20. The Raid #2
“That’s honestly your first question of me this morning?
” He reached up to rub his eyes, and I glanced over at him, and his beard-dusted face.
“Not, good morning, how did you sleep? Not, how delightful you look, given the ungodsly hour I’ve decided to awaken you, my sweet, handsome, dearest of dear chums? ”
I snorted, but I was still thinking.
“What would his father have done to him?” I blurted. “After he forced me out?”
Alaric grimaced, his face still covered with a hand.
“Lucifer’s left ballsack, Leda. Must we start the day with such grim imaginings? What do you suppose he would have done?”
I bit my lip, but my mind went back to my dreams.
Alaric let out a heavy sigh, and dropped his hands to his sides.
“I refuse to be interrogated without being properly caffeinated first,” he declared, his eyes still closed.
“What if you made the coffee while I shower? You’re so much better at it.
Make us both one of your scrumptious coffee drinks, and then we’ll go play with that nasty snake of yours.
Maybe out by the river this time, since the weather’s significantly more pleasant.
” He motioned towards the couch and fireplace without opening his eyes.
“But before that, you really need to deal with whatever that thing by the fireplace wants…”
Thing?
I flinched and stood up, staring in the direction of the fire.
The flames had risen higher since I first looked over, but the grate had been enchanted to do that as soon as the room’s occupants were awake.
It refilled with wood in much the same way.
When I still didn’t see anything, I walked closer to the couch, scanning the area where I’d seen Alaric point as I approached the fireplace.
What the hell was Alaric on about?
There was no one there.
Then, abruptly, it sat up.
I flinched the instant it moved. Looking like a mirage with the fire rippling visibly on the other side of its transparent form, Forsooth’s primal bear was seated on the rug, its fluffy ears in the air.
When it saw me looking at it, it raised its rear end from the rug and hopped from one foot to the other, rubbing its front paws together.
It looked anxious, like it had been waiting for me.
I glanced out the window to gauge the position of the sun, which was only a few inches above the horizon through the far left window on the other side of Bones’s bed. It shone a bright yellow in the shockingly blue sky, only occasionally dimmed by scuttling white clouds on their way across the sky.
The brightness had made me think it was later than it was, but now I guessed it must only be around eight o’clock. Nine at most.
No wonder I was so exhausted. We hadn’t even gone to bed until four.
I looked back at the bear.
It was pacing now, looking even more out of sorts. It raised its paw in greeting and I waved back, a little unnerved when it continued its pacing and wide-eyed staring.
I turned to Alaric.
“You make the coffee,” I said, my voice businesslike.
I slid onto a cushion in front of the bear and crossed one leg over the other. I remembered only then that I was wearing nothing but a pair of Bones’s boxer briefs and a long shirt of his that buttoned up the front. I called over my shoulder at Alaric.
“…Alaric? Coffee. Please. You make it just as well as I do. You’re just lazier.”
Alaric, despite his wild morning hair and bloodshot eyes, gave me a shocked look, like he found my words deeply insulting.
“Of course I will make it,” he began haughtily, before he blinked and squinted towards the fireplace. “Is that Forsooth’s primal?”
I started to answer him, but another voice cut me off.
“I apologize, Ms. La Fey…”
Alaric and I both jumped.
I stared back at the bear.
The voice had definitely come from it, and it sounded exactly like Forsooth. By the time my mind processed that much, the bear opened its mouth a second time.
“I apologize for being in your private rooms,” Forsooth said carefully. “I had my primal wait for you to wake up, and to notify me as soon as you had. This was the soonest I could break away, so I apologize for the delay.”
I opened my mouth, about to tell him it had been less than five minutes, but Forsooth’s voice came out of the bear’s mouth a third time.
“I’m afraid I have news,” he said grimly.
“Several pieces, really, none of which are particularly encouraging… or pleasant to share.” The bear glanced at Alaric, which might have been comical if Forsooth’s voice hadn’t come out of its mouth an instant later.
“…err, good morning, Mr. Greythorne,” the bear said, before looking back at me.
“There’s been another attack on the Sanctum Occulus. ”
My throat closed.
My dreams suddenly swam back into vivid relief.
I remembered the magical charges leaving Bones’s hands, the way the other Magicals looked at him as he strode through the rubble of the underground hall, most of them backing away, their eyes holding a respect that verged on fear.
“Bones,” I murmured.
The bear’s eyes shifted to mine, glowing with a pale, gold light.
“Yes,” he said grimly. “There were quite a few witnesses who came forward in the aftermath of the attack. They all described your husband as the primary actor in the destructive spells used to gain entry. He is said to have nearly decimating the learning institution on the upper floors…” He cleared his throat, which again, looked odd, as the bear raised its paw to its mouth to do it. “…and the residence halls.”
“The learning institution,” I breathed numbly. “Residence halls. You mean––”
“The school,” Alaric said from behind me.
Alarm reached his voice more audibly than mine.
He’d gotten out of bed, so his voice came from much nearer than I expected. He dropped his weight heavily into the couch next to me, but I continued to stare at the bear.
“They raided the school,” Alaric repeated. “How?”
The bear looked at him, then aimed its somber stare at me.
“I suspect Ms. Shadow knows the answer to that,” he said, quieter.
I didn’t answer, but yes, I did know.
Bones phased into the Sanctum Occulus. Then he used his magic to blow out several of the windows and walls, shredding the chimaeric protective layers in the process, and leaving the way open for the rest of the Dark Cathedrals to flood in behind him.
“Archie,” I said under my breath.
I looked up, not sure I wanted the answer.
But the bear, and Forsooth, already heard me.
“Yes,” Forsooth said sadly. “I’m sorry, Ms. Shadow. It appears their attempt was successful this time. Your brother was not found among the residents after they left.”
I stared at him. My mind was so lost in Bones, in trying to claw back what I remembered of the night before, I could barely make sense of his words.
“Bones took him. Bones took Archie and gave him to Malefic.” My voice came out in a whisper. I stared at the golden bear, at the dark eyes shining from the translucent outline of its face. “Is he still alive?”
Forsooth winced, but didn’t wait to answer.
“We don’t know.”
Pain shocked my heart, making me gasp as I clenched a fist to my chest. The pain came first, the emotional kick knocking my mind off its tracks, bringing up a wave of fear as I thought about Archie in that place, locked to a wall in the dark all alone.
I closed my eyes, trying to feel him there, anywhere, but I couldn’t.
I felt something else, though.
Bones, I thought at him loudly. BONES! I KNOW YOU CAN HEAR ME!
He could hear me. He could fucking hear me.
Silence was my only answer.
Not a whisper of his presence could be felt, not in any part of my magic. But I knew. Like with the initial shock, my body and heart knew before my mind understood. He was there. He was fucking there, listening to this.
Worse, I felt his pain echo mine.
In none of that did I feel any confusion or surprise.
Another twist of agony went through my magic. I fought to control it, but couldn’t.
BONES ANSWER ME… NOW. WHERE IS HE?
Nothing answered me but the crackle of the fire.