Chapter 17
Our door through space spat us out opposite Bastien’s flat. The artificial lights above were dim as if to emulate dusk. Reina stepped through after the three of us had cleared the portal, closing the door behind her with an audible click.
“Is this the desired location?” she asked, scanning the surroundings with a touch of distaste.
“Yes,” Bastien answered, already on the move with the compendium tucked under his arm. Azrael followed after him, his tail swishing to and fro. Despite our collective exhaustion, the excitement in the air was palpable.
“A moment of your time, if I could,” Reina said before I could join the others.
“Yes?”
“The Sleeper asked that I give this to you once we’d arrived.”
The woman held out a string of beads, each a different brilliant hue as they caught the light from above. There were seven in all, each with a carved symbol on the front, and it took me a moment to realize what they were.
“Prayer beads?”
Hallowed clergy displayed sets of beads like this on our formal wear, though Sancha told me that they were more commonplace in the early days of the Church.
“From the Sleeper’s collection,” explained Reina as I took the beads from her. “To help strengthen your new connection to the Source.”
As the cool beads touched my palm, the comforting warmth of the Source’s blessing responded, unfurling in my chest and spreading quickly through my limbs. I breathed a sigh of relief at its return, the worry I’d been harboring in the back of my mind dissolving.
It was still with me.
“Please pass along my gratitude,” I said, tucking the beads away in my pocket.
Reina nodded, turning back to the door, which had materialized into the side of the bakery. She knocked twice, the edges of the door glowing red, then twisted the handle, the door swinging open smoothly.
“If I could offer one last word of advice,” Reina said without glancing back. “Be sure not to find yourself standing in our way.”
She crossed through the portal before I could respond, the door swinging shut behind her. Slowly, the materials blended back into the wall of brick, the doorknob fading into nothingness.
The warning loomed over me, jagged and sharp. For all of the help the Sleeper had provided us, it was apparent that ulterior motives steered the flow of his aid. If our suspicions were correct, and he had been the one to orchestrate the Cradle’s fall, then there would be no avoiding a conflict.
A conflict that would center around the ones most precious to me.
I pushed the worries from my mind before they could consume me. The time to face them would come soon enough, but right now, I was needed elsewhere.
Voices rose from within the apartment as I opened the door, my senses assaulted with a burst of perfume as I navigated past a wall of posh-looking luggage stacked by the entrance.
“—being held hostage in this shabby flat for nearly three days! Now that tart with the pretty eyes is telling me that we can’t leave!”
The sharp voice rang familiar, and I moved down the hallway, halting at the sight of a tall Unseen with long leporine ears crowning his head of grey hair, standing outside the study.
“Master Cirian,” the man addressed me, bowing at the waist.
“Hello, Winston. Lovely to see you again.”
“The sentiment is mutual,” he replied, straightening once more.
“I’m certain this is all just a misunderstanding—”
Bastien’s voice was cut off by the sound of shattering glass.
“What’s going on in there?” I asked, pointing to the closed door.
“My lady is quite displeased that we were barred from departure this morning. She finds her current surroundings to be most distasteful.”
The Reviled were preventing her from leaving? I would have thought anyone in their right mind would seize the opportunity to be rid of Amelia VanDoughten.
Twisting the knob, the door swung open just as a throw pillow streaked towards me.
I bat the cushion away, magic brimming at my fingertips as a reflex while I take in the scene.
The study was in chaos, with towers of Bastien’s books having been toppled and one of the heavy leather chairs overturned on its side.
Amelia stood by the window, another pillow raised over her head and a crazed look in her eyes.
“Good afternoon, Amelia,” I greeted her, my gaze drifting over to Bastien, who peeked his head up from behind the sofa, where he’d been taking cover. “What seems to be the trouble?”
“I’ve been sentenced to death in this nightmarish town,” Amelia replied, hugging her makeshift weapon to her chest.
“That’s not true,” Bastien interjected.
“It might as well be! If I don’t get some fresh air soon, I’ll absolutely pass away. Do you want that on your conscience?”
“Who was it that stopped you from leaving?” I asked her, trying to piece together what little detail I could gather.
“Oh, I can’t recall her name. Wilfred? Winona?”
“Wilhelm,” answered Bastien, cautiously leaving his sheltered spot to join me. “I’ll have to go speak with her.”
“Why would Wilhelm have kept her from leaving?”
