Dammit all. She wished she could talk to Hawking. Maybe her rascal cousin could give her some useful advice, because Jaekob sure hadn't.
Abruptly, Bells staggered and her head felt like something physically struck her. Not like a thought-thread being pulled, but rather like someone grabbing a fistful of her mind. She was half-aware of her head drooping and of Jaekob springing forward to grab her as she fell, but the other half was somewhere else. A room, dark inside, boarded-up windows and cement walls.
In her mind, she heard a familiar voice. Hawking's.
Hello, Bells. I've been expecting you. Are you safe?
In her mind's eye, Bells nodded. "Yes, I'm safe for now. I am—"
Oh thank goodness you have the sword. Maybe the world isn't doomed yet. I have to warn you, the first tendrils of this infection have escaped Philadelphia, spreading from patch of grass to tree to patch of grass. Once it got to the forest north of the city, it was all over as far as containing it goes. You need to bring the sword to us, and then we can tell you the plan.
Bells bit her bottom lip, raising her hand to her collar. "We had the sword. We were attacked, and now it's in the hands of the elves."
Creation's tears, Hawking exclaimed, how could you have let that happen? If either the White King or the Black Court get their hands on it, the world will be doomed in more ways than one. Where did they go, do you know? Did you see which way they ran? Where were you when this happened?
Bells thought hard about where the attack had occurred, trying to picture the elf's face in her mind and which way they had fled. She tried to gauge how long it had been since the attack, too, hoping that she might be able to at least give Hawking an area to search.
Aha. I see it, thank you. Well, I don't know that elf, but I'll send every loyalist our resistance cell has out looking for the sword. The odds may only be one in a million that we find it, but if we don't even look, the odds of this planet going to ruin are one hundred percent. Have you planned out your next steps?
Bells felt a little relieved to hear there would be other people out searching. Sure, even if they found the sword, it was far from certain they could take it without being mentally enslaved. She couldn't even be sure the elf could make it work that way. But hearing that was like putting a saucer of milk out for the local fairy—it didn't truly do any good, yet it made one feel better to think it might help a fairy and enlist their help keeping the crops healthy.
That was just an old fable, of course, since fairies didn't help anyone but themselves, but it had always made her feel safer doing it than not.
Her immediate problem came back to mind. "No, we don't know what to do. We were trying to find a gateway through the Wards, but they closed all the ones we've seen."
Of course they have, silly child. They're hoping the infection won't get through to them. Of course, it will eventually. I assume you're there to try to enlist Mikah's aid?
"Do you think me a child? Of course I'm trying to get to Mikah. And Jaekob is here with me trying to get in, too. He can't even fly in, you know—the dragon air patrols burn anyone in the air who isn't in uniform and in formation."
So right now, you're stuck out there. Wouldn't it be great if somebody knew how to get inside? It seems like that would be something really useful to you, right now, hmm?
Bells said, "Oh, we're negotiating now, are we? Very well. What is it that you want? And how can you get us through the Wards?"
Sorry, kiddo, but you don't get that information until I get what I want. I think you can guess what I want, right?
"A pardon?"
Yes, that, but not just that. I deserve a pardon because I didn't do anything wrong, no matter what your dragon friend says. But for saving the dragon heir's life, I want amnesty and asylum for both myself and the other Philadelphia Sword Society members. The people you met before.
"And if the dragons say no? Then what?"
If I don't get that, then Jaekob can die out here with the rest of us. Once the infection gets me, I won't much care what happens to anyone else. I'm sure even a dragon can understand that logic.
Bells fought her way out of the trance, not entirely successful, but enough to see Jaekob kneeling over her. She didn't remember falling.
She looked into his eyes and said, "Jaekob, Hawking knows a way in. He won't give it to us unless we... I mean, you... promise to provide amnesty and sanctuary for him and half a dozen of his friends. They're the ones you met, who told us where to find the sword in the first place."
