The younger trustees surged forward, fists clenched, eyes blazing. “You can’t lock us out,” one shouted, cheeks blotched pink above his silk tie. “We’re members of this Trust, not—not some rubber stamp for your secret handshakes with investors!”
Karen Vesuvius, pale and shaking, scrambled to collect the papers she’d dropped. The deputy crouched low, juggling the briefcase and a flurry of loose pages, her glasses slipping down her nose. “S-sir, if we could just file the amended reports before?—”
Truckenham snapped his folder across her knuckles without looking at her. The crack of paper on skin made Goldie flinch. “Not now, Karen. Gods above, must I doeverythingmyself?”
He turned on the younger trustees, his voice rising like a whip. “This is business. If you can’t stomach the stakes, go back to your country clubs and your brandy decanters and let the grown-ups handle it.”
Before anyone could snap back, a sharp crack split the air. A fizzing charm whistled through a half-open window at the end of the hall and burst, flooding the corridor with a rolling wave of grey smoke.
The chant surged louder, pounding against the walls like a war drum:“Hands off our Holdings! Hands off our Holdings!”
People coughed, stumbled, shouted over one another. Clipboards clattered to the floor. The orb above the dais blinked red.“Emergency protocol enacted. All personnel proceed to the nearest unhexed exit in an orderly fashion. This is not a drill.”
“Everyone out!” barked an aide, flapping his arms as if that might clear the smoke. “Evacuate, evacuate!”
Nell’s eyes flashed Dyad-white. She clamped a hand around Goldie’s wrist. “We’re leaving. Sorry, babe, but you can untangle Beltane another time.”
Goldie whined, but another lungful of smoke cut her short, leaving her doubled over coughing. Nell hauled her bodily through the press of people and out onto the steps.
“There’s Marlow Truckenham and his deputy!” a protestor roared, voice cracking like a trumpet.
The chant fractured into a howl. Signs waved like weapons as the crowd surged forward in a furious swell.
Truckenham strode into the chaos with leonine arrogance, thunder etched across his face. His cufflinks caught the light as if even his jewelry was mocking the mob. Behind him, Karen trailed miserably, papers clutched to her chest like a shield, her gaze flicking between the protesters and the ground as if praying for it to swallow her whole.
“Out of my way!” he bellowed, plowing forward.
“You’re killing the Grove Core!” someone screamed.
“You’ve sold us out!” another shrieked.
Marlow snapped his head toward the voices, his smile cold as a knife. “Then buy it back,” he snarled. “Oh, that’s right—you can’t afford to.”
Goldie’s eyes went wide with horrified delight. She wheezed through the smoke, tugging against Nell’s grip for a better view. “This isdelicious. We should stay.”
“Absolutely not,” Nell snapped, dragging her harder.
The air dropped ten degrees.
A shadow swept over them, vast and winged, blotting out the sun for a heartbeat. Someone looked up and gasped. The creature descended, landing with an earth-shaking thump. His eyes glowed a deep, burnished red; above his brow, twoantennae flicked like divining rods. His long fingers ended in curved, black claws.
Sig Samora, former Harbinger of Doom, Nell’s mate, and occasional bringer of unwanted drama, drew himself up to his full height, ruby eyes blazing like twin suns. A protester shrieked, dropped her sign, and keeled over in a faint, hitting the pavement with a squeak like a collapsing accordion.
“We are leaving. Now.”Sig’s voice rolled out with apocalyptic resonance, rattling the protestors’ placards and making the nearest streetlight flicker.
“Honestly, Sig—” Nell began, but he scooped her up without waiting, one arm pinning her tightly against his chest. With the other, he plucked Goldie up as easily as a doll, ignoring her delighted squeal.
“Sig!” Nell hissed, half strangled. “You areoverreacting!”
“I told you, beloved,”he growled, wings beating once, twice.“There is smoke. There is anger. I will not have you here.”
The ground fell away. The plaza blurred beneath them, a smear of signs and police wards.
Goldie whooped, throwing her arms wide like she was on the world’s most dangerous carnival ride before quickly throwing her arms back around Sig’s neck.
“This is the best day of my life! Smoke bombs, politics, and now a retired Doom harbinger carrying me into the sky? Name one other Herald who’s had this much fun!”
“Kill me now,” Nell groaned into Sig’s shoulder.
