Page 4 of Chaos and Crowns

Odelle set off down a hall at random. It was dark, but the moonlight streaming in through the periodic archways and skylights made it easy enough to navigate. Odelle peeked through several doors, revealing identical rooms, full of stripped beds and a thick coating of dust. Nora had told Odelle that most members of the Eteria died in the final battle against the Shadow on the plains outside Athens before the Eteria went into hiding, moving the Sanctuary into its pocket dimension. Once, these bedrooms would have been inhabited by sorcerers who dedicated their lives to the Light and defending humanity. Now they lay empty, untouched for millennia.

She continued to wander, until she found the entrance to a courtyard. The sound of trickling water came from beyond the entrance, and Odelle took a step through. When she emerged into the evening air, she immediately caught sight of the moonlight reflecting off the copper waves of the man sitting on a low stool.

Antony—the last person Odelle wanted to find. He sat cross-legged, shredding what looked to be a piece of flat bread into his lap. One by one, he held the pieces out to be plucked from his fingers by a brilliantly colored peacock standing patiently in front of him.

She faltered, hoping to exit unnoticed and find somebody else, but the magnificent bird betrayed her. It let out a high trill, making Odelle jump. She didn’t encounter peacocks in her day-to-day life, and the noise wasn’t what she’d expected. Antony looked up.

His eyes went wide as he saw her, their glassy surface reflecting the myriad stars above him. It wasn’t unlike the last time she had seen him, colored Christmas lights shining then, a thrift store holiday sweater pulled haphazardly over his classical Greek attire. She pushed away the memory of what he’d said.

“Odelle?” he asked, standing and brushing the breadcrumbs off his draped, purple garment. A peplos she remembered Nora calling it. “What’s wrong?”

“Wrong?” Odelle parroted absently as she was momentarily distracted by the amount of toned leg revealed by Antony’s clothing. She wasn’t accustomed to men not wearing pants.

“You look worried, and with Nora and Adam out of town…” he trailed off, expression unsure.

“I do need to talk to someone from the Eteria, but I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll go find Thad,” she suggested, already backing out of the courtyard.

“I can help,” Antony blurted out. The words echoed in the still courtyard.

Odelle froze. She didn’t expect Antony to want her to stick around.

“I just saw a Shadow in the city. I thought you guys would want to know.”

Antony took a few quick steps forward, then stopped short.

“A Shadow? Where? What happened?”

Odelle relayed the events at the political fundraiser. A furrow formed between Antony’s brows as she spoke.

“Did you actually see the Shadow?” Antony asked.

“Not fully, but I’m not imagining things,” Odelle retorted, “I know it was there.”

Antony looked away as he spoke.

“It’s just not like the Shadows to run away without causing an uproar. They are the physical representation of humanity's negative emotions. The Shadows love to cause fear and exploit chaos. Their goal is to spread doubt.”

“You’re the one who’s doubting me,” Odelle shot back. She bit her tongue quickly, but the quip had already escaped her lips. The way it smacked of insecurity left a bitter taste in her mouth.

Antony looked back at her. His expression flickered through hurt before settling on resigned.

“I never said I doubted you,” he said.

There was silence for a moment. Odelle watched the peacock strut among the low stools scattered around the courtyard.

“If the Shadow doesn’t normally run away, what was it doing at the fundraiser?” Odelle asked, ready to get to the bottom of this and go home.

Antony tilted his head, drumming his fingers against his thigh.

“They could have been going after you again, but then they would have struck once you were alone,” Antony speculated. “Was there anybody especially influential there? Somebody whose death or injury would cause chaos?”

“All of them.” Odelle snorted. “Politicians, philanthropists, athletes, celebrities. Any death at that party would be front page news for a month.”

“It could have been planning to just kill somebody at random then, but the Shadow has been planning its moves carefully since Nora killed the Agent in November. It might be looking for a new person to infect as an Agent to regain power. If we figure out what it was doing, we might get a hint as to what it’s planning. We should call Adam and—”

“No!” Odelle interjected. She had come here for the express purpose of not having to call them. She could handle this. Her already prickly pride was further irritated by the implication that Antony didn’t think she could help.

“Nora hasn’t had a vacation in forever, and she’ll want to come home if she hears what happened,” Odelle continued in a calmer tone, “We can handle this.”