Jaekob's eyes narrowed. "He dares to negotiate with my life? Has he forgotten who I am?"
She shook her head. "No, but if the infection kills him, or you do, then your life and mine won't mean much to him, will it?"
Jaekob stared at her, but didn't answer. A faint red glow came to his eyes.
She continued, "Listen, he isn't trying to disrespect you, but their mission is important, too. They may be able to help us later. Nobody knows more about the sword than they do. Let them come in, even if it's just to repay them for telling us how to get through the Wards. I think sparing their lives is a small price to pay for saving ours, especially yours. Don't you think?"
Jaekob paused for a few seconds, but at last he nodded. "Fine. You're right, that is a small price to pay. Tell him that if his information turns out to be accurate and we get into the Dragon District, I'll guarantee his safety everywhere in the district, as well as pardon him for any past crimes."
"Really?"
"Yes. Does that sound fair enough to you? I hope so, because it's all I'm going to offer."
She grinned. He was proud, and it was amusing how he had just offered the exact thing Hawking had asked for but had presented it as though it were his own idea. Well, fine. Let him save face.
She said, "Thank you. That was very generous of you." Then she allowed herself to sink back into the trance-like state where Hawking still hovered, waiting for her.
So what did our Dragon friend say?
"He has decided that, if you can get us safely through, then you and the Sword Society will have earned not just asylum during this outbreak, but amnesty for anything you might have done in the past. Seven lives for the price of one—his—seems fair. Well, eight lives if you include me."
She sensed Hawking grinning and could hear the smile in his voice when he replied, Very well. Now, listen closely...
Bells led Jaekob south down a narrow side street. The powerful Wards keeping everyone out of the Dragon District rose up on her left, and Jaekob kept looking forlornly at the shield and the people occasionally visible on the other side, but they could only see through in those few places where the fungus hadn't grown too high. It almost looked as though the fungus was attracted to the Wards, though that couldn't be true. It was just a fungus, no matter how deadly.
Either way, though, they had to stay well away from the shields to avoid guaranteeing infection from one of the tiny, almost invisible strands shooting out like jellyfish tentacles from every pulsing blue vine.
He pursed his lips and asked, "When are we going to get there? I thought Hawking said it was close."
She tried not to glare at him and so she kept her gaze anywhere but on Jaekob. "It's true that the entrance is close to where we were, but we have to go around the Wards, you know. It was only short if we could have taken a straight path."
He grunted and said nothing in reply, looking frustrated. They walked for another twenty minutes before Bells said, "We're just about there. We have to get off the side streets and head toward the main intersection two blocks east."
She turned southeast, angling across the street, but he put his hand on her arm and stopped her. He spun her around gently.
"You want us to go out onto a main street? That's crazy. Suicidal, even. If the fungus is anywhere near there, it'll definitely be at a huge intersection."
"We'll go around if there are any vines."
"And how many people do you think will see us? It doesn't do us any good to sneak
in if everybody in the neighborhood knows where we went. The Guardians will have to start killing people to keep them from following us through the Wards to safety. Assuming they let us in."
Bells looked up into his eyes, smirking, and waited for him to realize just exactly how stupid he had been. When she saw dawning realization flash across his eyes, she nodded and said, "Exactly, now you get it. You're with a fae, so sneaking in won't be a problem."
It felt good to be truly useful, for once.
When they got less than a block from the intersection Hawking told her about, Jaekob took the lead again. He was much more cautious in his movements, taking advantage of cover and concealment wherever he could, despite her hiding them with her shadow abilities, which was a lot of effort to keep up for two people. His movement clearly showed his military training, and she rather wished she could have had some of that at the moment.
They walked through side yards, rolled over the tops of fences, and shoved their way through hedges with him in the lead, claws extended. Soon, they arrived, and she peered through a freshly-parted hedge to examine the intersection. It was empty. Eerily silent, too.
