The Devil Incarnate (The Devil of Ponong series #2) (35 page)

Kyam shot QuiTai a
poisonous look before tossing the sack over the railing. A cry went up from the
mob. Then the screaming began.

Kyam yelled, “Is
that enough?” at his grandfather’s men. “Can we have the rice now?”

Their leader nodded.
They stepped aside.

That was victory enough for QuiTai. They’d never realized
they confirmed everything she’d told Kyam about Grandfather Zul’s part in this
matter, but she could tell from Kyam’s face that he saw the truth.

A vein throbbed at Kyam’s temple, but now his anger split
between her and his grandfather. “Then help us with the rice, or I swear I will
kill every last one of you,” he told his grandfather’s men. “Come on, Voorus,
let’s get this over with.”

The soldiers and Kyam grabbed as many sacks as they could
carry and threw them over the railing.

It was, QuiTai decided, a very good time to exit the scene.
She’d done what she’d promised. And if the mob overran the government building,
she’d have a head start on them.

Kyam grabbed QuiTai’s arm and dragged her out on the
veranda. He gestured below. “Look at this! Look at them!”

Everywhere a rice sack fell, battles broke out over control
of it. People who staggered away with a handful of rice were attacked as soon
as they moved into the mob. Women and men knelt to pluck grains of rice out of
the mud, their faces contorted in fear and desperation. The mob made sounds so
primitive that the hairs stood up on her arms.

As the mob surged
toward the plummeting sacks, people fell under the rush. She thought for a
moment she recognized the school teacher Ma’am Thun below. It was hard enough
to watch without making it personal. She lost track of the woman before she
could verify who it was. Kyam was so very wrong thinking that she enjoyed any
of this. It was horrible. Dread crept through her blood, which already pulsed
with the urge to run as far away from here as she could.

QuiTai tried to pull
away from Kyam as her stomach lurched. He shoved her against the wall and
glowered down at her. Every deep breath pushed his chest against hers.

“Is this the Devil’s
plot or are you really working for my grandfather? The truth, or I swear I’ll
–”

“Working with your
grandfather, but not for him.”

He shook her hard.
“Parsing words, as usual.”

“Don’t press so close, Colonel Zul. People will talk.”

He snarled at her.

“We made an agreement on Cay Rhi. From now on, you work for
your people, and I work for mine. There’s no profit in this day’s work. I’m
giving your people rice. Remember that.” She wrenched out of his bruising grip
but she suspected her let her go. “Remember who started this, and who brought
it to an end.”

“QuiTai! Grandfather Zul said to give you this message,” the
leader of Grandfather Zul’s men shouted as she headed for the office door.
“Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon hired Petrof. He said you’d know what
that means.”

Grandfather Zul ordered them to tell her that in front of
witnesses? How stupid did he think she was?

“It means,
gentlemen, that he wants me to clean up all loose ends for him so he won’t get
his hands dirty in this filthy affair. It’s also a rather inelegant attempt to
set me up for a murder charge. It seems he considers me one of those loose ends
too. Tell him I give him thanks for the information, but I already knew; and
no, I will not assassinate Governor Turyat and Chief Justice Cuulon for him. I
leave them to the courts and Thampurian justice.” She nodded sharply at Voorus.
“My word on it.”

She wouldn’t look at
Kyam. Regrets were the only things they might share now.

She walked out of
the governor’s office. Her footsteps echoed as she made her way to the back
offices where she hoped to climb down to the street. The shouts of the mob were
muffled but still frightening. The building’s brass door held, but there were
deep cracks in the wood around the hinges. That had been closer than she liked.
It was such an ugly world sometimes.

Trembling, she rubbed her arms. It wasn’t fear of the mob or
what she’d seen in the town square that made her shake. She wasn’t worried
about the colonial militia or grandfather Zul’s men. It was far more annoying
than that. She’d always suffered from stage fright, and it had always been
worse after she’d performed.

Jezereet had always laughed and held her face between her
hands before kissing her. “You were wonderful! What are you so afraid of,
krith amaci
?”

“Nothing,” QuiTai told Jezereet’s ghost. “Not anymore.”

She stepped into an office. Rows of desks piled high with
files sat waiting for the workers who would return when peace was restored. It
seemed so ordinary that the scene struck her as surreal. Was life really that
normal for other people? They had no idea how lucky they were.

No more, she promised herself. No more adventures, no more
grand schemes. Just a quiet, profitable, predictable life of crime. She’d stay
as far away from the Zul clan as possible. She hoped once they realized what
happened when they played high-stakes games with the Devil that they’d steer
clear of her too.

She shook off her
mood and lifted her chin.

Several hours from now, you will know that I kept
my end of the bargain and created a hero for you, Grandfather Zul. As we
agreed, I got everything I wanted too. But while you were distracted by my
theatrical flourishes, I stole something precious from you. Maybe not today,
but very soon, you’ll find out I destroyed Kyam’s faith in you. And now he’s
beginning to hate you as much as he hates me.

I win.

~ ~ ~ The End ~ ~ ~

The adventure
continues…

Look for
Tempt the Devil
in 2013:

Nothing is ever simple in Levapur, even
murder. When former Governor Turyat is found dead in the Red Happiness,
suspicion falls on QuiTai. Even though she has a solid alibi, the only way to
completely clear her name is to solve the case. Her prime suspect is an old
enemy whom QuiTai realizes she can frame for the murder. Will she let justice
prevail – or give into the temptation to see him hang?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

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