“What do you make of tomorrow’s news conference?”
“Frankly, I’m worried. We don’t know if the kidnappers have forced the mayor to make the announcement, and if what he says will be under duress. Additionally, the firedrakes have previously made threats, so announcing the mayor’s location in advance is not a good idea at this time.”
“What will the L-SED response be?”
“We will monitor the city streets all day tomorrow, and ensure that, if the news conference goes ahead, the mayor remains safe and that anything he says is under his own volition and not under duress.”
“Many people in Lusteer are deeply shocked by these latest events. Do you have a message for them?”
“I would tell them to get on with their lives as normal. Terrorists are often ultimately toothless cowards, unwilling to fight in broad daylight. Their only weapon is fear, and they can only win if the ordinary people allow fear into their hearts. This very day, the L-SED rounded up another nest of shades that had secreted itself within our city. I just want to assure everyone we are winning the fight.”
“That’s enough,” the mayor said. “Turn it off.”
Pete pressed the off button.
“A news conference?” The mayor raised his eyebrows. “Why does this feel like the second time today I’ve been shoved somewhere against my will. And you didn’t even finish your apology for the first time.”
“You aren’t going to be forced into anything,” Harriet said. “I’ve been scrambling to figure out how to react to what happened today. First, the Tiberius Hotel being taken down, then this kidnapping fiasco.”
“Fiasco?” the mayor asked. “I thought you ordered your sentinels to do that.”
“No,” Persia said before Harriet could reply. “I make my own decisions. And I did what I had to.” She swiveled toward Noah. “You’re being quiet. I hope you are on my side.”
“I always back you up, Purrs, you know that.” He smiled. “Even when you’re wrong.”
“What do you mean when I’m wrong, you swine!”
Noah’s smile broadened. “I love you most when you are in full fury.”
“I’m not in full fury. Not even close. And if that ever happens, believe me, you’ll know about it, Noah Hastings. I’m full though.” She chopped the side of her hand against the bottom of her neck. “Full up to here with idiocy.” She stalked out.
Noah shook his head in admiration. “She’s really something, isn’t she.”
“Indeed.” Harriet said, though the implication in her words was much less flattering than Noah’s. She turned to address the mayor. “First things first. I know we were in agreement that the prison should be returned to the control of the shades, but I can understand if you don’t want to go through with it after what we did. Will you still do it? Will you hand us back the prison?”
“You need to know now?” the mayor asked.
“Absolutely,” Harriet said. “That’s why I rang around before close of business today to arrange the news conference for tomorrow. The uncertainty is making everything worse. A decision must be made. If you want to keep the JC under L-SED control, I suggest we contact Lowndes and let her arrange for your appearance at City Hall, and for keeping you protected from the firedrakes. If you mean to give the JC to us, then we’ll make sure you get to make the announcement, though I fear it will be difficult.”
“You really think Lowndes would prevent me from announcing the decision if it didn’t go her way?”
“Absolutely,” Harriet said. “You heard her on the news today. She’s already talking about how she fears that any announcement will be under duress from kidnappers, setting herself up to refuse a later order.”
Mayor Maxwell walked to the window and looked outside. Night was fast approaching, and lights glimmered up and down the dark city buildings against the backdrop of an orange sky. “You know what Lusteer has become? Dry tinder waiting for a spark. And it won’t take much of a spark.” He turned. “So yes. I’ll do it. L-SED are taking things too far, much too far. I’ll tell the city that I’m authorizing for the prison to revert back to control of the original builders. I don’t know if we—if I—have the power to make it stick. But I have to try.”
“So about getting him to the news conference,” Noah said. “We could sneak him in. Disguises.”
“I’m the mayor of this city. If I decide to attend this news conference, it won’t by jumping out of the crowd disguised as a clown.”
“It’s that kind of attitude that made Persia throw you in a trunk for your own safety,” Noah said.
