City of Burning Shadows (Apocrypha: The Dying World) by Barbara J. Webb Page A

squint. “You talked to Desavris,” she said carefully.
    “They’re the ones who have Spark’s tech.” I kept my voice even, but unapologetic. “What I don’t know yet is if they’re the ones trying to kill you.”
    Copper looked calmer now, but her eyes kept flicking over towards the gun that lay out of reach. I was glad Iris still had a grip on her. “What did they offer you? What’s the going rate on betrayal these days?”
    “They didn’t offer me anything. Have you ever actually talked to a Jansynian? They’d never ask me to betray my employer, and wouldn’t want to work with me if I were the sort of person who would.”
    “So they just brought you—a human—up into the Crescent, where nobody goes, all for a little chat? Forgive me if I find that hard to believe.”
    She had a point, but it was the truth, so it was what I had to work with. “Remember what you said the very first time we met—that you were willing to work with us because of my past experience? This is why you came to us. Because I know about Jansynians. Because I know Jansynians.”
    Outside of Copper’s view, Iris raised an eyebrow. And, okay, maybe I was stretching the narrative a little. Having contacts among the Jansynians was one thing. Getting invited into the Crescent…
    “We’re all on the same side,” Iris said and let Copper go. I had to trust she knew what she was doing.  
    “Are we?” Copper looked at each of us. Looked at her gun, but she didn’t move toward it. “Micah’s waiting in the warehouse. I’m going to go get him and bring him back here. Don’t follow me.” At Iris. “I want to talk to him. Alone.”
    “We’ll wait.”
    Iris stood at the very edge of the roof and watched Copper go. Once Copper was safely out of sight, she brought me the gun. “Keep this.”
    “What should I do with it?”
    “It’s a gun, Ash. What do you think?” She sat down cross-legged on the tiles that lined the rooftop. It couldn’t have been comfortable, given the heat I could feel radiating up just standing here. “So what really happened?”
    I slid the pistol into my bag. “Seems like she got my message after all. And the timing was fortuitous. ” My voice twisted on the last word and Iris squinted one eye open at me.
    “Correct me if I’m wrong, but in the three years you were actually sleeping together, she never once invited you upstairs.”
    “That’s right. Maybe it’s different now she’s a director. Maybe it’s because—” Reflexively, I pressed a hand against my pocket to double check the data stick was still there. “She asked for my help. Which is probably a sign of desperation right there. But probably safer for her to bring me up there where she knew we could talk without anyone spying. Even if my presence raises some perfect white eyebrows.”
    Iris leaned back, basking in the warmth. Shifters. “But you know she has Spark’s technology?”
    “Yeah, Desavris has it, but they’re having trouble with it. Seana thinks sabotage.”
    Iris jumped to the same conclusion I had. “You think it’s a Jansynian conflict? Sabotaging Desavris while they try to whip the people of Miroc into a frenzy?”
    “It occurred to me. But Seana thinks it’s an inside job.”
    “What does she expect you to do about it?”
    “Magic. She expects me to do what I do.” I glanced back at the street, but there was still no sign of Copper and Micah. “If I help her, she may help us.”
    It wasn’t going to be easy, though. “This magic she needs, I haven’t done anything like it since before the Abandon. I’m going to need supplies and a real workroom.”
    Iris nodded. She knew what I meant. She knew where I meant. “I better go with you. I don’t trust you to stay out of trouble on your own. We’ll go tonight, after dark.”
    That settled, we had nothing left to do but wait.
    #
    Seana and I first met because one of Arisia’s directors loved the theater.  
    As I came to understand, he was a bit of an