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“She isn’t,” Petra said. “She was able to get away. I’m very sorry.”
He looked away, blinking hard against those tears, and my heart ached for the loss in his expression. “I’m sorry,” he said again. “I’m having trouble getting this. This was my job. My mission—that’s what my dad said—to make sure she was captured. And I guess I failed?”
“You didn’t.” I waited until he looked at me. “Your family has helped keep Rose out of Chicago since the ward was put into place. But Rose is wily. This time, she beat both of us. At least so far.”
He nodded but obviously wasn’t convinced.
“You knew our names when we came to the door,” I added. “Why haven’t you contacted us?”
He made a motion like he was zipping his lips together. “Sworn to secrecy. I mean, you come and ask me about it, and I can talk. But I can’t spill the beans unless someone asks. Blood oath,” he explained.
I frowned. “And in all the years you’ve been the Machinist, no one asked?”
“Not me or my dad, as far as I’m aware. I’m sure someone asked one of the greats all those years ago, but I don’t know what they were told. As long as the demon doesn’t get in, people lose interest.”
I glanced at Petra, who was making a low growl, and wearing the same scowl as yesterday. “We’re aware efforts were undertaken to keep the wards secret,” I said. “So you don’t know where or what the other ones are?”
“Not a thing. We were supposed to be separate to be incorruptible.”
“What about other people involved?” I asked. “Other Machinists?”
“There’s no one outside the family who’s involved,” he said. “Other than the trustees I told you about. But the original paper records were lost in a flood in the early 1900s.”
“What about the ley lines?” Petra asked. “How are they involved?”
For a moment, Hugo just blinked at her. “Seriously? I mean, the Cornerstones, right? That’s the whole point.”
We just looked at him.
“I don’t know what those are,” Petra said. And if she didn’t know, Theo and I certainly didn’t.
“Magical tablets buried in Chicago?” Hugo said, looking between us. “They were put underground and spelled to regulate the power coming from Chicago’s ley lines and power the wards.”
It was Petra’s turn to blink in obvious shock. It wasn’t often that someone surprised her with information. “Magical tablets?”
“Well, yeah. Really big rocks?” He stretched his arms in a wide circle.
“You said they regulate the power of the ley lines,” I said. “So they’re kind of like electrical transformers?”
“Sure. Like that.”
“Did the Guardians put them in place?” I asked.
“Yeah. I think it was a two-birds-one-stone kind of deal. Regulate the ley lines as Chicago’s human population increased to make everyone safer.”
“Because less powerful ley lines meant less powerful supernaturals?” I asked.
“I think that was the theory, yeah.”
“And one of the Cornerstones powers your machine?” Theo asked.
Hugo nodded.
“How many Cornerstones are there?”
“I don’t know.”
Petra sighed. “And I guess you don’t know where they are?”
