Chapter 12 Hector
HECTOR
Something was wrong. The sensation thrummed from the tip of my skull, all the way down to my toes, making every muscle in my body sensitive. But it was the broken shard of darkness buried inside of me that set my unseen meter to ‘way-too-fucking-high’.
A crowd of humans buzzed around me, bodies squashed together like sardines in a sticky tin. The concept of reaching the front of said crowd was easier said than done, considering every apology or shoulder I tapped, resulted in a grumble of displeasure.
It was like being at a concert, trying to get space at the barrier, not making my way to the front of a crowd for a witch burning. But alas, apparently Father Tomin had opened the floodgates of hate that people hid, and an entire mass of them had come out today.
Emon squirmed beneath the baggy sleeve of my knitted jumper, tightening around my forearm a little too hard just to make his feelings known.
I shot him my displeasure down the cord of our connection, continuing the ‘don’t talk and distract me’ command I had given when Romy, Kai and I left the underground almost an hour ago.
A static buzz crackled in my ear before a voice spoke. “Testing, testing… three, two, one.”
I smiled at the light lilt of Romy’s voice, wondering where about in the crowd she’d fought her way to.
“It’s one, two, three,” I said out the corner of my mouth, hoping anyone who saw me in that moment would think I was talking to myself, and not into the device stuffed in my ear.
“Alright, know it all. Could you lecture me on my wrongdoings after, maybe?”
“I look forwards to it,” I said, trying to keep my mouth as still as possible. “How are you getting on?”
“I’ve made it to the front, and I can see Kai over on the other side. We’re in position. You?”
I gave up trying to apologise to the people I pushed through, and started to just barrel through. A few swore at me, but my resting bitch face—which had been well tuned over the years—kept them from following up their threats with a physical action. “I’m close. It’s like navigating a maze in here.”
All these bodies, all the noise, could that be what unsettled me?
It was easier to put it down to that, rather than the strength of a witch’s intuition. But there was a way of checking if my intuition was causing my inner discomfort, so I poised a not-so-concealed question for her. “Do you have a bad feeling about this, Romy?”
“Besides the obvious, not really. There isn’t much room for worrying, only action.”
I admired her focus; it reminded me to narrow and hone mine. “You’re right. Tell me, what do you see from your position?”
There was a pause, a deep heavy breath, and then Romy seemed to find the words.
As I continued to push myself to the front of the crowd, I could almost picture what Romy saw as she painted it with words.
“There are seven pyres set with the relevant kindling beneath. A line of Witch Hunters have been set up before it, each one of them are armed but for all we know they are also powered up with Gifts of their own too. Tomin will expect resistance, and he is more than ready for it.”
“I’ll add that to our list of what-ifs,” I added. “Gifted Hunters or not, they won’t use their powers on that side of the line or it will incriminate Tomin… ruin his hard work.”
“Exactly,” Romy agreed. “But that means he’ll have undercover people around us. Keep your eye out.”
“Will do, Captain. What else have you noticed?”
Romy took a deep breath, and continued. “I can see a handful of news companies who’ve set up stations at the far right.
They’re setting cameras up. I got to the barrier just when the Witch Hunters finished dousing the kindling in oil, so everything is set up and ready for those they’re going to bring out.
Although, the person next to me said that they’ve been waiting for the burning to commence for a while now, and there are rumours of a potential delay. ”
A delay wasn’t a bad thing. It gave us more time. “Any sign of the man of the hour himself?”
I didn’t dare say Father Tomin’s name for fear I’d sink into the pit of anger in my gut.
“Not a single glance,” Romy answered, before her voice dipped lower. “Oops. Got to go. Getting odd looks. Check in when you reach your position. Out and over…”
“Over and out,” I corrected, but the static crackled, and the line went silent.
A tingling of displeasure coursed through me at the cutting of our line of comms. I would’ve preferred to stay together, but it was Kai who had reminded us that if we were caught together, then our chances of stopping the burnings would go from one to zero really quick.
Better staying apart, giving us a one-in-three odd of success, rather than a three-in-one.
Mathematics, I’d always hated it. Now more so than ever.
It took another five minutes to reach the barrier, but it felt like hours. Every second that passed I waited to hear the excited chatter around me turn to starved screams for evil as the witches we were here to save were brought out.
