Free Murder of Crows (The Twenty-Sided Sorceress Book 2) by Annie Bellet Page A

clearing. A woman cried out and ran toward me, reaching for Primrose, who squirmed and called out “Mommy.” I let her go, sliding to the ground as Carlos dropped low to let us off his back.
    Staggering to keep my feet, I looked up and my eyes met Sky Heart’s own. They were red, puffy, and full of fear.

For a long moment we were swamped with people asking questions, relatives claiming the children. Carlos and Alek shifted back to human form, but none of us were able to answer much in the clamor and press of bodies. I swayed on my feet but forced myself to push gently through, heading toward Sky Heart. That man had things to answer for and I wasn’t going to be shoved aside like yesterday. Whatever was going on, I had a strong feeling it began with the leader of the Crow.
    I got through the crowd and stopped, facing Sky Heart over the corpse.
    “Who is Not Afraid?” I asked him. I knew his keen shifter hearing would be able to catch my words.
    “I do not answer to you, exile,” he said, the fear in his face morphing into rage as he looked at me.
    “Good thing I now have two Justices with me then, isn’t it?” I shot back. “You may pretend you are outside all laws, but I hear the Nine don’t take well to shifters killing shifters. If you caused this somehow…”
    He cut me off with an angry cry like the hunting shriek of a hawk and shifted. His huge crow form lumbered into the air with angry wing-beats, scattering the bunches of flowers and blowing dust into my face. Sky Heart fled into the tall trees surrounding the big house and disappeared among the shadowed high branches.
    I stood over the corpse, too tired and shocked to react. A hand touched my arm and I jerked sideways.
    “Come,” Pearl said. Her dark eyes held only sorrow. “You may use our bath. Then we will talk.”
    “Damn right we will,” I muttered.
    She ignored my ungracious comment and led me through the crowd. I caught Alek’s eye and he gave one of his gallic shrugs that I took to mean I should just learn what I could and we’d talk later. I hoped that now they had brought the children home safely, the People would be more inclined to let the Justices help, more inclined to share what they knew. Maybe I’m still naïve, or maybe I’d been hit harder in the head than I thought.
    I’d been hit pretty damn hard. The mirror in the single bathroom in my old home revealed a thick pink scar along the side of my face that was slowly fading out as my body did its quick healing thing. Bruising would take longer to heal, unfortunately, but at least my vision wasn’t impeded by swelling. The side of my head was caked with flaking dried blood, my hair was a nest of pine needles and dirt, and my clothes looked like someone had dragged me over a mud-covered cheese grater. I felt naked without my talisman and rubbed my chest where it usually rested.
    Not Afraid had better start being afraid, I thought. I wasn’t going to forgive that theft, not that I would forgive the murders either. Or the being hit in the face with a two-by-four or bat or whatever the hell that had been. His list of transgressions was substantial.
    I stripped and washed off the worst of the grime before running the hottest bath I could stand and sinking into it. My hair floated out around me like ink and I sighed. It would be a bitch to untangle and braid again, but relaxing completely in the hot water and letting the dirt and blood soak out of my skin was worth it.
    Pearl knocked and then came in before I could respond. For a moment I wanted to order her out, but she was my mother still in some ways. She’d wiped my ass as a kid and breastfed me. I didn’t have anything she hadn’t seen before. Bonus was that it meant I could question her without having to move.
    “Why do you stay here? Any of you?” I said. It wasn’t the question I’d meant to lead with, but Sky Heart’s fear and anger bordered on insane. It was worse than I remembered from when I was a kid. Maybe I