Lara groaned in response, while Rhiannon simply glared at the pinboard. The only sound in the room was Briony’s fingers clacking over her keyboard, drumming out an anxious rhythm.
Rhiannon moved towards the pinboard. “There’s something about these dates I don’t like…” She shook her head, as though frustrated, then glanced at Briony. “Any luck refining those numbers?”
Briony shook her head, her fingers still flying over the keyboard. “No, but it might help if you told me what you’re thinking.”
Rhiannon grimaced. “I can’t put my finger on it. There’s a pattern in them, like you said, but it’s more than just some astrological event. The whole thing looks likesomething.” It was the most imprecise I’d ever heard her be.
Briony stopped typing to stare at the pinboard. She nodded. “I see what you’re saying. It’s like there’s a pattern behind the pattern. Like chess, almost. Like someone orchestrated all of this very carefully.”
Ember grimaced. “The Cognoscenti they have working for them. That’s gotta be it.”
Lara sighed. “Is it possible Cromvale is the Cognoscenti, and that’s why he has all this stuff? Or Fairchild? Both of them are way too deep into all this.”
I shook my head. “They’re human. We’d know if they weren’t. It has to be someone else.”
The silky fabric of Ember’s robe trailed behind her, catching on the couch for a brief moment as she got up to stand closer to Lara, giving me a glimpse of her bare skin. Ember’s arm went around Lara’s waist. The two of them were the same height and Lara had to bend somewhat to lean her head on Ember’s shoulder, her muscular arm snaking around Ember’s waist as she hugged her tightly.
Rhiannon only watched the two of them, some unspoken pain in her eyes. Did she feel left out by their affection for one another? The look passed in the span of a heartbeat, and I feared I might have imagined it, but for the way the assassin now appeared to force her hands from fists, balled at her sides, to a more relaxed state.
The sound of the front door opening and closing was quickly followed by the sound of Eryx and Av talking at once. Both of them sounded excited, and I noted with some guilt, relieved. From the sound of things, they’d figured out a way to get the swords out of the case once we’d dealt with the spirit traps.
I heard the words “shape charges” and “targeted explosions” in the midst of their chatter. Lara’s eyes lit up at the same words, and she slid out of Ember’s arms to go join Eryx and Av in their discussion.
As Lara said, “so, we’re blowing shit up, huh?” Ember turned to me. Her eyes met mine as a soft ray of sunshine broke through the clouds for a moment, before retreating, leaving her face in shadow. Her smile stretched into a grin, and for the first time in years, I no longer felt lonely.
CHAPTER 34
EMBER
Two days later,and I was almost sure I understood the technical aspects of our plan, though it made me nervous that we still didn’t know who’d stolen the swords. Rhiannon and I had both exhausted all our contacts and research methods, and so had Ares. There was no sign of the mysterious Maere that had sought out the Chioric threat so long ago.
That didn’t worry me so much. If they were Maere, they’d know how to keep themselves hidden. It did further confirm my theory that the mysterious “Mother” was probably one of them, though, and I liked the idea that there might be someone out there on our side. The most likely answer now was that the Chiorics stole the swords and were baiting us, probably with the Authority’s go-ahead, which would explain why no one had seen hide nor hair of Fairchild since we rescued Briony.
Too much was still unknown for my taste, but we had plenty going for us.
Ares understood what Myrine had meant by using one of our auras as a “lens” for his power, to create just enough of a disruption in the spirit traps to loosen their grip on the five imprisoned, unascended Maere. It had just been a hint, but he’drun with it, figuring out exactly how to maneuver his power to disrupt the spirit traps.
He said it was easy once he thought to look at it that way. I gave silent thanks to Amarante for Myrine’s generosity. I wanted to be the one he used, but Lara made a godsdamn compelling argument against it, given that she was the explosives expert between us, and I was the best fighter. Someone had to watch her back while she set the targeted shape-explosives that would blow the bottom off the case and send the swords straight through the floor of the National Gallery after the others disabled the spirit traps.
All in all, it was a risky plan and we would get out of it by the skin of our teeth, if we were lucky. The morning was rainy, as per usual, and in the background of the office, Briony was watching the news. The Ceti had been sighted near shore again, causing another round of massive waves on the coast. Humans were uneasy. Rumors were already circulating that somehow parapsych groups were enticing the monsters to shore.
The Senate was meeting in a special council to go over a bill that would require parapsychs to have a special section on their identification keys, explaining what level of parapsychism they possessed. In my experience, the bill was unlikely to pass. The Senate met to discuss such measures any time humans drummed up hysteria over parapsychism, only to be wooed later by the Consulate in back room meetings—and, of course, with bribes.
Bribes paid for by our people’s tithes to the Consulate. I tried to shut out the news, but couldn’t stop listening to it. To distract myself, I found a pair of noise-canceling headphones in my desk drawer and put them on.
When it was quiet once more, I looked over the real estate listings Rhiannon had sent me again. The connecting properties downtown were in a neighborhood primarily inhabited by necromancers and cognoscenti. The two houses had most recently been for sale for nearly four years. Though bothmansions were in lovely shape, the smaller of the two was considered to be the most haunted place in Orphium. The spirit activity there was especially malicious.
I didn’t believe the neighborhood lore that there was treasure hidden somewhere between the two properties, but it was hard to deny that anyone who’d purchased them met a grisly end if they spent too much time in Oleander Cottage. And they always did. It was why the properties were tied to one another. Whoever owned Hemlock House always ended up in Oleander Cottage at some point, and they always died gruesome deaths. The most recent owners simply never moved in, having disappeared.
The two houses had been empty for fifty years at this point. No one wanted them. No one but Rhiannon, who was sure that if anyone could survive the most haunted houses in Orphium, we could. She and Lara both argued that once we got the swords back, we couldn’t stay here. That if we wanted our power back, to be the force the island thought they were sending to Orphium eons ago, that we would have to leave the Carlyle and the Consulate’s money behind.
I didn’t disagree, but the houses troubled me a little, though I couldn’t put my finger on why. If we had our swords back, we could ward off Oleander Cottage. That would be simple enough for us with access to the island’s real magic, and then we could live in Hemlock House. The photos were lovely. It would make a good home for Briony.
Ares sat across from me, going over Avaline’s morning EMF readings from the National Gallery, comparing them to the ones she’d taken before in a spreadsheet that hurt my head to look at. He wore a pair of horn-rimmed glasses as he entered more variables. I sighed happily, looking at him. I wanted to play professor and cute co-ed while he wore those glasses…
I let myself daydream a filthy little scene for a few moments before crossing my legs and dragging my brain out of the smut factory. I tried to remind myself that he was playing withspreadsheets, not my clit, but that didn’t help much. According to him, he was testing the calculations of auric energy he would have to channel through Rhiannon’s aura to reverse the aspects of the spirit boxes that trapped the unascended Maere inside.
Reminding myself of all that was enough to quiet my lust-ridden brain down a notch or two. It was all more than I could hope to understand, but Rhiannon seemed to, and that was all that mattered. They’d tested their theory several times this morning, having constructed several spirit traps of their own. I hated the thought of them doing any of it while Briony watched, but the girl was fascinated by it all.
