Feargus

  Rhian, Strauss, and I went our separate ways at the Amali Drop. I had people to see, spying to do, and the crew had a dilapidated building to visit. I didn’t follow their wagon back to Oskari, though. Instead, I skirted around the forest and made for the estate. Peter answered the door. Alexander wasn’t home, and Faust was in the library. Our conversation went as follows:

  “They got their information from Delestade, and now they’re planning to investigate an abandoned building about half-way between Jaska and Oskari.”

  “The Vonsinfonie school?” Faust asked.

  We all know it was, but I shrugged. “It wasn’t given a name, just: old building.”

  “Well, it must be,” Faust replied. “So they’re on their way back to Oskari now?”

  “Reckon they’ll ask Michael to tag along and leave as soon as possible.”

  I didn’t mention that things between Rhian and Strauss had been beyond awkward. They’d barely spoken to each other since their mutual deflowering, which I definitely didn’t mention. But I anticipated Strauss would get back to Oskari, panic, and hide in his room with his oats and his book, and Michael and Rhian would end up travelling without him.

  “Helena Varis will be arriving soon,” Faust said.

  There wasn’t a world in which Helena Varis slotted into our crew, and Faust made it clear she was looking for a cohesive bunch. “Why?”

  “She’s achieved her Legacy status and is, as such, ready for breeding. She’d already been paired with Michael Reider. There was nothing I could do.”

  Oh, aye, of course. Ready for breeding.

  Confession: Rhian and I were officially a breeding pair, too. It was decided for us long before the current Councilwoman Kelly took her seat on the Assembly. But Rhian’s thirtieth birthday was still over nine years away, and so it wasn’t something we were imminently worried about. We also had faith in Kelly, and we swore we’d defect if it ever came to it.

  Now, here’s the sticky: Arranged pairings were a collective decision, something the Assembly agreed upon based on Palisade needs, skill overlap, and so on. Because of this, they held each other accountable for their output each year. But every Assembly member handled the execution differently. When I was interviewing Riz for this very book, we spoke a fair bit about his own experiences.

  With Oranen, if the pair put up a fuss, she’d lock them in a silver cell with a guard watching, and in the worst cases, they’d utilize telepaths to—well—Riz said it was much less humiliating to comply, and at least you’d get a bed and a door, though there would always be someone posted behind it. Faust went for a more natural approach, and even if I didn’t care for Helena Varis, I hoped Michael liked her at least a bit.

  “Remember, Helena Varis is rigid and fiercely loyal to Palisade. She is also the product of exceptional circumstance and is deserving of empathy. But I don’t expect you’ll have to be in direct contact with her, Agent Finlay. Lay low, observe, and report.”

  That was that, and no, I didn’t tell her about Vincent Delestade being Sebastian Vonsinfonie. Not that I could, but even if. It wasn’t about me, it was about him, and he didn’t want to be found. I’d take it to my grave if I had to.

  My bag was heavy with illegally imported goods, making it difficult to travel efficiently, but I wasn’t ready to visit the Tragers’ yet. I needed somewhere to unload so I could take care of some other business. Actually, in general I needed somewhere to keep my things and to clear my head. I’d been relying on the office at the Widow’s Peak, and there was Alexander’s, but with everything being so entangled, and with everybody in my circle knowing different things about my business, I really wanted a special place of my own where I could keep all my secrets. Like Derek’s tower—

  And that’s when it hit me. Not Derek’s tower. That was his. But when we spent the night together there, I’d spotted an old cabin nestled in the forest. If it wasn’t being used, it could be exactly what I needed, mates. So, that was my next stop.

  There was a lock on the door that didn’t function, but I knew I could replace, and otherwise it was perfect. Everything was caked in a thin layer of dust. The single wooden bed frame was bare, and the nightstand and the table were strung with cobwebs. Safe to say, the cabin hadn’t been in recent use, but it wouldn’t be too much trouble to fix it up. And over the coming days whenever I'd have some time to spare, I’d: replace the lock, fix a busted floorboard, sweep, dust, steal an old mattress from an abandoned home in Jaska, get a blanket from Della, and fill the nightstand with snacks.

