Page 32 of Written in Red

Mrs. Brand’s innocent pleading of earlier was gone. This was a woman who was calculating. Like Mrs. Vann, but far colder.

Behind her, Mr. Brand turned slowly and stepped closer. “That’s him. Though he’s not a child any longer, I recognize him.” He stepped into the glow of light emanating from the Forever Flame.

Mercury knew him in an instant: the governor of Moor Cross Home for Orphans. That was all Mercury had ever known him as. The Governor. No other name.

“You’ve made quite a life for yourself, Sidney.”

Mercury pushed aside the remembered pain the man had inflicted on him for so long. “My name is not Sidney,” he said calmly.

The Governor was not the least impacted by that declaration. “I would be willing to skip a criminal trial, if you’ll go before the debtors’ court and agree to give over the assets you owe me and the rights to your ghosts. This could be resolved very quickly and easily.”

Mercury stood firm. “I have one fewer ghost than I did before. The Forever Flame has seen to that.”

The Governor didn’t seem concerned about that. It was further evidence that Baby Blue was somehow being held by them, and not lost entirely. It was the only thing keeping Mercury the least bit calm.

“Can we not just take all of his ghosts now?” the Governor asked the Forever Flame.

“Not now.” The sinister smile on the ghost’s face grew. His glow burned hotter. “But in good time.”

Whether the Forever Flame was toying with Mercury or was not able to take more than one ghost, Mercury didn’t know. There had to be limits to this ability. Mercury needed to discover what they were. But first, he needed to find a way to regain some distance.

“No point inching toward the door,” Mrs. Brand said. “If you think we’re foolish enough to have arrived unarmed, then you are not the clever criminal I was led to believe you are.”

“I will tell you one more time,” Mercury said, slowly, calmly. “Give Baby Blue back.”

“Or what?” The Forever Flame floated the tiniest bit closer. Heat emanated from him.

Mercury didn’t flinch or look away. “I’ve been told that I ought to be afraid of you.”

“You have been told correctly.”

“You will soon enough wish someone had told you that ‘afraid’ doesn’t begin to describe how anyone who harms my ghosts should feel about me.”

The Forever Flame laughed, the sound unnerving. Still, Mercury didn’t back away. He had no escape plan, but he wasn’t afraid. And he wouldn’t be threatened into submission.

To Mercury’s surprise, the room filled with specters, rushing in through the floor, the walls, and the ceiling. They swirled and spun, the display every bit as coordinated as the dance they had always undertaken when clients arrived at Aventine. It was a mass of movement that rendered their translucence somehow nearly opaque.

Mercury hadn’t summoned them or asked them to come to his defense. How had they known he needed them?

In the midst of the ghostly chaos, Tacey snatched hold of his hand and yanked him toward the door. He couldn’t see the Forever Flame. Couldn’t see the Brands. He could barely see the door. His ghosts were providing him and Tacey enough cover to escape.

He held fast to her hand. They didn’t slow down or look back, but rushed down the corridor.

“You were meant to be staying safe in the tunnels,” Mercury said.

“I told you before that I won’t leave you. Neither will any of your ghosts.”

They turned the corner and hurried down the stairs.

“Are we going to the tunnels now?” she asked.

He shook his head. “We need to go where no one can possibly find us.”

Mercury led her through a maze of corridors, aiming for the well-hidden entrance to the Scholar’s tower. They wouldn’t be discovered there. The rest of his ghosts didn’t know how to enter it.

He led Tacey inside the cleverly hidden entrance to the tower and closed it firmly behind them.

“Do you know what happened to—?” Tacey’s question broke with a shaky breath. “To Baby Blue?”

“The Forever Flame has him,” Mercury whispered. “In some way. I don’t know what or how. Yet.”

They climbed the winding stairs in nearly complete darkness. Her grip on his hand was firm, yet it didn’t feel strong enough. A connection he’d had his entire life had been ripped away from him that night. Everything was suddenly fragile.

They reached the Scholar’s room at the top of the tower. The ghost sat, as always, behind his desk, among his stacks of books.

He looked up as Mercury and Tacey stepped inside, eyeing them through his spectacles. He skipped his usual greeting. “Has something happened?”

“The Forever Flame is here,” Mercury said. “And—” He pushed out a breath. “And Baby is gone.”

Tacey wrapped her arms around him. “We’ll get him back, Mercury. Somehow, we’ll get him back.”

The Scholar rose, his gaze holding Mercury’s. “This is still a place of rending. It is still breaking unbreakable things. Still shattering what shouldn’t be brittle.”

Mercury set his arms around Tacey. Holding her, he felt grounded and focused. “I’ve fixed broken things before. I’ll do it again.”