26 | Fabian
Istumble out of my bedroom, feeling like maybe the stress has finally gotten to me and I’ve gone deaf.
It’s quiet.
Too quiet.
I might have barely been here over the past few months, but every time I am in the apartment, it’s been a hotbed of noise. It’s like Silver’s family has taken over the entire floor and I never know where they’re going to turn up next.
In the living room, I find Seb alone. He’s sitting in front of the TV wielding a glue-gun and what looks like a t-shirt and a bunch of fake jewels.
“What have you got there, bud?” I ask. Back to my awkward father-brother routine. I don’t want to stifle his creativity, but I’ve seen the shit he’s crafted before and I wouldn’t say he’s a natural at it.
“Decorating a t-shirt for Silver,” he replies. “Good sleep?”
Something in his tone is almost accusatory. It has me pausing warily, glancing around at the empty room.
“Where is everyone?”
“You might want to check your phone,” he says without looking at me.
“Or you could just tell me what’s going on?” I might have just woken up, but I feel exhausted. I can’t remember the last time I felt normal. For months, the curse took so much out of me and took over my life, and then it’s like as soon as I was well enough to return to normal life, everything started happening at warp-speed.
I”m so over my head, it’s not even funny.
And right now, I feel like I’m out of the loop entirely. It’s as though the end of the world has stopped in time and I didn’t even notice.
“They found Silver’s brother this morning,” Seb says.
His wording has me freezing in place. “Which brother? And what do you mean by they found him? Found him where?”
“You should definitely check your cell phone,” he says.
“Shit. Ro and Zeph have gone down there, too?” I ask, frantically checking my pockets for my phone, plucking it out of my pajama pockets.
“Everybody is.”
As I read the exchange of over twenty missed messages and a bunch of missed calls, I can see why Seb didn’t outright explain the situation.
It’s weird as hell.
And horrifying.
Guilt, my current constant companion, writhes in my gut, licking through my veins. Fuck. I should have been with Silver when she discovered him.
I was supposed to be making things up to Silver, and what have I done?
I’ve avoided her for weeks, like a coward. Throwing myself into work so I don’t have to see her face when she realizes how badly I’m failing at keeping control.
Work has taken over my brain and I’m pretty sure I’ve fucked up my chances of ever getting closer to her.
I wonder how much of the mess in the district was orchestrated. A distraction to split our attention.
A distraction that’s worked too well.
This is my worst nightmare. Everything is falling apart and I’ve been about as productive in fixing things as a paper shoe is at damming a torrent of water.
“I need to get down there.”
Seb rolls his eyes. “Yes, dummy. You do.”
I’m filled with purpose as I stride back into my bedroom and pull on some clothes before shoving on my shoes and skidding into the living room. Seb is putting on his coat and I come up short.
“What are you doing, bud?”
“I’m coming too,” he announces. “I was only sticking around here to tell you what’s happening.”
I scan him carefully. “Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?”
I can’t remember the last time he left the building. Which fills me with another surge of guilt. Fuck. I suck at being his guardian, too. He should be regularly heading outside, getting fresh air and all that, seeing other people. Maybe even making friends his own age.
“I’m feeling pretty good at the minute, bro,” he tells me. “Dante gave me some of his blood this morning.”
That pulls me up short. “He did what?”
“He let me suckle on his vamp’s teat,” Seb replies drily.
“He. Did. What?”
“Just kidding,” he snorts. “I guess he was feeling guilty or something. I shared my cereal with him and he shared his blood. No big deal. Plus, Luna’s working on this potion that’s going to help. I’m feeling pretty good right now.”
Fuck. I’ve missed even more than I realized.
“Let’s go.”
By the time we reach the riverside, it’s barely eight in the morning yet the place is crawling with people.
“The living statues have really brought out the crowds,” Seb says. “This is seriously messed up.”
Among the gawkers, I spot Silver’s slight form standing between Zeph and Roscoe, with Dante nearby. The three of them are acting like a wall around one statue.
I find myself on the outside of their little group, kicking myself for letting things get into this state.
“Hi,” I say, like a total asshole. “I’m so sorry, I overslept. But I came as soon as I heard.”
The excuse sounds shitty and feeble, even to my own ears.
Silver’s face is a mask of surprise when she sees me and it’s a kick to the dick, as I realize she had no expectations of me coming down here at all.