  But for the time being: security check. I needed to know a few things about how the Anima whistle worked, and if it did reveal an Anima, I had to test my mettle against one of them myself eventually, and without the help of Ever or Zacharias.

  I loaded my hand crossbow with a silver bolt and stepped outside.

  From around my neck, I retrieved the Anima whistle and I blew.

  When Delilah said it would affect me, too, that was about as much of an understatement as that one time I said I loved cookies. The pain was real, folks. If I hadn’t been expecting it, it might have been debilitating. For a surprised Anima, it would have been. The sound didn’t echo, and it seemed concentrated to the immediate area, but I couldn’t say for certain the exact radius. I waited, and waited…

  A minute, a minute thirty-seven, two minutes, five minutes.

  I had a look around, but I was still alone.

  And I hated every single second of it.

  I’d calculated how long it would take Rhian and Strauss to get from the Drop to Oskari by wagon, and I made sure I was back in town before then. I hadn’t eaten much since leaving Delphia, so I thought I’d stop by for some lunch and a chat with V while waiting for things to develop.

  I’d been given a set of keys to the back door of the Widow’s Peak, so I didn’t have to knock the secret knock anymore. I let myself in and stood next to the door leading out behind the bar. Ivana was up front having a conversation with Michael, incidentally.

  “I don’t understand what I’ve done to upset you,” he said. “But whatever it is, I’ll do what I can to make up for it. We might be in town for a while.”

  “Great,” V answered. “There’s really no reason we need to communicate though.”

  Ouch, but I understood where her head was when she said it. I’d seen a portrait of Ivana’s late husband and there was an uncanny resemblance.

  The bell dinged when the front door opened. I’d recognize those footsteps anywhere.

  “Is it my hair?” Michael asked.

  “I don’t care about your hair.”

  “Is it my irrepressible cheer?”

  “I don’t love it, but no.”

  “Is it because I say to-mah-to instead of to-may-to? Because if it is, you can blame Rhian for that.”

  There was a bit of a pause.

  “Good to have you back, Rhian,” V said.

  “Nice of you to say,” Rhian replied.

  I was happy they were getting along.

  The conversation shifted pretty quickly, though. Michael wanted to know what happened in Delphia, and Rhian gave him the short story version. She then started questioning V about the abandoned building.

  “You’re talking about the old schoolhouse?” Hint number one dropped. “It hasn’t been used in decades, but I think it’s even older than that. Some say even pre-Divide.” Hint number two. “Seems far-fetched, but what do I know? I’m not that old.”

  Subtle, subtle hint number three. Also, very funny.

  “You don’t look a day over twenty,” Michael said.

  But V ignored him and carried on talking about the old building, that it had been re-purposed as a tavern at one time. Hint number four, though that was news to me.

  Eventually, Michael and Rhian left, and Ivana joined me in the office.

  If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  “You handled that like someone who’s said those exact words before,” I said.

  “Yeah, well. It’s my role, isn’t it? The token innkeeper who dispenses vague knowledge when the Partisans come calling. At least this time I feel like, I don’t know, with Faust in charge, it’s still the same charade, but it’s like we’re moving toward something different.”

  “No joke,” I said. “So it really is a mystery theatre.”

  “What?”

  “Lidia staging everything around her cycle, Alexander leaving cryptic notes, you nudging them when you know exactly what that building is, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, Jack, this is Amalia. This is how we do it, but I’m telling you, this time feels different. Not in the least bit because this time I have you to do it with.”

  “Aye, V, you’ve got me,” I said with a smile, as if anybody really did.

  V answered with a kiss, and I answered with a fancy fountain pen I’d picked up for her in Delphia—manifested out of thin air, of course.

  She and her sexy ledgers loved it.

  “Hungry? Thirsty?” she asked.

  “Aye,” I said. “Usually.”

