Page 133 of Dead Beat

“I’m glad. As much promise as Alex has shown, I think the board would be grateful for a steadying presence at Lethe as she heads into the next year. The Praetor tells me you’ve been staying at Il Bastone.”

“Just while I manage some repairs at home.”

“Black Elm?”

“That’s right.”

“I drove by it. I love old houses. But I couldn’t see much from the road.”

Darlington wondered just how much Reed knew. Did he actually buy the cover story they’d sold the Praetor about his whereabouts the previous year? Had he looked into the disappearance of Darlington’s parents? Did he know what had really brought him to Scroll and Key today?

“The house has potential,” Darlington said. “But she’s not at her best these days. We had a leak and one of the ceilings came down.”

“I imagine that will take quite a sum to fix.”

“It will. I’m glad Lethe can keep a roof over my head.”

“Have you given any thought to what you’ll do after graduation?”

No, he’d been too busy staving off demons, investigating murders, and attempting to close the door to hell.

“I’ve really just been trying to get reoriented,” Darlington said. “Even if I don’t remember it, I lost a year of my life.”

Reed clasped his hands behind his back, a pose that suggested the small talk was over. “Daniel, you know I’ve made it my mission to get Lethe back on track. I think both you and Alex Stern could be a part of the future I’m envisioning for the Ninth House. How much do you know about her particular gifts?”

Here it was: the opening gambit, and Darlington knew he was in tricky territory. There was no reason for him to be aware that Alex was a Wheelwalker, for him to even know what the word meant.

“She can see Grays without using Hiram’s elixir,” he said. “And I know Lethe hoped that talent could be cultivated in service of learning more about the world beyond the Veil. I certainly think we could be doing more to explore her potential.”

“As do I,” said Reed. “I believe her talent could be harnessed to create a new nexus.”

Darlington scoffed. “With all due respect, that seems like wishful thinking.”

“I assure you, it isn’t. People with Alex’s talents are rare, not only because the ability to see through the Veil is unusual, but the ability to stay alive and in one’s right mind while enduring the burden of that gift is even rarer.”

“What does that have to do with making a nexus?”

“Have you ever seen Alex use the dead?” asked Reed.

“Use them how?”

“Use their strength. Have you never wondered how she survived the violence that took the lives of her friends back in Los Angeles?”

Darlington hadn’t just wondered. He’d solved the mystery himself and at the worst possible moment. “I’ve done my best to forget Alex’s unsavory past, and I think she has too.”

“You care for her.”

Such a tepid word when standing here talking about Alex like a valuable vein of ore to be mined made him want to crack Reed’s skull against the wall. Mark’s way … and clove him thro’ the brain. More Tennyson. More blood turned to poetry. More pageant as pretense.

“I do,” Darlington said mildly. “She’s a good friend and she’s been a surprisingly capable Dante. I’ll be the first to admit I didn’t think she was a worthy candidate.”

“I did.” Reed couldn’t hide his pride, the treasure hunter marking his claim. “I lobbied for her to be brought to Lethe. Not just because of her abilities, but because I knew what that potential might yield. Did you know there’s a new nexus beneath the Yale president’s home on Hillhouse? It’s useless to us because of the location, but that is the very place that Elliot Sandow died, and Alex was one of the last people to see him alive.”

Reed thought Alex had killed Sandow. He didn’t know another Wheelwalker had been there, that Belbalm had been responsible for all of New Haven’s nexuses. But Darlington wasn’t even supposed to know the mechanism by which a nexus was made.

“I don’t follow,” he said. “There’s a big leap between seeing Grays and creating a nexus.”

“I’ll need you to take my word on this, Daniel, and I’ll be honest with you in turn. I believe Alex is in very serious danger. Whether or not you think she can do what I believe she can, there are others who will see the possibility and that puts her at risk. I can protect her. I can make sure those gifts are used thoughtfully, ethically, rather than being abused. I want you to convince her to work with me.”