Sabaa Tahir - A Reaper at the Gates

Harper Voyager

An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd

1 London Bridge Street

London SE1 9GF

www.harpercollins.co.uk

First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Publishers 2018

Copyright © Sabaa Tahir 2018

Maps by Jonathan Roberts

Cover design and illustration Micaela Alcaino © HarperCollins Publishers

Cover illustration © Shutterstock.com(eagle, background)

Sabaa Tahir asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.

Source ISBN: 9780008288754

Ebook Edition © June 2018 ISBN: 9780008288778

Version: 2018-09-21

For Renée, who knows my heart.

For Alexandra, who holds my hopes.

And for Ben, who shares the dream.

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Maps

Part One: The King of No Name

Chapter One: The Nightbringer

Chapter Two: Laia

Chapter Three: Elias

Chapter Four: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Five: Laia

Chapter Six: Elias

Chapter Seven: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Eight: Laia

Chapter Nine: Elias

Chapter Ten: The Blood Shrike

Part Two: Inferno

Chapter Eleven: Laia

Chapter Twelve: Elias

Chapter Thirteen: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Fourteen: Laia

Chapter Fifteen: Elias

Chapter Sixteen: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Seventeen: Laia

Chapter Eighteen: Elias

Chapter Nineteen: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Twenty: Laia

Chapter Twenty-One: Elias

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Twenty-Three: Laia

Chapter Twenty-Four: Elias

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Twenty-Six: Laia

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Elias

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Laia

Chapter Thirty: Elias

Part Three: Antium

Chapter Thirty-One: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Thirty-Two: Laia

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Thirty-Four: Elias

Chapter Thirty-Five: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Thirty-Six: Laia

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Elias

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Laia

Chapter Forty: Elias

Chapter Forty-One: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Forty-Two: Laia

Chapter Forty-Three: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Forty-Four: Laia

Chapter Forty-Five: Elias

Part Four: Siege

Chapter Forty-Six: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Forty-Seven: Laia

Chapter Forty-Eight: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Forty-Nine: Laia

Chapter Fifty: Elias

Chapter Fifty-One: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Fifty-Two: Laia

Chapter Fifty-Three: Elias

Chapter Fifty-Four: Laia

Chapter Fifty-Five: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Fifty-Six: Laia

Part Five: Beloved

Chapter Fifty-Seven: The Blood Shrike

Chapter Fifty-Eight: The Soul Catcher

Chapter Fifty-Nine: The Nightbringer

Acknowledgements

Also by Sabaa Tahir

About the Publisher

You love too much, my king.

My queen spoke the words often across the centuries we spent together. At first, with a smile. But in later years, with a furrowed brow. Her gaze settled on our children as they tore about the palace, their bodies flickering from flame to flesh, tiny cyclones of impossible beauty.

“I fear for you, Meherya .” Her voice trembled. “I fear what you will do if harm comes to those whom you love.”

“No harm shall befall you. I vow it.”

I spoke with the passion and folly of youth, though I was not, of course, young. Even then. That day, the breezes off the river ruffled her midnight hair and sunlight poured like liquid gold through the sheer curtains of the windows. It lit our children umber as they trailed scorch marks and laughter across the stone floor.

Her fears held her captive. I reached for her hands. “I would destroy any who dared hurt you,” I said.

“ Meherya , no.” I have wondered in the years since then if she already feared what I would become. “Swear you would never. You are our Meherya . Your heart is made to love. To give. Not to take. That is why you are king of the jinn. Swear it.”

I swore two vows that day: to protect, always. To love, always.

Within a year, I had broken both.

The Star hangs from the wall of the cavern far from human eyes. It is a four-pointed diamond, with a narrow gap at its apex. Thin striations spiderweb across it, a reminder of the day the Scholars shattered it after imprisoning my people. The metal gleams with impatience, potent as the glare of a jungle beast closing in on prey. Such vast power within this weapon—enough to destroy an ancient city, an ancient people. Enough to imprison the jinn for a thousand years.

Enough to set them free.

As if sensing the armlet clinging to my wrist, the Star rattles, yearning toward the missing piece. A wrench shudders through me as I offer the armlet up, and it oozes away like a silver eel to join with the Star. The gap shrinks.

The four points of the Star flare, lighting the far reaches of the speckled granite cavern, eliciting a wave of angry hisses from the creatures around me. Then the glow fades, leaving only pallid moonlight. Ghuls swish at my ankles.