A Shade in the corner of Lola’s office shook her head. She’d been an admin here when Roman adopted Eryx and me. She appeared next to me, a short, round-faced, pale woman with eyes the size of saucers. Neither Ember nor Lola saw her. “Look at all that death, child.”
I glanced at her but did not respond.
“So much murder,” she growled. “Was it worth it?”
There was no point in answering her. I flipped the page.
The Shade bent closer to me, her skin beginning to peel from her flesh. “All those Necroline deaths. Roman Necroline took you in, gave you his name, and this is how you repaid him?”
I closed my eyes and breathed deep.
The spirit’s cold fingers closed around my wrist. Though shecould not move me or truly touch me, I felt the chill of her. “Traitor. You are a traitor, boy.”
My pen stopped. I looked up, into the spirit’s now ghoulish face. Oddly enough, I recognized her from somewhere other than this office. She had been one of my uncle’s staunchest supporters. “I did what was necessary to bring honor back to the Necroline Dynasty.Did you?”
Lola and Ember had both stopped what they were doing to watch me. Lola drew a pair of spectacles from next to her desk. Likely, they were equipped with spirit glass, which was nearly impossible to come by these days. She put them on and frowned.
The spirit drew back from me, her skin no longer melting off her. She was prim once more, her permed hair vibrating with rage. I shook my head. “Did you support my uncle murdering Roman? Destroying everything he’d worked so hard to build?”
“Magnus was a good man,” the spirit said with a sneer. “He didn’t kill Roman.You did.”
Lola cleared her throat, a sharp sound. “That will be quite enough of that, Fran.” The spirit looked instantly chastened, but Lola did not stop speaking. “You know very well that the inquest into Roman Necroline’s death was definitive, despite your interference.”
Lola stood, and turned a switch next to her desk that activated an old television in the back corner of the office. “Though I cannot for the life of me banish you, I will play the videos again if you don’t bugger off to wherever your kind go when they’re not harassing people.”
It was the most I’d ever heard Lola say at once, but the spirit instantly disappeared. Lola sighed and sat back down. “You’d think being executed for her interference in the inquest would have been enough,” she muttered.
Ember stared at me, arching one eyebrow, almost playful. “What were you going to play on that television?”
Lola smirked and flipped another switch. An old children’s program started, the one with the animatronic rabbit. Even the opening credits were enough to elicit a shudder from both of us. The show had been rated as one of the most unintentionally disturbing children’s shows of all time, and it was obvious why.
Ember covered her face with her hands. “Please. Turn it off.”
Lola laughed, but obliged. “It’s the only thing I can do to get her out of my way some days.”
I took a steadying breath. “Do people think I killed Roman?”
Ember placed a hand on my arm. “No, Ares. Reasonable people know it was Magnus. The only ones who say such things were your uncle’s supporters.”
Lola nodded, apparently agreeing. Somewhere in the distance, I could still hear the golden oldies playing in the waiting room. It was a disconcerting juxtaposition. “Please continue your reconciliation.”
I flipped through the pages, reading as quickly as I could. “Most of this seems correct. Do I actually have to check this all off?”
Lola and Ember shared a look. Finally, Lola held out her hand, wiggling her fingers at me. “Give it.”
She took it, and I sighed. “Surely you don’t think the two of us are qualified to take care of a teenage girl after all that.”
Lola pulled a stamp from a drawer and thumped it onto several pieces of paper spread out on her desk. Each read “APPROVED” in large crimson letters. “On the contrary,” Lola replied. “It makes you both uniquely qualified to care for the girl. Keep her safe, please.”
Ember and I both sat staring at Lola. What she was saying was inconceivable, even for the Consulate. What did Lola Carmichael know that we didn’t? Ember’s head tilted to the side in a way that was both charming and threatening at the same time.
After several moments of uncomfortable silence, she spoke. “What is going on here, Lola? With Mike Fairchild and his operation? What aren’t you telling us?”
Lola raised her eyebrows, opened her mouth, closed it, and simply smiled. “You’ve been approved. Please feel free to attend the training seminar happening in the auditorium right now.”
Ember stood. “Feel free?”
Lola nodded. “By which I mean: you are required to attend. Get going. It starts in ten.”
