A ripple of nerves made it through the calm.
‘Besides, I think it’s better that I stay close in case they send more Empyreals, or try something unexpected.’
Her father crossed his arms. He’d been relatively silent, as if every answer to these questions was a test. ‘Aren’t they going to get suspicious if you’re around Nicole, but not bringing her in?’
‘I’m forming a contingency for that,’ Kyan said. ‘But I can buy you the time you need to find the items. Missions can go on for months if the target is smart enough. They know Freya evaded them until the end. They’ll expect you to have picked up some of her skills, so it would be normal for me to track you for a while to consider the best ways to bring you in.’
‘What about this contact in Liverpool with the key to the Muse’s apartments?’ Dylan added. ‘Can we trust them?’
‘They’re the most powerful supernatural in the city,’ Callum said. ‘Think of them like a secret mayor. They have their own interests. Let’s just say they’ve had a few run-ins with the Wake they haven’t liked.’
Verin sat now, pouring his slim form into an armchair. ‘There are more of us than you might think.’
‘So, the Wake don’t run Liverpool?’ Bells asked, surprised. ‘I thought it was one of their headquarter cities.’
Callum smiled, his teeth a flash of white. ‘It is. They have St George’s Hall as a base, but in terms of the supernatural society? No, they don’t run the city.’
Nicole absorbed everything. ‘So, if we’re in public, I have to act like I don’t know you?’
Kyan nodded. ‘I have to go to the Philharmonic Pub, but it would be safer if you stayed out. Empyreals and creatures often go in, so it’s best if we avoid close calls with any other Empyreals. But I can meet you afterwards and we’ll get what we need and meet her.’
‘Then we go tomorrow,’ her father said. ‘Tonight we rest and plan more if we need to. But there’s one more thread.’ He looked at Kyan. ‘What are you going to do about this Druid?’
Kyan took a breath, his gaze shuttering.
Nicole wanted to reach for him.
The Wake had done this: put him in this impossible situation. The mild fury of it made it through Nicole’s mask of calm like fissures in old paint.
‘Once you’re all set up,’ Kyan said, ‘I’ll go to Anglesey to check on the Druid site and make sure that the Wake aren’t making up rumours of a Druid to test me. If there is one, there’s a good chance they will have visited some of the sites and it might help me track them. Thankfully Logan’s an idiot, but I don’t know what else he’s been told. There’s a strong chance he’s been given information that would lead him there.’
‘I’m going to pack, then,’ Nicole said smoothly, keeping a tight grasp on her thoughts.
‘I’ll get to work on the samples you brought me,’ Verin said. ‘And continue with your mother’s mystery blood.’
‘This should help,’ Dylan said, offering Elisabetta’s pigment vial.
Verin’s fingers closed around it, his eyes dilating momentarily.
‘You two,’ Verin said to Kyan and Callum, ‘are welcome to stay. I suppose.’
Callum smirked.
Nicole backed up, allowing a reassuring smile to curve her lips. It helped take the edge off the press of dread, helped her begin to recalibrate and retain a sliver of the belief that this wasn’t over.
But she could see from the flicker in her father’s brow that he wasn’t convinced. So she softened the new stiffness in her shoulders.
She just needed a minute alone. Somewhere far away, where the array of immortals couldn’t hear if her breath changed or any of that panic managed to claw itself back up her throat. Because to breakdown would make this more real,would fill her with fear instead of logic. Logic was going to help them here. Information.
But Kyan’s eyes hadn’t left her. Didn’t, even as she turned and walked away as casually as she could.
She could still feel his gaze as she nearly broke into a run, reminding her too much of the first night they’d kissed in Estwood. The world blurred suddenly with tears she hadn’t realised were forming.
She knew they couldn’t stay here, not now there was a ticking clock.
But how long until the Wake got sick of waiting?
How long until they killed them all?