  I let Michael and Rhian get a good head start on the trip to the schoolhouse. I needed to spy on them, but not too closely, and to make sure that by the time I arrived, they were already inside. It’d be easier to watch them from the outside in. I had never actually explored the schoolhouse in full, I’d only ever travelled the path Everleigh showed me, so I had very little idea what to expect for them.

  Anyhow, let’s skip ahead a bit.

  Michael and Rhian were having lunch on the stage, and I was peering down at them through a small crack in the roof.

  “Rhian,” Michael said.

  “Michael,” Rhian replied.

  “Hungry?” he asked.

  “Usually,” she answered.

  I smiled at her answer. It was different seeing my sister from this angle. We always worked together, we were Gus and Rhian, and now she was just Rhian. And Michael, I guess. Who, by the by, brought up an interesting theory: that the man Rhian killed, or supposedly killed in Oskari, was actually the culprit. Because, he said, all the suspicious activity had stopped since he died.

  But then Rhian and her beautiful brain took it one step further:

  “What if that’s just what someone wants us to think? What if it was a set-up? We arrive, we’re on the trail, what if the real kidnapper-slash-killer tricked someone into assaulting me? I kill him, things go back to normal for a bit, and we leave. Then he starts again.”

  Well, it was definitely a set-up. If I had to guess, Lidia's aim was to cause dissension between us and the locals.

  “Do you remember anything else from that night?” Michael asked.

  “Nope.”

  “If you do, you know you can tell me and I won’t judge.”

  “Do you think I’m lying?”

  Aye, he probably did because we were. We ate some drugs before running into town, and we were still seeing colours that didn’t exist.

  “I don’t think you’re lying, but don’t you find it odd that the both of you lost your memory? What are the odds you both bumped your head and suffered amnesia? It’s strange.”

  They began packing up their things.

  “What if there’s a Palisade defect behind this?” Rhian wondered. “What if there’s a Delphi running around, wiping memories and controlling minds?”

  See, mates? That’s why Rhian’s the best.

  She’d been in town for half a minute, and she was so close.

  Right, but we’re skipping ahead again. As you know, Michael fell through the floor, which could only mean things were about to get much worse. I didn’t follow them in, but through the hole in the roof, I could see down through the hole in the floor. I couldn’t see much, but it seemed the space was illuminated, and there were some vague movements, some shouting, glass breaking, and then—fire?

  Rhian climbed back up the hole, but Michael wasn’t with her. There was no way he’d be able to make that jump. But what was even happening? They’d been inside for less than half an hour and somehow, for some reason, they were about to burn down a historical site, and Strauss wasn’t even with them.

  A hand landed on my shoulder, and I reached for my crossbow, but he was faster.

  He didn’t take it, he just stopped my hand.

  “Why is the schoolhouse on fire?” Alexander asked.

  “I don’t know. Why are you here?”

  “Zelda told me they were coming—”

  “I don’t see him,” I said. “I think Michael’s in trouble.”

  Alexander sighed. “Be right back.”

  At this point, Rhian was helping Michael break through the floor, but the fire was getting worse. Alexander rushed in and tossed her aside. I didn’t like how rough he was with her, but I could tell by the look of regret on his face that he didn’t either. When I interviewed Alexander for this very book, he confessed that he was feeling quite emotional in the moment, and had panicked. Rhian was important to him, too.

  By then, the hole in the floor was big enough for Michael to climb through. Intrepidity was first, and then Alexander pulled Michael out. He passed out almost straightaway afterward. I couldn’t see Rhian, and I started to panic until I saw Alexander carrying them both out of the schoolhouse. He laid them down on the ground. They both seemed to be unconscious. Then, out of nowhere, Everleigh Gloom appeared beside him.

  “Hi,” she said. “Are you just going to let it burn.”

  “What—no, hello Everleigh.”

  “I guess I’ll get it.” Ever shook her head, disappeared inside the schoolhouse, and in just under ten seconds, the fire was out. When she emerged, she looked to the roof. I doubted she could see me from that angle, but she knew I was there.

  “You can come down now. They’re sleeping.”

