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next.” And he’d be out and moving, away from the hemmed-in box canyon and the training compound that might’ve been built to accommodate hundreds, even thousands, but somehow felt overcrowded with only seventy or eighty people rubbing elbows.
    “Actually, I’d like you to stick around for a while.”
    Sven smothered the wince that came when his bone-deep need to keep moving bumped up against the fealty oath he had sworn to his king. “You and Reese headed north?” The two were Denver natives, and had set up anurban center of ops in an old warehouse in their former ’hood. Sven had Skywatch-sat once or twice when the king and his mate had gone up to the city, keeping a Nightkeeper presence at the compound while the others were on assignment.
    “Actually, I’ve got something else in mind.” Dez paused. “How are you getting on with Carlos and Cara these days?”
    “Fine.” Or they would be fine once he had a chance to sit down with them. Yelling at Cara hadn’t been part of the plan, but he could fix it. He
would
fix it, all of it. He’d made that promise to himself.
    Dez nodded. “Good, because I need someone on the inside.”
    “Whoa.” Sven held up a hand. “Wait. On the inside of what?”
    “The
winikin,
” Dez said flatly. “Those creatures came in during Aaron’s funeral, and it sure as hell looked like they were after the
winikin,
not us. I want to think it’s another sign that there’s some sort of
winikin
magic waking up, but the cynical side of me says there might be something more… as in, maybe one of them already found his—or her—magic and is using it against us.”
    “Hang on. You think what happened today was sabotage?” Sven shook his head. “No way. Not a
winikin
.” Even the rebels admitted that the Nightkeepers were humanity’s best chance of surviving the war.
    “Rabbit said it didn’t feel like any magic he recognized. And they all got their bloodline marks, even without the ceremony. That says magic to me.”
    “But… shit.” His brain raced even as his instincts kept saying,
No way
. “The First Father turned the slaves who escaped with him from Egypt into the
winikin,
rightaround when they came to this continent. That was way before the magic split into its light and dark halves. So whatever power they’ve got—if anything—would be related to the ancestral magic, which Rabbit would recognize.” He paused. “And even if you’re right and a
winikin
could summon those creatures, what would be the point? You said it yourself—they seemed to be targeting the
winikin
. Besides, if they were supposed to attack the Nightkeepers, why go after us this close to the end date? Are you saying you think one of the
winikin
is in league with the
Banol Kax?
” Because, shit, that was a hell of an accusation. One that, if it got out, would fuck any hope of solidarity.
    “Not necessarily.” Dez was silent for a moment, no doubt deciding how much more to say. He and his mate, Reese, were as tight-lipped as they were brilliant strategists, and they formed a closed unit at the top of the hierarchy—some thought too closed at times. After a moment, though, he said, “Look at the history. A thousand years ago, the Xibalban sect split from the Nightkeepers and took the dark magic with them because they believed the Nightkeepers had it wrong, that the sky gods were the ones who wanted to take over the earth and the
Banol Kax
were the good guys, right?”
    “So Rabbit would have us believe.” Ever since a run-in with a dying Xibalban shaman the year before, Rabbit had been trying to get the Nightkeepers to seriously consider that their long-ago ancestors had been tricked into believing in the sky gods. “You don’t think he’s been experimenting with dark magic again, do you?”
    Dez shook his head. “No. My gut says he’s toeing the line. But who’s to say there’s not another group of Xibalbansout there? We went from thinking they all died out in the fifteen