Chapter Thirty-Six
Thaeros had passed out in an armchair in a waiting room right next to Elias’s office, and while I should’ve been fine, I was starting to feel like a nap might be a good idea. It was around five, and I was watching the second hand on my watch.
“We have to move soon, don’t we?” I asked.
“Yes. Well…” Echo rubbed his forehead.
Elias was frowning at his screens. “You know, with these locations…I think this one is close to where we think the void creature first popped up.”
“Ugh, don’t need a reminder of that fucker,” Ambrose grumbled.
I sat up just a little straighter while Elias was typing away. “What’s a void creature?”
“Something that easily ruins all the plans you make for a fun semester or ten,” Elias said. “But as Valentin says, there are no coincidences.”
Echo shook his head. “There’s no void creature in what I’m seeing. I’d know. Those scare me.”
Ambrose cackled. “So you do have a survival instinct. We killed that fucker a few months back, but not before it managed to feed. Caused quite the upset.”
Elias pointed at his screen. “Well, yes, but if its appearance wasn’t random—and I don’t think it was—then we should pick that one out of all our possible locations.”
Ambrose looked over Elias’s shoulder. “That’s near to an entrance hub we run. Are you sure about that?”
Elias shrugged. “No, but worst case, we go there, and Echo might infer that we’re at the wrong location.”
I stood. “Say this is where we want to be, what do we do when we get there? Is Caecilius there?”
“He will be where we need to be,” Echo mumbled. “I’m meant to see him, but… Doesn’t matter. He’ll be there.”
Echo sounded sad. Perhaps he was just tired, having exhausted himself while running all over this city during this strange rescue mission he’d orchestrated. I couldn’t quite tell which it was, but a pinch of sympathy stirred in my gut.
I rubbed my hands on my pants. “At the IBT, when I got shot, Soyer talked to Caecilius over the phone, and he told him to come here and make obeisance before the year was out. Is that important?”
Ambrose huffed. “Good ultimatum. Does make sense to roll into town when the Black Shuck isn’t here if you’re out for mischief. You fellas get ready to move. Wake the narcissan if we’re taking them. I gotta go make a phone call.”
Elias spun in his chair and fanned himself as Ambrose walked off with long strides. “He’s so high strung.” He turned to me. “I’ll loan you one of my coats. We’ll look like brothers, finally.”
“Uh…”
Echo pointed to the next room. “I’ll go wake Thaeros.”
That left me alone with Elias, who was less exuberant than normal.
He bit his lip. “I…should mention I’m not very good with stressful situations. And I forgot to even ask, but are you all right? To think someone made it all the way to your door to take you away…” He shook his head. “I don’t like that, Amory.”
“Ah.” I glanced at my watch. “Well, it was…it wasn’t like last time.”
He looked distraught. “Don’t even remind me of that.
I thought…I thought the worst. I was so worried.
But Val said it would be fine, except that’s what you say when things really aren’t, isn’t it?
Val and Sim try not to lie to me, but I know they don’t tell me everything because they don’t want me to worry.
They’d rather worry themselves.” He wiped at his eyes and stood.
“Oh, but I’m being dramatic already. Let’s see what we can do about Caecilius, hmm?
He’s such a thorn in so many people’s sides. ”
I nodded, but I wasn’t even all that worried about Caecilius anymore.
Soyer would be fine dealing with him, I didn't doubt my firebird. The witch, though, the witch that had hurt him when all he’d done was eat a few cherries in the middle of the night, the witch who’d enjoyed the pain of someone so innocent… she scared me.
We knew we were in the right spot when we saw the lawyer, phone pressed to his ear, as he walked into the building. It wasn’t all that far away from the Moonlight either, just a stone’s throw, really.
We were in an SUV with tinted windows, Echo and Ambrose in the front, the three of us in the back, and Elias having snuggled up to me.
He’d loaned me a coat not dissimilar to his, about as long as Soyer’s, complete with a scarf and gloves.
I’d balked at the hat with the reindeer and a pink pom-pom though. That would’ve been too much.
“Right under our fucking noses,” Ambrose said. “I cannot fucking believe this.”
“I do not like this,” Elias said.
Thaeros nodded. “Seconded.”
My phone dinged again. It was around seven, and I was more than a little anxious. Ben had tried calling me. Soyer had tried calling me. He’d texted. He’d left voice messages. People didn’t normally leave me voice messages.