She raised an eyebrow. "Where are all the people?"
He shrugged. "They're probably hiding. I would be, too, if I hadn't followed you and that voice in your head. So, all we have to do is get to that big manhole cover in the intersection without being seen?"
"Yes. Unfortunately, I don't see any shade out there."
Jaekob's lip twitched. "How will you shadow-walk without shadows? I guess we could just risk dashing out and hope no one sees us. Even if they do, there's no guarantee they would follow us, right? We could be going anywhere."
Bells shook her head. He was brave, easy on the eyes, and cunning, but he didn't understand other Pures the way she did. "No, if they see a dragon heading into a sewer tunnel anywhere near the Wards, someone is going to follow. A dragon, especially the prince, isn't going into the sewers to entertain himself. They'll imagine you're going somewhere safe, and they'll be right."
He frowned. She could practically see the wheels turning in his mind. "Very well. We need to take cover until dusk when there will be shadows. Why you fae aren't nocturnal, I'll never know. It doesn't make a lot of sense."
Bells tilted her head, looking him in his eyes. "You're kidding, right? We are nocturnal or were until the elves decided we were better off serving them, and they preferred daylight. It's why fae see color at night and you don't, although we can't see as far as you do. Dragons have the best distance vision in the world, I'm sure."
"Maybe. I think some birds-of-prey might be better."
"Waiting until dusk is a good idea. My senses don't feel anyone in that house behind us. Fae could be hiding, though I can't be sure until I check room by room. I would have to be fairly close to see through another fae shadow-walking, just not as close as you do."
He started backing out of the shrubs without another word, and she followed. They went into the house and searched it. It turned out to be abandoned, just as she'd thought.
They had six hours to wait until dusk, and as the minutes ticked by, she felt her eyes grow heavy. Jaekob patted the spot next to him. So, Bells padded over to where he sat against a wall and scooted in next to him. His shoulder made an excellent pillow, and he didn't seem to take offense.
Relatively safe for the moment, and somewhat comfortable, she quickly drifted into a light sleep.
Bells awoke startled and then realized Jaekob was nudging her arm. From where she rested her head on his chest—she must have slid down a little in her sleep until her head rested at the crook of his arm—drool slid down her chin. She turned away to wipe it as discreetly as she could with her hand, but Jaekob caught it and laughed.
"That is simply adorable. Slobber quite becomes you."
Although she had finished wiping her face, she felt her cheeks burning, so she pretended to still be wiping her face and said, "Is it dusk yet? We need to get out of here."
He let out a sigh. "Yes, it was dusk about a half an hour ago. I let you sleep. You really did look cute, curled up like that."
He pulled his arm out from behind her head and climbed to his feet, groaning as he stretched his back. It made a loud pop noise as he stretched. "Ahh. That's better. Shall we go? It's the moment of truth."
She spent a moment gathering her energy and focusing her thoughts, then slipped into her shadow-walk. "Don't take your hand off my shoulder or you'll reappear. It'll be like you came out of nowhere to anyone watching."
He nodded, acknowledging her instructions with his hand on her shoulder. He really did have big, strong hands, but they were too rough. A warrior's hands.
She blinked, then refocused on keeping her fae ability working on them both. They made their way out the front door and across the road to stand in the middle of the intersection by the large manhole cover there. It had to be at least four feet across, yet Jaekob had no problems lifting it aside without even grunting.
She said, "You go first. As you go, slide your hand down my arm and leg to my ankle so that you keep contact with me until you are almost completely out of sight. After that, you can let go and I'll climb down, too. Once I'm down, you're going to have to climb up and put the manhole cover back, just so nobody gets curious."
He turned and began climbing down the ladder as she'd told him. She felt her cheeks flush, a little embarrassed as his hand slid down from her shoulder, down her ribs—somehow, he missed her arm—to her hip, and then down her leg. She had a hard time focusing on keeping her shadow-walk going. His touch was electric and very, very distracting. She didn't think he'd been much concerned with where his hand roamed on its way down her body.
