Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Pierce
All we have to do is disguise ourselves as my mother’s shiny new aegis agents, grab my grandfather, and get out of here. Simple enough. Except we’ve barely prepared.
Kyrith’s right. My mother probably set the execution so soon after her speech so that we’d run in and get caught.
Now we’re doing exactly that. Like idiots.
This is going to take more improvisation than I’d like, but I can’t sit back and do nothing.
Kyrith has given Leo more spells to break through wards than I even knew existed. It probably still won’t be enough to get us out of the prison in a pinch. This must be the most heavily spelled building in the country.
As long as we avoid everyone and move quickly, we should be able to sneak Benny out of the high security wing, activate the quick transport spell, and reappear a few streets away. From there, we can head back to Rathlin Island without worrying that someone will track us.
Almost every doorway in this damned place is warded against illusion magic, hence our disguise. The aegis’s uniforms are meant to intimidate people, but they also make it pitifully easy to infiltrate their ranks.
Unfortunately, Lambert is smiling and nodding at people as he passes them, ruining all of our efforts to go unnoticed. Even the fabric covering the lower half of his face can’t hide the friendly crinkle of his eyes.
“What are you doing?” I hiss, my own mask muffling my words.
“Being friendly.” His eyes crease in another smile that actually makes an enforcement officer lift his hand in greeting, like he knows us.
“It’s weird enough we’ve got these scary uniforms on.
If we start acting like assholes, they’ll probably get more suspicious.
Besides, they’re just people doing their jobs. ”
Is he serious? The men and women in this building are trained soldiers, not office drudges.
“What you’re doing is making us memorable.”
Leo’s shoulders rise and fall in a silent sigh. “He’s right. We’re trying to be invisible, remember?”
Lambert slouches, but at least he stops waving.
The three of us fall silent as we turn a corner into a white-painted hallway.
This one is empty. That should be a relief, but my mind fills the lull with useless anxiety I don’t need.
I’ve been to enforcement headquarters several times before.
I know my way around. Sure, it took us longer to sneak into the building than I’d like, but there’s still an hour before dawn. We have time.
Two more turns, and we’ll reach the prison block. High security isn’t much farther.
“You three.”
The female voice from behind us is sharp with well-worn authority. I turn on my heel, standing to attention in a way that the other two can’t quite emulate.
I should’ve come alone. They’ll give us away.
“Yes, ma’am?” I answer before either of them can say anything.
The greying woman in front of me is still wearing the stiff blue uniform of a regular enforcement officer, but her epaulettes mark her as a sergeant. I’m not sure how much rank matters between aegis and enforcement, but it’s better to err on the side of caution.
She scans us coldly, lingering on my grey eyes, and then Lambert’s golden hair.
Damn.
Even masked, we’re too recognisable. We should’ve worn wigs and contacts.
I don’t know her, but that means nothing. She could be one of any number of officers who’ve been in my family’s orbit for years.
“Come with me.”
I don’t swear, but the words running through my mind as she strides past us are less than pleasant.
She’s ahead of us now. We can knock her out if we find a quiet corridor. Hide her body and carry on.
The sergeant stops outside the thick metal door that marks the entrance to the prison. Two younger officers stand on either side, eyeing the lot of us warily.
“Sergeant Winthrop,” the one on the left greets.
The other says nothing, just stares the rest of us down with narrowed eyes.
“I’m taking these three to prepare the necromancer,” she explains, pressing her grimoire over a runeform on the wall that makes the door pop open. “Rector Carlton wants him moved to the scaffold early.”
She does?
I look left to Leo, whose jaw tics once.
This isn’t good, and it only gets worse.
The high security wards slide over my skin like a coating of oil the second we cross the threshold.
This corridor is busier than I’ve ever seen it. Aegis agents and enforcement officers are rushing up and down. Arcanists are being wrestled into cells on both sides of us.
One such prisoner, a slim man in his forties, actually manages to slip free in the struggle. He sprints for the door we just came through, only to be caught by an immobilising spell cast by the officer behind him.
“I’m innocent!” he cries, wide-eyed. “Where’s my son? What have you done with my son—!” His words cut off as an agent slugs him in the gut. “I’m not a necromancer!” He wheezes.
The sergeant in front of us flinches. The motion is so slight I wouldn’t’ve caught it if not for our proximity.
The agent who just punched the man scoffs. “You’re a liminal. Close enough.”