I bit the inside of my cheek. “What are we going to do now?”
Echo was rocking in the passenger seat, his hands folded in front of his face as if in prayer, though he kept tapping them against his forehead. Maybe it helped him focus.
“We follow the lawyer. I don’t like the lawyer. Let’s make him take us inside.”
I saw a glint from Ambrose. He was grinning, and his teeth had caught the light. “Finally. Kids, out, but stay the fuck behind me.”
Elias’s hold on me tightened.
“I really don’t fucking like this,” Thaeros said.
I looked over my shoulder and carefully opened the door. I thought I was going to have to pull Elias out of the car, but he came willingly, just stuck to my side as if he needed the physical contact.
In my pocket, my phone rang again. I’d set it to vibrate, but Ambrose still turned to me.
“Shut it off. That’s too noisy.”
I nodded, my chin trembling with nerves.
I pulled the phone out of my pocket, and on the screen, illuminated, it said Soyer.
I wanted to talk to him so badly. I wanted to tell him that it was going to be fine, that this wasn’t like the Black Forest where he’d had to face a witch all by himself.
I didn’t know that I had the power to behead one, which he’d told me was necessary, but I’d do anything, anything to protect him.
Echo got out too, looking right at me. “It’ll be fine. He’s on his way. The Lords Hawthorne as well. Just shut it off. It’ll make his anger burn.”
I nodded, making sure to hit the right buttons. I didn’t want to accept the call and accidentally ruin everything, make this more dangerous for Soyer than it already was.
Ambrose took the lead effortlessly. We fell in behind him, jaywalking recklessly, and I was feeling bad about that. I couldn’t help but worry that we’d get spotted and stopped by a cop.
But we crossed the street okay, and went where the Brit had gone, through an open gate that led to the building proper. I couldn’t see much of it in the darkness. Most of the windows were dark, though some had a warm gleam to them as if heavy curtains were shutting out the light.
Almost as soon as we went through that gate, I felt a heaviness descend on me, like a foreboding feeling but more visceral. Elias clung to me even more tightly, and Thaeros gasped before covering his mouth with his hand.
Ambrose lifted his hand to slow us, and he went into a crouch. It took several more steps before I picked up the Brit’s voice.
“…didn’t see him there, and we have people watching the relevant places.
” He paused, taking in the response. “I don’t bloody know.
Our man in that court went dark. It could be for any reason, but we need to find Saintclair.
At this stage, we’re looking at options C or D, and Caecilius doesn’t like it.
You know how he gets when things do not go as planned.
” Another pause. “Yes, I will. Call when you have something.” Another pause. “Prick.”
At that, Ambrose moved, though he did so silently. If I hadn’t been looking ahead, I’d have missed it. There wasn’t anything in front of us either, nothing but the sound of a foot stepping on the stone path we were on.
“Clear. Move.”
Ambrose’s voice. We all went after him.
In front of the building’s door—metal and with a sign that said this was an event and shared office space—the Brit stared Ambrose in the eye, transfixed.
I didn’t connect the dots immediately, but then Ambrose asked, “How do we get inside?”
He had…what, compelled the lawyer? Or charmed him? I wasn’t entirely sure what the right word was, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that the lawyer reached into his pocket and pulled out a keycard like the type you’d be given at a hotel.
“You swipe this and go up to the second floor.”
Ambrose took the card. “How many there?”
The lawyer’s mouth was hanging open. “Caecilius and his attendants. The great sorceress. A few guards.”
“How many? Give me a head count.”
The lawyer swallowed, looking tense. “I’m not too sure. His attendants are like butterflies, and the guards try to remain unseen.”
“Right. You’re going to stay down here. Right where you are is good. Don’t move. Wait. Tell the Lords Hawthorne where Caecilius is, and tell them he has a witch up there.”
“Yes,” the lawyer said.
Ambrose walked up to the door, but hesitated. “Anything I should know before we do this?”
“It’s difficult to see,” Echo said. “Probably the witch’s power interacting with my sight. But this feels like the right thing.”
“Right thing, my ass.” Ambrose swiped the card, and the door mechanism clicked, letting him open it.
He turned to look at me and Elias. “You two especially, do not get in trouble. Or in the way. You are going to be quiet and in the background, behind me.” He pointed at Thaeros.
“Failing that, hide behind the pretty one.”