“It wasn’t just me,” Amelia interrupted. “That vile woman wanted me to hand Lynette over. Said that Lenny was too dangerous to let out of Paradise. How preposterous is that? Lynette wouldn’t hurt a fly.”
Bastien and I shared a quizzical look.
“She’s killed dozens of people, Amelia.”
The woman huffed, tossing a golden curl from her eyes. “Well, if you’re being nitpicky, sure. But that doesn’t mean that she’s a bad person!”
“Where is Lynette now?” I asked.
“Upstairs with Tobias. She doesn’t like it when I get upset, so I put her up there to spare her nerves.”
“Azrael is with them,” Bastien added. “Headed right up when we heard the commotion.”
I turned back to Amelia. “It’s fortunate that you stayed, actually. We’ve come across a possible solution to wake the Greenes, and now we have them both in the same locale.”
Amelia perked up at that. “Really? Is that true, Bastien?”
“Indeed. I would have mentioned it sooner, but I was too distracted by projectile tea cups.”
Amelia seemed to calm at that, dropping the pillow to the floor and smoothing out the wrinkles in her floral dress.
“Well then. I suppose that I may have been a tad bit rash. Once Lynette is awake, then she can tell that nasty woman that she’s not going to be anyone’s prisoner, and we can return to the city. ”
“That sounds lovely,” I agreed with her. “Now, if you’ll excuse us, we need to go check on them before preparations can begin.”
“Of course,” Amelia said, smiling sweetly.
Her gaze fell to the mess around her, and she snapped her fingers, the door opening behind us to allow Winston in.
“Gods above Winston, you’ve allowed this place to reach such a state.
I shall have to take my tea in the living room while you see to this mess. ”
“Very good, ma’am,” Winston replied with hesitation. “I shall escort you.”
The two of them departed the study while Bastien retrieved the compendium that he’d shoved under the sofa for safekeeping.
“What game do you think Wilhelm is playing at?” I asked when he’d returned.
“I’m not sure, but I have an uneasiness I hope proves false.”
Daring not to dally any longer, I followed Bastien back down the hall and up the narrow staircase, the door at the top cracked open. Azrael waited inside, knelt on one side of Tobias’ bed while the other had been filled with a fold-out cot on which Lynette rested.
He looked the same as the last time I’d seen him, frozen in time as though he’d only just drifted off to sleep.
My own exhaustion was catching up, and I wanted nothing more in that moment than to curl up next to him and join him in dreaming, far away from crushing responsibilities or shadowy threats.
“He’s the same,” Azrael said as we entered, releasing his hold on Tobias’s hand as he stood. “What will you need for this cure, Bastien?”
“The ingredients shouldn’t be difficult to come by,” Bastien answered. “The library should have more than enough of everything I need in its storehouse, as well as the space we’ll need for the spellwork.”
“How long do you need to prepare?” I asked.
“I’ll go right away and get the space ready. It shouldn’t take me long.”
“What of Wilhelm? Shouldn’t we speak with her about what’s happened at the Cradle before we do anything else?”
Bastien shook his head. “I fear that it would only lead to more interruption. We’ve waited long enough for him, Cirian. I won’t make us wait any longer.”
I nodded, in no position to call out his selfish act. I myself was delaying the myriad of responsibilities that awaited me in the wake of Sancha’s departure. We were both doing what we thought was best for the man that we loved. And maybe for each other as well.
“How can we help?”
“We’ll need to move Tobias and Lynette when the time comes. Preferably in the least conspicuous way possible. Most of Paradise’s residents don’t know that they are here, and I’d like for it to remain that way.”
“That I can do,” Azrael volunteered. “I’ll have Kaine come grab Lynette so we can carry them both over at once.”
“Brilliant. As far as the process is concerned, I’ll need some assistance with the actual spellwork. Normally, I’d ask Wilhelm, but seeing as our friend in the other room has already had a run-in with her, I think it’s best that we do this as covertly as possible.”
“I’ll assist with your spellwork. I may not be the most adept, but I can follow directions.”
Bastien’s lips curled at that, his gaze falling on me with a lingering mirth. “Yes, you’ve proven that, haven’t you?”
Azrael snorted a laugh, and even I found myself smiling back at the typically brooding man. “Was that a joke, Bast?”
“I am capable of humor.”
“But most people find they don’t have to say it out loud like that.”
“I’m not most people.”
“No, that is for certain.”
Bastien’s gaze lingered on me for a moment longer before it returned to Tobias, the smile fading as his jaw squared.
“I won’t fail you again,” he muttered.