“Something that won’t happen again,” the mayor said sternly. “I want everyone in this room—and some outside the room—aware of that. If I’m in direct danger, protect me. But I won’t hide away from nebulous threats. With supernatural chaos threatening Lusteer and the rest of the world, there’s already too much fear in the city. I’m a figurehead as well as a leader. If I can’t face that fear, then how can I expect the rest of the city to?”
“I can get hold of some additional cars to bring us to City Hall,” Harriet said. “However, after Tiberius, I’ll struggle to get personnel. But with three fire sentinels, we’ll have firepower at least.”
Three fire sentinels, I thought, so Noah and Persia are fire sentinels. Then a second implication of what Harriet said hit me. “Correction,” I said. “Two sentinels.”
“Two?” Harriet asked.
“Yes, you’ll have two sentinels, not three. I’ve said I’m not getting involved and I mean it. My only contribution to whatever plan you come up with is the strong suggestion that, whatever happens, you don’t return here after it’s all over.”
Chapter 10
Tuesday 22:10
Lying on my bed, thinking, I kept checking my phone for another message from Jo. At least I knew she was okay. She’d already texted me to let me know that.
My mind kept returning to the fight on the rooftop and how those officers had been able to jump across roofs. Could it just have been because they were well trained and athletic? I remembered the way Sergeant Taylor had wrapped his fist around my neck. He should not have had the strength to resist. But had I really tried to get him off me? At the time, I’d been sure they’d been shades, but seeing how they treated shades made that impossible. What other option was there? Despite two sentinels arriving at my doorstep today, sentinels were much rarer than shades.
“Hey,” a voice said.
I sat up in my bed and saw Noah entering. “So it’s you?” I had expected someone would be sent up to try to drag me into a fight I wanted no part in. “Tell Harriet or whoever asked you to come up that my answer is a no.”
“Good, glad we got that out of the way.”
“You are? Really?”
“Yes, really. I don’t really believe in talk, you know what I mean? Someone is either gonna fall one way or the other based on who they are. All the blathering around is just reasons to justify the decision one way or another. Here, have a beer.” He held up his hands, showing a can in each of them, then handed one to me. “Though, to be honest, calling it a beer is a gross insult to real beer. It’s a Bud. But it was the only thing in the fridge.”
“What was beer doing in the fridge of Ten-two?” Random people were always walking in and out of the place; nothing edible or drinkable survived for long. I looked at the can. “I’m not much of a drinker.”
“Not to worry. You don’t have much of a drink in your hand.” Noah popped his open. He tilted his head back and took a long swallow.
I pulled back the tab and tried a sip, then made a face. “I’ve never much liked the taste of beer.”
“It’s an acquired taste,” Noah said. “One worth acquiring. So—football or basketball?”
“Ah, neither.”
“Really. You don’t look like a baseball fan.”
“What does a baseball fan look like… Doesn’t matter. I don’t watch sports.”
“Oh, right. Sucks to be you. What do
you talk about with other guys?”
I held up my beer. “I don’t know many beer-swilling football fans. Most of those I know are into TV shows, movies, mainly science fiction and fantasy.”
“I get ya. Geeks and nerds.”
“It’s not—”
He clapped me on the back. “I’m only messing with you. Persia likes some of those weird shows; even has me watching them sometimes. Talking trees and so on. It’s not football, but not much is.” He took another long sip of his Bud.
“I don’t get you. First you are talking about your hair and eye shadow, and how you look in that photo, now you are all about football and beer.”
“We don’t all fit in boxes. Society is always trying to change the shape of a person so they fit into one box or another, knocking the edges off them,” Noah said. “Be you, whoever that might be.”
“That makes it sound much easier than it is.”
Noah nodded sagely. “Not everyone can be as awesome as me.” He slapped me on the shoulder. “But give it the college try.”
I laughed, then I tried another sip of beer, though only a small sip since my taste buds recoiled against the bitter taste. “What exactly happened today?” I asked. “With the kidnapping that wasn’t. But also kind of was.”