And then I see the statue behind her. The red hair is unmistakable. Focusing my magic onto Ember, I can feel the faint heartbeat still pumping despite his frozen state.
“He’s alive,” I mutter the words more to myself than anything.
“He is,” Silver replies. “They all are. They’re not conscious, though, which I think is a good thing.”
“I still don’t understand what the point of this is,” Hanna says from a few feet away where she’s got a fireball in her hand. “Why isn’t anything working?” She’s as close to tears as I’ve ever seen her.
Silver steps closer and wraps her arms around her sister, hugging her close.
“This is the vamps’ handiwork again?” I ask, feeling useless and out of the loop.
“They left a pretty big calling card,” Zeph grunts, gesturing to the mound of bodies behind them.
Shit.
“It’s another fucking spectacle,” Zeph spits. “Making the Archarcans look incompetent and scaring the shit out of people at the same time.”
“I still think they probably got fed up with Ember and it was the only way to shut him up,” Hanna jokes, swiping at her streaming eyes with the back of her hand.
“How long do you think they’ll last like this?”
“Who knows?” Silver shrugs. “They could stay like this forever, or at least until whatever spell they’re under is lifted.”
She looks devastated, and I want to wrap her up in my arms and protect her from everything bad in the world.
It’s not lost on me that I’ve done a shit job of that recently.
I had thought that by fixing up the gaping holes in the district; I was making a future for us all. Ensuring it so that we can all walk down the street unmolested. But I don’t think that’s where anyone needs me to be.
“I think we ought to take a break. Regroup,” Ro says.
“You’re looking dead on your feet,” Zeph tells Silver, causing Dante to pat him on the shoulder and mutter something I don’t catch.
“Not that you look bad, Silver. You always look good, you know that.”
I say nothing. I’m not all that sure they need me here either, though.
Dante’s the one that pulls Silver into his arms and holds her tight against his chest, murmuring words I can’t hear into her ear. Then Roscoe plasters himself to her back and Zeph steps in close, holding her hand and giving it a squeeze.
My insides bottom out like a stone tossed into a cavern.
I have to fight to push down the seething jealousy. I might not be the first person she turns to for comfort. I get that and I understand why. I’m unreliable, I haven’t been around enough recently. And I’ve got a history of hurting her.
But there are ways I can help.
“I need to make some calls,” I say. I can’t quite pull myself away, even though I’ve already excused myself. I’m pathetic, like I need more acknowledgement that someone might notice if I wasn’t here.
Silver nods in understanding and shoots me a small smile, although there’s no way she can fully understand since I’m clearly a fucking useless communicator.
From Ro and Z’s twin disapproving expressions, they think I’m heading straight back to work.
I don’t blame them.
Fuck, I’m an asshole.
Silver reaches out and squeezes my arm, clearly noticing my hesitation. “You go do whatever you need to do,” she says.
I hesitate only for another moment before stepping away and pulling out my phone. What good is it being the heir to this burning shitshow if I can’t use it to our benefit?
Despite the vocal and arson-happy minority from the district, there are still plenty of people around who will work for us, so long as enough cash is involved.
And Felix might have nearly bankrupted the district, but I still have my personal funds, which he wasn’t able to touch.
If I want any hope of making things up to her, I’m going to have to make myself useful. I need to crawl my way back up.
I haven’t proven that she can rely on me.
That stops now.
Before I can manage to take a step away to make any calls, my feet stick to the pavement. I fight harder, but it’s like the ground is one giant magnet and my boots are made of iron. Panic fills me as I fight the invisible tethers holding me down.
I can’t move.
It feels like I’m trapped, unable to take a step. My body is locked in place.
It’s a feeling that’s horrifyingly familiar since I experienced it about a month ago during the Solstice Ball.
Someone is compelling me to stand still.
And then the vampires appear and my insides rebel as I desperately try to move my feet to fight against the mental shackles.
It’s useless. I. Can’t. Fucking. Move.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Simpson strutting closer, a wide grin on his face.
“Predictable, aren’t you, pet? I knew you would show up eventually. But you’re even faster than I expected. You really must not have better things to do.”
I can’t even turn my head to see what’s happening. My gaze is focused on Ro, whose expression is locked in a mask of horror.
Behind me, I hear boots on the pavement. Another unfamiliar male voice sounds.
“Alabaster Clements, you’re coming with us.”
Thunder rumbles in the air. Z’s magic letting itself be known.