The man tries to protest, but a silencing spell is cast.
I can still see him mouthing desperate pleas as he’s shoved back into the cell, along with half a dozen others.
Are they all liminals?
Lambert twitches, and Leo bashes into him purposefully.
We can’t help these people. We’re here for my grandfather.
The four of us keep moving, passing more uniformed men and women than I can count. This isn’t good. Normally, the prison isn’t this busy. High security is supposed to be reserved for necromancers.
We can’t sneak Benny past all these people, and we can’t transport him out past the wards.
The sergeant stops in front of the door, pressing her grimoire against it again. A runeform blazes to life for a second, then she pushes her way inside the dark, tiny room. There’s not even a window.
The three of us follow, and my chest collapses as I see the man curled up in a ball on the concrete floor. They’ve beaten him. I suspected they would, but it’s still gutting to see him covered in purple marks, his frame heaving on juddering breaths.
“I can give you five minutes,” she says. “But no longer.”
“Thank you, Blanche,” my grandfather whispers hoarsely. “And—”
“I’ll get them out after.” She gives me a nod, then turns, leaving us.
Wait. She’s leaving us alone with him? Is she one of his contacts? Why hasn’t she broken him out already?
Benny pushes himself up into a sitting position against the wall once she’s gone, the shackles on his wrists clinking as he finally meets my eyes.
“I suspected you’d come. Blanche was good enough to keep an eye out for you.”
“We’ve come to rescue you.” I trip over the words. “Leo has—”
His eyes are soft as he shakes his head. “Pierce, the moment I was moved here, this became inevitable.”
“It’s not,” I argue, drawing my grimoire. “We can conjure you a uniform and—”
“Everyone knows what I’m here for. No one is going to fall for an old man in a uniform. Maybe at a distance, but…it’s been rather busy out there for some time.”
He’s right.
Behind me, Leo and Lambert are silent. The only noise is the flicking of paper as Leo searches his grimoire.
“If there were a way, I would’ve found it. My people have tried. I’m sorry. I don’t want to leave you.”
Leave me? Like he’s going on a trip? My nails cut half-moons into my palms. “There’s got to be a way.”
His cracked lips twist into a smile. “You’ve never been an optimist before; why start now?”
“You can’t just give up.” I take a step forward before I know what I’m doing.
“Smarter minds than ours have tried to break out of this place,” he corrects. “Those who managed it had infinitely more time on their hands, and they weren’t so dramatically outnumbered.”
“Then we’ll destroy the place,” I suggest. “Stage a mass breakout. You can slip free in the chaos. Surely you have enough friends—”
“Pierce, let it happen.”
Heat burns my eyes. “No. We don’t have Dakari, but I have enough power to break through the walls—”
“Let it happen,” he repeats. “This has been coming for a long time, and none of it is your fault. The only thing you need to use your power for right now is getting out of here and leaving no trace you were ever here. Blanche and her people have been instructed to stand down. Your safety is their only concern.”
My head has started shaking, but I can’t even feel it because my body is numb.
“You two will make sure he doesn’t do anything rash.” Benny aims his order at the brothers currently pressed against the door, looking like they’d rather be anywhere else. “And give my regards to the Librarian.”
“Yes, sir,” Lambert answers.
“No. You’re not going along with this.” I turn on them, eyes narrowing at Leo. “You’re supposed to be smart. Think of something—”
“I’m trying,” he retorts, glancing up from his grimoire. “I’m fecking trying. But we never expected it to be this busy. Do you even know how many wards are on this cell alone? Even Kyrith would struggle to break them. Five minutes is not enough time!”
“The only thing I need from you, Galileo, is a numbing spell, if you please.” Benny coughs. “Though I have no doubt my daughter intends to drain me to death rather than performing a true magical overload, I’d rather not endure the pain of either outcome.”
Leo is already flicking through the book again. Obeying. Letting this happen.
No. Fuck, no.
My mind is racing. Okay, so breaking him out of here might be out of the question, but… “What about the execution? Can we mess with it? The three of us could cause some mayhem—”
“I can assure you, I’ve thought this through,” my grandfather continues.
“This prison is well guarded and better warded than anywhere else in the country. Isidora has packed headquarters with her favourites. Most of my allies have been sent away, and I won’t let those who remain throw their lives away for my sake.
” He softens, coughing again. “Come here.”
My feet carry me forward without my permission, and I crouch beside him.