“Persia was getting jumpy, and I know to trust her instincts. Something was going to happen. The mayor wouldn’t listen to her, though, and he insisted we escort him to his next meeting. The two of them got in a shouting match, and next thing I know, the mayor ended up in the trunk. I would have pulled him out and got them both to see sense, except some old biddy saw it happen and started screaming. So I shut the trunk, and we jumped in the car and drove off.”
“I see.”
“Not our finest moment, but if there were firedrakes about, then it might have been for the best. Harriet told us the Tiberius had been taken, she told us about you, gave us your address, and you know the rest,” he said. “You were a friend of Robert Bobbit.”
“I was. You knew him?”
“Only slightly. Really sad the way it ended. Though it’s becoming more and more common.”
“Fire sentinels being killed by the Order?” I asked.
He nodded. “That’s why we’re here. Persia and I. When the world was simpler and it was just sentinels keeping shades in check, the Order might have been a useful organization. I’ve no idea. But now? They are just behind Uro in terms of the evil in this world. Walker sent Lowndes here, so we’ve come to oppose her.” Noah tilted his head back, drinking the last of his beer. “Anyway, good talk.” He moved toward the exit. “I’ll tell the rest I tried my best to get you to change your mind, but you weren’t for turning.” He gave me a wink. “You do you. Don’t worry about the rest of us.” He stopped by the door, returned, and lifted my beer from out of my hand. “You barely touched it. I’m taking this. Even if it is Bud, it deserves a good home.”
Just as Noah was leaving for a second time, my phone buzzed another message. I checked it, and my heart beat faster when I realized it came from Jo. “Why are there so many people inside Ten-two?” the message read.
I didn’t reply, just dashed out the door. I dodged past Noah who snatched his beer back before I could spill it, then charged down the stairs, skipping most of the steps by leaping from landing to landing.
Once outside, I slowed my step, realizing I didn’t know exactly where she was. “Jo,” I called out, peering into the darkness, continuing past the black Lincoln. “Jo, where are you?”
She emerged from a bush, her trailing hand holding Ally’s wrist. “I was worried something had happened when I saw the car and heard all the voices,” she said.
I leaned down and embraced her. She held me tight, and we didn’t let go of each other for a long moment. I felt her heart thumping against me.
“I was worried about you,” I said when I finally released her. Then I looked over Jo’s shoulder. “How’s Ally?” I asked.
Ally stared at the ground.
“She hasn’t said much in a while.” Jo nodded toward Ten-two. “What’s going on in there?”
“You were right to be cautious, but it’s safe,” I said. “Harriet Ashley and some of her friends needed somewhere to stay after the Tiberius was overrun.” I decided I didn’t need to get into the whole kidnapping the mayor story. Jo and Ally had been through enough for one night. “They’ll be gone tomorrow.”
“Can Ally and I stay with you for tonight?” Jo asked. “Maybe in our old room. Ally could have Alex’s bed.”
“Of course. You don’t have to ask. That bedroom is still as much yours as mine.”
Jo smiled. “It’s not, but it’s kind of you to say so.”
I led both of them upstairs and sought out bedclothes. Then Jo and I began to make the beds while Ally stayed back out of the way.
“Did you get away from the L-SED without problems?” Jo asked.
“I was captured. They let me go.”
“They did? Why?”
“Because I killed… Because I’m one of them.”
“You’re not one of them,” Jo said. “You’re nothing like Lowndes.”
I nodded, though I was thinking that, as a fire sentinel, I was possibly worse than Lowndes. With the bed set up, Ally climbed under the blankets.
“Before you go to sleep, Ally, I want you to continue your talk with Rune from earlier.”
Ally shook her head back and forth violently.
“Stop this, Ally.” Jo sat on the bed beside her and put a hand on the girl’s arm until she calmed.