  So, that’s how all that happened. Alexander healed Michael’s hands and whatever other minor injuries they’d both sustained. All the while, they snoozed on the grass. He said he’d be taking them to the Drop because, if they were responsible, they should want to file a report to Councilwoman Faust.

  “Why?” I asked.

  “They found the tavern,” Ever answered.

  “And?”

  “There was a time this location was used as a rest-stop between Oskari and Jaska,” Alexander explained. “There is a tavern on the lower level. There is—was—an Anima known only as the Barman. Partisans come in from the road, investigating as you are, find their way downstairs, and he would kill them. He has a vast collection of their skeletons.”

  “What the fuck?” I said. And look, mates, Rhian had the potty mouth between us. Took a lot for me to let one slip. “Everleigh?”

  She shrugged. “I’ve wanted to end him, but the other Anima like having a place where they can stare at the bones of their enemies. It would have upset them.”

  Upset them? Let’s talk about upsetting me for a second. All this time, she’d been letting me run in and out of that place as if there wasn’t a homicidal Barman collecting Partisan bones in the basement. I ran my hand over my beard.

  “Alexander?” I asked.

  “I don’t involve myself in that side of our community’s politics, mister Finnegan. That includes not ending beloved members of said community.”

  “But everyone expects us to?”

  “You don’t have to live with them,” Everleigh said. “You get to go back to Palisade.”

  Or, you know, die. There was so much I needed to say. For instance: you don’t have to live with them either, Everleigh. You could go back and stay with Sebastian who’s a very, very nice man. But could I say that? No, not in front of Alexander. And, frankly, not period—I’d just be telling her to go eat a lemon pie at the beach.

  And Alexander? I could tell he had an answer to my question, but he was biting his tongue. Probably because Everleigh was there. But what could he possibly have to say? “Mister Finnegan, the institution is the problem, and isn’t the aim to bring down the institution? Isn’t it worth it?”

  Was it worth it? I felt like I was losing my mind.

  But, aye—it was worth it. For what they did to Rhian and me. To Strauss. To Riz. To Adeline. To Michael. To all of us.

  So, mates, if mystery theatre was what they wanted, then I was happy playing my part as the spy.

  

  A Day in the Life With Zack - Entry Log #10

  “How was your trip to Delphia?”

  “I ate loads of Lemon Meringue Pie by the seaside.”

  “You really should see Avis about your food-related problem. Tell her I—“

  “Are you saying you’re ready to go home?”

  “No, never mind. Don’t go see Avis. It’s probably safest this way, anyhow, Feargus Finlay. The reason for my wife’s insurance in the first place.”

  “Right, but I’m trying to tell you something.”

  “What are you trying to tell me?”

  “About the Lemon Meringue Pie.”

  “I, too, was quite partial to the citrus flavours when I was alive.”

  “Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.”

  “Me.”

  “Lemon Meringue Pie.”

  “I don’t—now why are you covering your eyes with your hands?”

  “So, listen: I like apple pie the best personally, but my sister’s a big fan of peach pie. My pie, her pie. Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.”

  “Me.”

  “And I ate Lemon Meringue Pie by the seaside.”

  “Your pie, her pie—your sister, the peach. Sebastian? You saw Sebastian?”

  “Finally.”

  “Is he—is he all right?”

  “Perfectly set, mate.”

  “Thank you, Feargus Finlay.”

  “You’re welcome, Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.”

  

  A Conversation With Everleigh Gloom

  “Why didn’t you warn me about the bar?”

  “Because you don’t need to go to the bar to get to Zack.”

  “What if I ran into the Barman on the way?”

  “There are Anima everywhere. You should always be worried about running into us. Besides, the Barman never leaves the bar. Did you go to the bar.”

  “You know I didn’t go to the bar.”

  “Then what’s the problem.”

  “I could have gone to the bar.”

  “How many times have you been to see Zack.”

  “Ten times alone.”

  “And you’ve never explored.”

  “No, but I might’ve done.”

  “No, but you wouldn’t have done.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “Because you’re not an idiot.”