A couple of minutes later, they both stood at the bottom of the ladder with the manhole cover back in place. She couldn't bring herself to look at him, glad for the darkness that enveloped him. Yet, she wasn't upset, either.
She took the turns through the tunnels almost on auto-pilot, only coming out of her introspection on the rare turn where she had to think about which way to go. She couldn't have said how much time had passed before a dead-end startled her out of her own little world.
A ladder rose up into a tube and out of sight. She stepped up to the ladder and looked up, then let out a low whistle. It was at least fifty yards up because she couldn't see all the way to the top in the pitch black.
"That'll be quite a climb," Jaekob said, "even if the top is right above where my vision ends. We can't see any farther than fae in complete blackness."
"Well then, I guess you'd better get going. Try not to fall on me, though, because I don't think I could catch you."
Jaekob smiled. "You calling me fat?"
She laughed, her face lighting up in a smile, and he turned to the ladder to climb. She was right behind him.
Fortunately, the sewer lid above them turned out to be only a few feet higher than they’d expected. Jaekob shoved it aside easily and, after he'd climbed up, he helped her up onto the street. He slid the lid back into place with his foot and joined her in looking around.
The Dragon District, like most of the others, was virtually empty. Here, however, the few people who did wander around didn't bother with a face mask. Best of all, there was no sign of the fungus. It would take quite a while for it to get through the Wards or to grow over them, though even she couldn't be sure how long that would take.
He straightened himself to his full height and rolled his shoulders. Even here, even now, his pride wouldn't let him be seen slouching. The thought made Bells smile.
"My father's manor is this way," he said as he started walking, and she stepped beside him and matched his pace.
She recognized the neighborhood. They still had a few blocks to go before they reached the manor. As they walked, she noticed heads turning to stare at them; she found herself sidling closer to Jaekob.
Someone said loudly to the person next to them, "It's the prince! Wasn't he locked out beyond the Wards?"
&nb
sp; Another voice replied, "I wonder how he got in."
Bells expanded her senses and began to hear snippets of conversation from every direction, not a lot at first, but more and more as the minutes ticked by. All of them were commenting on Jaekob's return and more than a few mentioned Bells walking next to the prince. Those voices were far less enthusiastic than the ones discussing Jaekob only.
The farther they walked, the more voices she heard and the more people who came out to look. Apparently, word was traveling faster than she and Jaekob were.
Abruptly, she heard the faint, rhythmic thumping of many feet marching in unison. "Soldiers," she muttered.
Jaekob's eyes narrowed. "What? Where?"
She pointed toward a side street about two blocks down the road. "From that way. I can't tell how many, but they're marching."
Just as she said that, two heavily armored dragon warriors came into view, quickly followed by two more. And then two more. They kept on coming. By the time they all had marched out onto the street, she counted ten of them.
They were marching in column formation directly toward her and Jaekob. When the unit was twenty feet away, an eleventh Guardian marching beside the formation called out, "Column, halt."
The column stopped at once, but Jaekob and Bells did not. As Jaekob kept walking, apparently intent on marching right through them, the lead Guardian held his hand up, palm toward Jaekob, and said, "You are hereby ordered to halt."
Jaekob took one more step, then stopped, his gaze darting around, his mouth gaping in confusion.
The Guardian said, "You were stuck outside the Wards with the infection. Your presence here jeopardizes all our lives. How did you get in? I mean no disrespect, but here and now, you must obey my commands. They come from the First Councilor himself." His voice actually trembled a little, and Bells noticed the uncertain glances his men and women were giving him.
"I'm here to speak with the First Councilor, actually,” Jaekob said. “I command you to take me to him. Mikah must hear what I have learned. I have news that affects all of us, dragons and other Pures alike."
Embers of Darkness (Through the Ashes Book 2) Page 2
