Kizzie took Aelia’s moment of shocked realization to reach in and wrench the pistol from her hands, tossing it beneath the carriage. “Aelia Dorlani,” she intoned, “you have been named by your grandson Churian as instigator in the murder of Adriana Grappo. Do you want to confess, or am I going to jam a piece of shackleglass down your throat?” Kizzie felt a dangerous thrill go through her. She had always wanted to threaten an Inner Assembly member. She just never thought she would get the chance.
Aelia trembled with rage, but as Kizzie had expected Aelia’s eyes weren’t even on her. They were glued to Montego. “You common pissant!” she snapped. “You piece of gutter trash! Not even you can get away with this! I will see you sliced to ribbons! I will crush the Grappo into a pulp!”
Montego grasped the carriage doorframe with both hands and shoved, the walls crinkling outward as if they were paper. “You killed my adopted mother. You had your goons poison my tea and attack a hotel under my protection. This is not a Grappo matter, Aelia. This is a Baby Montego matter and I would be nothing but the gutter trash you call me if I didn’t respond in an appropriate manner.”
Kizzie tapped Montego three times under the arm, reminding him that they did not have much time to finish this. There had been no pistol shot, but someone was sure to have heard the commotion. National Guardsmen would be here soon, and if not then Aelia’s household up on the hill would get curious once she was late. Montego seemed to get the message and stepped away from the carriage.
“Answer the question,” he demanded. “Confess, or we will put you to a shackleglass test.”
Kizzie held the small, light green earring up in the palm of her gloved hand. It glittered in the still-burning lights of the carriage’s lamps. Aelia stared at the piece of shackleglass in horror, a look of realization crossing her face. “You wouldn’t. I am on the Inner Assembly. The secrets I know! If the rest of the Inner Assembly finds out you put me to shackleglass they will end you.”
Montego shrugged. “Then I will just have to drown you in the river afterward so there are no witnesses.”
Aelia stared for a moment longer before Kizzie could see the nerve go out of her eyes like something had died within her. “Yes. Yes, I ordered the death of Adriana Grappo.”
“And who else was involved?” Kizzie snapped. “I want names. Who organized this conspiracy?”
“I did it alone,” Aelia claimed, recoiling.
“No, you didn’t. I have confessions. Dorlani, Magna, Grent, Vorcien. Give me the other two names.”
Aelia’s lips curled back in a sneer once more. “No.”
“We already know the Glass Knife,” Montego rumbled. “I will have the answer one way or another. I want the names of your co-conspirators, and I want to know whose idea it was to kill Adriana.”
“This is your chance, Aelia,” Kizzie said, letting her tone grow soft. “Pass on responsibility. Give us someone more palatable to all of us so we can destroy them instead of you. Then you can take your–” She counted in her head, including the other three still in a wagon somewhere nearby. “– thirteen corpses and go home. This will all be over for you.”
“You think this will ever be over?” Aelia hissed. “Not until you’re dead, Montego, and the Grappo are ashes.”
Kizzie swallowed hard. She absolutely believed Aelia. The guild-family matriarch had enough manpower and clout to have her revenge. Thankfully, Aelia was still staring at Montego. She’d not even glanced at Kizzie.
“You don’t have enough enforcers to kill me,” Montego said in disgust. “And I’m not even the dangerous one in the family. Do you think Demir would give you the courtesy of a duel when he finds out you helped kill his mother? He will cut you to ribbons the next time he lays eyes on you. Enforcers can’t protect you against a glassdancer. My presence is a kindness that you should be grateful for.”
“Two names,” Kizzie prodded forcefully. “Who were the other two killers?”
Aelia’s face fell, her eyes taking in the carnage that Montego had caused outside the carriage. “I didn’t know their names,” she said. “They were nobodies. But I do know who planned it.”
“Who?” Kizzie asked.
“Aristanes,” she replied.
“I have no idea who that is,” Kizzie snapped.
“He’s a Purnian priest for some god you’ve never heard of. He’s as rich as a guild-family and twice as cruel. He’s the real killer – the one who wanted Adriana out of the way.”
Montego leaned threateningly against the crumpled exterior of the carriage. “And why did he?”
“I have no idea. I just…” The words seemed to stick in Aelia’s throat, causing a flicker of emotion to cross her face. “… I just follow orders.”
Kizzie found her mouth hanging open once more. Follow orders? Aelia was on the Inner Assembly! One of the five most powerful people in Ossa. Who could possibly give her orders? A foreign priest? That was insane.
“If you want answers,” Aelia finished, “then go find him.”
“Where?” Kizzie demanded.
“The Zorlian Mansion, outside the city.”
Kizzie had a dozen more questions to ask, worried that Aelia was outthinking them and had just set a trap for them to walk into. But they didn’t have any more time. Every moment they remained heightened the risk of being discovered here. If word got out that Montego was behind the attack, Aelia wouldn’t have the option of hiding her humiliation like Sibrial had all those years ago. Kizzie tapped Montego under the arm once more.
Montego nodded. “If I discover you have lied to me, I will not do you the kindness of killing just a handful of your enforcers in the dark, Aelia. I will crush your entire extended family. I will do it in the daylight, and then I will happily meet my fate when the other guild-families avenge you.” He whirled and strode away.
Kizzie kept her eyes on the frightened old matriarch for half a moment, but any sympathy she might have felt was destroyed by the thought of Adriana being bludgeoned to death on the steps of the Assembly, and Kizzie’s idiot brother blackmailed into having to take part. She followed Montego, running to catch up.
They were out of the park within minutes, finding a carriage Montego had left with a loyal Grappo driver and leaving Aelia far behind. Kizzie half expected to hear shouts and alarms, maybe even the sound of pursuit as the scene was discovered. Only silence followed them. They rode for some time, both of them contemplating their inner thoughts, until Kizzie said, “That won’t be the last of it. She will try for vengeance.”
“We should have killed her,” Montego grumbled.
“A dead Inner Assembly member would have the whole city up in arms looking for us,” Kizzie replied. “The Dorlani were already our enemies. At least this way we haven’t made any more.”
Montego sniffed. “I know. It was the right call. But I will not hold back when she comes for me.”
“Do you really think you could crush her entire guild-family? She has hundreds of enforcers.”
Montego considered the question for a moment and frowned. “I was bluffing, but I’d give a good go of it.”
Kizzie shook her head. Her adrenaline was still pumping, riding a high from doing something so damned dangerous and knowing there was a good chance she’d get away with it. Aelia’s ire was directed entirely at Montego. Not that Kizzie wanted that to be the case – but Montego welcomed it. She wondered if he could truly fight several hundred armed guild-family members single-handedly. It wouldn’t be all at once, after all. Montego was too cunning for that.