Thaeros’s eyes went wide. “Hey, that’s a little—”
“It’s fine,” I said. “I think everyone here agrees that you’re the only one who’s, you know, martial. Witches need to be decapitated, you know that, right?”
Elias blinked up at me, his green eyes bright in the cold night air. “How do you know that?”
“I’m aware,” Ambrose said. “Most things react really poorly to having their heads cut off. My point stands. You two just keep quiet and out of the way. You’re basically bait at this point, so help me fuck.”
“Almost better than lava. Almost,” Elias mumbled.
Ambrose opened the door, and we followed him. Thaeros did go ahead of us, but he was nowhere near as confident as I’d seen him on that first day in the Moonlight.
The building was concrete—clean, but boring.
Signage opposite the door pointed out the meeting rooms, the event space, and the offices.
There was a metal trash can next to the sign, and right next to it, someone had dropped a candy wrapper.
No one cared for this building or cared to keep it clean. It really was just rooms for rent.
The lights flickered on automatically. Ambrose ignored the elevator and made for the emergency staircase.
“Echo, issues with the stairs?” he asked.
“None, although this is more of a workout than I normally do in a month.”
“Your own damn fault,” Ambrose grumbled.
He opened the heavy door, and we filed into the stairwell, one after another except for Elias, who wouldn’t let go of me.
The stairs were empty, and lights came on here as well. “Shit,” Ambrose said. “Let’s move fast and hope no one sees this. I fucking hate motion sensors.”
As he took the first step, he pulled on a pair of gloves that didn’t look like regular gloves.
They were too heavy and bulky. To me, it looked like they had knuckledusters sewn right to the fabric, and I found myself wondering who’d make something like that and sell it, and what they would tell customers they were. Hammers for your fists?
On the landing, my eye was drawn to a window, the glass frosted to let in light but no sight.
Dead insects had collected on the sill, flies and bigger bugs with their little legs coiled in, a bee even, though how a bee had made it in here in this weather, I didn’t know.
The odd thing was, they were lined up one after the other, like a silent and still procession of chitinous corpses.
The sight of this oddity combined with that heavy, dark feeling that was sneaking under my skin, as if we were the friend group in a slasher movie, bound to die while exploring the basement.
I didn’t think anyone else had noticed the bugs though, and anyway, I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t just reading into things.
Ambrose signaled for us to wait on the stairs. Echo was up there with him on the landing. Ambrose opened the door a crack, peered ahead, and waited. Then he closed the door, turned, and silently came down the stairs to Elias and me.
“You two wait here.” His whisper was so quiet I had to strain to hear it. “I’m taking Echo ahead with me.” He glanced at Thaeros. “You’re coming too.”
“M-me?”
“Yeah. I have no reason to trust you, so you’re staying where I can see you.”
Thaeros looked at me with big eyes. His makeup was smudged and mostly gone, and underneath it, he was…
scared and tired. Young too. It made me think of Florence, Florence in that house with the witch.
Had there been a time when she’d understood what he was?
When she’d seen part of the magic and been afraid of it?
Of that thing she’d married and been living with?
I hoped so, because it meant that something of my sister, the person I’d known I should look out for, was still there.
Then again, I also hoped that had never happened, because if it had, she’d have felt the terror.
No one should feel that terror, and no one, no one should be alone with something that evil living in the same house, breathing the same air.
I looked Ambrose right in the eye. “They’re fine. They can stay here with us.”
I didn’t manage to keep as quiet as Ambrose, but I straightened, aiming for the kind of calm I’d show a difficult customer.
He sighed. “Look—”
“No, Ambrose. If Amory says it’s fine, then…” Elias gestured at Thaeros. “He’s fine.”
Echo put his hand on Ambrose’s shoulder. “We should go. There isn’t much time left until they get here.”
Ambrose stepped up close to Thaeros. “Hurt them, and I will hurt you tenfold.”
With that, he went up the stairs again, Echo following him. Ambrose opened the door, checking again that it was safe to go forward. He went through the door, and Echo followed him, looking back at us before he vanished from sight as well.
Once they were up there, the stairwell was eerily quiet. The lights turned off when they could no longer tell we were moving, and we huddled there in the dark, no sound from above or below telling us what was to come next.
When the lights flickered on again, it was still silent, something unseen having triggered them. My ears strained, and my heart raced in my chest. Then, I heard it—a soft sigh, nothing more than that.