Shit. Maybe not all of me is frozen, after all. I try to summon my magic to do something, but nothing happens. My head is fuzzy and feels like I’m in the middle of a fever as confused images flash into my vision.
The judiciary building. Simpson. Silver’s mother. Blood. Carnage. People in chains.
I can’t tell what’s real and what’s in my imagination, and I can’t seem to take a full breath. Black spots form in front of my eyes and I realize that my restricted movement is stopping me from breathing properly.
Holy hell, am I about to suffocate like this?
And then, just as quickly as the inability to move came over me, I’m mobile again. My legs buckle and I almost collapse to my knees, stumbling forward.
When I turn my head, I have a terrible sense of foreboding about what I’m about to find.
The vamps have all disappeared, and they’ve taken Silver with them.
“They said her name,” Zeph mutters, dragging his fingers through his hair, his eyes darting wildly around as he sucks in air, his chest heaving.
“What?”
“They said her birth name. They called her Alabaster. That means they know who Silver is.”
I’m slower than usual, my brain taking a while to click into gear. “The vampires?”
“No. The judiciary. That’s who took her.”
“Which means—”
“The judiciary has her. They know who she is. That she’s not dead like she’s supposed to be.”
My stomach roils and I have to breathe deep to avoid vomiting all over my feet. I eye the pile of bodies again. This is like a nightmare.
A trap.
One that we walked right fucking into.
“I saw her face, man. She was terrified, and it looked like we just stood there watching as they arrested her. What if she thinks we chose not to help her?” Roscoe asks.
“She’s not going to think that,” I say. “This entire thing was a trap. Ember being frozen and drawing her down here, the pile of bodies handily placed nearby. I bet it was all planned to lure her out.”
“I wonder if they somehow got that ghost guy to draw her out here, too.”
“Simpson wants Silver. He still sees her as his little pet.”
My stomach churns again, and bile fills my throat.
“We’ve been expecting something big. Another grand gesture, like setting zombies loose on the city, or cursing blood mages and causing carnage,” I say. “What if they’ve got another angle?”
“What are you thinking?” Roscoe asks.
My mind’s working a mile a minute as I think aloud. “They want to take over the city, right? And we know that either Simpson or one of his cronies can get inside people’s heads. What if they’re doing that already?”
Zeph lets out a growl, pacing back and forth. “Who do you think they’re controlling? The judiciary?”
“Them. The Archarcans. Could be any of them or all of them.”
Maybe even the people in our district, hellbent on destroying the place. Although, it seems too easy to blame everything on the vamps.
It certainly worked as a distraction, if that was their aim.
“Their first attempt didn’t work. The Archarcans ignored it and everyone went back to regular life, pretending like everything was fine after zombies tore the city apart.”
“And you think the vamps are gonna have gone for a more subtle route this time?” Ro asks, then gives a brief nod. “Until yesterday, they’ve been too damn quiet.”
“We should have got the fuck out of this city when we had the chance,” Zeph growls.
Another stab of guilt hits me in the gut and I rub my hands over my face. “I think you’re right.”
As Ro’s eyes widen, it’s beaten into me once again how much I’ve been messing up recently. Trying to do the right thing, but failing miserably.
He lets out a little laugh that’s got no humor to it. “I figured you’d never want to leave this place after all the time and effort you’ve put into working for the district. All that legacy bullshit your dad’s been banging on about for most of our lives.”
I shake my head, staring from the pile of bodies in front of me to the people trapped in place as living statues. There’s so much rotten in this city, I’m not sure there are any parts that can be saved.
“None of it means anything,” I say. “All the legacy shit has always just been a way for the great Lucien Nightshade to continue to feel powerful without having to put in any of the work. If we—” I swallow hard and find I can’t continue. If we lose Silver because I was too stubborn to get the fuck out of dodge before it was too late, I’m never going to forgive myself.
I can’t even say the words aloud, though. Can’t risk putting any of that shit into the universe.
“It’s all been someone else’s dream, not mine.”
I don’t even know what my dream could be. I’m pretty sure it involves two unique eyes that look like starbursts and which make my breath catch and my heart pound.
“Last time you guys tried rescuing Silver from the judiciary, it didn’t go so well,” Ro points out.
“Only because she’d done a damn good of saving herself. I don’t think that’s going to happen this time, though. We’re going to need a plan, and fast.”