“It’s probably not a good idea, Jo. We weren’t getting anywhere before, and Ally clearly doesn’t want to talk now.”
Jo looked up at me. “It’s more important than ever that something is done. You saw what happened on the rooftop. Before it happened, Ally was the least violent person I knew. She has to learn to reconcile the two halves of her.”
“Communication helps.” I touched my barbed-wire necklace. “I’ve an elemental in here, and we talk all the time. Well, we used to until I discovered he’s an ass.” I chuckled. “We don’t communicate as much anymore.”
Hee haw, Jerome thought.
Jo glared at me. “Ally told me before that all fire does is consume and destroy, and I wanted to explain fire magic doesn’t have to work like that.”
“Like in Yarley’s bar,” I said.
“Exactly. I was in a burning building and escape was impossible,” Jo said. “Yet Rune was able to use his magic to create a shield to protect me.”
Of course, that resulted in powerful elementals possessing Duffy, creating God knows what, Jerome thought.
Not the time, Jerome. “It’s true.” I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d managed that. “Fire magic can protect as easily as destroy. It’s all about how it’s wielded.”
I could see that Ally wasn’t really listening. “Wait here, Jo, I’ve an idea.”
I descended the stairs. In the living room, Pete was passed out on the couch, and Harriet spoke in a low voice on her cell.
“I need your help,” I told Harriet.
She looked at me for a long moment. “I’ll talk later,” she said to the handset, then ended the call.
“This doesn’t mean that I’ll come with you tomorrow.”
“What do you want?”
“For you to help Ally.”
“Help her how?”
“I think you know how.” She had been a shade leader for decades. Ally was hardly the first one who’d had trouble coming to terms with the elemental inside her. “But you fear she’s unstable. Well, you are right. She went a bit insane earlier today. But I think that if she’s trained in how to control her power, it’d give her a chance.”
Harriet nodded. “Okay, lead the way.”
I went out into the hall, started up the stairs, then stopped. “Before we go up, something else has been bothering me.”
“You expect a lot for nothing in return.” She gave a small smile. “Go ahead.”
“Why do the firedrakes want to kidnap Mayor Maxwell?”
She shrugged. “Because they deal in chaos and fear. What better way to cause chaos than to strike down the leadership of the city, and what better way to evoke fear than to show no one is safe.”
“But the mayor wants to take the JC off Lowndes. That would help shades.”
“I guess the firedrakes are more interested in a violent response to what has happened to shades in this city over the last several months. I don’t agree with what they are doing, but I certainly understand it.”
“Do you know who they are?”
Harriet shook her head. “I thought I knew about most shade groups, but they came out of nowhere, and I haven’t been able to learn anything about them.”
“But you have your suspicions.”
“They all seem to be fire sorcerers, which is a rare form of shade. Or used to be rare, at least. My inkling is that they originate with a mutual friend of ours—one currently lurking in the mountains outside the city.”
“Conor Duffy,” I said. Another problem that ultimately came back to a decision I made.
“Shall we.” Harriet walked past me and took the lead as we ascended back to the attic bedroom. When we walked in, Ally was buried under the covers.
“Ally,” Harriet said.
No response.
“Ally,” Harriet repeated. “I know you aren’t asleep. I know you can hear me. Come out from under there.”
Ally lifted the blankets off herself and sat up.
“You know who I am?” Harriet asked.
She was met by only a blank stare.
“Answer me. You know who I am,” Harriet repeated.
Ally gave a quick nod.
“You know I help shades when I can. But I haven’t come visit you. You know why?”
“Dennis,” Ally said softly.
“Tell me about Dennis,” Harriet said.
“He… he… I’m not like him.”
“Tell me about Dennis. Tell me what he did.”
“He set fire to a building. He knew there was a family inside. Two parents and two children, a boy and a girl. He set the windows and doors to burn first so they couldn’t escape.”
Fire Soldiers (The Sentinels Book 3) Page 7
