you’re not a part of it. I’m not just talking about you and your wives…Tomi, Midj, they have it to. I keep thinking about the sparring today—we took our sides. Lilian and I one end, the rest of you on the other, and that felt right. Not that Lilian and I are friends.”

“You’re not?” Gray asked, surprised.

“We’re not. I’m used to being around people who don’t care about me…who can’t care. Lilian is kind to me, and we’ve formed a kind of alliance, but only because we’re both lonely and on the outside. We both know how that feels—to be on the outside of things even when everyone would think we have it all.”

“A princess and a duchess,” Gray said carefully.

Pinch smiled and nodded. “A lonely princess and a lost duchess. She’s powerful, Gray. The explosiveness of her magic, the power of it—remember, she’s only been practicing her mana for a few months, at most. And yet, she has this energy to her. She’s going to rival you in the end. Are you jealous?”

“No,” he said. “If I’m jealous of anyone, I’m jealous of you and Rynn.”

The fae girl put a hand on her chest. “Me and Rynn? That is an odd pairing.”

“Maybe. But both of you grew up with mana, with families, with money. Did you have servants?”

Pinch nodded. “Even in the Freckle Islands, when Mother and I had nothing, we did have a girl around, to help.”

“When you had nothing, you still had a servant.” Gray laughed. “See? You don’t know what it is to have nothing.”

“You’re right. And yet, I suffered. And yes, in your life you knew sorrow, but I would imagine that sorrow is over. Your suffering has ended. You are very lucky.”

Gray couldn’t argue with that. He’d been given a life beyond his wildest dreams. Even with the violence and uncertainty at First Field, he still felt such gratitude. “I am lucky. Over and over. But I’ve had my struggles. Certainly, my magic hasn’t been easy to master. Remember, I didn’t have a resonance for a long time, and then, I had trouble forcing mana through my meridians. Even now, Rynn can heal, and I can’t.”

Pinch gave him a surprisingly mischievous look. “Poor Gray. It has taken you months to become a powerful manamancer, maybe the most powerful mage in a generation. Let me see if I can force an envy resonance to get mana from my jealousy of you.”

“Pamalee,” he said gently.

Her closed her eyes and smiled. “It is a song on your lips. Thank you for calling me that.”

“We all try. But you did a great deal of pinching us.” He waited for her to open her eyes before he continued. “Pamalee, it’s going to take some time for you to feel close to us. Keep trying. Don’t give up hope. It will happen. Over time. I promise.”

Yellow leapt onto Pinch’s lap, to curl up, and soon, he was sleeping on her lap.

After a while, the fae girl looked at him with hope in her eyes. “Promise?”

“There’s your proof.” He gestured to the dog, resting in her lap.

Pinch’s next grin was crooked and awkward. “At least Yellow loves me. She hates Lilian. Poor Lilian.”

“Poor Lilian,” Gray echoed. And he felt a shiver go up his back, thinking of Carter.

He eventually went to bed, but Pinch wanted to sleep, in the chair, with the dog on her lap, and he didn’t blame her.

* * *

They all woke up early the next morning to get egg cooking lessons from Midj and then they went out I not the cold to practice Sixblood.

Two days later, it was Redemption Midnight, and they were back in First Field’s coliseum.

Gray didn’t think they were ready, but they had no choice. It was time to fight to get Ames back on the team…and with Ames, the very troubled Princess Lilian Everheart.