Just as my steady fingers wrapped around the barrier, a firm hand clamped down on my shoulder. “Didn’t your mother teach you not to push in line?”
I wasn’t one to pride myself on my ability to regulate my emotions, especially when it came to my anger. But at the mention of my mother, and the pent-up frustration of reaching my destination at last, I spun around to face the speaker.
“Get your hand off me.”
Father Tomin studied me with eyes of a hawk, delighting in the preparation of murder.
I felt small beneath his stare, minuscule and pathetic.
“Be careful with what you do next, Hector Briar. I have guns set on you from almost every building you can imagine, not to mention the brave men and women I have stationed around us. One wrong move, one act against me, and you’ll find this crowd scattered with bullets just in hopes that one reaches you. ”
My fingertips were suddenly numb, until I realised that was because Emon had constricted so tight around my arm that the blood flow was cutting off.
I couldn’t remove the command from him, not with the man before me. Instead, I shot my hand up to my ear, ready to flick on my comms, but Tomin was quicker. His hand struck forwards, tearing the earpiece out with a damp thwack, before dropping it on the ground and crushing it beneath his feet.
“It would be in your best interest that Romy Bailey and Kai Smith aren’t aware of our little meeting. If they do anything stupid because of you, it will only lead to their demise. I’m willing to let them live if you do as I say… clear?”
“Crystal.” Heat and fury boiled up my neck before spouting out past my numbed lips. “How can I help you, Tomin?”
He smiled, and for a moment I saw Arwyn in his face. It was subtle, but noticeable. And it disarmed me enough that when he spoke again, it was as if the crowd around us died down. “I would like to speak with you, but not here. I am thinking we take this conversation somewhere private, don’t you?”
A deranged laugh burst out of me. “If you think I’m going anywhere with you, then you really are as stupid as I first expected. You’re welcome to try and get me to come, but I can promise you you’ll have a hard time with it.”
“And yet if you don’t come with me, those witches I’ve got ready to tie to those pyres will be burned within the hour.
One command and I will also have Kai and Romy rounded up too, considering I actually have some spare pyres ready for them.
Or you can come with me peacefully, and I will let them all go. ”
“All of them?” My eyes narrowed, hand so numb now it was a miracle it hadn’t turned blue and fallen off. “I don’t believe you.”
“That’s up to you, Hector. Do you like taking risks?
” Father Tomin turned on his heel, took a step into the crowd and then paused.
He turned his head to the side, enough for me to see the winning smirk across his lips.
“Will you refuse me and damn those you care about, or will you take my advice and save them all?”
“Even if I decided to come, Romy and Kai will act the moment they realise that they can’t reach me.”
Father Tomin’s eyes lifted over me in two opposing directions. That alone told me he wasn’t bluffing because it was in those directions that Romy and Kai were hidden amongst the large crowd.
“You’re a witch, Hector.” Father Tomin mouthed the third word, hyper-aware of the distracted humans around us. “You have the ability to achieve anything you want, and more so I’d wager.”
A lump formed in my throat at his last comment, and the way his knowing eyes lingered on me. It was as if those eyes alone had gouged through my skin, found a secret and exposed it.
“Go on then,” Father Tomin encouraged. “Send them a message. I can wait until you are satisfied they will not suspect a thing.”
I wasn’t one to turn my back on my greatest enemy, but the choice had been taken from me.
Although, I didn’t do it until I released Emon from his vow of silence, and gave him a new command.
“If you sense danger from him, you have my authority to tear into his neck.”
Emon’s scales brushed over my arm, coiling like a bracelet of iron. “You are in no danger from him, witchling. I can taste the man’s need for you. At least I am confident he will not kill you.”
As if that ominous reply was enough, I turned back to the barrier and looked across the crowd.
It took a second to locate Romy, but like a compass needle turning to a magnetic draw, I found her.
Her eyes were fixed to me, concern etched into her brow.
She likely couldn’t see Father Tomin within the mass of bodies behind me, but she knew something had taken my attention.
As per Eleanor Letcombe’s grimoire, the rune Ansuz was the best for communication.
Keeping my eyes locked with Romy, I traced the mark out three times in my mind’s eye until the lines were bold. I didn’t know how it would work, except the rune was better for verbal communication.