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“Hello?”
Shit. We weren’t alone. There had been someone in the meditative room, sitting cross-legged with their back to us. They rose, wearing a leather cowl, which they pushed off their face.
I gasped. I couldn’t hold back the reaction.
It was Kyler. One of the leaders of the Crimson Ring. They had somehow freed him. He looked at me with those gaunt, beady eyes. Like a crow, examining me. Some of the smartest creatures alive and one which symbolized death.
“I, um, sorry,” I said, trying to fix the mess I made with my reaction. “You spooked me. I thought no one was supposed to be here.”
“As did I,” Kyler said. He laced his fingers together. The red and blue hues made the shadows on his face stark, making him look even more skeletal than usual. And his forehead—the raw ring of flesh still bubbled. It made me sicker than any amount of teleportation could ever do.
“We got clearance to visit today,” Maddox continued. The illusion I weaved for him still remained strong and intact. I didn’t have to expend any energy to keep it up either, a technique that Ashley had taught me. It was a way of binding certain threads to the person in order to project the disguise for others to see. The only downside was that it wasn’t unlimited, as it would have been if I had the power and strength to channel the illusion. Just like the masks and wigs, we had about an hour before these illusions gave out. I could reapply them, but we’d need to make sure no one was around when they dropped.
Either way, I expected us to be out of here much sooner than that.
“The Glass Auditorium is closed to all. If you need to pray to Niazatos, then go to the altars.”
“We aren’t here to pray,” Maddox said. “We’re here to see the paintings.”
It was how we had planned it. If we were confronted, which we expected we would be, we’d admit to knowing about the paintings while not giving up our true identities. We just needed to get close to the other two. A single ice blast from Maddox would rip the canvas to shreds, and the map to finding one of Niazatos’ locks would be gone.
If Kyler was surprised at Madds’ admission, he didn’t show it. “What business do you have seeing the Moriarty paintings?”
I cleared my throat. This next part would be risky. I thought we’d be interacting with a lower member of the cult, not with one of the heads of the snake directly. “We think we know why they aren’t revealing the location for the lock.”
That got Kyler to show a little surprise. His eyes widened, his head twitched to the side. “How do you know the paintings aren’t revealing what we need already?”
“We’ll explain more when we see the paintings ourselves,” I said.
Kyler considered us for a long, drawn-out moment. A school of silver minnows darted past the window like a stream of shooting stars. I knew my illusions still held, but his cold stare made me feel naked.
“These paintings have been hunted by many individuals for decades upon decades. I need proof you aren’t here to steal them for yourselves.” Kyler licked his chapped lips. “Proof or collateral.”
“We can’t offer you either of those things.” Maddox held his ground. His arms were crossed, his form intimidating even with the illusion. It was like the power of his dragon crackled through the greasy exterior.
“Fine.” His smile turned as sinister as a rusted blade. “But drop the illusions first, boys. I want to see your pretty faces before I kill you.”
Our turn to be surprised. Fuck. “How?” I asked.
“You think you can get past one of the leaders of the Crimson Ring with a simple projection illusion? You already tried that once, dumbass.”
“Caleb…” Maddox took a defensive step forward. I dropped the illusions now that we were caught. I’d never felt more defeated. He had seen right through us. All the hard work I had put in, the confidence I had mustered up, all of it was shot in the face and buried six feet under. Beyond that, I had let Maddox down and had now put us both in a very, very, very fucking dangerous spot.
Not great. Not great at all.
“I knew you two would be a problem. I sensed it that day you two came to visit me in the prison.”
“How did you get out?” I asked. If I couldn’t use my Marvel skills to save us, then I’d use my detective ones. The first thing I had learned in my career was to keep a dangerous subject talking. It bought time to think of possible ways to get out of this alive and unscathed, plus it also lowered the assailant’s guard.
“It was a team effort. I had a lot of people watching out for me. And I truly believe Niazatos himself guided my early release from behind his own prison. It’s why I praise him, why we mark our flesh with his symbol.” He placed a finger at the top of the burning mark and traced the circle. Goose bumps shot across my arms, and I got light-headed. “The eternal circle. Unbroken. Always burning. Chaos. Pain. Beauty. Opportunity. A cycle that remains whole.”
