Page 30 of Written in Red

“I don’t know,” the Violet Giant said again.

Mercury glanced over at the quill, lying perfectly still on the floor. Had the Reluctant Recluse abandoned his efforts? He pushed down a surge of aggravation. Knowing his parents’ identities would change everything. If the Reluctant Recluse knew that . . .

“I’m going to go search around for something he might be able to manipulate more easily than a quill,” the Violet Giant said, then floated through the wall.

Mercury stopped his pacing at the fireplace and leaned his arm against the mantel. I was taken from my parents. I likely wasn’t even an orphan. Everything he had assumed about himself was suddenly thrown into question.

A moment later, his door opened and Tacey rushed inside. “Mercury, we have a problem.”

He was at her side in an instant. “What’s happened?”

“I sent my Invisible to spy on the Brands, just in case.”

Mercury nodded quickly.

“They didn’t come here to make a ghost swap.” She clutched the sleeve of his jacket. “They’re hunting you.”

Blast it.

“I saw them earlier in the corridor,” he said. “Did they say anything that would indicate they recognized me?”

She turned her head a little, clearly looking at her Invisible. “They said they know that you are in this house, but that was all he was able to hear.”

The Brands didn’t know he was aware that they were bounty hunters. That gave Mercury an advantage. He would need to have a quick conversation with the Quiet Queen. The ghosts herding people inside the house down to the dungeon needed to coordinate their efforts without immediately tipping their hand.

“Mercury,” Tacey whispered tensely. She motioned to the fireplace.

The glowing embers were moving around in an entirely unnatural way, shifting and jerking and darting about. The Reluctant Recluse? Was he going to attempt to write something in the coals?

But nothing emerged. No words. No letters.

Mercury needed to focus on the threat currently under his roof.

“It’s possible the Brands, or whatever their names actually are, plan to wait until we’re asleep to make their move,” he said. “There are a lot of rooms in the house that are impossible to find if one doesn’t already know where they are.”

“Should we retreat to one of those?”

The Scholar’s room would be a good option. As far as he knew, none of his other ghosts had ever found the room. Tacey could find Zizzy and bring her with them. Mercury would bring Baby Blue. Both ghosts would have a much-needed buffer from the dangers descending on Aventine. Tacey and Mercury would be out of reach of the Brands while they formulated a strategy.

“We’ll need—”

Pain as searing and sudden as a bolt of lightning shot through every inch of him with such force it physically knocked him back. He stumbled, only just managing to stay on his feet.

Tacey grabbed hold of him. “Mercury?”

He pulled in a tight breath.

“Mercury?” Tacey’s alarmed voice echoed in the periphery of his hearing. He was faintly aware that she was holding on to him, looking at him.

“Baby Blue,” he managed to whisper.

With effort, he grasped hold of his equilibrium. The pain ebbed but didn’t entirely cease. Underneath it was something far worse.

“I can always feel him.” His voice emerged as a whisper again. He took a breath, then tried once more. “I constantly feel our connection.” Tears stung at the back of his eyes as a terrified grief rushed over him. It paralleled the feeling of loss he experienced every time he released a ghost during a Transferal but was amplified a thousand times. “I can’t feel him anymore. The connection—The connection is gone.”

He looked over at the bed. It was empty. Mercury’s pain gave way to panic. It wasn’t just the connection between them that had disappeared. Baby Blue had.

Tacey’s gaze darted from Mercury to the spot where Baby Blue had been and back a few times. “Where is he?”