A Burning in the Bones (Waxways #3)

Chapter 20 Ren Monroe

20 REN MONROE

Morning dawned, bright and beautiful.

They watched Vega wing in the direction of the sunrise. The livestone bird clutched a message in its talons for House Brood. There were protocols Theo could activate that would summon hundreds of their sworn guards into the city. A proper escort back to the estate. But the two of them agreed that discretion was the better move. They needed to get their bearings after the attack, and the bird’s-eye view from up in the Heights provided that.

Besides, this location was as well warded as any Brood property. Even after being kidnapped, Theo functioned as a proper gentleman. He’d procured pastries from gods knew where and the tea he poured for Ren smelled like wild oranges. She settled into a cushioned chair and felt as if she’d been given a second chance at… everything. A life with Theo. A chance to honor the dead. Rather than being shaken by how close she’d come to death, Ren felt more determined than ever to step into her role in changing the city. But that couldn’t start until they figured out the right first step to take after their narrow escape.

“So, my sister was behind all of this?” Theo asked. “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Of the three of us, she was always the one who had the most in common with my father.”

“It says a lot that their big move was to solidify your position. That tells me that the other houses like you. They didn’t want you out of the equation. Just me.”

Theo surprised her with a wicked sort of smile. “Which tells me that you’ve left an impression. How many people have earned the collective fear of all the houses, Ren?”

She snorted. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

“You’ve earned their attention. And now they have earned mine.”

Theo spoke those words in a tone that was darker than she’d ever heard from him. This was no petty annoyance. The feeling that radiated across their bond was a cold sort of fury. There was a deadly promise in his eyes. Ren had never seen him look so much like a Brood. He must have sensed her trepidation, because he shook himself. “Too dramatic? Too dramatic. I only mean that the great houses are all tied to us in one way or another. They depend on House Brood. If we want to apply some downward pressure, we could.”

Ren was nodding. “A bridge to cross later. Right now, there are more pressing concerns. Both involve family. There is the matter of where your sister is hiding—and then there’s the matter of what we found in that water treatment facility.”

Theo frowned. “I assumed that was a trap. A dark one, but I thought they used those bodies to lure us to that location. Once we were inside, they surrounded the building….”

Once more, she’d forgotten he’d been unconscious during that reveal.

“Seminar didn’t know about those bodies. I spoke with her. I was trying to use the information we’d learned to delay them. It didn’t work, but I could tell from her reaction that she had no idea what we were there to investigate.”

Theo set his tea down, dumbfounded. “It was just a coincidence?”

Ren nodded. “I think so. Remember, it was Sloan’s tip that led us there. She linked Lana to the Makers. A group known for not using magic. It’s hard to imagine House Shiverian would partner with them. No, I think what we found in that facility was something else entirely.”

Before Theo could respond, there was a crackle of static. Noise on the verge of meaning. Their eyes were drawn to the back patio. He’d left the door open. Just a sliver. The two of them set down their teas and crossed the room. As soon as they stepped outside, the noise resolved itself into a voice. It was as if someone was standing right beside them and giving a speech—and that someone was Viceroy Gray.

“… are officially extending the previous edict. I repeat, we are officially extending the quarantine issued two nights ago. This order impacts every Kathorian citizen.”

It was the government’s amplification system. A spell that Ren knew had been painstakingly woven into every street, every building, every corner of the city. It was one of the viceroy’s only true powers. He—and he alone—could activate the spell during a crisis, communicating with the entire populace. “Breaking this quarantine is a punishable offense. The only exemptions are for hospital personnel, Brightsword soldiers, government officials…”

As they listened, Viceroy Gray offered several missing pieces to the puzzle of their last few days. Dr. Horn’s sudden collapse. The missing guard. All the empty streets and vacant markets. A plague had reached their city. The markings on the doors were providing information to government officials. Who was sick and in what neighborhoods and to what degree?

The viceroy encouraged people to continue to keep open lines of communication so that their teams could appropriately react and offer help. Kathor’s leader relayed a detailed list of symptoms. Then he shared the current status of the local hospitals and what capacity they had for taking on patients—and which patients needed to go there.

Ren knew this was not the first disease to ever knock on Kathor’s gates. The earliest settlers had nearly been wiped out by swine fever before they finished building the outer walls. The most devastating pandemic—in terms of mortality rate—had been the Quiet Pestilence. It killed eight thousand at the turn of the century. The disease’s origins were famous. A story of warning told to children—and every newly hired sailor. A merchant ship had spotted an abandoned vessel floating along the shoreline north of the city. Everyone on board was Tusk. And every single one of them was dead. Signs of disease clearly marked each corpse. Still, the merchants could not resist a free supply of goods. Down in the hold, they found crates of rare Tuskan cloth. Instead of burning the ship, they ordered their deckhands to begin unloading. That cargo would eventually kill a tenth of the city’s population. Naturally, the city had advanced since then. There were safeguards that should have limited the spread of any plague. Most of the great houses had properties that were so heavily warded, in fact, that diseases usually skipped past them entirely. Viceroy Gray’s next words answered that very question.

“Initial reports indicate the disease traveled through the water supply. We have secured all such facilities across the city. If you have consumed city-provided water anytime in the last week, you’ve been exposed to the disease. We suggest that everyone boil their water in the coming days, as a precaution, but the water supply should present the city no further danger. Please remember, we are Kathor. Brightest city on the hill. Our light will not be dimmed. Not now. Not ever.”

His booming voice guttered out. Ren’s eyes were drawn back to the tea they’d been drinking. Thankfully, they’d boiled it. Heat normally destroyed bacteria, but did it work for a plague like this one? Neither of them were exhibiting symptoms. Had they been exposed before finding the bodies? She supposed only time would tell. Theo was the first one to break the silence.

“The bodies,” he said. “We found them in the water supply.”

“Which means what’s happening is connected to what we found.”

Shit, shit, shit. My mother is potentially connected to the plague.

“I need a way candle,” Ren said.

Theo frowned. “Why? You heard him. There’s a quarantine.”

“We need answers. And I think I know where to get them.”